Yesterday I took the car into the city and had a full day of just walking around. I wound through the alleys and the streets and the side streets. I passed the street vendors waiting for customers, women chatting on street steps, foreigners with their huge backpacks and large maps unfolded in their faces, and the rows and rows of motorbikes lining the curbs. I felt home.
The beaches in Hua Hin during September are rather bare. Everyone is tucked away in their own resort pools or cabanas. So, when I tried to sneak into the Hilton to use their pool, I was convicted, mainly by the large stares I received by the employees. Before I even could reach for my sunscreen, I was high tailing it to the public beach, past the security guards and Hilton workers. For the first time, I felt really on the outside of the hospitality "inner circle." The circle seems smaller when you don't have access to it. It seems grander and overflowing with privilege and delight.
Then the funniest thing happened, I got really bitter at the Hilton. I was laying on a large rock in a cove under the side shadows of this large hotel monstrosity and I felt bitterness and disgust rise up in me. It was really strong and I can still taste it in my mouth. I found myself trying to prove why I was better than these people staying in this hotel who were not really tasting true Thai culture. I visited the international supermarket later the day and found disgust again at all the ex-pat families buying lunch meat and Goldfish in bulk. I glared at them, like they were in the wrong. The hilarity of the whole day was that I walked away with bread products, Nutella, jam, and peanut butter. I was hypocrisy in all its false glory.
So last night when I got back to the Juniper Tree I had a long thought about why I felt so disgusted with these people or this corporation that I thought stood for everything but cultural immersion. The anthropologist and the hotelier in me were waging war on each other and I was stuck. I was stuck on hospitality. I was stuck in my love for it. I couldn't think anything bad about it, even though my outrage flared as I laid in the shadows of the very large concrete "man." My failed past of working in a large hotel looming on the front of my brain with my guttural need to create a space for people to feel rest, delight in their surrounding culture, and feel the presence of the Lord courting them in all His intimacy and truth, trying to take its place. Even as I'm typing this, it's hard for me not to get emotional. I am ultimately confronting my pride. It's large and in charge when it comes to this topic. My calling is at stake. God has given me this dream to start a hospitality venue filled with good food (a bakery no doubt), lots of community movie watching, loud praise and worship nights, and truly personal accommodations. How can I do this if I'm judging other industries trying to give people rest, too? How can I hear God if I'm sinking in the sand of my past?
I haven't gotten really far in the thought process, but I have repented for trying to sneak into a space I was not given access to and then disliking those that make the rules. I think I'm most scared of admitting that something in this field is not giving me pleasure. I had a similar feeling when I wrote a paper debunking the "most magical place on Earth" in college. It was like drowning my pet or something.
This is probably really silly to read for most of you. There is just so much of my heart tied up in this encounter: my failure, my pride, my passion, my fear. And it's just sitting in front of me. And God is whispering "Give it to me, darling." So I will.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Tidbits
In the past week I have...
Said goodbye to Frida.
I'm pretty sure I had some good belly laughs and some cries this week. Thanks be to God for sustaining and healing me.
Said goodbye to Frida.
- Ate Banoffee pie.
- Hugs and more hugs.
- Joked about getting a tattoo. It seems like the thing to do when abroad.
- "Watched" some movies.
- Be warned that Katina would talk at meals about things you should not talk about at meals. Heard Katina talk about such things.
- Hugs and more hugs.
- Contemplated visiting them and working in their café.
- WHATTTT!!???
- God is so good and this was a full confirmation of why I moved here and why I love the global church.
- Connected with multiple people at the church and am hoping to get connected in outreach ministry.
- Was encouraged to begin programs at the Juniper Tree such as worship night/parent night out/jazzercise class. More to come...
- Spent over a day in my room resting/sleeping.
- Got cabin-fever to the extreme.
- Went on a walk down the beach for an hour to relieve cabin fever and ended up playing with an enormous dead jellyfish. It was awesome.
- Drank over 6 liters of water. Mr. Langenbahn's theory on headaches proved to be wrong in this case.
- Almost finished "Love Does" by Bob Goff and highly recommend. If I could write a book, it would be just like this one.
- Had a breakdown and a buildup. God's love for me is amazing and I have begun to realize the isolation of this season to be a beautiful opportunity to become more intimate with God than I ever have been.
I'm pretty sure I had some good belly laughs and some cries this week. Thanks be to God for sustaining and healing me.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Muay Thai, 50 Baht, and Driving in Thailand
So, a lot has happened and, really, life has just happened. But, there are a few stories that I wish to share with y'all.
