Today was my last day doing ministry at Wildflower Home and Farm for my first month in Thailand. Starting Monday, my team is being relocated to a new ministry where we will work with orphans!
Leaving this place still feels bittersweet. I love it here so much. I love the work that they do. I love how they empower these women. I love the confidence I’ve seen growing in myself and my abilities.
As we scooped dirt, pulled weeds, swept dust and leaves, and hoed the banana fields all day long, I saw us begin to create a beautiful garden. We got to be apart of a literal life giving process that would help sustain this home and the people that inhabit it.
It was hard work and it was dirty. We would be on our hands and knees sore from bending over and using muscles we didn’t know we had. Our hands would hurt from firm grips on the shovels and wheelbarrows that aided us in moving all that dirt. Nothing we did was ever an easy task, but we did it-and we did it together.
I will forever be grateful for the community that Jesus gave me here. Getting to know these women has been one of the greatest gifts. They have lived hard lives that I could never imagine living, but they are survivors. They are strong, fierce women, who I believe can do literally anything. The name of this place, Wildflower, suits them. They are wild in their differences, but beautiful all the same.
The way we moved dirt and cleaned grime around this place reminds me of the way the Lord renews and cleans us. It takes a willing heart on our part to begin the process. Once you start, it is never easy. Life with Jesus was never promised as being easy.
It looks like moving things around, even if they are dirty, even if they are heavy. It looks like pulling out the weedy lies and leaving them out to dry until they shrivel up and die. It looks like hacking away at one boulder of an insecurity for an hour until it literally crumbles into nothing. It is old soil being replaced with fresh new soil and a beautiful garden of fresh veggies and bright flowers growing in place of the weeds and rocks. It might leave you sore, but you are healthier because of it.
I am proud that I got to be apart of such a wonderful organization. I will never forget this place with its pink buildings, green vegetable fields, loud animals, and smiling women ready to embrace any willing stranger with open arms. I will never forget the laughter and dancing that was had. And God knows, I will never forget those delicious fried mushrooms they made.
Thank you Wildflower Home and Farm. It was a blessing to work with you.
-Meg
