Back!

Hey everyone! So I'm back in South Asia. After meetings and a training in Thailand I was ready to go on vacation. I went to Australia for a few days to visit some old friends and had a totally amazing time. There were meetings about changes taking place in the company and some about encouraging each other. The best times however were spent out side of meetings talking with friends that live in different places and hearing their advice on serving the Lord. It was really helpful and encouraging, sometimes the struggles or fears that occur here are only best worked through by receiving godly advise from brothers and sister that have been there before and can speak truth over you.
After the meetings finished I left to go to a training, the training was helpful but it mostly a lot of oral reciting............however I had a really bad cold and couldn't really talk. It was interesting when I had to give presentation and a song, a lot of squeaks came out and some sounds that resemble a goose. Everyone was rolling with laughter all I could do was smile, it was hard not having a voice (anyone who knows me knows I'm not shy and usually I am a pretty talkative person). In the evenings I had a blast riding around on a motorbike with my teammate. It was so nice to be in control of the vehicle and not have to bargain for a price on where to go. It was so nice being back in Thailand....I have loved going there over the years. However this trip was different from the others, my first time in Thailand and Laos I never wanted to leave. I knew my heart would leave a piece of it when my time came to head back to the states. My second time in Thailand it was nice to be back and see the country I first feel in love with overseas. However being back this time it felt like a stranger compared to India.....and India still feels like person I don't know well enough either. It's pretty amazing how the Lord has truly grown my heart for a country I only went to because he led me there, when I first was looking to move overseas I had a desire to move to Wales but the Lord had a way of knowing was needed somewhere else. I could never have known before hand the lives I would be welcomed into and possibly have the chance to change forever through sharing with them the hope within my soul. The hope of glory that is in Jesus Christ.
After coming back to my apartment it just feels like home. Being in Thailand helped make this country feel more like home. Leaving Thailand for my vacation was amazing. The people I visited in Australia were two amazing friends! The first was a camp counselor when I was in high school. She was really encouraging and the example of godly woman to a group of silly high school kids in America. The second was the sister of my camp counselor. We worked on a team together in America serving in a low income area in southern California (we helped to put on a sports Vacation Bible School and also worked on outreach). While working together she and I became amazing friends. When the summer was over and she left to go back to Australia I promised her I would visit and almost 4 years later got to follow through. Praise the Lord for cheap airline tickets and for vacation days!