Friends are friends forever...

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."

My whole life, I've had good friends.
Some of my best friendships began in high school and they have remained despite the many changes we've all had in our lives. A few friends in particular I consider most dear because they have known me and loved me through crazy hairstyles, boyfriend problems, acne and pubescent immaturity.

1991

2011

My closest friendship began in college. Life threw us together and we remained inseparable our first two years together at Samford University. Those were formative years and when everything else seemed to be changing at lightning speed, the one constant in my life was her friendship. Today I still consider her one my most valuable friends.
When I got a little older, establishing new close friendships was more challenging. After taking care of kids and husbands and jobs and obligations, there's not much time left to invest elsewhere. Yet I was blessed to have several women that I called close friends. Friends that I played bunko with and went shopping with. Friends to do lunch with. That group of ladies brought such joy into my life. And it's not easy when your husband is on staff at a Gathering Place. Many P.Wives feel detached from other women and unable to have close friendships, but that just wasn't the case where we lived.
And the women where I worked were the most special. When you spend all day together, day in and out for years and years, you inevitably get close to those people. The women at my workplace were unique in that they would always tell me what I needed to hear whether I liked it or not. I knew I could trust them with anything. We laughed, we cried, we struggled, we played, we just did life together. And it was special.

When my family left our hometown to move to the other side of the globe, I never even considered the idea of having friends. I just figured that I was leaving family and friends behind and that those kind of relationships would be impossible where we were moving. I prepared to be isolated and separated from anyone with any similarities or shared interests. I couldn't imagine ever having friendships like the ones we were saying goodbye to.
So I was really surprised when we became very close to the people we were in training with in Virginia. At the end of our eight weeks together, we were so close that it felt like we had known these people all our lives. And these were people with different backgrounds and upbringings. Some were older, some were younger. They saw us at our best and at our worst, sometimes soaring, sometimes at our very lowest. Yet they stayed our friends and had become family in the absence of our blood relatives.
I remember thinking when our training was over at how surprised I was at the friendships Father had put in our lives. I was not expecting to have people who were so new in my life become so important in my life so quickly. Yet that's just what happened.

And it didn't stop there.
Father has continued to fill our lives with friendships and love with people who have been in our lives for just over a year but have become as close as family.

This weekend, I was privileged to attend a Ladies Retreat in our city with some of those very friends. The Shepherd and his wife from FBC Charleston, S.C. were in town visiting some members who live here and happen to be co-workers of ours. The wife said she would love to lead a time of fun, encouragement and Good Book Study for the women of our company who live in this place, and that's just what we did.
There were about ten of us in all who got to share in this wonderful time of fellowship and renewal. We played games, we learned calligraphy, we at A LOT of good food, we were challenged and edified... and it was wonderful. There were times when we were laughing so hard that we had tears rolling down our faces. There were times when the tears were caused from dealing with hurts and sadness that bubbled up while spending time on our knees with Father. It was such a beneficial time for all of us there and I couldn't help but feel so grateful to the members of FBC Charleston, S.C. who made this time possible for us.

But there was a point during the retreat this weekend, as I sat in a moment of quiet time looking around the room at the ladies there, I felt so overwhelmed at the friendships Father has placed in my life.
Each of the women in that room are so special to me. I know I could call on any of them in a moment's notice with a need and they would answer immediately. I can tell these women absolutely anything about my life - and let me tell ya, we've talked about EVERYTHING! - yet they love me and support me unconditionally.
I share a common bond with these women. We have all felt the call to be living here and we all want more than anything to serve Father and bring honor to Him. We have all struggled to survive in this city while endeavoring to keep our families united and content. We have all been broken through language learning. We have all endured persecution and despair. We have all experienced the joy that only comes from seeing a lost sheep come home.
And it can be so hard.
Life is hard.

On Saturday night, several of us had gone for a short walk and as we walked along the deserted road, we all walked side by side in a line.
I realized how beautiful this picture of friendship was. No one was ahead or behind. No one was left out or in the center spotlight. It was just a few friends walking side by side facing life together as it comes. It was a sweet moment and one that I'll not forget for a long time.

There is a quote from a book by Henri Nouwen that I think defines this thought much better than I can. It says:

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

Giving, taking, sharing, listening, loving - it's what friendship is about and I feel so blessed to get to soak in its warmth. Friendship is truly a gift from God.



"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become and still, gently allows you to grow." - William Shakespeare

"Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing." - Elie Wiesel

"The best mirror is an old friend." - George Herbert

"'We'll be friends forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet. 'Even longer,' Pooh answered." - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

What's in a name?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Shakespeare has a point. But I have to respectfully disagree, a little.

A name cannot change the characteristics of an object or person, but it can affect others’ opinions and impressions about that object or person.

For example, what if a rose was not called a rose, but instead called a rilf.

