Upside-down Values

Our family has faced a few challenging situations recently - personally, professionally and socially. They were minor issues in the big picture of things but they caused a fair amount of turmoil and soul-searching. I won't go into details here but it has left me reflecting on the values by which we judge ourselves, and if we're honest, by which we judge others too.

Back in India, during a season of similar struggles, I wrote the following poem/prayer for our home church fellowship there. I have come back to it often as I have wrestled to see myself and my family according to God's values and not those of the world around me. 

I share it here because I know I'm not the only one wrestling. I share it because there are too many voices saying the opposite. And I share it because sometimes it is important to name the lie in order to more fully grasp the truth.

The Upside-down Kingdom

The world says, "Blessed are the strong and powerful, for they can get what they want."
Jesus says, "Blessed are the weak for my power is made perfect in weakness."  (2 Cor 12:9-10)

The world says, "Blessed are you when life is easy and you have everything you need, for that is where happiness is to be found."
Jesus says, "Blessed are you when you suffer, for suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Rom 5:3-4, 2 Cor 4:16-18)

Sumitra, weaver, JOYN India

The world says, "Blessed are you, when people speak highly of you, for everyone will know of your good reputation." 
Jesus says, "Blessed are you when you are insulted, misunderstood and persecuted, for great will be your reward in heaven."  (Matt 5:11-12)

The world says, "Blessed are the knowledgeable and educated for they will go far in this life."
Jesus says, "Blessed are those who qualify in kingdom wisdom, for God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise." (I Cor 1:27-29; 1 Cor 2:6-16)

Kids' club, Casa Victoria, Ecuador

The world says, "Blessed are those who live a good life, for God will use them."
Jesus says, "Blessed are those who have messed up and know his grace, for he who has been forgiven much, loves much."  (1 Tim 1:15-16; Luke 7:44-48)

The world says, "Blessed are the healthy and strong, for they can win races and achieve success."
Jesus says, "Blessed are the feeble and weak-kneed, for God has chosen them to show his all-surpassing power and glory."  (2 Cor 4:1-12)

Mr. Sudkaet, wood carver, Thai Village

We live in a world that craves power and riches.
Father forgive us when we conform more to the ways of this world and help us to choose your path of humility and service. (Phil 2:1-11, Matt 20:28)

We live in a world that sees only the visible and judges on the outside.
Father forgive us when we see only with our physical eyes
and help us to see the invisible work of your kingdom around us.  (2 Cor 4:18)

We live in a world that is temporary and will wither and die.
Father forgive us when we are so ingrained in this world that we live as if this is all there is and help us to invest in your Kingdom that will last forever.  (Matt 6:19-21)

Amen

(Thanks to Casa Victoria, Ecuador, JOYN LLC, India, and Thai Village Inc., Thailand for the pictures in this post and for many inspiring examples of these truths.)

A trip to Wararot market

There are lots of places to shop very comfortably here in Chiang Mai. I remember being very excited by all the modern supermarkets here when we moved from the mountains of India. I still appreciate the convenience of shopping in an air-conditioned building with organized aisles etc . . . . . but there is something about the market shopping experience which I have always found stimulating and fun - and Chiang Mai has lots of that to offer too.

Anyone for rambutan, longan fruit, asian pear?

This week, I had reason to go to Wararot Market. Wararot is the biggest market in Chiang Mai, partly indoor on 3 floors and partly spreading throughout the surrounding streets and overlapping with the Ton Lamyai flower market along the river. It is a full-on sensory experience with all kinds of sounds and smells, bustling crowds in narrow spaces and colourful displays drawing you down alleys in the hope of a sale. 

Amazing array of orchids at Ton Lamyai Flower Market

It can be overwhelming at times especially if you don't know where to get what you're looking for. I was thankful to have a Thai friend show me around a bit when we first moved here and that helped a lot. Since then, it has become my go-to place when looking for material, tacky party decorations, baskets, flowers, Thai-style clothing and traditional gifts. 

This week I was on the hunt for some material for a new skirt (not to be made by me, I hasten to add!). There are loads of fabric options here, many really brightly colored as you might imagine.

Thankfully, there are also some stalls which cater to a more subdued colour taste and I found what I was looking for in this little outlet.

A bit like Target though, Wararot is not the kind of place you can just pop into for one thing! Inevitably, there are other things that catch your eye which you really didn't know you "needed"! 

My favorite part of Wararot market is the traditional Hmong section out the back. The colours here are just stunning and the traditional indigo patterns always draw my attention.

A vendor takes a moment for breakfast before setting up the rest of her stall

So, yes, I may have bought a couple of new cushions for our balcony and a few gifts for my gift box! Not bad though when you  can get all of that for 200 baht (about $6).

