Merry Christmas from Cambodia!

 


   We are ready to welcome Christmas day.  Cookies, pies, presents, and stockings have all been prepped and are waiting for the big day. 

     We are in a place where most people have no clue what Christmas is really about.  Does that make it harder to focus on the Christ child or easier?  For me, maybe both.  It is harder to find things that are Christmas themed.  No big Christmas sales for gift shopping.  The weather is far from wintery. 

     On the upside we don't have constant reminders of how many shopping days are left. We don't have to plow people over in line to get that one thing that we have to buy. 


     We have the privilege of celebrating and telling the story of Christ's birth with people who have never heard it before.  We don't have a lot of gifts to give them.  It's not going to be a big American Christmas.  But we will make sure they know about the humble stable and the shepherds who went to visit the baby that first night.  I hope we can show them that the excitement is about Emmanuel, God with us.

      We are glad to be here.  Happy that our family is together.  Some of our traditions will be easy to repeat here, others won't happen this year.  We are doing things differently, and trying to make sure that in both the old and in the new we remember the big event that we are celebrating.

    

Family

The reason the word family is first in my blog name is because I want to give my family first priority.  As a parent, I am given the job of making sure that my kids learn everything they need to know.  It is a big job, and it gets harder as they grow.  I sometimes think I am not doing enough to make sure they are learning the really important stuff but then God gives me something like what happened yesterday. 

I was in bed with a stomach, ummm, problem (not an uncommon part of life in this part of the world.)  Benjamin and Georgia came to say goodnight to me and we had this conversation:

Benjamin - Momma, is your tummy better?

Me - Not yet, but you can pray for me when you go to bed. 

Benjamin - I can pray for you right now!

And he did.  My five year old boy and his three year old sister held my hands and prayed for my tummy to feel better.  It was so sweet, and I was close to tears.  That is what I want my children to do.  That is what I want them to know; that they can go to God at anytime, not just the usual times.  I am so proud of my little guy and I pray that he keeps this knowledge as he grows.  My tummy isn't all the way better yet, but my heart is feeling great today. 

Note to a lizard

Dear Mr. Chincha,

I would like to tell you how very much I appreciate the time you put in to eating disposing of any bugs who wander into my bathroom.  This job alone is enough to make me not mind when you run up the wall next to me when I am occupied there.  It would be nice if you could let me know before you run, but I understand that our language barrier makes this difficult.

There is just one thing that troubles me about the time we spend together. When I am in the shower, I would much appreciate it if you would not run about on the ceiling.  It feels a little creepy, and I am afraid that you are planning to jump on my head when I am not watching.  My preference is that you either stay still in one place, or better yet, stay in one of your favorite hiding places - behind the toilet perhaps?

Thank you for taking the time to read this note.

Your friend and housemate,
Diane


P.S.  I apologize for the incident with the door that claimed your tail.  It was unfortunate, but I am happy to see that you are already growing a new one.  

Sacrifice?

A few weeks ago a short term missionary said to me, "Thank you for all the sacrifices you are making to be here."  And I had to stop and think... What sacrifices am I really making?

 Compared to Jesus - NOTHING.

I look around me and I see a nice home, time to spend teaching my children, air conditioning and the money it takes to keep it running.  Our physical needs are well taken care of.  We have no problem getting our kids what they need.  We don't have to deprive ourselves or our children of things that we want just for fun. 


It took a while but I finally started to see things that we are sacrificing.  We only have 5 TV channels in a language we understand.  There are more bugs -shiver- here than we are used to having around.  It's hot and muggy.  We sweat - a lot!  Our children tend to get stinky because they sweat, too.  We can't pick up the phone and call our families because if we are awake, there is a good chance that they are asleep. But all these things are pretty minor.  Irritating sometimes, but in the long run not worth getting upset about.

Admittedly, we have days when we let the molehills turn into mountains.  We get tired of being hot and sticky.  We wish we could give our kids a bath... in a bathtub.  But we always come back to why we are here.

