The Upside

I thought I’d share a slightly more personal post with you this time.  Many have asked how we are adjusting and while I can say that I think we are adjusting well, it has not been easy.  There are several reasons for this:  1) Food 2) Time 3) Energy 4) Expectations, Growth and Spiritual Warfare.

1. Food— The food here is different.  It’s good, really good, but so different.  As much as we love Thai food, we don’t neccessarily want to eat it at every meal or even every day.  And even if we wanted to, our bodies really can’t handle that much rice nor that much spice. I should qualifiy; by “we” I mean Caleb and I.  Kevin could eat rice for every meal and every snack, every day with no ill effects and Noah is pretty flexible and adventurous in the food department as well.  I should also note that most Thai people do very little cooking.  They often order food to be delivered, pick up food on the street, or eat out.  Why?  Because it’s cheap and I mean seriously cheap.  For example we frequented a street restaurant and each had a meal of rice or noodles and a meat and veggie dish and a bottle of water (Caleb would get Coke) and paid ฿240 baht.  That’s about $7 USD for 4 people.  It is common for us to spend between ฿250 and ฿400 baht ($7-12) at a restaurant to feed the four of us.  Street food from a cart can be even cheaper.  Western style food is available (McDonalds, Burger King, KFC), but much more expensive and it’s our typical fast food or a fusion that doesn’t quite work.  Food is generally pretty spicy here, but you can order it without spice or with a little (you get whatever they think a little is).  So, what’s the problem?  Eating out means being out, and after being out all day that can be exhausting.  Also, as I said before, our bodies just aren’t used to this.  Also, the fact that they eat out so much means that the kitchens are tiny:  tiny two burner electric cooktops, small refrigerators, small counter space, no ovens.  Ingredients available at grocery stores naturally reflect what they eat and cook.  There are aisles upon aisles of prepackaged noodles and convenience foods, huge aisles of more varieites of rice than I knew existed, multiple kinds of boxed milk and juices, oils and seasonings that don’t look even remotely familiar, and fruits and veggies that are foreign to us.   I don’t even know what to do with most of the spices and oils, and the greens are not what I’m used to at all.  I can’t identify many of them.  The meat is different: there is a lot of pork.  We didn’t really eat much pork in the U.S. and there is a significant lack of beef (all imported and all expensive).  Chicken looks about the same and is about the same price, which is such a blessing!  In short,  figuring out “what’s for dinner?”  is hard work somedays. The upside? Trying new things has been really fun, especially the fruit!  They have amazing fruit here!  Kevin is really brave and will often just ask a server what they recommend or like best and order that.  It’s often fun for people to share their favorites with us and laugh at us when it’s too spicy or tastes very wrong to our western tastebuds (Durian fruit—they know most westerners really don’t like it and they honestly love it). It’s good language practice to try to buy fruit and the vendors are so helpful!  My fruit stand family, had fun showing us how to tell if the fruit was ripe and as we continue to return to the same vendors, we can build relationships.
2. Time— As I mentioned in a previous post, it takes time to get anywhere.  There really is no running to the store, though it is a little easier since we’ve moved out here and have a car.  So, we do our best to grab what we can while we are out and about rather than make mulitple trips.  We pack as much as we can into our trips out.  A lot of time is spent riding public transportation and our language skills are not advanced enough to really engage people in conversation.  The upside?  We are using the time to watch, observe, and to pray.  We are asking for God to give us eyes to see what He sees and we have the time (built-in) to pray for the people all around us.
3. Energy— Change, adjustment and learning take a lot of energy.  We often find ourselves exhausted at the end of a day and yet wondering what we accomplished or what we did that should leave us so tired.  This is beginning to wear off as we adjust to the schedule and get into a routine. The upside?  Rest and renewal are essential.  Taking care of ourselves physically and emotionally whether that be by getting to bed on time or choosing nutritious food is a must.  Skipping quiet time with God is not an option.  We rely on Him to supply the energy and motivation for what we need to do.  We need His Word to keep us focused and present.
4. Expectations, Growth, and Spiritual Warfare— I list these together because they can often be confused.  We have experienced some legitimate spiritual warfare in the form of unexplainable anxiety and negative thoughts, we try to watch for things like this, things that are unrelated to our personalities, our stresses and our reality.  These things have required prayer and Scripture to combat.   We have also encountered testiness, irritability, short tempers, frustration, and impatience often accompanied by sharp words, harsh tones of voice, rolled eyes, and big sighs.  It would be lovely to be able to blame these on spiritual warfare, to say that it was all an attack from the enemy, but… in truth it’s just our own rotten human natures coming out under pressure.  Attributes that really didn’t show themselves too much when life was predictable and manageable, when we knew what to do or what was expected of us, when life was under control are surfacing now that so many circumstances and timetables are beyond our control and daily life is unpredictable.  The upside?  Growth and refinement.  We are recongizing these uglies for what they are: part of our sin nature.  As such, we are confessing them, apologizing and allowing God to sand off our rough edges and cleanse us, make us more like Him.

Every new adjustment is a little uncomfortable, each unknown a little scary.  The upside?  Jesus is using each and every trial and victory, tear and joy to grow us into His likeness and maybe, if we are obedient, to shine through us and bring Him glory.  That is our prayer.