Blessed Beyond Measure

This morning, I was a bit whiny... it may not have come off in my blog, but I was definitely feeling a bit sorry for myself. Everyone told me I would have a bit of culture shock, but it certainly isn't something you can prepare for. However, there were many things that I simply wasn't thinking of this morning.

I am incredibly blessed. I am incredibly blessed for the life I have lived so far. I am incredibly blessed to have the family and friends that I do. I am incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to travel to the beautiful country of Thailand. Thanks to the wonderful God upstairs, I am able to do and see many things that others simply do not have the opportunity to have.

As I travel around Udon Thani, there are many people that have simply not had the financial means that I have and have had throughout my life. For example, I am sitting typing this on my laptop while my nook lays beside me next to my phone and Ipod... If that isn't ridiculous, I don't know what is. People living outside in shacks is a common thing here, and it breaks my heart. Every single time we pass one, I say a little prayer that those people are happy and that no harm comes their way.

When God began showing me all the wonderful things in Thailand, as well as how blessed I am, I was able to have a fantastic day. Not only did I successfully use chop sticks, I also was able to eat some pork balls and noodles (a traditional Thai dish) and didn't hate it! Would it be something that I chose to eat on a daily basis? No, but I could eat it again! My favorite part of the restaurant was the roosters and chickens casually walking around the tables. Yes, it was an outdoor place, but it was still funny to see.

After lunch, we headed to the department store (and by department store, I mean five story shopping mall..). Arunrat and Auntie had a few errands to run and we ran into Ari and Sirilak there as well. Ari stayed with us for the rest of the day and came back to my house with us. We hung out for a while before going to the park for the late afternoon/evening. We walked around the lake where HUGE fish lived and had fruit smoothies. While eating our smoothies, we met up with Sirilak while my family ate hot soup and chatted. We compared our lives back home to their lives here- it's amazing how similar yet different the two worlds are. We also took a picture by the huge rubber duck in the lake... nobody is quite sure why it is there, but they heard that yellow ducks symbolize peace. Ari and I decided that there should be more yellow ducks in the world then!

Tomorrow is day one of teaching, so it's time for bed!

I thank God for the wonderful day I had, as well as all of you wonderful people back home! I miss you all!

xoxo Kenzkeg