Waterfalls!!!

God's creation amazes me!  Waterfalls and mountains leave me speechless.  This week, we had Friday off so I visited Kampot with an amazing family who I've come to love!  We explored Kampot and relaxed a little :).

New Brothers

It's always awesome to be a part of someone coming to know Jesus, whether it's through praying for people, loving people, sharing the gospel with people, or through all three.  The boys in this picture have all become believers and made public professions of faith in the past year.  For some of them, it is difficult to go a against their parents beliefs which is Buddhism. I've been praying for some of these boys for a while.  One of them just became a believer last Sunday.   I didn't make it to church that day because I visit their church every other Sunday.  A part of me was a little disappointed that I wasn't there to see it.  God gently reminded me that this is all His work, and I'm so blessed to a part of it.  I need this reminder often :).  These Solomom soccer boys will be baptized soon.  Please pray that they will grow in their faith as they continue to play soccer and attend church.

Lonely days...

Do you ever have those lonely days, or lonely weeks, or even lonely months?  I could be surrounded by people I love and still feel incredibly lonely.  I have been back in Cambodia for a week now, but school hasn't started yet.  At times, I tend to forget why I am here.  I lose sense of purpose, and my heart wanders aimlessly.  It is in these moments that my heart finds itself desperately lonely.  Jesus, please be enough for my hungry heart.  When I'm not doing something useful, I find myself anxious.  I shouldn't have to always be doing something to find purpose, or should I?  Lord, help me to find a healthy balance between serving You and resting in You.  Remind me why I am here, and satisfy my longing heart.

Unknown to us, but known to Him!

So, it's the end of another summer and new school year is around the corner.  Wow, how time flies.  These last 3 years in Cambodia have been an amazing journey.  I've been blessed in so many ways.  There have been many tough times, but it's funny how those things are not easily remembered in the midst of the joy in the journey.  What I remember about those times, is not so much the pain, but Gods faithfulness, his discipline, and His grace.   God continues to amaze me with His ways and His power.  He works in mysterious ways, revealing Himself in the most unlikely places.  So as we all continue on the journey the Lord has set before us, I pray that we would trust that even though the way is unknown to us, it is known to Him.  

Solomon Girls' Soccer

So, it's been a while since I've shared about what God is doing among the Solomon soccer teams.  Two years ago, my friend Chenda and I started with one team of Solomon youth guys.  At the beginning of this school year, we have started a younger team of boys.  

In January, Chenda and I started a team of Solomon girls.  I teach English in the evenings, and I began asking my girls if they would be interests in playing soccer.  Many of them said, "yes", so we have it a try.  This is something that I've been praying about and envisioning for a while.  God has brought this vision to reality.  Right now we have about 14 girls who come to practice twice a week.  We have played a couple of games, but is very difficult to find cambodian girls' teams.  It is not very popular in this culture for girls to play sports.  In fact, a few girls from my English class cannot play because their family won't allow them.  Some cannot play because their families don't believe girls should play soccer, and some cannot play because their family doesn't want them to get darker skin from the sun.  Here, everyone is trying to protect their skin from the sun and avoid getting darker.  In America, everyone is soaking up the sun and trying to get darker.  Anyway, I'm so excited about what God is already doing among these girls.  It gives me an opportunity to pray for these girls, love on these girls, and speak truth into their lives.  A few of them don't speak very good English, so this is inspiring me to learn better Khmai.  

Four months ago, we had our first practice.  After 5 minutes of scrimmaging, the girls were literally sitting on the ground because they were too tired.  Yikes!  Most of these girls have never played an organized team sport before.  Today, we had practice and the girls scrimmaged for 35 minutes straight with no subs.  I was so proud of them.  They are learning how to run hard and not give up.  

Please pray for these girls to fall in love with Jesus as they enjoy playing soccer.

My passions and desires...

Oh Lord, my desire is to love you and serve you.  However, I have other desires too.  Most of my desires and passions are good.  They come from you, and they are designed to point us to You!  There are times that I allow these passions to replace you and steal your glory.  Lord, forgive me.  You have given me so many good things in this life, but I often forget that it is all from you.  Nothing in this life is meant to replace you.  Relationships are a gift from You.  Family, friends, and people I love are all gifts from you.  I often take these gifts and make them gods.  Oh Lord, forgive me.  These people cannot replace you and your love.  It is not fair to them, because they will always let me down.  They were not meant to fill this heart of mine.  All of these good things and good people will leave me disappointed if I rely on them for fulfillment.  My heart was designed for You, so help me to be satisfied in You.  It seems that this is and will be a constant struggle all my days!  Give me grace, oh Lord!

The Thorn in our flesh

We all have those things we struggle with, and for some of use there is one struggle in particular that Satan continues to use against us.  I was reading a book the other day, and the author spoke of the adulteress woman in John 8.

