Meridith

Thailand.

May 5, 2008June 24, 2008 Meridith1 Comment

In exactly one month from today I will be boarding several airplanes and heading to Thailand for an adventure of a lifetime. Let me just disclose the rest of this blog by saying that I NEVER EVER in my right mind thought I’d go overseas for a long period of time. Some people were just meant to go far away, and you know that when you meet them, but never once did it cross my mind that I’d be a “Missionary” and go to a foreign country for a long period of time.. and if it ever did cross my mind, it was probably in the context of being married.. never EVER alone.

I will go by myself to Nontaburi, Thailand, a suburb of Bangkok from June 2008 to March 2009 as a Music Teacher for Global English School, a Christian school with 95% Buddhist Students.

This is one of those decisions that you make in your life, and you KNOW you will never be the same because of it. I’m fully aware that the person I am today will still be the person I am when I return, but I honestly believe that there are different things in my future than I ever had planned or thought for myself. “His ways are higher than our ways, and the plans that you have laid are good and true” as the song “If You Say Go” says. A song I learned and sang 5 years ago for my worship team audition at Simpson University. Interesting.

In my life, there have been many paths that I could have chosen, or would have like to have chosen that could have been “good”. I could be married right now. I could be in Redding right now. I could have pursued a full-time worship job, but the fact is God guided me and lead me through circumstances to NOW… this place, right now.

This past year has been the hardest year of my life. I’m not saying this to make anyone feel sorry for me. I needed this last year to show me the things I was really passionate about and to show me the things that bring me joy in the midst of the tough things that life brings us. Change requires willingness. Change isn’t always easy. Change is the only thing we can count on in life (and the Lord, of course).

Change is always happening in us, around us, and through us.

Gandhi said…”Be the change you want to see in the world”.

In all the change that is happening we can always cling to Christ… grab onto him with all we have.

“Faith is the desperate clinging to Christ” Bebo Norman once said, and that phrase describes this last year of my life. “Faith is the ability to be at peace amidst the pain of shattered dreams” is another quote that also really speaks from the depths of who I am.

But I also know that this trip is much more than just about what I will experience and what I will gain. God has plans for me to touch lives of the students and teachers in the school. I’m willing to be used above and beyond just teaching, but also with worship for chapels and churches. I’m just praying for God to show the right opportunities for that to take place.

a runner’s blog

April 17, 2008 MeridithLeave a comment

I think I can now officially call myself a “runner”, for several reasons. Mostly because on a beautiful day when I wake up, the first thing I think of wanting to do is run, and also because I actually ENJOY it. For the previous 5 years, I just forced myself to do it because I knew it would be good for me. Now I’m logging 20+ miles a week, but that number has been quickly dwindling as the past couple weeks my shin splints have returned, as well as other body aches and pains.

The one thing that greatly helped my milage for each run gradually increase was something so simple; I’m saddened that I never discovered this earlier. When I used to run, not only would I be mentally focused on the fact that I wanted the run to be over as soon as possible, but I ALWAYS looked down. I would watch my feet move up and down as I simply endured the run. Each. Step. Pain. Suffering. Never. Ending. But, as I said, since I discovered this simple mind trick, I’m able to run for miles without even thinking about it.

So the other day, I was running and enduring through the pain of my long lost shin splints, along with the cold rain, and several things hit me. Any runner (Muang) knows that when you have shin splints the best thing to do is run on softer surfaces. It just so happened that on this particular run, I was running on grass, and along with being in excruciating pain, I was also focused on each step I was taking, mostly because the ground was so uneven. I didn’t want to deal with an ankle problem on top of my shins.

Perhaps you already know the things I’m going to connect at this point, but bear with me. Life can throw us things that make waking up each morning unpleasant, to say the least. But the truth is, sometimes the best way to deal with hurt in our own lives is to simply take life one step at a time, because if we don’t, we may cause more injury to ourselves if we simply try and “buck up” and deny our emotions.

Maybe you’re going through a time when you’ve had to watch and count your every step. Sometimes I feel this way of living isn’t encouraged by spiritual leaders in our lives. I believe it’s in these “valley” times when we learn to hear what God’s voice really sounds like. The most important thing to remember, is to look up every once and a while, just to be reminded of the goal. To be reminded of why we’re enduring through all the pain.

There is a reason we are given the things in life that we have. It may not seem there is any rhyme or reason to it, but ultimately, it’s all in the hands of our creator.

For those that wonder, my shins still are killing me, but when I run now, I find that the pain is eased just a bit if I continually look up and away from my own steps. I can remember just where I’m going.

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