Hi! I thought I'de post this on my blog... it makes me feel special :). I met a guy named Anthony at the bus station on Christmas Day (I was booking my ticket for the bus to Chiang Mai on boxing day); a passionate journalist, he had just spent Christmas with an Akha hill tribe and was now heading back to Chiang Mai to continue working with rescued elephants. You can read his article about the redemption of elephants in Thailand here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=103289. I thought he was crazy at first, and then when he left he said, 'God bless!', and then I thought, 'oh, that makes sense' :). I met him again on my first night in Chiang Mai, crossing the street with my friend Courtney who would leave the next day for Vietnam (she was also living with my host family, with a travel program from her school in Minesota). Probably forty years old, he shouted 'Nicola!' and ran across the street to give me a hug (Thailand is like that for some reason... I'm always meeting people randomly that I've ran into before). Wow. He's crazy. But he believes God loves him, and I think that craziness is a little bit allowed when you accept the depth of God's love for you. He included me in his Christmas update:
I also met another volunteer, Nicola from Canada (also blonde and very pretty with sky blue eyes, so odd I can't describe them) and she can speak Thai, and has been volunteering with many kinds of the different hill tribes. She really seems to have a heart for the Lord ... there are so many good people in the world. They don't have to spend Christmas with the hill tribes but they do. She just acted like it was the most normal thing ... she was travelling alone at the bus station in Chiang Rai without a care in the world. Confident. Filled with purpose ...
... I guess they feel the Lord has led them to do what they are doing.
Wow. I just love meeting such interesting people. Thailand is great for that too :).
I listened to a sermon that a friend showed me on the depth of God's love. There are so many sermons on that... but I really like this one. If you have the time, give it a listen ;). It's from 'Church in the Box' at Redeemer University in Hamilton.
http://media.redeemer.ca/users/podcasts/weblog/c044b/12_13_09_-_CITB_-_Paul_Vanderbrink.html
that is so cool that you are meeting so many cool people and keep running into them!! coincidence? i think not! :) God is so great :) I love how a total stranger described you so perfectly. I couldn't have said it better myself!! Love you!! Hope you had an awesome time kayaking!! xxxxxx
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