shoot the moon, eh?

So, you know how sometimes you get very busy and certain things get pushed to the back of your plate?

Sorry...

There are many exciting things happening!! Khmer New Year is coming up!! Actually, I have to admit, I'm getting less excited as the time gets closer. Rachha, Seyha and Vothanak are going away for the time, so it's going to be very lonely around here. Kong will be here, but he's trying to spend more time at home, and to be honest, it's just more fun when we're all together in a group. I will enjoy the time off from teaching. Morning classes will stop for 2 weeks, and evening class will stop for only 3 days. At first I was planning on going to Vietnam with a few friends, but those plans fell through. Then we were going to go to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, but that's not happening either. So I decided (I didn't end up buying a motto) that I'm going to rent a motto for Khmer New Year! The only thing is that Sihanoukville will be very busy and crowded so the driving will be more dangerous than usual.

Today I walked to Sokah Beach and back. It's about a 45-50 minute walk. Normally nothing difficult, but the temperature is rising here. We're getting into the hottest month. I am sunburned and for some reason my leg really started to hurt on the way home. Now I've got a limp. =( The walk was very difficult, yet much easier than usual today. Difficult because it's so blinking hot out! Easier because I decided to wear shoes today! I haven't worn a pair of shoes in a few months. Just my flip flops. =) Except now I have blisters all over my feet!! What the heck??! I'm going to have to retrain my feet for normal shoes when I go home - which, by the way, is in less than 4 months.

Oh boy...

I just finished reading a book recommended to me by Nick Mullin. "Red Letters: a faith that bleeds" by Tom Davis. Oh. my. word. SO GOOD! Nick said it was life changing, and I agree. For anyone who calls them self a Christan, you need to read this book! It is so challenging. I'm not even going to go into too much details, but it's full of information about world poverty, and the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Seriously, go right now and buy this book!

Last week Gil left for America. Who is Gil you might ask? Well, good question...

Gil sponsors the school we run out in Buffalo Village. He's from Wisconsin and he's come to Cambodia for 3-4 months every year for the past 8 years (I think). He's a super good guy, I really enjoyed having him around. It was nice to have another white person around the school most days. Anyways, he's gone home to America now. We had a goodbye party for him at one of my favourite beaches, Treasure Island. It's the most fantastically beautiful beach! I'll tell you all a secret... I hope to someday have a wedding ceremony on that beach. Shhhh....

=)

Easter was good. SLM hosted a big music concert/celebration. I think the night went over really well. I taught some of my grade one students the song "We Wanna See Jesus Lifted High". They did a fantastic job! If you have Facebook, I uploaded a video from my camera of them on there..

GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?! My delightful friend Janessa from Winnipeg is coming to Sihanoukville for 3 weeks!!! She will arrive in 33 days!!! She's going to be volunteering around here in Sihanoukville for 2 weeks, and then her and I will travel around Cambodia for 1 week. I am beyond pumped!!! The motto I'm renting for Khmer New Year, I'm going to keep until Janessa and I go traveling. So I'll hopefully have a motto for about 4-5 weeks! =D

I wear a uniform now. Yep. Me. A long black skirt, and short sleeved sky blue blouse. I don't have any pictures of me yet, but I'll put one up when I do. It's pretty funny to see me in it!

Hmm, there's so much that has happened in the past months. I don't even know what to say. I've been learning so much lately. God has seen me through so much! My heart has been totally and completely destroyed in this country, and He's slowly putting it back together in such a way that it's looking more like His. My prayer lately has been that what matters to God, what's close to His heart would be what is on my heart. I want to care for the things that God cares about. I want to love what He loves. Hate what He hates. Being here in this country is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. The scary thing is that I know it's only the beginning. God's rebuilding my heart and mind so that I can handle what's to come in the future. Right now, as I am, I'm not strong enough to handle what's to come. I have to experience more, learn more, LIVE more!! Only then, by the grace of God, I will be able to face my future head on. I have to admit, there's a VERY good chance that I will live here permanently in the future. I'm hoping maybe around the age of 30 to move here. I'm not sure what the future looks like, but I know it looks promising. There is so much that God can do with me. I just have to let Him. I need to be obedient. When He tells me to do something, I just need to do it!

Ok, rant over.

I'll try and post more regularly on here again.