Inle

I feel like I've neglected this blog. Though my heart is full I have found it difficult to sit down and put into words all that I experienced on my trip overseas. One of the most beautiful places on the planet is Inle Lake (in my humble estimation). I love, love the beach. I would probably say that my favorite place to be is a beach. The gulf coast of Florida is amazing. We've taken our kids to Panama City Beach and Destin several times. It's incredibly beautiful there -- white, sandy beaches and clear water. I've been to several places on the Carribean and think it's one of God's greatest creations. Even though it's not the beach, Inle Lake is incredible. It's a huge lake surrounded by mountains in the Shan State of Myanmar. I took this photo from a boat on Inle. The big, cone-shaped thing on the boat is for fishing. The fishermen row with one leg and balance on the other. We passed a boy standing on the end of his boat, like the man above. He was watching us and seemed to be trying to show off a bit with his rowing. He lost his balance and fell into the water -- it was freezing!! We felt really bad for him, but were amazed at how they stand on the very end of the boats. There are towns and villages all over the lake. Some houses and other buildings were on stilts out over the lake. We left our boats at our first stop (after a one-hour ride across the lake from the town where we were staying) and walked about 40 minutes to a village. We found a preschool run by the UN on the road to the village. Some of our group crossed a bridge that was really only 2 small logs side-by-side over a creek and went into the yard of the school. The kids ran over with great excitement. Our girls passed out some small gifts we had brought with us. We actually had 2 Burmese girls with us that helped with translation. When all the kids had something, they sang a song. We have no idea what the words of the song meant, but they were adorable!

The people of Myanmar are incredibly generous, friendly, and welcoming. The economy around the lake benefits from tourism. Because tourism is down a bit after the unrest of the Fall, the people are excited to see visitors. And, I was excited to be there. At one point on the boat ride across the lake one of my friends that was traveling with me looked at me and said, "Did you ever think you would get to experience something like this?" She's a few years older than me and has been to lots of places all over the world. I had to reply, "No. I didn't even know somewhere like this existed until just recently."

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

Serving the King,

Jeanette