9 months ago, Luke and Belle, with their son, left their home
in Brisbane and joined the Global Interaction team in rural
Thailand. To kick off the theme of this edition of Resonate,
Luke shares his thoughts on ‘mindfulness in mission’.
B
elle recently bought one of
those 'mindfulness' colouring
books and she's really liking
it. As an introvert and an artist I can
understand the deep enjoyment one
finds in a solitary, creative exercise
like this and Belle has found it a great
stress-reliever. The act of colouring
forces her to be still so that her brain
isn't being force fed stimulation but
is free to wander and ponder. It's a
way to practice being attentive to her
thoughts, feelings and most importantly
to God's voice.
Now, you might think that living in rural
Thailand means we don't have to fight
our culture of busyness. The funny
thing about culture is that you take it
with you wherever you go. The pace of
life here makes us farangs (foreigners)
look like a pack of cheetahs with a
partiality to brightly coloured energy
drinks. In between moving from
Australia to Thailand, then moving
from a big city to a rural village, setting
up a home, learning a new language,
making friends and caring for our
toddler, it's been hard to be still, quiet
and mindful! When we're too busy to
stop and reflect on yesterday, it's hard
to be mindful of today. We're caught in
the same old battle against busyness
while trying to make time for God and
ourselves.
At a recent confe