Aligned

 It was time for my truck to get some new shoes. We bought the tires seven years ago last month on our first driving trip to Chiang Khong. Now, on our return to Thailand, there was still some tread left, but the truck had been parked for a year without moving at all due to our COVID-19 absence, so there was a bit of a flat spot.

I went to a tire shop down the road from our house. They sell budget tires, so I spent less than I thought I would on them. But what surprised me was that the price included wheel alignment. The waiting bench is right next to the alignment station, so I got to see all that they did. They even had a computerized alignment machine.

Front End Alignment in Phon Phisai

This is a lot different than they old days. I remember when we lived in Haiti, I would do the alignment with a tape measure. Mind you, the roads were so bad, the alignment was probably shot by the time we finished the 20-mile drive to Port-au-Prince. The road conditions were such that I always carried two spare tires, except on long trips when I carried three. Unless the tires were brand new, I would get at least one flat on every trip I made to the city. And unlike North America where they normally throw out tires with hole in the sidewalls rather than repair them, in Haiti fixing sidewalls was the norm. Which was a good thing, because otherwise one would have to replace tires three times a year.

The tires lasted about a year. So if you figure that I changed a flat about once a week during a 10-month period, that makes about 40 tire changes a year over 7 years for a conservative estimate of 280 tire changes. I guess I was pretty much a tire changing expert by the end of our time there.

Hiding My Face Under a Ford Front End

I was also probably a Ford front-end specialist by the time we left Haiti. Bearings had to be repacked at least twice a year. An oil change lasted 3 months (less than 1000 miles). A lot of difference between driving in Haiti than the US or Thailand. The worse the road, the more maintenance needed.

Our lives are like that as well. As we travel life's roads, the potholes and bumps can take their toll. We need to take time to maintain our spiritual lives. Maybe we need to make a few repairs along the way. And we need to make sure our lives are in alignment with God's will.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10 (NIV)

Small Town, Big Service

Phon Phisai is not a big town, but we have an amazing office supply store. Aksawn Sueksa is not much to look at from the outside, but once you step inside the store you realize that the modest storefront is just the gateway to a shoppers paradise. Office supplies of all manner flow from overcrowded shelves and display cases. The aisles are a bit cramped from the sheer volume merchandise packed in such a small space. There are not just office supplies to be had, but also craft supplies, some gift items and a toy section. If you want to get some good quality wooden toys at a good price, this is the place.

Granted, Aksawn Sueksa can be a bit intimidating, which is why there are staff there to help. If perchance you can't find what you're looking for, just ask. The retail space is not the larger part of this store. Walk through a narrow passageway and you will enter their cavernous warehouse.

Aksawn Sueksa Stationery Store
Both the part behind the van and the tin-fronted
building to the left are part of the store.

Last spring, we visited Bethany Church in Fresno. After the service, Pastor Brian gave us a gift mug filled with goodies. The thing that Ingrid appreciated the most was the pen. She liked the rubber tip to use for scrolling her iPad. However, the writing quality was not awesome and after we got to Thailand, the pen would not write anymore, even though the ink tube appeared to be almost full. I told Ingrid, "I'll go to Aksawn Sueksa, if anyone has those pen refills, they will."

So one morning I took a walk downtown to visit Aksawn Sueksa. When I got there, I immediately went the service desk, which is conveniently located right at the entrance. I showed the ink tube to the woman at the desk. She said right away, "We don't have those." I was a bit taken aback by her response. But then she immediately added, "But we do have pens for 5 baht (about 15 cents) and you can use the ink tubes from those." Now I was really impressed. The 5-baht pens are disposable click pens. How would you even know what's inside? They're not something you take apart, you use them and throw them away. But she had an employee grab a pen off the shelf and press the clicker button down far enough so that you could pull the top off and remove the ink tube. Not only is the diversity of goods in this store almost beyond comprehension, the service really is hard to beat.