1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

THAT is sacrifice.  Shopping in a smelly market instead of shopping at a supermarket?  Not so much.  So I think I'll stick to my story of not really making sacrifices to be here.  God seems to want us here right now, so here we are.  I can't do a fraction of what He has done, so I will just do my best to show Him to the people around me here.  

Short term

    Before I was a parent, I was the fun aunt.  I would color and play games with my nieces and nephews.   I often had someone hanging on my back or riding on my shoulders.  It was not uncommon for me to spin someone around or flip them upside-down.  I was really fun.  As a parent, I can't do that everyday.  We do play like that sometimes, but not often.  The reality is that I don't have the energy to do that all the time.  With other people's kids I knew that I was not responsible for taking care of them everyday, I could play and have fun and give them back to their parents.

  I feel like in missions we are now the parents.  We used to be short term mission people. We would go somewhere, do as much as we could to help in a short time and then go home back to our regular lives.  We were fun, we had a lot of energy and we were able to do a lot in a short time.  Now we have to be able to live here in the heat and humidity all year long.  Working so hard that we are exhausted at the end of everyday is just not an option.  We have to be able to maintain life here with our family while doing mission work.  It's hard.  The heat and humidity alone are enough to make us tired at the beginning of the day.  There is a limited supply of energy, and we have to use it wisely. 

     Short term mission teams are like fun the fun aunt or uncle.  They come in with lots of energy, excited to work in our country and with the people here.  Short term teams come and play with our Kid's Club kids.  They run and jump and spend more time with them than we can often do.  It's fun for them, and fun for our kids.  They see how the kids live, and learn about their lives.  They can take that home with them and tell their friends about the needs here.  The more people that know about the needs here the better. 

   We were recently able to spend about 10 days with a couple of short term teams.  It was a huge blessing to us.  It was hard because most days were filled with activities clinics and outreaches and it was hard for us to keep up.  I realized that they could keep up that schedule because they were going to go home and be able to have normal again soon.  It was good for us to let them share their energy and excitement about the mission with us.  We were blessed to have their encouragement. Thank you short term mission groups! 

  

Flooding

Cambodia, like our surrounding countries has had a lot of flooding lately.  We woke up here in Battambang on Sunday morning to this:

 Driving in flooded areas is scary.  The water is eighteen inches or more in some places.  Most people here drive moto's and they couldn't get anywhere unless they walked or waded.  Finding where the edge of the road is a bit tricky.  We just try to stay as close to the center of the road as we can.

The picture on the right is outside our Kid's Club.  It is flooded inside, also.  We had at least a foot of water on the lower floor, and in one room even deeper. 

 Several people were fishing in the flooded streets, and catching dinner, too!  The kid's have really enjoyed having all this water to play in. 

But, it isn't very healthy to be playing in the flood water.  Besides the risk of drowning, there are who-knows-what kind of nasty organisms in the flood water.  I'm worried about the kid's getting something that could hurt them.


 The water is going down now.  Our Kid's Club is drying out, and clean up is already going strong.  It's going to take a lot of work for this city to get back to normal.  But there are so many people outside the city where the flooding is much worse and where the water will take longer to go down.  These people will have a much harder time recovering from this flood.  Please keep praying for Cambodia and especially for those who are suffering because of the flood.  Pray for the families who have lost homes and family members.  Pray for the farmers who have lost their crops.  Pray for Cambodia to be able to find God - only He can do what is really needed here.

100 Kids

 When I was a little girl I would say that I wanted to have a hundred kids someday.  That number changed dramatically when I started babysitting.  But I still had a love for kids that didn't go away.  God has a way of giving us even our childhood dreams.  It looks like I might soon have 100 kids!



Our little kids club is growing by leaps and bounds.  It feels a little scary to walk in one day and see 50 kids and just a couple of days later there are around 80!  God has blessed us by bringing these kids to us.  I love seeing their faces as they play and learn in a safe place.  My heart nearly bursts as they give me hugs and brighten my days with their beautiful smiles.

