Long Awaited Blog

Hey Ya'll! 

So I promised a blog and am finally writing one. I've been asked for updates on my leg. I am doing much, much better. Praise be to God. The swelling has started to go down, but it's still more swollen than I would like. I'm going to try and get an appointment on Sunday to see what the doctor says and get x-rays to make sure everything is healing well. I have finally downloaded the picture of my leg right after the staples were taken out. It looks much better than this now. 

Leg right after the staples had been removed.

The Feast of Tabernacles was in the middle of our break from school. We had some really, really good sermons and a time of being uplifted as well as great fellowship making new friends and hanging out with some old ones. The following pictures are from the Feast of Tabernacles. (Most from David Beattie's camera.)

Erika and I deciding what we should eat for dinner when we were out to dinner with the teachers, their parents and David.

Hanging out and talking after bowling.

I was the photographer during bowling... so sad! 

My pitiful sad face with my leg propped up.

I made friends with a monkey at the monkey farm.

The whole group at the Feast minus a few who had already left.

Notice there are two gimps-- one on each side. 

Erika and my room right next to Nathan and Ben's room. They must have decided to keep the trouble makers together. We were the only true Thais there... we left our shoes outside like you're supposed to. I think the maids got a kick out of it. 

Side note: I am getting really good at hobbling and kicking off my flip flop and putting it back on. It takes some serious skills.

Saying good bye to David

To show the improvement of my leg... I put two photos side by side. One is from about 3 1/2 weeks ago and one taken today. It looks tons better, if I do say so myself. I've been putting vitamin E and other oils on it just to let those of you know who were wondering an have been asking.

       

And yet another one...

Let's see other news in my life includes the second semester of school starting. We had our first two days of classes in our second semester. They went well. One of my first year students was proud of me because I was teaching even though I am hurt. It was very cute the way he said it. After that class, I got stranded in the school because the flood gates decided to open. Just FYI crutches and water do not mix very well together. So I taught my other class early and hung out for another half an hour talking with students to wait out the water. 

I think that's all that's happening here in good ol' Mae Sa Luag. 

As always I miss you all dearly and really, really appreciate your continued prayers and support while I'm here.

Lots of Love,

Lainy

The Leg, Classes and A Spectacle

Hello, hello!

I would like to start off by saying thank you very much for your notes and prayers. They are appreciated very, very much! 

The past couple of weeks have been interesting to say the least. I have had my ups and downs. Sitting around and lying down gets kind of old really fast, I must say. I am definitely ready to run around. I guess it's  building my patience-- I thought I was a pretty patient person, but now I'm beginning to wonder. I trying to keep a positive attitude and look for all of the silver linings and keep a thankful spirit. Some days are harder than others. Especially when I have too much time on my hands to think, which can get me into trouble. I do have some really good news! I had my first follow up appointment on Sunday, October 6th and the doctor thinks I'm progressing well. The wounds are looking better. He's not happy with how much swelling I still have, but other than that, he seemed pleased. He removed the staples too! It was a bit scary!! It hurt a lot less than I thought it would for which I am most definitely thankful!! Erika took a picture of my leg when we (and by we I mean she) put vitamin E and lavender oils on the incision to help prevent too much scaring. I am very, very thankful I am healing! I'm trying to remain patient and looking for all the life lessons that I can learn from this whole experience. There are many of them and some are harder than others besides patience, humility is a BIG one.   

We finished up our first semester of classes a week ago. Nathan and Mrs. Howell proctored my finals so I didn't have to hobble out to class, which was greatly appreciated especially considering all I wanted to do was sleep as I was taking drugs. I finished grades this past Friday and am pleased to announce all of my students passed! This was very exciting! It's interesting being on this side of the table during finals. I start to think about my Finals weeks and tests. I'm still not sure which is more difficult.

So being that the first semester is over, I'm sure you all know what that means. Well, I guess it could mean a variety of things. 1. School is half way over for the year. 2. I've been here for nearly half of the time. 3. I'll be home in 4 1/2 - 5 months and see all of you smiling faces! 4. I'll be in Thailand for another 4 1/2- 5 months!  I believe this list could go on and on, so I'm going to spare all of you and stop there! I think you get the idea. 

