Sara Jane (my new house mate) and I sat in the middle of a mall in Malaysia for 15 minutes on a tan leather massage chair complete with feet gloves. The chair continuously squeezed our feet, calves, better side, back side, and back and I would smile as people walked passed and stared (I think they were jealous). As we pulsated, Sara Jane told me how she was looking at DVD’s in a reputable looking store when suddenly the gate shut with a clamor and locked everyone inside. The customers looked up, smi/ed at each other and continued perusing the selection as if it happened all the time. Apparently a cop was spotted so the store closed its doors to their illegal industry courteously keeping the “Movie, DVD, VCD” sign up so the cops would never know what they were selling! Too funny! Ah the joys of black market South East Asia shoving its face in the middle of the light.
Due to my brilliance of missing my flight back to Thailand and therefore my appointment with Immigration, I found myself on a visa run to “Chulia St” to find a small hole in the wall store called “NJ book store” and hand over an envelope with my papers and my passport to the Indian who ran the place. Then I was instructed to find a place to sleep and pick up my passport the next day at 2:45pm. I love the cloak and dagger! Sara Jane and I managed to fit in the chair massage, botanical gardens in the rain, a movie, a Hindu temple, and a walk through the Malay market before heading back to Thailand. Im actually really thankful for the time I had to get to know this new person with whom I will be spending the next year. She loves ketchup on everything, tractors, and muddin’ on her quad in Canada. We spent time talking about the people that have influenced us the most and how God has brought us to where we are now. It was pretty cool.
The other sweet times of the week were the smiles and the “we missed you’s!” from my friends at Big C aerobics while hearing the homosexual teacher shout his new commands with flare, the laughs and jokes Pii Oot, Pii Sii and I shared over fruit shakes and home cooked Thai dinners, teasing the Thai teachers, and the taxi rides with the new teachers where I had a chance to hear their stories.
The phone calls from friends and family have also left permanent grins on my face and encouraged me during the transition back. I’ve had lessons on my pride and help with re-defining my goals for this year. How easy it is for me to think that I “deserve” a certain relationship, teacher, or even a small class size, when in fact, I don’t. Doesn’t God know that I hold seniority now that this is my third year? Why do I often think that God should agree with my obvious keen sense of logic when His logic has no human reason? How many times have I missed out on what He wants me to learn about life or Himself because I know how things should pan out? Hmmmm…May Phil 2: 1-11 become a reality for my life.