Story #1: My introduction to muay thai fighting occurred a few days ago from a man by the name of Ning Nong (he made sure we didn't call him Ding Dong). This man has become a friend (? sort've) ever since Frida (friend who stayed at the Juniper Tree for almost three weeks) and I visited his coconut bar. His restaurant is really just his home's patio, but it is so well groomed with thatch-roofed tables, hammocks, hand-shaped bonsai trees and stepping stones over seashells instead of gravel. We rode our bikes about 30 minutes down our rode until we turned on a dirt road and headed to his home. As we drew near to his house, he met us at the entryway and immediately welcomed us in broken English. He brought a fan out to keep the mosquitoes off of us. However, within a minute, we found out he had not retrieved any coconuts that day, the real reason we had ventured to his restaurant. We had already eaten dinner, but despite our refusals, he sliced open some dragon fruit for us to eat. After getting the full tour of his grounds, including his herb garden, his fish pond, and his simple, outdoor kitchen, we told him we would be back when we were hungry and he walked us out to the road.
Four days later, when we didn't have scheduled dinner at the Juniper Tree, we returned to Ning Nong's place for dinner. As we rode our bikes up his dirt road, he could see us coming and ran to the entryway of his patio. Once again we were welcomed with drinks (this time he had coconuts), a simple menu, and a lot of smiles. We ate fresh squid he barbecued on the grill, an American-style salad, fried rice with chicken, and more dragon fruit. During the meal, he and his son sat at our table and began chatting with us about how his wife has left him four years prior and how he had built his entire house by hand. We found out he was a muay thai teacher, and thus began, my training. Before he began teaching me how to kick people, two times he had said I was too full to begin practice by looking at my stomach. After the second time, I assured him my belly was not going anywhere and we could begin now. "You have no six pack! You have no six pack!" The lesson was quick and utterly embarrassing. It wasn't just that there was a major language barrier, there was a cultural barrier that involved "Am I allow to kick this man and let him kick me?!? Should he be putting me in a headlock?!" The whole time I was laughing out loud at the audacity of the whole thing and Frida caught this on tape. After the lesson, he insisted that we stay until the moon was high in the sky because the shells on his ground would shine white bright and it would be beautiful, which it was.
Finally, we began to leave and as we are pulling out, he jumps on the back of Frida's bicycle. I am about 20m ahead and hysterically laughing and trying to see what is going on behind me. When we reach the main road he jumps off and shouts "Bye Bye! Safety First." Frida and I ride alone down the main road back to the Juniper Tree with the moon lighting up the entire way. The sea on our left, the mountains on our right. It was amazing! Then, as we start to near the part of our bay with the commercial resorts, we notice a headlight behind us that is slowing down. Then suddenly, I hear a growl/shout and Ning Nong appears in the darkness behind us creeping up on the back of my bicycle. I almost fell over! He slowly rides with us for awhile before peeling off and returning home. Let's just say I will not be returning for more muay thai lessons by myself!
Story #2: Sunday nights at the Juniper Tree are super chill. The place is practically deserted. No dinner is served, so everyone goes out to eat. Frida and I wanted to eat at our favorite place in our bay, Dao's (that was the name of the old cook and also the only word in English on the sign). As we begin walking down the main road, it starts to trickle, then rain, then pour, and we start running. After about 200m, we realize there is no way we were going to make it to Dao's, so we stop at Chomtalay, a nicer sit-down open-aired restaurant for dinner. [Side note: We passed a really elegant Thai wedding reception that was being rained out. It was so sad because all the guests were huddled in a resort courtyard looking out at what was going to be a beautiful dinner under the stars. Point: Always rent a tent if you are going to have an outdoor dinner in Thailand during rainy season. Point: On our way home, we saw all the servers conveyor-belting food from the beach to the new setting under the resort's covered courtyard. Everyone was wet, cramped, eating, and very happy. Back to my story...] Chomtalay is packed because everyone wants out of the rain. Our server comes maybe 15 minutes after we have been seated to take our drink order. We eventually order, eat, and when it comes time to pay, a different server brings over our check. She then waits for me to get my money out, slip the bills into the folder, and let her get my change. When I slip my one bill into the folder, she opens it and begins to turn to walk away, then stops. She looks at me and says something in Thai that I don't understand, but I reply with something to the effect of "Isn't 500 baht enough?" I wait until she says something in Thai again and I reply again with "500 baht?" She is getting frustrated/embarrassed, so she goes off to find another server that can speak a little more English. While she is gone, I turn to Frida and say "Does she want a tip?!" When the girl returns, her friend opens the folder and shows me the bill I have inserted in it. It is 50 baht. Basically, I gave her less than $2 for both Frida and I's drinks, dessert, and entrees, instead of the $17 I thought I gave. In my defense, the 50 baht bill is blue and the 500 is blue-purple, but still, it was a very embarrassing moment for me. Frida and I, and most of the servers, and even some other patrons were laughing hysterically at my mistake. I apologized profusely to the girl and we left promptly.
