The Land of the Smiles. Thailand!

A Buddist Temple

Beautiful Thailand!

Our first team breakfast!

This is Dragon Fruit.

Hello from Thailand! We are all safe and sound and have been so enjoying everything so far. We got in Friday the 9th at about 2 am! tried to get some sleep and then headed into a full day of exploring the area. The food here is GRAND, and so is walking to the market everyday for meals. There are 7/11's here! A small taste of home :)

This past Monday the 11th we started our ministry time. It's been so sweet.. I'm experiencing God like never before. This past week consisted of: Early mornings and late nights of ministry. Prayer, prayer, prayer. Walks to the market and good converstation around the table while eating. We ventured to the night market and found a star bucks, mcdonalds and haggen das along the way! Motor bikes zooming by. Quiet whispers from God. Elephants along the side of the road!! ROTEE.. a wonderful Thai dessert with fried bananas and chocolate drenched in butter. (we're all convinced we'll gain weight instead of loosing it!!) . Yummy fresh fruit. The gorgeous children that steal your heart with one look. Talking to women who are desperate for Jesus but just dont know it yet.

The heat isnt bad And guess what?! We've got hot showers! Everywhere you go western music can be heared. Today I heard Taylor Swift and Beyonce. haha. I love it here. The people are absolutely so hospitable. I'm getting used to chop sticks.

more to come!!

Oh the Wonder!

Hello Readers!

As I reflect on 2009 I realize that I have lived in three different states this year. From Texas to Pennsylvania to North Carolina. And my first two month of 2010 will be spent in Thailand.. Oh the wonder! Back to 09 - I am so thankful and grateful for a GRAND year. 09, for me, was...finishing off a fun year of school and relishing the last 6 months of time spent with my family in Texas (and missing them very much). Then for 3 months, coming back to the beautiful landscape and familiar faces of PA; Staying busy and enjoying family. And the last 3 months of 09 in North Carolina, a time full of learning and a lot of newness. New people who I now call friends. A new place to live that I now find so meaningful. New experiences that will never be forgotten and that have shaped Lindsay Beiler for the better.

Here is an update of my holiday~

Christmas break was wonderful! My friends picked me up and on our travels back up to Pennsylvania we got caught in a snowstorm and had to spend the night in a hotel! We woke up to snow covering the car! When we finally got IN the car we were on our way and made it home safe and sound :). My time home was relaxing and nice. I enjoy the smells of home and the presence of family.. but I must say, I hate the goodbyes.

Just a week from today I said a sad goodbye to Lance and Megan as they departed for PA after dropping me off in NC. This week was full of craziness as ministry time started. A different schedule than the last three months for sure. No more lecture, now it's putting everything we've learned into practice! We've done everything from raking leaves around our property to helping clean at home for women who've just gotten out of jail. And tomorrow, to my excitement, we will be spending the entire day at the crisis pregnancy center! I cannot wait.

There is one thing I don't mind saying goodbye to - the cold weather! But I have a feeling I'll be saying the same thing on my last days in Thailand's 100% humidity. My team and I leave on Thursday; but for now I sit here yet again in our big dorm room with four triple bunk beds...accept two of the triple bunk beds are empty. Half of my new friends have spentt the first day of the new year in travel to India. We've heard a report back from them saying they've arrived safely and have started their adventures off right away, leaving no time for jet lag to get in the way!

The slow packing process has begun and every time I look at my big hiking back pack I get overwhelmed with the feeling of adventure and fulfillment. 2 months in Thailand?! And later this year 6 months in Australia? And then 6 months of traveling all over?! Can it get any more exciting??

I'm ready.

For Adventure.

For Thailand.

For BED.

More coming soon!

New Video Update!!

Update Week 9 from Lindsay Beiler on Vimeo.

Check out Meg's blog RIGHT HERE !

hard learning.