"Early in the morning he came again to the temple.  All the people cam to him, and he sat down and taught them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman had been caught in the act of adultery.  Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a women.  So what do you say?'  This they said to test him that they might have some charge to bring against him.  Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.'  And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.  But when they heard it, they wen away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.  Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?'  She said, 'No one, Lord.'  And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

Have you ever been caught in one of those sins that is "worthy of being stoned"?  Or have you ever known someone who has been caught in a sin like this?  There are few things from this text that stick out to me.  One is that Jesus was writing something in the dirt.  He did it twice in this passage.  What was he writing?  Maybe he was writing scripture or maybe he was writing down the sins of her accusers, who knows?  That's a question for heaven. :)

Second, I notice how the first accusers to walk away were the older ones.  Why?  Maybe, because they have known the depths of their sin.  The longer we live, the more we fail.  I know, that I give grace more quickly now than I did before.  I've known the depths of God's grace in my heart, and I know my heart is sinful.  I think Jesus exposed the hearts of these pharisees and for some they knew they were no less worthy than this adulteress woman.  Oh friends, let us show grace and love those caught in sin!

Third, I am most convicted by the part that says, "Go, and from now on sin no more."  I'm sure this adulteress woman was so grateful towards this man who just saved her life and forgave her of a sin she could not escape herself.  I'm sure she vowed to never walk down that road again.  However, I wonder what the rest of her story is like.  Did she ever struggle in this area again?  Did she become a faithful follower of Jesus?  I can imagine that she chose to follow Jesus, but I wonder if she struggled.  I've struggled with sin and God has forgiven me.  He has said to go and sin no more, but I continue to fail, and I often fail in the same areas.  I struggle with the very thing that has caused so much pain.  I've known God's great grace, so why is my flesh so weak?  Oh God, give me your strength so that I can stand against Satan's schemes.  Satan is after my heart and he knows my weaknesses.  Lord, help me to go and sin no more!   I realize when I spend less time with Jesus and try to live this life on my own, I'm open to Satan's attacks.  I need Jesus and I need accountability.

Pauls speaks of the thorn in his flesh.  We don't really know what it was, but we know he struggled with it often.  We all have a thorn in our flesh.  Lord give us grace, and the strength to stay close to You!

Wrecked Plans

Has God ever wrecked your plans?  Or maybe He has thwarted your plans?  Often, I don't see it as God changing my plans until later.  This week is a big holiday in Cambodia.  It's called "Khmai New Year."  Most foreigners like to travel to nearby cities or even get out of the country.  Most local people travel to their home towns to spend time with their families.  This makes the big city of Phnom Penh really quiet.  I love it!

I was supposed to travel to the Philippines, but God seemed to have other plans.  My friends and I were supposed to travel to Vietnam and fly from their to the Philippines.  We did it this way because it was cheaper and we would get to see a little bit of Vietnam.  I went to Vietnam 2 years ago, and they give a visa when you get to the border crossing.  Well, as we got on the bus and began to leave the city, the bus attendant collected passports which is normal.  Then he asked where our visas were.  Hmmmm.... We thought we were supposed to get them at the border.  He told us that we had to get them beforehand.  He called, "Stop the bus."  Yes, were those people who got kicked off the bus for not knowing all the logistics.  So we rushed to the embassy, to find that it would cost us $100 to buy a double entry visa just to fly through Vietnam.  So, then we looked into flights straight to Vietnam, and we tried to book a flight, and thought we had it booked.  Upon arriving to the airport, the desk attendant told us that we only had the itenerary, not the actual tickets.  Ugh!!!!  We asked if we could book tickets at the counter, and she said, "no, everything is online."  Then she said, "But, you will still need a visa, to go out of customs and back in."  What???!!!! By then it was 4 pm, and our fight was leaving Vietnam in 5 hours.  There was no way to get a visa and make it to Vietnam.  Then we checked new tickets to the Philippines, but they were now over $500 round trip.  Money was lost on non-refutable flights, plans were wrecked, and we were stuck in Cambodia.  

Well, we came to the conclusion that God didn't want us to go.  For me, it has been the best thing that could have happened.  God knew exactly what I needed, as HE always does. These last few days have been amazingly restful, full of good times with the Lord.  Life gets so busy sometimes, and we have no space to hear from Jesus.  I need times when my brain can be empty and ready to hear from the Lord.  Oh Lord, help me to make this space in my life!   

I've played some soccer, run and biked around an empty city, spent time with some Cambodian friends, drank some great coffee, and read a few good books.  Perfect!!!!

Ahhh, so spicy!

Papaya Salad!  It's so spicy that it brings
me to tears, but I still like to eat it.

         

Soccer boys and friends enjoying
Cambodian burritos!

Young man at work!

Have you ever wondered how people
get mangos out of a tree?
Yes, there is a special tool!

