Scorpian for dinner? Say What!

We made it safely to Buriram Friday morning after a long bus ride from Chiang Mai.  Roger and Phongsri Walker are our new contacts and we are staying in their orphanage called The Tree of Life.  Many of us expected there to be millions of little kids screaming but there are actually about 12 or so ranging from 3 years old to middle school.   They all come from varying backgrounds and situations. These children have been abandoned as a result of prostitution, parental death to AIDS, financial difficulties, disabilities, and alcoholism.  They are great kids and I am starting to fall more in love with them each day!  They love to tickle and scare us.  Once in awhile I gather the kids together and do a "sneak attack tickle Josh" and they love it, but I have the consequence of getting the "really Danielle, Thanks!" look from Josh...oh well :)

Saturday was my favorite day, others didn't enjoy it as much.  Our duty for the day as to clean some parts of the house!  Let's just say it really needed it!  We worked all day cleaning only a few rooms, but it made a huge difference.  Audriana and I worked on the library.  We took books off the shelves, dusted and deep cleaned.  Josh referes to my cleaning as "she thinks of places no one else things of cleaning...and she could do this for days".  Well in order for me to do a good clean, I wanted to pull out the shelves and find the "treasures"  behind and under them.  A few girls came and helped me move one shelf. As we lifted we saw a scorpian! At first we were not sure if it was just a toy, but after we poked it, it ran off.  We told Phongsri and her face lit up with excitement!  She said she wanted to catch this thing so she can cook it and eat it!  So, we caught it and caught one more.  They are currently alive in a bucket with no cover waiting to be cooked! YIKES!

Buriram is about two hours from Cambodia.  Lots of mosquitoes, insects, and squaty potties, and cold showers with no air conditioned rooms.  On the other hand, we are blessed to have a washer! Josh was so excited to not have to wash his clothes by hand today.  Rogers wife cooks wonderful Thai food for us as well and we are all able to have a family style dinner together each night which is something we haven't done as a team since Masot.

We attended the Thai church this morning.  We walked in and everyone watched us as we walked to the front.  I had a wonderful time praising God and worshipping him even though I didn't understand what the Thai's were saying.  The Thai people were so passionate and praising God is made me want to cry...seriously it was really awesome!

This week I think we will be up to more "Danielle projects".  More cleaning, painting, and yard work.  At first I got really down because people think I am crazy for loving it, but I realized this is one of the gifts God has given me.  Seeing the smiles on Roger and Phongsri faces as they saw all the hard work everyone did makes all the hard work worth it!

I can't believe we only have a few weeks left!  It get's harder each day to think about our time here is almost done.  I am super sad and don't want to leave.  Please pray that we keep pressing into these kiddos and this city!

Love you all and thank you for the continued support.  Also, I think Rachael is almost finished with our 3rd video update...so get excited :)