Random Thoughts from Cambodia

The team has made it safely to Cambodia! We rode in a bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok which took about 12 hours. From there we switch to vans and rode to the border which was about a 4 hour ride. Finally we crossed the border and had a short 3 hour ride to the host location in Cambodia in Siem Reap! The travel went great and the Lord blessed us and made our day smooth and worry free. as we arrived in Cambodia I was overwhelmed by gratefulness for all the little things the Lord has provided for me over the course of the trip and I wanted to share some of those things with you all.

Upon arriving to training camp I quickly realized that I had done some of the most rustic living and camping for vacations etc growing up. I had gotten used to giving up material possessions and enjoying the great outdoors. Things like sleeping in a hammock or on the ground in a tent. Eating hotdogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I quickly took on the mindset that I would have to sacrifice and take the worst case scenario in an effort to give my team mates the best case scenario. Although that was my heart posture going into training camp I feel like God has really shown me how much He loves me through my team mates during the race. This has looked different in every country but time and time again I see my team mates sacrificing to give me the better deal. Noah and I have shared a room for most of the trip and not once has he allowed me to take the worse living situation. Whether that was sleeping on the top bunk or in a smaller bed he has always insisted that I be the one to have the better set up. When we drive long distances I am constantly allowed to sit in the front seat with the most room. I think back to my birthday on the mountain in Guatemala and how my team went out of their way to accommodate having meat on the mountain for dinner despite not having any refrigeration or way to preserve the food simply because they knew I loved eating meat. People have lent me toiletries when I was out of soap or tooth paste etc. My team mates have given me gifts and written me letters of encouragement. The Lord has truly blessed me in the small things in small ways each and every day.

So why do I say all these things? Really 2 things were revealed to me while I was thinking about all of these blessings I have received over the past months. The first was “How often do we miss out on noticing all of God’s small blessings in our life because we are looking for some massive miracle?”. The other question that came to mind was “Do we treat our brothers and sisters this way when we are at home in the everyday motion of life, if no, why not?”

So often we miss out on what God is doing in our life because we fail to notice all the small ways He is blessing us everyday. Those small moments are chances to say a quick prayer and praise the Lord for all that He is doing. There is no line at the grocery store and you’re in a hurry? Praise the Lord! You get to park closest to the store you are going into? Praise the Lord! You get a call from a friend checking in on you when you need it? Praise the Lord! Not only is this a chance to thank him (which is what we are made to do, give glory to God) it is also a chance to practice seeing the Lord as our provider and comforter. When we have a heart posture of being grateful for even the smallest things how much easier will it be to give Him glory from a place of humility when something bigger happens. Say you get the promotion you’ve been hoping for. It would be very easy to say I earned this, because of my hard work I am getting promoted. But when we are practicing gratitude in small ways it is our default to say only because of you God did I get promoted. Thank you for giving me the skills and the opportunity to implement those skills. A life lived giving glory to God is what we should all strive for. As I return home I pray that I will maintain this heart posture of gratitude for the small and big blessings the Lord provides.

Secondly, do we sacrifice ourselves daily for the benefit of others? Are we interruptible and willing to give up the best option so someone else can have it? While on the mission field it has been much easier to die to self and put others first. One reason for this is we have no real responsibilities other than serving others well and feeding ourselves. In typical day to day life errands, chores and other things weigh us down and gear us towards making self centered decisions even if we can rationalize them by concluding they are a necessity. It is also easy to die to self when the community around you sings your praises for doing so. Again back at home the world around us will see us as crazy for putting others ahead of ourselves and often we can be penalized for putting others first. BUT that’s what we are called to do, each and everyday. Be interruptible, put others before ourselves and enter into the Lords rest by trusting His ability to provide for us. I have been so blessed to be living in community with a group of people who have done this so well. They have truly loved me like Christ loves me by putting me above themselves whenever they can. Their sacrifices for me are humbling and serve as a great reminder of just how much the Lord loves me. We have the chance to show this same love to nonbelievers everyday by simply letting them cut us in line or take our parking spot or whatever other small gesture it may be. Our actions speak louder than our words and God has shown me just how loud our actions speak by using my team mates to love me well in this area. I hope that when I return home my small choices everyday will be used to glorify God and spread His love to the world around me. This is the model we see from Jesus who is constantly taking the time to teach, heal, talk to and be intentional with those who are around Him. I want to be more like Jesus!

I hope this all makes sense, I’m slightly sleep deprived and being fueled by coffee at the moment. I typed this all on my phone so I hope there aren’t too many typos. I love you all and can’t wait to see you soon!!