Painted hands, dirty knees, frizzy hair...my sweaty self is a sight to behold when I finally resign to our bedroom at the setting of the sun and the subsequent ending of activities.
I gaze scoffingly at my books piled high on my dresser and laugh outloud at my latent theory that Thailand would finally provide me the free time I craved to catch up on all the novels my friends had assigned throughout the year.
Funny stuff there....free time? in Thailand? doing full time ministry?
What was I thinking?
I've got everything BUT free time. Daily schedule consists of wakeup, run, devotion, staff meeting, english class, craft prep, curriculum planning, lunch, ASC, english class, dinner, late night something or others, and bedtime chat with family.
I am always always on call, always running slightly behind and curiously ahead, always cutting out some shape or cleaning up some mess, thinking up a field trip or writing up a worksheet...
And Im just the 2 month wannabe. The real work lies in the hands of all those other crazy people below that run EVERYTHING and ANYTHING under the CDC sun.
And I feel like a wimp...by the time 4 o clock rolls around and my peak craft time has started, Im spent! Something about the heat, the food, the work, the language...and just the out-of-shapeness screams for a nap.
And Im loving it!
Im learning more, working harder, being stretched farther than I ever have in such a short period of time...and Im still absolutely EXCITED to wake up in the mornings (though Im sure my sluggish movement doesnt suggest such to my roomie).
Im EXCITED to run to the pier and talk to God with the sunrise, to meet with the staff and pray in a language I may never fully understand, to laugh at my pharang-ness and try to keep up with the sugared-up teenagers, to work through and with our entrepreneaurs English trials, to figure out exactly how much red, blue, and white will make a recognizable shade of purple paint, to cut and paste and rewrite colored-over names 7 times.
God's been answering my prayers and showing me my purpose, revealing little tidbits of his will for my life, and leading me towards his divine plan...while at the same time blowing my mind with questions and second guesses, challenging my abilities/ commitment and pushing my limits- demanding that this life, my life is claimed, is bought and sold out, is taken captive by Jesus Christ.
AWESOME STUFF.
So thank you everyone for your prayers and your comments of encouragement (they mean more to me than I have the words or time to write).
Though Im struggling with energy level...God's given me peace and help with a couple of my previous concerns:
I gaze scoffingly at my books piled high on my dresser and laugh outloud at my latent theory that Thailand would finally provide me the free time I craved to catch up on all the novels my friends had assigned throughout the year.
Funny stuff there....free time? in Thailand? doing full time ministry?
What was I thinking?
I've got everything BUT free time. Daily schedule consists of wakeup, run, devotion, staff meeting, english class, craft prep, curriculum planning, lunch, ASC, english class, dinner, late night something or others, and bedtime chat with family.
I am always always on call, always running slightly behind and curiously ahead, always cutting out some shape or cleaning up some mess, thinking up a field trip or writing up a worksheet...
And Im just the 2 month wannabe. The real work lies in the hands of all those other crazy people below that run EVERYTHING and ANYTHING under the CDC sun.
And I feel like a wimp...by the time 4 o clock rolls around and my peak craft time has started, Im spent! Something about the heat, the food, the work, the language...and just the out-of-shapeness screams for a nap.And Im loving it!
Im learning more, working harder, being stretched farther than I ever have in such a short period of time...and Im still absolutely EXCITED to wake up in the mornings (though Im sure my sluggish movement doesnt suggest such to my roomie).
Im EXCITED to run to the pier and talk to God with the sunrise, to meet with the staff and pray in a language I may never fully understand, to laugh at my pharang-ness and try to keep up with the sugared-up teenagers, to work through and with our entrepreneaurs English trials, to figure out exactly how much red, blue, and white will make a recognizable shade of purple paint, to cut and paste and rewrite colored-over names 7 times.
God's been answering my prayers and showing me my purpose, revealing little tidbits of his will for my life, and leading me towards his divine plan...while at the same time blowing my mind with questions and second guesses, challenging my abilities/ commitment and pushing my limits- demanding that this life, my life is claimed, is bought and sold out, is taken captive by Jesus Christ.
AWESOME STUFF.
So thank you everyone for your prayers and your comments of encouragement (they mean more to me than I have the words or time to write).
Though Im struggling with energy level...God's given me peace and help with a couple of my previous concerns:
- Language barrier- though still overwhelmingly there...is becoming less of a focus as I learn how to work around it and use God's universal language of hugs and smiles to build relationships
- Mommy sent me a giant box containing some of my favorite foods (American food after 2 weeks straight of Thai food only)- thanks so very much!
- A Singapore team arrived Wednesday, containing all English speaking 20-year-old- somethings, and some good girlfriends to perk me up again...not to mention 15 extra sets of hands, new adventures (clamming!), and English worship service to go along with them!
- Steve's Mom (though hospitalized for internal bleeding caused by the needlepoint test), was succesfully operated on, recieved results that her liver spot was benign, and is due out of the recovery wing by Monday (praise God!- thanks again for prayers!).
The blessings just seem to be overflowing here (hand in hand with the trials that like to follow in any ministry's footsteps). I am just...so very very thankful to be in such a beautiful place, with such a busy schedule, such a wonderful staff, and such faithful friends and family praying for me in my travels.
I must return to the massive ping-pong/ badminton tournament that's being held as I type...but I love you all and I pray that God will open the doors and tug on the hearts that need be, so that you may experience this joyful, tired, blessed, trialed, holy, human revolution for the kingdom of God.
1 comment:
Krissi,
Monica reminded me of the location of the Blog. You have certainly been busy! We pray for you each Sunday during Sunday school and througout the week.
We are proud of you! Pray for us. We start VBS this week. I get to do outside games this week. It should be fun, eventful, etc...
God bless,
James and family (Dawn, Jason, Kayla, and Sam).
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