New Blog

I've decided to start blogging again - however it's now well beyond 39 weeks. So if you're interested, http://lucyacowpland12.blogspot.co.uk/ will be where I'll be blogging from now on. :)
Stay tuned though...I haven't posted anything yet!

An honour.

As my time in Thailand draws to an end (only 2 days left!), many thoughts and feelings have filled my mind and heart. Trying to express them however, is a little more difficult. I look back at the person I was 9 months ago, and I still recognize her. I think of my first day at school, and in some ways I still feel exactly the same. I think about how I first viewed Thailand, and much of that is the same too. Yet everything is different. I have been taught so much, grown, learned hard lessons, laughed, loved, cried, stressed and tried to serve.
A dear friend and I were talking the other day and the song 'legacy' by Nichole Nordeman came on. The lyrics say 'I want to leave a legacy, how will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to you enough?' She looked at me and asked, 'What kind of legacy d'you think we left Lucy?' And we continued to joke about how we were the crazy white ladies that our kids didn't understand and who pronounced everything wrong. But I continued to think about the question, and how important it really was if I had left a legacy. And the truth is, I probably haven't. The kids will remember me for a time, but soon there will be new kids who have absolutely no idea who I am. The work I did will be remembered for a time too, but things change and get old and need repaired or re-done. Soon enough there will be no evidence of my footprints whatsoever. And in reality, if I made a lasting impact at all - it is not mine to claim.
Throughout this whole year, nothing has been 'easy'. God has been teaching me so much on His faithfulness and my need to depend on Him for absolutely everything. He has been teaching me about my weakness and His strength, and the joy of His presence. And how every day we must work to bring Him glory. He has stretched me beyond what I thought I could handle, and has opened my eyes and heart to so much, and given me a glimpse of His heart for His people.
He provided me with everything I needed. He worked everything for my good. And even through all my faults, imperfections and struggles, He still used me. He blessed me with the children He gave me and opened my heart to them. He gave me more children than I thought I could handle, but gave me love for every single one of them. He gave me sweet friends and people to encourage me and walk alongside me.
I came here to serve, but in reality, I have been served and blessed so much more. And after all the joy, laughter, love, challenges, let-downs, and frustrations - I can safely say that this year has been incredible. And it does break my heart to leave. But I know it is time.
I'm going to steal song lyrics again. Chris Tomlin puts it well when he says:

At the end of the day, I wanna hear the people say

That my heart looks like Your heart, my heart looks like Your heart

Unashamed I will dance, in Your name, lift my hands

Till my heart looks like Your heart, my heart looks like Your heart.

My prayer is that the children I have come to love so dearly, will be shaped into Godly men and women, with hearts like Christ. And that God would continue the good work He began in both them, and me. 

To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I couldn't choose just one picture for this post - so here are a few recent favourites.

This is a small video of the place that I've been able to get my visa through and where I've just started volunteering. It's a really great place and I have fallen in love with the kids! Please pray!

I've been meaning to write for a long time now - and I even have various drafts saved. Titles and beginnings of thoughts and lessons, but I haven't been able to finish any of them. There is something about posting unfinished thoughts that doesn't seem quite right to me. I don't feel I can write about lessons I'm learning because I'm not finished learning them yet, I don't know the outcome and I don't have any inspirational words of encouragement because I'm still going through the same challenges and making the same mistakes every single day. I was sharing this other day, and some very wise people (a.k.a Mum & Dad), simply said 'life is the lesson'. To me, this is frustrating. I know life is the lesson, but within that comes small lessons and I really would just like to be done with them. Though lessons from our Father are never little or insignificant, I really would just like the answer and for it to be easy. Again, life doesn't quite work like that.
Then, He reminded me of all that He has been telling me. 'Come, I am enough'. He has promised me that when I come to Him I will find rest for my soul, and that He will take my heavy burden because His is light! When I feel overwhelmed and frustrated and stressed, instead of turning to friends, or a good movie, music, books or chocolate or whatever it is we turn to, that He is right there waiting for me to simply come to Him. When I don't want to face writing about leaving, because my feelings on the subject change every 5 minutes, He tells me to come. He tells me that He is enough, and that He is unchanging. That I can stand on His promises and His Word because the same God that led me to Thailand is the same one that is taking me home. When I have to trust new people with my precious children, He reminds me that they are His. When I want to pull my hair out because school isn't going the way it's 'supposed to', He reminds me that it's His. And He is enough. And when the lesson of life seems too challenging, and too hard, He reminds me that I am His, and He is enough. That in His presence is fullness of joy and He will always be enough wherever I find myself, in whatever situation. He is enough in my sadness, in my joy, in my frustration and stress, and in the times where life is just a little bit overwhelming.
Today is my 18th birthday, and it feels like life's lessons are just beginning. And in some ways, I have never felt more like a child. And some may even argue I still look like a child considering the lack of growth that has taken place over the past few years. I am so thankful for the past 18 years and for how incredibly blessed I have been. I have a mighty long way to go, but I pray that He will always be enough for me. That I would continue to seek Him and delight in His Word.

