Myanmar: Love Ultra Series Part II- “Boys From Myanmar”

{Photo credit: @nonstopjames (IG)}

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭NIV

We sat under a well-shaded tree on a dusty bench. On many occasions the kids would use their little bare palms as brooms to dust off the surface we’d sit on together. This was their display of hospitality. Though I didn’t mind a little dust and dirt. I would have happily sat on that dusty bench because I felt loved, covered and protected.

Perhaps it was the wooden sign with beige letters that read “Victory Is Of The Lord”. Or it could have been the little giddy bodies that were lounging on each side of me. They squirmed around yet remained close as they embraced a motherly, even sisterly, type of love. My heart was radiating with joy like a candle that burns for hours on end. But my joy had friendly competition with the giggles I heard in that moment.

She stood in front of me as she clasped her hands over her mouth and glowed in laughter. Her birth age was 15 but in this moment she was giddier than the 7 year olds nestled under my arms.

“You boyfriend?”, she said as she placed one hand on my shoulder and used the other hand to point at a familiar man.

He had just finished passing a message along to me. In true teenage fashion, she saw this as an opportunity. Something like in high school when a boy would pass and voice a shy hello only to leave your friends in a match making frenzy before he could make it down the tiled hallway. I was back in high school right under that tree.

“No, he’s not my boyfriend”, I said as I giggled at her amusement.

At this point she was bent over in laughter, holding her stomach covered by a floral dress in one hand and placing the other hand back on my shoulder. She was determined.

“Noooooo, you boyfriend” she declared as she looked me straight in the eyes with a wide grin and gave me a motherly now tell me the truth type of look.

“No” I said as I smiled and chucked. I’m not sure if I laughed because she was so adamant about the romantic pairing in her head or because her laughter was infectious and I was catching the bug.

“You marry?” she responded.

“No” I replied as I was still chuckling. I was so amused that even in a foreign land, girl talk still translates the same. I decided that two could play this game. Not in a vengeful way but as if we were two friends catching up. In America we probably would have been chatting over fruit-topped waffles and perfectly scrambled eggs at brunch. But in Myanmar we were 2 girlfriends chatting under a tree on a sand filled playground watching a game of volleyball just a few feet away.

I chuckled about what I would say next.

“Your boyfriend? Him?” I said as I pointed to a teammate. Many of the older girls swooned over the guys on our team. Much like girls in America, they were developing crushes on older, more mature men. They were intrigued. My friend’s reply struck a cord.

“Nooo” she said as she giggled and tried to catch a breath in between. One hand covered her mouth and the other shook side to side as she held it down by her hip. “No. Me…” she declared as she pointed at herself with beaming confidence. “Only boys from Myanmar”.

I smiled because as simple as having a girl chat may have been, she was sharing her heart with me- a woman from a foreign land that she just met days prior. Sitting right there on the brown wooden bench I paused to reflect on what she just said. It intrigued me that even in a different culture, preferences exist. In that moment I realized just how universal the idea of having a “type” really is. What she asked next focused the lens of perspective directly on me.

“What boys you like? American?” she asked as a question yet the confidence in her voice confirmed that she already knew the answer.

“Yes, me…American boys” I said as I placed my hand over my chest.

I could have went into a deeper explanation about how my preference is even more narrow than her assumption. But that would have been a longer chat (and maybe even history lesson) for another day.

She continued to giggle and amuse herself in the aftermath of our revelations. I kept smiling to let her know that I valued our girl time. Yet my mind was opened a bit wider as a result of our conversation. It was like an oyster shell being pried open to discover the pearl that was inside all along. The pearl just needed to be shined and repurposed into a great piece of art once it’s potential was uncovered.

The Lord spoke to me through our girl chat. How often do we limit what can be done due to our preferences and the things that we are accustomed to? Our conversation was specific to romantic relationships and there is definitely application to the idea of limiting love to a “type”. Though the conversation spoke volumes beyond just that area.

How often do we limit our dreams, careers, families and so much more as a result of clinging to what we see as our norm? Or even more so, what is within our comfort zone?

I believe it’s okay for my friend, myself and others to have preferences because they make us who we are. However, we have to be open to what God has in store for us. How he wants us to grow in wisdom and knowledge so that our eyes can be opened to great experiences beyond our preferences.

Reflecting back on that experience sitting under that tree on the playground, I realize that conversation was not by chance. God used a teenage girl from Myanmar and an African American woman from the United States to bond while seeing their worlds from different lenses than normal. Perhaps this was the beginning of us both shifting our preferences to make room for the things God has purposed beyond our comfort zones.

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