Starting over.... again

We didn't start our time in Cambodia with a firm end date in mind, but thought we would stay at least two or three years.  Well, just shy of the two year mark we are back in the good old USA.  Transition has been the definition of much of our time the last two years, and it will follow us for a while longer. 

We knew that it would be harder for us to integrate into our new life in Cambodia if we kept our things, so only a few precious memories were stored and all household items except what could fit into 14 suitcases were sold or given away.  A couple of weeks ago we sorted through everything we had brought to Cambodia or acquired in the last two years.  The same process but backwards.  What is worth carrying back to the US?  What is really important?  And what in the world are we going to do with the rest of this stuff?! 

So we packed 14 suitcases with home school books, special toys, items that we hope will bring back good memories, and all of our most important things and took them to the airport.  Another couple long airplane rides with sick kids (because what fun is an international flight unless someone uses the barf bags?) and we are back and trying to figure out where to locate ourselves.  Where and how will we fit in now?  Will this move back be as hard or even harder on our kids than the first big move overseas? 
 

Transition is a complicated thing.  We had to say goodbye to friends we had made, people we have worked with, and places that we have come to enjoy.  But we also get to say hello to our family, and we will get to see them regularly again.  We get to come home to a country where things are protected and safe.  Where we can take a walk in the forest without fear of tigers or leftover landmines. 


Are we glad we spent two years of our lives in Asia?  Yes!  Definitely, yes!  I understand better than I ever wanted to the pain and suffering that comes from Human Trafficking.  I know the difficult struggle of those who have been rescued and are trying to reclaim their life.  I have seen firsthand children I know get sold for the financial benefit of their parents.

 I have also seen God working in a country that is so dark and filled with evil that it is hard to comprehend.  I know that He is there, and He will always be there with those who have come to believe in and trust Him.  He is the reason we left our American life and went to Asia.  He is the reason we will continue to look for ways to fight for the weak and downtrodden in this world. 

1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

This will continue to be our goal, that wherever we are, whatever we are doing we are doing it all for His glory, because it's really the only thing worth doing.

2014

James, Georgia, and Benjamin

   We wanted to share a bit of our past year.  Trying to remember everything is hard.  So many people, places, and events this year.  It has been busy.  Road trips can be long and bumpy.  Some of us have problems with motion sickness, especially on bumpy Cambodian roads. 

All five kids

 There are two rest areas that we know of in Cambodia.  This is the one we have managed to stop at.  It has some fun statuary and even swings!  Yes, there is also a bathroom, which comes in handy with five kids.  BYO tp... 

We have played in the streets in Phnom Penh.

Paul has led many trips to village churches to give medical care in rural areas.  

Hannah the great!

 We spent time with good friends.











 We explored thousand year old temples.  

The kids enjoyed hanging out with elephants that live in the area.

Louise looks Khmer... almost.

We learned how to dance... Khmer style!  

Georgia

We hope you had a good 2014 and wish you a very Happy 2015!

Almost perfect

I was joking with a visitor from the states recently that while no one was perfect, I was pretty close, and it got me to thinking.  When I was a kid I thought missionaries were perfect - or at least as close as any human could get.  They clearly were better Christians than the rest of us, and therefore were better in everything.  When they would visit our church, they would tell us about the wonderful things God did where they served, and I thought it was because they had such a close relationship with Him.

Back then I couldn't imagine that things were hard for them.  It wasn't possible that they struggled.  There was no chance that living so far from family and friends made their ugly self come out more often than ever before.  They were missionaries!  They were perfect! 

When we decided to jump head first into the full time missions life, I knew I wasn't perfect, but I still felt like somehow He would help us to be closer to perfect.  Or that at least he would make the hard stuff not so hard for us.  He would give us more strength, more energy, more patience. 

The reality of living in SE Asia has a tendency to be messy, ugly, hard.  The struggle of trying to give people what they really need is hard when they can't see past the poverty they are trapped in.  My ugly side comes out much more often than it did in the states.  My family suffers when I get like that.  The hard stuff is sometimes very hard. 

