Strange New Kind of Normal

I woke up this morning completely surprised.

It wasn't that I'd slept for 9 hours straight. That was a gift, but not surprising given the combination of painting/moving stress plus travel/flying fatigue.

It wasn't that I wasn't that I was so hot already. I expected that this trip, being at the tail end of the hottest season in Northern Thailand.

It wasn't even that I was in a different bedroom than my own, although it was that realization and the lack of the surprise of it that was surprising. All that's familiar is surprising me.

Familiar faces were waiting for us on the other side of the customs barrier, and it was warm and wonderful to wai and embrace and kiss lovely little faces. There were about 16, all Thais but one, only 8 of whom were our Hot Springs orphans (the others had school or other reasons, not sure yet but we'll see them all soon). The rest of the group consisted of Suradet, Yupa, Tutu, and Ashley (Asia's Hope intern from the US you'll get to know more as we go, I'm sure) and baby Joshua and a staff person who's name I asked but didn't write down, and one other teenage girl who I don't know. But mostly, mostly familiar faces. Faces of people I love. What's up with that? Half way around the world, Thai faces, a culture and people so strange to me, yet so familiar so much part of me. When did that happen?

Tutu took us first to the home of Mike and Debbie Flinchum, long time missionaries in Thailand now serving with Asia's Hope at Doi Saket. Remarkably, they have opened their home to us even while they are back in the US welcoming the arrival of another grandchild. It's where I stayed when not at Hot Spring while I was here last fall. It's a beautiful home, clean and bright in typical Thai-modern style. But more beautiful is the open handed spirit of these two kingdom servant-warriors, who have left us everything we need for a few days of rest and refreshment while we recover from the journey and adapt to the culture and climate.

Not daring to nap, at least for long, we only gave ourselves about two hours to settle in, shower, unpack and get oriented. Then we headed off to "big Lotus" (think Walmart on steriods with a complete grocery section) to get our money exchanged. It was strange to realize how familiar I am with baht and with being able to do simple exchanges at the store. In fact, at one point Tutu left the three of us with our own cart and the list of what we would need for breakfast and snacks and other basic survival items (like toilet paper) at Hot Springs. And there we were, just us Canadians surrounded by Thais speaking Thai, surrounded by strange signage and unusual fruit and sticky rice on your ice cream.....and it was fine. More than fine. It was fun and wild and strange and familiar all at the same time.

And then this morning, when I woke up in a room I knew and immediately realized where I was and it all felt so normal even though I am literally half way around the world.....that's what surprised me.

My first time here I was so out of my element. No, really. Completely and totally out of whack with my self, feeling so disoriented and lost and uncomfortable, so hopelessly homesick I was barely good for anything. The first time here I was all about me and how I was experiencing everything. The first time here I felt anything but normal.

And now? This is strange and normal all at once. It's a strange new kind of normal where what I know overlaps with what is new in a way that makes me wonder what God has for me to discover in that overlapping space.

Whatever it is, I have a feeling that it will completely surprise me.