What would a birthday post be without a baby picture? And I really mustn't look that young as I received a birthday card this morning saying 'Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, You look like a grown up, and you act like one too!' Hmm...

Girls vs Spider

It's been a while since I've written anything, and what I'm about to write has no real depth to it or insight - but it's something that made me laugh and hopefully will bring a smile to your face too!
My friend, Emily, and I were in the car on our way to one of our favourite places to get a fruit shake because it was HOT. Really, really hot. We had just driven through the guard point at the beginning of the neighbourhood when all I hear is 'Aaaah Aaaaah, Oh oh oh, Aaaaaaaah' and the car starts to swerve towards the pavement and Emily is freaking out. I could see smoke in the sky and so I thought we were driving into a fire but the car was going straight for the pavement and so then I thought that she had lost control of the car somehow and was unable to steer it back into the middle of the road - I had no idea what was going on and she was just screaming, and then bang. We crash into the pavement. (I say crash - we didn't really crash the car but we hit it with some bump). Emily jumps out the car, and still completely unaware of what's going on, I jump out with her.
'There's a spider.' My initial thoughts were - 'Really? We crashed the car for a spider?' However, having seen the actual spider itself, I do understand. It really was huge, and creepy looking. It was cream, and black, and brown, and gross. This spider really was huge. And after some shudders and giggles, and Emily refusing to go anywhere near the car until the spider had been taken out of the car, I went to go and investigate. This spider was absolutely nowhere to be found. So after 15 minutes or so of standing by the side of the road in the scorching sun trying to find this spider, I concluded that he must have jumped out when we did. Emily wasn't so sure though and wasn't ready to drive the car again. I really wanted that fruit shake though and so after a little bit of persuasion, Emily got in the passenger seat and I got in the drivers seat. Now let me just say that not once since I've been in Thailand have I been allowed to, or really wanted to, drive our car. I love our car, I really do, but driving in Thailand I don't love. I turn the key in the ignition and Emily asks 'How good of a driver are you Lucy?' My answer being 'I failed the test and haven't driven in over 7 months. You're gonna have to help me.' Thankfully, I really didn't have to drive very far at all and I didn't come into contact with any other cars, and I parked it! Squint. But I still parked it! By this point I am almost positively certain that the spider is gone, and I can enjoy my fruit shake in peace. Which I did. We even had something to eat with it and sat and read our books in the air conditioning and it was quite lovely. We did keep making jokes whenever any men or teenage boys would walk by though and said that we should ask them to just make a quick scan of our car to make sure the spider wasn't there anymore, but we didn't actually ask any of them to do that. We're not that ridiculous...
After finishing our drinks and food and calming down a bit, we braved out to the car and Emily said she was alright to drive again. As soon as we got in the car though she told me that the whole time driving home I had to look at her feet. I had to make sure that the spider wasn't there and that it wasn't going to touch her feet because if it did, she'd go crazy. And so I did, I kept my eyes on her feet - but the spider must have known our tactics. 'I see it, I see it, it's still there!' and we pull over, and don't hit the pavement this time. Emily had seen it out of the corner of her eye and sure enough when we jumped out of the car, the spider had crawled into the back seat of the car. Neither of us wanted to touch it - I really cannot emphasize how creepy looking this spider was. It was horrible. We hadn't driven far from the restaurant and so Emily decided to run back and grab someone we had recognized from church, while I stayed put and watched that this spider didn't go anywhere. I felt ridiculous. Three of our car doors were standing wide open, we're pulled over to the side of the road and I'm standing there looking at the back floor of my car to make sure that the spider doesn't go out of my site while Emily runs to go and get a teenage boy to help us remove this spider. It felt like forever until they returned, it really was probably only 5 minutes but it still felt like a long time. The spider hadn't moved and the boy tried to swat it away with his flip flop, but the spider disappeared. After looking all over the car, and not seeing the spider, he concluded that the spider must have jumped out when the flip flop came towards him. As much as we'd like to have believed him, it just didn't seem probable. This spider was too cunning. We didn't want to make a fuss though so we nodded and let him walk back to get his coke. Once he was out of site, we opened up the car doors again and began looking some more for the spider. After a couple minutes, a Thai lady came out from the house we'd stopped in front of and starting asking what was going on, Emily explained that there was a spider in the car and that we were afraid of it. Then the lady shouted back to the house and out came 5 or 6 kids and they started looking in our car for this spider while we stood by and watched. It was the strangest thing. The woman shouted for them to go and get a broom and then they started trying to sweep the spider out. Other kids from the house came out to and started to watch and it was just so funny. I felt a little bit ridiculous but after about 10 minutes they struck gold and found the spider and got it out of car. So thankful for them and their help, we were able to drive safely home without any worries of creepy spiders crawling all over us.

