Flourishing Throughout Every Season

We are having such a wonderful time/season of our lives right now. What a blessing it is! I have also been coming out of one of the most difficult seasons of my life, so I am going to write about that a little. It has lasted for over a year!! That is such a long season. I thought seasons were only a few months.

I have hesitated to write so many times because of the challenges I was facing. I didn't know exactly what to say, so I chose to just continue in prayer. I feel like the Lord shows me something daily, for ME to work on. I kept thinking 'so and so' needed to fix themselves, I am just fine! HA. And you know what, so and so may need to work on themselves, but my job is for me to listen as the Lord corrects MY faults. I feel so challenged, in such a great way, right now. I think the difficult season was me getting to a place of being ready for more pruning. How thankful I am to have a Creator who cares enough about me to instruct me DAILY!! What another blessing! I love being ready for the challenge, feeling strong, wanting to pass the test and being ready for the fire. One day I was really having a hard time, just feeling down, tired, discouraged...wondering what exactly we are doing. I was walking and listening to such a wonderful message by someone from Bethel, I think Kris Valloton, and he said, 'there is no season of loss, Joseph flourished in prison and he flourished beside Potipher'. That was exactly what I needed to hear!! This season of difficulty has not been one of loss!!! Our home, our children, our marriage, our lives, are more vibrant now than they have ever been. Praise the Lord for every season!! There is a time for everything under the sun!! Sometimes while in the midst of a challenge we begin to question things... this is when we will find out where our hearts are! Who do we turn to when the going gets tough? Our help comes from the Lord!!

Love suffers long!! You can have suffering without love, but you can't have love without suffering!! I have heard my mother say, 'Sandy, pain is your friend', soooo many times. Some of the time I would think to myself, 'man, that sounds so hard'. She is exactly right though! That is when things begin to heal, when the pain gets so unbearable, the only choice you have is to call on Him. I think most of the time, when things get hard, people just push it down, push down the pain so as not to show the church any difficulties. Everyone looks at one another, smiles, say's 'God Bless You', and moves on. Let's get real!!

So, for the good stuff! Love DOES suffer long. Things may not always feel good, but our hearts know the right thing to do, the right way to respond, even if it is hard to respond in love. The children's Bible study for a few weeks really turned out to be for me. We cleaned house from all sinful speech. Murmuring, complaining, meddling, lying, sarcasm, name calling, and several others...oh, Lake calls it 'gospeling' (gossiping) :). I have found myself with such a negative tone, not even because the children were doing anything wrong, but because I had too much I was trying to do at one time. Then, we have to look at how that tone or gesture makes our children feel. Are they walking away feeling like they have done something wrong, when in all actuality, our tone was wrong, because of our own personal responsiblities.

Another word that blessed me and encouraged me, 'A wise person is ALWAYS prepared for the unexpected!!' Expections have been something that has caused a lot of my challenges. I have come into different situations expecting them to go one way, then they have turned a complete180. You know what? What I expect to happen in this life is really probably not going to happen, the way I want it to! God is in control and He will change my circumstances to fit His plan for my life. So, right now, I am trying really hard to have expectations for only God!! I do expect Him to move in my life, lead me, and direct me! And, HE IS!!

EXCITING NEWS:

If things go as they are right now :), the building for the after-school proagram will be rented this week!! So...then it is on to getting the supplies, the door for the building, and a few other things. Please keep this in your prayers!!

And...HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I know, we are early, but it is only in the 90s around here and feels like fall, so I am enjoying it. I will sign off and go bake some sweet potatoe pie and play scrabble with my chilins. (Told you I was starting early :) ).

Blessings from the other side of the world!!

Love you all!!

Sandy

My addition to our October newsletter!!!

Hey everyone!! Things are going good here in Thailand. We have all been so busy with taking care of the family, a new baby, home schooling, and all the responsibilities of life. Thank You Jesus for a vehicle, which is also an added responsibility, but a very welcomed one. I am so thankful to the Lord for His provision! This was such a testimony to us and the children and such a faith builder. We knew that it was all in His perfect timing and I believe that it was. I am thankful for the time and the grace for riding our motorcycles. I learned so much about our city, I learned a lot about the culture, and now that I am driving a car, I realize that I have learned how to drive better here in the middle of hundreds of motorcycles!! I know what the drivers are thinking.