The kids club is up and running at full speed, but we have more work to do before we can be fully operational.  What we really need is more people to step up and sponsor a child or maybe two.  Most of us spend more on our cable bill than it takes to get one of these kids into school and keep them safe.  Many of the kids who come are at high risk for sex trafficking.  The goal of our club is to prevent that.  We desperately need more of you to help us prevent it.

 Money is not the only thing we need.  Your prayers for these kids are even more important.  Many of our kids face circumstances that we can't even imagine.  Their parents have left them, they do not have enough to eat, and they have been taken out of school because they don't have a uniform or supplies.  What will the next day bring for these children?  Please pray for them and offer them a chance to safely grow and learn.

Wild Life

     During the last two and a half months here in Cambodia we have met many of the local critters.  Most of them we do not get friendly with.  A few have been short term pets.  Many of them have made me scream.  Did I mention that I don't like spiders?  We have big spiders here.  They live both inside and outside. 

The couple on the left was caught this way...making it a good time for science.  The one on the right sounded like someone answering their phone, "Hello?"  We hear lots of frogs outside.  When it rains they sound like a herd of cows... moo moo.  The first time I heard it I wondered if the cow we often see nearby had a bunch of friends over.

There were two gecko's living in our living room when we got here.  The tokay stayed in our cage after being caught by our awesome friend. It was fun to watch the first few days, but it was hard to catch enough bugs for it to eat, and eventually it was released into the wild in front of our house.  We still see him and his friends outside at night when we leave on the patio lights to attract snacks for them.

 This green snake was sitting near our dining table one afternoon when we got home from shopping... we were told by a local that they probably won't kill you, but they can hurt you pretty bad.  Paul wanted to catch him and put him in our tank, but there is no way I'd be ok with having a snake in the house on purpose!  He got swept out to the patio, but we haven't seen him since.

 The kids have found lots of tiny caterpillars around.  This guy was outside and only about half an inch long.  There were lots of even tinier ones in the house building cocoons on the walls.  The kids collected about a dozen of them, and a couple actually hatched and we saw the tiny, but ugly moths. 

After

Before

   There are plenty of these spiders around here.  This one was missing a couple of legs and was still very hard to kill... but we got him!  Just yesterday we had another like this, with all his legs and bigger around than my palm.  He was inside the house next to the kids where they were playing.  James spotted him next to Hannah's foot and now we know she doesn't like spiders to be that close to her.  I was sooooo glad that Paul was home to get him.

One thing our Kid's Club does

      This sweet girl is one reason I'm so glad that I'm married to Dr. Paul.  She had an infection on her face that had gotten larger and smaller for about two weeks before I saw it.  Unfortunately, the infection continued to get worse, swelling more and reaching her eye, so we took her in to the hospital to get it lanced.  After a course of antibiotics it is healing nicely.

      Every time I see her now it looks better and better.  She was scared to have us touch her face.  It must have been very painful.  The infection could have been the beginning of a very dangerous situation for her.  It could have spread to her eye or even her brain.  It only cost a few dollars to take care of, but that was way out of the reach of her family.  They could not have even considered taking her to get it treated.   If she had not been a part of our kid's club her story would have a different ending.

How she looked when I first saw the infection.

After draining and antibiotics she even smiled at me!

Thanks to the kid's club staff it was brought to our attention and this girl is back in the middle of the games and learning at kid's club. 

Harsh Realities

Until today I have been blissfully ignorant of the real situations that our Kid's Club kids face everyday.  I can see that their clothes are dirty, tattered, and the wrong size.  I have heard snippets of their stories.  I look into their eyes and see uncertainty and pain.  But today I saw more and heard more.  The scary part is that I still don't know much about their lives.  There is much more to the story than what I know, but I already feel so much pain for them.

