Oh We’re Halfway There, Oh Livin on a Prayer

 

It’s been a whole 4 1/2 months on the field. Feels like eternity and a flash all in one. Thought I’d share some memorable moments of what life has looked like, as well as some struggles, because let’s be real it’s not all as put together as it may look…. hence the title; I’m literally living on prayer.

Some memorable moments:

1. The first time I had to use a squatty potty
2. Finding a .75 cent coffee shack & discovering how much I actually enjoy coffee
3. Riding my bike in the pouring rain to find peanut butter with my team. To be honest, we were like strangers at this point.
4. Drinking my first green coconut.
5. Meeting the laundry lady’s puppy, Sunday, and watching him grow up.
6. Riding a bamboo train through the countryside of Cambodia.
7. Eating at a restaurant called Delicious that was so not delicious and had a rat crawling on the wall. 
8. Eating sticky rice out of a bamboo stick.
9. Watching millions of bats be released from their cave at sunset.
10. Teaching English with Grace and making jokes with our 22 year old student, San Chanda.
11. Getting terrible Mexican food in an Asian country with Gabs and Cara.
12. Sweeping the stairs and sweating so much that people asked if I had worked out. Nope- just the struggles of Cambodian heat sadly.
13. Holding the cutest puppies and playing with a naked baby at a bus station.
14. Hopping in the back of a pick up truck to get to a bus station.
15. My team going to Thailand for the weekend to fix our messed up visas.
16. Getting very sick from a dang mosquito.
17. Watching my teammates do zumba by the river in Bangkok.
18. Doing tuk tuk races through Bangkok and ending up at a skyline bar with the most beautiful view of the city.
19. Sharing ice cream with a little boy begging for money.
20. Pizza on the rooftop with Shelby and Gabs.
21. Experiencing headphone worship for the first time.
22. Waking up at 4 am to go to Angkor Wat and then later ziplining with Cara.
23. Finding a church that speaks English with Cara and Grace.
24. Riding my bike around our compound with one of the students, Souji, on the back and talking about Jesus.
25. Giving Souji my ‘Unashamed’ key.
26. My team dressing up as N’SYNC and performing the dance from ‘Its gonna be Me’ in front of the squad.
27. Cooking dinner in the afternoons with Gabs and Victoria. Lots of pruned fingers and good conversations. 
28. Becoming best friends with Chhady after I told her I clogged the toilet… No shame, it’s typical world race. 
29. Sleeping on the roof in my hammock and waking up to insane sunrise painted skies.
30. Making handmade paper from recycled materials to later sell cards.
31. Sitting with patients and caregivers and playing board games at the trauma hospital.
32. Buying 30 cobs of corn with Gabby and stopping at the roti stand with Mr. Sam.
33. Going to the $2 movie theatre and drinking strawberry smoothies.
34. Ochaya and my short lived obsession with green apple boba tea.
35. Stocking up at the HCL mart.
36. Sharing tubs of ice-cream for team time at the Lucky grocery store.
37. Dancing at a festival and having a crowd of people watching.
38. Trips to the market every Saturday for pineapple and eggs.
39. Breaking my bike seats too many times.
40. Convincing Grace to dye her hair brown and going to a sketchy market salon to get it done.
41. Going to a boat race festival where it’s the only river in the world that changes directions during the year.
42. Painting a Winnie the Pooh ceramic with Cara while sitting by rotting meats. Later giving the Pooh bear to a little boy.
43. Eating weird dragon breath fruit loop things.
44. Becoming friends with Rachel and going to her house for breakfast.
45. Crashing several Cambodian weddings and dancing with the guests.
46. Making chicken nuggets for the whole squad. Hire me @chickfila 
47. Going to a water park and being the only people there.
48. Worship night at Eden and getting our feet washed by the men’s team.
49. Making a rap about Baguettes.
50. Attempting to teach Chhady to swim.
51. Riding the overnight bus to the capitol of Cambodia and dying laughing with Cara.
52. $5 Foot massages at the nicest spa with Cara. Free scarves and photographs included.
53. Teaching at a Buddhist school and learning what it looks like to actually walk in patience.
54. Telling a little girl about Jesus and her persisting to know more everyday.
55. Eating noodles and apples on the roof with Chhady at 11pm on a mattress and talking about life.
56. Climbing a mountain with Mr Sam and feeding monkeys.
57. Letting Chhady dye my hair.
58. Giving out flowers to all our local people in gratitude of their love towards us.
59. Praying over the KTVS in the area.
60. Still eating traditional Thanksgiving in Asia.
61. Fishing with bamboo sticks on a farm and teaching children Christmas songs.
62. Getting my feet eaten by fish for $3.
63. Eating my weight in gelato.
64. Getting my makeup and hair done in the market and taking photos with teammates at an old airport.
65. Being in the airport with thousands of Asian teen girls waiting for the K-pop stars to come through.
66. Being chased in a van by teen boys trying to sell their snacks to us.
67. Finding contentment cutting grass in an African field.
68. Priming the walls of a training center and ending up being the one that’s covered in primer.
69. Doing Zumba to ‘Its time for Africa’ with Taylor in the trade center.
70. Working out on the roof with Victoria and Chhady.
71. Having team time outside, all wrapped up in our sleeping bags, laughing our heads off.
72. Movie nights with the children, and Meskerem snuggling up to me.
73. Movie Saturday with my team.
74. Having a blanket ceremony for a local village family who now has sponsors
75. Sharing my paints with all the kids at sunset on the porch.
76. Writing scripture all over the walls of the training center.
77. Dressing Victoria up as Mrs. Clause for the Christmas costume competition.
78. Getting my hair braided into weave.
79. Walking the kindergarten kids to school with Cara one morning.
80. Making balloon crowns for the kids.
81. Playing with Dereche in the afternoon and his house mom feeding Shelby and I bread.
82. My team winning the Christmas riff off.
83. Watching Luis get surprised on his birthday with a horse and then riding it.
84. Christmas Eve candlelit service.
85. Walking out of worship in awe at the amount of stars that lit up the sky.
86. Dressing up in matching pajamas and watching the Grinch on Christmas Eve.
87. Getting a sock full of encouraging notes of Christmas.
88. Getting to unexpectedly talk to my dad on Christmas.
89. Going to reforestation to pray over the land and sitting at the peaceful river.
90. Painting little village girls nails and washing their feet off.
91. Little girls making me flower earrings.
92. Finding 2 little puppies abandoned on the road and taking them in.
93. Breaking down and reconstructing the road outside our compound for the local community to eventually drive on it.
94. Holding a sheep
95. One on ones with Taylor and all the wisdom she gives.
96. All the kisses from Meskerem when I go to her house.
97. Making a video of all the children for Graces birthday
98. Singing Bruno Mars songs with our African bus driver 
99. Trips to the market to buy mango lollipops and bananas.
100. Celebrating Caras 21st by getting wifi at the fanciest hotel.

 

 

These are just a few, and I am sure there are so many more that I probably forgot. Some of my struggles on the field have been: living in constant community, forced abandonment from wifi, family, and schedules, not having your own free time but a lot of things that are scheduled for you to follow. All in all there’s going to be good and bad, and I’ve discovered it’s all a perspective thing. I can press into the good of this season and have a positive outlook or I can mourn on the hard things. Going into this next half with a full heart and fresh perspective; ready to learn and serve!