What exactly is a visa run?

How about a visa tutorial?
No, I'm not talking about a visa credit card.
I'm talking about that little stamp you get in your passport that allows you to enter another country.
Well, every country is different and the rules for acquiring those visas are all different. There's not a simple cookie-cutter visa process so it can get a little complicated. There are different types of visas and each type usually allows a specific length of time you can stay in that country.
For the country we're living in, a tourist on a tourist visa can stay up to 30 days.
We have business visas, so we're allowed to stay 70 days, but after that length of time, we are required to exit the country. 70 days is the longest amount of time any foreigner on any visa (except maybe a diplomat) is allowed to stay in this country at a time.
Then to make matters more complicated, we actually have a one year business visa so we only have to go to this country's embassy in Thailand once a year to renew it. Every other 70 days, we are only required to exit and then a couple days later we can return.
These short trips out and back, we call "visa runs."
I like to think of it as the government's way of keeping up with visiting foreigners.
For us, those short trips out usually take us to Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where we can get mail, get money, use high-speed internet for computer updates, etc. It's also pretty much the only time we get to eat Western food. It's also when we do planned medical check-ups and dentist visits. Not to mention those flights out are usually cheaper than the cost of filling up our gas tank.
Also, our company has housing in most of the bigger cities where we can stay for just the cost of using the utilities.

For our family, last week the time arrived for our visa run. This would be our last visa run before our long trip back to America for our furlough, so we really had nothing important to accomplish. Normally during this time we would do our Christmas shopping, but since we'll do our Christmas shopping in America and we're having to pack up our stuff and move before coming home, we didn't need to buy anything. We're actually trying to slim down the amount of stuff we have. Normally we bring back suitcases loaded up with goodies and gadgets, but this time it was nice travelling light.

We made our visa run to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but instead of staying in the city, we drove up into the mountains of the Cameron Highlands with another family who have become close friends over these last few years.
The company house there was beautiful and the weather was COLD. It was awesome!
We were only there three days, but it was a great break from the heat and hecticness (is that a word?) of the city where we live.

CJ made it his personal project to have a fire in the fireplace every night.

The girls enjoyed eating breakfast with a view.

They also loved spending time with the other family's kids - especially this cutie!

The front porch of the house.

Uncle CJ pointing the way while out exploring... :)

Lots of selfies!

This area is known for its tea production and we enjoyed exploring a local tea plantation.

Our favorite place to eat was a restaurant that had amazing Indian food. 

We were, however, happy to return to our beloved city. Especially with the knowledge that we have only nine weeks left to go until we'll arrive back in our other beloved city, Columbia, Mississippi.

We want to soak up every minute we have here with our dear friends and partners in the work in the coming days. As much as we're looking forward to coming to America, we are going to miss our Asian family so much during our absence.
Is it weird to say we're already looking forward to being back with them too before we've even left?
We are truly so blessed!

A little rant and a little rave.

It's been one of those weeks....

Electricity has been bad - it's not always just off or on, sometimes (lots of times actually) we have low electricity. That means it doesn't come in at full strength. This week for some reason, we had high electricity and as a result our dryer exploded.
Of course it happens on a day when we have 30 people coming to the house and it's impossible to get rid of the burning wires/smoke smell.
We're already down to our last few sets of clothes and the ones that happened to be in the dryer when it exploded were also rendered unwearable.
This was all compounded by a couple days of no water. I couldn't dry clothes anyway, so not being able to wash them was not a big deal. We've learned to adjust to this problem which occurs frequently. We do stock up on drinking water, but no water for washing dishes or flushing the toilet is still a frustration.
The electricity in Zoe's room has been bad for several months - she's not able to do anything in her room like even run a fan - so she's been sleeping in Mia's room ever since. It's just too hot in her room without some form of air circulation. Mia's room was also filled with smoke from the dryer situation, so she and Zoe had to sleep the night in our bedroom on the floor. We've all had colds and coughs, probably from all the mold that's growing in our apartment. (Water pipes behind the walls are leaking, so nothing can be done to stop the amount of water damage and increasing fungus.) So someone was always coughing through the night and none of us could get any sleep.
I went to the grocery store to buy some needed items that I would use to make meals for the week, but at the grocery store there was no skim milk, no beans, no cheese and no peanut butter. At the bakery, there was no bread. (It's really not unusual as it sounds. They don't eat bread here so the bakery is mostly cakes and cookies. Sometimes though they have bread. This particular day, of course, they did not.)
Homeschooling was particularly brutal this week - partly because of the girls having too much "together time" these days, and they seem to continuously irritate each other.
Of course, CJ is busier than ever (which is a good thing) but it means that I end up having to deal with a lot of this at home on my own.
Then the worst thing happened. The outlet where I plug in my coffee pot burned out and I had no other place to plug it in. We don't have outlets throughout our apartment like in America, mostly because we just don't have enough electricity to run a bunch of electric appliances. We do have one random outlet by our front door which is rarely used but it was too high up on the wall to plug in my coffee maker. I had to rig up a system to be able to use it for a couple days until I could get the lone outlet in the kitchen replaced.
On top of all that, everyday when I sat down to do my quiet time, inevitably some sort of hindrance or distraction interrupted me.
It just felt like I couldn't win.

