200 DAYS on the RACE.
More than a year ago, I made a decision that would change my life and I don’t mean in a small way. I felt a nice, large shove from God telling me that He wanted me to go tell 11 nations about how majestic and loving He is. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy and I even questioned God the majority of last year. “Why me?! I LOVE my job. I love my city, etc. So why not choose someone who doesn’t.”
But here I am 200 days and 8 countries later. It hasn’t been easy. If anything, it has been the most challenging thing in my life. I have learned a few things about myself: Community living is great and all but I really like closing my door at night. And guess what. I have had my own room in 8 months. This month and last month all 6 of us were in the same room… yah. I don’t like talking about my feelings all the time. If I am in a bad mood, I literally have to go sit on the porch with five others out there, too and play music really loudly in my headphones so I can pout by myself. I don’t like being sweaty. At all. It is probably the worst thing in the world. I am currently sweating in the El Salvador heat in a hammock right now and I may or may not be pouting. I don’t know why Asia uses squatty potties. It literally makes no sense. Why do you want to do squats every time you have to pee? And… cold showers suck.
But then there’s the things that I adore. I actually like not having internet… but really. It’s kinda nice to not have my phone on me EVER. I love the people in every country. You would be amazed how much you can get to know someone even when you can’t speak their language. There are a lot of hand gestures and laughing at attempts to say words. Food is the way to everyone’s heart. You want to laugh a lot? Stand around the kitchen and help cook food. It is the best way to get to know someone AND learn new words. This month my fav phrase is “como se dice?” Or “how the HECK do you say this word?” I actually have started to enjoy cooking. Shocker, ma. I have this new desire to grow my own plants and eat tons of fruits and veggies when I get home. Every country people spend so much time in the kitchen and cook amazing and fresh meals. AND IT’S AMAZING! It’s where you socialize and talk about your day! Kids help parents. It’s my fav. Last month my fav thing was driving in the back of my host’s truck. It was so relaxing to travel an hour or two away to the mountains and watch the Thai country go by. Kids are still my favorite creatures and they are equally as cute as American children. We can hardly ever speak the same language but it is still so special to get to know them in different ways like playing games or laughing.
But I think it is hitting me that the time is quickly ticking to a stop. We only have 118 more days which is really odd to me. I remember counting down the days to the race but now I am counting the days till we are back in America.
I think it really hit me last month. To be honest, I was nervous about Thailand. We had just come from a great, restful month in Laos and we were off to our last country in Asia. I had HIGH expectations for Thailand. It was the country I had been looking forward to the most since I signed up for the race.
We arrived in our small Chiang Khong town one afternoon. Our host picked us up in his truck with his 3-year-old daughter. He took us to our new home which was a church that was being eaten away by termites. The floorboards were beginning to break and sometimes the building would sway, but it became my favorite place that we had lived in so far on the race. It was FREEZING at nights and hot in the afternoons. We had to sleep in our tents in the building because of mosquitos and we were always in bed at 9. Sounds appealing so far, right? But really. What made this city and building so special? I literally cried in my tent every other night since the first week because I was DREADING leaving.
Unfortunately, the Thai government would not let us teach English on a traveler’s visa. So we didn’t have your typical ministry everyday. The plan was to work at a school during the day and go to the foundation and work with the high schoolers at night. But instead we had bigger and better plans than we could’ve ever imagined.
Our host became our best friend. He took us on trips to the mountains, to tea farms, to visit his best friends, etc. He taught us how to make AMAZING Arabica coffee and we enjoyed long sips of coffee every morning at his house.
God knew exactly what we needed that month. We needed to feel loved. We needed to feel like we had family miles and miles away from our actual family. These kids, this man and his family became our family. 200 days after I left my family in America I had to say goodbye to my family in Thailand. And it isn’t easy. Somboon was the only one who knew how to speak English but we still knew that every person at the foundation was our family. I can’t explain it at all. But I imagine this is the whole part of the gospel. There is no American nor Thai in the gospel. God doesn’t classify us based on where we were born or what language we speak.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28.
My prayer for the rest of the race is James 4:13:
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
My thoughts right now escape and go to my dream for when I get home. I want to do this and I want to go here. I want to EAT MEXICAN FOOD and plant a garden! But right now God has me right here in El Salvador. I need to make sure I am focused on what God has called me to so I don’t miss another opportunity for an amazing month like Thailand was.
So here is my question to you… where is God calling you? Where are you digging your heels? Is there a reason you don’t want to listen to what God is calling you to do? Pray over James 4 and ask God to reveal to you areas where you want, you want, you want but instead reveal areas where God wants, God wants, God wants. THEN month or years from now look back and see how God provided in different ways than you expected. Our God is a God that shows up. So invite Him to show up.