He didn't give me more strength, but He holds onto me when I give out.  I don't have more energy, but He gives me time to rest.  He hasn't given me more patience, but He gives me more mercy than I ever knew I needed. 

Psalm 18:2a  

    The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer,
     My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,


                   It turns out that missionaries are the same as everyone else, but just in a different place.  We all have to rely on Him to get us through the struggles we have, no matter where we live or what we do. 

     
                 

School at home

None of our kids have been to what we call 'away school'. We do school at home. It's just what we do.  We always have.  I'm not going to defend it or try to convert anyone right now.  Maybe next post... 

School at home in America was pretty easy and fun.  There were plenty of resources available, and lots of books at the library for my voracious little readers.  School at home in Cambodia is harder but still fun.  We don't get to go to the library anymore so we use e-readers.  We currently have six devices that are used for reading.  LOVE them!  Love that we can still access good quality books in our native language.  We are learning to read Khmer, but most of us are still at a kindergarten level.

This year I have four students and one small person playing and distracting. We are venturing into the world of 7th grade.  Yikes!  I really need to get my act together so we don't fail at high school.  We also have 6th, 3rd, and my least favorite K.  Okay, I don't hate teaching kindergarten, but I do dread it a bit. Teaching small peeps means a lot more hands on time for the teacher - me.  The older ones pretty much teach themselves with some guidance from me.  New learners, however, need an adult to be with them to encourage and lead them in each step.  Math is easy, we just relate counting candy to the numbers in the book.  History is fun, everyone loves hearing stories.  Science is great because we get to explore the world around us.  Reading is what is hard to teach. 

I approach reading like I approach big roller coasters.  I'm not naturally very adventurous.  I don't like dangerous things.  Roller coasters are fun, and I've been on them before and enjoyed it.  I especially like getting off and feeling proud for having not lost my lunch on the people in front of me.  When I'm standing in line I am very nervous.  I hesitate and consider not riding.  My stomach is in knots.  Teaching small people to read is like that.  I know I will be proud of my little reader.  I will be able to say I taught him that.  And when he can read he can learn anything he wants.  But, it's hard to get started and it's hard to keep going.  It can take a while.  I have to be calm and patient, and give him lots of practice working out the sounds.  I know I can do it, but I also know it's going to be hard.

One of the things I love most about teaching my own children is that I get to keep them with me.  I don't have to cry when they get big enough to go to school.  I love my kids, and spending all this time with them helps us develop better relationships with each other.  I am so thankful that God has put us where we are, and has given us the technology to learn pretty much anything from pretty much anywhere - even in Cambodia. 

A little bit hard

 There are days when things are harder than usual.  In America that meant that some of our days were busier than usual.  But we always had days when we could catch up and get things back to normal.  The past couple of months have been a struggle for us and normal seems to be just out of reach.

I have a washing machine, but no dryer.  This is not the norm around here, most people have no washer and do all their laundry by hand.  I am very glad that we have a washer, but hanging out laundry by hand takes a lot longer than tossing it into a dryer.

We have seven people and we live in a hot, wet, sweaty and muddy place.  This adds up to LOTS of laundry.  I usually do at least two loads a day.  It's all I have room to hang out to dry.  Sometimes I try to throw in a third load to get caught up after a weekend.  It seems like it's always on catch up days when things go wrong. Power outage, the laundry line snaps, no water, rain.  In the last two weeks all of these have happened at least once.  It has rained more than a few times, making it hard to get things dry.  We all move fast to get things off the line and into the house where they get hung around the hallway when someone spots rain.  I'm sure it would be fun to watch as we run and grab laundry while it pours. 

