As we near the end of month three, I’m realizing more and
more that the World Race parallels reality more than I initially
thought. It makes sense. I’m still me.
I still get tired, hungry, and desire entertainment. I’ll probably write more on this topic as the
parallels become clearer to me, but right now I’ll just list out part of the
REALITY of the race that the videos and marketing wouldn’t focus on.
Rice, at every
meal just about. Ok, a different “R”
word, hmm…Really, it doesn’t matter that much because it’s just a bunch of guys
here so there weren’t any girls to kiss at midnight, but New Years Eve we had
quite limited options. For one, when it
gets dark outside, it gets dark.
Needless to say, I think only a few guys stayed up until midnight, and
if they did it was probably because they were watching a movie on their
laptop.
Every church
service I’ve been to in the last couple of months has been in a different
language. It truly is an amazing time of
worship usually, being amongst brothers and sisters that I can’t even pronounce
their names, but we recently realized that we hadn’t been fed in quite a
while. The services can be good times to
reflect, and we talk a ton about how we’re growing and struggling, but we’ve
missed just hearing a sermon in our tongue.
(This past Sunday we hooked up speakers and let the iPod do the
talking.)
A couch would be
one of the greatest gifts I could have received for Christmas. The house we’re staying at only has two
plastic chairs because it’s cultural to sit on mats on the floor. My bum gets tired of eating, writing, reading,
praying, typing, talking, etc. on the floor. And the Thai pull it off so much better than us “bad posture” Americans.
(I’ve starting sitting on pillows to compensate.)
Little
entertainment options are often available.
Most days have been so busy I didn’t notice, but the past two days our
contact and part of the team went to another part of the country. It’s been great to relax for once, but when I
get tired of relaxing-which doesn’t take long-we don’t have a vehicle to go
anywhere, we wouldn’t know where to go, the closest internet is several
kilometers away, and, as crazy as it sounds, TV is in Thai. (Never would have thunk it, huh?) Many have resorted to watching movies and
I’ve finished two books in the last week.
I thrive in
structure, and often times the World Race is not like that. Every day holds something new, which is often
welcome, but as we move between four different “homes” this month-Bangkok,
Chiang Mai, the woods, and this house-I am reminded the value in repetition and
staying in one place for longer than two weeks.
Time in the Word
would be easy, right? I mean, it’s the
World Race. It’s super-spiritual every
second, right? Yes and no. Incredible conversations happen regularly,
but alone time not so much. Not that you
have to be alone to get in the Word, but days come and go without a minute of
just “me and God” time. Part of this is
because we work hard and play hard like a short term mission’s team, but we
can’t sustain a short term mission’s schedule.
I’m learning to find a balance.
Yet I’ve been
pushing myself and my teammates to the idea of doing everything without
complaining and being joyful always.
While that is easier said than done, I’m surrounded by amazing people that
“get” community, so it’s quite easy to remain optimistic and flexible. (Someone described me as “jovial” the other
day.)
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*Photos provided by Josh Woodmansee and DJ Kelley