See, this is the thing about living in a small, tourist beach town: it's not that big and word travels. Also, there are only so many restaurants to eat at. So, about five days later, Frida and I are returned from Ning Nong's house (the above story) and decide we want dessert. We stop at Chomtalay and the same girl seats us! I hear her whisper to another server in Thai "ha sip baht", which means 50 baht, and I immediately start laughing as I sit down. I tell Frida what she said and then we both laugh. When she comes back to take our order, I apologize again and all the servers start laughing. Needless to say, I have become the "50-baht girl" to some of Dolphin Bay.
Story #3: When I first came over to Dolphin Bay, I had really no idea that we would be as isolated from civilization as we are. It's about 20 minutes to the grocery store and an hour to a mall. While that might not sound super terrible to most of the world who lives even further from civilization or doesn't enjoy civilization, to me, it is far. The roads to get to such places are country roads, with dogs, and children, and potholes filling them. It's the country, so when it gets dark, it gets really dark.
I brought an international driving permit with me, thinking I would never use it. However, to my shock, I have to drive to get anywhere, either by car or motorbike. My first time on a motorbike was terrifying. Going with Frida, queen of adventure, didn't help. But, by the 5th or 6th kilometer, I was getting the hang of it. (I am still terrible at turning and think I'm going to die every time. If you have ever witnessed me ride a bike, you understand.) Driving a car, on the other hand, is easier for me. It didn't take really anytime at all to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road and on the opposite side of the car. Well, I didn't really have time to piddle around when I was thrust in the driver's seat my first week in Thailand. The hardest part of driving on the "highway", a one lane road leading to the big city, is passing other cars/motorbikes/pedestrians/dogs/mobile food carts/anything else that moves and decides the highway is a good place to light. One must pass these things about every kilometer of driving and I just don't have the Thai gumption yet. I do it, cause I have to, but it is definitely not second nature to me.
Frida and I finally drove the hour to the big city and when I went to pull into the parking garage to park at the mall, I was following a motorbike. Not seeing the sign that read "Motorbikes Keep Left", I followed it past the guard gate. A woman was shouting at me in Thai for a while as I sped by the ticket station and Frida was shouting at me "Summer! You just passed right through the ticket station!!" Oops. So, I went all the way around to the exit, made two U-turns on the highway and entered again. Let's just say the Thai lady didn't give me the most "welcome to Thailand, I'm so glad you are here" face.
Filling up for gas is fun too, when you can't speak the language. They fill it up and you just tell them how much you want to pay. Sounds easy enough until some 14-year old starts overfilling your tank and spilling gasoline all over the ground until it makes a puddle and a large hole in my wallet .
All of these stories are fun things that I can look back on and laugh, a lot. They remind me that I am not Thai. I am a foreigner, and I am really thankful to be in such a forgiving environment with such joyful people. Until the next time I make a fool of myself...
Story #1: My introduction to muay thai fighting occurred a few days ago from a man by the name of Ning Nong (he made sure we didn't call him Ding Dong). This man has become a friend (? sort've) ever since Frida (friend who stayed at the Juniper Tree for almost three weeks) and I visited his coconut bar. His restaurant is really just his home's patio, but it is so well groomed with thatch-roofed tables, hammocks, hand-shaped bonsai trees and stepping stones over seashells instead of gravel. We rode our bikes about 30 minutes down our rode until we turned on a dirt road and headed to his home. As we drew near to his house, he met us at the entryway and immediately welcomed us in broken English. He brought a fan out to keep the mosquitoes off of us. However, within a minute, we found out he had not retrieved any coconuts that day, the real reason we had ventured to his restaurant. We had already eaten dinner, but despite our refusals, he sliced open some dragon fruit for us to eat. After getting the full tour of his grounds, including his herb garden, his fish pond, and his simple, outdoor kitchen, we told him we would be back when we were hungry and he walked us out to the road.
Four days later, when we didn't have scheduled dinner at the Juniper Tree, we returned to Ning Nong's place for dinner. As we rode our bikes up his dirt road, he could see us coming and ran to the entryway of his patio. Once again we were welcomed with drinks (this time he had coconuts), a simple menu, and a lot of smiles. We ate fresh squid he barbecued on the grill, an American-style salad, fried rice with chicken, and more dragon fruit. During the meal, he and his son sat at our table and began chatting with us about how his wife has left him four years prior and how he had built his entire house by hand. We found out he was a muay thai teacher, and thus began, my training. Before he began teaching me how to kick people, two times he had said I was too full to begin practice by looking at my stomach. After the second time, I assured him my belly was not going anywhere and we could begin now. "You have no six pack! You have no six pack!" The lesson was quick and utterly embarrassing. It wasn't just that there was a major language barrier, there was a cultural barrier that involved "Am I allow to kick this man and let him kick me?!? Should he be putting me in a headlock?!" The whole time I was laughing out loud at the audacity of the whole thing and Frida caught this on tape. After the lesson, he insisted that we stay until the moon was high in the sky because the shells on his ground would shine white bright and it would be beautiful, which it was.