 Today I learned more than their names, ages and grade is school.  I learned about their families and the struggles that makes them need to be at Kid's Club.  I know which ones have sisters who have already been trafficked.  I know who lives with grandparents because their parents have gone to Thailand to look for a job.  I know the girl whose father died because he didn't have the money to pay for what was probably a simple surgery.  She and her mother now live on the side of the road with only what income they can get from selling snacks and drinks to people who pass by. 

These two boys are playing together.  They both love cars and making roads in the dirt.  But one of them belongs to me and has all his needs met.  Most of the children coming to Kid's Club belong to families with an inadequate income if any.  Today I learned of one family of eight who live in a small open shack.  Only one person in this family has a job.  He drives a moto taxi.  On a good day he can earn $5.  Other days he won't earn anything.  How far can you make that stretch?  I don't think I could get it to go far enough to cover the good days, much less the lean days in between. 

Looking at the kids while hearing this hurts.  My eyes are stinging.  My head wants to scream at the injustice.  I can't help them all.  I can't even help all of the ones who come to our club.  We have more than forty children coming regularly, but only about half of those are sponsored.  When we are able to give another child the gift of sponsorship we can make sure their family gets the help they need.  We can give the family 10 kg of rice per month.  We can get them into school, an educated child is much less likely to be trafficked because they are more able to earn a good income after attending school. Most importantly, we have the opportunity to share Christ with these kids and their families.

Pray if this is something your family can help with.  Let me know if you have questions.  If you are ready to help sponsor a child contact Chris Wheeler at cwheeler@raphahouse.org

Master Kitchen

One of the peculiarities of our house is that it has two kitchens.  Many people here prefer to cook outdoors so that cooking doesn't raise the inside temp.  I have a cooking porch/kitchen on the side of my house.  It does come in handy when baking.  It has a counter and a sink along with a gas cooktop and oven.  But, I think some large gecko's and spiders live out there, and I'm a chicken, so I do most of my cooking in my other kitchen.  My second kitchen is inside, and is more or less like you would expect a kitchen to be.  It has a sink, counters, shelves, refrigerator, coffee pot... all the necessities.  This is what my inside kitchen looks like.

You can see my not-so-automatic dishwasher hard at work.  =)  You can also see my bed/office.  Yes, my kitchen doubles as my master bedroom and sometimes as my office.  It's weird, but it works.  It's even starting to feel normal.  My bedroom has always been a private space.  The kids were not allowed to come in without an invitation, and the door was always closed when we had visitors.  I can't do that anymore.  My room is now very public. 


When we had friends over for dinner, people came in the bedroom/kitchen to cook and help get dinner ready.  And it was not a big deal.  This morning I was thinking about how many families here in Cambodia share a home that is smaller than my kitchen/bedroom.  And if our family had to do that, it would work.  We are blessed to have the space and number of rooms that we have.  We are blessed to have air conditioning, electricity, and running water. 

Our goal here in Cambodia is to bring Jesus to people. The type of house, decor, and living arrangement is not a priority.  It doesn't need to be.  We have more than we need.  Our home is comfortable and spacious. And we can reach the fridge from the foot of the bed.  Midnight snack anyone? 

¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Two weeks

We have been in Cambodia for two whole weeks at this point.  The first day was very long as we drove straight to Battambang from the airport after a quick lunch.  We were blessed to be joined not only by Lily who is working as an intern here for one year, but also by three short term interns.  We all found each other in the check in line at LAX and got along very well together.  Having the interns with us helped a lot since they helped us entertain the kids, and then helped us manage the luggage here in Cambodia. 

The first three nights here we spent in the hotel, but spent most of our daytime hours shopping and getting our house clean and ready to live in. It has a few oddities (like having our master bedroom in the inside kitchen) but it is mostly working out very well.  The house came with lots of furniture, so we only needed to get a few more beds... we have a lot of people in this family!  I did a lot of shopping for smaller things that every home needs.  Towels, sheets, dishes, laundry supplies, etc. 

