I am sitting in a hostel in Siem Riep, Cambodia, thankful for a fan blowing on me and clean sheets on a bed. Most often I am pulling out my sleeping mat and camping on the floor, but not tonight. I write this from the comfort of my hostel room. The lamp above the door has a little gecko sitting on it. Cute, except for the annoying 'clicking' sounds that serenade me night after night. Those geckos have been following me from the DR all the way to Asia. We have a fully functioning toilet, which has been uncharacteristic for most of our three months in Asia.
It's weird to say that I have officially been in Asia for three months. Time flies, and yet it doesn't. It feels like just yesterday, I was making the twenty-hour bus ride from Haiti to the Santa Domingo Airport to get on a plane eventually bound towards Asia. Actually, it seems like just yesterday I was getting on an airplane heading to my World Race Launch in Chicago. That was 145 days ago, thanks to Kari Jo for keeping daily count. But yet it still feels like yesterday, like that girl I was upon boarding a plane bound for a year of discovery and adventure… she really isn't that far gone. I remember everything. The restlessness. I couldn't sit still in that airplane seat. I was a ball of emotions, a mixture of tears and laughter as I read carefully written letters from loved ones wishing me well. That girl seems like a child now, like she is a part of me, but just a small fragment. Like the person I am now is somehow evolved; through time, sixteen hour flights, hands held, and hard words given. I think about every person in every country who has impacted my life so greatly, and the list is long: In The Dominican Republic; Juan, Alba, Ana Karin, Diana, Junior, Pastora Jacqueline, Laidy; in Haiti; Pastor Pierre, Wendel, Blondine, Thamara, Peter, Caleb, Fan-Fan, Joseph, D'jeno, Bebe, John Kelly, Steven, Kevins, Daphne… the list could go on.. In Thailand; Mark & Sharon Bidell and the women at SHE, Mew, Liz Olson, Gift, and Sophie; in Malaysia; Das & Secilia, Abeed, Christina, the Paul family in Rawang, Sonya, Alice & James, Sarah, and Pastor Edwin; and in Cambodia; Umong & Nary, Narath, Pauleong, and Bun-Rong. As I write out the list, I am sort of in a sweet 'awe' over how good God is.
I have met hundreds of people who glow God's handiwork, whether they validate Him as Creator or not. I have met people who are angry with life, with God, with the U.S.A. I have met people who smile shyly and don't know what to say because they are so thrilled that an American 'moviestar' is talking to them. I have met people who just want a prayer; people who know the power of God in every country. I have met people who are blind, who are disabled, who are rich, and who are poor. I have met people who know themselves on such an impressively deep level, like my friend Wendel, that they can take you to church just through a few minutes of table talk.
I'm thankful that I've had coffee all over the world, but I have to say… that NONE will compare to my Seattle coffee. I am about to head into Tanzania in a few days, so we'll se if their coffee is any good! The big thing in Asia is something called 3-in-1 coffee, a packet that mixes coffee, sugar, and cream; and then to add to the unhealthiness, they pour a good measure of sweetened condensed milk in, and voila, you have Thai coffee.
There have been good moments, like the moment I got to lead a girl to Christ in Haiti; both of us overjoyed and hugging until time had to finally pull us apart… and there have also been hard moments on The Race – like watching four of my friends mourn the death of loved ones, and one the death of her own mother while being out here on the field. There have been moments where my butt is so sore from being on a bus that I literally want to scream. There have been moments where we are so tired and sweaty that we wonder when we'll be normal humans again. But I do have to say that the good moments – you know, the take-your-breath-away kind of moments – have far outweighed the hard ones. The miracle of ten thousand stars glistening in Cambodian darkness. A lantern going up into the glowing night sky. The thrill a windy tuk-tuk ride through the nightlife of Phuket, Thailand. Teaching English. Sharing the gospel. Riding an elephant. Praying over the demon-possessed (yes,it happens out here!), Kayaking through the islands of Southeast Asia. Haitian worship services (they get crazy). A dance party in the middle of a busy street. A child's smile and his fingers gripping yours, wanting your attention, your praise, your heart… the love that just a smile can create. It is so simple, so perfectly simple. And it is that beauitful simplicity that keeps me motivated, keeps me 'plugged in' to the World Race. It's what helps me to do the hard things.
Someone gave me feedback the other day when I was getting down on myself about some things. She told me that something I should acknowledge and love about myself is that I am good at being fully present with a person. That when I am in a moment, I really know how to live inside of it. I am thankful for those words, because I strive to be a person who lives inside of moments. So, here's to you, in whatever moment you find yourself in… reading a laptop, maybe sneaking on at work (shame, shame), or just doing what you do… Here's to you. To being where you are, right in this very moment, and for letting yourself love it.
