I have always loved the passage in Mt. 6 that promises that when we seek first his kingdom, the rest of the little details (like food and clothes!) just fall into place. He knows what we need-and what's more, He longs to bless us with things that bring us joy. He's proven this so many times in my life, and He's taking it to a whole new level this week. I have my dream pottery dinnerware! Ever since my wedding, I've wished that I had registered for rustic, pottery-style dishes to eat off of. While we did ship some stuff over to China from the States, we got rid of most of our earthly belongings, including almost all of my kitchenware. As you can imagine, this was really difficult for me! As much as I don't want to be attached to "earthly things", there was definitely a lot of "stuff I'd accumulated over the years that was hard to part with.
So when we were shopping to stock our new home in China with the necessities, one of the things I was really hoping to find were pottery dishes. No luck. I had a couple of friends offer leads, but to no avail. But then in November, a friend told me about a pottery factory here in Thailand that seemed to make exactly what I was hoping for. I took off with my friend Audrey during our lunch break, and my dream was fulfilled! We got to tour the factory where they actually make the pottery (as seen in the photo of my friend Audrey standing inside the factory) and then go to the showroom and pick out our favorites. We had so much fun, and I got really cool blue rustic looking dishes that are packed to travel back to China with me to be used in our home there! It sure isn't that I have seeking Him first all figured out, but I do feel deeply blessed to be able to enjoy some dream decor as my heart feebly attempts to make pursuing Him my top goal in life!
In addition to being able to get such fun pottery, we also had the night off to go into town. We got to ride in a tuk-tuk (like a motorcycle with bench seats on back as seen in photo), which was a highlight for the kiddos. We also were able to eat Mexican food with some friends and the kids each picked out a toy at the night market (stuffed snakes for the boys and a dinosaur for Karis). On our way home, I picked up our laundry and had one of my somewhat regular "Where AM I?" moments that I've had since living in Asia. One of the ladies in our group had arranged for a local woman to come and pick up clothes to be washed for us. We then retrieved the clothes from her place of business. You can see me standing in the entryway in the picture, but we had to walk down this dark alley and go back into this random nook in the neighborhood to pick it up. What can I say, never a dull moment in cross-cultural living--even in the mundane tasks like getting laundry done!
