I sit here staring at a blinking cursor and wonder how I can possibly write how I'm feeling. And there's really nothing I can say. Maybe I'll just mention a few little moments I don't want to forget. Little Sam laying on me and laughing during Mary Poppins. "Following along" in the Khmai hymnal with my sista during devotions. The 3 year olds face during The Little Mermaid and Tarzan and the pure joy it brought. Slip-n-slide on the balcony. Storm watching. The girl's genuine concern, care, and hand holding when I was sick. Doing dished with the dish crew!...

To think that this will be my last blog post in Cambodia seems absolutely unreal to me and brings about so many emotions.  Tonight will be my last night hugging the women and children goodnight, my last night sleeping under a mosquito net.  Tomorrow morning my team and I will be loading up onto some form of transportation (I’ve learned to never count on an enclosed vehicle, a wagon is likely haha) and waving goodbye to the women, children, security guards, and the compound I have called home for the past 2 months.  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,...

      Being content doesn't necessarly have to be a negative thing. As I was thinking about this weeks blog, with the fact that we only have one week left in Kampong Chnang, a developing topic came to mind. We may never see the fruit from this ministry, but that does not mean it is not there. I am beginning to learn to be content with whatever the finished product is.      I think I can speak for my team and I that during our stay we have been frustrated one way or another. Through the language, level of interest, and teaching English our stay has not...

For your entertainment: There was that time at the market. Lo, Tiff and I decided to go with Seap one day. The market is great, but in the back is what I call the “meat packing industry.” Fish are flopping on tarps, pig heads to your left and SNAKES to your right. I was afraid of touching anything. Ladies were chopping off live fish heads and it was awful. While our chicken was being dissected, we look over and see a woman grab a live fish the size of my arm out of the cooler. She drops it and puts it in her purse. She PUT THE FISH IN HER PURSE. I was on the swing watching 7...

My life here in Cambodia is made up of little moments.  I suppose my whole life is actually.  But I think I thought that lots of big things would happen here.  A few have.  Realistically, I shouldn't expect huge, radical things to happen all the time.  Of course,  I absolutely believe that God can do that.  I can't see things the way that God can.  I can't always see the fruit growing from planted seeds.  But a lot of times, it's finding joy in small things- a laugh from a girl who is aching inside, it's drumming on a...

After living in Cambodia for almost a month and a half now, I have come to learn several things about the Cambodian culture, myself, and Jesus.  For this week’s blog I wanted to give you a recap of those things; so in no particular order, I have learned the following:   1. Rice.  Every day Cambodians eat rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and for the middle of the night snack.  I have gone to the kitchen to fill up my water bottle during the night and discovered some of the women eating you know what on more than one occasion.  They can never get enough of...

This week I have really felt the weight of distractions as we continue to press on physically and relationally.  It has been a great week here where progress has been made and memories have been created.  But my heart has been greatly burdened for certain people and situations back home.  Some of this heaviness was from hearing last Saturday (our weekly communication day) about life at home and things that are happening—changes, decisions, and events.  But along with keeping up to date with my friends and family, the Lord has been putting specific people and...

I wake up the sound of a loud banging gong that has become so normal to me.  I roll over only to see my blue mosquito net covering me, which brings me to the realization that I am still in Cambodia.  I dress for the day and continue with my routine of spraying bug spray all over my feet, legs and arms.  This happens in a matter of seconds and I walk downstairs to morning devotions.  I flip my shoes off at the door (it is proper to do this everywhere in Cambodia, even at church) and pick a little stool to sit on.  Many mornings I am still half asleep at this...