Pens and Refills

I purchased my disposable pen and left the store, but I was a bit sad as I walked away. We're planning on moving to another province soon, and I'm not sure I'll find another place like Aksawn Sueksa.

The town where we're planning to move to is about half the size of Phon Phisai. But it is not the main town of the district as Phon Phisai is, so it may not have as much variety in the way of shopping places. We've been spoiled by the convenience of where we live now: we're about 1/3 mile (1/2 km) from the biggest grocery store and no more than 1-1/2 miles (2 km) from any place in town. Sometimes we don't realize how good we have things until we lose them or they are taken away.

We're grateful for the opportunity we've had to live in Phon Phisai for the past few years. But we're also excited about what God might have in store for us where we're going. Ajan Nat has been talking with her relatives in the area and they are awaiting our arrival. Then there will be the new places to explore—already this morning, as I was bicycling in the countryside around Phon Phisai, I was wondering about what new places we will discover in Kalasin. Then there is the fact that the place we are moving to is half the distance to TWO provincial capitals as where we are now is to the city of Nong Khai.

And the good thing is that wherever we go, we won't be any further away from God.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
  Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
  and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
  and your right hand shall hold me.
Psalm 139:7-10 (ESV)

The Worn Leather Bag

It seemed like a lot of money at the time. We were looking for a briefcase for Ingrid to use when she was doing Home Health Nursing back in the mid-90s. It needed enough pockets to organize all her files and enough space to carry all of her work. We found one that seemed like it would do the job at an office supply store. It was made of genuine leather and so was a bit pricey.

When Ingrid quit Home Health Nursing, the briefcase was more-or-less forgotten. Then, when we moved to Thailand, we decided to bring it along. The bag has endured a lot of use here in Thailand. I have frequently loaded it down with binders and supplies, along with a computer with its power cords and accessories. I eventually had to replace the shoulder strap; the one that came with it really wasn't designed for all the weight I carried around.

When we left for our three-month home assignment in January of last year, I emptied most of the pockets of the briefcase and put it in the bottom of our wardrobe. Our time away stretched into a year because of COVID-19. When we came back to Thailand, I pulled out the briefcase and saw that it had suffered a bit. There was a thin coat of mildew on one side and the black had turned to a washed-out gray. It didn't look like something I would want to carry around. I was a bit sad about that, because I had so many memories stored away in the bag. I washed the bag thoroughly, but it didn't look the same.

This past week, we found some liquid black shoe polish at Tesco in Nong Khai. That same day, while continuing our post-home assignment house cleaning , we found an unopened jar of shoe wax (used for waterproofing shoes). With a little bit of effort, I ended up with this.

The Old Leather Briefcase

Aside from some stretch marks, the bag looks like new. You see, the poor appearance was purely an external issue. The bag was of good quality and as such I was able to restore it so that it looks almost new like the strong, durable bag that it is. I could have gone out an bought a shiny, pretty, new bag that I would not have had to patiently work with to make it look nice. But chances are that it would not be as good and long-lasting as this one.

This reminds me of when the prophet Samuel went looking for a replacement for King Saul. God sent Samuel to the family of a man named Jesse. Samuel was impressed with the outward appearance of Jesse's older sons. They had seen their share of battles and as such were muscular and handsome. They had a kingly look about them. But God was not impressed with any of them. We read in 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

God had determined that Jesse's youngest son would make a better king. David lacked the regal appearance of his oldest brothers. A shepherd boy with a sling and stone doesn't sell as well as a seasoned soldier with sword and shield. But God wasn't interested in a poster boy. As long as the quality was good on the inside, it wouldn't take much polishing for God to make David a king who not only looked the part, but also acted it out.

In our ministry in Thailand, we can sometimes get distracted by outward appearances. Sometimes we think someone may be a good leader because they are well educated and are a good speaker. But down the road we may have issues with their leadership because their heart wasn't in the right place. They might be more interested in money or position than in humbly serving like Jesus did.