God is kind and will never push you harder than you can handle.. I'm learning to rest in this. The Lord is speaking to my specifically about some things he wants me to trust him with. Some things, lets just say, are between He and I. My first instinct is to blurt it out to my close friends or a leader.. would someone just give me some insight here! But nope.. I need to lean not on my understanding.. I need to do less talking and more trusting, resting, waiting. Not in what others have to say, not in what I have to say. In what God says. This is very hard. I don't like it. But He's here and He's good.

This past week was THE GATHERING. Cool name huh? Kind of intimidating.. A gathering of what you might ask? 200 YWAM DTSers. It was awesome. I had the previledge of Taking care of our two speakers Dave Buehring and Winkie Pratney - Such a cool job. They are seasoned men who love God and I learned a lot from them. I also got to see my cousin Tessa! O my.. our meeting was wonderful and I'm so sad it's all over! I took so much from the week.

Some cool notes from this weeks lecture (The topic was The Character and Nature of God):

Remember who lives in you.

The Lord has more intense feelings than you can even imagine. God feels so deeply. He felt the hurt you go through. Only Christ can carry the hurts of the world. He has given you a precious gift – to take what exists and rearrange it for his glory. It will be unique to you because you are unique. The gift god gave you is CHOICE. He made you a tiny, finite version of him. The stuff of God is not us it is the image of God in our lives. When we see what he made we get a little clue of what can be done. Its real! God will show you his secrets if you LOVE him.

-Winkie Pratney (From New Zealand!)

When there are mornings that you are in the word and it feels dry - it is still in you. We are too driven by what “buzzes” us. It goes beyond that. What are you doing with your quiet time? I don’t have to have a buzz to praise the Lord. Lie – “I have to have the feeling or I’m a hypocrite.” Truth – “You must go deeper because the Lord IS there.” GO DEEPER!!

In the bible hate is not the opposite of love. Selfishness is the opposite of love.

God thinks bigger, deeper and wider than us. But not alien to us.

-Dave Buehring

Today I bought watermelon flavored lip smackers lip gloss. For the first time in my 20 years of life I wished I could be a little girl again. So I did it - I walked out of the store with sparkly lips and did a little dance.

And she's off! .. My best friend is in China.

Yesterday my best friend Sarah (brown) left for China. C H I N A ! I can't explain in words how proud I am of her. Going to China has been something that the Lord put on her adventurous heart for quite some time. To see her step out and do this is so encouraging. She doesn't have a group of people to fly with or any idea who she is going to meet when she steps off that plane. She is goin for it! It's just her and the Lord.. I'm so happy that I know her.

Sarah's been one of the few people in my life who when I'm around her makes me a better Lindsay. I've been through some crazy experiences with her. She's cried with me in other countries when the Lord spoke to me about becoming a missionary. We've driven, flown, walked, traveled the United States/World together. She's laughed with me as loud as we both possibly could over some pretty ridiculously funny things. She's gotten in trouble with me numerous times.. I'll spare the details. She's inspired me to be an artist. She's prayed with me when we both thought our worlds were crashing down. She's been mad for me when people have hurt me. She's told me when I've been stupid, arrogant, prideful, doing my best and still feeling like no one. She's shared a room with me and found out how mean of a person I become when I'm woken up in the middle of the night. She's had to put up with me when I don't give myself credit. She's loved me and let me love her. She's been there.. one of my best friends. Always will be.. can't go back now. She's mine for life.

Would you please pray for her with me? She is going to do incredibly wonderful things for the Kingdom.. but she seriously needs backup [prayer]. Pray for protection. Pray for the Holy Spirit to pour down on her. Pray for dreams and visions from the Lord. Pray specifically for people to come into her life that will challenge her. Pray for the people she will come in contact with. Pray that when she gets lonely she will look to Jesus! Just pray..

Even though we've already said our goodbyes when I left for Monroe, NC and have been separated for 6 weeks.. I feel, over again, the pain of saying goodbye. I miss her incredibly. I feel sad that I can't experience this with her but overjoyed that this is her adventure.. her time to obey God. Her time to g r o w.

I love you Sarah Maher. I will see you in 4 1/2 months and I will hug you until we both pee our pants.