Real life is…
Writing lesson plans, correcting homework, and singing Karaoke with my students.
Real life is…
Riding our bikes to dinner in monsoon season, then waiting two hours for the flooded streets to clear so that we can get home again.
Real life is…
Eating fantastic Filipino food every day, prepared with love by our house Moms.
Real life is…
Getting swarmed by thirty-plus exuberant children in the village.
Real life is…
Not being fazed by the unexpected rain showers INSIDE my bedroom.
Real life is…
The chance to disciple new believers as their hearts shift from Buddha to Jesus.
Real life is…
Having prized possessions (like razors and soap) disappear overnight into the mouse-holes in my room.
Real life is…
Coming home from ministry to find 20 new photos from our awesome students blowing up my Facebook page.
Real life is…
Teaching a great class of University students and talking about life, dreams, and culture with them.
Real life is…
Reciting She Sells Sea Shells Down by the Sea Shore with my students to practice pronunciation.
Real life is…
Realizing I’m wearing clothes and jewelry from Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia all at one time.
Real life is…
Loving on village kids by letting them jump, pull, squeeze, climb, sit, sleep, and cry on me as much as they need to.
Real life is…
Acknowledging the reality of spiritual attacks and uniting together to pray them away.
Real life is…
Having fun and laughing a lot while teaching English to a class of 25 smiling, inquisitive Buddhist monks by myself.
Real life is…
Having a food fight with the cake the students brought us on our last day, until every teacher and student is covered in frosting.
Real life is…
Washing babies, singing to toddlers, and roughhousing with the rowdy ones.
Real life is…
Starting each day with an hour of worship and devotional time.
Real life is…
Showing a bed-ridden, paralyzed women that she is worthy of time and attention.
Real life is…
Cruising around town in our own personal tuk-tuk, driven by my teammate Kyle.
Real life is…
Being a little kid’s favorite person, and doing nothing to deserve it but treat her with love.
Real life is…
Hoping my sunglasses aren’t carrying any lice when they’re done being passed from child to child.
Real life is…
Feeling well-loved by our students and sad to not stay with them longer.
Real life is…
That frustration that comes with seeing how much more we could invest and mentor if we only had more time.
Real life is…
Climbing the old watch tower at dawn to watch the sun come up over the Mekong River.
Real life is…
Seeing Jesus in the kids who served with us in ministry each morning, even if they don’t yet know what that means.
Real life is…
Reading books to my nephew over Skype, and having him tell me bedtime stories as well.
Real life is…
Willing my laundry to dry in between downpours.
Real life is…
Witnessing true servant’s hearts in the lives of our hosts Maricel and Marianne, and feeling more at home with them than I have in months.
Real life is…
Wishing I could adopt the little girl with open sores all over her feet and rotten teeth, or the little boy who loves to be safe in my arms because the other kids beat him up, or the naked baby with infected mosquito bites and a lumpy rash all over his head.
Real life is…
Showing Jesus’ love in all the simple ways.
Real life is…
Finding yet another place I want to stay forever.
Real life is…
