REMOTE ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE!

A place called Juniper Tree on Dolphin Bay/Hua Hin is where we booked our Christmas vacation this year.  Our first Christmas overseas, without family was starting to wear on me after Thanksgiving.  I saw the lights go up at the malls, heard the Christmas songs in all the stores, and the weird, flashy decorations that make me wonder at the Thai's view of Christmas.  I was starting to get stressed.  We decided to do Christmas different this year.  One family present and a trip.  Since our children were incredulous that we weren't getting them anything, we went ahead and bought our family gift to ease their disappointment.   A wonderful ping pong table was delivered to our house the Wednesday before we left.  Hailley and Elijah were ridiculously excited until I told them they couldn't play on it until Christmas.  So, as the Grinch who stole Christmas (literally and figuratively) furiously packed for the beach, I had all these plans for our vacation.  We were going to kayak, hike, ride elephants, and go on so many adventures, they wouldn't care if they got presents or not.

Day one of vacation started by us riding in a borrowed truck (from some wonderful missionaries who are on sabbatical  (Thank you Bobby and Paula!)  I felt like I was back in Georgia riding in a big truck out in the country.  It was weird leaving the city and finding cows tied up to trees on the side of the road and chickens running along side each other.  The strangest, most beautiful sight was the palm trees against the backdrop of the mountainside.  Hello?  Can you say beautiful?  So, as we are nearing the end of our four hour drive, I am wondering to myself what the heck we got ourselves into.  This place is so remote, there was hardly anything around for miles!  I was thinking, okay, where are the kayaks, elephants and guides to take us hiking?  We get to our rooms, and I have to say they were spectacular.  Not in the sense that they were luxurious, or beautiful, but we were situated facing the beach, not even 100 yards away.  We unpacked and I just decided I would lay down for a little nap.  Well, after sleeping for almost two days, I finally awoke from my hibernation to see if my outings were still available--only to find out that dinner would not be served that night and we were on our own.  We drove the 40 minutes into Hua Hin (only to run into 10 of Chris' students) to eat and to go to the mall.  I pouted all the way home.  I told Chris that this was not the vacation I thought it was going to be and I was really upset.  As we were driving up to our room, something came over me and I realized how lucky I was to be there, observing the beautiful canvas that God has gifted to me for enjoyment.  How could I pout?  As soon as my attitude changed, we had the best adventures ever.  We met so many other missionaries from around the world who gave us encouragement, support and friendship.  We listened to stories from an older couple who had been missionaries for years, but started out just like Chris, as a teacher and coach.  Our children met friends and experienced freedom and fun.  We hiked up a mountain, down into a cave with stalactites and stalagmites(thank you Gretchen Curl or I would have no idea what these are).  I kayaked in the waving ocean and flipped over and gave everyone a show.  We saw monkeys gallore and got massages.  I bought artwork at the floating market and secret "souveniers" for the kids.  We also gave t shirts to some girls we met from Finland who befriended Hailley and Elijah and some money to a single mother and her daughter who were down on their luck. Then, after all that, we were taken to this deserted beach with mounds of sea shells and huge rocks. Who cares that we didn't do all that I had planned?  It may not have been the vacation I planned, but it was the vacation I needed. When we got up this morning to leave, I just couldn't believe how much fun we had and how blessed we were to be there.  I ran around the beach yelling, "WE LIVE IN BANGKOK THAILAND!!!!!!!  THANK YOU GOD, THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!  I know that even though this Christmas won't be traditional, it will be a Christmas to remember forever.  My husband and I have a renewed spirit, a renewed love for missions, and I am pretty sure we fell just a little bit more in love with each other and the two babies God has blessed us with.  Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy Birthday Jesus!