I have been so blessed since arriving here a little over 2 months ago and love being here more and more each day. What is not to love? This city is huge with great malls, amazing cinemas that are cheap, restaurants galore, and wonderfully kind Thai people. I have a pretty full schedule with language, Bible studies, university work, church, and spending time building relationships. I see the Lord at work daily in my life and in the lives of unbelievers around me that He is drawing to Himself. It is all truly amazing!!
However, we all know that along with the blessings do come some difficulties. This past week in one of my Bible studies the focus was on Numbers 20 and we discussed how difficulties either bring out the best or worst in people. I thought afterwards about things that are difficult for me here and how I deal with them.
One of the difficulties for me is language!!!! Thai is a very difficult language. I love going to school daily but sometimes I feel like the "kid" who just doesn't get it and everyone else does and is annoyed with me:) I hear it being spoken all around and sometimes I pick up a few words here or there but overall I have no clue. Sometimes I wonder if I am ever going to really understand it and be able to speak fairly fluently????? Then I have the moments where I tell myself I have only been here 2 months and I can speak some and understand some so progress has been made.
Another difficulty is the temperature here. I love taking public transportation because you avoid the traffic jams --but you have to walk to get to the public transportation. I also like to walk because it means exercise but I don't really like arriving at my destination sweaty, terrible hair, and extremely overheated. There really is no solution to this problem unless you stay inside all day long in the air conditioning which is not an option. I try to walk a little slower which helps some but you still sweat no matter what!
The last difficulty I will include in this post is being far away from family and friends. I have made some wonderful friends since arriving here and feel very blessed--but most of these people don't know me deeply yet. Part of that reason is the language barrier and also the fact that I haven't known them that long. They don't know what makes me laugh, cry, and what I am passionate about. I am so thankful for technology which allows me to communicate with family and friends often but it is never the same as seeing them in person and being with them.
I know the Lord brought me to this wonderful country and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me for the next 2 years. Let me list below a few things that I took away from the Bible study and my personal reflection:
*God's grace enables God's people to move forward (don't get stuck in a rut)
*Every sin causes us to lose our influence to reach the lost (my heart needs to remain focused on the task God called me here to do)
*Stand in humility and learn from it!!!
*Everything God gives us is by grace we don't deserve it!!
*Failure and grief are expected but quitting is not an option!
*God's work always goes forward--do I want to join HIM????
2 comments:
Oh, Ann Bosha, my heart goes out to you. I am sorry that things are tough right now. That you are uncomfortable in the heat and that you feel so overwhelmed in language school.
HANG IN THERE!!!
It is in these times that God teaches us the most, I'm sure of it, because when we're uncomfortable and overwhelmed... we can't help but cry out to Him!
I am continuing to pray for a "light bulb" moment for you as far as the language goes. Don't over-ANNalyze how you're doing! You're not going to realize the progress you're making day-to-day. Go back to your journal for the first day you were there, or a month ago... and measure how far you've come since then. That is a more accurate representation of what you've learned. I love you and I know you are right where the Lord wants you. He is proud of you, no matter what!!!
oh, by the way - I like the new blog layout.
Post a Comment