Angkor wHat?

**Sorry this is coming a little out of order…I lost it amidst some Work In Progress Blogs…Oops!**

At the end of our time spent in Cambodia, as a squad, we went to the 8^th wonder of the world-Angkor Watt. Honestly, before I stepped off our plane into Cambodia I had never heard of this place. There were few conversations, however, with the local Khmer (Cambodian) people that did not include speaking of the iconic Cambodian tourist destination. All the girls that we lived with at the dorm and all my English students told me that I needed to see this famous place. Many of the local people can’t even afford to travel to Siem Reap to visit this famous temple that is the symbol on their country flag.
 
As the time neared, I was preparing to spend a day visiting Angkor Watt, but I would do a little research before I would embark on my 5:30 am voyage to the temples. I found that it was not one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it was the 8^th wonder. (I don’t even get those lists. They change all the time and in the midst of my researching, I found that there are about 10 different Seven Wonders of the World lists.) I also read up on the background information regarding the building, worshipping, tourism, and media around this special place. Besides the history of different religious practices taking place and the protection of this site during the Pol Pot regime during the 70’s, one of the temples was used in the filming of a great American classic… Tomb Raider. Okay, okay, I might be a little off with the great American classic, but it does feature Angkor Watt as Angelina Jolie jumps from a hidden passage in the midst of temple rubble in her escape from a giant statue coming to life. Oh course the area that was used in the movie was named the Tomb Raider Temple and brought lots of tourist specifically there to see the ties it has to Hollywood.
 
What is it about Hollywood that makes people around the world want to visit a location where a movie was filmed or even get a glimpse of a traveling movie star? Whatever it is, I can’t say that we didn’t also visit this Hollywood “film set” or a simple temple where a movie may or may not have been filmed.
 
As we wandered through the temple grounds we were witness to the jungle trees encroaching on the temple walls breaking down the brick pillars and doorways. The jungle roots would weave themselves through cracks and crevasses allowing for beautiful masterpieces of intertwined strands of nature and humanity to be seen. The trees displayed a brilliance of strength in how they grew around doorways and over walls. The place was something I thought I might only read about in books or dream about like Peter Pan did of  “Neverland”, but it was real.
 
Wasn’t it?
 
I stopped in my tracks and took a deep breath in. I thought to myself, “Is this really my life right now? Is this really what I am living like in my 23rd year of life? Has God so lavished His love on me that I might be able to experience this in my life?”
 
For a moment I needed some one to pinch me. I thought I was dreaming. These moments of complete awe have come more often recently. I sit in shock of my life while I lie on an African church pew, or walk through an international airport, or during worship with believers in a closed country, or in seeing the face of God in every country around the world. How have I been so blessed to experience this life?