Finally, we began to leave and as we are pulling out, he jumps on the back of Frida's bicycle. I am about 20m ahead and hysterically laughing and trying to see what is going on behind me. When we reach the main road he jumps off and shouts "Bye Bye! Safety First." Frida and I ride alone down the main road back to the Juniper Tree with the moon lighting up the entire way. The sea on our left, the mountains on our right. It was amazing! Then, as we start to near the part of our bay with the commercial resorts, we notice a headlight behind us that is slowing down. Then suddenly, I hear a growl/shout and Ning Nong appears in the darkness behind us creeping up on the back of my bicycle. I almost fell over! He slowly rides with us for awhile before peeling off and returning home. Let's just say I will not be returning for more muay thai lessons by myself!
Story #2: Sunday nights at the Juniper Tree are super chill. The place is practically deserted. No dinner is served, so everyone goes out to eat. Frida and I wanted to eat at our favorite place in our bay, Dao's (that was the name of the old cook and also the only word in English on the sign). As we begin walking down the main road, it starts to trickle, then rain, then pour, and we start running. After about 200m, we realize there is no way we were going to make it to Dao's, so we stop at Chomtalay, a nicer sit-down open-aired restaurant for dinner. [Side note: We passed a really elegant Thai wedding reception that was being rained out. It was so sad because all the guests were huddled in a resort courtyard looking out at what was going to be a beautiful dinner under the stars. Point: Always rent a tent if you are going to have an outdoor dinner in Thailand during rainy season. Point: On our way home, we saw all the servers conveyor-belting food from the beach to the new setting under the resort's covered courtyard. Everyone was wet, cramped, eating, and very happy. Back to my story...] Chomtalay is packed because everyone wants out of the rain. Our server comes maybe 15 minutes after we have been seated to take our drink order. We eventually order, eat, and when it comes time to pay, a different server brings over our check. She then waits for me to get my money out, slip the bills into the folder, and let her get my change. When I slip my one bill into the folder, she opens it and begins to turn to walk away, then stops. She looks at me and says something in Thai that I don't understand, but I reply with something to the effect of "Isn't 500 baht enough?" I wait until she says something in Thai again and I reply again with "500 baht?" She is getting frustrated/embarrassed, so she goes off to find another server that can speak a little more English. While she is gone, I turn to Frida and say "Does she want a tip?!" When the girl returns, her friend opens the folder and shows me the bill I have inserted in it. It is 50 baht. Basically, I gave her less than $2 for both Frida and I's drinks, dessert, and entrees, instead of the $17 I thought I gave. In my defense, the 50 baht bill is blue and the 500 is blue-purple, but still, it was a very embarrassing moment for me. Frida and I, and most of the servers, and even some other patrons were laughing hysterically at my mistake. I apologized profusely to the girl and we left promptly.
See, this is the thing about living in a small, tourist beach town: it's not that big and word travels. Also, there are only so many restaurants to eat at. So, about five days later, Frida and I are returned from Ning Nong's house (the above story) and decide we want dessert. We stop at Chomtalay and the same girl seats us! I hear her whisper to another server in Thai "ha sip baht", which means 50 baht, and I immediately start laughing as I sit down. I tell Frida what she said and then we both laugh. When she comes back to take our order, I apologize again and all the servers start laughing. Needless to say, I have become the "50-baht girl" to some of Dolphin Bay.
Story #3: When I first came over to Dolphin Bay, I had really no idea that we would be as isolated from civilization as we are. It's about 20 minutes to the grocery store and an hour to a mall. While that might not sound super terrible to most of the world who lives even further from civilization or doesn't enjoy civilization, to me, it is far. The roads to get to such places are country roads, with dogs, and children, and potholes filling them. It's the country, so when it gets dark, it gets really dark.
I brought an international driving permit with me, thinking I would never use it. However, to my shock, I have to drive to get anywhere, either by car or motorbike. My first time on a motorbike was terrifying. Going with Frida, queen of adventure, didn't help. But, by the 5th or 6th kilometer, I was getting the hang of it. (I am still terrible at turning and think I'm going to die every time. If you have ever witnessed me ride a bike, you understand.) Driving a car, on the other hand, is easier for me. It didn't take really anytime at all to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road and on the opposite side of the car. Well, I didn't really have time to piddle around when I was thrust in the driver's seat my first week in Thailand. The hardest part of driving on the "highway", a one lane road leading to the big city, is passing other cars/motorbikes/pedestrians/dogs/mobile food carts/anything else that moves and decides the highway is a good place to light. One must pass these things about every kilometer of driving and I just don't have the Thai gumption yet. I do it, cause I have to, but it is definitely not second nature to me.