Mango trees in the back yard is a
totally normal here.
Look what I found! 

Friends!

The Joy of a Bible

I love coffee, and because I love coffee I have the opportunity to build relationships with people who work at coffee shops.  There is one particular coffee shop that I might enjoy as much as Starbucks.  It is called Browns.  I spend a lot of time there, and I frequent the one near my house.  I know most of the workers, and they know me and my drink.  One of the young workers often talks to me.  His english is pretty good.  Over the last 6 months, I've had a few conversations with him about Jesus.  He knows about Jesus, but doesn't have many opportunities to hear about Him.  Yesterday, I brought him a Bible in English and Khmai.  He likes to study English, so I thought that he might like it.  I gave it to him last night.  I explained what it was, and he seemed excited.  He asked me, "When do I need to give it back to you?"  I said, "It's yours.  You can keep it."  He said, "Really?"  I asked him if he had another Bible.  He said yes, but it belonged to a friend and he needed to return it to him.  He was so excited.  As he took it back behind the counter, he was showing his friends.  I over heard him say to his friends, "Yes, it's mine, she gave it to me."  

How often to do I treasure my Bible like that?  My Bible is the key to knowing God, yet I leave them on the shelves allowing it to collect dust.  Or I tend to treat reading my Bible as a chore.  The fact that I have a Bible is a gift!  It's a gift from the Father.  It's the key to God's heart!  

Lord, help us to be aware of those around us who need to hear from you.

Please pray for my "coffee shop" friend!  Thanks, Sara!

Toms Shoes...

Have you ever wondered what really happens to that extra pair of Toms shoes you pay for when you buy a pair of Toms.  Well, I saw first hand hundreds of toms shoes delivered to Cambodian children at my school.  I'm not sure if the founder of Toms Shoes is a follower of Jesus or if their mission is God-centered, but I do know that God can use all things to proclaim His great name.  Toms shoes meets the needs of people all over the world, and what a great way to love and serve others.  By loving and serving, we have greater opportunities to show people Jesus and proclaim the Good News.

One of those days...

Do you ever have one of those days when if someone were to look at you wrong you might "blow their head off".  Yeh, well, today was one of those days.  I could feel the grumpiness rising up in me early on in the day, but I couldn't stop it.  As the day moves on, I have about 5 different moments of frustration.  A few of these moments could have been handled better.  After about the 4 time of failing miserably and allowing frustration to take over, I cried out for God to help me.  And then I failed again in a different situation.  First of all, why did it take that long for me to cry out for God's help.  Why do you I think I can handle things on my own?  Why do I think I can teach classes and coach sports teams on my own?  Why would I even want to?  Well, honestly because I like to take the glory.  But it's so much better when God is working through me and receiving the glory.  I fail on my own!  It takes a day of many failures for God to remind me of the simple truth that, "it's not all about me."  Oh, Lord, remind us daily to reach for your strength and to live for your glory and not our own.  I need you!  For the past few months, the Lord keeps bringing this verse back to my mind.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways)acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be )healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

Olaf & Friends

My family sent me an amazing birthday package full of all kinds of goodies.  One of the goodies, was a large talking Olaf from the movie Frozen.  I took Olaf to school with me on Friday.  I was having flashbacks of show & tell.  I used to love show & tell day in elementary school.  Well, Olaf was a hit, and he posed any many pictures.  Family, thanks for bringing a little more joy into my day.  I love you guys!

Collision with a mini pagoda...

So, it's rainy season, and the rain pounded out of the sky for a good 3 hours last Sunday morning.  It flooded the streets to capacity.  My roommate and I were tired of being cooped up inside, so we ventured out into to the monsoon.  We waded through water at least ankle deep.



This is a common occurrence during the rainy season in Cambodia.  I don't mean us venturing out into flood waters, but the flooding is a common occurrence.  Many people's house flood, which is quite a tragedy.  I'm so thankful that my house does not flood.  As we were wading through the water, we begin to think that this was kind of a silly idea, because let's just say that the water running down the streets of Phnom Penh isn't always the cleanest.  However, we did get some good footage.  After walking for awhile, my friend and I split ways.  She was headed to the grocery store, and I was headed to a coffee shop.  About 100 feet from my destination, I was stepping up onto the curb, ducking under a sign, and all of sudden BANG!

