Just What the Doctor Ordered

Vacations are a funny thing, especially vacations when you live overseas. Travel is wonderful, but being a tourist is not generally relaxing. Sometimes it's nice to have a vacation where you actually come home more rested than you were when you left. For that reason, I often prefer to be when I am on vacation than to do. Often easier said than done. 

This week, however, I managed to do just that. I came to northern Thailand with friends for a few days. We stayed at a homestay near the Laos border, a little more than an hour outside the city of Chiang Rai and it has been absolutely perfect. The house has nice spacious rooms and a courtyard with a pool and a peaceful fountain. In the mornings we've taken excursions and spent the afternoons napping, reading, and swimming. On one excursion we did a short hike to a cliff at the Laos border, looking down into a Hmong village nestled in the valley below. All of our meals are included in our stay and the food has been delicious, and always accompanied by local fruit, including the melt in your mouth mangoes that are in season right now. In the evenings, after a post dinner walk and when my friends put their toddler to bed, we have been able to sit and talk over wine and chocolate before curling up in super comfortable beds. 

It's been a few days of sleep, rest, good conversation, a good book, and fun and laughter that leaves me feeling rested, renewed, and refreshed. God's blessings again, overflowing in abundance. 

Views on our evening walks. 

Waterfall walk in a national park 

Border marker, I'm in Laos! 

Hiking with a view of Laos.

View from my poolside beach chair. Gonna miss this...

Abundantly blessed

Admittedly, my blog posts aren't always the most, upbeat, exactly.  It's hard sometimes when you're a bit of a pessimist, or as my friend says, a practical realistic pessimist.  I'm generally much better at calamity than hope.  But this blog post isn't about the weight of the world or the intermingled joy and struggle of serving abroad or the heartbreaking realities of life around us.

This past week I was booking some flights, again.  I have done that a lot lately.  In the past few months I've booked flights to Singapore (I went for a weekend in March), to the US for the summer, and to Chiang Rai (in northern Thailand) for later this week.  This week I got tickets to go to central and northern California in July to spend time with friends and relatives.  And now that that itinerary is in place, I am working on the dates in June to go see my brother in New York.  Right around when I hit the button to finalize the purchase last week, it hit me.  I am so abundantly blessed.  

And not just by air travel, which I actually enjoy less and less every year (though my love of the people on the other side of flights keeps me at it), but by many many blessings that factor in and make the travel possible.  I started reflecting on the myriad of gifts that I have been given and am trying to spend time just appreciating them and recognizing them.  

I have a great job, which I enjoy and which allows me to openly serve and teach about God.  I have friends and family in many places who welcome me with open arms whenever I have opportunities to visit.  I get to live in a beautiful foreign country where the cost of living is low enough that I can afford luxuries like travel.  I work in an industry where I have extended time off every year to back to the States- I don't think I could do life here otherwise.  I have good friends here to travel with.  I have several "shorter" times off during the year to explore this part of the world.  I have family members who spend considerable time each summer shuttling me to and from the airport.  I have friends here who are like family. My sister sends me daily photos and videos of my nephew. 

Okay, that last one has nothing to do with my travel, but it's a pretty great blessing all the same.  It's always easy for me to look at life as half empty- rest assured life here is just daily life and carries all of the usual ups and downs of life on planet earth.  I complain about my aching back (which has been particularly bad lately since I haven't been working out and thus stretching enough) and other minor ailments, even though I'm generally healthy. I sigh and keep walking right past the dirty dishes in the sink, too tired to care.  I get lonely living here on my own, even in the midst of much coveted down time. I worry about the future and the when and what next- when the ink isn't even dry on my newest contract yet.  I look at daily life and see absent friends who have moved on to other adventures, instead of seeing the faces of the newer friends who have walked into my life this year, who I want to get to know more.  

Truth is, life isn't half empty, nor even just barely full. My cup runneth over.  But not because it's perfect or never stressful or lonely or any of those other things I often focus on.  God has been incredibly gracious in many tangible gifts, but also in the gift of himself.  While I certainly enjoy the many ways that God has blessed me recently, I am even more grateful for ways he has grown my knowledge and understanding of him. This season of lent was particularly beneficial in seeing areas of sin that needed to be dealt with and ways that I had not fully been acknowledging or accepting his grace, not really believing and living that la vida eterna starts now.  The other blessings might not feel so "blessed" without that bit.  So yeah, even in the midst of many normal every day struggles of life, I can see that I do live a great life and serve a great God. And for that, I am so very thankful.