Frida and I finally drove the hour to the big city and when I went to pull into the parking garage to park at the mall, I was following a motorbike. Not seeing the sign that read "Motorbikes Keep Left", I followed it past the guard gate. A woman was shouting at me in Thai for a while as I sped by the ticket station and Frida was shouting at me "Summer! You just passed right through the ticket station!!" Oops. So, I went all the way around to the exit, made two U-turns on the highway and entered again. Let's just say the Thai lady didn't give me the most "welcome to Thailand, I'm so glad you are here" face.
Filling up for gas is fun too, when you can't speak the language. They fill it up and you just tell them how much you want to pay. Sounds easy enough until some 14-year old starts overfilling your tank and spilling gasoline all over the ground until it makes a puddle and a large hole in my wallet .
All of these stories are fun things that I can look back on and laugh, a lot. They remind me that I am not Thai. I am a foreigner, and I am really thankful to be in such a forgiving environment with such joyful people. Until the next time I make a fool of myself...
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
My Eat, Pray, Love Moment
Yesterday during my afternoon break I took a rickety, old beach cruiser down the beach about 5 km where our road turns off and heads into civilization. It was the perfect day; sun was beaming. There was not a cloud to be seen. The waves were crashing; the islands were boasting their green growth. I wore a large white sun hat with a ribbon tied around it, had my sunnies on and not a care in the world. Passing shops and shopowners sitting out chatting, I waved to them and smiled. These are the people I will get to know, become a frequent customer to, and maybe even a friend to some.
About halfway down the road, it happened--my Eat, Pray, Love moment. Ok, now, if you know the book/movie Eat, Pray, Love (one of my favorites), you might be thinking, SHE GOT KNOCKED OFF HER BIKE BY A HUNKY BRAZILIAN???? False. However, Julia Roberts has this moment many times in Bali, riding down a small road, smiling and waving to people, and it hit me. I am having that moment of utter bliss, living in paradise, and listening to what God has for me here and for my future. It was a beautiful moment and my heart was so full. It also made me really want to watch that movie.
I pretty sure her character also has crazy bruises from riding her bike/falling and I must empathize with this as well. I really should be more outdoorsy.
About halfway down the road, it happened--my Eat, Pray, Love moment. Ok, now, if you know the book/movie Eat, Pray, Love (one of my favorites), you might be thinking, SHE GOT KNOCKED OFF HER BIKE BY A HUNKY BRAZILIAN???? False. However, Julia Roberts has this moment many times in Bali, riding down a small road, smiling and waving to people, and it hit me. I am having that moment of utter bliss, living in paradise, and listening to what God has for me here and for my future. It was a beautiful moment and my heart was so full. It also made me really want to watch that movie.
I pretty sure her character also has crazy bruises from riding her bike/falling and I must empathize with this as well. I really should be more outdoorsy.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Anonymity
On Sundays at the JTDB we take a Sabbath of sorts. The office is only open for a few hours. The women only work a half-day. Dinner isn't served, so we must go outside the resort. It's a great day to travel with guests and get away from everyday life. I was able to take a tourist day with some guests that are ministering to the deaf community in some very hard places around the world. I had so much fun with these guests, eating super touristy food at markets, taking "selfies" all day, and laughing hard at ourselves for being soooo American.
While getting to know them, I discovered that they could not share where they were serving in Asia. They had to keep this a secret given their security level was very high. In addition to learning about deaf missions all over the world, they got me thinking of the many guests at the JTDB that must choose anonymity in many situations. We have people here living in some tough situations. It is really the grace of God that they were even given visas to be there.
I have definitely taken the ease of being in a country like Thailand, let alone America, for granted. In Thailand, it is accepted to be a believer, share the Gospel with whoever you may like, and go to the church of your choice. This doesn't mean that every Thai will be open to the Gospel, by any means. Sometimes it is even harder to preach to a Thai person because they will be so "understanding" of your beliefs. When they do believe, however, they sell out to Jesus, and it is beautiful thing to behold.
So to all those living in places where the name of Jesus cannot be spoken or written out right, I'm praying for you and loving your kin here at the Juniper Tree this week. Thank you for all you are doing for the Kingdom and may our God bless you infinitely on this earth and the next.
While getting to know them, I discovered that they could not share where they were serving in Asia. They had to keep this a secret given their security level was very high. In addition to learning about deaf missions all over the world, they got me thinking of the many guests at the JTDB that must choose anonymity in many situations. We have people here living in some tough situations. It is really the grace of God that they were even given visas to be there.
