http://www.lauraleighparker.com Life Overseas {a missionary blogs of life in Asia} Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:05:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/88ea54a0b2c7b923e211db41c950105b.png?s=48 http://www.lauraleighparker.com http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/02/missionary-blog/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/02/missionary-blog/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:05:08 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=6186 The following is my humble, quick attempt to convince my fellow missionary-types to jump the hurdles of fear, time and know-how and just go ahead and start a blog of some sort.  {That is, of course, unless you are one of those super-amazing people living in a closed country where blogs are illegal or in [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/02/missionary-blog/feed/ 10 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/interview-urban-missionary-bangkok/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/interview-urban-missionary-bangkok/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:52:43 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=6141 So I met a family last week that suddenly made me want to sell all my stuff and go live in the red-light district of Bangkok, buying rice for the homeless crazy woman in the mornings and giving warm socks to the male prostitute on the street corner, trying to make a buck. Their story [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/interview-urban-missionary-bangkok/feed/ 5 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/8-reasons-becomingmissionary/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/8-reasons-becomingmissionary/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:26:13 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=6123 1. Don’t Become a Missionary if You Think You Are Going to Change the World. First, high expectations doom to disappoint, but, also, maybe your desire to change the world is trumping your desire to serve. Ask yourself if you would be happy moving overseas to a much harsher environment in order to quietly help [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/8-reasons-becomingmissionary/feed/ 59 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/missionary-kid-lunch-a-video-experience/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/missionary-kid-lunch-a-video-experience/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:07:32 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=6094 So the number one comment I read last week asked for more writings, images, and videos of our daily life here in Thailand. I’ve done videos of the local market where most people shop, the process of riding local transportation, my daughter eating worms, my husband making chopsticks and riding an ostrich, but I realized [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/missionary-kid-lunch-a-video-experience/feed/ 19 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/army-of-worms/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/army-of-worms/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:36:05 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=6002 I was talking to a Chinese neighbor the other day while his kids were playing with mine.  My friend and I began asking him a little about his work in Thailand, and it turns out he trains Chinese nationals to go into countries of the Middle East– Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq. And then he told us [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/army-of-worms/feed/ 17 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/tropical-fruit-from-thailand-and-how-my-kids-dont-eat-much-else/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/tropical-fruit-from-thailand-and-how-my-kids-dont-eat-much-else/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:46:31 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5926 So, yeah, our family has food issues. I have one kid that has claimed vegetarianism for the past 6 months, one kid that I think has a gluten-allergy and also hates rice {yeah, in Asia, he hates rice}, and another child that literally wants ketchup on everything from noodles to watermelon {yeah, I am not [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/tropical-fruit-from-thailand-and-how-my-kids-dont-eat-much-else/feed/ 11 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/mentorship/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/mentorship/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:16:45 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=3115 I originally wrote this article following the three month opportunity we got to host and mentor a team of college-aged students on a trip to Thailand in the Fall of 2010. As we begin to re-launch this ministry this summer, I’ve been thinking lately about the immense value of a life done in community, in [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/mentorship/feed/ 21 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/missionary-mom-new-year-resolutions/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/missionary-mom-new-year-resolutions/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:53:48 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5973 I watch the sunrise this morning, listen to the roosters wake up the world. The sky gradually grows more pink and less grey, like God has daylight on a dimmer switch and is patiently spinning the knob. My instant coffee, which I’ve actually grown not to hate, sits on the table stacked with books I’ve [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/missionary-mom-new-year-resolutions/feed/ 26 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/favorites-of-2011/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/favorites-of-2011/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:55:57 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5945 So they say that you need to look back to look ahead. Okay, well, I’ve actually never heard anybody say that. I just made it up because it sounded like a good introduction for a post about favorite posts from the past year. Though, really, I guess if you did that, you would just end [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2012/01/favorites-of-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/from-our-ride-to-yours-merry-christmas/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/from-our-ride-to-yours-merry-christmas/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:12:08 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5924 Merry Christmas, Friends. Thanks for journeying with our family, for entering conversations here, and for supporting us in a million different ways this past year. We hope your holiday season is full of rich, take-your-breath-away-good-kind-of moments. We hope, too, that the gift  of the King-who-came-down truly overshadows everything, everything, else. Happy Holidays, ya’ll.  And we’ll [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/from-our-ride-to-yours-merry-christmas/feed/ 11 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/simple-idea-for-making-christmas-meaningful/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/simple-idea-for-making-christmas-meaningful/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:55:58 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5928 If you are a last-minute kind of person who needs a super simple idea for making the Christmas season more intentional with your kids this year, even 4 days before the big day, consider this:  “{# of Days Left Before Christmas} Days of Holiday Cheer”  1. Declare the Tradition. Insert however many days you have left [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/simple-idea-for-making-christmas-meaningful/feed/ 1 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/god-is-not-a-white-man/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/god-is-not-a-white-man/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:58:20 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5911 I heard the other day about a Thai woman who loves Jesus but chooses not to call herself a Christian. Instead, she classifies herself a “Buddhist Christ-Follower.” She recognizes that the term Christian in this part of the world is thick with cultural and historical meanings from the West that she would rather not identify [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/12/god-is-not-a-white-man/feed/ 22