The (Un) Amazing Race

We don't watch 't.v.' here (although we do have Netflix) but in the past, my all-time favourite show was The Amazing Race. I loved watching it to see which countries the teams would go to - especially when it was somewhere I'd been. 

Recently while away at women's retreat, one of my friends told me that the Event Co-ordinator had told her that The Amazing Race was coming to the resort the following day (Sunday). We had actually watched an Amazing Race episode before where the teams came to Chiang Mai, and people we knew saw them at the airport. 

So, when I heard this, I was SO excited! Our retreat finished after lunch on Sunday and I had some flexibility before I had to be at church at 4pm so I was hoping to spot something before I left. I envisioned seeing a clue box, detour, the pit stop mat, teams, camera crew... anything really!

So after lunch, I went to the lobby to check out. I repeated AGAIN about how cool it would be to see The Amazing Race. Just then, my friend spotted something behind us... a team!!!!

Eeeiick! I couldn't believe it. I noticed that they were wearing Amazing Race t-shirts so I grabbed my phone and took this photo.

"Let's go follow them!" I said to my friend, but since she's never even watched the show, she did not look the least bit interested. 
We parted ways and she started walking off to her car and I watched the team get away... {sigh}

Determined not to miss the opportunity for an exciting adventure, I start walking back to my car to dump my belongings so that I could go investigate.
Just then, I spotted a different friend packing her car. I started to explain that the Amazing Race were around somewhere and asked if she wanted to come stalk them with me? 
She said YES!! And then we saw them again!! I started hyperventilating and asked the a team for their photo. Then, I noticed that their t-shirts had some Chinese writing on them. "Oh it must be the Chinese version of the Amazing Race" I told myself.

Who looks more excited? LOL!

And then, off they went again... looking for clues or something!!

Knowing that the resort is big, I suggested to my friend that we ride bikes to get around faster. We set off, giddy with excitement (okay maybe that was just me).

As we rode around scanning the manicured gardens and paths for signs of the competition, we saw some guys up ahead of us, who looked like 'the crew'.

"Are you guys with the Amazing Race" we asked as we pulled up on our bikes. 
"YES!" they replied, "Well... it's a modified version of the race". 
"Can we take your photo?" I asked.

O.K. Yes. I was acting like a bit of a star struck teenager! I know.

So we kept riding around, still surprised that we hadn't seen other teams or the camera crew yet. As we turned around a corner, I spotted a 'challenge'. It looked like teams must have had to scoop animal poop until they reached a certain weight. COOL!

Getting back on our bikes, we kept laughing and searching. Finding one more team (who did not look rushed...hmmm) and evidence of another completed challenge. We were surprised that there was still no 'real' activity or a camera crew.

Eventually, satisfied that there was nothing more to see, we concluded that this "modified" version of the Amazing Race must have been for a Chinese television show or something.

Upon returning home and telling my family about my little adventure, I showed the envelope that I'd found on the ground to my daughter who used Google translate on her phone and then sent the writing to her Chinese friend to translate. We found out that this  whole "amazing" race was actually just organized by a Chinese school and was actually not that amazing after all!! 

Why am I sharing this story? To embarrass myself? Haha. No!
As I was thinking back over this funny experience (I guess you had to be there) it made me reflect on how so much of my time and energy is often taken up "chasing" after things that are not all they seem to be, that do not satisfy or that aren't even the 'real deal'. 

What, at first, sounded to me like the Amazing Race, ended up being so...un-amazing! It seems I had actually been following after something that failed to be what I thought it was.

And it made me question, in real life, what things do I need to stop chasing after this week in order to stay on my course? How can I forget what is behind... refocus, ignore distractions, and strain toward what is ahead? 

If this week you got distracted and ended up going down a wrong path, chasing after the wrong thing or mistakenly thought the modified version was the real thing... Pick yourself back up! Get back on track. It's never too late for the real AMAZING RACE to begin again. 

Phil 3:12 (TPT) I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.  I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

Full & Good

I can tell already that this post is going to be messy... I have so much to share and yet it seems like too much time has passed now to cover it all. Sorry if I jump around!

Life is full. God is good.

Recently I wrote a post over on the ZOE blog called The Gift of a 'Work in Progress'. 