“Yes, I’d like to order a dozen rilfs please.”

I don’t think so…

The point I’m trying to make is that names are important.

Doesn’t every parent spend hours and hours thinking about potential names for their children before they’re born?

Names can often reflect someone’s personality or disposition. That’s why picking just the right one is so important.

We were told before we arrived in this country that eventually someone would give us a name in the language of the place we’re living. We were told that the name could only come from a person born and raised in this country, and that we were not allowed to decide the name ourselves. A local person who knew us well would give us our name when the time was right.

And like a child waiting eagerly all year for Christmas to come, we waited to receive our names.

All of our American friends who live here had all been given local names, and I loved asking them who gave them their names and what they meant.

Throughout the year we’ve been living here, we asked some of our local friends repeatedly if they would like to give us names, but no one really ever wanted to.

We’ve been asked a few times to give English names to some of our local friends, and it’s really hard. So I completely understand their hesitation. A name lasts forever, right? So it’s got to be perfect.

Names in this country are even more important. Their names all have special meanings, and they don’t have last names here. Only first names. However, their first names might be three, four or even five words! We have seriously struggled with people’s names here because they’re so hard to remember.

Little Miá got her name pretty quickly after we arrived here. She is so endearing to the local people, that she was easily and enthusiastically named by one of our sweet “sisters-in-spirit” who we see regularly.

Miá was given the name သဲ သဲ which sounds like Thay Thay. It literally means “I love you with all my liver.”

I know, I know. In America we say, “I love you with all my heart.” But here, they love with their liver.

Just trust me, it’s a precious name which suits little Miá perfectly.

Almost everyone in our building knows little Thay Thay, and anytime I go anywhere I always hear the question, “Where is Thay Thay?”

I love it.

The rest of us continued to wait for our local names…

The apartment where we live is above, what could best be described as, a little mall. There is a grocery store, a few clothing shops, a couple of small restaurants, a pharmacy, etc.

We inevitably go downstairs everyday to buy the food items we need to cook with that day, but also we enjoy practicing our language with the workers that we have come to know very well.

One day last week we were downstairs as usual chatting with some of the workers. We were talking about how difficult it is to remember their names when one of the ladies suggested that she would like to give us local names. She said she already knew the perfect names for us and had picked them out.

We were excited and happy to hear her say those words.

Like a cultural rite of passage, she bestowed us with our new names and told us the meanings.

My name is ေမ ပု လဲ which sounds like May Buh’Lay. It means something like “precious as a pearl.” I later learned that Western women are also often given names of things that are white because of our white skin.

I like the name because it reminds me so much of my beloved grandmother’s name: Mabel. I’ve always loved her name.

My mother also said that my local name is reminiscent of my maiden name: Marable.

I like it!

CJ’s name is….. (drumroll please): ဦး ခန့္ ညား which sounds like Oooh Cant Nyah. You will not be surprised to learn the meaning of his name.

It basically means Mr. Handsome.

How perfect is that?

He’s a little embarrassed to tell other people his name, but I keep reminding him that it was given to him by someone else and he didn’t decide it.

Hey, if the shoe fits, wear it, right? :)

Zoë is still waiting on her local name. Ironically, she’s the one with the most local friends by far, but she’s still waiting.

It will come.

The best thing about our new names is that it means we are just one more small step closer to becoming immersed in the culture. We have come to love this country and the people here so much. We want to be able to talk like they do. We want to understand their values and their ideas. We want to be a part of their culture as much as possible so that we can better share with them about our Father and His love.

Hopefully in sharing about our new names, we can share about His many names. We want to tell them how to have their name put into the Lamb’s book of life.

I wonder which name we’ll have listed there, our English name or our new local name?

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Anyone out there ever received a new name in a different language? I'd love to hear what it is, what it means and how you received it. Please share!

“…and at the sound of (His name) every knee will bow….” the second chapter of Phil., the tenth verse.

Annual Anniversary Analogies #1

It's been a year.
Wow.
After leaving our beloved South Mississippi community, training and living in Vancouver for several months, we finally arrived on January 25, 2012, in this place that captured our hearts many years ago. It's officially been one year that we have been living in this amazing, beautiful and gripping country that has quickly become "home."

All of us in our family have spent a little time the last few days recollecting on the year past to discover what changes in our lifestyle and way of thinking may have occurred in the day-to-day process of settling into this Southeast Asian culture.

Looking back, we look forward... in their own words:

Zoë:
This year has been an amazing adventure filled with loving memorable moments I will never forget. I have made so many friends and met so many people that I now call family. When I first arrived, I was scared and didn't know what was going to happen with my life. Now, I see it as a beautiful gift from God, and I treasure every moment of every day. 
This year has gone by so quickly (quicker than i expected) and as the days come sooner to when we go back to America I realize more and more how much this place means to me. This is my new family and I love it here a lot! 
One year from today I was praying to God asking Him to help me through our first year and He truly has.


