Farewell Thailand

Well, the time has finally come to head home. I feel like I have been here a long time, yet at the same time it feels as if I just got here. So much has happened and been seen, more than I could ever have put in this blog. I am sure that I will be sharing for a long time, possibly via this medium in part. Some thing tells me that I have only begun to discover all God has to reveal to me from this experience. May none of it fall to the ground!
Today I got the opportunity to play the tourist for a couple of hours thanks to one of my new friends, Jim. He took me on his motorcycle to the the top of a mountain in Pattaya followed by a stop at an elegant hotel where the views were absolutely beautiful. I think I got some portcard worthy pictures!
Another stop was at an art gallery where experienced true Thai art. One of the young artists was sketching another man in charcoal. He offered to sketch me for one hundred baht, which is the equivalent of about three and a half dollars. I took him up on the offer and about twenty minutes later he had drawn a picture that took about thirty years off my face. I really liked that guy!
Our trip ended at the beach where I met up with some of the homeless people that we had gone to the hospital with on Wednesday. It was not easy. We talked, I tried to encourage one fellow in particular and prayed with the young woman who has seizures. He is looking for work, which would lead to a change for good. She is still drinking along with taking her meds. They should not be mixed! My heart ached as I said goodbye.
Yesterday another of the men from the beach decided to 'leave the beach', which means he was ready for a change in his life. The sad thing is there was no place for him to go. I thought of this as I said my goodbyes and wondered if this would be the situation when one of them came to that decision too.
It will be good to arrive home to family and friends, but there will be a part of me left behind in this far away land - a good size piece of my heart. Actually, I think I am taking this place and the people home with me in that very heart!