Elephants!! On My Birthday!!!

For those of you who may not have had the pleasure of knowing me as a child, let me enlighten you:

You know in kindergarten or first grade when you had show and tell, and inevitably one of those days was the "When I grow up" day.  On that day each adorable child either dresses up or brings in items for their future occupation.  Most children want to be a vet, a doctor, teacher, firefighter, police officer, or some sort of valiant yet acceptable member of society.  Every once in a while you get that quirky creative kid who says they want to be a cat, kudos to them!! They've got it right; a life full of naps, baths, and being adorable!  Of course!!  But not me, oh no.  I fell in neither category.  You see, growing up I wanted to be an elephant stander.

You may be thinking, "Tara, what on earth is an elephant stander!?!"  Well, I'll tell ya.  An elephant stander is that outrageously gorgeous lady at the circus who not only gets to dress up in feathers and sequins and do cool tricks with an elephant, but they are indeed best friends with an elephant or two.  What job could possibly be cooler?  I'll let you be the judge of that.


However, this year on my 24th birthday, I was able to be an elephant stander.  Okay, okay!  Maybe I just rode an elephant and got picked up by elephant trunks.  But, let me tell you something: for me it was like Disney - my wildest dreams came true!

So, remember, even if your dreams are far fetched and irrational... That's ok.  Be a dreamer.  From one elephant stander to another - God uses all of us. :)

As One Door Closes, Another Door Opens

Let me preface this entry by saying, I am so very sorry for being silent as of late.  We have been exceptional busy here and I've had very little time on the internet.

Everything here has gone so very well, a group from the states came and that went exceptionally well.  We had the opportunity to teach English in two schools, one of which we were invited back to with enthusiasm!  We also had the opportunity to visit some touristy places - two Wats (temples, one of which is the highest both geographically and spiritually in the area), limestone waterfalls that one can actually climb, and we rode elephants on my birthday!! Wow!  But, I assure you we also did meaningful things with our time.  While the group was here we were able to feed about 1,000 people and had movie nights in a few different places.  It was exceptional!!!  It was also exhausting!

In our last few days here my friend and I were saying goodbye to all of our local friends; we've made so many close friends!!!!  Right now, I'm soaking up my last 30 minutes of internet and sipping my last green tea before I head to the airport!  Please be praying for me the next 24 hours as I embark upon the next leg of my journey.

It is hard to leave everyone here:  my mentors and their children, our local friends, and even just the familiarity of a beautiful city and a beautiful language of which I can manage a few measly sentences.  Leaving here will be very difficult!!  But, as the saying goes... Whoever may have initially said it: As one door closes, another door opens.  I am leaving this place having gained friends, wisdom, and strength I never knew I had... And now instead of thinking that the journey is over, I'm simply stepping into what is next.  In 24 short hours I will be in a country I've been longing to visit since I was in the 7th grade.  I will be able to live alongside one of my friends in an orphanage!  This is something my heart has desired for over 10 years!!  So, I am not making a heartbreaking exit from this place, leaving my friends behind.  No, I am striding forward with these friends, mentors and this place as a part of me as I simply step from one place to another.

So, let's stride onward friends!!  I will attempt to be a better blogger!!

Visiting a Temple

Howdy everyone,

We are trying to settle into our Thai lives.  Yesterday, after some much needed rest, we went for breakfast.  It was absolutely delicious, fresh, and WAY too much food.  However, I had a cappuccino and escaped in a moment of bliss.  Ahh. :)

This is the garden entrance to the restaurant.

Something to know about Thailand is that in this culture, the people are typically a mix of Animist and Buddhist.  So in every home, workplace, or other establishment is a spirit house.  This is the spirit house from the restaurant:

   

 The spirit houses are where one places food offerings every morning - from one's own meal - and incense and charms periodically - like flowers, gold, money, or other worshipful decorations.  These offerings and charms are both to keep the good spirits happy and the bad spirits away.

We also had the opportunity to visit a temple that is important for us here in Thailand.  It was a very powerful experience, one that I do not wish to explain in detail here.  However, we also met a little friend!  I apologize that I do not know her name, there is a slight language barrier. ;)

We've also seen our schedule for the month and it is SUPER full, so please be thinking of us in everything that we will be doing!

   

Sawatdee kha Ronald!!!

Safely Arrived in Thailand

Good Morning everyone!!

We have safely arrived in Thailand.

We landed in NYC

And then we flew a short 16 hours. ... even over glaciers!

I was able to sit between two wonderful girls - one from Thailand and the other from Cary, NC!  What are the odds, right?!?!  Also, the airplane food was pretty delicious.  Which, I feel, is something you can't often say.

