We’ve seen them often throughout Thailand– unexpectedly looming above remote rice fields or eerily- mysterious in the midst of the thriving city. And the sight of them leaves us wondering,
imagining the story behind the Dream-Abandoned, the Mission-Failed.
Because unlike in the West where unexpected expenses or poor planning simply translates into a bigger loan, a longer debt, and a finished product still the same, in many foreign countries when the money runs out, so does the construction. And mildew crawls into could-have-been hotels, and birds become the only tenants in apartment buildings that never saw drywall or plumbing.
And the Abandoned becomes merely a landmark for directions or a place for the homeless to squat for a while.
We were driving just last weekend down rural streets near our home, and we stumbled across one –
a sprawling hotel, surrounded by rice fields. And we drove across the pot-holed roads, stared at the weeds, and we asked about the Story.
We wondered at the unexpected problems the project must have encountered– maybe an issue with the water table or a dishonest contractor or the price of steel shooting up without warning. We wondered about the people behind the building and the struggles they might have been blindsided with– maybe a divorce or a sickness, a teenager that walked away or a business partner that bolted and ran. And we imagined if this rejected tower of concrete had become salt in the wound of some person’s failure,
looming evidence of a Dream Abandoned,
a permanent reminder of what almost was.
And when you see the weeds claiming what could have been a grand entranceway, it’s easy to assume you’re seeing failure, witnessing the evident defeat of a contractor’s vision.
But the season of Easter reminds me to fight these initial assumptions of failure.
Because Friday night’s cross stained with a Rabbi’s blood feels like defeat, too. Just like those abandoned hotels, the visual evidence to the average passer-by screams loss for the Vision, the assumed Plan A.
But the Kingdom of Heaven is not an obvious one, and we followers have to search for the deeper story.
Because, perhaps, that Asian contractor walked away just in time— to save a marriage that was falling apart, to hold on to his kid’s college fund, or to deal honestly with a business partner. Maybe the forlorn resort in the rice fields is not really a picture of failure, but one of enormous faith, after all. Perhaps the Greater Good just morphed into a New Plan–
one that walked in the way of the Apparent Abandoned.
And we pull our car away from the eery quiet, pass the villager at the creek bank catching frogs, and we drive down the dirt road, still wondering at the Story behind that hotel. And we are humbled and reminded, once again,
that “failures” are not always what they appear to be.
And thank goodness that’s the case.
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Laura Parker writes from Thailand. You can visit her at her blog, A Life Overseas.
Danelle Townsend says
I was just reading in the book PLAN B by Pete Wilson, that we see what appears to be the tragedy of Friday, we see the glorious resurrection of Sunday. . but no one talks about Saturday. The waiting. The questions. Imagining that when Jesus was crucified that those who loved Him, who believed in Him, were in shock when they seemed to bury Him. Yet, He rose again. . . but they had to wait. That Saturday, that day of waiting is not something that I had ever thought about until I read those words. Your post was touching to me, because His seeming death on Friday was the best example of true life on Sunday. . I pray that I take these words into my day, into my life. That I don’t judge by the appearance. . because we often don’t know the Truth until much later. . sometimes heaven.
Thanks for this beautiful post. Love to you in Thailand!
Laura Parker says
Danelle, I loved this comment! Sounds like such a timely book to be reading during this time of year! I guess I hadn’t thought about the hard reality of Saturday for those disciples– after the tragedy but before the Redemption. What a hard day in-between. A day to wrestle in the waiting.
And i love, too, your comment about not judging by appearances. Oh, I am so guilty of that all too often!
Happy, hopeful Easter to you . . .
@ngie says
Thanks for taking the time to see beyond the affront and deeper into the truth. You are a compassionate and inspiring woman, Laura. Great post, as always.
Laura Parker says
Thanks, @ngie . . .
YOU are the compassionate, inspiring one, my friend. 🙂 Happy Easter.
Abandoned Hotel {When Failure Really Isn’t} | Laura Parker says
[…] head over to {In}Courage today to read a post I wrote about abandoned hotels, failure and Easter. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section there . . […]
Holley Gerth says
Yes, we serve a big God who turns failure into glory in such unexpected ways. After several years of a personal struggle, I’ve seen that firsthand. Great reminder as we get ready for Easter!
