Sawadeeka!

In June of 2005, nearly five years ago, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Thailand with an organization called Awe Star Ministries. I traveled with a group of about 20 total strangers halfway around the world with the mission of sharing Christ with the Thai people. After 5 weeks in a foreign country, I grew to love my team and the country of Thailand.

Traditional Thai greeting is to say, "Sawadeeka!"

This weekend, I have the amazing privilege to spend 3 days with my two best friends from my Thailand team, Loren and Rachel. I was able to visit Loren once just a few months after our return to the U.S., and I haven't seen Rachel at all since Thailand. We somehow remained in contact with one another through each of us getting married and moving (some of us more than once).

Rachel, Loren, and I on a boat ride to Laos

They are the kind of friends that will always be around, even if we don't see each other for years at a time.

Rachel is now married and has a teaching job in Texas. She is still the sweetest person I know! It doesn't really matter how long I go without talking to Rachel, I have always known that I could call her for advice or encouragement any time that I needed it.

Rachel and I in Thailand

Loren is also married and has a big girl job in Philly! Loren and I are like two peas in a pod. She's silly and a little bit weird, but so am I. She says random things often in order to get a laugh or just because she feels like it...and so do I.

Loren and I making a Halloween gingerbread house during my visit to Georgia 

I will never forget meeting these two.

The first time that I really talked to Rachel was before we even left for Thailand. We had training in Dallas and Rachel and I partnered up during prayer time and she said the sweetest prayer for me and I didn't even know her yet! After that, we had smaller teams called MOM and POP groups and Rachel was a MOM leader, but not my leader. Somehow, I still gravitated towards that girl!

Meeting Loren was quite different. I remember that I thought she was extremely quiet, but I knew that she had something more inside her head. I don't remember the first moment that I actually knew she and I would be good friends, but I know that by the end of the trip we had a list of 20 random things that we wanted to accomplish and we succeeded. (I think some of the others on our team may have been a little annoyed by us with our list of things to do...oops!)

The three of us with Charity just having fun during our free time

Needless to say, I am thrilled about having the opportunity to visit my dear friends after such a long time! It was a very spontaneous decision by all of us, but it has worked out perfectly. Friday night I will be in Texas with Rachel and Saturday morning we will pick up Loren at the airport.

Loren and I working in a rice field at a Thai orphanage

I know that I don't even have to say this, but I hope that even when I'm old and gray we can still get together every now and then. Maybe by then I'll have my own private jet!