We made it to Thailand and we are living at the Buddhist Language Institute where we are teaching. When we got here we were told multiple times that the house we are living in is brand new and was blessed just that morning by a Buddhist welcoming ceremony. The house was wrapped in string and had a traditional statue similar to a birdhouse placed outside the front entrance. The Lord is loving me well these two months. In our back yard, there is a lake with a gazebo on it. Just the presence of a lake makes me feel a sense of comfort that I didn’t even know I was missing. I asked if we are allowed to swim in the lake but was told no because there are sacred Buddha fish that live in it and they even have a ceremony every year where they are released into the lake. These fish are MASSIVE. At first, I thought they would be pretty little Asian fish but nope they are quite honestly the size of me. Even one of my friends turned to me and said “Bella it is the same size as you, just without limbs.” Anyways, we had our first day of school last Monday. There are 12 English teachers here and we each got paired up with one of them. Except for my friend Heidi and I who both got paired together to a teacher named Kru Natty.
I found a box of books in our house and picked one out named The Sun Behind the Clouds. It is a simple book about a man who goes on many different adventures in his life. Each chapter he is in a new place in a different scenario. One line that has really stuck out to me is this: “It must be terrible, I thought to myself, to be doing what you wanted, be where you wanted to be doing it, and still not be completely happy.” It reminded me that I have to really take advantage of these two months here. Especially during these time with the holidays and missing people back home. The fact of the matter is that I chose to do this and I chose to be away from home. Of all places, this is where I want to be most. Here in Thailand loving on the people that the Lord has placed in front of me. I have to live in this moment and be here now.
