Every year my family and I sit around the table and say one thing we are thankful for. The usual answer is family because we are all together on this wonderful day feasting together. On the other hand when your family is gone and it's not thanksgiving day are you still thankful for them? While being here in Chiang Mai, we are away from our families but we are also away from things I never thought I would miss. Things such as cheese, peanut butter, our beds, warm showers, baths, toast, and a whole list of things I could keep listing off. Last night at dinner we said things we...

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...

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...

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 am a talker. Anyone who knows me can validate that statement. It’s just what I like to do. Ever since I was a little girl all I wanted to do was talk, talk, talk!   But I still can have a hard time with words. And by this I mean that I am a very awkward talker. Sometimes I combine two words when I talk too fast ( i.e. excited + salad = exsalad). Other times my words come out and don’t quite come out as I intended, usually in a ridiculously awkward way.   The fact is sometimes there are so many thoughts in my head I can’t seem to get out the right thing. And...

We talk a lot about freedom. Freedom from lies, freedom from slavery, freedom to be who we are made to be, freedom to walk in victory with the King. Yes. I love freedom. It is such an abstract term and we can basically use it to describe any revelation in identity.   Last night we experienced a physical manifestation of freedom. The freedom to dance in the middle of a perfectly lit coffee shop with windows for walls was ours last night. Yes, we really did dance around like crazy white people while many Thai people looked in questioningly at the sight. This freedom was beautiful, yet,...