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 [...]
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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 [...]
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The recent discussion we had here about the brutal cycle of hope and disappointment had me nodding my head as the conversation developed about dreams and the eventual crash-and-burning of those very ideals. And this early morning light finds me watching the farmers begin the process of harvesting the rice. Over the big white wall that [...]
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My authentic-to-the-core husband hates praying aloud in groups so much that he typically won’t do it. Oh, he’ll sit there quietly and have epic conversations with God in his head, but you’ll seldom find him piping up and popcorn-praying-it. He thinks his talks with God are personal, and he’d just prefer to keep them that [...]
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So the guy comes to the table, and we order (in Thai) what we think is noodle soup. He rattles off a list of things we can’t understand and asks us if we want those added to the soup, too. We are thinking carrots, little bit of chicken, maybe some garlic or ginger. This is [...]
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Enjoy this post from the archives {originally written January 2011}. It’s one of my personal favorites. I think I just like the pictures. Community is a tangle of lives. It’s a continuous intersection of time and opinions– a chaotic convergence of Stories and personalities. Community means inconvenient birthday parties and trashed playrooms and awkward moments [...]
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You know when I wrote about how hard it is to actually take a family vacation– what with the money that won’t stretch far enough and the schedules that are stretched quite-far-enough already? Well, let me just say– it was worth it. Every. Single. Penny. Every. Amount. of Effort. Because we invest in our retirement [...]
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Heads-Up: The following is a more mature post about prostitution in Thailand, potentially inappropriate for younger readers. The girl in the story moved to the city to work in the bars, of her own accord {not being forcibly trafficked}. She was born into a world of poverty, little education, and a culture that in many [...]
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This week marks our second year in Chiang Mai, Thailand during the holiday of Songkran. Throughout the week, businesses are closed and a city-wide water fight ensues. Groups pile into the backs of trucks with trashcans full of water and water guns galore, and no one is safe or sacred– not the grandma on the [...]
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Every ninety days, we have to prove it, and every 365 we have to pay for it. We have to photocopy stacks of paperwork and hand over stacks of cash. We have to assemble reports and meet with accountants and hope-like-mad for that stamp in five passports that says we can stay legally in the [...]
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He said that the greatest love is to lay down your life for a friend. And I agree. Because, hey, it was Jesus who said it. But, I think Jesus also might have said that a fairly strong showing of love is in just showing up– especially when the showing up involves the taking of [...]
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ALifeOverseas.com / LauraParkerBlog.com.
My family is living overseas in Thailand, where my husband is directing a Christian Humanitarian Foundation. This blog is the honest recording of our journey– squatty potties and all. 
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Destined Traveler.
Mentoring Young Adults, Hosting Teams, Educating about Human Trafficking.
