{Thailand}
Month 7 of 11 and the country where you can find a 7/11 convenient store at just about every corner. It was a month of eating pad thai just about every day and where my love for elephants grew and has by far become my favorite animal {besides of course Josh}. The month was spent in northern Thailand in a village outside of Mai Ai, only a few hours from the Burma (Myanmar) border. Bankai village sat amidst the brightest of green rice fields with the most beautiful mountainous backdrop. It was rural and everything a small town girl could have hoped for. We lived in a teachers lounge and helped teach English at a Buddhist school. Working alongside a group of people who didn’t know the Lord was a change of pace but what an incredible opportunity it was to not only show Jesus but share the good news to those who had yet to hear it. It was a month of seeing the difference between evangelism through our love and actions and evangelism of straight up sharing the gospel. The Lord taught me the need and the balance for both and boy, did he grow my heart for evangelism all together. It was a month where the reality of the number of people who don’t know the Lord and desperately need to hit me. It is where I experienced firsthand a place where speaking of Jesus is forbidden. Although speaking of him may be forbidden the Lord showed me His presence is NEVER forbidden. I was reminded the power of prayer and to continually keep those around the world who have always been his but have yet to make him theirs in my prayers.
It was a month that bicycles were our main means of transportation {they got us to the pad thai shop and back}. A month of learning what it means to walk in humility and going deeper with my team. Learning that true love means calling out the hard stuff in one another to become more like the image of Christ. Thailand was the month beauty was redefined for me. The Lord showed me that beauty is not about how a woman looks, it is about how a woman lives in the knowledge of whose she is and who she is that makes her beautiful. Beauty is having a heart for God and becoming more like him. It’s having the Holy Spirit dwell richly within your soul and being secure in Him. Beautiful is having a confidence and boldness in the Lord. It’s being settled in your skin- because you are His. It was a month of hoping to gain and thrive for a different kind of beauty within myself. A beauty that comes from a love, knowledge, and trust in the Lord as I grow in my relationship with the Lord and continue life’s journey.
God has always had far greater plans for my life than I could imagine. It’s a truth I know but one that the Lord is always reminding me of. A year ago, I would have never thought I would find myself traveling to eleven countries let alone walking the streets of Thailand with my mom. My last week in Thailand was spent in Chang Mai for the World Race Parent Vision Trip. Having my mom with me in Thailand for a week was something I don’t think either of us could have ever thought up. How sweet it was to wrap my arms around my momma and catch up on life without broken calls of “can you hear me now” or “can you see me” as the majority of your conversation. It was a week spent chatting with monks, playing with children in the slums, and going into the Red Light District wearing “Jesus on our skin” and loving the women and the men in the bars. People say I love well but Momma J blows me out of the water. Her love is raw, genuine, and without boundaries. I thank the Lord for her, the sweet week spent serving Jesus alongside her, and all the many lessons He taught me in the beautiful country of Thailand.
Kap koon ka Jesus.