As an Enneagram Type 7 person I like to experience life to the fullest, but I avoid pain. So the idea of entering into chaos and mess is often not natural for me. But God is helping me to enter in more fully and “be” with others in the same way that He is with me. 

As a Type 7, I also get bored easily which is why I like excitement and trying out new things. Sometimes it might mean that I leave things unfinished though as I move onto something new... which is why I started this post a while ago and it was never completed. 

Yes! I'm sure this explains a lot about me :) 

Life is full.

Way back in September I had a quick trip back to Australia for the Geography Teachers' Association of Victoria (GTAV) conference in Melbourne. Sharon and I were representing ZOE handing out and sharing with teachers all about our updated Year 10 curriculum. We passed out 100 USB sticks to different Geography teachers from schools all over the state, and heard many positive comments from teachers who were already using it in their schools.

At ZOE, I work as part of the International Communication Team, which means I collect and share stories about what God is doing. As ZOE grows, our team aims to be able to support our coworkers in Australia, Thailand, USA, Japan and Mexico.  I love this role because it is quite diverse. From developing guidelines, collaborating on projects, to collecting stories, writing creatively etc.  The role entails meeting with local and foreign staff in order to gather information and news to make posts for the international website. I am also working on tasks like the Thailand Quarterly Report, International Annual Report, Australian social media pages etc. amongst other things.

During the times when I'm not at ZOE, I am still attending Thai language classes two mornings a week (slowly.... slowly).  I have also enjoyed serving at our local church a bit more. For the past few months, I was able to help on a committee for the annual women’s retreat here in Chiang Mai. It was a wonderful experience. I have also helped out by writing a couple of devotionals for our church's Christmas Advent devotional, as well as ushering/ serving communion once a month.

God is good.

The women's retreat was a wonderful opportunity to spend more time with seven other women from ZOE who also attended. It was a peaceful weekend with periods of restful meditation, times of learning, many hearty laughs and sweet conversations with friends. It truly was such a joy-filled time and a real blessing.

Our family is growing (upwards). Our eldest son was shorter than me in June and then taller than me in July! And it happened that quickly. Our daughter will be 'officially' a teenager next month and our youngest is becoming more and more independent with each passing day -despite the fact that I keep trying to hang on to 'my baby'. 

11 year old boys making pizza!

These past months for our kids have been full of sports-tryouts, birthday parties, auditions, youth group, games, rehearsals, tournaments, projects, lots of homework, friends over and rich discussions about as much as possible. These times are precious and tiring but oh how proud I am of the people they are becoming. I go to bed late and exhausted but with a full heart of thankfulness for all God is doing in each of their lives. I am blessed.

Really - I have no idea how to parent teenagers. Seriously!! It is the most wonderful and challenging of experiences. But these are very precious times not to be wasted. What a joy and honor to have this job.  I often have this feeling like I'm fumbling around blindfolded and I have to carefully find my way around in the dark.  It's causing me to have to rely on my other senses more. Even when I can't "see" what God is doing, I am learning to tune in and hear His guiding voice more. And I know that His goodness and love surround me. Even when I'm not sure where the path ahead is, I can step out in faith knowing He will lead me as I trust Him.

See! I told you this post would be messy! But hey, life is messy... and marvelous all at once! May we fully enter in. 

"I’m so thankful that God gives us discernment and sensitivity to the needs around us so that at those times when we just want to walk around, go a different way, or avoid the chaos, He helps us to enter in and “be” with others in the same way that He is with us." 

- The Gift of a 'Work in Progress'  

The Power of Three

Have you got a favourite number? 

I don't really. 

For some reason though, the number 3 seems to come up a lot. 

I am one of three children. 

I have three children. 

And, strangely I often find myself at the supermarket subconsciously buying things in threes. 

Of course, for people with a Christian faith, the number 3 has significance. God being three in one (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
Peter denying Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62). Jesus asking Peter three times if he loves him (John 21:15-17).

That is just to mention a few examples from the 467 times the number 3 is mentioned in the Bible!

When I recently heard a song by Hillsong, Young & Free from their newest album - named Three, the words of the song impacted me greatly and I was, once again, reminded how this significant number is in my life.

  

Maybe you know the old song, 'Jesus Loves Me'. 

Jesus loves me this I know, 

For the Bible tells me so. 

