The New Normal

I arrived in Ubon on the evening of 8th October to be greeted by my team-mates at the airport. The picture above shows the existing team members (celebrating one of the children's birthday with ice cream!). Since then, things have been pretty hectic. There's so much to get used to - hot and sticky weather (around 30-32 degrees), the language (I understand just about 5% of what people are saying, thanks to the time I spent in Thailand in 2008), the culture (where fireworks don't mean a party but scaring away the rain god), the food (where the norm when ordering is "mai phet, mai sai pong churrot" - less spicy, don't add MSG!)

And this is pretty much what the next phase is going to be for me - learning the new normal.

Everything is unfamiliar, and it can make you feel pretty small not knowing how anything works, putting your expectations aside, or rather learning to not throw an internal tantrum when your expectations aren't met! It is a humbling feeling, like being a child in an strange new world.

I am no longer defined by all the things I do - not a teacher, or a College student, nor by the things I belong to - my church, my family, my friend circle. Those things we hold so dear to our identity sometimes are taken away, and I find myself faced with the question, who am I?

Does it matter that I am no longer defined by those things, even though they are still dear to me? Where does my worth come from?

And I praise God that I can say with confidence, I am a child of God, and that is enough.

We live with so many different badges of identity, labels and masks. When everything you're used to is stripped away, you're thrown into the initially startling but ultimately freeing realisation, that none of that stuff really matters.

All that matters is where your peace comes from, what your joy is found in, where your sense of purpose is rooted. The one unchanging and truest element of these factors is Jesus. He is my peace, my joy. My identity and purpose are found in Him. This comes through loud and clear in a song that has become very dear to me. Here it is, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Be blessed  :o)