Miá:

This year has been so much fun. I’ve made so many new friends and the people here are so friendly. Before I moved here, there was a part of me that was unsure because I didn’t know anything about the place we were moving to, but now I feel really happy being here.

Some of my favorite experiences from this past year include learning this new language, traveling to different cities and countries and getting to tell people about J.C. One of my new friends, I met in a local village and even though we speak different languages, she has become an awesome friend. She is a believer too!

I still miss my friends and family at home and I think of them all the time, but I know it’s because of them that I can do what G wants our family to do. Come visit us!

CJ:

My highlights from the year include - 

• Learning to drive and navigate the crazy traffic here.
• Teaching English to local students while sprinkling in the Good News.
• Living in a city that it rains every day all day for four months. That also means eight months of beautiful sunshine.
• Watching the Superbowl at 5am.
• Traveling to other countries.
• Learning to like rice A LOT.
• Teaching the Good book to students every week.
• Family game nights (Uno, Monopoly Deal, Phase 10, and puzzles).
• Language learning. (A continuous mountain to climb, but I love it)
• Visits from great friends. (Mickey and Beverly Webb) (The Eggum family)
• Sitting in traffic 4 hours a day. (Just thankful to have a car)
• Receiving packages from Home = AWESOME.
• Knowing that my girls are happy, have friends, and love school is a blessing.
• Being able to participate in a youth camp for those students serving in SouthEast Asia.
• Summer vacation in North Thailand.
• Monkey park (You will have to visit here to understand this highlight).
• Falling in love with the people in our country.
• A visit from President Barack Obama. (Like him or not, it was pretty cool that he was here)
• Celebrating Christmas with my girls and lots of presents from home.

Thankful, Grateful, and Blessed are three words that best describe our first year in our country.

Thankful for the outpouring of love and support from so many friends back home.

Thankful for all the great packages sent our way with lots of goodies.

Grateful for so many that give so much through the C.P and L.M.C.O.

Grateful for the opportunity to work for an organization that truly has a “Great Commission” vision.

Blessed to have three beautiful and Godly girls in my home who love me in spite of my many flaws.

Blessed to serve the King of Kings wherever He leads.

Julie:

I was looking back through my journal from a year ago to remember the feelings and emotions I experienced at the time. These were my words from that day, one year ago -

Wow, what a day! We’re here.It’s just after midnight on Thursday, Jan. 26. I’m sitting in the dining room of our new home, wide awake preparing to recollect the past day.This journey began late Monday night in Vancouver when our supervisors picked us up with all 19 pieces of our luggage to take us to the airport. [I'm bypassing all the grueling details about our flights overseas. Let me condense by saying it was long and arduous.] We finally landed in Yangon and we were all smiles and happy to have arrived in our final destination.
As we rounded the corner to go downstairs in the Yangon airport to immigration/customs, etc. we saw our teammates and another co-worker through the glass divider smiling and waving, holding a banner that read, “Welcome Johnson Family!”It still kinda makes me cry remembering that feeling. It felt like we were seeing family for the first time.We were overjoyed to discover all our luggage (and all the contents inside) made it just fine. Our teammates had two vans and the ride to our new apartment was short and sweet.It was a lot to take in and a little overwhelming. Of course, because of jet lag, we fell asleep at 6:30 p.m., way too early and when I woke up in the dark at 11:30 I thought to myself in fear, “Where am I and what have I done?”I was sweating. I had a headache. I felt scared.So I got up and slipped out into the living room to turn on some lights and the a/c.I decided to make a cup of coffee - yes, I know coffee at midnight is not a good idea, but I needed it for more than just the caffeine. I went into the kitchen to try and figure out how to work the coffee pot, very thankful that our teammates had the provided so many things that we would need in advance of our arrival.When I went to the counter and found the coffee pot a lizard poked his head around the corner and I almost screamed. I made CJ get up and scare him away. CJ also helped me get the coffee going. Then he went back to bed.Now that I’m sitting here at my computer with my cup of coffee in hand, things don’t seem quite so scary. Things are different here, for sure. But I know this is where Father wants us to be. I’ve felt it just by looking in the faces of the people we’ve seen here already.We will figure things out and we’ll get settled and things will be good.I KNOW He is in control. He has to be. And I’m just so thankful...As I sit here with my family quietly sleeping in their new beds, I look around and feel at home. Yes, things are in disorder. We need furniture. We need a stove. We need to get unpacked. But I’m not worried. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So step by step, we’ll tackle things as they come, keeping Him at the forefront of all we do. We’re home.

