from TIRES to CLOTHES

Flat tires are never fun. I remember driving my car in Indiana one time, when all of a sudden I could feel a rumble in from the car. I exited the car, checked the tires on the driver’s side and tried to assess the situation. It sounded like I was driving an airplane. Sure enough as I entered the auto shop, I had a flat tire on the passenger’s side that was causing the turbo jet power. Whoosh, tires are not cheap, but I was thankful that it got taken care of. Fast forward to Thailand…

 

 

The first month and a half of living in Thailand Aimee and I had a total of 5 flat tires on our motorbike. We were new biker babes that did not realize the precious gift that air gives to tires.
 

Lesson learned.

The nice thing about Thailand is that there are motorbike shops on every corner just like there are McDonald’s in New York City. On top of that the cost of a flat tire on a motorbike is anywhere from $2-$7 depending on your Thai skills (cheaper end) and the Western accent/nose (more expensive).

 Lately, I have come to the realization that I take a lot of things for granted especially after hearing stories from my Thai friends and their flat tires.

For instance, I was going to dinner at a friend’s house a couple months ago. My Thai friend had had a flat tire for weeks and needed a ride. My first thought was, “why don’t you get the flat fixed…it has been weeks”!? Typical Westerner thought. Then…it hit me, it was not that simple. He did not have $5 or 150 Baht to spare.

I felt like a jerk.

I take the ability to fix my motorbike for granted. Yes, it hurts paying the money when major things happen, but I have it where most Thai’s/Burmese do not. When working at a gas station people here are lucky to make $3-$10 a day. I mean today I spent $3 on a huge bag full of vegetables, some people’s earnings for the day.
It is just not that simple for them like it is for me.

Then I think of the option of clothes I have and their ability to get real clean.

I know I take this for granted.

Hanging over the border in the Brick Making village  (photo props: Casey Wells)

I think of my friends that live in a brick making village in Burma. As soon as their few articles of clothing are “cleaned” in the trash laden river, within minutes, hours they are ridden with sweet and dirt from their dusty roads. Clean clothes are not that easy there…at least they have some.

the river there clothes and bodies get washed in  (photo props: Casey Wells)

 God has been stirring a lot in this heart of mine. I do not want to take, what appears as mere things to me but monumental to others, for granted. I want to be aware, grateful, and thankful from the comfortable shoes on my feet to the clean water that flows from my faucet daily. I am ready for the lenses in my frames to be transformed daily into His viSiON.