Little ones to Him belong

They are weak but He is strong.

For me, its one of those of songs that feels like it's been a part of my life since before I can even remember. And as a parent, I can recall bed times when my children were much smaller - times when I had no words of comfort left of my own and all I could do was to stroke their hair gently and sing those lyrics quietly over them.   

Those beautiful words first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel, spoken as a comforting poem to a dying child, but the tune was added in 1862. After publication as a song it became one of the most popular Christian hymns in churches around the world, especially among children.

And now, this new version of the song is bringing fresh reminders for our family of those comforting and life-changing truths, speaking life and love into our lives during both the best and worst of days.

 

Jesus Loves Me

Hillsong Young & Free

It was just three words

But it changed my life

Just a childlike truth

That consumed my mind

From my life's first breath

Till the day I rise

All I need to know

Is this age old line

Jesus loves me this I know

Jesus loves me this I know

I won't forget the Bible says

That He loves me so

It was just three nails

That held Him on that cross

But God was not restrained

For He was there by choice

As He gave His life

For a world He loved

So the earth replied

In this age old song

Jesus loves me this I know

Jesus loves me this I know

I won't forget the Bible says

That He loves me so

It was just three days

But it changed our world

For when there seemed no way

From the grave He rose

Jesus loves me this I know

Jesus loves me this I know

I won't forget the Bible says

That He loves me so

As a parent, I have days when I feel like most of my conversations with my children involve, "You need to change that...", "More of this...", "Less of that...", "Don't do that...", "Do this..."

But at the end of the day when my advice, warnings, recommendations, commands and instructions are left ringing in their ears - all I really want my children to know is one thing... that I love them. 

When they're all grown up, more than anything else I want them to reflect back and know that they were loved. More than helping them with homework, more than baking yummy treats, more than the toys and clothes I bought them, more than the lectures, more than the acts of service, words of encouragement and physical affection... my heart cries out, "I love you!"

Three words.

I think that's what so special about this old song is that those three simple words sum everything else up, "Jesus Loves Me".

Maybe for some people, this message may be hard to accept. For some, it may seem inconceivable or unbelievable.

And if that's you... would you test it out this week? 

Simply, ask Jesus to show you His love.

It could be life changing... I know it has been for me. 

The power of three!

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/living/religion/article1319649.html?x_cw_context_provider=safari#storylink=cpy

The Buffet of Life

Last Saturday we went out with some of the other missionaries to show them a local restaurant that we really like. This place is definitely not fancy but it serves an especially delicious northern Thai curry called gaaeng hang laeh muu. It’s the sort of dish that we never need a big portion of because the flavours are so intensely deep and rich that one small serve shared between two people provides enough taste to linger in your mouth and remind you of how satisfying it was for the next few hours. We never leave feeling bloated or too full but {I’m not exaggerating} hours later we can still be heard uttering, “That curry was so delicious!”

I appreciate this dish all the more since trying to make it myself a few times. It’s quite an effort with a long list of ingredients combining spices and being slow-cooked for a substantial amount of time, to release a wonderfully subtle combination of all the flavours.  

When made correctly… seriously! There are no words!

This past December, I looked at our calendar with all the upcoming events that our family had either been invited to or were asked to be a part of through work, school, friendships, church and extra curricular activities.  It was a lot.  

Granted, I am an introvert but I really started to feel overwhelmed by it all. The most difficult part was that when I sat down to look at what each thing was {in order to cut a few things out} I was surprised to notice that they were all really ‘good’ things. Not one of the things, in isolation, was a waste of time, unnecessary or seemed unenjoyable, but all of them together… was simply too much. 

I was explaining to a friend how I don’t like to get to the end of a busy week packed with ‘good’ things and not even be able to remember what I did a few days earlier.  After an event I want to ‘savor’ it and make space to ‘digest’ it within our family.  I want to give my heart time to respond and to block out the noises that so often deafen me from hearing what it was I needed to learn through each experience. 

I have come to appreciate the beauty of the Thai culture that really stops and sits to eat together and in contrast I feel saddened by the western ‘drive-through’ influence - where food is consumed on-the-way-to wherever… while rushing to the “next thing”.

