In Honor of Mr. Grganovic

I was cleaning out a cupboard this afternoon while the kids were in school. They just went back after having a week off for a term break that sort of coincides with the American Fall Break. I came to a pile of old notes, letters, Christmas cards, ungrouped photos…you know the routine. That pile of things that I just can’t figure out where to file…so they end up staying in a pile…and in our case getting moved from country to country. Have I painted the picture well enough? Good!

I reread some of the notes and cards and letters and thought through the pictures one by one, treasuring the memory, the person, the people who were represented by the words and photos when I came across an address scribbled on the back of an envelope. Instantly, I was replaying in my mind a fifteen minute conversation that has left me wondering at times.

I don’t remember which month or what year it was while living in Australia when the conversation took place, but it left a rather firm mark in my heart and mind. The place of the conversation was an aisle in the Safeway at the St. Helena supermarket, but the time of day slips my memory. Being raised in a small town where my parents were employed by the school corporation, I had learned how to have conversations with strangers at a grocery store. Up and down the first aisles I went. The funny thing was this one older man I kept seeing looked very out of place…almost as if he had never before been to a grocery store. He proceeded to put something in his trolley and then take it out again. We greeted each other with a nod each time as we passed in the aisles going the opposite direction from each other. By the third or forth aisle, we laughed at ourselves and I took the hint and asked him if he needed any help finding anything. I was a PRO in the grocery by this time…Well, it was as if I had just turned on a faucet. He began to tell me how his wife always did all the shopping and that she had been sick and his kids were coming home for a visit and there wasn’t any food at the house and he didn’t know what he would fix when they came…and…and…and.

I politely commiserated with him and helped him find some things he might need by asking questions etc. He had a noticeable non-Australian accent, as did I, so we began the “where ya from” scene. He was from Croatia. That was all I needed and I was hooked. The wife of the Best Man in our wedding and long time dear friends is from Croatia. So, I felt drawn to listen even more. He told me of immigrating to Australia, raising his kids there, of his being Catholic and having a dear friend who had switched religions recently and how it broke his heart…I could not believe the questions he had about what I believed about God. I couldn’t believe how I felt like I had known him much longer than three grocery aisles. He told me that his wife would like to meet me he was sure of it. He gave me his address on the back of an envelope I dug out of my “needing to be cleaned out purse”. I said I would stop by sometime, but I would ring first as he had included their phone number. I kept it in my wallet and thought about ringing for many weeks. Then I cleaned out my purse and the address ended up on my desk in the pile of things to do. I wanted to ring, I had every intention of ringing, but I never did.

A few months later, as I was sitting at the computer, the phone rang. On the other end was a voice I had never heard before. I thought it was a salesman, so I probably wasn’t as kind as I could have been. What I soon realized, however, was this man on the other end of the phone was trying to find out who I was. He had found my address and phone number in his dad’s wallet after his dad had died that weekend. He was trying to take care of his dad personal business matters. The son had come across my number thinking it was a tile related job of his dad’s that he would need to follow up on. I was shocked! I couldn’t believe this man still had my address as I had ripped off the return address of the envelope he had written on and had given him my address. (Which, Mother, I don’t usually do.J) I couldn’t believe he had died. I couldn’t believe I had never rang to go over for a visit. I just couldn’t believe…So I explained the story of how I had met his father and all the wonderful things his dad had said about his kids and how much he said he loved his wife…all in the aisle of the Safeway in St. Helena.

And that’s where it ends!

Now what should I do with his address, now that I have found it again? I decided to blog about it and share the story with anyone who needs to be encouraged to follow through and love in the small ways.

Hebrews 10:23&24: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

A World of Difference in a Small Village


The average daily wage in Chiang Mai is 200 Baht, which is equal to about $5.00 US depending on the day’s exchange rate. (Since moving overseas, even to Australia, we have begun to pay attention to, and even think in exchange rates on a daily basis…for those of you who know me, I’m sure you must find this information shocking.)

Anyway, if you begin to do the math, 200 Baht doesn’t go very far. I must say, though, 200 Baht for a Thai person usually goes a little farther than 200 Baht for a Farang (foreigner). A Thai knows where to go, how to get there, and usually won’t be taken advantage of because of their appearance or lack of language skills.

