Hello Hello my people!
I have been here in Thailand for a solid 2 weeks now, and lemme tell you, I think I have sweat my body weight three times over by now! It is quite hot and humid in SE Asia.
Guys, I LOVE Thailand. I do. I really really do. I love that I can eat a massive plate of noodles every night for less than a dollar and still have enough to buy a carton of green tea soy milk. I love that they put EVERYTHING in containers. I love that you can get a 3 course meal at any 7/11. I love that they put sweetened condensed milk on everything (corn!!!). I love the temples, I love the elephants and I absolutely love the people. Thai people have the warmest smiles, and are always welcoming, gracious and engaging.
It’s funny being back here, two years after my first visit. While I’m a solid 4 or 5 hours away from where I stayed in 2016, I’m constantly being hit with familiarity and nostalgia. It’s weird, because I never expected that to happen outside of Portland. I never expected to return to a place I visited and feel at home. While I spent 19 years of life in Portland, and only 2 months in Thailand, I still consider these places my home.
I feel like I’m always learning this lesson. The Father tells me “where you are, home is”. Where He calls me is where I plant my feet, cozy in and find my place. I do my best to constantly offer my whole self wherever I go. I refuse to hesitate, or hold back just because I see the “end”. For example, I am only on the field for three months, but that will not keep me from diving in deep with my squad. They are my people, and they became my people the second I met them. That’s just the truth and reality of life on the World Race. I will love fully, as the Father loves me, even if that means the goodbyes will be painful. It’s worth it. It’s always worth it.
Home has been straw huts, small bunk beds, squares of space on the floor, tents, hostels, hotels and even an office building all the way in Gainesville, Georgia. If I have learned anything the past couple of years, its that anywhere can be home. It just takes the change of perspective to see it that way.
It’s true, I am home here in thailand. Just as I will be home in Malaysia, and home back in Portland. I am present and living every moment and second to its fullest. I feel the Lord pressing that on me right about now. I have no worry for tomorrow. Well… at least when I do, I am reminded that I am not living in tomorrow, and I don’t have the perspective of eternity like my Father does. I can only realistically look at today, so why would I spend precious moments guessing about tomorrow?
I’m here. Today, I am here. Today, I am home.
