One year and counting...

     It's really hard to believe that we have officially been in Cambodia for ONE entire year!  We arrived here in Phnom  Penh last February 15th, lived with a Cambodian family for a couple of weeks and then found the home we are currently living in and began our language study!

     At times it seems that time has just FLOWN by...and at other times the days have seemed to drag - you know those days when you just miss your family SO much that you want to pack up and go home.

     This is actually the first time in a few years that we have lived in one place for this long!  In February of 2005 we moved from our home in Wilmore, KY and spent the next 4 months traveling between families and churches while we raised support for our apprenticeship with CAMA Services.  Then in July of '05 we moved to Battambang, Cambodia for 11 months.   After Battambang we moved to Manila, Philippines (for 10 months) where we studied at Alliance Graduate School.  We spent the first 6 months of that time in an apartment in Quezon City and then the last 4 months in a house a little ways outside of the smoggy city near Antipolo.  In April of 2007 we moved back to the US from the Philippines and settled for a bit of time in Lexington, KY while we waited for Aiden to be born.  Then we began several months of traveling back and forth between Texas and Colorado between our families.  In all, we spent 10 months in the States.  And now we have been in Phnom Penh for 12.5 months!!!!  WOW!

     Needless to say we are getting a little 'stir crazy' and feeling the need for a move! ;o)  Ok, maybe not...it has actually be really, really nice to have a place of our own for a bit of time.  However, the time is coming that we will be moving from this city out to the province.  We are still waiting to hear whether we will move to Siem Reap or to Battambang, but our projected move date is sometime in April!

With a new baby coming in a few months time we've got a TON to do so here's how you can be specifically praying for us:

 

          1)  For a decision to come sooner than later on the city where we will move to  (the sooner we know the sooner we can begin looking for a house to rent...which can be a grueling process!)  BUT we also know that this is a big decision for the CAMA personnel here on field, so pray for their wisdom and for God to speak clearly to all of us on which city we are to live in.

         2)  A new home!  There are a few things we are looking for in a home...especially since we'll have two little energy filled boys running around!  We'd like to have a nice outside play area (with NO snakes, and few mosquitos thank you very much!), preferably a quite neighborhood with some other children around to play with, a decent kitchen for me to play around in (Khmer kitchens are quite different than what we have back home...and I want a nice place to make good food my all my boys!!), a nice area where we can really REALLY relax and be a family.  Most homes here have tile floors and tiles half way up the walls which can make for a "cold" feeling and its hard to decorate.  I want my home to not be TOO western feeling, but also to be comfortable and relaxing for us.

** I'm also hoping that our new landlord would be willing to let me paint a bit in the boys bedroom....I've never had the chance to have a "nursery or kids room" and I want to do something FUN....or at least make it colorful for them!

3)  Closure - though our good-byes won't be long term as we'll be back in the city several times a year, we still need to have good closure with neighbors, people at church, and all our language tutors

I'm sure there are more things that I just can't think of at this point, but we'd appreciate your prayers for all these things.

Remembering...

     I can’t believe it’s already been a year (and this is my first time to blog...this is Chris by the way)!  One year ago, on February 13^th, my family and I left Colorado Springs to head back to Cambodia.  I love to fly over Colorado because I get a chance to spot mountains that I have climbed or mountains that I want to climb in the future.  So it was no surprise that I was looking out the window as soon as we left the ground

     About ten minutes into our flight I knew exactly where we

 were…over the Sangre De Cristo Mountains (the Blood of Christ)…I could see the sand

 dunes where the Great Sand

 Dunes National Park 

is located and I knew then that if I just glanced up a bit I would see Her…and Ohh did see Her!  She was covered in snow but that didn’t hide the massive rocks that connect the Crestone Mountains together.  The Crestone Needle was on the right and the Crestone Peak was on the left…and I was setting at about 20,000ft. (and climbing) in awe of the sight.  Then I began to remember…

I have so many great memories in the Sangre’s…but I have one story in particular that I would like to share with you now.  In October of ’96 (or ’97) I went on a climbing trip with some friends and family (my Dad went with us on this trip) to climb the Crestone Needle.  Our goal was to climb the Ellingwood Arete…but what we got surprised us all.

I will not embellish the story here but if you want all the details (from my point-of-view) ask me to tell the story in full sometime.

A good friend of mine, Kin White, and I started out to climb the Crestone Needle while our friends started off for another climb in the next valley (f.y.i. – Kit Carson, The Prow), and my Dad was watching us climb from camp with binoculars.  We had a slow start and continued at a fairly slow pace throughout the day.  When we reached the two hardest sections of the route we had already lost a lot of daylight…we realized this and were doing our best to pick up the pace.  However, on one of the difficult sections Kin took a lead fall and twisted his ankle in the fall.  We were faced with a decision: keep going up (we were not too far from the top), or start going down (and hopefully getting down before dark).  After much discussion we started back down the mountain. 

