carried

when i was a kid, i always wanted to be carried. but, because my butthead little brother was born 14 months after me, my carrying days were cut short while he was carried until he was like 10. plus, i was a "dense" little bugger and people got tired really quickly.

i've been floored lately with the notes i've gotten from people praying for my neighbors and me. i love it because it makes me feel like i'm being carried; that i'm somehow not doing this work by myself and that my neighbors are advocated for.

the one that makes me smile so big is a five-year old named michael, whose mom just contacted me. i've never met him and this is what his mom emailed me:

"although we haven't seen you, we knew you are doing ministry in thailand from your dad a year ago. my five-year-old son michael almost prays for you every night before he goes to sleep. his prayer is always like this: "dear god please help michelle kao tell everyone in thailand who you are and follow your words."

first off, i about died when i read that. i just thought it was so cute. and also, i better start working harder if i expect to tell everyone in thailand who god is. also, i wish i could post the picture she sent me of michael (but i will choose to not subject everyone's personal privacy to my own blogging fancies). he's adorable with his pink little ears and cheeks. i wrote michael back and attached pictures of me and a couple kids in the neighborhood and my thai mom and told him a little bit about them.

and michael's mom wrote this back to me:
"hi michelle, i am glad to hear from you. after i received your email, i read it to michael, and he has prayed for may and toey and your thai mom ever since that day. he prays for may and toey to have a peaceful ife, and their dad to get a job and your thai mom to believe in jesus. even i was amazed when he prayed for these people, because i only read your letter to him one time and he already remembered the kids' names. praise the lord, he gives michael a heart to pray for people he doesn't know. michael's dad lost his job three weeks ago, he prayed for him once, but he prays for may and toey's dad every day since he heard your letter."

then i really died. what a heart on this kid. i wish i had faith like michael's. things like this help me remember that god's got us covered and is carrying us here.
p.s. - i still like being carried, but who can carry this beast? don't you feel sorry for phil.

the biorhythm of a blog

after recently reading a friend's blog who moved abroad a few months ago, i recognized some similarities with my own blogging, and, as i thought more about it, everyone's blog who lives overseas. thus, after much scientific research, i'm publishing my findings:

a study of the blog life cycle of the american abroad
me, p.i.

egg - the blogger is forming in its comfortable home environment, preparing to head into its new external world. the blogger thinks, "i should start a new blog for my new life!" and details its hopes, anxieties and all the stressful and thrilling details leaving home and making a new one.

larva - in this stage, the blogger is first immersed in its new habitat and everything is fresh and exciting. you will most likely hear it full of eagerness and life. every event is an adventure, even if the adventure is finding toilet paper. the blogger thinks, "this is so unusual and exotic!" and is endeared to the new culture and surroundings which diminish the effect of new stressors. all the blogger's friends greatly support the blogger and comment diligently.

mature larva - the common post for the blogger at this stage is under the theme of "i miss." and it generally goes like this: "i miss cereal. i miss a burger. i miss *some convenient daily task*." the new-life smell is starting to fade away and the unfamiliar is left. the blogger is not given over to overt complaining, yet, because it wants to give the new culture the benefit of the doubt and simultaneously fears that people will get a bad impression.

pupa - the blogger goes into a period of blogging hibernation. the blogger at this point is reaching the point of embracing the new environment as home and all of its subsequent implications. it feels that life has become rather routine or mundane, has no amusing stories to tell, and feels that the serious tone of its thoughts aren't interesting to its blogging audience. the blogger thinks (but doesn't write), "is living here and planting roots here worth it? is this the best fit for me?"

adult - the blogger emerges with a new blogging style which it feels comfortable with, though of a different tone and mood of its previous posts. the specimen thinks, "screw it. i'm going to blog whatever i want and i don't care if other people don't think it's interesting." expect a surge of creativity, deeper ruminations, and unpredictable or random posting subjects.
the blogger is content with its blog.