Ruth Anne: Certainly, lots of wonderful things have happened in my life, and I would not want to discount any one of them in any way. But the convergence of joy that this particular Thailand day has held will, without question, be marked as beyond words brilliant and God-filled and profoundly good.
It started with an excursion to a waterfall park about an hour and a half north of Hot Springs, one of many in Northern Thailand that have become a natural place for people to rest and play. While there is no entrance fee to the park, funds raised for our trip provided the money for gas and the very traditional Thai picnic that we half brought from home and half picked up along the way. This w
as a kind of outing that a family of 17 would not be able to afford very often.
While Yupa set up the picnic, Megan and I followed the children down an extensive and sometimes rugged staircase. This takes you to where you can plonk yourself right down in the middle of water that's rushing over smooth white rocks.
The kids LOVED it!!!! And that's what prompted a worship moment for me that was so intense I can barely find the words to describe it. It was as if three tastes of heaven were converging at once. There was the natural and spectacular beauty of the surroundings, Eden like, white water contrasting the green lush. Insert into the picture, fifteen spectacularly beautiful children, children you've longed to be with for the whole past year. Just their wet happy faces and impossible smiles was another glimpse of the beauty of heaven. And then, let it register just how much pure joy was coming off the children. Their delight squealing, carefree and happy and playing, in this singular moment of joy..... And I sat there in the middle of the rushing water and could barely breathe. God's presence, heaven's nearness was so strong so real. Oh my heart, you are forever wrecked by the ecstasy of this moment. 
The Thai picnic followed and I'll save the description of that for another blog dedicated to courageous eating. But we lingered in the park long enough for me to lay myself down on the straw mat and have a snooze. A little later, after my nap, Megan and I were sitting watching the younger kids play in a shallower part, and Suradet took the same spot on the mat to rest himself. Sounds like a simple thing, but to me it sort of represented a new level of relaxed connection. Megan gave it the words. More like we were on a family outing than guests being shown around. I liked that.
But this perfect day was not over.
Next we were heading back down to Chiang Mai for the shopping trip. It had been an idea birthed a few trips ago already that we might raise enough money to take the kids into one of the bigger stores in Chiang Mai and allot a certain amount for them to buy a brand new item of clothing. While our kids are not in rags by any means, second hand and few would best describe their wardrobes. Plus the exchange rate meant that about 10 dollars per child would go a long, long way.
Apparently, it wasn't until last minute that Suradet told the children of the reason we were dragging them into a store after a big outing already. But as he explained it you could see their faces completely brighten when they realized they could go choose something for themselves. They scattered happily in clusters of about three or four, helping each other choose.
Anyone who knows me knows that I loathe shopping at home. But this....This was like what the shopping must be like in heaven (a comment for my Sisterhood....you guys would have loved this for sure!).
The day finally ended with evening devotions. Suradet summarized our day and the children together said 'Korp Koon, ka!'. Thank you very much. I told them, best as I could that the gifts we bring are from an entire church who loves them, that we pray for them and have their pictures up on the wall. I told them that our gifts were to encourage them to stay strong in their faith, and if they did that, it would be the best thanks we would ever have. Then we prayed, every voice together and at the end Suradet asked me to close.
And as I was going through the day in my prayer my voice broke in gratefulness. I try not to do that too much, although it's hard when my heart is so deeply touched most of my time here. But last night it was too much and my emotion was very evident.
Afterwards a few of the girls hung around for extra hugs and I kissed each face and told them how much I loved them.
Sai-y hung to the last. Her hug was strong and she started to sob. Sai-y doesn't try to communicate with me as much as some of the others, but when she does, it's like this, more private and without words. She's 17, small and serious, and somewhat reserved in her personality.
So when she approaches me I know she's going to say or do something important.
And so we stood there for at least 10 minutes, both of us crying now, overwhelmed by the enormous generosity of God who gave us all this, all this.
I can't say it often enough. We are making a difference here. God is using every dollar, every Sponsors packet, every letter, every visit to drastically change a desperate trajectory into sobbing gratitude and the potential for great things in the lives of a family, our family, in Thailand.
Can I say thank you enough for letting me come here? No, I can't. I can't.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Ruth Anne: We were so glad to have our luggage arrive - 24 hours behind us - this morning! Everything seems to be fairly intact, and it's been fun to unpack the gifts we brought back for our families - a way of saying thanks for their support of our going.
esterday was a lovely re-entry day, with both my immediate family and the Staff at Highview welcoming me home with no expectations that I actually contribute very much at all just yet.