This proved quite difficult in that most of the sections we were repelling down did not have adequate ledges for re-setting a double-rope repel.  Nevertheless, we managed to loose quite a bit of altitude before nightfall, and found a good ledge to sleep on…so we cuddled up for the night.  Unfortunately, we had failed to bring adequate gear and clothing for a night on a cold mountain (in fact we only had one emergency rain poncho and a snickers bar…and our climbing gear…what was I thinking!).  We anchored ourselves to the Crestone Needle and tied our knots in a way that we would not easily undo them in the event that one of us lost our mind during the night (Hypothermia has many symptoms…loosing your ability to reason is one of them).  It was a long, cold night!

At one point during the night I clearly remember looking at the beautiful stars and talking with Jesus (I did a lot of that that night).  I said something that most of us have said at some point in our lives…I said, “Jesus I’m helpless here, and I’m freezing…I need you!  If you will just get me through this night…I’m yours…and I’m not just messin’ around…I’m serious.”  I would like to think of this more as a commitment to Jesus and not an ultimatum (sometimes I wonder about my view of God from that mountain top).  Regardless, I was helpless and in desperate need, and sometimes that’s how we have to feel before we look for help. 

Kin and I woke up the next morning (if we really ever slept) and started down that mountain with nothing more than sore muscles from shivering all night (Kin had a pretty sore ankle too).  I give full credit to God for protecting us from the cold and keeping us alive.  Getting stranded at 13,000 feet on the north face of a mountain in mid October with snow already on the ground, and no real protection for a cold night is not the best way to find Jesus, nor to make a dangling commitment to him…but it sure got my attention…and continues to get my attention.

I remembered all of this…as I was flying over that same mountain one year ago…I remembered just as I am remembering today.  And now, one year later I’m renewing that commitment.  I am just as helpless as ever and in need of mercy, wisdom, direction, peace, and a love that knows no limits.

So here it goes.

“I still need you Jesus…after all these years.  I’m so cold; I’m so far away; I’m so desperately in need of you.  I’m yours…and I’m not just messin’ around…I’m serious.  How can I be a dad without you?  How can I be a husband without you?  How can I help the poor and hurting without you?  How can I be merciful without you?  How can I see injustice all around me and continue to stand firm without you?  How can I love all of these people in my life without you?  No ultimatums this time, just one statement that I make to you in front of all the people that may read this:  Jesus…I’m Yours!”  

Vacation Time

We just got back from a 5 day vacation to Bangkok.  Really, the primary reason for going was to get all set up at the hospital we plan to have baby #2 at, and have an ultrasound done to make sure everything is going well with baby.  We are happy to say that everything looks good, and the baby... A BOY... is moving constantly and growing just fine.

We've already done many of the tourist things in Bangkok already (our first visit to this city was in 2000), and so now when we go we don't feel the pressure to run around like crazy seeing the sights.  Instead we've found a few places that we just enjoy going to - where we can relax and let go of the stresses of Cambodia for awhile.

Now with Aiden in our lives vacationing has taken on a different look.  We plan things that he will enjoy...we plan around naps and plan for food that he can eat as well (maybe he'll like spicy Thai food when he's older).  

One thing we realized this trip is how much we miss being outdoors.  Here in Cambodia...especially in Phnom Penh there just aren't many places where you can go outside to relax and get some fresh air.  The 'parks' here are not really what Chris and I consider relaxing...

Thankfully Bangkok is FULL of beautiful, huge parks where you can sit in the GRASS and relax, go for a paddle boat ride, rent a bike and ride around for the afternoon and just simply enjoy God's creation (even though you are still in the middle of a HUGE city).

Needless to say except for the day we were at the hospital, we spent every morning of this vacation at a different park.  One morning at the zoo...which is really like a nice big park with animals on the side, one morning at the Queen's park where we rented bikes and went to the butterfly atrium (Aiden really likes butterflies), and another morning at a park where we fed the birds and just let Aiden explore what its like to walk in the grass.

We also enjoy going to the malls....more for the aircon and the food that's available, but this time we stopped by the aquarium that's located in one of the newer malls to see how much it would cost us to get in.  It was a bit too pricey for us, but we happened to time it perfect so that we caught a little dance show with these huge characters (a shark, mermaids, stingray, sea otters...) and Aiden thought that was the BEST thing ever (and we didn't have to pay a dime!).

It was a blessing to get out of Cambodia for a bit....here are a couple of the pics we took along the way.

practicing his Thai???

I'm pretty impressed with myself on this shot!  I was riding my bike in front of them and stuck the camera behind my back to get the shot...its crooked, but at least I got them in the picture!! ;o)

Aiden wasn't too sure about this large animal behind us...he didn't want to take his eyes off of it...lest it come and lick us!

one of the sea otters at the aquarium