We were also able to buy a larger fridge and washing machine.  The ones that were here were old and very small.  They were both inadequate for our size family.  So having the new ones is a huge help.  Dryers are not an option around here, so we have a clothesline near the back of the house on a patio area.  It is covered, so even when it rains our clothes don't get soaked... unless they are too close to the outside wall.  I'm still learning to run and get the clothes if it starts raining.  One other benefit of where our laundry hangs is that only one set of neighbors can see it. 

Since we moved into the house I have been venturing out into the city via tuk-tuk to shop for groceries.  There is no grocery store in town, so my explanation of the shopping routine will have to be it's own post.  It certainly has been an adventure! 

Many things here are more difficult or at least take longer to get done than in the US, but overall living here is not a struggle only different.  Everyday we are here we get more accustomed to the way things are and we get closer to being settled enough to jump in and start the work we came here to do.

We are here!

 It's official!  We are in Cambodia.  We got to our new city last night for dinner, then crashed as soon as we could.  Everyone got close to eight hours of sleep the first night.  Pretty good start.  Today we go see our new home and start shopping to fill it with the stuff we'll need everyday.  Bedrooms and kitchen right away.  The rest we'll deal with slowly. 

Proof that all the kids and suitcases are here!

 We had several more weeks to wait before we could fly than we expected.  Here are some of the things we did to fill the time.

Explored a volcanic area.

Played with light weight rocks.

Hung out with cousins and grandpa.

Played with animals.

Made a new friend.

Flying

We have our tickets!  That means this is really going to happen.  We have a count down with 26 days 15 hours 50 minutes and 16 seconds before we fly.  Please pray for us as we get the last details finished and as we take this huge step. 

Under Construction

We arrived at Grandma's house and were happy to have a front row seat at the road construction in front of the house.  My four year old boy's dream come true!  Everyone had their noses to the glass watching as the tractors dug up a section of road, laid down pipes, then put the dirt right back in.  My mom told me they have done this at least five times already.  One section has stayed open for days since they found a leaking pipe and needed to repair it before covering it up.  It has been fun to watch the workers as they continue to make improvements to the layers that will eventually be underneath the new road top that is still weeks away.

Parenting my children can be a lot like the road building process.  We often have to work hard to get at the real problem.  Sometimes there are things that need more work so we keep the road open and our eyes on the problem so that we can help our kids get it right.  I want my children to have more than a new shiny road surface or a happy life.  I want for them to have a good solid base to drive on.  And so I try to give them the time and attention they need to have solid layers underneath the top layer that is easiest to see.  And if I see that there is a problem that needs more attention I will dig up the road again and again to help my son or daughter learn and grow.

I think God sees us like a road sometimes, too.  He offers us the best materials, but we have to be the ones to accept what he gives us.  We have to be willing to let him dig up the road and expose the problems underneath if we are going to have a solid foundation.  If we choose to ignore Him and the problems that are hiding under the surface then eventually we will get potholes and the top layer of our road will crack and get uneven.  Driving straight and safe will get harder and harder until we eventually dig up the whole road and start from scratch.

Matthew 7:24-27

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

A near miss?

At the beginning of our 5,000+ mile trip we were almost hit by a drunk driver.  By almost, I mean that he was within a foot of our van.  We had been driving on a mostly empty freeway in the middle of Texas.  I had just about passed a semi truck, but was not far enough ahead to pull back into the right lane.  I saw a white mini van coming up behind me very fast.  It was easy to see that he was going to try to pass me on the right and go in front of the truck.  I pulled as far to the left as I could so there was less chance that anyone would get hurt.  There was not room for him to get between me and the truck, and he lost control.  He swerved back and forth a few times coming withing a foot of hitting us.  He ended up going off the road and away from us.  He rolled a couple of times.

At this point we were pulling over as quickly as we could.  Paul was calling 911 and threw the phone at me and ran out the door back to the van before I was even stopped.  Paul was the first one at the van, but there was no one inside.  The driver had been thrown, and was already dead.  Our biggest fear was that there were children inside, thankfully there weren't.  Paul said he could smell the alcohol even without before he was close enough to examine the driver.  He had been driving drunk.  His recklessness nearly caused a tragedy for our family.  But, he was dead, I couldn't be angry, only thankful that we had escaped.  The fussing and whining of our kids didn't sound so bad afterwards.

