Thailand!

Happy New Year everyone! 2009 ended with a bang for me, as I was blessed to be able to spend the last couple weeks of the year in Thailand traveling around with a friend. The trip turned out to be one of refreshment, reflection, perspective, time with the Lord, and lots of fun and laughs.

Our trip started out with a trip to the northeast of Thailand to visit about 30 teenage girls. We spent an early Christmas with them and we were totally blessed by their worship service. It was a celebration unlike any that I have ever seen before. All of the kids came up with their own dances and drama to express their hearts to God regarding the birth of the Messiah. Intermingled between all of the dances and drama were testimonies of lives changed. It was truly a moving experience that was centered on Christ, and it got me thinking as to how to do a celebration like this in the future!

One of my favorite memories from the northeast was when my traveling buddy walked into a room where I was eating some fruit with the house mother and she said, "are you eating the seeds?" I replied, "yes." To which she quickly said, "you might die." I thought that she was kidding, but she wasn't. Now, before this story goes too far... I asked if you could eat the seeds and the person that I was eating it with said that she does all of the time, so you can imagine my shock when I heard about my impending death. Apparently there is some rumor that these seeds can get lodged in your spleen or something, but I assure you that I have had no side effects of eating the fruit. However, I did not eat any more! After this experience I had a talk with my friend to let her know that she might think about a more tactful way to bring about news of warning. We had some good laughs.

From the northeast we took an overnight bus to Chiang Mai. Travel in another country is always an adventure, but this trip was quite special. There were a few times when I thought my friend was going to go relieve the driver of his duties. Also, our bus left at 8:30pm and arrived at 11 am the next day. One would think that these would be prime sleeping hours in which one does not really need any food. Not the case. Our bus stopped at midnight and 4am to eat meals. Who eats at that time?

Chiang Mai was great. Here is a picture of what was awaiting us as we woke up in the morning.

Chiang Mai was great because we got to spend time with the girls that live at the Remember Nhu houses there. I have been praying for these girls and this ministry for quite some time, so it was great to spend time with them. We celebrated Christmas with them, and had a great time watching them decorate a Christmas tree for the first time.

Christmas morning was spent worshipping with the girls, followed by a time where they got to open their Christmas gifts from their sponsor parents. It was very fun to watch their eyes light up by what was inside their gift bags.

The day after Christmas we took an overnight train back to Bangkok in order to begin a few days of rest and relaxation! Once we were back in Bangkok we quickly made reservations at a resort in Koh Chang (Elephant Island) and boarded a bus, followed by a ferry to get there as soon as possible. We were not disappointed when we got to the resort after a long day of traveling! It was absolutely gorgeous. We put our stuff down and headed to the beach where there was a wonderful seafood bbq.

The next few days were spent at the spa, snorkeling, playing Phase 10, people watching, spending time reflecting on the year, and looking forward to the next. It was a very refreshing time, and I am so thankful for the buddy that God provided to spend it with.

As I sat down yesterday to go through my pictures I realized that I had far less pictures than I normally do. Part of me was a little sad about this, but also I realized that so much of the trip I was experiencing and taking part in the moment and enjoying every bit of it that I forgot take pictures. Of course taking a few pictures for me is still several hundred... here are a few of my favorites from the beach:

This was our beach entertainment on our last evening in Paradise (that was actually the name of our resort)
My buddy :)

We were brought to this beach to eat our lunch on our snorkeling adventure. The water was soooo beautiful. The morning started out a bit wet, but it turned out to be gorgeous!

And now I am back in Jordan! I hope that your Christmas and New Years was a wonderful time with family and friends. I missed my family a TON, but at the same time I had an unforgettable time.