Palm Sunday

I spent Saturday night at the parsonage because I wanted to finish cleaning up (plus I hadn't really packed my stuff yet!). I woke up early on Sunday morning to go to Faith Lutheran to see James (Jirayu), Gird, Sky and Tong. I knew that James had been feeling a little down, and the Popes had called me Saturday night to talk to Tong because he was crying a lot, so I wanted to check on both of them to see if they were OK. I also had a gift for Pastor Jim that we forgot to bring to the church on Thursday when we made lefse. I got there a little late so I didn't have time to say "hi" to the kids before services started, but I sat down across from James and the Nelsons.

The week before Easter is called "Palm Sunday" and it is a very important holiday on the Christian calendar. A traditional part of the ceremony is to wave palm leaves, just as people had done for Jesus 2000 years ago. I bet the kids thought that was pretty cool. Imagine going all the way to cold Wisconsin to find that they use the leaves of palm trees in church. All week long the kids had been finding little touches of home and small connections between Thailand and Wisconsin. From the basketball that was made in Thailand, to the patches on the scout uniform, to the Manitowoc-built submarine that sunk in the Gulf of Thailand, to the overly sweet tom yum soup, to the palm leaves in church... the kids have been making those connections and seeing that the world is not so big after all. We're all connected to each other in these little ways.

The church services at Faith Lutheran have been modernized quite a lot since I attended there as a teenager. Although they've always tried to do something special for Easter week. This time they had a band of musicians up in front, and they were actually quite good. However, what really struck me was one of the hymns that we sang. It was from the movie, "Godspell"! I can remember when that musical first came out (back in the 1970's, ugh, I'm OLD!), and it was quite controversial at the time. Many Christians didn't like it and thought it was disrespectful, but now 30 years later, people are singing the songs from that movie in church. Huh... times change I guess. Personally, I loved that movie so I'm happy to see the songs are finally being accepted. They're very fun to sing too.

Since Valders was settled by Norwegians, their church has a very unusual design. The outside of the church is shaped to resemble the front of a Viking longboat, and so the inside has huge wooden beams that curve upward out of sight. It feels like you're inside a huge boat. Since Valders is famous for it's stone quarry, the altar is a big block of rough-hewn local stone. The design is simple and austere (typically Norwegian), but quite beautiful. It is almost the exact opposite of the architectural design of Thai temples, which are very complex, brightly-colored, and ornate.

After the service, I met with the Nelsons, Popes and Brills and talked with the kids. They all seemed fine, although James and Tong were still having some trouble adjusting to the new living arrangements. James hasn't been eating very much and the Nelsons are trying to find something that his stomach will accept. I suggested plain white rice and a little soy sauce to get him started. Hopefully his appetite will return when his anxiety settles down. Meanwhile, Gird and Sky presented Paster Jim with his gift, which he seemed to like very much (I got him some Thai-style tea cups). The host kids had to attend Sunday school, so I walked Tong over to Piggly Wiggly so I could talk with him. I bought him a little notebook and told him that when he feels sad or homesick, he should write or draw about it in his book. I knew the first few days would be difficult for him, but I also knew that he would be fine in a little while. As long as he was busy and had something to do, he should feel a little less homesick.

After taking Tong back to church, I stuck around so I could videotape things for the blog, then I walked back to the parsonage and started cleaning it. I have to congratulate the kids. They left the house remarkably clean and only a few random items were left behind. I took a picture of the items that were left behind, so kids, if you recognize anything, let me know and I'll bring it to school when I come visit you. By 4:00pm I had the place reasonably clean, and my Mom came over to pick me up and take all the stuff back to her house. It took two trips with her car because she had brought over so many dishes, pots, sheets, and games for the kids to use. I was really tired after that, and so I went to bed early, which is probably why it has taken me so long to catch up on all my blogging :-P!!