Having time to “chew on”, “mull over” and reflectively appreciate the moments in life - just like that curry - has become so much more appealing to me than the all-you-can-eat buffet of an overcrowded life.  The buffet, from a distance, may aesthetically seem more appealing but soon enough you’re left feeling so full, you can’t even remember the first thing you ate. There is nothing wrong with the individual dishes, they’re all delicious, but later the flavours have all mixed into one and the satisfaction that you thought you might have by the end is tainted by the bloated feelings that leave you feeling like you never want to eat again!

For parents, how do we then help to navigate our children through this “buffet” style-of life, guiding them as they grow up with all-you-can-eat opportunities? How do we effectively and deliberately model a reflective and sensitive approach to life? 

I believe that it is something that we must fight to do ourselves first in order to model it to our children.  If I can’t insert “pauses” into my own life that allow me to joyfully experience and reflectively savour the tastes of my day and week, then how can I direct my children faced with every distraction and opportunity laid before them to be able to do the same?  How can I teach my kids that yes, the buffet may all look good, but that does not mean it must all be consumed? 

Recently, I shared that my word for 2018 was “PAUSE”. 

I want to pause in order to remember these days that fly by so quickly.

I need to pause to give my best yes … and a careful no.

I choose to pause to give thanks.

I must pause before I speak in anger, judgment, or criticism.

I will pause to say I’m sorry.

I desire to pause to dwell on God’s goodness and mercy.

In an environment where smorgasbords abound and they all look so appealing, it can be hard for all of us to say no to opportunities, invitations and new ideas.  But when we become too busy {even doing good things} we crowd out our ability to ‘pause’ and hear God’s voice and we miss out on the intensely deep and rich moments in life.

I guess, as the saying goes, sometimes less is more.

Out With The Old

During the last school break, we designated one day as a family ‘work’ day in the garden. We had an area that needed to be totally stripped of the plantations that had been left to grow wildly-out-of-control there and, due to the fact that we were going to try to replant some of them elsewhere in the garden, we needed to uproot these plants relatively carefully.

It was ‘all hands on deck’ as we dug, pulled, sorted and bagged up the branches and stems that we weren’t keeping and set aside the ones we were.

Slowly the area that was once overgrown looked stark and bare in contrast to just a few hours earlier.

An empty space remained.

Everything that had once crowded and choked the soil was now gone.

There was another area of the yard that previously had nothing growing there. It’s an odd space since not much rain or sun hits the area.  We had decided to move some of our smaller plants that we’d had hanging indoors to this spot and give it a bit more life.

With careful hands we dug evenly spaced holes and prepared the ground for the new life it was about to receive. 

The words that kept coming to mind throughout the day were, ‘out-with-the-old and in-with-the new’.

Painfully, afterwards (my muscles were so sore) as I reflected on that day of gardening, I realised that it was not just physically exhaustion due to the effort required to remove the plants in such hot weather, but it was the mess, the time and the chaos of it all that struck me.

 

And strangely it echoed how life feels right now. 

To make room for new habits, new routines and new thinking, the old must be removed. 

Sometimes the painfulness of the pulling, the clearing and the sorting out is like a complete make-over; a stripping back of what has always been there, growing wildly-out-of-control.  The result after the uprooting, and the clearing-out is a stark, blank canvas… an open space… an empty basket.  It’s a new chance.

Although it’s hard and exhausting work, this ‘stripping away’ creates a chance to start again, to begin afresh.

It creates new opportunities to replant {more} deliberately this time. 

To consider what is best for this space, to make a decision with the benefit of hindsight and determine what should go in and what should not.

In this process there is a critical step in the middle that needs to be done. 

It is not even a step it is a ‘pause.’  It is a pause before the replanting begins that allows time for the preparation of the soil … for it is the condition of the soil that will ultimately affect the growth.

So quickly our lives can get completely overcrowded and out of control. 

How difficult it can be, in the busyness of life, to stop long enough to make a change for it’s in the stopping long enough that the starting to live more purposefully can begin. 

tur·bu·lence

You know, sometimes there are stories that can only be shared after a certain period of time has elapsed and some healing has occurred.

This is one of them!

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. It looks like we've hit some unexpected turbulence and I'm going to turn on the seatbelt sign. The seat belt sign is now on. Please remain seated until the seatbelt sign goes off. Thank you.”

As someone who has struggled with motion sickness her-whole-life, these types of announcements make me instantly break out in a cold sweat.

