For those of you interested in what Christmas in Thailand looks/looked like; here goes!!
We began roughly about a month ago with our attempt to bring Christmas to Thailand. We dealt out our secret santa people randomly and had roughly a month to gather up presents for our person. Mine was Brynley, Jake had Laura, Laura had Jake, Harper had Maggie, Maggie had Chris, Brynley had Harper, Chris had Rachel, and Rachel had me! We opened presents this morning around noon. We had a Christmas celebration where we also had a white-elephant secret santa on Saturday night. This was with two other world race teams as well as the leadership. This night was filled with food, laughter, and celebration! And then for Christmas Eve we watched some movies and prepared ourselves for the next day. Christmas morning comes and we wake up anywhere between 7-10. Our team heads to an American diner to get breakfast at 10:30 in which we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast. After this, we headed back to have our gift-giving celebration. About noon, we held our secret santa gift-giving and went randomly in a circle to open gifts. After this we decided to watch a movie; a Christmas classic: Elf. And that’s what we’re doing now with roughly 9 hours remaining our time zone to celebrate the day of Christmas on Christmas!!
Merry Christmas!!
And so, Christmas. In Thailand. With my mission’s trip team. Somewhat similar to home, yet in many more ways very different. I look around and see none of my family members. Yet, I look around and see all of my brothers and sisters. I look around for familiar faces from my childhood traditions, but what I find are faces that I’m still familiarizing myself with but will remember for the rest of my life. This Christmas is one that’s been extremely difficult for me personally, but at the same time one to treasure for the rest of my life. But I still miss it back home. I miss my home and waking up in my bed on Christmas day. I miss seeing the people I’ve grown up with on Christmas break. I miss waking up to simply a Christmas tree. I miss my friends. I hate to say it, but I do miss those school classes and learning more. (I’m a nerd!!) I miss doing life with the people that know my life and story and what I’ve been through and I miss doing life with those that have walked through it with me. I miss my grandparents. My parents. My sisters. My relatives. My cousins. What isn’t there to miss? I could go on forever. I leave everything I’m used to and that I’ve grown accustomed to live life out of a backpack for 9 months. I miss that life.
But the question isn’t “do I miss it?” The question is “Do I wish I was back in that life?” And the short answer to this question, though hard to answer, is “No.” I miss all of these things extremely much but what better place could I be in life than doing what God wants me to do. What has been more satisfying in my life than living my life for God with God? Nothing!! Where would I want to be for Christmas? While my first instinct says with my family, my heart says I want what God wants. And I guess that means having a Christmas in Thailand. While this has been hard, the team God has so gracefully gifted me with has made this Christmas one far better than bearable would describe. They truly make me feel like family and the love that they show me reminds me of the love that I would be shown back home. It’s almost like I’m with my family, even though I’m truly thousands of miles away. Another thing God has taught me and brought my perspective to the reality of is the reality and celebration of the baby in the manger.
I think it’s beautiful that God decided He was going to save the world by sending a baby. That’s what we celebrate every December 25th; it’s that baby’s birth! And it blows me away the purpose for which this baby was born. The underlying message of love for each and every single one of us to see for ourselves. To ask the question “But why was He born?” points us quickly to the cross. He walked the earth for 33 years up to the date of the crucifixion, the ultimate purpose for which He was born into human flesh. His purpose for coming to us and into a manger was so that He could walk among us to experience the life we live except without sin yet pay for the price of the sins that we commit that separate us from God by paying this on the cross. It all points to the cross which directly points to His love and the verse that could be recited among most Christians that walk the Earth. That He loved the world so He gave His one and only Son. He was to be a king and worshipped as a king the night of His birth. And He was displayed as King of the Jews hanging above His head on the cross as He breathed His last and suffered the pain for our sins to show His great love for us. He was and is the light in the darkness for us, through us, and in us. And that’s what we’re celebrating this Christmas. That the light of the world, Jesus, was born for us to accomplish the purpose of reconciliation and restoration of our relationship with God, not just after this life but in this life in too! I love the way that this is expressed in one of my favorite songs.
“You can see the promise even in the winter,
cause you’re the God of greatness, even in a manger.
For all I know of seasons is that you take your time,
you could have saved us in a second, instead you sent a child.”
And that child in the manger we can and will express our thankfulness for in this season of celebration and gift-giving. Let’s give gifts to others to show how much we care for them similar to how God gave us the ultimate gift that we could never deserve or achieve on our own to show how much He cares for and loves us.
Merry Christmas from Thailand!!
Sincerely, your brother in Christ,
Brenton
