You can take the road that takes you to the stars.

Thank you, Jason, coolest boss of all time, who will probably never see this blog post- for your wonderful mix. Title comes from Nick Drake’s song, Road.

Okay- let us all take a moment to congratulate me- I’ve made it 4 months, people! Yesterday was my anniversary! Yes, I’ve been counting. At first a year seemed like such a very long time. But perhaps it’s not so long at all?

I’m finding that because I have this limited amount of time in Thailand, I check up on myself more often. Reflect more. For instance, tonight as I was journaling I tried to note the ways in which I’ve changed, the things I’ve learned in these past months. I’m certainly learning to be less anxious. I think I’m also learning to be less important. I’ve always been a bit of a social butterfly- and living in a small community has been hard for me. But I think I’ve finally embraced it. I may not have hundreds of friends here, and may not feel as ‘important’ as I do back home, but I’m finding that loving the few I’m surrounded with is incredibly valuable- in both my life and theirs. It reminds me of a quote my brother Clarke sent to me not too long ago, “It’s not necessary to be important, but it’s important to be necessary.” So in short, reflection. It’s good, it’s refreshing. Do it.

Additionally, as I had mentioned in my last post, I’m taking this time to really develop my goals and dreams. What more would I like to learn in Thailand? What more would I like to do? And the biggest question of all- what dream do I have for my life after Thailand? Dreams don’t come overnight I’ve found. They develop over time, don’t they? In my nutshell, I’d like to learn more Thai, I’d like to become a better teacher, and as I always hope to do, I’d like to learn to love God and love people better. As far as dreams go, if I’m honest, I haven’t got much of a clue. I’m passionate about children, justice, and peace. It’s taken a few years for these passions to develop, so I figure in the next moments, months, and years to come my dreams will become more concrete. I’m a big believer in dreams. They are something to hope in, something to move toward. Whether it’s the dream of writing a song, or bringing peace to an entire people, it’s believing in the possibility that drives us, makes us better, and brings us together.

So perhaps today you might reflect some. Check in. And dream!!

(Because you can never have enough pictures of the little ones!)