So what have I been up to in the past two weeks? Well I’ll tell you, but it might sound weird. To be honest, it still sounds weird to me. But right now I need a blog post so I guess this’ll do for now.
The first week of ministry in Chiang Mai I worked on the “Projects” crew; a couple of people from two joint teams willing to help out with whatever that term happens to mean. In this case it meant sanding, staining, and polishing all of the furniture used in the Bella Goose cafe that occupies the first floor of the hostel in which we are staying.
In summary, it was hot, sweaty, and we got to see the progress we were making, which, as someone who’s been in “ministry” as a sort-of occupation for the last several months, is not often. It kind of took me back to Guatemala and building the soccer field layer by layer and being able to see the finished product at the end.
In the middle of the week, I switched to the prayer crew as suggested by our hosts, but I still got to see how great all those tables and chairs turned out and it was fun to witness the staff of the cafe so excited with our work and progress.
Now we come to the weird stuff. So prayer ministry is really what we call ATL, short for Ask The Lord. It’s basically very open-ended ministry. You just ask the Lord and what he tells you, as far as it is in your power, you do.
Early on in our time in Chiang Mai, I had this weird passion come into my heart, just the desire to go to Buddhist temples and hang out, journaling and praying. Later I think I figured out that part of it was simply inviting the Lord into places where by earthly rights, he should never be. So it was especially sweet to use that time there and there was so much joy in just doing what God asked me to do, even if I didn’t really understand it. Because let’s face it; I sat in a courtyard of a temple next to an enormous gold statue of the Buddha and just talked to God for a couple hours and listened as he talked back.
I also got to smile and wave at a couple really cute preschool kids who were in school next door and discovered the weird white girl at recess.
But a girl can only sit for so long on concrete.
And that’s the other weird part.
In case anyone reading this is unaware, I have this thing about writing; I love it. Where blogs are a chore to some of my squad mates, I usually thrive on them. I adore writing. I adore stories that suck me in and don’t let go until the last page, the last sentence, the final word. Frankly I’ve learned a lot from and about that part of myself this year and I haven’t always been forthcoming with y’all about that. Because honestly, that’s an exceptionally personal and private part of who I am.
But that’s a long rabbit hole. All that meant to say, I love writing books and right now, I’m working on another one. It’s been a slow process, I haven’t had hours every day to just sit down and attempt to pour out my thoughts. And as any artist knows, 90% of all the work put in is procrastination. Or at least it seems that way.
And yet this past week, God asked me to use my afternoons, the time allotted to “Ask the Lord” to go to a cafe and write with him for a few hours.
It seemed selfish. It felt selfish. And yet I know the voice of God, I trust him to allow me to hear him and to hear him correctly. And he told me to go write.
Now how is that ministry, you ask? How is this advancing the Kingdom and showing Christ to the people around me?
Well I can’t answer that because I’m asking the same questions.
But I can tell you that it’s been a really sweet time, I’ve gotten a chance to slow down, to appreciate the days, the hours again. And God has been teaching me that maybe ministry and my passions don’t have to be separate parts of my life.
For those of you who know this part of my personal story a little better, you understand the possible implications there. But I just don’t know yet. And that’s okay. It’s been sweet to have this in my life as part of my ministry, even if it’s only for a few days.
And that’s all I’ve really got for you on that.
In other news, I celebrated my twenty fourth this Wednesday. It was great; my team and squad loved me really well. It involved a huge slice of cake, dinner, about every different rendition of “Happy Birthday” known to man, and a lot of people jumping out from behind a corner and yelling at me. It was great. To anyone who’s reading this who was involved, thank you so much. You made me feel really special and seen.
The other thing we did recently that is noteworthy was spending the morning with elephants. It was so fun. We got to feed them sugar cane and bananas, touch them, be with them in their sanctuary and even give them a bath. And yes, we got sprayed several times. It was a great experience and if you ever get the chance, I recommend it.
Okay, talk to y’all soon.
Have a good one.
Oh and please pray for us as we head to Cambodia for debrief and Month 9 this week.
So much love,
TL
