Celebrity Status

{the one time we actually had a camera when asked for our picture}

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a celebrity? When I was a little girl I thought I wanted to be an actress and thought I wanted all that came with the title. Well, after living in our little city of Nakhon for 5 months I believe I can officially say no- I do not want to be famous.

Technically, our city is quite large. But there are very few foreigners in our city. There is absolutely no reason why a tourist would ever come to Nakhon. Because of the limited number of foreigners, it is impossible to walk down the street or drive through town without having at least a dozen Thai people yell “hello” or “farang” (which means foreigner). Each week a minimum of 5 people come up to us and either ask to take a picture with us or sneak an awkward selfie with us in the background (yes, peace signs are often included). At first we found this hysterical. We absolutely loved the attention and found it too funny that the locals found us so strange/entertaining. It is like we are some kind of aliens. But now, after 5 months of living here… let’s just say it gets a bit old. This past weekend Caleb and I were sitting at a restaurant waiting for a food and were asked (through gestures) to get up and take a picture with 3 different groups of friends… during ONE meal!! Days like this do get old. Days like this I would really love it if everyone would let us be so we could eat our mystery meat in peace.

But then the Lord whispers reminders to me. He placed us here. He has made us stand out. We don’t have to try to get attention. We don’t have to try to initiate conversations. Locals naturally flock to “farang.” And as annoying as it may be at times, this attention makes it that much easier to share the love of Christ. There are always eyes on us. The locals have nicknames for us. Could we ask for an easier stage to share Jesus?

Regardless of where we are- in Thailand, in America, at work, at the store… there are always eyes on us. We are always reflecting who we are and what we believe. The Bible tells us that we are called to be ‘strangers and aliens” in this world. We are called to stand out. It is easy to stand out physically here, but it is my prayer that we also stand out because we are filled with His Spirit.

I pray our lives prove we are different. I pray our actions and our words make us strangers and aliens in this lost world. It is my prayer that the Lord will fill me with an abundance of patience and extravagant love. I pray each moment reflects Him. I pray His light shines through each of us. Because life is too short not to laugh at moments that should make us frustrated. Life is too short to hide the light of Christ. Every moment should reflect Him & His unconditional, unfailing love.