The children and I have started visiting the World Vision School on Fridays and are teaching them English. There are about 15 children, they live on the railroad tracks in tin homes among lots of trash. The families just ‘squat’ here as this is government property and they do not have to buy it. It is such a sad situation. The school that we visit is run by two thai ladies who are Christians and were once funded by ‘World Vision Outreach’. I understand that now(from my limited understanding of thai) they are receiving NO funding from this organization. We are trying to provide their rice for them each month. There ‘school’ is in such pitiful shape that someone keeps crawling in through a hole in the bathroom and stealing the rice!

One day when we arrived there was a little baby sitting in a walker sucking on an empty beer bottle while his ‘grandmother’ was sorting trash. I was so heart-broken for this child. After the recent flooding on this side of the world, there was a man sitting in his ‘backyard’, knee deep in water with trash floating around him, smoking a cigarette. I gazed into his eyes and could see such hopelessness. I have such a huge vision for this area, but of course I must do only what I can at this time. There are not enough workers. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to help these people find jobs or to teach them a trade, help them build a home, or move out of this garbage dump!! I have to constantly remind myself that I have 4 wonderful children of my own and that I must care for them first, not to mention my husband and myself.

That leads me to say that we all do need prayer and more of it. We have all been sick, at least one of us, for 4 weeks now. It is so rainy and hot here that any cut, blister, mosquito bite, etc… is taking weeks to heal. John and I are constantly reminded to put God first, marriage second, then our children, then family, then friends, THEN this ministry. Sometimes that is difficult to our flesh. We long to see the thai people won to Christ, we long to speak the language, but we also know that our ministry is only going to be as strong as our family is. We must constantly work on our marriage and our family life and not get priorities out of line.

The children are really thriving and that is such a blessing for us to see. They are all sooooo precious and each day our hearts have more and more love for them. I never imagined that I would have 4 such awesome children. Madaline is doing so well in school, she just amazes me. She has a pet rabbit and is so responsible with her. She is taking ballet and doing a beautiful job. We have been watching You Tube videos of different ballets and she is so motivated to practice. John and Madaline are taking art classes together on Saturdays and then John gets to ‘date’ her after the class. To see Madaline’s glowing face as she jumped in the car with ‘daddy’ last Saturday, made my week. Isn’t that how God is to us? He takes care of us and gives us ‘special’ attention! Lake is reading so well, I love that part of home schooling, so far it is one of my favorite, watching them learn to read! He is so excited and runs to tell me everything he reads. He is really wanting to take Taekowondo, and we plan on enrolling him soon. Lake has such an amazing imagination, playful heart, and is the ‘jokester’ of the family so far (other than his daddy!). He is always the one who says, ‘okay, cut it out’, if any altercations arise. Gabe is still into any and every creepy crawly he can get his hands on. He is such the helper, he loves to juice all of my carrots in the mornings (that is such a huge help to me, by the time he is finished I can have breakfast on the table J)! He loves his letters and enjoys sounding them out throughout every day! And last, but not least, Moriah has got to be one of the most gentle babies ever! She ceases to amaze me! Her smile is one of a kind and her laugh just brings immediate joy to the moment! I love them all so much and am so thankful to God for the blessing that they are to my life. I cannot believe that He has rewarded me with such precious children!

I did want you guys to know that I keep a blog and if you would like more frequent updates please email me at john_lovorn@hotmail.com. I am glad to add you to the email list. It is easier for us to update via internet than through mail. There are photographs as well. Facebook is probably the most up to date information on our lives here.

Thank you all once again, from the bottom of my heart for all of you prayers and support to the calling here in Thailand. We can’t wait until the day we get to see you all again face to face. Until then, I love you and pray that the blessings of the Lord overtake you.

Sandy Lovorn

Shape Me, Here I Am, Open, Broken, and Willing

Update first---

We had a great time with missionary friends from Hat Yai, Thailand, who visited for about a week. They have been here 8 years and were such a blessing, strength, and encouragement to us all. Wonderful prayer and worship together, it was such a blast...similar feelings like the holidays in America with all of your family. 18 children in all!!! Praise the Lord for all the children!!

We are attempting to rent the storefront for the after-school program and are meeting resistance from the owner. We feel that we are to have it up and running by October. In God's timing we know, please pray for His perfect will.

Madaline, Lake, and I will begin studying thai language again September 7. We have all been really encouraged with the language and feel it is time to study with a teacher again.

I realize that when we all work to advance the kingdom of God that we do meet resistance from the enemy. This can make life extremely challenging (to say the least). I wish I could be with each of you to really bear my heart, for now we will just skim the surface.