P.S Just so you don't think I'm a complete wimp - I did cup a cockroach last night and didn't even make a slight squeal. Woopa!

Using the picture of Emily, the elephant and I because it resembles how big the spider was in comparison to us....

Exactly where I need to be.

She is a beautiful, sweet, strong soul who is just in need of some love. She's gone through years of not being given the right amount of attention, and not being able to live the kind of childhood we all wish for kids. She's had to take care of her younger sister, and they no longer live with their parents. She's had a rough life, and although she's now in a much better situation and at our school, she still has a lot to deal with. One day, she wasn't feeling well and everything just got a little bit too much and she simply broke down. My room mate called for me to go and sit with her and try to get her to calm down. Now, I'm not trying to say that I'm any good at comforting people. Believe me - I'm the type to try and make a funny joke in the midst of someone crying or give an awkward hug, or laugh because I just don't know what else to do. I'm really not the greatest person to be with if you're upset. But here I was, trying to comfort this girl. But the only thing that was running through my head at that time was 'her head is really close to mine - I hope I don't get lice.' I would love to be able to say that the only thing I was concerned with was her and that everything flowing out of me was love, but it wasn't.
He has a special place in my heart - the amount of transitions he's had to go through at the age of 6 is more transition than I would want in a lifetime. He's been through abuse, death and neglect. He has a lot of issues and often cries at school. The day after he was moved into a children's home, he was sobbing his little heart out. I took him out of class and tried my best to do what I could. But again, I was not overflowing with love. I was grimacing at the fact that he was wiping his sweaty head all the way up and down my arms and rubbing his sweat soaked hair on my clothes. I was thinking 'I really wished he had brushed his teeth this morning' when he was wailing in my face. All he needed was a little bit of love and comfort.
I guess what I'm trying to show is that, I am nowhere near perfect. I love these children with all my heart, but it's a heart that is full of brokenness and sin. Even my best efforts are not good enough. I want to care for these kids but my human nature gets in the way. I don't want to have an itchy head because of lice, and I don't want to smell like someone else's sweat all day long. Some days I don't want to sit with kids in certain spots because I know that there are always mosquitoes there, and I don't want to get bitten. Some days I want to just hide out and switch off because I don't want to use that last inch of energy I have left. I would love to be full of joy all the time and have a serving heart - but I don't.
And sometimes, I am deceived into believing that this really isn't for me. That I wasn't really called, and I'm not really supposed to be here. On days where I look back and think 'I accomplished nothing today, my attitude was terrible and if anything, I only made things worse.' I am tricked into somehow believing that God made a mistake somewhere along the way, and really this role was made for someone else. But then He reminds me, that His plans are perfect and this was His will. And that He is still using me, even when I don't feel like it. So on the days where I don't feel like I have enough energy, and in the times where I don't feel like serving, to look to Him for all I need, and remember that I'm exactly where I need to be, and He's right here with me.

Dear Dad.

Thank you.
Thank you for awaiting my arrival with excitement and for wanting me.
Thank you for caring - for every nappy changed and every book read. (Especially the countless readings of apple tree farm.)
Thank you for playing with me, listening to me and laughing with me.
Thank you for helping me with my homework and never pressuring me to do more than I could, but believing in me.
Thank you for taking me running - even though I complained profusely.
Thank you for teaching me about God since the moment I was born, and for not only teaching me but showing me what a Christian life looks like.
Thank you for the way you love mum - and for showing me what a good husband looks like so I might choose a good man for myself one day.
Thank you for disciplining me in a firm but gracious way.
Thank you for never beating me. For never allowing anger to take over. For never abandoning me.
Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being a father.