The more I think about this incident the more I learn from it.  The first thing is that God really is protecting us.  My view is that angels pushed his van away from us.  We were on our way to visit one of my sisters.  She has been worried that we were being reckless taking our kids to such a far away place.  It taught her that God is watching out for us. 

It also seems that there is another lesson God wanted me to learn.  I am a careful mom, I keep my kids close to me and do my best to make sure they stay safe.  There was nothing I could have done to prevent this guy from coming our way.  I had no way to get away from him.  If I can't keep my family safe here in the U.S. how can I expect to keep them safe in Asia?  Instead of making me more afraid, it makes me feel more bold.  How long we survive is up to God, not me.  Knowing that there are people in the world who could hurt us is not going to keep me from going to help when God seems to be directing us to go.

I WILL TRUST GOD.

Crazy Field Trip

 We have been on this crazy cross country trip for almost two weeks.  Here is a sampling of what we have learned.

1.       Chili on top of spaghetti and smothered in cheddar cheese at Skyline in Cincinnati, OH is pretty tasty.

2.       Our kids are terrific even when they are stuck in the car for several hours a day and several days in a row.

3.       Leaving a hotel during 36 degree weather while it is raining is not fun.

4.       God is protecting our family… even from drunk drivers.

5.       3463 miles in a car with five children may be doable… but going back the other way looks pretty daunting from this angle.

6.       Having a sick kid in a hotel is better than having a sick kid in a car.

7.       The four year old version of museum is much more fun to say…  ‘zoozam’.

8.       Crossing into a later time zone the same night as daylight savings time makes getting up the next morning REALLY hard.

9.       Our kids are able to make friends quickly and seem to get along well with everyone.

10.   Listening to three replays of one Dora DVD in a day is three too many and after a while, you don’t  even need to play the DVD to hear everything on it. 

Suitcase parade

About a week ago we realized that with only four large suitcases we had to go shopping for more.  At a discount store we found lots of suitcases with nice small prices, and we happily let the kids choose the colors they wanted.  It was only as we were paying for nine suitcases that we realized we had to get them home.  Remember we have five children, two adults and only seven seats in our mini van.  Now might be a good time to mention that we also had a half dozen folding chairs riding in the back of the van.   Yeah, it was crazy.  But we are crazy, it's part of what makes us a family.  It only took us about 10 minutes to get the kids and suitcases loaded.  Three of the suitcases were a little larger than the others, so we packed a smaller one in each.  Only two fit in the back with the chairs.  One rode under the two year old's feet.  One went across the laps of the three oldest kids in the back row.  One more fit in the space between our four year old and the door.  The last suitcase rode on Paul's lap while Diane drove.  This is what that craziness looked like.

Managing to get the suitcases home is only half the story.  They also had to be packed.  We spent the next few days sorting and trying to organize the things we most want to take with us to Cambodia.  We were overwhelmed with the prospect of getting it all packed.  One at a time we started filling and weighing suitcases.  As we got them done we shuffled things around so that none were too heavy.  We also happily added things from the want pile when the need pile was all packed.  By the time we were finished we were looking at this.

I'm sure it will be fun to watch us make our way into and out of airports with all these bags and five children.   This is sure to be one of those stories we will look back at with laughter ten years from now.  It's good that we don't have to wait to laugh, because this sure has been a crazy week and I need a good laugh.

Proverbs 17:22a
A cheerful heart is good medicine...

Taking a break

The family that builds together...

has fun!

We hung out with some friends.

And had a great time.

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SOLD! Again...

After losing our first buyers two weeks into escrow, we were pretty discouraged.  We cleaned up our piles of sorted things, and got the house ready to show again.  It took just over a week to get another offer, and we are on the fast track to closing once again.  This second set of buyers is a young family that is a much better fit for the property.  That makes us all feel better about leaving. They are even excited to have our chickens! 

