A friend once told me that his friend is underway in his
pursuits to eat a wooden chair over the course of his life. His method is to grind pieces of it off into
saw dust, collect the remnants in a shaker, and add a little extra fiber to
each of his meals. Honorable
pursuit? Probably not. Memorable?
Let’s see how many people you tell this story to in the next week.
Several months ago, while contemplating this individual’s
determination, I tried to come up with a longitudinal goal for myself,
preferring one that did not involve physical consumption, but still a pursuit
that would take me years and years to complete.
I never settled on a particular idea, but one possibility I’ve considered
is to write a book. (My belief has
always been that an author should be at least 25 years old to pen a literary
work. Now that I’m 25, 26 is looking
like a more accurate number, and I’m realizing that the minimum age will
probably always be one year out of reach.)
My potential book idea is based around the premise that you can learn
something from everyone, or that everyone has a story, or that…see why I’m
still undecided. Please consider the
following as a practice Chapter 1. And, “Action.”
Remember all those truisms plastered on classroom walls and
high school hallways? As the World Race
continues and I’m taken farther from “reality,” the time away seems to provide
me more of an unattached, objective perspective. The idealist sayings of the past ring truer
today than ever before. For example, “Life’s not about the destination; it’s about the people you meet along the
way.” Case in point:
Her name is Aum Ksjdflasfjsdlffalkdfafkljafa. I had her tell me her name every day that she
was translating for us just for the fun of it, but I still can’t remember
it. Aum is vibrant and energetic. She is Asian yet has an American sense of
humor. She speaks six languages but only
four fluently. (Slacker.) She sings, dances, dominates Sodoku, and does
more than dabble on the guitar. She embodies
a servant’s heart and leads by loving.
Aum was our translator during most of our time in Kantharalak, Thailand,
and she was a joy to be around. Aum was
that cool breeze of life that blows in when you least expect it. She was refreshing.
Aum was born in Myyanmar (Burma). At the age of five her parents gave her away
to live with her aunt in Thailand. By
the age of seven the aunt could no longer take care of her or her sister, so
they were both put into an orphanage. It
was during this part of Aum’s testimony that she purposely left out details,
expressing that it was not a good place to grow up. She did say she loved when teams came because
they played games and had good food, but life was different when visitors
weren’t around. After being separated
from her sister around the age of 12, Aum ran away from the orphanage when she
was 18. She made it back to Myanmar only
to realize that she spoke a language foreign to her mother. After months of being unable to communicate
to those around her, she returned to Thailand to pursue her education. She had no money but humbly asked her aunt
for 2000 baht, about $70, to start school.
Her aunt gave her 4000 baht. Eventually
she ended up working in the office of the nearby Youth With A Mission base in
Bangkok while attending school. Currently,
Aum is 25 years old, she is a university graduate, and her occupation is a
translator for YWAM. Yet, her life
resonates with so much more purpose than that. 
Aum walks, talks, works, serves, dances, sings, prays, and
lives life as love in motion. I have
been sent to “bless,” but constantly leave feeling abundantly full. Aum has risen up from the worldly lows, but
she lives in the understanding that she is a daughter of the King. If
life really is about who you meet along the way, my life just got a whole lot
better.
Note for Aum: When
you open that resort you’ve been dreaming of, send me a Facebook message so I
know where your refreshing wind blows.
Always grateful, Weston Belkot.
Khap Pun Khrap.
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**Special thanks to Aum’s camera for the photos.