I could have stayed for longer but it was getting hot and I needed to do my grocery shopping back in those air-conditioned supermarkets! So I weaved my way back to the car, picking up some fruit supplies along the way. 

Just by the main road, there is a little Chinese temple which I popped into since I had my camera this time and caught this shot of a little girl counting incense sticks for her mum.

Thankful to add these little experiences to my day and will never take that for granted about living where we do - though the grocery shopping in a modern supermarket is quite nice too.

That other country - Our summer in the UK

When our youngest son was about 5 and we were living in India, we had a dinner discussion about life back in the USA and he described it as "when we lived in that other country!" He was 3 when we moved from the US so he didn't really remember many of the details of our life there or even apparently what the country was called!

For me, it's been even longer since I lived in my country of birth - about 18 years ago, I did a year in the UK but have not lived there for an extended period since I was in college. 

Being away from your passport country for a long time can give you a new appreciation for a place that as a child, you once took for granted. This past summer we got to spend the whole summer in the UK. It had been 3 1/2 years since we were last there and it was wonderful reconnecting with friends and family and re-discovering the beauty of my country of origin.

Since I wasn't blogging back then, I thought I would write a retrospective post about some of the things that I re-discovered and savoured last summer about "that other country" where I used to live.

1. So green - It's a classic stereotype I know but "England's green and pleasant lands" are really some of the most verdant landscapes I have seen in all my travels. I was overwhelmed during this trip with the beauty of our rolling hills and interlocking fields. These scenes are truly something that I took for granted until I left the UK and I see them with fresh eyes every time I go back.

Had to pull over to capture this vivid scene in the Yorkshire Dales

2. Camping - I know people of many nationalities enjoy camping. Somehow though we seem to camp more when we're in the UK. There are campsites everywhere (from converted farmer's fields to the more fancy caravan parks) and it makes me very nostalgic for our annual family camping holidays when I was a child. Building camping memories for our kids with the cousins this past summer was one of the highlights for me.

Camping in Devon with my sister's family and swimming in the stream. The best!

3. Gardens - Another cultural past-time which I really appreciated this visit was the simple pleasure of the British garden. Not simple at all when you realize how much time Brits typically put into their gardens, but simple to sit out and bask in other people's hard work. Grandad's garden was such a place of recreation and joy and beauty!

Playing swingball and feeding fish with Grandad.
Just two of many ways we enjoyed this beautiful space.

4. The Wind - this sounds a little random but bear with me! Growing up on the coast of England, fighting the wind on my bike on the way to school and having that weather-beaten feel to your face when you got home every day was just normal for me. It wasn't 'til I moved away from England that I learned that not every place is as windy. In fact, I have never lived in any place which rivalled the UK in it's capacity to induce air movements of gale force proportions on a regular basis!! It was fun to see the kids enjoying that this past summer.

Leaning into the wind at Chichester Cricket grounds

Flying a kite on the South Downs 

5. Coast - Being an island, you're never far from the sea in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales. I grew up in the beach town of Worthing, where my Mum still lives and the kids love walking to the beach from Grandma's house. This trip, we also visited a lot of coastal beauty spots in our travels and I found it overwhelmingly beautiful (even if a bit cold for swimming). Hard to select just one or two pictures here!

Beautiful Dorset coast at Lulworth Cove, England

Body-boarding with cousins on the Pembrokeshire coast, Wales. We refused to buy wet suits which we would never use in Thailand so they just braved the cold.
 

6. History - Those of you who know me well will know I'm not big into historical details. I get bored easily with facts and dates and have bad memories of history class as a kid. But being away from the UK for so long has made me appreciate the huge impact that history has had on our landscape - not present in the same way in America for example. To be honest I can still give or take all the details (much to my mother's disgust) but it's really quite incredible that we get to explore such beauty that has been around for hundreds even thousands of years.

Visiting Bodiam Castle (AD 1385) in Kent with friends

Walking the beautiful landscape of Avebury Stone Circles
(erected between 3000 and 2400 BC)

7. Talking of walking, that is another past-time that British people do oh so well! The UK is a warren of public footpaths varying from the more well-trodden byways in the national parks to woodland country paths and hedge-lined short cuts in your local neighborhood. We enjoyed many walks with friends this summer. There is always a new corner of my country to explore on foot.

The stunning Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in Wales

Oh and just to prove our true British heritage, here's one of us
walking with friends in the rain in the Yorkshire Dales.
Turns out my kids haven't grown up in this culture
and are not as hardy at this as I had hoped!

8. Picnics - I don't know if it's because we Brits are skin-flints or because we just love the outdoors but whereas family outings in the US or Thailand usually involve eating out in restaurants, in the UK, we prefer to have a picnic! We enjoyed some wonderful picnics in picturesque places this past summer, but this one with a good friend on the sloping ground above Lulworth Cove in Dorset was probably the most memorable!