I have definitely taken the ease of being in a country like Thailand, let alone America, for granted. In Thailand, it is accepted to be a believer, share the Gospel with whoever you may like, and go to the church of your choice. This doesn't mean that every Thai will be open to the Gospel, by any means. Sometimes it is even harder to preach to a Thai person because they will be so "understanding" of your beliefs. When they do believe, however, they sell out to Jesus, and it is beautiful thing to behold.
So to all those living in places where the name of Jesus cannot be spoken or written out right, I'm praying for you and loving your kin here at the Juniper Tree this week. Thank you for all you are doing for the Kingdom and may our God bless you infinitely on this earth and the next.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Country Living
Living in the country is something I have never done before, outside of a camp setting. The pace of life is definitely slower and everyone tends to know what everyone else is up to. Well, the latter part is also just a part of living in the third world, I believe. Arriving at the Juniper Tree yesterday (woo hoo Praise God!) from spending the night in Bangkok with friends, I was overwhelmed first by the beauty of the Bay Area but also by the resort. It is so clean and everything is white sheets and white tile floor. The staff keep it nearly spotless and every month they spray for bugs, so I have yet to see a cockroach. That really is unbelievable in Thailand! Well, I am getting ahead of myself. Stories from the journey...
Leaving Dallas, after what was a wonderful celebration of a best friend's wedding and time with my family, I was really not nervous or even overly emotional (gasp!). I couldn't tell if I was not allowing myself to feel or God was just genuinely giving me peace for my journey, but either way, the only time I really cried was taking off American soil and touching down on Thai soil. Yes, I cried both times, each symbolizing a great change in my life for this season. Oh to be on Thai soil again! Even walking through the airport after 22 hours of pure flight time, no one could wipe the smile off my face! It was bliss. I got my bags, some Thai baht ($), and got in a cab headed toward a sky train stop where I would meet a good Thai friend I met in 2011. After borrowing Wi-fi from a nearby hotel, I contacted her and she arrived with her family to drive me to her home. They greeted me with such joy and affection! I love the Praise family so much and after spending any amount of time with them, anyone can tell the Lord's anointing covers their household. They cooked me a good Thai meal, and we told stories, laughed, and shared late into the night. The next morning we walked the streets of Bangkok for breakfast (grilled pork kababs, sticky rice, fried plantains, and coffee-flavored milk), sang Hillsong, shared testimonies, prayed, and I helped their family open their clothing store.
Late morning, my car arrived bound for the Juniper Tree with P'Thongpan, our resident driver. He was a great first person to chat with for the four-hour trip down to the beach. When we arrived, I met my coworker Libby, who is taking care of the JTDB while the managers are on holiday. I was immediately introduced to the staff and put straight to learning how the booking works, where the rooms are located, and the schedule of daily activities. There are 27 rooms here at the Juniper Tree, housing a maximum occupancy of 85 people or so. Currently, we are hosting about 65 guests! I was introduced at the evening meal to the entire place and it has been such a joy getting to know guests from Switzerland, China, Australia, Vietnam, Peru, Thailand, and many others. Meals are really the times where I can sit with families and interact with them, hearing about their day's activities and their lives in their home countries. It's been wonderful!
I am writing this from my interim desk in the office, and today my co-worker has left for Bangkok leaving me and another employee in charge for the night! Yikes. Speaking of my co-worker Libby...What a gem! Seriously. She has come from Scotland for a month while the managers are on holiday and has been such a rock star for the guests and the staff and keeping things running smoothly. She has run guests to the hospital, ordered a new transformer to be installed after ours blew, stayed late in the office coordinating guests' stays, and smiled the whole time. She has been a real friend to me in the past few days and I will dearly miss our snarky conversations and inside jokes when she departs in a week. I plan on visiting her in Scotland, for sure!
My apologies for this post being all over the map. I haven't quite got the hang of condensing multiple days' activities into a short blog post, yet. It really does take skill, one that has trailed off since college essays. All I really wanted to say was I am overjoyed to be in this place I can call home for a while. I feel seriously blessed by the people supporting me and praying for me back home and trust God with all my heart that he has me here for his grand purposes. I look forward to his plans unfolding over the next months here.
Prayer Requests This Week:
1. Courage to step out of my comfort zone and get to know guests while they are here, even if only for a short while. It can be easy to retreat into my room and choose loneliness because it is comfortable.
2. Peace for all the staff during the busy season at the Juniper Tree.
And I leave you with some photos of the journey thus far!!