There may be others who appear a bit rough and unpolished on the outside when we first meet them. But when God gets hold of them they turn out to be amazing leaders, because their heart is in the right place. Time and money invested in training such a person will yield a good return. I know I would much rather work with this kind of person.

Shiny plastic and vinyl or rough, resilient leather—which would you choose?

Homecoming

We had our expectations set really low. We were returning to our home in Phon Phisai after being away just over a year. We had only planned to be away three months, so we really had not prepared the house for an extended stay away. In fact, we really had not prepared well for being away even three months because Ingrid had a fall resulting in a short hospital stay and a concussion less than two weeks before we left. Because of our hasty preparations, our living room was a jumble of a bunch of things that would normally be kept outside.

We would not have been surprised if my guitar had been rendered unusable by termites and mold...if the mattress was no longer fit to sleep in...if our printer/copier would not work...if ants would have invaded and nested in our washing machine as they did our previous home assignment...or if mold made it necessary to throw away clothing or furniture. Already six months ago, we had been told that the sun had been eating away at the cover over our truck, so we figured the roof would be permanently disfigured by lizard poop.

To add to all this, we were not sure what restrictions might be placed on us due to travel from an area with active COVID transmission to an area with no active cases. Would we even be able to go out and buy groceries?

Because of all these uncertainties, we were prepared for the worst.

We asked a couple from our church if they could at least sweep out the house so we could have a place to set down our luggage when we arrived.

When the taxi brought us to our door, we were almost afraid to step into the house. But when we did, we were amazed. Our friends had not only swept the floors, they had moved some furniture around to make space and cleared the cobwebs. It was a great homecoming, even if no one was there to meet us!

Front of Our House

Actually, we didn't want to meet with anyone until we had been cleared with public health officials. It was 1:30 pm when we arrived and we had a lot to do. The first priority was getting the washing machine running because there would be a lot of things to launder over the next few days. It appeared to be working. Then I turned the printer / copier on and was happy to see that the print heads had not clogged, so I was able to make copies of documents the landlord needed. Then I put some air in the bicycle tires and went to the public health office. After looking at my documents from the hospital that managed our quarantine, he said:

Live life as normal.

Implied with this was the new normal of minor general restrictions in this area due to COVID. Still, we were happy we would not have to quarantine as it would make life easier. So next stop was the bank to take care of some business there. While at the bank I get a call from Ingrid that something was wrong with the washing machine. Getting home, I checked the washer and found the drain had plugged with some kind of gray sludge. Upon flushing the system, we discovered that some kind of wasp had built nests the outside of the tub—the part you can't see—and running the machine knocked all the mud from the nests off. They must have liked all the small holes in the side of the washer drum.

It was nice that there was not as much mold as we were expecting. It probably helped that we left in dry season so everything was dry when we covered them. This meant that our bed was usable (we had covered it with plastic), we just put on some clean sheets. My guitar was not all covered with mold, as had happened on previous occasions, and the strings were still shiny. The car covers had tears and were no longer water repellent, but they were generally intact.

But the termites had moved in. The hollow door to our bedroom was even more hollow and now even the door frame was hollow. The termites had started building a nest onto the door. There was still some of the nest left, even though our friends had apparently knocked a big chunk off.

Termite Nest and Damage to Door

We walked to the grocery store that is 1/2 km away and bought a few basic groceries and then had dinner at KFC because it was conveniently located in the same building. After going back home and doing a few more things we looked up at the clock and were happy to see it was only 7:15 pm. Wait—wasn't it 7:15 the last time we checked? So after changing the clock battery, we went to bed exhausted at 9:30. It was cool enough that we didn't need the A/C, and we were happy to have the fresh air flowing in the windows bringing in the comforting night sounds of the frogs and crickets.