Alrighty, I MUST leave you with a funny story. Tonight Erika, Ben and I went to the Sunday market. (I'm getting much better at using the ol' crutches!) We were looking for gifts for people and it was a chance to get out. Ben dropped us off so I wouldn't have to walk a long ways to get to the market after parking the truck. (Enough details, I know.) Anyway, as we were walking, people are just staring at me. In my head I'm thinking haven't you ever seen a person on crutches before. It was pretty funny and we had a good laugh about it. It gets better though! Besides all of the staring, smiling and snickering, there were a couple of Thai guys who snapped a couple of photos of me. Really? They are taking pictures of me walking on crutches. Too funny! Maybe they've not seen a farrang on crutches before. Who knows! It was definitely an interesting cultural experience. I thought I'd share with all of you. Maybe this will bring a smile to your day. Whenever you see someone on crutches, you can think of me being a spectacle. 

Alrighty, I think that's all for now. I'll post some photos of the ol' leg so you can see the progress it has made on my next blog. 

Hope you are all doing well!

Those of you who are heading off to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, Have a very HAPPY FEAST!! I know all of us are looking forward to it in Thailand. 

Lots of Love,

Lainy

  

Mi Pierna Despues De Una Sermana!

Greetings to All of You Lovely People! 

I hope this finds you well.

I am doing as well as can be expected. This is definitely a learning experience. I am learning to SLOW down. Well actually, I've been FORCED to slow down. Things that I could do in a matter of minutes or even seconds now take me much, much longer! I have to depend on other people a ton! (For almost everything.) It's difficult for as most of you probably know. I am "Miss Independent," "I can do it" person. Now I have been turned into "Miss Dependent," "Please Help Me" person. I guess this can be turned into a spiritual lesson as well. We all like to think we are in control of things. It is our lives after all. However when we surrender to live a life for the glory of God and we give Him our life, we are saying that we fully trust Him and without Him we are nothing. I have had a lot of time to think and this came to mind the other day. It is easier for me to trust and lean on God rather than people. Maybe this comes from past experiences of having been hurt deeply or let down by people. That is why we don't put our trust in man, but in God. I am learning all sorts of things about myself. I am learning that taking medicine can be a good thing even if I don't like it. I think one of the biggest lessons, though is definitely how precious life is. It is but a vapor. God has me here for a reason. I hope and pray that I can live my life to the fullest on a daily basis pleasing to the LORD. These ramblings are just some of the things that I've been thinking about lately and I thought I would share them with all of you. 

I am so thankful for the people here who are taking care of me. I am very thankful for those of you who are far and are praying for me. 

Now for some photos... DISCLAIMER... If you have a weak stomach, don't look at the photos of my leg. They are really kind of gross! Some of you have requested photos so I am fulfilling that request.  There are also photos from the hospital. 

This picture is from the store before the accident. NOTICE in what language the instructions are available. I thought I was in Thailand. :)

 

The view from my window. I didn't get to see much of it, but the visitors loved it.

This is what they gave me my medicine in... dessert, what? I thought they were drugs.

Photo 1: My left leg banged up and my right leg with the gauze still on it.

 

Photo 2: My stitches. I have lots of bruises all over both legs, but I thought I would spare you. Every time we clean it out... I still say eww gross! 

 

Flowers from the teachers, staff and students at Legacy. They made me smile when Nathan brought them in. 

In the hospital eating yogurt so I could take the pain meds. Smiling because they said I could go home!! :)

My hotel... I mean hospital room. I think the guys were little sad when I got discharged because we couldn't hang out in the spacious room with everything you could hope for in a living room. Comfy couches, free wifi, a mini fridge, tv with dvd player, and an AC. Too bad we weren't there for a better reason!

I think that's all for an update for today. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as well as Aj. Leon Sexton. 

Lots of Love from the Other Side of the World! The adventure continues!