The longer I live here, the more my heart breaks for the lack of good men my kids have in their lives. Please pray for them.

Torn.

Some days, I miss home. I miss my friends and I miss being a normal 17 year old. I miss my home and my family. Some days - I just want to sit with my best friends, and talk for hours about nothing in particular. I want to be able to stay up all night, and still make it through the next day. I want to be carefree. I want to pick up my phone and be able to talk to whoever I want to, without figuring out time differences. I want to go to friends' birthday meals - instead of having to call for 5 minutes. I want to be there when my friends hurt. I don't want to be on the other side of the world. I miss feeling comfortable and at home. If I'm truly honest - there are some days where I just don't want to be here.
But I know. I know, that when the time comes to leave, I'll be heartbroken. I know that I'll miss seeing 30 beautiful, little faces look up at me every morning. (Alright - well 29. Only one is taller...) I know that I'll miss the funny things they say and the way they make me laugh. I'll miss their sweet voices and the way that I only ever understand half of what they're saying - if I'm lucky. I'll miss sitting with them while they cry and I'll miss being able to comfort them. I will miss being a part of their lives and knowing that, even if only for a short time, I am blessed to be in their lives. And I'll miss my room mates. I will miss their encouragement, friendship and wisdom. I will miss knowing that they understand. I will miss the 9 months that will have so quickly gone by.
Dundee is home, but I know that it won't feel like home when I go back. Not exactly. Things change, and people change. I know myself that I have already changed. Thailand doesn't feel like home. I do not belong. So I am torn. I am homesick for a place that is no longer truly home. And I am living in a place that never will be home. And then I remember. I remember that I was not made for this world. It's okay if it doesn't feel like home. In fact, I don't want to ever feel at home. Because this is not my home. I am only on this earth for a short while. I want to be homesick for heaven. For my true home.

These two are so sweet.

Children are honest. They will tell you what they think, and very rarely do they play mind games and try to make you feel better, or do something because it is expected of them. They understand the rules - but anything done beyond that, usually depends on their own opinions. This is why when they think you look beautiful, they'll tell you. And when they don't think your outfit is so great that day, they will tell you and proceed to try and fix it. I of course, speak from experience. If they are upset with another child, they will make sure we know about it. If they think they've done a really good job on something, they will make sure we acknowledge that. If they don't understand, they ask 'why'. They are not afraid of being different. They are not afraid of doing what they want.
The older we get - the less honest we become. We develop filters and fears. I am not saying this is a bad thing - but in this case, I rejoice in this unfiltered honesty.
One of our second graders became a Christian on Friday night. He is fairly new to our school and is living with his aunt and uncle because his mother is working in Bangkok. His aunt and uncle are Christians and have been doing devotions with him every night. On Friday night he was talking with his uncle about how some of his friends at school are Christians and some are Buddhist. His uncle talked with him about it and asked him 'Well, which do you want to be?' 'I want to be a Christian!'. And so, his uncle prayed with him.
He did this because he wanted to. He did this because he saw the hope and light that comes with salvation. Some may say he's too young, he doesn't understand. Yet, God says the complete opposite. He tells us to have child-like faith and let the children come to Him. He welcomes them with open arms.
I wish my faith was like the faith of this little boy. Honest and unfiltered. Without fear.
He is so full of joy and makes us laugh all the time. His noise effects are particularly famous amongst the teachers, and he has such a sweet heart.

When judgement backfires - a post about gold fairy dust and multicoloured jelly.

While in Singapore over the Christmas holidays, my family and I visited a Buddhist temple. Now, I've heard it said that once you've seen one Buddhist temple, you've pretty much seen them all. But this one was different - it stood out. This one held a tooth relic of Buddha, and various other relics too.

