A quick run down on what I have been doing in order to catch you up...We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) late Friday evening. Saturday my dear friend Lillian arrived. It was a down day in the morning with some time at the market and then a meeting at the College here with the first person in Vietnam to get her masters degree in Speech Therapy to help us on a curriculum we are developing in Vietnamese. Saturday evening she invited us to her home for dinner. Sunday we took a tour in the morning of the tunnels used during the Viet Nam war. In the afternoon we visited a temple and watched the hour long mass. The rest of the week we have been at a childrens hospital working with therapists and families. And in between there, very frequently we have been eating, eating, eating.
But something that has become obvious to me on this trip, is that I can live with an attitude of compairson or an attitude of thanksgiving. And with that, I decide if I choose Joy. If I choose hope. If I choose love.
I have often found myself choosing compairson, which does not lead to joy. Compairing my hotel in HCM City with the much nicer/ bigger one in Ha Noi. Comparing visiting the tunnels to visiting the temples. Compairing the health care for children here in Viet Nam to what I know in North Carolina. When I choose compairson, I choose sorrow. Because when I look at the families lying on mats outside at the hospital because there are no beds, and I think of what they don't have, I am sad for them. When I compare the humanity of war to the humanity of worship, it can be hard to stand on my feet.
But when I choose gratitude, I choose Joy. When I acknowledge all the things I am thankful for from this trip, I celebrate all God has given. I can celebrate the thanksgiving of peace and the joy of hoping for peace everywhere. I celebrate how the cool tile feels below my feet in a temple during a beautiful act of worship. I celebrate the person of peace that welcomed us into her home showing me how to live in true simplicity, grace and love for others. I celebrate the smiles of children with hearing loss as they learn to listen and I celebrate their parents gratitude. I celebrate the butterflies flying down the street outside of tunnels used for war. I celebrate new tastes like suger cane and Jack Fruit. I celebrate the hug from a new friend to comfort me when I miss my family. I celebrate my husband who without his care for our children, this trip would not be possible. I celebrate technology that allows me to see and talk to my family so far away. I celebrate both the telling and listening of stories. I celebrate quiet time to read, write and pray.
And as Richard Rohr says, I trust and I give thanks that I am in the river, and that God is the current.
But something that has become obvious to me on this trip, is that I can live with an attitude of compairson or an attitude of thanksgiving. And with that, I decide if I choose Joy. If I choose hope. If I choose love.
I have often found myself choosing compairson, which does not lead to joy. Compairing my hotel in HCM City with the much nicer/ bigger one in Ha Noi. Comparing visiting the tunnels to visiting the temples. Compairing the health care for children here in Viet Nam to what I know in North Carolina. When I choose compairson, I choose sorrow. Because when I look at the families lying on mats outside at the hospital because there are no beds, and I think of what they don't have, I am sad for them. When I compare the humanity of war to the humanity of worship, it can be hard to stand on my feet.
But when I choose gratitude, I choose Joy. When I acknowledge all the things I am thankful for from this trip, I celebrate all God has given. I can celebrate the thanksgiving of peace and the joy of hoping for peace everywhere. I celebrate how the cool tile feels below my feet in a temple during a beautiful act of worship. I celebrate the person of peace that welcomed us into her home showing me how to live in true simplicity, grace and love for others. I celebrate the smiles of children with hearing loss as they learn to listen and I celebrate their parents gratitude. I celebrate the butterflies flying down the street outside of tunnels used for war. I celebrate new tastes like suger cane and Jack Fruit. I celebrate the hug from a new friend to comfort me when I miss my family. I celebrate my husband who without his care for our children, this trip would not be possible. I celebrate technology that allows me to see and talk to my family so far away. I celebrate both the telling and listening of stories. I celebrate quiet time to read, write and pray.
And as Richard Rohr says, I trust and I give thanks that I am in the river, and that God is the current.
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