Laura Parker says
Holley,
Yes, so thankful we have a God “who turns failure into glory in such unexpected ways.” Amen. I think my problem is that I assume the failure first, too quickly, in both myself and in other’s “failures” that I see.
Rachel says
Sunday will come! I have hope that my failed marriage will make room for a real victory.
Laura Parker says
Yes, Rachel, yes,
believing, hoping, trusting that for you tonight, from Thailand.
you said it, “Sunday will come!”
praying we can all remember that during our Fridays.
amy says
wow…first of all it is absolutely incredible that those buildings are so close to completion, but so far away. How sad…
I love the analogy you drew of our lives, our dreams and all the hard work standing barren…
I could compare it to getting a 4 year degree…working hard, paper after paper, test after test, only to never ever use it in a job. It somehow doesn’t make me sad because I have developed other passions, given my life to my family and children and while there is a giant degree with no “inhabitants”, somehow it is ok…
Thanks for the thought this morning…
Laura Parker says
Amy, what a great insight on your degree and the picture of that “dream” that perhaps is laying “dormant” right now, in your sight. But, you are right, in that it is most definitely ok. OK to journey a different direction, OK to choose a different path. I think we so often think that the finished product is the main point (finished hotel, successful job b/c of education degree, etc), when really maybe the “point” is more about how we lived and loved and hoped in the process of just walking through our days.
Living the Balanced Life says
Wow, this is a sad yet amazing story on the physical level, but then you pulled it so much deeper. I had a corporate career, I was making lots of money, was a big influence on a lot of people. And then I fell apart. Could not continue. Had to walk away from it to maintain my sanity. Actually I crawled away, retreated to my 4 walls to pray, write, cry, ask why over and over again. I have potential, I know I do. I am just trying to hear God and understand where and how he wants me to use it to help the most people, or maybe the least. Who knows? I don’t at this point.
Bernice
Letting go of who I thought I was supposed to be
Laura Parker says
Wow, Live the Balanced Life,
What a story of stepping away, of embracing the Other, perhaps the Plan B. I totally see how your career right now may look like an “abandoned hotel” right now from the average person’s view, but perhaps, the abandoned career is really this place of Greatest Faith for you. I am praying right now for wisdom, for direction, for clarity . . . but mostly for HOPE. I love your heart to serve and love– the “most people, or maybe the least.”
Beautifully said.
kendal says
great post, laura. louie giglio says that there are always two parts to the picture of life – what we see and what god sees. you’ve made such an insightful analogy here. what the enemy intended forharm god used for good.
Laura Parker says
“What we see and what God sees.” Kendal, I love this– love the reminder that so often we judge on what is evident, but maybe not what it eternal. Thanks, friend, for sharing this quote. I’ll be chewing on it for the next few days, I am sure. 🙂
Teri @ StumblingAroundInTheLight says
Sweet Laura – Always so fun to see you over here at (in)courage!
And yes, so – many – failures –
that in time, in His tender-timing, we see as mercies-in-disguise. How many ways would I not be here with this family today, if the projects & plans had gone MY WAY. But ‘my way’ failed, and brokenhearted, I drug the bits of busted dreams back to His feet. Resentful. Lost. Floundering. Isolated.
Can I finally hear it, see it? Can I recognize it this time around, and find grace to fall, with knowing He has a greater plan?
Beautiful words, Laura; important things to ponder & press in to.
love & hugs & see ya soon in CO –
Teri
Laura Parker says
Teri,
MY WAY is such an enticing drug, isn’t it? We gravitate towards it and then claw for it like made when it crumbles. It’s a hard thing to let go of the dream we create for ourselves in an effort to embrace the One He dreams– particularly if the one He dreams involves loss and death and smallness and broken-ness. I think typically, my dreams just don’t naturally include those things . . .
Thanks, friend.
richelle says
Wow!
Loved this… Read it on Good Friday and it was the perfect Good Friday meditation for me… truly! Don’t you love how the Holy Spirit whispers truth into your heart whenever you are willing to listen?
We too, drive around and see unfinished buildings – investments never completed… on almost every street.
HE IS RISEN and our hope is an expectant one! May you have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!