It's a warm afternoon, the sky is darkening with the threat of rain and we walk into the temple - intrigued at what it might hold. We watch as the monks chant and wonder where they fit in the time to breathe. We take time to read about the life of Buddha, and read all about 'enlightenment' and I am still just as clueless as I was when I first walked in. Then we walk through the part of the temple where Buddha's tongue, heart, liver, kidney, big & small intestine, brain and blood relics are kept. Might I add that his blood resembles gold fairy dust and his brain matter is multicoloured balls of jelly. Not to be disrespectful, but the main thought crossing my mind and lips were 'How can people actually believe this?!'. And then we get to the part where his tooth relic is held. I couldn't hold the laughter in. If that tooth could fit inside a human beings mouth, then Buddha must have had a mighty large head! It was huge! 

I would like to say that my thoughts and heart were saddened by this, and that I was truly heart-broken for the people following this religion. And while yes, it is heart-breaking watching young children make their offerings and seeing the lies in these people's lives, my heart was full of judgement. I could not, for the life of me, understand how anyone found truth in this. How anyone could worship this. My heart did not soften.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was convicted. I do the same thing, every day. I try to find truth in something other than God. I look for satisfaction in the work I am doing rather than the God I am serving. I look for comfort from friends and family instead of looking upwards. I look for joy in a funny film instead of what He has done for me. I look for acceptance and control instead of humility and trust. I stood judging and condemning those who look to false gods when my life is full of them. 

He reminds me that 'Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved'.

Reality.

'God shows up in our reality. He shows up in our weakness. His eyes are not running across the earth looking for the woman who lives in a romantic movie set of perfection. He is looking for the real, the weak, and the one who needs Him.'

Before coming here, my idea of what this year would look like was definitely geared towards the romantic movie set of perfection. The idea of pouring out love on these little ones, making their lives better and of walking hand in hand with them down dusty roads, laughing and playing with them all day because they need to be shown that attention The idea of feeling rewarded and appreciated every single second of every day. Feeling as if I matter because I'm here, feeling as if I am contributing something great to their worlds. The idea of writing back home and telling everyone how wonderful everything is and how I've never felt more at home. These ideas of course, all point to one thing. Myself. These ideas point to the misconception that I am enough. That I have enough energy, enough love, enough patience and enough joy for each day. That this year is all about me and what I am doing to help. That the reason to write back home is so that people see how wonderful I am.
Yet the reality, tells me that in no way am I enough, and in no way am I wonderful. The reality of never having enough energy. Of feeling drained and tired by 7pm, and feeling exactly the same way when I wake up in the morning. Of feeling like I have absolutely no patience and all this love that I want to give to my kids, is pushed out by frustration and weariness. The reality of not looking like someone from a movie set, in any way, shape or form. Of feeling sticky and sweaty, in cold season. Of having first graders say 'ouch' as they put their hands on my legs because I missed a spot when I shaved my legs in the shower that morning, because I was half asleep. Of spilling my coffee down my front at 6am and not getting home till 8.30pm to wash it off. The reality of missing the joy all around me, because I am too busy focussing on myself and my own ideas of what things should look like. The reality of feeling completely useless. The reality of not wanting to write back home, because I don't want to be real with people.
Then He whispers to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. He lifts my gaze upwards. He does not affirm that my ideas were correct. No, He tells me they were selfish and proud. He asks my who I am here for. He tells me that I am not enough, but that He is. His Joy is my Strength. A Divine Strength. He reminds me to lean on Him and depend on Him. To cast all my burdens and frustrations on Him. He prompts me to write home - not about how wonderful I am or how perfect everything is, but to write about Him. To write about what He is doing in the lives of these kids, and in my own life. He says 'Whoever welcomes one of these children in My name, welcomes me'. I am to welcome them in His name and in His power. Not in my own name.
So here it is - the reality of living here is hard. I love it, and I wouldn't change it, but it is hard. But, God is doing wonderful things here. He is working and He is being faithful. He is teaching me and growing me, and He is speaking into the lives of these kids.

And of course - there is always a little bit of time and energy for some cuddling!

Such as these.

Please note that the pictures do not necessarily represent the students in the stories.

He is the most enthusiastic little boy I’ve ever met and I don’t think there is a moment I’ve looked at him and his face hasn't been dripping with sweat. He’s a character. Picture this – he is waving so hard and so enthusiastically after we drop him home that he walks the old man who looks after him (who is in a wheelchair taller than the little boy) straight into a pole and just carries on like nothing has happened. Meanwhile this old man is probably thinking 'why on earth do I put up with this..' It was maybe a ‘had to be there’ moment, but it truly was hilarious! His story is a sad one though. He was born here in Chiang Mai, and was living with his Father but was being abused by someone else, so he moved down south to live with his grandfather. However, his grandfather died in the recent flooding and so this little boy has had to move back up here and is now living with his mother. She works two jobs, and so when we drop him home after school there is nobody to take care of him. He is left all alone. Nobody to ask him how his day was, help him with his homework, heat up his food for him or put him to bed.

