Bookends

 
Yesterday, it occurred to me that one way to look back at a year is to look at the first and last photos I took during the year. 

Last year was full of so many changes, January seems but a distant memory.  So how did my last year begin, photographically?



There it is—the place in my old truck where the catalytic converter used to be—before it was stolen.  I found out that Toyotas have a good reputation for quality catalytic converters—which must be the case since this one was 11 years old.  I also found out how loud a vehicle can be without noise suppression devices attached to the engines.

Skip forward a year.

We’re living in a new country and in an urban environment that is more foreign to us than the country of Thailand itself. We have no vehicles.  We haven’t even driven a car since March, we drove a rental car to Los Angeles airport on the way to Thailand.  While we sometimes lament not having a vehicle as it would be nice to have a vehicle to get away from the city, we really have no desire to drive in Bangkok itself.  And so we are like many millions of others in this city who manage to survive without one.

(I have driven a motorcycle a couple of times in the past year—first time doing that since the first year we lived in Haiti (30 years ago).  I used it to get around Chonburi a little—I’m not brave enough to try driving one in the big city.  I found out that big feet are not terribly compatible with small motorcycles.  It is a bit of a trick to downshift.)

So how do we get around now?  Here are the options we have used since moving to Thailand:

• City bus (with and without air conditioning)
• Sky Train
• Subway
• River ferry
• Canal ferry
• Tour bus
• Public van
• Motorcycle taxi
• Three wheel taxi
• Four-wheel taxi
• Airplane
• Walking (not so easy in Bangkok)
• Elevator (I throw this in because in Fresno it would be easy to go a year without using one, now we use them every day)

As  for my photographic year-end, I would have thought that it might have been some photos of end-of the year fireworks as the Thai people celebrate New Year’s eve.  But that would be my second-to-the-last photo.

Instead, I photographed this beautiful (?) moth that Ingrid spotted in the house where we spent New Year’s eve.



If this moth was on an old tree trunk or if it was sitting amongst a bunch of dried up leaves, it would be almost impossible to see.  However it’s camouflage is not terribly effective on an orange tablecloth.

Reminds me of how God has designed each of us in a unique way so that we can fit in with the environment He has created us for.  And God gives us spiritual gifts that enable us to be effective members of the Body of Christ as we work together with the other parts of the body.  When we work in an area where we get to use these gifts and where the way we are created is compatible with our environment, there is much joy and peace.  And when we do otherwise we are like this brown moth on the orange tablecloth.

There have been a few instances this past year where we have been like this moth and we’ve found two different ways to deal with it.

Change Yourself
 
When we first moved to the BIG city, we were definitely out of our environment.  But God gave us grace to adapt—like some animals that can change their color to suit the changing environment.  Now we find that there are aspects of city life that we actually like!  Who would have thought?

Change Your Environment

Another way we have experienced the brown-moth-on-the-orange-tablecloth syndrome is in regard to language learning.  As Ingrid tried to study language in a classroom environment, she experienced a lot of frustration.  So, we had to find a different-colored tablecloth.  Now she is enjoying language learning as she works with a private tutor.

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 1 Corinthians 12:18-21 (NLT)

I might add to the above verses, “If the eye tries to do the work of the hand, it won’t be pretty!”

The next set of bookends

I haven’t taken my first photo of this year yet.  I wonder what it will be?