If I’m being honest when I heard we were working at an orphanage this month I was disappointed . Every month of the race I’ve worked with children In some way , sometimes in schools other times in churches , and I enjoy kids but I’m also pretty comfortable with kids .
Before the race I finished school to be a daycare teacher which I did for 5 years, so when I came on the race I was excited to experience different things , work in prisons maybe or do evangelism on college campuses . I don’t know exactly what I was expecting . But I do know I’m not supposed to have expectations but it happened.
When we arrived at the orphanage in Cambodia , the minute we stepped out of the van there were 20 kids all around us wanting to play and chat . I had one little boy who introduced himself then came back and said my name was his name and his name was my name . To this day I still call him ashley and he tells people that’s his name .
It’s Been cool to actually build relationships with these kids , to get to know who they are , what their stories are and what they like to do . I’ve learned many clapping games this month , it makes me feel like I’m 8 again .
Most days consists of us teaching English then playing with the kids, which has been such a blessing . Most months I’ve worked with kids but never really got the chance to play with them , to get to know them on a personal level so I’ve loved that .
Yesterday we were asked how we feel about leaving this place . My first thought was I’m ready . Then I started to really think about it and realized I will miss the hugs and the random handshakes . I’ll miss listening to the kids sing “this girl is on fire ” ALL THE TIME ! I’ll miss the smiles of the people we live with and how they mimic us when we workout in the mornings .I’ll miss the puppies we got to care for since they were one day old . I’ll miss the volleyball games and watching the boys play on the skateboard .
Honestly this month has been hard , there have been days I don’t even want to move because of the heat , days the bugs are too much to handle, days I’m frustrated because I wake up to ants crawling on me or the heat rash that has not managed to leave me alone . Days when the 4:30 am chanting from the temples frustrates me . Days that I would give anything for some small conveniences from home .
But all those things have showed me I don’t need everything I thought I did. There’s some days I don’t think I could have gotten through the heat without prayer , the awesome days are when God would send plenty of rain to break the heat for a bit .
This month I’ve learned to be a bit more okay With bugs , I don’t always freak out. But I have my moments . This morning a huge spider crawled out of my clean clothes , I think that is a good reason to freak out. Haha
He never said it would be easy and it hasn’t been
But we’ve laughed a lot
we’ve made memorize
We’ve eaten tarantula , alligator, dog and snake
We got to swim in 3 feet of water
We got to warm some puppies up after they almost drowned in a storm
We got to care for a baby duckling , which died the next day
We got to dig holes at the farm
We got to pick our own mangoes from the trees
We got to do many things this month that I can’t say I’ve ever done
I’ve enjoyed Cambodia immensely !
We leave on Thursday to meet up with out squad then on the 30th we head over to Thailand !
Please be praying for funds
I’m still fundraising for my last deadline which I didn’t meet . I need 2085$ in order to stay on the field . Please be praying that the finances come in .
If you feel led to donate press the support me button
Thank you to everyone who has helped me get here. I couldn’t do this without you all !
