Adventures – Page 21

“Closing Time” and “Revelation Song” on the Same iPod

July 3, 2013
Adventures
Reflections

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson After spending a week in the beautiful village of Mai Ai (see above picture) and enjoying a few days of "debriefing" (a fancy word for taking a break from ministry upon passing the halfway point of the trip to ride elephants, go bamboo rafting, and eat way too much pizza), we began normal life in Chiang Mai again today. Rumor had it that there was a temple that had "meet a monk" time each day. And...

Learning to SERVE

We spent the last week in Mae Ai, a village in Northern Thailand that borders Myanmar (which, how cool is that in itself?!) and it was absolutely beautiful. Memories of my summer in Eastern Africa came flooding back to me, as once again I was placed in a life of absolute simplicity. I loved it. Every precious son and daughter who lives in that village taught me truly what it means to have a servant’s heart and spurred my passion to serve well. Here’s what I learned on how to SERVE: S- SURRENDER to whatever He asks of me, even if I don’t see purpose in it. E- EMBRACE...

Princess Probs

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Disney movies, specifically any Disney movie that involves a princess. As of late God has been speaking to me through the Disney movie Aladdin. Everyone knows the part where Aladdin is standing on his magic carpet hovering above Jasmine’s balcony and asks her the pivotal question, “Do you trust me?” She answers yes and he whisks her away on a magic carpet ride into a whole new world. It’s a...

Uprooting fears…in a rice field

This past week my team and I spent a week living and working with Thai families in the small village of Mae Ai, in northern Thailand. And I won’t lie to you; it was a challenging week for me both physically and mentally. So much so that I had a breakdown the first day working in the rice fields (yeah kind of embarrassing, but I got over it). So the tears initially came due to culture shock and missing home a whole lot, but then I just started thinking about my life in general, and just started yelling at God. To be honest, it felt kinda good. Through that whole mess in the rice...

I’ll Miss…

Our team spent this past week living in Mae Ai Village in Northern Thailand and it was an experience I will carry with me forever. I’ll miss the delicious, small bananas. I’ll miss the talkative rooster that insisted we wake up around 5 or 6AM. I’ll miss the little red ants that swarmed where I slept. I’ll miss squatty potties and bucket showers. I’ll miss the three dogs that visited our host home, Bob, Salt, and Pepper. I’ll miss the freedom of not looking into a mirror for a week. I’ll miss my Mae Jon’s startling,...

Before the rooster crows…

My God, He’s kind of a funny guy. I say that because so many times He has related His love to me in a humorous way. For instance, I was in a funk after my first time at the bars here and while sitting at a café God spoke His love to me…through a Britney Spears song. Funny stuff. And this last week was no exception. My team and I were all treated to an authentic week of village life in Mae Ai. We stayed in homes with host moms, which was definitely a new experience. But one aspect that really stood out to me was the roosters. I had never heard a rooster crow before...

Author: Adventures