Trying to come up with ways to feed my family without having basic staples (or quick restaurants to run to)....
Trying to make sure my girls are healthy and happy and receiving a good education...
Trying to keep our home clean and comfortable...
Trying to communicate with family and friends in America...
Trying to do the "work" we're called here to do (our real purpose for being here in the first place)
Trying to keep myself sane while doing all these things without coffee!

This is my job and frankly this week I just didn't feel like I was doing anything very well. I was aggravated and frustrated and, well, sorta losing it.

Part of the problem is that, no matter how much we try to focus on where we are and what we're doing, in the back of our minds is the thought that we're going to America in three months. That also means that we'll be packing up and moving out of our apartment in two and a half months, so it just doesn't make sense to put a lot of money into fixing some of the household problems we're having or even buying a new dryer because we won't have a lot of room for storage during our time Stateside. So we basically just have to endure the challenges for a few months.
Easier said than done.

However, in the midst of it all, I've felt Father speaking to me.
Music lately has been my place of refuge. When I exercise or those few minutes right before crashing into bed at night, I find encouragement and inspiration to keep on going by listening to some of my favorite songs.
Broken Hallelujah by The Afters is one of those songs that I sing at the top of my lungs when I'm running. Sometimes I even find myself raising my hands up in the air and then I realize that there are a bunch of local folks around me just staring - half in fright, half in confusion. I can just hear them thinking, "Crazy foreigner..."
Desert Song by Hillsong United was one that I first heard at our summer convention this past July and it seems to be the theme song of my life these days. The words are so true and I find it so meaningful.
Finally, I always like to finish up by listening to Fix My Eyes by for God and Country. It always always always brings a smile to my face and gives me fortitude.

The message that all these songs have in common is that no matter what happens, no matter what hardships come our way, no matter how many times I struggle or fight or fall, I know that He is with me.
That's HUGE! The creator of the whole world, the one who knows all and sees all and is all-powerful is with little-ole me. How could I ever be discouraged when that is my truth?
Well, I do still get discouraged, but not for long.

Yesterday I was out running and I happened upon a group of young monks, all likely aged 8-15, walking through a neighborhood seeking rice and other food from the people in that area.

Can you imagine having to go house to house everyday asking for food and living completely dependent on the perceived karma of the people living there?
Everyday I see children without shoes.
I see families hungry.
I see desperation and hopelessness, and I know I have nothing to complain about.
Even writing this blog, I already feel guilty.
We have so much and so much to be thankful for.

Ok, so I'm feeling better now.
What about you?



Broken Hallelujah by The Afters:

I can barely stand right now
Everything is crashing down
And I wonder where You are


You know the things that have brought me here
You know the story of every tear
'Cause You've been here from the very start


[Chorus:]
I've seen joy and I've seen pain
And on my knees I call Your name
Here's my broken Hallelujah
With nothing left to hold onto
I raise these empty hands to You
Here's my broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah



Desert Song by Hillsong United:

This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand


[Chorus:]
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here