However, for a Thai person with the 200 Baht wage, to save up enough cash to develop a stash, is really difficult even in the share society.

Our mae baan, (house helper) Nui, came to us in June and asked for an advance of 2000 Baht on her pay of 200 Baht/day. Now that is 10 times her approximate daily wage. However, she told us it was going to be a loan for her father to open up a fresh food stand in the village outside our moo baan (neighborhood). Hmmmm….That doesn’t sound like a bad idea and if it helps Nui, I’m all for it.

I gave her the money. Within a week her dad was in business and Nui was working there on her hunch hour and after she was finished at our house. Shortly after it opened, I went down to his shop, even though my Thai is very inadequate, to meet Nui’s father and congratulate them on their shop.

Despite the meager appearance of the roadside village stand, and the lack of extensive menu, within a month or less, he was making 500 Baht per day profit. He also needed to hire someone else to help with the customers.

Well, now it is four months later, and I just found out that he is making 3000 Baht per day profit! I drive by his shop nearly everyday and at various times of the day. One time on my way to the airport at 5:45 am to drop off Scott, he was there cleaning and setting up shop for the day ahead-and it was barely dawn. During the day and evening, the place is always busy. Outside people must know about it too, because he doesn’t just serve the village people. It’s like they drive in off the nearby highway just for the food.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have contributed to Nui’s life in this way. Thais look after their extended families in a very obligatory way…as it is expected that the children will provide for their parents. We may never be able to speak the language well enough to personally share with them the hope of Jesus Christ. However, Nui knows we are Christians. So we try to live in a way to demonstrate the love of Christ to her in a framework that within her culture she may understand and see something different in us.

Oh Captain, Our Captain!

We went on a voyage today and circumnavigated the world and many continents with explorers from many different lands and cultures. Some of these dynamic explorers we were introduced to were Captain Matthew Flinders, Sir Frances Drake, Ferdinand Magellan, Captain James Cook, Henry Hudson, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Alexander Mackenzie…just to mention a few. We had a very good day and are extremely weary from our adventures.

We are so thankful that one of these explorers Captain Matthew Flinders is our son, Matthew. He is posed here with two of his explorer mates from school, Danner and Robin. Matthew is in fifth grade at CMIS. They have been studying explorers and learning about speech making. The teacher informed us that the kids will be doing a new speech every three weeks for the rest of the year. At this rate, they should all be ready to be the next diplomats of the United Nations representing a plethora of countries. What a great experience this was for the kids. The food was great too at the end. Because Matthew Flinders explored Australia, I made ANZAC Biscuits in his honor. Another mother made a Korean version of sushi which was delicious. We had some sticky rice and chicken too which is a lovely Thai dish especially if you have a bit of spice to go with it.

Well done 5B…Great work to you all!!! And we are so proud of Matthew!

A Green Wall

We have a rather Western kitchen, by Thai standards. It has granite counter (bench) tops, actual wall cabinets, and a stove with an oven. (Mind you, the beautiful granite tops stop at the middle of my thighs instead of just below my waist.) However, if I look out the small window above the uniquely shaped sink, I see, smell, and hear a whole different world.

When we first moved in, I was rather grieved with the loss of the kitchen window views of our previous homes. Usually, at least there were trees, birds, open grass spaces, or something interesting to hold my attention while standing at the sink. Not here! Here, I was greeted with a green mesh wall located approximately one foot away from the window. This green wall blocks my view, mostly, except for shadows that move about behind it…but doesn’t block my sense of smell or hearing. Through inquiring, I have discovered that the green wall is the boundary between our house and what the Thai’s call a dirty kitchen of our neighbor’s home. A dirty kitchen is simply the outside kitchen. Thai cooking is extremely hot, greasy, and very smelly. The outside kitchen keeps all the heat, grease, and odors out of the house and furniture. So for our neighbors, this is a good plan…for us…well, we get their heat, their grease and their odors (which are beyond any typewritten description) and all of their kitchen conversations. But, I am trying to look on the bright side…the opportunity to have a view into an extended Thai family life is right out my kitchen window!

