On Tuesday Roy, Hannah, and I went to Kanchanaburi to do some shopping. (this was two weeks ago) Now, had I realized ahead of time that Hannah was cutting three new teeth, I would not have had the courage to go in the first place, but ignorance is bliss. It is only a 4 hour mini bus ride from here to Kanchanaburi, so we got there in good time to do some much needed shopping. I was slowly going up and down the aisles of Tesko-Lotus when I noticed an increase in decibles from some cute guy’s  little girl who seemed to be following me around the store. Well, I didn’t want to admit that I knew them right then, but it did happen to be my husband with the by now screaming Hannah in his arms! We were starting to get those “abusive while kidnapper” looks from all those around us, so I reluctantly quit shopping, and we headed to a guesthouse so that our precious baby could get some rest. It didn’t work! She did not want to sleep, she wanted the entire world to know that she did not feel good, so I spent a sleepless night trying to keep her quiet so that others could sleep. The next day, Roy agreed to pace the floor while I went back to try to finish the shopping.  So, I went back to the stores, finished my shopping and then went to the bus station to meet Roy and Hannah. We got back onto the mini bus just as it started to pour down rain, so we were all soaked pretty good. I was totally worn out, but Hannah was just picking up steam for a nice cry all the way home. I could tell that Roy was feeling frazzled, so I took Hannah and tried my best to keep her happy. The only problem seemed to be from that crazy bus driver. He had the air conditioning turned up so much that I started shaking from the cold. I turned all the vents away from me, and nothing seemed to help. During one stop, Roy turned the air-conditioning off while the driver was not looking. But, as soon as that crazy guy got back in, he turned it right back on! I wanted to tell him that this was supposed to be an air-conditioned bus, not a deep freeze! I was getting madder by the minute since my back was now in spasms from the cold, and I was blaming Hannah’s ill mood on the ice cold temperatures. Therefore, I was doing my best to keep her warm, while she wiggled and squirmed trying to get away. Four, long, weary, and freezing hours later, the driver dropped us off at the end of our road with all our stuff. That meant that I didn’t even get a chance to tell his boss all the choice reasons I had for firing this guy on the spot! When I went to get out of the bus, I was shocked to see how terribly sore my knees and back where. Then, as I was trying to carry my half of the load down the road, I found that I was really dizzy. I was getting a little less certain as to the villainy of the driver….could it be that I was sick? That had never crossed my mind! Instead of walking back, I called Travis and he brought the motor bike out to get us. By the time we got back to the house, there was no doubt in my mind that something was terribly wrong with me! I had a temperature of 104.3. Before I fell into a complete stupor, it did cross my mind how badly I had treated that driver in my thoughts. I am glad that he didn’t know about it, but even if he is a bad driver, he is someone that I am here to reach for Jesus.

I will spare you all the details of being sick, other than to say I went rapidly downhill. I still cannot walk, or sit up long without being propped. But, I am still alive, and I am doing a little better since I can actually use my hands today! (I tried to type a few days ago, and it took me an hour and a half to type 2 sentences) Turns out that I have Dengue Fever. It is a nasty illness I can tell you! We had to make some major adjustments to things around here so that I could survive without going to a hospital, and it seems to be working. According to my books I am out of danger as far as hemorrhaging goes now. But, I am still being really careful not to get bumped or anything, since even a little bump makes me bruise. The books also tell me that I can expect another week of this, but I was kind of hoping to be the exception and get well now!

While I was so sick the other day, I was feeling really down, when I heard a song on my CD player that I had never heard before. It was about a dream that some guy had about going to heaven and seeing all the people thank his friend for what he had done while here on earth. All the sacrifice and suffering he had to go through, and how Jesus told him after hearing the stories of the lives he had touched that his reward was great. Somehow, that song really touched my heart. Even all this awful pain would be worth it if I can hear “Well Done” from Jesus.

And if I ever see that bus driver again, I am going to be sure to thank him for being a good driver!