Sa-wat-dee Kah from Thailand! That means hello! We have been here for a week and I am still playing major catch up from Haiti, so there will be more blogs to come from the month I was MIA. Still trying to process it all. A lot went down and I want to share. Just gonna need you to practice some patience while I practice obedience and deligence in getting it out there. Till then, here is what is up in the Land of Smiles. Enjoy!
Recently reality has been hard to grasp, mostly because things have been so good and so incredibly unbelievable. Take a walk with me and let me show you what I mean.
*This morning when I woke up in my tent, I stretched and realized once again… I am in Thailand. I unzipped my door and stepped out and looked down the rows of hundreds of Tamarind (brown bean that looks like poop hanging from a tree) and Mango trees we sleep under, and I was socked in the gut the knowledge of how unbelievable my life has become.
*Last night we were in the local night market and I had a Thai Tea in my hand and a smile on my face. I walked the rows of stalls enjoying the sights and smells. There was a particularly interesting section that focused on dried sea creatures; more than ten different kinds of fish, seaweed, various squids and the potent smell that accompanies them. I hung back and kept an eye on all my girls (the 11 fearfully and wonderfully made women I have the honor of walking out life with his month). God smacked me with His proud and loving parental heart in that moment and I loved just sitting back and watching them interact with each other and take in the environment in the same way I was, with wonder.
*My heart was so full as I looked out over the fields and playground as some Jesus’ favorite children run and play. These are the lucky ones that have been protected from the evils of sex trafficking that have enslaved so many in this portion of the world. In the midst of my asking God why and how such evil could be allowed to exist, I get smacked in the leg with a body that wraps itself around my thigh. It is a little girl with sweet dark eyes. She breathlessly tells me her name. I realized that I have become base in a game of tag, and I am ok with it. I smile, hug her twice and play with her hair while I smile up at Jesus. He always brings me back to focus on the beauty instead of the heartbreak and evil. His face reflected in the eyes of a tiny Thai daughter with fast feet.
*Noodles, noodles, noodles!!! I don’t know what I am eating or how to pronounce it, but I know that it good and spicy! There is a chicken at my feet playing in the dust (even the chickens in Thailand are happy) and I can see the straw mat where the man and woman that are cooking my food sleep every night. There is a sauce on the table that is made from the juice that is left over from rotten fermented fish, but I do not mind how it is made. It is delicious. The water tastes like rice but is strangely refreshing and is perfectly paired with my Thai tea. This is a country that challenges and meets all of my food desires. I am Anthony Bordain, Andrew Zimmern. Bring on the fried Tarantula.
*I sit in the back seat and listen to my American host tell stories of how God called he and his family to sell everything and move Thailand seven month ago to work with children at risk to be trafficked. I am soaking in the comfort of hearing my native language and not having to work to communicate. The sun is setting and the green hills, palm trees and rice fields roll past the window. The colors and silhouettes take my breath away. “Indescribable, uncontainable, awestruck we fall to our knees and humbly proclaim, you are amazing God!” by Chris Tomlin fills my ears from the car speakers. Perfect moment.
You know those moments where the earth stops turning, your heart may even stop beating, just so that you can be struck with the knowledge that you are so blessed and life is so incredibly beautiful? You stop and think “How did I get here? What did I do to ever deserve this?” You want to stop and pull someone into the joy cloud that seems to be surrounding you, to explain to them so that they will see it too and you can enjoy the moment together. Those moments have been raining down on me a lot lately. I stop, smile and breathe deep embracing them. And I smile at Jesus, knowing the moment itself has only come because He is standing right beside me.
“God put me anywhere; just put Your glory in me. I’ll serve anywhere; just let me see Your beauty. Catch me up in Your story, all my life for Your glory.” (All Is For your Glory, Cory Asbury)
