Thai Nicknames

Fah // sky

My team is staying in a city called Fang – located in northern Thailand. We are living on a high school campus and assisting teachers in English classes. This high school looks more like a college campus than a high school. Everything is open-air, even the classroom buildings. Air-conditioning is not a thing here. The entire campus is surrounded by a big gate, and there is a guard that is stationed at the entrance all day and night.

As I have been meeting more and more students, I’ve learned that nicknames are a big part of the culture here. Thai names are usually very long, so it is really common for people to have shortened names or even a nickname that isn’t related to their real name at all. Some people pick Thai words that have a meaning and some people pick English words that have a meaning.

I’ve met kids named Dream, Fame, Sweetie, Ow, Apple, Air and a ton more. I also met a girl named Iang and her name means “bird” in Thai. When I met Iang, we were talking about the differences between the English and Thai languages and we started talking about nicknames. I had just met her and I hadn’t told her my name yet, so I asked her if she would give me a Thai nickname! So, her and her friend started talking in Thai and I had no idea what they were saying. They were laughing and saying “no!” as if the other had suggested a bad nickname haha. Then, they said okay your name is “fah.” In Thai it looks like this, (insert Thai word) and it translates to “sky” in English.

So in Thailand, my nickname is sky. I honestly love it, and think it fits me well because I love the sky. The house my team is staying in on-campus backs up to a big lake. Beyond the lake is a long range of mountains and that’s where the sun sets. Every night we get to look out our back windows and watching the sun setting behind huge mountains and reflecting on this huge lake. Here is one of my favorite pictures that I posted on Instagram:

The sky in this picture leaves me in awe. It is so beautiful, and seeing the sky above the trees and mountains is what made me get my phone out to take the picture. But as I walked closer to the lake, I saw the sky reflecting off the water and it was even more captivating.

The sun lighting up the clouds in the sky was brilliantly beautiful and caught my attention all on its own. However, the most beautiful part of the lake was the reflection it made. The lake without the reflection of the sky isn’t all that pretty, it’s basically just a normal looking lake. As I was thinking about this, God revealed the same thing in my life.

God is like the sky. You can stare at Him in awe – jaw-dropped, eyes-wide gazing into His glory. He doesn’t need anything else to help Him captivate you, He is beautiful on His own. I am like the lake. Any beauty that you see in me comes from a direct reflection of God. When I accept Him in my heart, He lets me take on His name and His inheritance and His righteousness. Every good thing I have, every good thing I am, is from Him.

I think the best part about this is that the beauty of God can only multiply. If we chose to reflect God and His attributes, we allow people to see God’s beauty in us. Just like how the lake reflecting the sky in the picture just created more awe and beauty, we can do the same in reflecting God’s beauty and exalting His name instead of our own.

The more time I spend in God’s presence, in His word, getting to know Him, the more I see just how beautiful He is. Captivating. Magnificent. Awe-inspiring. Perfect. 

Love y’all,

Em

MONTH 6

Fang, Thailand (northern)

Main religion: Buddhism

Currency: Baht

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