“But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
Acts 5:39
We arrive back in Chiang Mai and I have three things on my mind: a shower, laundry, and teams. I quickly accomplish item one. I feel like a new person. Laundry will have to wait until tomorrow. The one machine, three washing buckets, and all the clotheslines are occupied.
With anticipation running high, the time has finally come to announce teams. Names are called until only 6 of us remain. With a sigh of relief and new excitement in the air we now know we are on a team together and are so ready for what God has in store for us.
(L to R) Mercy, Simeon, Beth, Me, Andrew, Jay
For our first team activity we practice listening prayer. I’m a bit skeptical, but dive in headfirst. We pray as a team and all come up with different images and ideas: a person sitting alone at a table, flip flops, the color green, Chang beer, the food market, a shark, a lilac, Australian. They don’t seem to correlate in any way, however when we head out and arrive at the food market we almost instantly come upon a man sitting along at a table in a green shirt, wearing flip-flops and a shark tooth necklace. This can’t be real and yet it definitely is. We do a quick team huddle and a few of us volunteer to sit at his table for dinner. Simeon, Mercy, and I are seated next to him and start looking at the menus. We strike up conversation and we learn about his life. We get to pray for him and his family. It is amazing to see how God works through the Holy Spirit to lead us to this man.
Sunday arrives and Mercy, Beth, and I decide to skip church in favor of quiet times, blogging, and laundry. We are all in need of rest. Our first official meeting arrives at 1pm and even this seems to come quickly. Where did the morning go?
We are given the task to go with our teams to go make a memory. We tentatively throw out the idea of setting off lanterns and head out into the city. Our search for lanterns feels hopeless until we stop and ask a couple buying fruit if they have any ideas. Overhearing our conversation the Thai man behind the shop says his friend who is there sells lanterns. Before we know it we are hastily weaving our way through the market to his stand. There I negotiate us a little discount on each lantern and get convinced to buy 6 instead of 2 lanterns by the best salesman that I have met who doesn’t speak my language.
We still have time until it gets dark so we grab some dinner, complete with the best free WiFi since leaving the States. We leave the restaurant and I ask if everyone has everything phones, cameras, etc. We are about 200 yards from the restaurant and Jay notices that we forgot the lanterns. We hustle back for them. We find a spot to light the lanterns and break out the markers from my backpack and all write prayers, hopes, and dreams on our lanterns. We release them one time; each time holding our breath and saying a prayer nothing catches fire. As we watch Beth’s go up in the air everything seems fine and then it starts to fall back down. Worried that we have just set the whole of Chiang Mai on fire, we get Andrew’s lantern off as quickly as possible and then skidaddle.
Monday I wake up early and get to Facetime my parents and then my sister, Lauren. I’m so thankful for technology. As Lauren and I chat about the hard parts of the Race and the easy parts of life, such as Gilmore Girls, I’m reminded how much I miss the easy conversation of someone that knows your heart and life so well.
I’m awoken Tuesday morning to a tap from Beth. She wants to know if I am going on the group run. This is not the most appealing thing at 7a.m. but I know I should go so I muster up the strength to roll out of bed. Daniel, Jess, Mercy, Beth, and I head out into the streets of Chiang Mai. I try to enjoy it, but honestly I’m just reminded how much I dislike running in busy cities and with other people. At least I won’t feel so guilty if I decide to have Rotee for dinner. Somewhere between a crepe and an Elephant ear, Rotee is about as delicious and unhealthy as it sounds.
Daniel grabs me in the afternoon and asks if I would be one of two Logistics Coordinators for our squad. I have the afternoon to consider it, but I am pretty sure I already know my answer. This seems like a great fit for me: organizing all the travel for the squad. Planning, problem solving, and negotiating are some of my favorite things. However, it is a huge commitment. Spending the next year doing my best to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible for our squad as we go from country to country. And I have no idea who I will be working with. What if we don’t work well together? As doubts fill my mind, I’m reminded that even before the Race, this is the exact position that I would have wanted on the squad. As I head to a coffee shop and read my Bible, pray, and journal, I am reminded that God is in control. I am assured He has picked this specifically for me for this year and will use it to grow me closer to Him. I am looking forward to a crazy year full of busses, visas, hostels, and so much more.
Wednesday morning the training continues. The first topic is risk management and while this topic isn’t of particular excitement, there is a flow chart so I am intrigued — nothing like a solid flow chart. After lunch we head to Karen and Tim’s guesthouse for a team briefing then on our way back to Zion we make a detour to the cutest French bakery. I think I’ll be returning here soon. With a croissant in my stomach, I plop into my bed and take a nap. We grab pizza for dinner. I think miss American food too much already.
It’s Thursday and I get to take another nap. I make a mental note to put afternoon naps under the “pros” of quitting my job.
Friday we gather into a new meeting room and Pi Emmi, the woman who runs the Café and Hostel where we are staying, gives us orientation for all the ministries we will begin on Monday. It is Mama K and Papa T’s last night with us. They arrive for a celebration around 7. We divide into teams and begin a game of pop the balloons. Hindsight is always 20/20 and when a staff member comes running up the stairs pepper spray in hand and explains she thought we were being shot at, we realize this game was not such a good idea. We are not discouraged though, and continue the celebration with a dance party and finish with cheesecake. Cheese, oh how I miss cheese.
Saturdays are best when they begin with friendly faces and coffee so after FaceTiming my sweet parents I head to the French bakery for lattes and breakfast with Victoria P. Most of the squad is off riding elephants, but I am thankful for a day with a bit of alone time. I’ve now been away from my job almost 2 months and I have no more to-do lists to complete and I must say, I am feeling my brain is in serious need of some exercise. I spend the afternoon practicing excel shortcuts for Mac. Can’t quite get away from that nerd life.
Beginning at the French bakery again, Victoria P., Mercy, Beth, Andrew, and I start Sunday off in just the right way. We catch a sung tao to Tiger Kingdom and spend the morning hanging out with some amazing tigers. We have been here over 2 weeks and with ministry starting tomorrow I am excited to see what the second half of this month holds.
