Sun and Water

It's amazing how much we take for granted. Whether it be that friend who goes the extra mile, that extra blanket you need because your AC is on a bit to high, or even the water we drink. Being in Cambodia, at the end of my second week now, has already shown me so much. At home I don't always have to wonder if the food I've just eaten will make me sick, or if there is enough water bottles in the fridge (I just get from the tap), or always making sure I'm hydrated because in this heat, sweat is like another layer of clothing and something that is just always there. I have learned to appreciate the little things like a clean towel every day (even if it occasionally has stains), running water to take a shower, a basket on the bike I'm using to make my mile transport to the school a bit easier, and especially the air conditioner in the guest house room even if it is not as efficient as one in the US.

 The strangest thing about being here is despite how different everything seems, it still feels "normal" for me, at least as normal as I ever am. Although I wouldn't want to live here for a long period of time, I feel like this is the first place I've been with people who view the world as an open book waiting to be explored, as I do. The people here are daily changing the lives of the Khmer people, and are in it for the long run. Single women who are not afraid to go and start amazing programs in 3rd world countries that help so many people. I am daily amazed at the work of God's hand in the lives of the people here and all because where some would see limitations they see expectations. The more I'm away from home, the more I realize the only true home is my Heavenly home.

Take time today and relish in the fact that no matter where you are in life or where you are going God is there guiding you exactly where you need to be.

Building Hope Cambodia

Every time you take a trip they say it will change your life. What they don't prepare you for the lack of change from everyone around you. Fresh of ideas with a new perspective on life, you can't see the world through your old eyes any longer because a gate has been opened that once had been sealed. Until you begin to travel you will never understand this door I speak of. Even when you think you have seen it all there is ALWAYS something that will blow your mind.

I have been more fortunate than most in my travels. In my short 22 years of life I have been blessed to have traveled to many countries including: USA (where i'm from), Canada, Germany, Belgium, England, Luxembourg, France, Italy,  Czech Republic, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, South Korea, China, and now perhaps what will be my most life changing trip yet Cambodia.

Sitting on a plane leaves you a lot of time for reflection. Twenty hours to be exact in this case, fifteen hours from Atlanta, GA to Seoul, South Korea and then a connecting flight lasting 5 hours from Seoul to Siem Reap Cambodia. I reflect on what and who I leave behind in the US, what I have given up to come on this trip, but most importantly what I will gain.

If you look toward your future and there is not more to gain than what is behind, how do you push on to live the next day. Life is filled with regrets and mistakes we all wish we wouldn't make, but it is not those mistakes that define us, it is how they refine us that make us the people we are.

I hope I will be able to go into the fire of adversity with a lasting hope and ambition that does not extinguish the adversity, yet sets it into a all consuming blaze that causes people to see a light where they once saw only danger.

With prayer and a building hope, here I am!