Taller in Thailand

I never considered myself tall.  I am an average sized dude.  Growing up in the United States of America, there were plenty of people, girls and boys, who were taller than me but also plenty who were shorter or at least around my same height, which is five foot, ten inches. But once I came to Thailand, I felt like a giant.  The majority of native Thai folk are five-ish feet or lower in height.  As I walk through crowds, I can usually see over most of the heads around me. 

I am also fatter, ‘er, heavier here but would not say I’m fat, by American or any standard.  I hover around 155 to 160.  Sure, I could also shed a few pounds here and there, but for the most part I am an average size…in America at least.  However, when I go shopping in Thailand, I always need to buy the EXTRA Large shirt, or even XXL.  Pants, too.  I’ve NEVER had to buy anything in an “Extra” but hey, never say never I guess. 

Of course, to put it in perspective, when I see other foreign tourists in Thailand from the north Euro areas, they are usually very pale complexions, but these folks are very tall and yes, also some are pretty chubby, even by my American standards.  I’m thinking like some Nordic Viking European kind of folks but dang, they are tall.  And then I see them with a typical Thai lady (married, girlfriend, etc.) it’s quite the ying and yang size-wise.

All that is to say, I’ve learned through this experience of visiting Thailand that everyone’s definition of “normal” can be quite different from each other, depending on your geography, heritage, physiology, and even belief system. But is there one type that’s considered to be the norm?  I think back to the first humans, Adam and Eve, who were perfect in design from the hands of God.  I often wonder how tall Adam and Eve was, what was the color of their skin and hair?  How much did they weigh? Guess I will find that out when I get to heaven.  But until then, knowing we all came from the first original humans, and over time developed all these unique shapes, sizes, colors based on our own unique environments, I just have to say, wow!  That’s kind of cool, don’t you think?  And what about all the different types of flowers, or birds, or animals, or trees, or…the list goes on.

God made us, no wait, not just us—God made everything so wonderfully unique yet also so similar, how can you not just stand up and say, “Bravo, God!”  What a masterful artist!

So, to expand on that thought, read on and enjoy:

·       He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

·       But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7-10)

·       I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalms 139:14)

·       Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psalms 96:11-13)

·       And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So, God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:9-31)