Day Two - Tuesday

I walked to the bus station and took a van to Nong Khai. I hired a tuktuk driver to first go to the insurance company to start up our expired vehicle insurance. The company had moved their office, but the driver used the same company and knew the new location. But there, even though the office appeared to be open as the steel roll up doors were up, the door was locked and no one was present. So the driver took me to a broker across from the motor vehicle department. After about 1/2 hour getting all that in order, we next went across the street to the Department of Land Transport (called DLT instead of DMV) and I paid the taxes and renewed registration on the car. The truck is older and needs to be inspected first. Leaving there, we went to the immigration office where I checked in our arrival to the area and filed some papers. From there I went back home and was amazed to get back just after noon.

Ingrid had continued the task of cleaning while I was away—and also making lunch, which was really appreciated by the time I got back.

After lunch it was time to try to get the vehicles running. I found out that charging the batteries was not enough, they would both need to be replaced—but that would be a task for the next day. Meanwhile, there was still lots of cleaning to do.

Day Three - Wednesday

We began the morning by taking a walk down to the river, then coming back through town, stopping at a bank along the way to pick up some cash, which I'm needing a lot of these days. We pass through the fresh market and visit O and Nang, the couple that had swept out our house. They give us a report about the church as we visited with them for a bit, buying a a fresh tilapia from them for dinner. Leaving the market, we find a fruit vendor selling sweet, ripe mangoes.

Mekong View From Our Morning Walk

My main task for the day is to get the vehicles running. So I hop on my bike and pedal down to the bus station and find a tutktuk. I have the driver follow me to the house and I load the batteries for both vehicles on the back, I ask him to take me to a battery shop, so he brings me to one downtown. I buy two new batteries and they load them on the tuktuk. Then we head back with a store employee following us on a motorcycle. Right before we get to our house, we notice our neighbor in the street. He is watching a fat cobra that is in the road, apparently flushed out by another neighbor's dog. Back at the house, the battery store employee put the batteries in the vehicles and they both start up easily—though I have to turn the truck engine over slowly a few times to get the oil back up into the engine. However the truck will not go into gear—the linkage appears to be frozen. Need to do some research on that.

In the afternoon, we finally unpack our suitcases, while continuing to do other cleaning. Later in the day we take the car out to visit Tha and Nok's family. We pass one of their sons on his bicycle and he follows us back, Their dog recognizes our car is all excited when he sees it approach. We find Nok in the field behind the house picking tobacco with her daughter hanging out with her. Tha is doing house construction in the next village, so we don't get to see him. We visit for a few minutes, then head back home, stopping at Big C. This time we have a car so we can buy a few more groceries.

Then it's more cleaning till bedtime.

Day Four - Thursday

After a morning walk, I go look at the truck. Even after some research, the task seems beyond what I want to spend time on. So I drive to a garage we usually take our vehicles to and describe my challenge. They send two people to follow me back in a pickup. (Gotta love this small-town life.) They have a tow bar in the back in case they need it. One of the guys is an expert with Toyota trucks. I show him the problem, he then gets in the driver seat and using a trick of trying to change gears while the starter is turning, gets the transmission unstuck in just a few minutes. Because the truck has been sitting for a year, they take the truck back to the shop to change the engine and transmission oil and check it over. Just after they leave, I remember that right before we went back to North America last year, the shop had put up an official vehicle inspection station. So after lunch on our way to get some coffee, we bring the vehicle papers to the garage and ask them to do the inspection as well so that we can renew the registration. We also ask them to change out the cabin air filter—which turns out to be a very wise thing to do.

We then go to our favorite coffee shop, Cake Lamoon. It is fairly quiet as school has not let out yet. A group of three school-age girls are in there, awaiting a special treat they ordered, otherwise, we have the main room to ourselves. We sip coffee and do some reading on our computers. Then we head back home for a bit. About 4:30, I bicycle over to the garage to check on the truck. Turns out a rat had gotten into the area of the A/C filter behind the glove box and, after munching on the filter and some insurance documents, died there. They would keep the truck another day to take care of that.