Life on the mission field. The last two years, easy...still a honeymoon, new things, learning language, etc...Now, the rubber is hitting the road. The ease is not here. It is hard, a true calling, and I am realizing first and foremost the seriousness of the call. The dedication that must be involved in living out God's call. Carpet time is a MUST...we cannot live without prayer, period...here or there. Try to live one minute, around here, in my opinion without calling on the name Jesus and you will be attacked. Last night, I could see the big picture and understanding flooded my heart...then, when I got up and started living life the little things became, and become, extremely hard. Of course in perfect time I read this quote:

"Trust Me, My child," He says. "Trust Me with a fuller abandon than you ever have before. Trust Me, as minute succeeds minute, every day of your life, for as long as you live. And if you become conscious of anything hindering our relationship, do not hurt Me by turning away from Me. Draw all the closer to Me, come, run to Me. Allow Me to hide you, to protect you, even from yourself. Tell Me your deepest cares, your every trouble. Trust Me to keep My hand upon you. I will never leave you. I will shape you, mold you, and perfect you. Do not fear, O child of My love, do not fear. I love you." Amy Carmichael

This quote is so amazing, such encouragement and help in times of difficulty. God please help me to always live by this. I want to run to Him at all times. He cares so much about the little problems we go through.

I regret that I do not write more, sometimes I just don't know exactly what to say. I love and we love our life here, our calling, our family, etc... God is so amazing, always moving in our lives, and we are continually hungry for more of Him. Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support as we join with the Lord in advancing His kingdom!! It is worth it all!!!!

LET'S GET SET-APART!!!

    I hope this all finds you doing well and growing strongly in the Lord.  If not, I pray that He will reveal Himself to you more and more, strengthen you, and give you courage and desire to fight to know Him more intimately.  I love each and every one of you and have been missing the close relationships I have in America and even the not so close relationships!  Just to be around believers is so special and strengthening even if there is not a super close bond.

  I don't really know where to start.  God is speaking so much to me during this time...  I am just going to write as if I am speaking with you face to face.  I will start with the latest and throw in other things as it comes to mind.  I am walking through an extremely lonely place right now.  It is so good on one hand and on the other very difficult, but God is so super close to me, so I am not that lonely.  I probably should not have even typed that word.  To you, so that you will know my condition, lonely seems appropriate.  I am literally waking up, walking throughout the day, then evening, then night, calling on the name of Jesus!  It is so wonderful and I pray that when this season passes that I will have learned to call on His name continually like this for the rest of my life, even when on the mountains of life.  

  I am still milling over the fact that I have ultimately no one to please on earth other than Jesus, my Father and Lord.  Once I have pleased Him, I am pleasing to all.  That brings so much peace, I love it.

  I was skyping with a wonderful friend on Friday night.  She has just had her 5th child and we are always laughing together, crying together, and trying to get the hang of this life together.   What a blessing she is to my life.  She was filling me in on the political scene in America.  I was blown away by some of the things I heard.  Later that night, John and I were continuing to talk about these issues.  A side note:  also, my friend and I were acknowledging the fact that God has called us to raise these wonderful children, as difficult as it may seem at times.  John and I had talked for about an hour or two, I was still getting my spoken words in for the day, as he started to snore!  So, it quickly became God and I.  It was so awesome!  I picked up my Bible and my book light.  I began to flip and flip and flip.  Every page I turned to, was a word just for me, in every situation I am in at this present time.  God is so amazing like that!  I laid and prayed and read.  I was pondering this situation in America, having these large families, the challenges that we face at times, the loneliness I feel, the attacks of the enemy that seem to not cease, etc... my brain was going and going.  By the way, I have had it with the devil.  He is a liar, a thief, a pitiful, pitiful existence on the face of the earth.  We are victorious in Christ Jesus!!  Billboards, music, homosexuals, cross dressers, immodest clothing, idols ( not only in Thailand, I am talking about the American ones too), TV, entertainment, etc...What and Who are we living for?  Our own selfish pleasures?  Our needs, our wants, our desires?  It is not about us!!!  This is what the Lord kept showing me that night in bed.  Yes, this life can throw its challenges our way.  I can have, very easily, a stressful day, snap at my children, disrespect my husband, and stomp away mad.  But, is it really about me?  Is it really about how hard I have it, how challenging this lifestyle can be, how hard it is on the mission field?  Oh poor me?  Whatever!!  It is about the lost, His kingdom, raising our children to be warriors in this fallen world!!  I pondered and pondered and felt the Lord impressing that there is a family movement sweeping across the nation.  The Lord is raising up a generation that will fight the good fight and not give up, fight with all their might.  These children are going to be warriors, ready to stand up to their adversaries with confidence.  They are going to know the Bible, the word of the Lord, and have it hidden in their hearts and not be ashamed to speak it out.  It is a vision that the Lord is planting inside THIS generation, you and me, in order to fulfill His plans on the earth.  We must take hold of this vision in order to walk in the fruit!  God is on the THRONE!!  He sees our struggles, He sees our weaknesses and our desires!  Lord, help us to not be so concerned with ourselves, our agenda, our plan, our life, our show, our movie, our dinner, our hairstyle, our waistline that we miss the vision that YOU have called us to help YOU fulfill.  

