Malaysia & Thailand

We made it to Thailand! We have officially gotten to our new home city and we could not be more thrilled. The Lord has been so faithful. As we drove from Penang to Thailand my heart began to beat quickly. While I thought many of the cities we drove through were beautiful, I couldn’t picture Caleb and I living in them. But the moment we hit Nakhon we felt at peace. It felt like home. Praise Jesus!

Our start in Penang, Malaysia was rough. We arrived at night and within our first 2 hours in Malaysia we lost an iPhone, moved into our postage-stamp-sized hotel room (praise the Lord our luggage fit- hardly ha), and learned just how overprotective we needed to be of our belongings. Most of the first night was spent in prayer- not sleeping (Lord, forgive me of my anxious heart).

By the end of the first day, we loved the city. Penang was lovely. We became friends with a monk, ate local Malaysian food, and walked aimlessly around the city. Penang is filled with a plethora of flavors, tons of art, and multiple religions (which means many gorgeous, but so lost, temples).

Half way through our stay in Penang we began trying to make arrangements to get up to Nakhon Si Thammarat. We flew into Penang because we were told it was the closest major airport to our city in Thailand and the bus ride up was cheap. Well, just our luck- many of the buses and vans were cancelled for the next week. Apparently they had been crossing the borders illegally. And the few buses that were still running only allowed one small piece of luggage per person. So we had to pay for a private taxi to get us to the Malaysia/Thailand border so we could then take another taxi up to our city. I’ll admit it, we started to get frustrated with our decision to fly into Penang rather than Bangkok. But the Lord’s timing and reasoning is perfect. I truly believe that the Lord used Penang to prepare us for Nakhon. While the the two cities are vastly different, the do have many similarities. Looking back, we know exactly why the Lord had us fly into Penang. We were introduced to the Asian culture, became friends with our first monk, and built relationships with the people at our hotel. Here is a glimpse into our stay! I’ll share more details about the trip soon! {please, excuse the photo overload}