Wow! It’s been one heck of a journey so far, but now its time to close a chapter. I’ve grown in ways that I never thought I would since I first got to Chiang Mai 3 months ago. Looking back at the experiences I’ve had all I can say is that I have been incredibly blessed! That first Sunday in church when I was lonely and pretty downtrodden, the people there and God’s word gave me exactly what I needed. Since that first Sunday both have continued to give me more than I ever would have guessed.

Even though I can’t understand the majority of the church service, I have always felt the Christian fellowship. I’ve felt it in a way here that I have never felt before. It is hard to describe. Not being able to understand can be likened to how a blind person gains a better sense of hearing after going blind. Sitting through the services often without being able to listen made me become more in tune with the atmosphere of worship. I have absolutely zero doubts that when that church group comes together, there God is with them. It’s a weird feeling, but I could just feel the Holy Spirit working through the Word being preached and through the people there. Perspective learned that I will never forget.

Throughout my entire experience with the people at the church I was overwhelmed by their generosity and their kindness. I was only there for 3 months, but it felt like a lifetime. They adopted me into their family and treated me so amazingly. They would say it was nothing, but there isn’t a way I could repay them. It meant so much to me.. They will never know how much I really appreciated it. God certainly blessed me by putting them in my path, and I pray God blesses them even more than they have blessed me!

Starting my Muay Thai journey turned into something way more than I ever thought it could be as well. When I first got to the gym I was nervous and worried about the ego of some of the guys in the gym. I knew I wasn’t going to be great just starting out, but I did know I was going to work hard and put in the time. I was just hoping this was the right place for me to follow my dreams, especially when they say that early on, when your dream are most fragile and far fetched, that’s when you have to protect them the most. For my first month at the gym I wouldn’t have dared telling anyone that I wanted to fight. My dream wasn’t strong enough to stand on it’s own yet, because my skill wasn’t strong enough either. But I never let go of that dream and I nurtured it everyday.

Here is a “Story” I wrote for myself when I first started training:

I, Sam, am on a champion’s journey from now to Summer 2018. While on this path, I attend to my total self – Body, mind, and spirit – in the following ways: I seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. I do this by daily reading devotions or Bible passages. I also do this by spending time in prayer and in using my gifts to serve him. On this journey I will improve myself by becoming more efficient and focused. I will do this by loving myself and knowing that by loving myself I will not give into social media addiction, eating junk food, being lazy in workouts. I will become a world class athlete. I will do this by focusing in on the habits and work ethics of true champions. I will outwork my opponents. I will love the grind and digging deep during bag and pad work. I will love working to improve my technique on my footwork and striking. I will love working on my weaknesses. I will become closer to God. I will become a professional fighter and I will be fulfilled by making the most of what I am capable of!

I can do all of this through Christ who gives me strength; through the gifts he has blessed me with. God has blessed me with overwhelming heart. He has blessed me with crazy drive. He created me industrious and he created me with resolve. I refuse to give up. You cannot stop a man who won’t give up. I have nothing to lose. I will outwork everyone.

By others seeing me work hard and push myself let it only bring more glory to God! Let them see who I do it for. Work hard and know that God always notices.

I wrote the story so I could constantly remind myself of why I was here and why I was doing what I was doing. By reading this every single day and truly believing that I was going to a fighter I literally thought my dreams into reality. Your mind is a powerful thing, and I made sure I that I believed in myself. By reading that story my dreams didn’t seem like just some moonshot, they seemed inevitable. I wrote it too, so whenever doubt crept in and I would ask myself “Why?” I could easily answer because I knew why. I was just trying to be all that God created me to be. They say, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

Even with the story already written it still wasn’t easy. I had to put in the work, and it was grueling. I remember after one full week I wanted to quit. There were the obvious “why am I even doing this” doubts. It was hard to train so hard right from the beginning, but that is what I needed to do to make my story a reality. It takes 30 days to form a new habit, so I told myself give it 30 days and then you can quit if you really want to. I made a calendar and started counting the days. During those first few weeks, each and every night that I got home from the second session it was a relief to be able to cross another day off that calendar. What do you know? After a couple of weeks it didn’t seem so hard, and it felt good to see the progress on the calendar of how far I had come and how much I had endured. Before I knew it I was half way, and now it’s over. Just like that…

Those dreams I had, they are no longer dreams. They are memories that I will have with me for the rest of my life. After all, the goal is to die with memories not dreams…