  In the midst of all of this I received my weekly devotion from Above Rubies.  I couldn't believe my eyes...the title, something like 'Our Children as Speakers'.  There were scripture references after scripture references for 'speaking boldly', 'speaking with Kings and Rulers', and 'Always ready to speak to those who oppose'.  This is our children in the future!!!  They will be ready to speak to those who oppose!!!!  Yes, Lord... Thank you Jesus!!  They will be ready!  We are training them now!!  We may get tired, we may face battle after battle, but little David is bigger with God on his side!!  We will kill the giant!!  Our children will know the truth!!  And guess what, the truth WILL set them free!!  When this came to mind that night, I kept seeing the Israelites being set free!  Our nation and the whole world is in bondage!!  Our children are going to set them free, they will set the captives free!  We must plant seeds, we must teach them the scripture, they MUST know!!  Our children are raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, they have the word hidden in their hearts, bound around their necks, placed on the foreheads, talked about as they walk along the way.  We can't sit back and wait for bed time each night and add a quick story and prayer!!  NO!!  It has to be more!!!  It must be more!!!  It must be what our life is all about!  Forget our own agendas, the movie and the popcorn, the trip to get the latest game for the Xbox... you have got to be kidding?!  Look at our country!  We have got to stop being so consumed with our own lives!  

  Another note:  After my last post I was wondering... do I share too much of the truth about myself?  Am I wrong for sharing my weaknesses.  That same wonderful night with the Lord, 1 Corinthians 9:22 jumped off of my page!!  It says, 'to the weak, I became weak, to win the weak.'  Praise the Lord!!  I am weak, right now, I feel absolutely helpless, so vulnerable.  Seriously, the Lord is my all in all, He is the lifter of my head.  His joy is my strength.  I have always heard these scriptures, my whole life, and now, for the first time, I can say that literally days and days have gone by now that HE IS MY strength!  I am nothing without Him, I can do nothing without Him!  And guess what, if I have been brought all the way to the other side of the world to be lonely enough to grasp those things, that is worth it!  I have recently really been able to empathize with missionaries from years past.  I have been reading such a wonderful book called 'Set-Apart Femininity' and the author continually writes about Gladys Alward, Amy Carmichael, Elizabeth Fry, Vibia Perpetua, and Sabina Wurmbrand. If you don't know these women, they are much more interesting than the latest blockbuster or crime scene show. They will challenge you more than you thought you could be challenged.   You know what?!  If these women can make it, so can we!  

  Well, there is still so much I would love to share with my wonderful friends and family. I miss you all so much you just can't understand. I love you and wish that every time I had seen you all in the past that I would have embraced you for minutes and really poured out to you how I feel about each and every one of you!  You are all so special!  If I could only articulate what exactly I feel for you all!!  Thank you for all of you prayers!  You are wonderful, highly favored of the Lord!!  We are all in this race together!!    

**  We cut Gabe's hair off yesterday:( !!  I can't believe it, but you know it is time to cut a boy's hair when everyone thinks he is a girl!  

**He turned 3 on the 25th and we had a wonderful time at the zoo and swim park.  I will have to write about our zoo experience next post, I am out of time, but it was a GOD trip! 

** Madaline, Lake, and Moriah are wonderful!!  I have truly been blessed with awesome, awesome children.  They are the perfect match for me as a mommy! 

**John is working hard and doing well!  

UNTIL NEXT TIME...BE BLESSED!!

Standing Strong

Wow!  I guess you all could tell I was going through a rough time last post!  Praise God I feel much better!!  Thank you all for praying!  

  I am doing great!  God is so good and so faithful!  My mom's visit went really well, we went through some great things while she was here, prayed a lot and saw God move!  I miss her dearly and since she has been gone, I feel so strong and so encouraged in the Lord.  

