Making Connections

We've been blessed to be making lots of fun connections with new friends, lately. That's especially true as we're also mourning the loss of our friends, the Kameyamas, as they are moving back to Tokyo after spending the last six years here in the Fort.
The opportunities to be meeting new friends has been thanks to our wonderful church family. Penny has gotten very involved by singing and dancing in the musical that the youth group put on to raise funds so that they can go on mission trips. The director and her husband just happened to have lived in Thailand when they were younger. In fact, that's where the two of them met. So, I was delighted when she talked Penny into joining the musical. Although she was quite apprehensive about it in the beginning, sometimes complained about the length of the rehearsals, and often worried about getting all of her homework done; in the end, she loved it! She has decided that she would actually like to do it again next year. I'm so glad that she started making connections with the kids at church. And, an interesting note about the director's husband...we found out, very unexpectedly, that he is the eye doctor that Jay had set up an appointment for Penny to see. That's another "God-thing", as she had been complaining and dreading the idea of going to see an eye doctor.


Another cool connection that we just made through church as to someone from Thailand. You see, I love to meet any foreigners I can, especially if they look Asian. So, when I saw some new, Asian-looking faces after our Thanksgiving Eve service I approached them and asked them where they were from. Turns out that were Vietnamese, visiting with a woman from our church. This woman teaches English to foreigners, mostly students at CSU. And she told me that she teaches a Thai woman! So, we exchanged names and phone numbers, etc. Well, yesterday the Thai woman's American husband called me up and said that they'd love to meet us. So, today she drove all by herself (first time without her husband to a new place)...You go, girl! We had a GREAT time! We took pictures by our Christmas tree that Penny and I put up the night before. Here's our new friend. I'll just give you her American nickname, Rita.

One more cool connection this week was that Penny was able to Skype for the first time with someone very special to her back in the orphanage. We're so thankful for all of these great chances to meet new friends, catch up with old friends, and wish friends the best as they venture out in new chapters in their lives. God bless you all, friends!!!