Happy Birthday Scott!...Scott is in India at the moment. We love you!

Faith has been studying sonnets in English class just recently and this is her first attempt at writing one for an assignment. We thought we would share it with you...

Chiang Mai—Sonnet
Faith Cougill

Hot almost all year round and tropical,
Mosquitoes every night and touristy,
Exciting, humid, palm trees, comfortable
Chiang Mai is a peaceful place of tranquility.

It’s friendly, peaceful, and it’s very fun.
When rain comes, I feel lots of thankfulness
And I feel joy when comes the cheerful sun.
Chiang Mai is a place where I feel happiness.

The markets are remarkably busy
Their handmade crafts are great: ask “tao rai kha?”
Most of these crafts are not at all cheesy.
A useful saying in Chiang Mai: “Sawasdee Kha!”

A common way to get around: song taew
A wonderful shopping mall: Gad Suan Gaew

Faith: Update

Faith is 15 ½ years old now. She is a sophomore at CMIS (Chiang Mai International School) which is equal to Year 10 for any of you Aussies reading this. She has 7 different subjects, but she is really enjoying her French, Sociology, and World Geography classes in particular. Faith has also chosen to participate in an all Chiang Mai International Schools choir that will join with an Australian Girls’ Choir for three performances on the 13th of October. She has really enjoyed her time of after school practices each week. Two of the songs she has learned for the performances are sung in Thai; one of them is called the King’s Anthem.

Due to Faith’s surgery in August 2005, she missed the first semester of 9th grade. At the time, we considered keeping her out for a full year because of the move, adjusting, and length of time off, however, we are so thankful she went ahead and got started mid-year. After getting her school schedule organized when we arrived in January, we discovered that the only specific class she had to make up from year 9 first semester was English. Over the summer, she enrolled in an online English course with Indiana University High School. She was able to take advantage of a greater selection of courses offered so she chose Children’s Literature. (We really were impressed with the course and IUHS’s professionalism.) Because of snail mail, her midterm and final exams were the only assignments preventing her from being finished. Now, she is down to the final which she has scheduled at CMIS on the 20th of October. (She is also scheduled for the PSAT on the 18th of October). She has really done very well with the English course and we have seen huge improvements in her writing skill and her confidence in her writing ability. We believe this has been due to the amount of assigned work and the variety of genre that was assigned and accomplished in a concentrated time. It was a hard summer for her, particularly at the beginning, as she grudgingly surrendered assumed childhood norms…such as “the freedom of summer”. But then isn’t that what happens to a lot of kids her age as they take on jobs and driver’s ed and become more committed to sports training or other avenues of interest or responsibilities?

For those of you wondering about the MRI situation for Faith…She is doing exceptionally well! Praise the Lord…always!!! She had an MRI here in Chiang Mai in April and the process went rather well even with contrast dye. However, we opted to send the MRI that cost very little here… (I will update this again soon with the actual cost…) back to Dr. Sartorius in Indiana for his opinion/approval. He said all looked great. Well, we are set again for another MRI the end of October and we will follow the same procedure. Faith is also coming off her seizure medication little by little in hopes of being off of it in December. I think we are all looking forward to her getting off of it. Not that it has horrible side effects that we know of…it’s just all the things they don’t know about it.

One of decisions we made for the kids before coming to Chiang Mai was for them NOT to be involved in any extra-curricular activities for the spring semester last school year. There were so many unknowns to figure out…just the logistics of picking up kids from places we couldn’t even find could throw me into a tizzy. Scott’s travel schedule also contributed to our decision. We really wanted the kids to figure out the school thing from an academic and friendship perspective first. Well, last school year has past and now the kids are all finding things to be involved in. I’ll update you on the boys later. Faith is considering Track and Field, which begins in November. She is also considering participating in a local Youth Group. To explain the church situation here in Chiang Mai would require more time than I am willing to give right now. However, Faith has asked for prayer in her decision and ability to get involved. This is a big decision for Faith as the Youth Group is very large and there are very few kids she actually feels comfortable with who attend.

Well, that’s about it for now….more updates later.