Nice view - bit hard to sit and eat though!

9. Canine companions - In many countries where we have lived, dogs are for guarding your house, catching rats and/or keeping the stray dogs away. In the UK, none of these are usually a factor - dogs are for companionship and back to point 7, walking! We are lucky that my sister is a dog-walker by profession so we got to join her on some of her hikes and enjoy her lovely four-legged friends. 

Walking 6 dogs with Auntie Janet on the Downs above Worthing

Enjoying the dog cousins - Jacob and Crumble.
 

10. The grass! - This one takes us back to my first point but in more detail. We really enjoyed the feel of the grass in England this past summer. Rolling down hills or just walking barefoot in the back garden - it's such a wonderful sensory feeling that you don't get in some places around the world. I know we really missed it in India and I've noticed that the type of grass that grows here in Thailand is much coarser and less pleasant to the touch. So, thank you UK for having the best grass I know!

Rolling in the grass with cousins outside Durham Cathedral

So there's my top 10 British gems. Of course the real riches on any trip to our "other home" are the people and those memories of friends and family are still pondered often and cherished in our hearts. I've enjoyed this bit of nostalgia though for some of the cultural and geographical treasures of my country of birth. Hope you did too. . . and if you live in the UK, please don't take your grass for granted!

Not by Sight

I used to walk paths like this . . .

Walking into the unknown, photo credit Hannah Swift, Shimla, India

. . . . and now I walk paths like this.

This is not me but this is the track where I walk often.

Exercising muscles that haven't been used for a while is never easy. I recently started walking this route regularly again after a bit of a break for the school holidays and it's shocking how stiff I feel. 

Ten times around the track and I find I can barely get out of the car again when I get home! It's sad really . . . . . but I know if I keep at it, the muscle tone will come back. Meanwhile, I'm so grateful for friends who walk with me and keep me motivated. 

I've been exercising another neglected muscle recently too - my faith. We're praying in my salary for Thai Village and waiting on God for some needs in our house in the US. I feel the same stiffness in my spirit sometimes that I feel in my body when I walk. I'm so stilted in my faith. 

If I'm honest, there is definitely a side of me that would much rather have all my ducks in a row - to know how all our bills are going to be paid and when I'm going to get my salary. But then there's a side too that is excited to give these needs to God and see what He will do. I want to grow in my trust and dependence and it's a daily choice to walk that path in faith.

Just like exercising though, I find I need walking companions around me to help me build the muscle.

Many of my friends here in Chiang Mai are missionaries "on support" and depend on God for all their needs. I often hear stories of His timely provision - a car donated in a time of need or school fees covered or a surprise full university scholarship.  Many times it's more than they hoped for or could imagine - but they had to wait on God's timing. It's not all glamour and amazing stories of course - but my own experience and that of many friends here reminds me how generously and extravagantly God provides when we dare to depend on Him and not ourselves. 

The other group that teach me so much about faith here are the poor. For believers who have little wealth in the world's eyes, faith is just a way of life. This week, I sat on the floor of a tiny one-roomed home for three and listened as my friends at Thai Village encouraged a new worker to trust God for her family's future. It was so natural to them and inspiring (well, after they translated to me what they actually said!) Thankfully at the same time, they were also giving her a means to build that very future and all this together is what I love about Thai Village.

Manager Pii Suai discussing work assignments with new artisan Pii Miu 
Afterwards we prayed and there were tears and hugs and hope and it was beautiful!

This week, I also heard from a dear Indian friend who has already been through way more suffering than any person should in their whole life, and I told her how inspiring she was to me in her dependence on God. She said, "I won't ever forget that I am nothing without God." Maybe that's what Jesus was talking about when He said, "Blessed are the poor". That truth is etched deeply in our souls through times of suffering and dependence. 

So, here I am, surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses - yet still I falter, and wobble and squirm in the unknowns! And then I read this in "Jesus Calling" this week.

"When some basic need is lacking - time, energy, money - consider yourself blessed. Your very lack is an opportunity to latch onto Me in unashamed dependence. When you begin a day with inadequate resources, you must concentrate your efforts on the present moment. This is the place where I always await you. Awareness of your inadequacy is a rich blessing, training you to rely wholeheartedly on me."  (Sarah Young)

A timely word for me! And so I choose to exercise this faith muscle. I want spiritual fitness even more than I want physical fitness and though the laps around the track are hard some times, I know it will be worth it. Let's walk together friends - through stiffness, through resistance in our mortal bodies and with faltering steps. There is treasure to be found there . . . . and I'm pretty sure it's of greater worth than a few calories burned. 

Many thanks to Karen B for the beautiful artwork in this post (orchid.karen@gmail.com)