On our last day in Australia, I had intentionally reduced my caffeine intake, sipped water all day, eaten healthy food, taken my travel sickness medication and of course prayed, but then as the plane made its way into the air… the dreaded “turbulence” announcement rang through the cabin loud and clear. 

I decided to avoid the food they were bringing around for dinner but even still, the combination of the food smells and onset of unsteady movement in the plane was enough to set me off on a path of a VERY-MISERABLE-JOURNEY back home to Thailand. 

After about 5 hours of continuous vomiting, I staggered unsteadily off the first flight, spare sick bags tucked into my pockets. It was as we departed the plane though that the unexpected occurred, our youngest shrieked a panicked cry; he too was feeling sick. We grabbed a spare bag and not losing pace with the rest of the passengers departing the flight, we held it for him as we all kept walking and he lost the contents of his last meal. Poor guy. 

At the airport in-between flights, all I could do was to be still.  I was weak and every part of my body ached.  Finding a spot on the floor, I lay down, exhausted and drifted in and out of a state of dehydrated, distressed sleep. 

Waiting till the last minute, my family gently guided me to the next flight but I already had a terrible feeling that this one was not going to be much different to the last.  But I was wrong… IT WAS SO MUCH WORSE! Not only was I sick for the whole flight but so were TWO of my children!  Poor Dave! He lost count of how many times he had to go and ask for more bags. 

Just when we thought we would be stuck in the air feeling nauseated forever, we finally touched down and stumbled weakly off the plane. Lacking strength and energy we tried to focus on the fact that we were almost home.

Making our way through immigration and baggage, we exited the airport and found a songthaew to take us the twenty-minute or so ride home.  Through the winding streets and familiar city sites, we all stared unemotionally out the back of the truck until we were eventually dropped out the front our house. 

As we unlocked the front gate and started to haul the suitcases to the door one-by-one, there it was…. the final, depressing, reminder of what had been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Our youngest threw up all over the front door step. Yep. We’d made it home!

But, as you know, “turbulence” doesn’t just strike on planes though either.  

This season has definitely seen some turbulent times for our family. Unsteadiness, uncertainty and a bumpy ride have jolted and stretched us in ways that we have not experienced before. 

And there have been days when the words “BE STILL” in the command “Be still and know that I am God” have gripped me in the same way like at the airport that day when I literally had to be still.  

That day, I needed to be ‘physically’ still, to block out all the other noises and movement and activity around me. But sometimes the noises and the distractions around us are people’s comments, the enemy’s lies, or our own insecurities or unmet expectations.  Sometimes the movement and the activities are distractions like a lack of boundaries or over commitment or not letting go.  In the end, it’s all the same.  We must eventually be still.

Being still is a bit like saying, I will not pay attention to the storm going on around me but I will trust in you God.  

Being still cannot be done in front of a computer screen, on our phone or in the crowded places of our lives. 

If we will not be still voluntarily, then sometimes it will take a big shaky dose of turbulence to get our attention and have us crawling into a still, small, quiet place alone to understand and know, “HE is God”.  Not us. 

We are doing a six-week study at church and in our small groups right now called ‘God’s Grand Story’.  After finishing our chapters on Moses and the Israelites, I was telling a friend about my journaling the other day. 

I had written, “I hope that through our family’s wilderness experiences that we really truly learn the lessons that God would have us learn in the desert. That we would not miss the ‘Promised Land’ of what God has for us next and that we would grow in our trust and obedience to Him”.  

I love the lyrics in Lauren Daigle’s song “Trust In You”.  How challenging to think that no matter whether God answers our prayers in the way we want him to or not, that we would fully trust in Him. 

Let’s find time this week to BE STILL in the turbulence.

Trust In You (Lauren Daigle) 

Letting go of every single dream

I lay each one down at Your feet

Every moment of my wandering

Never changes what You see

I try to win this war

I confess, my hands are weary, I need Your rest

Mighty warrior, king of the fight

No matter what I face You're by my side

When You don't move the mountains

I'm needing You to move

When You don't part the waters

I wish I could walk through

When You don't give the answers

As I cry out to You

I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You

Truth is, You know what tomorrow brings

There's not a day ahead You have not seen

So let all things be my life and breath

I want what You want Lord and nothing less