She is a beautiful, sweet girl. She makes us laugh and tells us that all the boys love her but she doesn't love them back. She tells us what's going on in her class and who loves who and who did what. But her father has a quick temper. Her mother wants to leave and take her, but it's just too hard. She says she is scared for her daughter. We watch as this sweetheart bursts into floods of tears on the way to school. Like every other human, she just wants to be loved. Is that too much to ask?

He is hands down, one of the funniest boys I have ever met. He makes me laugh daily, and he really does have such a good heart. He doesn't care what others think - he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is sweet, and caring - most of the time - and everyone loves him! His parents have been in prison since he was 5 months old, and will be there for another 10 years because of drug dealing. He's grown up in a children's home, and while the home is a good place and he is treated well there, he can still feel all alone. My room-mate went to the hospital with him when he broke his leg. 'What's your father's name?' 'I don't know.' 'What's your mother's name?' 'I don't know.' 'Where do you live?' 'I don't know.' I watch his face crumple when, in a thanksgiving activity, someone expresses their thankfulness for a family. 

These are just three stories. There are thirty from our school, and thousands all over Thailand. The reminder of where these kids are coming from, reminds me of why I am here. What the point is. Why they need love.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

School video.

Please take a moment to watch our new school video and see what is happening in some of our kids' lives!

Visa Shmisa!

On the 14th of December I had to leave the country because my visa ran out -so I went to Singapore to stay with my parents over Christmas and New Year, and until I could get a visa. Last Friday I went and applied for my visa. This is how the day turned out.
The Thai embassy is only open between 9.30 am and 11.30 am. After going to my parents office and printing everything we think we need off, my Dad and I get the MRT to the road that the Thai Embassy is on. We get there around 10.45 and it takes us a good 15 minutes to run around and actually find the Embassy. We talk to the guard and he looks through my paper work and then tells us that my pictures have a blue background and that's not okay, it needs to be a white background. He then proceeds to tell us that there's a photo booth in a certain shopping centre around the corner. Now I don't know about you, but finding a certain shopping centre in a whole road of shopping centres, and then finding a singular passport photo booth in one seems a little bit difficult to me. He rattles off some directions and leaves my Dad and I to it. After running around and finding this photo booth, we get back to the embassy for about 11.20. Ten minutes to spare. We run in, begin to line up and a lady comes up to us and says 'you need to cut and glue those photos'. So we get out of line, borrow some glue and scissors and get back in line. Once we get to the front desk and hand in my paper work, the lady takes one look at it and says 'Okay, can you sit to the side please and I'll call you back over later'. We sit to the side. At 12 noon we're the only ones left waiting. The lady who asked us to sit to the side looks over and says 'I'm sorry, what are you doing here?' Fantastic. We then explain and she remembers and goes to get my paper work. She then asks 'where are your flight details?' I explain that I had to cancel my flight back to Chiang Mai because I only just received the paper work for the visa. She then tells me that she cannot issue my paper work unless she has a copy of my flights back to Chiang Mai, which are of course not booked yet. Thankfully, she told us that she'd be in the embassy at 2pm that afternoon and if we managed to book flights, print them off and take them back to her that day, my visa would possibly be ready by the Tuesday. However, if we waited to give them to her we would have to wait until Tuesday and then she wouldn't be sure when I could get my visa. So after a call to my mother, a dash back to the office and booking a flight for a day where we couldn't be sure if I would have my visa yet, we made it back to the Thai Embassy for 2pm.
And on Tuesday - I was handed my visa!
There are still complications with renewing it and it's turning out to be a lot more expensive than planned, but for the next three months I definitely have a visa and a permit to stay in country! Yay!

The silver lining in all of this was of course, getting to spend three weeks with my family. Here are some pictures from the trip.

 Mum and Dad went to work, Jake and I explored the 'ten stages of hell theme-park'. It was kinda creepy...

 Christmas Eve Carol Concert

 These three wise men made us laugh so much!

 'Faster! Faaaaaster!!'

 The famous Raffles Hotel

Singapore.