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| I found the perfect gift for Gabe. |
I have now been in Thailand for two days. I feel acclimated to the time zone (11 hours different from home). I have met all of the guests for the program. They serve in Taiwan, China, and the Philippines. For their privacy, I won’t use their names in this blog. There are 6 kids that came with their parents and these will be my charges for the next week and a half. All of the kids are of Asian decent although most of them were born in the USA.
There is a new counselor with us this year. Anna is from NY (born in Hong Kong) and is a clinical psychologist. Not to mention a delightful woman about my age. It really struck me this afternoon when she said:
In my practice, I see my role as helping people to suffer well.
The phrase looks odd sitting on the page up there. When she said this a team member from Spain had been talking about how God does not allow suffering to be wasted. I hate suffering, but I am comforted to think about those awful experiences as jewels that will not be wasted. They will bring comfort to others by giving us understanding and compassion.
Refresh! is about helping people to suffer well and find strength for their journey. This particular trip has guests that are doctors, a physical therapist, a lawyer, prison chaplains, and another guy whose profession I can’t remember… struggle and burnout can happen to anyone.
The kids that I will be working with seem awesome! It is always a little scary when I get a new group and have to prepare without really knowing them. Just another area of my life that I need to learn to trust God with.
On another note, we took a van into the city on Saturday night and went shopping. Besides the great deals, my favorite part was getting a 100 Baht ($3 USD) half hour foot massage. Wow… I passed on the foot treatment where 50 little fish eat all the dead skin off your feet, but I was tempted cause I thought it would make a great picture. :)
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| Chiang Mai Night Bazaar |
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