Trying to post a picture

Philip is helping me to try and learn how to post pictures on the blog. This picture was taken last year in September...a Baptism service at the beach. It brings back special memories of a day when Philip baptized our good friend, Mrs Gail, and several students and our own Isaac.

Today we are on vacation at the beach...when we arrived here, we discovered this little hotel that we love and have stayed in several times now has wireless access! Unbelievable...so, here we sit, looking at God's creation and trying to learn more about the blogging world!

The wind is blowing, the waves are crashing, and it's great to see this picture and be reminded of the baptism day last September,
Sheila

Five Harkins off to the beach

In about an hour, we are headed off to our favorite spot in Rayong, Thailand. A beautiful beach, where we love to go for family time. Our time in the car will be spent reading "Do Hard Things" by Brett and Alex Harris, and we are all looking forward to reading a book we've heard so much about. Thank you, Mother, for sending that to us.

We are still just "soaking up" (the kids really tease me about this, which they say I use in abundance every time we are enjoying a beautiful sunset, or a special family moment...) time with the girls and enjoying every minute of having girls in the house again...giggles, music, and meaningful conversation...what a blessing after four weeks of a much quieter house.

Philip and I will be working on the script for the fall play, and would appreciate your prayers that we will be able to work together well, as working together on something like this can often reveal all our differences!!

Thanks for your prayers as we take off for some family time...we will be back on Thursday,
Sheila

Together Again!

What a reunion at the Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday!! One happy, tearful Momma, one excited, gift-bearing brother, two beautiful, so-grown-up-looking daughters, one tired, good-looking Poppa!!!

FIVE again...five in the car, five sleeping under the same roof, five laughing, grateful family members pouring over pictures--trying to get a word in, sharing gifts and memories and greetings from loved ones with each other.

Five people eating favorite foods...lemon-squares, applesauce, pumpkin bread, meat pies, chicken and cashewnut... and special treats from the U.S.A...little Debbie Oatmeal Creme pies, Frosted Shredded Wheat, Honey Combs, Pop Tarts, Reece's Cups.

Four family members knowing about the secret purchase...the combination of generous grandparents, gift money, and kids' money all put together...the Wii game....one speechless boy who has just endured a hard month without his sisters, without getting to go to the U.S, with emergency surgery and also not allowed to play sports for the rest of the summer...one very happy guy who said, "I think it was all worth it!!!"

Five people who just had to stop and thank God for his goodness...what joy to all be together again, how blessed we are,
Thank you, Father, for family

Random Thoughts

My thoughts today are bouncing around and don't seem to center on one theme...

Isaac and two of his friends are out with our dog, Chocolate, killing a too-kay right now. Yesterday, Isaac and Choco killed a small snake...Isaac's first without Dad around. They were proud of their success. I surely don't like any of the reptiles around, but there is a certain satisfaction in watching boys encounter the wild and succeed! We are all still laughing about the monitor lizard Chocolate killed and the boys knocked out of the tree a couple of weeks ago, soon after Isaac's surgery. Isaac was just sitting and watching the other boys, but when Chocolate got ahold of the monitor lizard and slung it up in the air, Isaac jumped up and moved so quickly....it really was too funny...he had been moving so slowly since the surgery, and we were just thankful he didn't burst his stitches open!

Anyway, enough about reptiles, except to say, I'm glad we have a dog who notices them in our yard and has managed to make this place liveable for me so far!!

A dear Thai friend took us out to supper last night to Sizzler at the mall. Just being around her brings me joy...when her daughters started coming to our school about seven years ago, she was a strong buddhist. But, God touched her heart and I was so blessed to pray with her one day as she surrendered her life to the one true God, the God who created her and loves her so much. Since that time, watching her life change from despair to hope, from fear to trust, from searching to having a purpose has been a beautiful thing.

During our time together last night, she mentioned a conversation she had with her niece who is a graduate student in Texas and is home in Bangkok for the summer. I asked if her niece had met any Christians or been to church while she was in America. She said that the other Thai students studying at the university had cautioned her niece about talking to Christians or going to church. They told her that the Christians around there were very strong and assertive and would try to get you to convert. I was saddened to hear that her neice had been warned against Christianity. I had hoped that she would see the love and kindness of believers while she was in the states.

How I pray that all of us who know the Lord will reach out in love to those who do not...that our love will overflow and our reputation would be that of the Lord Jesus Christ...that those who don't know Him would flock around us, wanting to be close to that kind of love.

Well, here at our house there is great excitement as we await the return of Philip, Rissa and Shaina. Isaac and I went out shopping yesterday...his idea...he was very determined to buy his sisters a gift. For awhile, he was quite depresesed because he couldnt' find a good gift for the girls...but how happy he was when he finally picked them out!

Missing your loved ones is no fun, but anticipating their arrival and thinking about the reunion is a tremendous blessing that we would never have if we weren't apart! It always reminds me of longing for heaven, and what rejoicing there will be at the greatest of all reunions!

We're so thankful for the peace that God has clothed us with this summer, knowing that this time away from each other has been hard, but good, and knowing that God is producing good things in each of us from this time of separation.