  We had another visitor, my midwife's daughter, from America (the lady that delivered Gabe).  What an amazing visit!  I was again so encouraged and just felt the spurring on of the Lord as she was here.  I think that moving to Thailand has been wonderful for our family, of course it has, because it is the Lord's plan.  However, things have been harder, and it takes constant communion with the Lord and those serving Him to stay focused and on task (anywhere!).  I am speaking, right now, of raising children, not of ministry to the thai people.  I feel that sometimes we get so anxious in life to 'minister' to others, but our first ministry is and should be our own family.  I have been able to see weak walls around our home, God has opened them up and brought the plan of the enemy into the light for me.  We have to stay in constant prayer for our families or the enemy will sneak in.  Let's get in this together and not let the enemy steal what the Lord is trying to do in our families.  The first and greatest ministry to non-christians around the globe is an 'On Fire, Jesus loving, Holy Ghost family'.  We cannot get too busy to recognize the needs around us, in our family.  We need to think, where is our Passion?  Is it in the right place?  Where our passion is there our heart will be also. 'Be on guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position'.  (2 Pet 3:17)  Are we meeting all of our families needs, not just physical and spiritual, but what about emotional needs?   Sometimes we can get so preoccupied with making sure everyone is having fun and being bathed, fed, educated... but what about their emotions?  Let's slow down a little and sit back and observe.

  I am just spilling beans here...what God is doing here...so take it if you need it.  There are 5 primary ways of communication:  1. Righteously responding in a timely manner. (Eph. 4)

2.  Receive Hurt, but hide it--an Enabler (not good!  produces passive/aggressive behavior)  3.  Eye for an Eye/Tooth for Tooth  (If you fight fire with fire, don't be surprised if you get a bigger fire)  4.  Revenge says 'I will train you to never do that again  5.  Redeeming!!!  The greatest!!  We are all called to be a redeemer in every relationship that causes us pain/frustration.  LET'S DO IT!!

This is so easy to read and understand, but so difficult for so many of us to act out!  Lord, help us all to be better communicators in every relationship that we are in. 

  Around the house--- I fried my bread machine a couple of weeks ago, big bummer for me!  I plugged it in to the outlet, wrong wattage--why???  I forgot!  So, Carolyn taught me to make some yummy bread by hand, and believe it or not, I am not sore afterwards!!  It is actually quite simple.  I made some really nasty cream cheese last week, I think I will try to use it in something?!  It was fun though, just to try it.  Also, tried to make some ginger ale --- yuck!  I had the children all psyched up for it, then it was another bummer- oh well, fun anyway.  There is an extra lot beside the house and we are about to clean it off, granted permission today, but still unsure if we can grow a garden on it-- heading that direction though.  We really want the children to learn to work outside.  We found some bee hives only 2 hours away, so we are going to try and get those in a couple of weeks, then teach myself and the children to care for them... can't wait.  Please pray that this works out, they are really excited about it.

  Homeschooling-- going great!  Trying to keep it up for a while longer, until Thanksgiving.  Reporting grades this week.  I still can't believe I have a 5th and 1st grader!!  My goodness, we are all getting old!!!  I am sitting here listening to Christmas music and it soooo makes me miss America!!  I love you all and can't wait until we meet again-- face-to-face!!! Until next time--- Blessings to you all!!!

Prayer Request:

  Please pray for a lady I met at ballet.  I have taken her a Bible for her 14 yo son who has been reading it daily.  She says she doesn't understand why he likes the Bible so much.  He reads, then prays, then reads, then prays!! :)  He became interested in the 'Good Book' after watching 'Fiddler on the Roof!'  She tells me she is buddhists and doesn't understand why this book makes him so happy!!  Praise the Lord!!  

  Please pray for my house helper (Pee Nee)  and her family, who have seeked our knowledge concerning black magic that they practice, but were unwilling for us to pray for them!  

 Peter and his wife Noi continue to come over to our house!!  

Pee Mon, our 1st thai teacher, came for prayer last week for her mother who is in the hospital in Bangkok!  

Pray for our family that we would continue to be strong and fight the good fight, withstanding the enemy and his tactics, not letting darkness creep in, but continuing to stand in the light of our Father!!  

John goes to meet with pastors of Korat in the morning.  

Blessings and Fire to you all again!!!

GOD is still beautiful in the valley...