So, out come the piles, and the sorting starts again in earnest.  What to take?  What to store?  What to get rid of?  Most of it goes into the last category.  I've always wanted a fresh start without all the clutter and this is my chance.  I get to choose what is most important to me and let go of everything else.  Making those choices is proving to be very hard.  But, since the reward for choosing is a trip to Cambodia, we will do it. 

One step

When we started this journey to Cambodia it was a simple thing.  We just wanted to learn about the country, the people, and what God is doing there.  I'm not sure we were really seriously considering flying halfway around the planet at first.  It was a crazy idea, completely unreal, but we wanted to find out more about it.  So we took a baby step.  We started researching.  We talked to friends and family.  We prayed.  And we repeatedly said that this idea was crazy.

After taking the first step, we saw where the next one led, and so we stepped out.  One step was flying to Cambodia for a two week whirlwind tour.  After that, it was clear that we were going to take our family over there long term.

The next step was clear, put the house on the market.  Houses in our neighborhood have been taking close to a year to sell.  God found us a buyer in less than two months! We were ready to start planning the next step.

But our buyers backed out.  After two weeks, we have rooms that are now empty.  Our office has no desk, our dining room has no table or chairs.  Stuff that has been sorted into keep, sell, and take piles are making the house look messier than usual.  There is a large pile of things we were intending to sell now sitting in the garage. 

I'm finding it harder to trust at this point.  The timing was exactly what I wanted before, and now?  I feel like I have lost control when I never really had it.  God IS in control, I am not.  If I really believe Him, then I have to trust Him. 

So, we will take each step as it comes, trying not to worry about the steps that come later.  After all we have seven pairs of feet to take through each step. 

Philipians 4:19  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Handmade with love

I am a DIY crafty sort of gal.  I've always wanted to do things myself.  Sometimes to save money, and sometimes just because it sounds fun.  I've painted furniture and made lots of curtains for our home.  But what I really like to do is work with small pieces of fabric or a nice length of yarn.  I could pretend that I make useful items because it's cheaper, but it's not.  It's very slow, and when you add up the amount I spend on materials and the time it takes to make one quilt the price is outrageous.  

One thing I have found over the years is that if I start with good materials the end result will be nicer.  It is also more pleasant to work with good quality fabric.  After many years of working with fabric and yarn I can feel the difference in quality.  The good stuff costs more money, but lasts longer.  The end result will be better quality that my family can use for several years.

What I put into a project is worth it because of the end result. 

Today my living room is draped with my handmade quilts.  My children are playing tents and climbing under and over the projects I spent countless hours on.  I hope they understand that they are worth it to me.  And I hope that the quilts will last for years and continue to tell my children how much I love them even when I'm not near them. 

I hope that our move to Cambodia will show the children there that they are worth our time and our effort.  I hope that they will see Jesus love shining through our eyes.  I pray that they will find His love, and that lives will be turned right side up.

Missing stuff

Things I will miss when we leave America...

     Our family and friends.

     Being able to walk into an English speaking church and join in worship.

     Grocery shopping without having to bargain for every piece of fruit I buy. 
     With five kids, I buy lots of fruit! 

     Silly things like being able to shop at Costco.

     Drinking tap water without worrying about getting sick.

     My stuff.   Hey, I like my stuff!  It's good stuff! 

     Roads where people follow traffic laws.



But, when I look at this list, I wonder how much I'll really miss these things?

     With the internet we will still have close contact with our families.

     We got to hang out with Cambodians for two church services, and we were
     worshiping the same God.

     Shopping will be different, but different isn't bad, it's just different.

     I probably don't need all the things I get at Costco anyway.

     Bottled water is easy to find in Cambodia.

     I saw plenty of stuff there.

     We'll get used to the traffic eventually... or just let locals drive us everywhere.  =)