A Foreign Fourth
As promised, here is a glimpse at how we spent our first 4th of July overseas. This was a hard day for us to be away from home, as we dearly missed the people we have spent the 4th with for the past 7 years. Thankfully, the consulate here in Chiang Mai hosts a party for all us American ex-pats, to help distract us from the fact that we were not at home. We went with two other families and discovered that through our contacts at Grace, we knew lots of other people there too.
We all had a good time and will definitely go back again next year.
One of the things the consulate does is import some ‘goods’ not available here. This is the one time of year you can get a Mountain Dew or Dr Pepper in Chiang Mai, and we all savored them!
The girls spent a good deal of time at the craft booth, making all sort of jewlery out of red white and blue beads.
Zachary could hardly wait for the watermelon eating contest to begin, he was ready as soon as we got there! He dove right in, eating like a beast and finished 4th I think. He said that he thinks he could win next year, as the older boys who beat him will be too old to compete. Good strategy Zach!
He can’t wait to dig in!
Go zach go! Don’t waste time chewing!
Finished! Good show Zach! Need more pop now? hahaha
Notice the girl next to Zach, she very neatly and in a most ladylike manner ate her watermelon, still on her first piece when most of the others were finished! Her name is Adrian, is from Mississippi and definitely a southern lady!:)
As the sun went down, there was a bit of a sing along of patriotic songs and of course we finished off with some fireworks. This day was a good reminder to thank the Lord for the country which He has given us, the freedom to assemble to worship and speak His name openly, and for the privileges we have being from the US that so many other countries look at with longing. Thank you God for all the ways you show yourself to us and for being a God that is not contained within one country or one border, but a God who made and loves the whole world and desires all men to know Him.
July 27th, 2007 at 1:47 am
Hey,
It’s Becky Richards. I just found your website, and I think it’s really cool! Obviously, most of what you have talked about, I know already know, but it is still very interesting to see from yours (and your families) point of view. I love the pictures! And isn’t that American 4th of July thing great?? lol, I usually go with one of my American friends every year. I love it even though I’m not American.
Anyways, just wanted to say ‘hi’. And we’ll be seeing you guys in a few weeks! YAY!! We are all soooo ready to be home! Miss you guys!
July 27th, 2007 at 2:45 am
Thank you for the reminder of how blessed we are in the US with respect to the freedoms we have to worship. As we see our society turn away from God and watch those freedoms slowly erode, it is encouraging to remember that we still have much to be thankful for.
Even more encouraging is the reminder that God is not contained within one country, and that we are aliens and strangers here, waiting for the return of our Beloved.
January 10th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I LUV ELEPHANTS