The Travel Bug Calling

You know, some people say I've caught "the travel bug."  And that maybe, I caught it when I first trekked around Europe with my French Horn 9 years ago (surprised emoticon face inserted here for you... if only I could find the Blogger emoticons).  This "travel bug" was then fueled by a few mission trips I went on, then by student-teaching abroad; then some people thought it was over once I finished living in Africa.  Except that then I moved to Thailand.

And now....

(stay tuned!)

But what if "the travel bug" is just an easier way of describing a calling in life.  A purpose beyond what I could have ever thought up, or actually beyond what I wanted.  It's like this - when I stretch in my bedroom after I wake up, I stretch a little, then I stop when my muscles begin to feel the burn.  It takes someone pushing me to stretch beyond comfort-level (this is why yoga classes work for me), and when I'm challenged to stretch just a little deeper, to breathe into the tight places - it's after that that I can see the reasons why a deeper stretch is necessary - after half an hour, my body goes beyond what it could've in the beginning.  If I only ever stretched just up until it starts to hurt, then eventually, the purpose of stretching at all would be nullified because I'd never be getting anywhere.  Does this make sense?    

So when people see what I do and read about these adventures, what if they could truly read inside me and find that I have not "caught" any thing, but instead I have only opened my hands; I have allowed myself to stretch further, deeper.  I was happy in my charming Fort Worth neighborhood, in my cute little apartment, with my funny girlfriends and in my loving church, living so nearby my family.  The Lord saw something more fitting for me, though - He beckoned me to stretch a little deeper.  Then when I got there, He coached me and said, "Breathe into those tight places.  They need oxygen."  

So, if you're not gagging at my stretching analogy yet, please continue reading.  I have been loosened up.  My heart has been loosened up.  Dear kt, Christ is in you.  Christ is in you, a new creation, the hope of glory.  When you're so critical of yourself, don't you see that you are condemning the one that I created?  There's a story in the Bible (John 8) about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery.  whoa.  embarrassing.  Men brought her to Jesus to shame her and accuse her of sin, but Jesus just said, "And who among you has no sin?"  SNAP.  So they left.  When they did, the woman was all alone with Jesus - she was on the ground and He was standing up, asking her, "Who is it now that condemns you?"  (are you picturing her crying out her woes into her hands that are cupped around her face?)  She answered, "No one."  Because there was no one left there to condemn and shame her.  Jesus says to her, "And neither do I. Go now and leave your life of sin."  

No, I didn't leave Texas to leave a life of sin.  Follow the context, here!  But I did bring something with me when I came to Thailand, and I didn't even know it ---> self-condemnation.  A criticism that has infiltrated e v e r y thing I do.  Not in the most negative way possible, but in little ways; little ways that affect daily decisions, the words I use, the things I think, my assertiveness or passivity.  

Well, these days in Thailand I have been gently pushed to breathe into those tight places, to allow oxygen to reach them, to allow life to flow into them.  My innermost places have been stretched and strengthened.  Here's the glorious part - I am not condemned.  There IS no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  There is none!  So when I'm hard on myself or when I recognize a place that needs growth (therrrre it is, just recognizing places that need growth), I can say "Thank you, Lord.  Thank you, God."  I've gone deeper, been stretched farther, strengthened from the inside out, and thankfully, because this is a calling and not just a bug to get out of my system, I am not done... not with the growth nor with the adventure.  

... Even if I am back in Fort Worth, Texas.  ;)  (aren't you glad you stayed tuned?)  Trying to make time for Blogger amidst the packing and the goodbyes.  If you're new to my blog, check out www.crics.asia to read about the amazing school I've been a part of this year.  

My Assessment of a Professional Thai Futbol Game

[Another late April post, finished it tonight]

Today I attended my first ever professional soccer game.

I live about 5-10 minutes from the Chiang Rai United Futbol Stadium, so I determined at the beginning of this year to go see a game.

I anticipated this experience and imagined myself in a sea of orange, pretending to know what each Thai cheer or whistle meant, just like Elizabeth Gilbert in her Italian soccer game chapter of Eat, Pray, Love.  That's the only soccer game 'schema' I had to compare my future experience to.

That, and the time I "tried" playing on a soccer team in 2nd grade.  It was exactly as you'd imagine a 2nd grade girls' soccer team would be.
My team scored 1 point *one point* the entire season, and it rained at just about every game (of course it did, it's because 7 and 8 year old ex-ballerinas had to chase a ball up and down a field of mud for an hour).  Etched into my memory is Jeannie Loyd washing the mud off my legs with her spray bottle on a gloomy day.  Those are my soccer memories.

BUT ANYWAY, my soccer experience in Thailand was much, much better.

It was actually just like I imagined, and I loved every bit of it.

Fans tailgating ~

Fried food and beer ~
(don't worry, all I had was water and some nori sushi chips.  2 of them....)

A sea of orange ~

Everybody cheering ~

I didn't know much about soccer before tonight.  Aside from the failed 2nd grade trial of my athleticism, my only experiences with soccer include the following:

1. My friend, Jessica, played soccer when we were in high school.  
2. Turner played soccer as a kid, and I had a crush on one of his teammates. 
3. orange slices.  

I was so excited just to be at the Chiang Rai United game, though.  Thais get really into the games, they're all very "united" about the plays, so it's quite fun.  Even when the team made errors on the field (okay, I grew up with baseball, can there be "errors on the field" in soccer?), everyone still seemed pumped to be there.  So, I'm sitting there in the 904983 degree Thailand heat, and all I could think about was David Beckham.

8-)

:-*  

;;;)

David Beckham gets my large-font googly eyes.   I guess I could've included him on my list of things that I know/experiences about soccer.  Well, then all I could think about was David Beckham driving that boat on the Thames during the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.  And well, the rest of the game was history since that's all I could think about.

But in case you want the deets about the REST of the game, ;) I'll let you know what happened.

First,
I watched and watched and watched waiting to see how a professional soccer game begins (do they flip a coin?  is it determined beforehand?  home-field advantage?  cast lots or what?).  I looked down at my cup of water to take a sip from the straw for one second and that's when the game started.  We got the ball, though, so that's good.

Next,
It only took only two whistles from the start of the game for a guy from the opposing team to be rolling around on the ground writhing in pain.  I told Edie, who was sitting next to me, "Oh no, that guy is in pain, no one's even paying attention to him, this is so bad!"  LOL, now I can laugh at it because after that, every other play had a guy rolling around on the ground "writhing" in fake pain.  They fake it a lot to buy time, apparently.  I bet David Beckham doesn't do that....

8-)
:-*
8-)'''''

^that last one has drool.  =)  


Well anyway, that's about it.  I hope the brevity of my synopsis of a professional futbol game didn't offend any die hard soccer fans/the rest of the world.  The game really was tons of fun and made for a great memory and an exciting cultural experience (did I mention tickets only cost $3?).    

Hey, Blogger ;)  Heard you write blogs.  So cool.  :]