What God Can Do With A Sock?

Last weekend, I was up at Hartland Christian Camp to lead a seminar on Saturday during their weekend Women's Retreat.  I always look forward to the experience because I get to meet and hang out with a lot of great people.  Hartland always has fun activities and games amongst the prayer time, worship, and Bible teachings.  

As we were leaving the service the first night, it was announced that there would be ladies in the back handing out socks.  You were to take one sock, then find the woman that had your sock mate.  When you did, you were to talk until you found something you shared in common.  You could then bring your pair of socks back to the ladies with the baskets.  This exercise would earn you a ticket in the drawings they had going during our time together (I won a great succulent arrangement). 

 I grabbed a brightly colored, striped ankle sock, placed it over my hand like a mitten and began to walk around the room with my hand in the air.  After some time of finding no mate amongst the women, I headed back to the ladies with the baskets and looked inside; my match had yet to be taken out of the basket.  There it lay waiting for someone to grab it.  

I decided to camp out by the basket so that when it was nabbed, I could easily connect with the women who grabbed my match.  After a bit of a time, a women took my sock mate.  Then she spoke and I inwardly screamed like an excited teenage girl, because she had an Australian accent.  Even though I have seen a great part of the world, Australia is my number one desired location to one day experience.  As we began to talk we each went down our list of places we had travelled trying to find something we had in common.  Then it came up - India!  

India, while not my number one lifetime desired destination, is the place God has put on my heart to go to for the last three years or so.  My youth group has a map of India displayed on the wall where we meet so that we might pray for a city each time we meet, or choose a city that starts with our name initial to pray over the next week.  It has deepened my heart for this country.  

Lo and behold, my new friend, Janine, travels to India each year to two different regions in a mission effort to widows and orphans.  That is a people group I have a deep love towards in a region where I want to go, where I do not have a ministry connection; could this be a better match?  

We exchanged our socks for a ticket and got more than a chance to win a prize, we exchanged information and hope to connect later to discuss India and maybe even get to know each other better as sisters in Christ.  Who knew God could use a sock to do all that?! Okay, so I knew he could, but its still fun to experience. Thank you, God!

Thailand Trip - Sunday, March 1st

Elaine and I headed down to LA around 3:30pm. We had wonderful conversation all the way down to the hotel. We got our room, parked the car, then after lugging our stuff to our room, we walked down the street searching for a place to eat. We found a sports bar and restaurant called Sticks & Steins and had a very filling meal. Then, of course, we headed to bed (though neither of us got much sleep).

Hong Nom???

Sawadee Kaaa. So there are some parts of my trip that I am not to share until I get to US soil, so I have not written because I want to keep it all in order, except today. :)...I head to Bangkok in a few hours, then to LA in the morning. If you are reading this in America you are about to start Thursday, but I am finishing it 14 hours ahead of my destination in LA. It was 15 hours when I left but Daylight Savings ate one up. Today has been humorous because if you have heard from me you know I have been fighting a throat and sinus infection, and because of that I am drinking water faster than I can buy more bottles. Everywhere we go my standard question is, "Hong Nom?" (not sure about spelling), which means toilet. Using the bathroom here can be an interesting endeavor as most are porcelain holes with feet tracks instead of the western toilets. In fact today I wore my fisherman pants which I had to take off in one Hong Nom because I couldn't figure out how to go with them on. Fisherman pants are huge pants that you wrap around your waist and tie. Okay so more than you probably wanted to know. I am sad to leave as this trip has opened my heart more than ever before, but I am also happy to get home. I have no clean clothes, out of shampoo and my hair is ready to see a blowdryer and straightener, not to mention I really miss my friends and family. If I could leave an image for you as to a summary for my trip, it would be a heart with little pockets filled with people that are leaving with me in my heart. If you want to hear more, check back in a few days and I will add all my journal entries. I have so much to share. Kupp Koon Kaaa