What Day is it Again?

I'm here! I made it... I'm in Thailand! And not just in Thailand, but I actually made it to the Lighthouse in Action base :) I arrived in Chiang Mai almost 24 hours ago.  The latter part of my journey was quite stressful.  I was tired emotionally, mentally, and physically. 

I was supposed to be picked up in Bangkok and have a place to stay for 12 hours so that I could rest, and get some sleep before coming to Chiang Mai, but no one picked me up.  My flight had landed in Bangkok at midnight - so I stayed in the airport. When the ticket windows opened at 5am I paid a small fee to have my flight moved up.  Instead of leaving at 5pm I would be able to leave an noon and go on standby for two earlier flights at 8am and 10am - but both of those flights were full.

When I realized that they had forgotten to pick me up in Bangkok my exhaustion and emotions took over.  I had just traveled for 26 straight hours not sleeping for more than an hour at a time on the plane. I tried calling the place I was supposed to say and got a hold of someone, but when they tried to give me directions that were in Thai I didn't understand, and I didn't want to get lost in Bangkok at  midnight by myself.  So I sat in the airport, and I cried.  How was I going to do this if I couldn't even figure out how to get to where I was staying from the airport? How am I going to LIVE here.  I wasn't able to rationalize much at that point.

It was midnight in Bangkok but only 11am at home.  My friends started to text me on the ipad - slight side note... how amazing is technology that with my ipad I can text my best friends on their iphones at home and have a real time conversation whenever I was for free. And it's convenient.  Amazing... - Anyway.  My friends spoke such truth and perspective to me.  I calmed down, and they made me laugh a lot. And I told Jen that I really wanted eggs for breakfast...

By the time I changed my ticket and talked with them for awhile  I only had a couple of hours to wait and see if I got on the standby flight. As I sat across from the check-in counter a woman came and asked if she could sit next to me.  I could tell by her accent that she was from North America.  She was older, and had a hiking backpack on.  I asked if she was coming in to Thailand, or flying out - and we had a great conversation.  

Her name was Jan.  She was from Arizona and she was meeting up with her friend so they could go hiking in Nepal.  She said since her kids were grown she had to figure out where she belonged in her next season.  She missed traveling, so she's traveling. I loved it! She encouraged me in what I was doing.  She told me that Eleanor Roosevelt had said, "Do something that scares you everyday." I assured her I had completed that task for the day. As it came time for me to check on my flight she hugged me and wished me luck, and told me not to believe myself when I said I was scared.  If I was really scared, I would have never come.

I went up to the ticket counter and they had one seat left of the flight to Chiang Mai at 8am. And guess who got it.

This girl.

I had to sprint to my gate, but I made the flight and guess what they served for breakfast on the one hour flight? Egg sandwiches! With fresh fruit and the most delicious yogurt... it was awesome.

I got into Chiang Mai and called Emmi.  Someone picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at the Lighthouse in Action Guesthouse.  The girls who were supposed to let me in had just got up to 7-Eleven.  The taxi driver and girl who picked me up told me not to worry, just to wait.  And they left.

So there i was in Thailand by myself.  My luggage sitting in the dirt outside of a locked gate. I don't speak the language, I don't have a phone, and I had no idea where I was.  Talk about living in Faith.  All I could do was pray that Jesus had a plan n this.

A few minutes later two girls came to let me in.  They were really nice.  They showed me where my room was and made sure I didn't have any questions.  They said they had to leave, but would be back to following night.  All of the Lighthouse team had gone on retreat for the weekend.  So here I sit in this big building with 9 bedrooms, two sitting areas, and an outdoor kitchen all by myself.

God is forcing me to sit and rest in Him.  For Him to show me that He is enough.  I don't need other people around me.  It's great when they're there - and I TOTALLY appreciate the people in my life.

But He is enough.

I can do nothing without Him here.  There's really no reason for me to be in Thailand unless I am going to rely on Him completely.  For everything. All day.  

So I slept for 17 hours last night.  I'm over jet lag.  I have no idea what day it is.  In my head it feels like it should be Thursday.  But it's Saturday morning.  It feels like it's afternoon. but it's only 9:30am.  I'll catch on.  

But for now. I am just trusting in Him.