MY HEART IS BURSTING AT THE SEAMS!
It feels swollen, filled to the brim with an endless amount of joy, thankfulness, love, and awestruck wonder at the goodness of my Father.
I feel it in my whole being.
And it’s not the first time I have felt like this. This month in Chaiyaphum, Thailand has been made up of moments just like this. Moments where I was bursting with some much amazement and joy that I didn’t know what to do besides laugh uncontrollably, scream out excitedly or throw up my hands in the wind as I rode in the back of our little pickup truck. So many moments that have left me…speechless.
The Lord has absolutely, hands down, without a doubt ROCKED MY WORLD this month!
I have never felt so full.
So free.
So alive.
As I have in this little village.
If you had told me at the beginning of the month this is how I would be feeling by the last day, I would have laughed in your face, never questioning the falsehood of that statement. My bitterness from not being placed in bar ministry in the city of Chiang Mai would have kept me from believing and accepting its truth.
But for those who read my previous blog (you haven't, you should!), you know the challenge the Lord gave me Day five in Chaiyaphum. To follow Him out of the boat, to experience full life with Him out on the water this month and boy, has He shown me the overwhelming joy in such obedience!
The Lord filled the vast open spaces of the rice fields, wheat fields and lakes with His abundant, all-consuming love for me.
I experienced it –
In the breathtaking sunsets that seemed to stop time.
In the late night drives in the bed of the pickup truck where the whole galaxy seemed to swallow me whole in its vastness.
In the surprise elephant visits to our home that He planned specifically for me, knowing the overwhelming joy it would put in my heart.
In the uncontrollable laughter and giggles that came when this new, daily life seemed like a dream again.
In the way I got to witness my contact’s love for his two young daughters. How he held them with such love. How his whole face smiled when they walked towards him. How he sang over them every night as they fall asleep.
In the Spirit filled marriage of my two contacts. How tenderly they loved each other, selflessly served each other and passionately worshipped together.
And in the meek love that our contacts showered us with every single moment.
When I look back on this Month in Thailand, I won’t think about how I wish I could have been placed somewhere else. How I wish I hadn’t been placed in this village. How I took freezing cold showers and brushed my teeth outside. How I slept on the floor and woke up to roosters every morning. How I wore the same clothes for days and had permanent dirty feet.
I will remember how I experience the Lord’s love like I never have before. How I daily saw a visual example of how my Father’s passionately cares for me as His beloved daughter. How I bonded with a team I never thought I would. And made incredible memories in the back of a truck.
I lived a simple, village life yet it’s the most full, the most free, the most alive I’ve ever felt. My Father knew it was exactly what I needed. The ministry, the new team, the contacts, the village – to feel revived again. He knew I needed Chaiyaphum more than Chaiyaphum needed me.
And the Lord’s promise to me was fulfilled on our last day of the month. My team went to a beautiful waterfall and as I followed my contact out on the water, I was reminded again of my vision. I watched my contact hold his daughter’s hand as he lead her safely out on the water.
As I heard the words “See My daughter, I told you life is better out on the water,” my teammate captured this picture…
My month was truly beautiful. Too beautiful for words. Too beautiful to be captured in a sentence or even a blog. But simply must be tucked away into my memory, never to be forgotten.
Thank you Jesus.
Financial Update: I am still in need of $1,817 to be FULLY FUNDED! I have one more month to raise this in order to stay on this journey that the Lord has called me to. Please prayerfully consider giving and thank you everyone for your constant encouragement and support! LOVE Y'ALL!