Electricity has been a big struggle for the last couple of months.  The junction box -or whatever it is called- that is outside on the power pole has been switching to off randomly.  It took two weeks before the workers looked at the box and switched it out for a new one.  Things got much worse while they changed things inside the house before they finally listened to us.  It feels strange to be the ones who are considered to be ignorant because we are not understood.  Translation can be a difficult thing.  When they finally went outside to work, it took all of ten minutes, and the power box has not given us any problems since. 

To add to the regular fun, today we had water suddenly pouring out of the ceiling and lights in the kitchen while I was making lunch.  It turned out that a pipe had burst in the attic.  We had to turn out the power right away because the lights started flickering, and we realized that the wataer was coming from the water tank that has a pump to automatically keep it filled.


Thankfully, our landlord responded quickly and although it took all afternoon the pipe has been repaired and the water is not coming through the ceiling.  There is still lots of water in the attic, though, which is causing electrical problems in the kitchen.  For now we have the power turned off to that room, and power cords stretched across the hall to keep the fridge and wifi going.  Now you know what is important to me. 


Because the kitchen was off limits for the kids, we had an impromptu picnic on the porch for lunch.The kids enjoyed being outside and the air is pretty cool now that the hot season seems to be over.  We also had to finish off the ice cream that was in the freezer since we didn't know when we would be able to turn the power back on.  I'm glad it didn't go to waste. 

I have had this post written for a few weeks, but have been hesitant to post it.  I'm afraid it will sound too whiney.  But, this is the reality of our life here.  These things make everyday harder.  And I want you all to know what is going on so that you can pray for us.  We desperately need prayers for our goals and mission here, but we need prayers for our everyday things too.  Thank you for supporting us by praying with us.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Everytime I drive down my street after dark I see them.  Girls. For sale.  Every night.  It's painful.  I don't like that my kids are growing up in a place where this is normal.  Where men are expected to go there as a normal part of their day.  I would rather shut my eyes, or look at the restaurant across the street.  We sometimes drive down a different, less convenient road so that we can avoid seeing them.

In America, we kept to the nice areas where we didn't see this stuff.  It was easy to get where we wanted to go and not even think about the hard lives that other people live.  It's not so easy here.  I can't avoid seeing the dirty kids playing in the alley across from my house.  I can't ignore the place just a few doors down from us that sells people.  When I go to kid's club I can't help but notice that many of the kids are still wearing the same dirty tattered clothes that I've seen so many times before.  Poverty (and the pain, frustration and poor decisions that often go along with it) is very real here.

Jesus didn't avoid these people, He loved them.  That is my goal, to love them like He did.  To show them how much He loves them.  I hope the kids I interact with see that love.  I'm glad that God has moved me to a part of the world that has forced me to open my eyes.  I pray that I can be used by God here and wherever else he sends me in this world. 

Holding on

My dad is awesome.  He was a great father, and he is an even better grandfather.  He would always try to get my sisters and I a gift for Christmas. It was usually something strange, but when I was in jr. high he brought home a giant Toblerone candy bar for each of us.  That was the first time I ate one, and I still remember how good it was.  I've had a few more since then, and it always brings back good memories.


A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving our family drove 2 1/2 hours to the city with a grocery store so that we could have a turkey.  It was not an easy trip, but we managed to make it there and brought home the bird.  While we were at the store we looked around to see what else they had that we don't have here in our town.  I saw Toblerone.  They had a big one and small ones.  I went for the big one.  The problem is that it is still sitting in the fridge.  I'm afraid that if I eat it I won't be able to get another one.  Every day when I open the fridge I see it, I want to eat it, but I don't want it to be gone.  Silly me.

  I'm supposed to be a missionary.  I'm supposed to listen when Jesus says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or whether you will be able to get another Toblerone bar."  Luke 12:25 loosely translated.

 I do worry about those things.  I hold on to things that don't really matter, because inside of me I believe they do matter.  This week my goal is to open the candy bar and share it with my family.   Luke 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  I want to pay more attention to where I'm storing my treasure, and what I really consider treasures.