I woke up this morning thinking I needed to stay back from what ever adventure God had for me today. I just wanted to rest forever, stay in bed, speak to Jesus…it’s been a while. I decided to go on a bike ride instead and it’s like my Father knew I needed to see him today. He heard my plea even though I didn’t ask for anything.
Shara, Reid, and I set out on our bikes to find sport competitions that are apparently part of the Laos New Year celebrations. We rode to where we thought they would be but all we saw was a field of mud and not many people. Long story short, we decide to take our bikes on a ride before they have to be back to the rental place.
As we’re riding along we come upon lots of traffic. A Laos wedding! How precious. As we’re stopped and staring to figure out which one the bride is, out of no where comes our Canadian friend we met last week who owns a bar. We ask him about all the New Year festivities and ask if he knows any Christians in Laos. He knows one. She used to work for him and her dad is a pastor. No way! This is exciting news since Laos is a closed country and being a Christian is hard, let alone being open about your faith. I’m looking forward to getting in contact with her and hearing about her life. After a few more questions we find out his girlfriend works at the nicest resort in Laos, and it’s right down the road from our hostel.
We drop off the bikes and head to the resort to see if we can look around. None of us were wearing proper attire, we weren’t exactly clean and we definitely felt like we were dirtying up the place just by walking through. A really nice lady showed us around. The pool, it was beautiful, it was peaceful, the grass was green and well kept, it was quiet. I asked if anyone could come just to use the pool and she responded with a price, “Yes, for 30 US dollars you can use the pool and weight room.” Implied for one day, of course. “Or you could get massage for 1 hour and use the pool for free.” “Oh, how much for a massage?” “One hundred ninety five dollars.” Can I remind you, we are given $5 a day for food. We could do so many things in Laos for $30, let alone $195.
I half considered paying $30 just for the peace and quiet. What a nice place to speak to Jesus. But he speaks to me where ever I am. He can speak to me through Christmas songs in the middle of April. Plus, I’ll get peace and quiet in a couple months and wish for my crazy, never alone, almost always noisy life back. I can’t ever be satisfied.
As I wrote this out in my journal it was so real. We’ve been talking a lot about home. We’re excited to see our family and friends, but spending money is going to be hard. I’ve asked several people what they think will be the hardest culture shock. Spending 8-10 dollars on a meal at Chipotle, or 15 dollars at a sit down restaurant for a burger. I’m sure $30 doesn’t sound like much to you reading this blog at home. That’s okay. For me, $30 can get me 6 days worth of food. That’s 18 meals. It’s not all about the money either. I know it’s going to be hard to leave these people who know the most intimate parts of my relationship with Jesus. I’m excited to share those moments with you but it’s not going to be easy to summarize 11 months of memories, hard times, good times, and adventures. But, in the past month I’ve learned I love to be asked questions. So, feel free to ask me all the questions your little hearts can come up with, start now if you wish, email me, message me on Facebook.
I don’t have final details of when I’ll be home yet but I’m expecting early June. I look forward to hearing from many of you and seeing you so soon.
