Hi guys, so I’m currently in Myanmar and have been so for the past 2 weeks.
Before leaving Thailand we had team changes and so it is with a heavy heart that I tell you that my former team of 12-6-1 is no more! Fortunately it is with, pride and joy that I introduce you to my new team. Team BARE. (Bold And Relentless Edge)
Initially the team changes were hard for me. As I am now in month 5 of the race, the honey moon phase of the race is over. Coming to grips with the fact that I’d been without comfort for quite a few months and had 6 more to go, was no longer an exciting challenge but a daunting task. Add on a team change, which felt like being removed from what I was starting to consider familiar, I wasn’t the most thrilled, but God gave me a perspective shift through a new team member.
Oneof the lessons I learned earlier this year is choosing joy. I realized, that often starts with being thankful and through reading my team members blog, I noticed something simple yet life changing. She saw beauty in the small things and in that she was thankful and had joy. Suddenly it hit me, this journey isn’t going to be easy and there may be some serious discomforts, be it accomodations, food or team changes but starting off with thankfulness and taking in all the beauty around you can be a big perspective shift.
So without further ado, with permission I have pasted below an excerpt of my team mate Jess Waites’ blog. I would have normally reduced her blog to, “so we crossed the border from Thailand to Myanmar” but she saw so much more and honestly for those of you reading this in the US, it is a great depiction of our boarder crossing experience and as we’re on the same team, I can vouch that everything she’s saying is true and in fact did happen.
For me though, it’s a reminder of perspective and being thankful for all the things and experiences around you remembering that, ” Every good and perfect gift is from above..” James 1:7a
Here’s hoping you don’t allow the one or two annoyances in life to overshadow and possibly miss the gifts and smallest ways God blesses us.
Welcome to Myanmar
Myself and thirty or so others [i have never personally counted us] walked across the Thai/Myanmar border—carrying giant fifty-thousand pound bags on our backs, and medium-sized twenty-thousand pound backpacks on our fronts, and smaller one-thousand pound purses over our shoulders.
Oh and I was an illegal immigrant for an entire day, which was more than exciting. Our visas had expired the day before, whoops! So as a newly-made convict, I decided that rules should be shifted a bit and I could have my way of it. And there, I began a life of thieving. Alright just kidding, I’m getting a head cold and it is taking everything in me to stay focused.
But we did overstay our welcome. It only took an extra hour for the border police to set it all straight and forgive us for our mistakes we made.
Then I walked across the ginormous bridge and into Myanmar; the view, houses, and people were completely different on either side of the bridge—an instant change.
The river under us, weaving through the dirt and green hills that were dotted with colorful wooden houses, was a muddy brown and carried a long canoe. The people walking toward us were beautiful and unique. I had no expectations of what this country would be like, but I was prepared to be amazed 🙂
Now, the sun sunk into the earth as lightning flashes lit up the dark and thunder reverberated in the night.
How eerie was our entrance into Myanmar. It took another all-night bus ride before each team parted ways.
My team and I are a twenty-four hour bus ride away from all other teams!
And we are nestled in the mountains of Myanmar. The weather is breezy and sometimes rainy. The air is dry and therefore, for the first time this year, I am not drenched in my own sweat. Well thank God it was always my own sweat, I’d never prefer it to be anyone else’s. I am CLEAN, which is a feeling I have gotten used to being without. The mountains are lined with pines, the color green, and notches in the earth here and there—rice terraces. Wooden houses balancing on stilts settle on the mountainside and bring vibrant colors to the scene.
The people here nod, smile, and shake our hands; for guests have come to this small village and are treated as distant family come to visit.
