hello from Chiang Mai!
in this blog I’m going to share a picture from every day that I’ve been gone, my words right now are incapable of describing what has happened so I’m hoping pictures will be more adequate.
September 8th(Sunday) : here’s a pic of my cute parents who came to launch! This was our time to say goodbye and it was such a sweet time of reflection and love!! Also this picture is Hannah and I laying out in the sun when we didn’t have sessions!
September 9th(Monday): this is team ahava! This picture was taken laaate at night when we landed in the san Francisco airport
September 10th(Tuesday): we shifted to a time zone in Asia so basically we skipped Tuesday lol
September 11th (Wednesday): this picture was taken as we flew into Hong Kong. We flew from Nashville-> San Francisco-> Hong Kong-> Singapore->Bangkok-> and finally Chiang Mai!!! It felt like one super long day of around 72 hours of travel. Travel days basically feel like a time vortex
September 12th (Thursday): our first day in Chiang Mai was spent resting in our beautiful yet super hot hostel (no AC lol but we’re used to it now) we also got to explore a little around the city!!
September 13th (Friday): me and these cute friends spent the day getting coffee and then our squad went to the Buddhist temple and got to speak to monks as well as getting to explore the temples and learn about what they believe.
September 15th(Sunday): our sabbath day! Spent resting and water coloring and spending time with the lord, preparing for the week ahead of ministry
September 16th (Monday): we woke up early to head to our ministry site held at the wildflower house; the home serves young mothers in distress: abuse, poverty, whatever it may be. Ministry looked like helping garden herbs to help feed the women living in the facility. Later that night a few of us went to the market and my friend Avery introduced us to her new friend named Boris, seen in the pictures. Boris owns a rug shop and we got to learn of his passion of the artistry behind the rugs he sells. We got to speak with him for around an hour and made a life long friend and learned SO much about the art of these beautiful rugs seen in the picture. It was such a wonderful experience for all of us getting to listen to Boris speak about what he loves.
September 17th (today): this was my view from our songthaew (basically the back of a pick up truck with benches to sit on). We continued to help with the herb garden and actually finished up our work! Tomorrow we will begin to help in the wildflower house however they need us to. The Thai culture of work is so incredible. The people we worked with encouraged us to take breaks for ourselves way more than I would usually want to break. They explained that the quality of work and happiness during the work is so important. Opposed to America’s culture of working: work until you can’t anymore and by that time it’s miserable. Not sure if this all makes sense but I’ve learned so much. The way Thai people love and care for each other is so incredible and displayed in such lovely ways.
To sum this blog up: I’m having an incredible time here and the lord has been showing me peace that I’ve never experienced. He’s humbled me so much to fully depend on him and lately he’s been showing me to depend on others. For example: today I was feeling terrible and I normally never want to show any sign of feeling badly but my teammates and team leader surrounded me and made me feel so loved and cared for. Days on the race aren’t easy, and honestly it’s been kinda hard to adjust, I go to bed at like 8:30 every night because I’m so exhausted, it’s actually so funny I feel like an actual grandma. days are filled with inexplicable beauty and I learn so much just by observing. It frustrates me to not be able to put into words what I’ve been experiencing but it’s so exciting at the same time.
Im so thankful to all of the people following my journey and to come along side me. those who are praying for me and those who contributed financially or simply encouraged me in this: thank you so much