  You know, I could write a post and say a lot of great things that make you feel real happy inside.  I can fill you with many positives of life.  There have been several great things happening lately.  We were able to watch as my Japanese friend was saved last Sunday--PRAISE THE LORD!!  Many thai children, living in poverty, filth, etc... were totally blessed when they received gifts from First Baptist Church in Milan, TN---PRAISE THE LORD!!!

  But, the truth is, personally, our family is in the valley, we are going through it big time right now. We NEED You to Pray.  No details, as it would take me a while.  I just want to be honest with you all.  The enemy is attacking our family in a huge way and we need  you to get on your face and pray with us.  Send them up, it is serious, it is hard, and it is not easy to stay on top of life some days.  It is very easy to get weary.  I literally feel as if scripture has to be in front of my face at all times in order to stay strong.  I really don't know what else to say except that it gets hard out here, the enemy is prowling around seeking whom he may devour, and in the name of Jesus it will not be this family.  

  Sometimes I get tired of only hearing how great everything is in everyone's life when I know there are struggles.  Let us be here for one another, let us talk about our lives so that we can walk in the fullness God has for us.  Let us be open and swallow all pride, why paint pictures, why play games, when the body of Christ is to be here for one another.  God gives us each other so that we can make it through the dark times.  The Christian life is not easy, therefore, everyone can't always be so perky, so let's not act like we are in a movie.  Let's not be fakes, let's not act like we are in Hollywood.  Let's not shut our hearts off to one another because of past wounds, insecurities, and the like.  Let's join hands, unite, and fight the enemy.  Find someone to open up to and spill your guts, express your feelings, your pains, and then let them pray for your wounded heart.  We all have been hurt, we all need JESUS.  Let's go for it together!!  

  My prayer is to not offend anyone by being so open, I know it is easier to listen to something sweet and that moves you emotionally for the better.  I BELIEVE that it is better for our health to face the facts and deal with the problems in order that our lives may be lived out in the fullness of joy that Christ intended for us!!!  

  I love you all!!  Thank you for your prayers!!  

Sandy

GOD IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!

  I am lying in bed, awake, way too late.  Thinking upon the beauty of our Creator.  He is so magnificent!  I am praying for friends all over the world, some white with brown hair, some white with blonde hair, some black with black hair, some brown with black hair, some yellow-skinned with black hair, some large, some small, some rich, some poor, some Christian, some buddhists, some agnostic, some atheist.   Thinking of these friends and aquaintances, I began to think of the beauty of the Lord.  The Lord has blessed us all with the beauty of who He is, just with the people around us.  I think of these people, my friends, and how unique they all are.  They all love different things, have different habits, eat different foods, enjoy different entertainment.  One thing is the same among us all, they want to know the Creator of the Universe, they want to be loved by Jesus, they all long for this void to be filled, and some do not even know what it is they are looking for. They are searching, trying to figure out who they are, why they are here, what they are to be doing.  Let us go tell them.  We need to look around us and grab a hold of the richness of who HE is.  Who can we influence, encourage, motivate, or nurture.  We may be walking through uncertain times; economically, physically, personally, but nevertheless-- GOD has called you, He has called me, He has called all who call upon HIS name, to bless others with the light that He so freely gives.  Let it flow naturally, let His light illuminate your being so that others question what it is about you.  Don't strive, strain, or be restless. Be natural, be who you are, even if you yourself are walking through a tough time, God is still God, you still love Him, and you can still be a light.  Share your struggle and how you will lean on the Lord.  That is sometimes what other unbelievers need to hear.  Life is not always a walk in the park for a Christian.  We go through struggles, doubts, fears, disappointments, etc... but how do we handle it?  That is what others need to know.  Be open, be honest, be yourself.  Don't put on a " happy-I- am-always-great-kind-of face".  Share how you pray through to the end, you persevere, you suffer long, you love the unlovable, touch the untouchable, keep no record of wrongs.  Just look for that open door, it is there, it is obvious.  If you look, you will see it.  But, if we are too preoccupied with our own self, we may miss it.  Stop thinking about your circumstance,  your inadequacies, your failures.  Everyone has made mistakes, made a wrong decision, or said the wrong thing.  Just look for the door and advance, be the light that the individual in your door may not have seen for some time or ever.  It will come natural, light attracts darkness, just shine!  

  I am thinking of a wonderful, young girl from Japan, whom I recently had the privilege of hanging out with here at home.  She is so lost, but so drawn to the light.  I have seen her begin to illuminate, just from hanging out in the light.  Is she saved yet, no, but GOD is for her, and if we as believers continue to shine around her, God will eventually shine through her.  