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Leaving Dallas, after what was a wonderful celebration of a best friend's wedding and time with my family, I was really not nervous or even overly emotional (gasp!). I couldn't tell if I was not allowing myself to feel or God was just genuinely giving me peace for my journey, but either way, the only time I really cried was taking off American soil and touching down on Thai soil. Yes, I cried both times, each symbolizing a great change in my life for this season. Oh to be on Thai soil again! Even walking through the airport after 22 hours of pure flight time, no one could wipe the smile off my face! It was bliss. I got my bags, some Thai baht ($), and got in a cab headed toward a sky train stop where I would meet a good Thai friend I met in 2011. After borrowing Wi-fi from a nearby hotel, I contacted her and she arrived with her family to drive me to her home. They greeted me with such joy and affection! I love the Praise family so much and after spending any amount of time with them, anyone can tell the Lord's anointing covers their household. They cooked me a good Thai meal, and we told stories, laughed, and shared late into the night. The next morning we walked the streets of Bangkok for breakfast (grilled pork kababs, sticky rice, fried plantains, and coffee-flavored milk), sang Hillsong, shared testimonies, prayed, and I helped their family open their clothing store.
Late morning, my car arrived bound for the Juniper Tree with P'Thongpan, our resident driver. He was a great first person to chat with for the four-hour trip down to the beach. When we arrived, I met my coworker Libby, who is taking care of the JTDB while the managers are on holiday. I was immediately introduced to the staff and put straight to learning how the booking works, where the rooms are located, and the schedule of daily activities. There are 27 rooms here at the Juniper Tree, housing a maximum occupancy of 85 people or so. Currently, we are hosting about 65 guests! I was introduced at the evening meal to the entire place and it has been such a joy getting to know guests from Switzerland, China, Australia, Vietnam, Peru, Thailand, and many others. Meals are really the times where I can sit with families and interact with them, hearing about their day's activities and their lives in their home countries. It's been wonderful!
I am writing this from my interim desk in the office, and today my co-worker has left for Bangkok leaving me and another employee in charge for the night! Yikes. Speaking of my co-worker Libby...What a gem! Seriously. She has come from Scotland for a month while the managers are on holiday and has been such a rock star for the guests and the staff and keeping things running smoothly. She has run guests to the hospital, ordered a new transformer to be installed after ours blew, stayed late in the office coordinating guests' stays, and smiled the whole time. She has been a real friend to me in the past few days and I will dearly miss our snarky conversations and inside jokes when she departs in a week. I plan on visiting her in Scotland, for sure!
My apologies for this post being all over the map. I haven't quite got the hang of condensing multiple days' activities into a short blog post, yet. It really does take skill, one that has trailed off since college essays. All I really wanted to say was I am overjoyed to be in this place I can call home for a while. I feel seriously blessed by the people supporting me and praying for me back home and trust God with all my heart that he has me here for his grand purposes. I look forward to his plans unfolding over the next months here.
Prayer Requests This Week:
1. Courage to step out of my comfort zone and get to know guests while they are here, even if only for a short while. It can be easy to retreat into my room and choose loneliness because it is comfortable.
2. Peace for all the staff during the busy season at the Juniper Tree.
And I leave you with some photos of the journey thus far!!
Saying goodbye to my family in Dallas! They are such a wonderful, supportive group that I hope get to visit me over here sometime this next year!
Yes, I did have two free seats next to me on the long 14 hour leg!
Made it to Korea, obviously.
Seoul, Korea airport
Anna, my friend I stayed with in Bangkok. How beautiful is she!??
The Juniper Tree Dolphin Bay! My home for the next six or so months. This is a view of the six cottages, each with two bedrooms and a living room, and our swimming pool and the epic slide. Took her for a spin today!
Guests on the beach in front of the famous (at least in these parts) Monkey Island (Koh Ling) which is a great day adventure to visit by kayak or boat. Hundreds of monkeys roam the hills of the island, and I hear are quite aggressive.
A bonfire for Swiss National Day hosted by some of our guests my first night here. There was celebrating late into the night!
This is P'Jing, my Thai language teacher from Austin! She was on holiday in Bangkok visiting her family and drove down to see me for the day. It was such a collision of worlds, and one I was quite thankful for!
A fun, retro bus found in the lot of a mechanic in town while running errands.
With all His peace and strength---
Monday, July 22, 2013
The Best Goodbyes
[Soundtrack to Post: Bon Iver]
Eight days and counting...
So, I have found it really hard to publish a post in the past month due to the extreme amount of events and emotions that have taken place. I have so many thank yous and declarations of love due to the people in my life that I have written at least two posts and deleted them a few days later because they just didn't do my feelings justice. Well, here is a less-than-adequate post about the absolutely awe-inspiring, heart-bursting emotion I am feeling as I drive away from the glorious Austin, TX.
Recently, I have received the warmest wishes and most Spirit-led prayers over my new journey to Thailand, and I haven't even left yet. A huge thank you to my community here in Austin for truly sending me to Thailand in the best possible way, with reminders of God's vision in my heart and prayers that His glory is magnified wherever I end up.