I decide to take the back way home and along the way I notice a bright orange bastard teak tree blooming in the middle of some fields about 1/2 km away. I know of a field road that goes generally in that direction, so I head that way as far as I can on the bike and walk across the dry rice paddies the remaining distance to the tree. After taking some pictures, I head back home.

Bastard Teak Tree

One of our afternoon tasks had been to get the living room set up. We have some rattan furniture which needs major cleaning and oiling. The cushions had been kept under plastic and were in pretty good shape. Apparently, one of the geckos thought so, too, as there was a pocket of hatched eggs between two of the cushions.

Gecko Eggs on Pillow Cushion

In the evening, we contact a high school girl we know who lives at the beginning of our street. She and her dad helped look after our plants while we were gone. We invite them to come over for a visit now that we have a place for them to sit, and we give her a thank you gift. They brought us a strawberry plant in a big pot that even had strawberries starting to form.

Strawberry Plant Gift from Markus and Samantha

Day Five - Friday

I go for a short walk in the morning to enjoy the scenery of the rice paddies and to check out some house construction in the neighborhood. Power company trucks are busy on the highway at the end of our street—they are running new lines. When I get back to the house, I find the power is off. That means no vacuuming and no fans. The day is spent continuing with cleaning operations as well as pulling out some weed trees that have sprouted in the past year. At three o'clock we go to a coffee shop down by the Mekong River, not so much because we want coffee but to enjoy the A/C for an hour. By the time we get back home, the power is back on. Ingrid finishes vacuuming the last window screen and I bicycle to the garage to pick up the truck. Fortunately, there haven't been any police checkpoints at the next intersection like they used to, as I won't have my new registration sticker until tomorrow.

Rice Paddies Near Our House

Day Six - Saturday

Yesterday I was under the delusion that we were almost done cleaning. But there were more screens to vacuum and wash. And there were some more moldy items found that need to be either cleaned or disposed of. The car interiors needed vacuuming and more cleaning. (Still a little rat residue on the front floor mat of the truck. Found a gecko mummy in the back of car, but fortunately the stink had long since cooked out of it.) By the time we were done with all that, our vacuum needed a good cleaning as well.

At one point the landlord comes by and I show him the termite eaten door and frame. He comes by later with someone who will replace it, probably with steel. Sink your mandibles in that, termites!

Eventually I take a drive to pick up the truck registration papers and then go get 4 jugs of water, since they did not come and deliver yet following my call yesterday. Still left to do yet: get some new tires for the truck and go to the baking supply store in Nong Khai for some specialty items. But no rush on those. Tomorrow is our sabbath celebration and I'm ready for a day of rest.

About 5:30 pm, we drive over to see if Nang and O are home from the market yet. Pla, their daughter, comes to the door and is excited to see us. We visit a couple minutes at their house, then walk over to the church building. We sit and chat there for over an hour. During that time, Somdy also calls on Messenger so we chat with him as well.

On the way home, we swing by Big C to pick up some decorations for the birthday cake Ingrid made for Nok to serve at church tomorrow.

Birthday Cake

Since it's late, we pick up something for dinner as well. It is after eight when we get home. It's life in Thailand, no real schedule, life revolves around relationships. There is a sense of normalcy in our "routine". It's beginning to feel like home again.

Our Desert Rose Waited For Us to
Get Home Before Blooming

Thank you, Lord for bringing us back home safely. For travels on taxis and planes and rental cars. For surviving being stuck in a room for two weeks of quarantine. For friends who welcome us back. For helpful tuktuk drivers. For energy and strength to get so much done this week. For the pleasures of small-town life where mechanics make house calls. For sweet, ripe mangoes. For my beautiful, hard-working, adventurous wife who has been my faithful travel companion for the past 37 years.