 I think of another friend, a thai convert, who has recently allowed a cultural difference begin to move her away from believers.  Pray that she be reunited and continues to let the light of God shine through her.  She shines all over our community, she is beautiful, and the enemy is trying his best to snuff her out.  BUT GOD!!  He is in control, He will win!!  

  Another, a German and his thai wife, are drawn to the light-- continually.  Another, a thai business man and his ever-so-small wife--are drawn to the light.  Another, our thai teacher from when we first arrived--going through personal struggles within the family--is drawn. How many that we converse with daily are being touched by the light they receive and we don't even realize it.  I see it all before me, I am just waiting anxiously, for God to move strongly on them all!  

  Please pray and LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE NATURALLY!!!  Bless those around you!  

Love you all!  

Working It All Out and Feeling Better

  It has taken 7 1/2 weeks so far, but I think we are finally starting to get the hang of life with 4 children.  I must say, it is a daunting task, you must prepare ahead and become even more organized if you want to get anything done.  Today, I have spent about 2 hours meal planning for the next 2 weeks.  I still do not grocery shop for another week, but I figure 'I better do it while I have the time'.  I have started cooking every other Saturday, in order to have as much prepared ahead of time as possible.  So far, it is working out well, Praise the Lord!!  

  John started teaching English at a local highschool here in Korat last week.  He has around 550 students in 1 week.  Having a different group of classes every day helps his planning become a bit easier.  I am thankful for this job, which has enabled us to get a work visa and we will not have to leave America every 15 months.  We will be able to only leave when we want. 

  I have been memorizing 1 Cor. 13 this week, which I feel I desperately need to remember even more during this time of my life.  The Lord has called John and I to a life of giving Him the freedom to bless us with as many children as He feels we can handle.  Lately, it has been a bit of a challenge to continue walking in this surrender.  Sometimes I feel as if I am not walking in love.  This passage of scripture is really hitting home.  Yesterday, I was thinking on verse 3, I believe, where it says, '...if I surrender my life to the flame, but have not love, I gain nothing'.  You know,  I can surrender all to God, yea, it sounds real nice, but if I am not walking in love then what do I gain...NOTHING!  Love is not easily angered, love is not rude--seems like I remember being easily angered and rude all at the same time!  Come on Jesus!!  I know He is changing me and molding me, I love it, even though it hurts...a lot!  I would be lying if I said these past several weeks have been easy.  They have been fun, you know, enjoying a new blessing, watching the children around here, but easy...no!  It has hurt, in more ways than one.  I always feel that with each child the Lord brings more dirt out of my heart.  It is pruning season, and we all know that hurts.  But, God is good all the time, and He knows what we all need.  So, thank the Lord, I feel like we are over the hump now and hearing the Lord really speaking love, mercy, grace, and patience.  I thank Him for His loving kindness!  

  Here is a quote I read the other day that really hits home:  

"People turn their best side out; they are delightful in company, but snarly at home.  There they give vent to their dissatisfaction, their temper, their grouch.  They are scent-bottles abroad, vinegar-bottles at home...to be a christian at home one must learn to 'keep sweet'."

  My prayer for us all is that we will be scent-bottles at home!!  God bless you all as you continue to seek Him for you families and your lives!!

Sandy  

Finally Back!!...to Blogging!

  Well,  I decided to start a new blog at blogspot, our server on the mac has been down since arriving from America.  I apologize for not being able to keep you posted on life in Thailand other than through Facebook.  I know many of you don't participate in Facebook.  We love each and every one of you and thank you for all of your prayers and support.  

  God has been so good to us and has blessed us with the most wonderful blessing, another child.  Moriah Marie Lovorn ('God is my Teacher'), was born on April 24 at 10:45 pm here in our own home.  I had virtually no pain, as it was definitely a supernatural childbirth.  My midwife was to come in from Bangkok and was to arrive at about 11:00-11:30 pm.  Moriah decided to come on without anyone around but me.  John and Madaline were downstairs picking up the house, as we had company that night.  The boys were already in bed asleep.  I was in my bedroom getting ready to finish the backstitching on Moriah's quilt.  I had some wonderful worship music playing by Sarah McMillan and was walking around during contractions, which I had decided were going to continue for maybe another week.  They were not very painful and I had talked to several other mothers who said, 'with each child you have contractions weeks before delivery'.  I had called my midwife earlier that morning to let her know I was still having contractions, as I had been having them 4 days before.  I told her I felt like a first time mom, because I didn't know if Moriah was coming or not.  To make a very exciting and long story short, I had to use the restroom, went, and out Moriah came!!!  I began yelling for John to help.  Madaline came in first, as John was slowly on his way.  Madaline ran to tell John that she was already here, John thought she was only joking, until he walked up the steps and heard her crying!!  What a blessing!!!  I am so thankful for the speedy and pain-less delivery!!  God is good!  He knows exactly what we need and I definitely needed this!!

