Back from Thailand.
Body. Mind. Soul. That's the order.
So I should clarify. My body is back. My mind is almost here. My soul....that will take some time.
It used to unsettle me, this gradual return. Feels like I'm in two places at once, a kind of jet-lag of the heart. Can't stop the translator in my head. Feeling cold, and way too dry. Enjoying Western comforts but missing Eastern simplicities. Hungry for rice and Yupa's cooking. Sort of a misty in-between. Wake up in orientation mode. Glad to be home, but full of longings.
Now I just let it happen. Soon enough the whole of me will be here again. Just takes time.
I've not been off line. The link above will take you to one of many posts in the Highview to Thailand blog we set up several trips ago. That's a report kind of blog. It's here I'll do some unpacking. It helps my soul get home.
Here are some random shots to get me started.
 |
| Kratae, Bouy and Da, silly and happy. |
 |
| Thim who's off to university and taller than me! |
 |
| Eg whose smile is completely enchanting. |
 |
| Frogs, seasoned and gutted on display at the market. |
 |
| The butcher from whom we bought our pork for the pig roast. |
 | |||||
| Yupa and her Mom who runs a noodle shop out of her home in her small village, close to Hot Springs. |
 |
| Fun time at the pig roast. A special party night! |
 |
| The boy's table is a happening place! |
 |
| A bag of corn puff-like treats. With 19 children you buy stuff in bulk! |
 |
| Someone who landed for a quick visit on the dining room table. In Thai the word for butterfly translates literally as "ghost shirt". |
 | ||
| Yupa's barely functioning stove that we'll try to replace for Christmas. Some of the best Thai food on the planet comes from this kitchen! |
 |
| Sending off the older ones to school. L to R Boy, Apple, Miki, Fruk, Me, Somchai. Hard to believe Somchai was up to my shoulders when I first met him 5 years ago. |
 | |
| Just one of Yupa's many amazing orchids. |
 | |||
| Suradet heading over to hang up laundry. A little out of a traditional Thai role, but this couple is hardly conventional to begin with. Everyone pitches in wherever needed. |
Even so. This has probably been the best return ever. Easiest travel, there and back. Easiest transition home, as gradual as it will be.
Caught of glimpse of God's sovereign complexity and loving simplicity this time.
Hard to describe, but it has to do with the fact that at age 11 I first felt a tug towards SE Asia. The church I grew up in was very globally-minded, and I was introduced to this part of the world through a visiting missionary. Turns out I didn't go. Not then, not even as a young adult, back then. But 40 years later, when I finally did, it was 'just in time' to hook up with these incredible people called Suradet and Yupa.
Their own story and time line matches perfectly with mine. Their urgent prayers for help being answered in concert with my own for Highview's direction in Region's Beyond. Their need being matched with my access to resources. Their example of radical hospitality lining up with my need for exactly this kind of hero. Their love providing precisely what this 11 year old so desperately needed.
Perfect timing. Perfect match.
Sometimes you find yourself involved in something so wild and beautiful it could only be God.
I have no idea why God has lavished such things upon me. I only hope to be a worthy steward of such a gift as this.
