Malaysia has been good to me. The land of squatty potties and street food (one a direct result of the other). I’m convinced that there is some legal statute that says every mall has to be at least five stories tall and consist of no less than 30 escalators, all placed far away from each other. Everyone is incredibly kind to us. We’ve gotten our pictures taken while eating meals, riding metro cars, and plenty of times while walking down the street. I don’t know why but I’m gonna say it’s because the joy of the Lord radiates off of us so people try and seize the moment, try to freeze it and own it, try to squeeze it and hold it… you know the rest.
We are now heading into month 6. Yeah, almost half way. I really can’t believe it. It still seems like yesterday when I was shoving fire starter, a collapsible bowl, and a pan into my pack (None of which you need, future racers. The rest of the world has lighters and bowls too.). I was so cute back then. As the race goes on picking up and moving every month (sometimes every few weeks) is normal. It’s routine. Walking across the street to a street vendor for dinner is normal. Squatty potties are normal (and actually better than real toilets #truetalk). Carrying toilet paper and peanut butter in my guitar case is normal. Playing russian roulette with your meals because no one speaks English is normal. The race at the start of month 6? It’s my life. It’s not so much glitter and glam. You miss home and sometimes think “At home I could sleep in a bed and have air conditioning, but I’d have to use a real toilet.”
I’ve found that my heart finds itself slipping to a place where I don’t necessarily want to go home, but I just forget where I am. It’s like when people live at the beach and they take vacations to the city (yeah, you know those people). We get used to places and forget where we’re at. We forget what we’ve been blessed with to the point that we will take the lesser in the hopes that it will fill whatever we think we’re missing. I sometimes forget what I’m doing. I wake up walk outside the door of the hostel, grab some street food and think “Man, that took so much more work than just walking to a refrigerator.” Cause I forgot where I’m at. I’m in Asia. Like.. what? It’s crazy. Like, go get some street food! God put me in this awesome place, and answered a dream. I’m literally living the dream right now, telling people about Him and traveling the world. How could I forget that? A question I feel that I have to ask myself too often sometimes.
But being honest, I felt I even did it at home. Going to class everyday. I took it for granted, forgot where I was and how much of a gift it is. At work everyday? Same thing. I’m determined not to do that here. I won’t just look outside and settle but go out and own the time I have here.
So this month I’m still learning to remember where I am. How this is such a gift and an awesome opportunity. How as much as this is life, life never has to be a routine. In two days we will be in Thailand, and I’m so excited!
Thanks for reading!
