Welcome to Thailand bruh!

Well, well, it’s been a while. Last time I updated y’all, I was in Malaysia with my squad. Malaysia ended very quickly but I had a grand ole time. Of course I made lots of strong connections with our church body and continued building strong, Christ-filled friendships with the squad. It really was an awesome opportunity to grow and lean into community. After a 32-hour train ride, I’m now in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The travel day was pretty long, but it was amazing getting to see all of Thailand while hanging out the window the whole time. Funny story, actually. My team leader, Gretchen, and I were sleeping and woke up to a random, crusty, mangled crow sitting on both of our heads! He must have just flown in through the window, but I have no idea how long he was just chillin on our heads, but eventually we woke up and shooed him off. But nonetheless we made it to Thailand.

Now picture this. 9 girls living in a hostel above a coffee shop—what could go wrong? Here’s roughly what my day-to-day looks like… Breakfast is provided and served at 8. Then I and 3 other girls leave to go to ministry. We work at a children’s home; we play and help teach the lessons. Then we head home at about 12:30 and start ATL (ask the Lord). Which is all obviously a good time, and we do this Monday through Friday. A little more about our living situation is that we live in a decent-sized room with 5 bunk beds and a bathroom. We do end up spending most of our time on the roof, where we have a table, kitchen, and showers. And I love this little life I’m living with all of my 8 best friends. It’s been such a good learning experience living with a bunch of girls, and it’s been really good. We all work together super well. God knew what he was doing when he planned this little family of mine.

Thailand is a very cool, interesting place, especially Chiang Mai. From day one we wanted to explore. We took a songthaew (our main way of transportation) to the very top of this mountain. Where we got the chance to go inside of this gold temple that overlooked the city. We have, of course, tried all of the cultural foods and desserts. Also, we’ve been able to experience their iconic night markets. We really have just explored the city with our free time and have been bonding as a team through cooking meals and team times. We have also made new connections with our ministry host and baristas that work in the coffee shop below our home.

Well, one of the more challenging things has been that I had to spend my first Thanksgiving away from my family. Although we made the most of it and celebrated in our own way, I was really missing my friends and family back in Texas. But out of this disappointment came the best burger I’ve ever eaten in my life. Let me tell ya… I think I died. On a separate note, we had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner and celebrated by sharing our gratitude for one another. I made Emery cry (my cousin). 🙂

For the next 3 and a half weeks we will be here serving alongside the children’s home. I would love it if you all prayed for my team as we love on these kids and continue to get to know the staff. Soon we will be with the rest of the squad to celebrate Christmas, and then we will head off to Greece. Well, till next time.

If you click HERE, you can find the link to my PhotoCircle, where you can see exclusive pictures of my journeys.