We landed in Hong Kong

And I was able to FaceTime my parents for about 30 seconds!  AND I found this gem:

It is an exit sign.  So, just in case you want to leave ... especially if there is a fire, follow these cheerful little green signs out of the airport.

After three flights, we've safely arrived in Thailand.  We've gotten to where we are staying and visited with some of our friends.  Tomorrow, after we've slept we will become more acclimated to the city.

Love to all of you!

Two busy, busy Weeks of WORK Before Departure

Howdy everyone!  I just wanted to share with you what I've been up to these two weeks before I leave for Thailand.  Last week I had the pleasure of teaching about 150 preschoolers at Salem.  It was a wonderful and beautiful experience.

We learned about people who share truth, and don't have to leave home to tell people about love.  So, we made cards for someone who maybe doesn't know that truth and love and we attached candy to them and these adorable 3-5 year olds gave their only lollipop to someone else so that they might know!

This week I traveled to Fort Caswell with the youth of Salem and we have all been growing closer to one another and to God.  It has been incredible!  10 of our youth have made a decision!

We have one day left, will you hope with me that they will continue to be changed and that once they get home, the changes don't leave them but continue on?  Hope that this won't be another camp high on the roller coaster.

#lessthan48hours

Pursuing a Closer Relationship with God

This summer, before the world-traveling adventures begin, I have the pleasure of attending a theological class at Campbell.  This class is rightfully named "Intentional Faith Communities" as we are studying and visiting different types of intentional faith communities within the realms of Monasticism and New Monasticism.  As a part of the class we are visiting TWO different communities that reside within our wonderful state of North Carolina.  The first of which is Belmont Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Belmont, NC.  The second of which is Rutba House, a New Monastic community in Durham, NC.

This past Monday my class visited the monks at Belmont Abbey and had a fantastic, enlightening time.  We were able to partake in mass, midday prayers, and vespers.  We were also given a tour of the basilica and were given a peek into the daily life of a Benedictine monk at Belmont Abbey.  It was wonderful!  However, there is something that I simply cannot limit to myself and it is found within one of the monks', Brother Elias, testimonies on becoming a monk.  He writes,

“I believed that the primary way for me to help other people was by deepening my holiness, a result of the transformation effected in my life by God when I am fully open to God, seek God with my whole heart, and generously give to God all that I have.  When this is true, I will be an extension of God, instead of just working by human means; all of my actions will have more effectiveness than years of toil without personal holiness.  It is from this foundation, that knowledge I share with other people, words I speak to them, or actions I do on their behalf will be most efficacious.” ^[1]

It is evident via his testimony that helping others is incredibly important to Elias.  Yet, he discovered that the best and “most efficacious” way to help others is by acting from personal holiness achieved through complete obedience to God, humility, and self-denial.  In other words, by wholly pursuing a relationship with God and seeking to be Christ-like Brother Elias found that he would be so much more effective than if he tried to help others without God.  

But wait, I'm not quite finished!  I was reading today in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals as part of my class requirements and the Morning Prayer readings for today contains a quote by Evelyn Underhill in which she writes, 

"Adoration, as it more deeply possesses us, inevitably leads on to self-offering.  Charity is the life wire among which the power of God, indwelling our finite spirits, can and does act on other souls and other things, rescuing, healing, giving support and light.  Such secret intercessory prayer ought to penetrate and accompany all our active work.  It is the supreme expression of the spiritual life on earth.  It moves from God to others through us, because we have ceased to be self-centered units, but are woven into the great fabric of praying souls, the 'mystical body' through which the work of Christ on earth goes on begin done.” ^[2]

Isn’t it just so ridiculously cool that yesterday I read the testimony of a monk, and today I’m reading in a book of prayer and I come across the same idea?  We have to give up ourselves in order to do our best work.  This reminds me of a sermon I recently heard by an amazing and wise man of God on Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  We can’t do everything just because we are people of God, but God through us truly can do anything – far more than we could ever do ourselves.

So, how can we -- How can I -- become less self-centered, be fully open to God, and seek God with my full heart today? -t

"'I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'" -- John 15:5 

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[1] Brother Elias on Becoming a Benedictine Monk, retrieved from http://belmontabbey.org/learn-about-the-monastery/brother-elias-on-becoming-a-benedictine-monk, accessed 20 May 2014.

[2] Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro, Common Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), http://commonprayer.net.

Adventure Set to Start ...

The journey will officially begin the 29th of June at 6am.

You are more than welcome to embark upon this globe-trotting with me, in fact I encourage you to!

More to come. -t

ps: I may even begin blogging before the actual world-traveling journey begins seeing as my summer begins this Monday with class.  HUZZAH.