Looking back and recalling those feelings, I still come back to arriving at the airport and seeing our teammates through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. It's a moment that truly touched me. It was later in the year when we got to stand on the other side of those windows when Mickey & Beverly Webb came to visit followed a few weeks later by family from Norway.
I am excited by the thought that in a few months my parents will be arriving at that same airport where we'll watch them through those same glass windows. Truly, windows to my soul.



This has been a great year and none of us would change a single moment.
There have been countless experiences of sharing the Good News, and that makes everything worthwhile.
We are thankful and blessed and joyful to be on this journey.
Let's keep going!

Pure joy!

Miá's Kindle finally arrived!
She couldn't have been more excited.

Not sure who was more excited, Miá or CJ. :)

There it is!

She was jumping up and down.

We'll be lucky if she resurfaces by next Christmas. :)

Christmas is coming!

It was last summer when CJ and I first began discussing what we would give our daughters for Christmas. Because our budget is much more limited than it used to be, we needed to start saving a few months in advance. But also, when you live on the other side of the world from where most of your gifts will come from, it takes longer to buy them and get them here.

Miá is a reader like her mommy. She is always reading something. At Miá's school, she can check out three books in the library each week, and she does. In fact, she’s read almost all the books they have for students her age-level. That’s one of the reasons why CJ and I decided to give Miá a Kindle for Christmas. When we mentioned the idea to her to see if it would be something she’d be interested in, she got so excited.

“Oh yes, Mommy, yes, yes YES! I would LOVE a Kindle,” she gushed.

The next question was, how do we get it here?

There is no postal service in this country and all our mail from America goes to an address in Bangkok where we pick up whenever we go there to renew our visas. Through a little research we discovered it wasn’t possible to buy a Kindle from Amazon and have it shipped internationally, so that wasn’t an option.

We could’ve probably bought one in Thailand or Malaysia and we discussed that. But we were worried that it might not be authentic. (Asian countries are known for their knock-offs.)

Then, when we learned that good friends Mickey and Beverly Webb would make a trip to visit us in November, we realized the great opportunity we would have to buy a Kindle on the internet and have it shipped to their house so they could bring it with them when they came.

How great is that!?!?

And that’s exactly what we did.

We ordered the Kindle and a cute case protector, had it shipped to our friends in America and the Webbs arrived here in our country with Mia’s new Kindle with no problems where I stored it away for safe-keeping until Christmas.

About a week before Christmas I began wrapping the packages to go under the tree. I decided before I wrapped up Mia’s Kindle that I should go ahead and set it up for her and download a few books so she’d be ready to play with it the moment she opened it.

That’s when I realized a problem.

The Kindle wouldn’t turn on.

I thought maybe it just needed to be charged up first, so I plugged it in while she was at school one day, only to discover several hours later that it still wouldn’t turn on.

Hmmm…. That’s not good.

I sent an email to Amazon asking what I need to do.

I was delighted to get such a fast response, until I read what it said. “You need to call our support center and speak with a customer service representative.”

Uh…. No can do. We have no international phone service here and even if we did, I’d hate to think of the cost of such a call.

After much research I discovered that I could have an online chat with a customer service rep; I just needed to get up in the middle of the night to do it so it would be during their hours of operation in America.

To make an already long story shorter, I’ll summarize what they told me: The Kindle we bought had a factory-defect, but if we would send it back to them, they would send us another brand new one at no charge.

Did I mention it was just a few days before Christmas? When I said (typed) as much to the customer service rep, she said, “Oh no problem. We’ll have a new one overnighted to you and you’ll have it tomorrow!” I could just imagine the chipper in her voice.

Did I mention I live in Myanmar?

Silence.

“Hello?” I typed.

“Oh.” That was literally her response.

I visualized Miá waking up on Christmas morning to find no presents under the tree and how devastated she would be. It broke my heart.

Amazon did what they said. They overnighted a new one to my parents’ house at no charge. They even gave us the label for free shipping to send the old one back to them… from America.

I would be responsible for getting the defective one back to America, but once in the country, it would be free return shipping to their factory.

Sheesh!

We have some friends living in this country who, thankfully, have relatives visiting this month, so we had my parents ship the new Kindle to them and they will bring it on the airplane with them here. Hopefully they will arrive this week and hopefully Miá will finally get her Christmas present.

The bad Kindle – they’ll take it back home with them when they go and will ship it from their house to the factory when they return.

Poor Miá, she cried when she realized on Christmas morning that “Santa” was unable to bring her Kindle. But when we told her that it would come in January, she began a countdown on the whiteboard in her bedroom – each day changing the number to how many days until her Christmas present would finally arrive.

This morning when she woke up, she ran to my bedroom and shouted, “Christmas is coming tomorrow!” She can hardly contain her excitement.

Please pray that everything goes well with this new device and that it arrives here safe and sound and working as it’s supposed to.

By the time all this is done, it will be time to start thinking about our daughters’ presents for next Christmas!