Thursday of last week was the last time I had fellowship with my church group here in Austin. Oh, what a lovely time it was! Tears abounded and laughing ensued directly after the tears. Prayers were sent up from people I have known over a year that have shared so much joy and grief with me and also from people that knew me two weeks, both believing in God's plan for my life. The God of Jacob and the God of Summer and the God of Thailand is a unifying King. He sits enthroned in Heaven, loving and saving, speaking and silencing.
A moment near the end of Thursday night held me speechless (a rarity, I know). A girl who had only been in my presence/knew I existed for two weeks, sought me out and wanted to prophesy over my next chapter of life in Thailand. What a prophecy it was! While she was talked and reading Psalm 29 over me, I felt the peace of God consume my head and my heart. She spoke of the voice of the LORD, and how I will hear it more clearly than ever before and how I will be led to provide peace and strength to those around me. What a high vision! In the midst of this utter peace, my stomach was lurching out of excitement and anticipation. I wanted to run out the door and jump on a plane, then a bus, and hug everyone in The Juniper Tree and tell them "Y'all are awesome and doing magnificent things! Don't give up hope that our God reigns and He is drawing many to himself through your faithful work!" And, in a short time, I will get to do so...well, I might wait a few weeks for the hugs. Ha! Who am I kidding? No, I won't.
This past month has been filled with The Best Goodbyes. Celebrations and care and questions filled with delight and desire have been thrown my way. While I take only a few moments today to ponder them and think of the future, I can honestly say I am SUPER excited. I was telling a good friend last night, the thing I am most looking forward to is the moment in traveling to a new place, when you board the plane and are taking off, utterly suspending from all communication to the outside world, unknown personally to anyone on the flight, and you have nothing to lean on except God and His promises to you. This moment for me usually lasts from walking through airport security to awakening the first morning in a new place. It is terror and excitement. Glee and fright. Hunger and sustenance. And I have been looking forward to it for about 802 days now.
In knowing that this post should be a novel to do my graditude and delight justice, I leave you with a sincere Thank You and a word from my God:
"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Phil. 2:1-4
May this be true in my upcoming week and and weeks to come.
Eight days and counting...
So, I have found it really hard to publish a post in the past month due to the extreme amount of events and emotions that have taken place. I have so many thank yous and declarations of love due to the people in my life that I have written at least two posts and deleted them a few days later because they just didn't do my feelings justice. Well, here is a less-than-adequate post about the absolutely awe-inspiring, heart-bursting emotion I am feeling as I drive away from the glorious Austin, TX.
Recently, I have received the warmest wishes and most Spirit-led prayers over my new journey to Thailand, and I haven't even left yet. A huge thank you to my community here in Austin for truly sending me to Thailand in the best possible way, with reminders of God's vision in my heart and prayers that His glory is magnified wherever I end up.
Thursday of last week was the last time I had fellowship with my church group here in Austin. Oh, what a lovely time it was! Tears abounded and laughing ensued directly after the tears. Prayers were sent up from people I have known over a year that have shared so much joy and grief with me and also from people that knew me two weeks, both believing in God's plan for my life. The God of Jacob and the God of Summer and the God of Thailand is a unifying King. He sits enthroned in Heaven, loving and saving, speaking and silencing.
A moment near the end of Thursday night held me speechless (a rarity, I know). A girl who had only been in my presence/knew I existed for two weeks, sought me out and wanted to prophesy over my next chapter of life in Thailand. What a prophecy it was! While she was talked and reading Psalm 29 over me, I felt the peace of God consume my head and my heart. She spoke of the voice of the LORD, and how I will hear it more clearly than ever before and how I will be led to provide peace and strength to those around me. What a high vision! In the midst of this utter peace, my stomach was lurching out of excitement and anticipation. I wanted to run out the door and jump on a plane, then a bus, and hug everyone in The Juniper Tree and tell them "Y'all are awesome and doing magnificent things! Don't give up hope that our God reigns and He is drawing many to himself through your faithful work!" And, in a short time, I will get to do so...well, I might wait a few weeks for the hugs. Ha! Who am I kidding? No, I won't.
This past month has been filled with The Best Goodbyes. Celebrations and care and questions filled with delight and desire have been thrown my way. While I take only a few moments today to ponder them and think of the future, I can honestly say I am SUPER excited. I was telling a good friend last night, the thing I am most looking forward to is the moment in traveling to a new place, when you board the plane and are taking off, utterly suspending from all communication to the outside world, unknown personally to anyone on the flight, and you have nothing to lean on except God and His promises to you. This moment for me usually lasts from walking through airport security to awakening the first morning in a new place. It is terror and excitement. Glee and fright. Hunger and sustenance. And I have been looking forward to it for about 802 days now.
In knowing that this post should be a novel to do my graditude and delight justice, I leave you with a sincere Thank You and a word from my God:
"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Phil. 2:1-4
May this be true in my upcoming week and and weeks to come.
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