  This was by far the most difficult pregnancy I have experienced.  We arrived in America on July 24th or something like that.  Then I found out I was pregnant within the first month of us being there.  We were so busy and living with family and I was trying to homeschool during this time.  I struggled with high blood pressure, borderline gestational diabetes, and exhaustion.  So.... God knew I needed a speedy delivery.  I will always praise Him and thank Him, and especially for this delivery.  

  Please continue to pray for our family as it is an adjustment adding another arrow to the quiver.  John and I are both extremely busy with the children and it seems there is never a down moment.  God is helping us figure out how to work in our 'personal time' with Him and our 'personal time' with each other.  It is good, but also very challenging.  I struggle with peace a lot, as it seems there is never any quiet time and I am pulled in so many directions ALL day long.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called us to our family and children and I can see Him working ALL the time in our lives, but still that does not make it easier.  I have great days and then it seems I have many more challenging days.  Please pray that in the midst of the noise, happy faces, dirty floors, dirty diapers, laundry, broken things, dinner, and all the rest, that the peace of God would flood over me, that I would experience supernatural peace and serenity and joy!!  

  The children are doing great!   They are all so in love with Moriah and want to play, hold, bathe, change, etc... her all the time.  Gabriel seems to really miss his mommy time, so we are really working on making sure that is fit in.  Fit in with them all actually, making sure we get little snippets of personal time with them all, it can also be quite challenging.  Lake seems to be the one who is having the least difficult time right now.  He is just soooo happy!  Madaline has been really missing her friends in America, so please pray for her.  As we speak, she is downstairs with her two thai friends, Bowl and Ham, I just went in and she said, 'we are laughing a lot mommy, I am speaking thai a lot better with them'.  So, again, Praise the Lord.  Also, my mother and her cousin Abigail will arrive in Thailand on June 11th.  Madaline, and all of us are really looking forward to that!!  I can only imagine what she is going through.  Friends are such a huge part of our lives, many of you reading this were my playmates growing up.  It has got to be so difficult for her to not feel a 'part' of any girls lives around here.  But, as I told her, God called us here and He knows exactly what we need in life!  He will take care of us all!  We will head to Bangkok on Wednesday to take the van back to the airport for our friends to get when they get off the plane.  We will take one or both of these little girls with us, as we feel this will help connect them even more, and help Madaline with her language so that she can play better!  

  Many other things are going on here.  We are going to start an after-school program for the children in our area as soon as the storefront buildings are complete.  They have been under construction since before we left for America.  Please pray for this outreach!!  God is truly blessing it and has provided so much for it already!!!  He has given us such a vision for the children and we are eager to get this started.  All in His timing!!

  John will start teaching English at a local highschool on May 12th.  He will only work part-time in order to leave time for evangelism and the after-school program.  This is a huge blessing for us as it is enabling us to get a Visa where we will not have to leave the country every 3 months or have to return to America every 15 months!  PTL-- now we will only come to America as God tells us and it won't be something we must do in order to stay here.  

  We have also been blessed to use our friend's van while they were in America for 3 months and also a thai family let us use their car while they travelled to Indonesia for a month!!  What a blessing!  I, for the first time, drove Madaline, Moriah, and I to the grocery store!  I cannot tell you how wonderful this felt!  I was also able to put Moriah in a car seat!!!  Boy, I felt safer than ever since moving here.  Usually, and still, I plead the blood over us at ever push of the peddle or the start of the motorcycle!  Thank you Jesus for a break in stress over these last 3 months!  That leads me to tell you that we ARE actively raising support for a vehicle.  We are looking at used vehicles.  We have found out WE ARE able to buy a vehicle in our own name!!  I know this will also happen in His perfect timing.  Thank you for your prayers and support and please continue to lift this up in prayer as well!!

 

 Here is our address in America and also in Thailand:

Fire in the Night Ministries, Inc.

     PO Box 642

   Milan, TN 38358

      John and Sandy Lovorn

229/4 Moo 6 T. Joho A. Muang

          Homegardenville 1

                      Soi 9

       Korat, Thailand 30310