I hit my head on the corner of a Budhist spirit house which is used to protect businesses form evil spirits.  I like to call it a mini pagoda.  Incense and different types of fruit offerings are placed on the spirit houses, in order to appease the spirits.  These are very common in our city.  Well, talk about coming face to face with spiritual warfare, lol.  I didn't even see it coming.  At first, I just felt like I had my head hard on something, but I was fine.  Until these Cambodian men saw me, and started pointing at my head.  They literally made me stop walking, and then I felt the blood start running down my face.  It was bleeding really bad, and it wouldn't stop.  I guess there are many blood vessels in your head, and it bleeds really easily.  One Cambodian man grabbed some tissue, and started wiping my face.  Another man goes into a KTV, which is a scary karaoke bar where unspoken things happen inside.  However it was morning, so the KTV wasn't open yet.  The man runs inside and comes out with tiger balm, the "cure all" in Cambodia.  Before I could think to stop him, he puts a glob of tiger balm in the open wound and pressss it down.  Soon the bleeding slows down, so it served its purpose.  But then I feel the tiger balm getting into my eyes from the rain running down my face.  I thought, "this tiger balm can't be a good idea." I called my roommate and tried to explain what just happened, but I wasn't really making sense.  She asked if I was ok, and I kept saying yes.  I tilde her I was going home.  I though it would be fine, but I couldn't actually see the wound since it was on the top of my head.  So, I asked a tuk tuk to drive me home, but when we get to our road, he can't go down it because the water is too high.  I thank him, pay him 50 cents, and walk the rest of the way home.  I have now reached our frustration, becuase my hair is matted with blood, and I don't know what to do, and I can't get home.  Tears are starting to fall, and it doesn't even hurt that bad.  Finally, I get home and jump in the shower.  I clean the area, and the tiger balm washes off, and the wound starts bleeding again, everywhere.  I look in the mirror and see a good size hole, where the spirit house poked me.  I knew then that I needed to go the doctor, ugh!!!  So, I go down and knock on my roommates door to ask for help.  With blood all over my hair, I looked so scary, like so one who had just stepped out if a horror movie.  My roommate freaks out a little, lol, but then goes into help mode.

Two of roommates accompany me to the ER, which happened to be located close to where I got injured.  We had to walk back down the flooded streets to there.  This was my first time in the hospital in Cambodia, so I was a little nervous.  The doctor was great.  He cleaned my wound and told me I would need a stitch or two.  He gave me a shot in my head (that was a first)!  While cleaning it, he noticed that there was tiger balm in the wound, and he asked how that got there. I told him the story.  He said next time just apply pressure to sop the bleeding.  Don't use tiger balm, because that can cause infection.  I was like, great!  The doctor then tells me that I can't contaminate the area with water for 2 days.  Ahhh!!!  It's on top of my head so that means washing my hair is going to be difficult.  I thought about not going to school for 2 days, but then I sucked it up and decided I could just wash around the spot.  But I had to wear my hair differently, which is a small tragedy.  It's now a week later, and the wound did not get infected and I'm supposed to get the stitches out today.  Anyway, living in Cambodia is never dull.  Life is always an adventure.  I'm so thankful for Cambodians willing to help, amazing roommates who come to my rescue, and Gods protection and provision.  Through this story, I am reminded of how we aren't often ready for Satan's attacks because we don't know when and how he is going to hit us.  This was quite an ironic event, because I hit my head on an altar built to keep away evil spirits, one of Satan's designs.   Will we trust God, when Satan attacks?  Will our faith be firm and grounded in Christ?  Or will we be shaken and tempted to lose faith, which is Satan's purpose in spiritual attacks.  Many of my co-workers and church family is going through different physical and spiritual attacks.  It's funny how Satan seems to strategically hit groups of people at once.  I don't think he realizes how it actually increases our prayer life, and strengthens our faith.  So, could you please pray for Gods protection, and that God would give us all the faith to trust Him.

High School Retreat...

Each year we take all of the high school kids, which is about 100 students, on a small retreat.  So a few weeks ago, we headed off again for the retreat.  Many students were anticipating God to move, some were just excited about not going to school, and some were indifferent to God and all things to do with Him.  It was exciting to see God move and change hearts.  God always has something to say to our hearts when we slow down and give Him a chance to speak.  There are many students in our school who are followers of Jesus, but there are also many who are very unsure of their faith.  There are also those who do not follow Jesus.  Please pray for God to continue to do a work in the hearts of our students.

God's timing seems to tarry…

This weekend at the retreat, the teachers were given an opportunity to prepare a small seminar for the students.  I think we had about 6 different seminars.  I’m so thankful for the opporunity.  I shared a part of my past that I knew God would be able to use in the lives of some of our students, and it was a huge mile marker in my life.  God took something dark from the past and turned it into something that He could use for His glory.  I pray and hope that God used what I shared in the lives of the students.  As I was sharing, God brought even more healing as I spoke of His great grace.  It was confirmation that God does use our brokeness for His good.  For many years, I prayed and hoped that God would use it for something good, but I wasn’t really sure how He was going to do that, until now.  We are all so broken, but not beyond repair.  I’m amazed how God uses everything for His good.  

This is one example of how Gods timing is beyond my understanding, and waiting for it can be extremely difficult.