This worship song made a way during COVID

When COVID was declared a worldwide pandemic in early 2020, I was living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with my husband and our dog for nearly 3 years. We weren't exactly ready for the new way of dealing with this strange situation suddenly. Chiang Mai is a major touristic city with visitors from all over the world, and that is one of the cool things about living there. But due to COVID and just like that... the streets were empty since many countries started to close their borders, and the city lost its vibrancy. When Thailand went into a lockdown from 10PM-4AM for one month, we weren't allowed to leave our residence. Not that we would typically be out around that time anyway, but everything felt uncertain and even more foreign in a foreign country. 

At that time, we had planned to stay in Thailand for 2 more years. But because of COVID, we had no idea what to expect anymore, and we started to consider relocating to Seoul, Korea. After praying on this and getting confirmation, we sensed that God was directing us to go back to Seoul. The process of packing up our lives in Chiang Mai to relocate back to Seoul was relatively smooth. However, as we were moving in the middle of the pandemic, there were no direct flights from Chaing Mai to Seoul. It meant we would have to fly from Bangkok to Seoul. Unfortunately, airlines discontinued taking pets onboard domestically until October 2020. And we were planning to leave in July 2020. Given that we would have lots of luggage, the only option would be to drive 10 hours to Bangkok and take a flight to Seoul. 

A road trip would normally be fun, but I was more consumed by worries about catching COVID. At that time, Korea was very strict with COVID regulations, and everyone from overseas had to go into self-quarantine for 14 days. If you get tested positive, you would have to be in an isolated health facility until you get treated and test negative. Also, there was no guarantee that we could even self-quarantine as a family, as regulations were changing frequently. I was informed that it would be up to the airport officers on arrival! With many lingering thoughts in anticipation of what-ifs, I wasn't looking forward to the 10-hour drive.

Then about 2 weeks before leaving Thailand, I was singing the worship song, 'Way Maker' by Sinach. I was literally singing this with all of my heart and all of my being with everything I had in me. Well, it is because I truly believe that Jesus is the way-maker. Anyway, a couple of hours after this, God gently reminded me to call Bangkok Airways to ask about the pet situation. As I had nothing to lose, I called, and the airline let me know that they were allowing pets on domestic flights in a week! 

I honestly couldn't believe what had happened because the airline website said it would allow pets in October, not July! What I was verbally declaring with my words through the praise manifested in the physical realm, literally creating a way for our dog to get on the flight with us as a family. This deeply touched me because God knew I wasn't looking forward to that drive. This helped me to have a comfortable journey back to Korea.

And yes, all of us got to do self-quarantine together at an Airbnb with a massive yard in my former neighborhood, which outdoor space is an absolute rarity in Seoul. We actually had a great time of rest even though we couldn't go out for 14 days, enjoying awesome choices of delivery foods, eating BBQ in our yard, working from our laptop, and watching lots of Netflix. Even Cooper got to run around in the yard and go on a hunt for cats here and there without actually ever catching one. 

When I think of this time, it was such a precious gift from God that we could have a peaceful transition from Thailand to Korea despite the chaos in the world. Sometimes I don't know who I am, that He pours out His favor upon me in abundance in all situations. And then God reminds me that I'm a child of God, a daughter of the King and that it is His absolute delight to take care of me as the Father.