What do you do on your birthday in Cambodia you might ask?
Well…
My Cambodian birthday
was special that’s for sure. As I
reflect back on the day, I see how Jesus sprinkled little gifts into the
corners of my day. He’s good at that,
giving good and perfect gifts that at first you may not notice. He’s such a detailed lover, caring about all
the little things in your heart.
At 9 am I had a
breakfast of noodles, cabbage and scrambled eggs all mixed together and some
sort of fried ball of something on the side….one bite and I was done. At some point after breakfast and before
meeting with our contact Ra, a little Cambodian boy covered in dirt came over
to me. I sat him on my lap and propped my
legs up as he snuggled in and eventually fell asleep while lying on my lap.
Cute little schoolgirl!
Lunch was a yummy
meal of fried fish and two kinds of fruit that I’d never had before – dragon
fruit and…something else that I can’t
remember the name of. I love fried fish
so that was a nice treat from Jesus.
After lunch I took my Crazy Creek chair, Bibles and journal and headed
down the “road� to spend some time with Jesus and just think. I sat down in the shade of a tree to try and
be a bit cooler. The view was
fabulous. A dirt field and after that
some kind of exotic looking trees and then lush,green hills in the distance.
I spent some time
praying, reading, thinking and trying to process some things. On my way back to the house one of my
teammates gave me a birthday present – a COLD Coke, a pack of Doublemint gum
and a brand new toothbrush! Earlier I
received a card, a note, some sweet pink birthday sunglasses, a party hat and a
birthday banner. What more could a girl
ask for??? Well, Jesus wasn’t done yet.
I spent some time
just hanging out with my squadmates in the back room of our house. I saw the BIGGEST gecko of my entire life in
there. It was HUGE! Then it was
suppertime. Supper was a meal of rice,
green beans with some mystery meat mixed in, jackfruit and dragon fruit. Green beans are another favorite of mine!
A Beautiful, Rainy Sunset
One of my teammates
and I took a walk as the sun was setting.
The Father painted a gorgeous one for me. We ended up with a fantastic view of colors
and trees and rolling hills. He’s given
me lots of beautiful sunsets these past 9 months, and I never get tired of
them.
I got a birthday
phone call from another team right before I went to bed which was just the
icing on the cake to my day.
Good conversations,
wonderful people, quiet time and beautiful scenery make up a pretty great birthday. Thank you Jesus and squadmates for blessing
me today.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is
the man that takes refuge in Him.�
Psalm 34:8