Enough random thoughts for now!
Sheila

4th of July in Thailand

Isaac and I had a good 4th of July here. And, although we missed being at the celebrations in the states with family, it felt right and good to be here. We were glad to hear from my mother and Dad in Cedartown today about their 4th with Grandmother Jackson, the Daniel Jackson clan and the Fred Barr clan. Sounded like a great day there. And, it was wonderful to hear from Philip and the girls about their day at Lynn and Darrow's with the Harkins' clan. Not often that Philip is with four of his siblings, and we are thankful that they could get together!

We were invited to Nan and Reyong's house for a BBQ last night. Nan outdid herself...chicken, shrimp, hamburgers, vegetables, corn on the cob, french fries, watermelon, cherries, and apple pie! I'm sure I have left out some, too. They had also invited Dean Anderson, a businessman here who goes to church with us, and Mr. Boo Lert and his wife, Mrs. Lee, a Christian Thai couple.

Mr. Boo Lert (not sure of the best spelling for his name!!) and Reyong have been on the committee that brings all the churches together in Thailand for Christmas outreach for the last eight years. The things they have accomplished are phenomenal. In a country that is less than two percent Christian, it is amazing that they have been granted the use of stages in most of the major malls in Bangkok for performing Christmas outreaches. Last year, they had groups from Korea come and sing and dance, as well as many of the Thai churches here. They are starting to line things up for this year...anyone want to come and bring some Christmas cheer and truth to Thailand?

This past week they had a meeting that they have been working and praying about for years...bringing the different Christian radio outreaches together to try and combine them for 24 hour Christian radio throughout Thailand. The laws are now such that they can do this, and it would be an incredible witness if they are able to achieve their goals. They not only need finances, but also manpower, especially those gifted in the I.T. world as they try to bring this together.

It was so exciting to hear these Thai Christians talk and dream about what could happen in this country. I love living here and seeing God at work in all kinds of areas all the time.

My personal little area is working with the teens that go to the International Community School. I have been trying to e-mail individually the ones who attend our Friday Fellowship, and it has given me great joy to hear from many of them. A lot of these kids really love the Lord, and others are earnestly seeking and want to have spiritual answers. I'm thankful for the time I have with them, and pray that I will be refreshed and ready to minister to them again when school starts back.

Isaac is recovering fine from his appendectomy. We did have a scare on Thursday morning when he woke up with chest pains...it was a little complicated with Philip not here, and I don't drive the car out on main streets, and we had a house full of boys who were here for a sleepover. Anyway, thanks to good friends, we were able to get him to the hospital, and the boys at our house even cleaned everything up nicely!! The Dr's were extremely helpful and checked everything out...chest x-ray, EKG, echocardiogram, and blood work. I felt like they were very thorough and explained things well. Everything checked out fine, and they felt like Isaac just had a strained muscle. He had been in intense pain that just vanished...I asked him if he asked God to heal him, and he said, yes, he had, so I am willing to believe that God stepped in and took care of whatever the problem was!

Other than that, our week of being just the two of us has been rather uneventful, and we are counting down 'til Thursday when Philip and the girls come home!

I realized that on this post about America's independance day, I just spent all my time talking about what God is doing in Thailand. I'd love to hear what he is doing in America, if anyone wants to tell me!

Sheila

Under Cloudy Skies

It is cloudy today and Bangkok, and I love it! I love wind blowing, the comforting feeling of the clouds all around, and the break from the heat! When I rode a bike down to Seven Eleven, it felt so nice...not my usual hot, sweaty and ready-to-get back home bike ride!

It was so nice to see the comments from Rissa, Shaina and Casey. Every since I started the blog last week I have had blogging woes...the computers wouldn't show any blogspots for days, then on again and off again, and then I couldn't figure out how to see things in English...I'm afraid I don't read Thai...

Anyway, I think I will be able to get this posted today, and I am grateful!

This has been a most unusual summer with Isaac's appendectomy adventure, and the girls American adventure! Tonight, Isaac has four friends over to spend the night...I don't believe we have ever had this many boys at one time. For some reason, with the girls being older, and Bethany and Mari always being around, I am used to girl things. So, having a house full of boys and hearing them argue over Lord of the Rings RISK and run out and shoot bb guns at moniter lizards is most unusual. I had each boy name a thanks before they ate their pizza tonight, and Ben said he wasn't trying to say that he was glad that Isaac had appendix trouble, but he was thankful that it had resulted in more time with Isaac. That is true--I would never let Isaac have had so much free time just to play without the excuse of being Surgery Boy and recovering. I am thankful some good has come from this and the boys are having fun!

It was good that Philip and the girls were able to Skype in before going with GrandMom to visit Toccoa Falls and North Greenville today. I pray that they will have a special time together, and also that these visits would be a good start for the girls in thinking about their futures. I know it will all come much faster than we want!

Thankful for a house full of boys,
For family taking such good care of Philip and the girls,
for blogs, e-mails, skypes, webcams, and all those communication-promoting technical things that I don't understand very well, but am very grateful for,
Sheila