Plants, passion, and peace in a new season

Life is Bangkok has settled back into its usual routine, which somehow has a distinctly different flavor every semester. I've never before lived in a place where the daily pattern of my life changes so much every few months, sometimes with little rhyme or reason. I might run every Saturday morning for a few months, and then stop. Or maybe I see a particular friend regularly for a year, and then we come back and never quite pick back up again. I go through streaks with which grocery store I prefer, or do I like the market better (weekend market or Ram 2?) or do I not even want to cook at all? Part of the fluctuation is just the nature of the expat life, part of it is the ebb and flow of this particular community, and part of it is just me and my come and go self. Since certain parts of my life naturally become so regimented, maybe the changes are the way I manage to survive without living in an enormous rut. Either way, my "new normal" normal life seems to have returned. 

What does that mean for this seaon? Well, as mentioned in a previous post, one thing it means is plants. Green plants, flowering plants, and edible plants. I've been working on the green plants for years, and a few of them flower on and off, but this is the first time I've tried actual flowers. So far, they are alive and well and I have plans to add a second pot of them. My veggies- tomatoes and radishes- are also doing well. My seedlings have grown into small plants. The radishes will take just a few weeks to mature, but the tomatoes are much slower. They're in small pots acclimating to the great outdoors right now. Next week I'll move them to full sun and wind, and then later to their permanent home large pots. 

Another aspect of this season has been a renewed passion for the missional side of my job. In part, that comes from teaching Bible this year. In part, it comes from having 13 little sponges, I mean four year olds, in my class. They love to learn about God, to sing praises to his name, and to pray. One of my favorite moments of the whole year (all 25 days of it so far) was at the end of the day when we were all packed up and doing a fingerplay while we waited for the bell to ring. One student raised her hand and asked if we could "do the one where we go like this (folds her hands) and talk to Jesus. Why yes, yes we can!  Another student interrupted calendar time last Friday to ask where God got all his power. Who gave it to him? Try answering that one in language that a four year old understands!  

I have also really been enjoying cooking lately. I've slacked off considerably this week, but was doing well until now, which means I have my freezer well stocked for these days when I'm too lazy to cook. This past weekend I baked bread and blueberry muffins, then a friend dropped off some banana bread, so I had baked goods coming out of my ears. Luckily, I found some people who were willing to take some of those muffins off my hands :) 

This has also been a season of lovely Saturday mornings spent with my friend and her kiddos. We will often meet at the school and talk while we watch the kids swim or play. Being nearly 3 years old, their new favorite activity is to go to Tee-Tee (Aunt) Clare's room and play. We are pretty okay with whatever keeps them occupied while we chat and drink our coffee. We don't make it every Saturday, but we've done it often, and it is always precious when we do. 

Oddly enough, given some situations going on around me, this has also been a time that I would describe with the word peace. Perhaps my heart is finally beginning to trust God and, I hate to even type it, let it go (cue the music...). It's no secret that I am a bit of a control freak. My brain knows that God is soveriegn, that he alone holds my life in his hands, and that he does in fact, want and know what is best for me. My heart has always been slow to believe it, leading to a great deal of worry and anxiety and stress. I don't know what the difference is, if I am just tired of fighting or if the daily ritual of watching one particular tired student fight against sleep at nap time has allowed things to click at a deeper level. Either way, I'd say this is a time that has been characterized by peace, and I am grateful. Tough days and tough decisions lie ahead, but I've been able to resist stressing about them now and just leave them in God's hands. I know; I'm a little slow on the up take. 

Wow, I finally wrote a blog post that wasn't entirely about K4! I am reclaiming my life! It's just cause we're having so much fun that I can't help but write about it. But it does in fact feel good to be working normal hours again and getting my life back!