 |
| Flowers at the Buddha's feet: Thailand |
Happy first day of April!
I promise nothing in this update will fool you in any way. I struggle every year on this particular day to remember not to fall for everything, so I won’t be the one to put you in that position. (But if someone else does, and it’s hilarious and worth sharing, I highly encourage you to tell me about it.)
March has been sort of a whirlwind month for most of us, with weather going from blizzard to summertime heat to rain to ice to… wherever it ended up yesterday. Then there was spring break for those of you who still get those, then back-to-school woes for the kids of those of you who have those…
For me, March was a beautiful month of opportunity. After spreading the word thatyes, me going to Thailand for 5ish years is a real thing, I got to sit down with several people to tell them more about it. I shared my story. They shared theirs. We processed through how Jesus found us and where we each feel called. I showed them my incredibly fancy blue binder with words and pictures depicting my upcoming life in “the world”, as I like to call it. I shared stories about what God was already doing. And I invited them to be part of the team.
I’ll be honest, I expected this whole support raising process to be a drag. I mean, who really wants to sit down with people they don’t know that well and ask them for money, right? But every time, every time, I walked away blessed and encouraged. These aren’t your everyday conversation topics – ones like God, and how you came to know Him, and cool stuff He’s doing in the world, and how we can all be a part of it. It isn’t everyday that someone confesses their struggles with God, the church, or their own spirituality. And it definitely isn’t everyday that we can sit in booths across from each other, eat spinach artichoke dip, and celebrate how God brought us from some point of devastation to realizing we actually need Him.
These are the conversations, the ones about things that matter, that bring forthawakening. Remembrance. Growth. These are the sort of jolts that call you out of the mundane, just-get-by kinds of days and empower you engage life rather than sit back and watch from a distance. Sharing yourself isn’t easy. But if we all come to the table knowing that we all have a little bit of baggage, a little bit of victory, a little bit of struggle, and a whole lot of redemption… Why does fear have to be a thing?
Have you had an authentic conversation recently? What was it like? Was it worth it? And how did it move you?
Stuff to talk to the Lord about…
For me, March was a beautiful month of opportunity. After spreading the word thatyes, me going to Thailand for 5ish years is a real thing, I got to sit down with several people to tell them more about it. I shared my story. They shared theirs. We processed through how Jesus found us and where we each feel called. I showed them my incredibly fancy blue binder with words and pictures depicting my upcoming life in “the world”, as I like to call it. I shared stories about what God was already doing. And I invited them to be part of the team.
I’ll be honest, I expected this whole support raising process to be a drag. I mean, who really wants to sit down with people they don’t know that well and ask them for money, right? But every time, every time, I walked away blessed and encouraged. These aren’t your everyday conversation topics – ones like God, and how you came to know Him, and cool stuff He’s doing in the world, and how we can all be a part of it. It isn’t everyday that someone confesses their struggles with God, the church, or their own spirituality. And it definitely isn’t everyday that we can sit in booths across from each other, eat spinach artichoke dip, and celebrate how God brought us from some point of devastation to realizing we actually need Him.
These are the conversations, the ones about things that matter, that bring forthawakening. Remembrance. Growth. These are the sort of jolts that call you out of the mundane, just-get-by kinds of days and empower you engage life rather than sit back and watch from a distance. Sharing yourself isn’t easy. But if we all come to the table knowing that we all have a little bit of baggage, a little bit of victory, a little bit of struggle, and a whole lot of redemption… Why does fear have to be a thing?
Have you had an authentic conversation recently? What was it like? Was it worth it? And how did it move you?
Stuff to talk to the Lord about…
- God is already present in Thailand. Pray that the Holy Spirit moves in the personal lives of the Thai people, preparing them to receive the Gospel that we (or someone else) will get to share with them!
- Pray for believers in Thailand, that Jesus will empower them to share Him with their communities.
- Pray for me, that I will continue to desire Christ and know Him more.
As, always, I want to know… How can I pray for you?
