Endings...and Beginnings

As I go through the last day of 2011, I think about the past 12 months. Things I've enjoyed and are thankful for in 2011:

~ a great job with wonderful coworkers who are also friends

~ a talkative and sweet class of 3rd grades to teach

~ adventure in a fascinating land

~ tropical fruits and beautiful beaches

~ a husband who loves me and puts up with me

~ struggles and trials that help make me strong

As I head into 2012 here are some things I'm looking forward to:

~ finishing up the school year with my third graders

~ more struggles and trials that God will use to continue to mold me

~ strengthening and revitalizing a marriage with a husband who is willing to stick it out and work on our marriage

~ holding and playing with my granddaughters and grandson

~ spending face to face time with my sons and their wives

~ a climate with seasons

~ a cool/cold Christmas 

~ people that stay in their lanes during traffic, don't drive into oncoming traffic, and for the most part stop when the light is red

Goodbye to 2011 and Hello to 2012!

Going Home

Dear Friends and Family,

Cambodia has been a huge learning curve for Cynthia and me, in the midst of developing deep areas of vulnerability and dependence on God.  Cambodia has been given the infamous name, “the missionary graveyard.”  Anybody who has lived in Cambodia for at least a year can say that life here is stressful; it is raw and edgy.  This will, and does, take its toll on marriages.  What has been something that was just a minor inconvenience, or something you could just overlook, can become monumental without any warning.  Things from the past that you thought had been put to bed and forgiven, can rise up and hit your marriage like a battering ram. 

We realize no marriage is perfect, and even good marriages take continual work.  Except for God, our marriage is the most important thing to us.  What is important at this juncture in our lives is what we do during these times of struggle, and how we respond and work through them.  We love each other and are committed to continue building a strong marriage; therefore, we are going home to the States help us in this area.

Right now we are looking at coming home June 2012, at the end of this school year.  We will not continue to teach at Logos for the third year, as we had planned.  Please pray for jobs for us, especially for me.  We know that the economy is bad in the States right now, but we also know that this is what God would have us to do (to go home and work on our marriage).  At this moment in time, we do not know which state we will be settling down in.  It mostly depends on where family will be (we want to be close to them) and where God gives us jobs. 

It will be good to have family and long-time friends around us as we work on things to make our marriage stronger.  We appreciate your support and prayers in the coming year.

Tim

First day of Christmas break

Khmer dessert the landlady gave us today - soy bean balls in coconut water

Christmas Toes!

our tree and snowman!

Enjoyed looking at the lights!

Joy to the World in Khmer during Christmas chapel

More of the 3rd grade song

3rd grade singing

Elementary Christmas Concert

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The whole group

PreK-5th - whole group singing

3rd Grade

3rd Grade close up

Before the concert

working on a word search killing time until the concert starts

Korean student in his national dress

Merry Christmas!

New Apartment

Our new place. It is called a service apartment. It came FULLY furnished, including all furniture, beds, linens, even some dishes, glasses, silverware, t.v. and stand, etc., etc. Any rattan furniture you see is our old furniture we have not yet sold or some pieces we wanted to bring with us. Included also in the rent is cable, internet, and cleaning twice a week! And it is a brand new apt so all the furniture, appliances are brand and in excellent working condition! We like our new place. It is much smaller and more homey than the other place. It is closer into town, with more shops and restaurants within walking distance. Easier and less stress. We didn't that much space in the other house. Right now the walls are barren; during Christmas break I will put photos of my family and we'll look for some artwork.

This view is from the other side of the huge great room. That is the front door. You walk in and this is what you see, the kitchen on your right (if you're walking in the front door), and HUGE dining table (included furniture) on your left.

This is a the continued view if your are scanning the great room - this view is taken from the hall way. That is still the front door there. Don't you just love the tall columns - interesting touch, not sure which magazine or website they got that from. Anyways, the color you see is pretty close to the paint color on all walls - nice and cool cucumber (light mint green?). Soothing...
and the soothing ends abruptly...can you say 70s? Again, I'm not sure, but hey, it came with the apt. :) and it is very comfortable!

here's the HUGE master bedroom below. The curtains are silver and light lavendar, not bad compared to our atrocious curtains in the other place. Again, same paint - mint green or something - on the walls here too. The bedspread we brought back from the States this past summer. It doesn't look too bad, cuz it's light blue and brown. This view is from the hall way looking into the bedroom. I'll take a pic later of our window. Big window with a ledge you can sit on and read if you want. The sun never comes directly into our apt- very nice! The bed and night tables came with the apt.
The wood make up desk/bureau with chair was included too. The rattan stuff is ours. Aren't the doors beautiful! This view is from the other side (window side) of the master bedroom. That big door in the forefront of the picture is the door to the balcony (where the clothes hang).Look at that cherry armoire! It's actually not that cherry looking, more dark wood, the flash is changing the color. There's the hall way. If you leave our room, the 2nd bdrm is on the right, and then on your left is a 2nd bathroom/laundry. Our bathroom is in our room (behind the door, on the left).
and here's our bathroom - again, can you say 70s? Brown and white tile, dark brown cabinets. but... there are cabinets with drawers. Rarely do you see drawers in kitchens or bathrooms here in CAmbodia.
brand new enclosed shower
I love this ledge
the laundry room where the washing machine is...
nice and brand new...and it's in English, not Japanese!! Can you see the buttons? The different programs are normal, speedy, delicate and ...I love that - speedy! ha ha ha - that is the short cycle

Christmas in our new apt

We moved into our new apartment yesterday, Saturday, and got all unpacked. Then today after church we went to buy decorations to decorate for Christmas. Last year, we were gone the whole 2 wks, so we decided not to do anything. This year since we are staying in town and not traveling, I said I had to have it look like Christmas since it doesn't feel like it! Oh but the weather has cooled down and it's a nice low 70s in the morning and evenings. Beautiful! I was cold driving on the moto this morning to church!

Anyways, here we are at the main stopping place to get Christmas decorations. It's quite expensive compared to the States. We bought a fake 4 ft tree and I won't even tell you the price! Yikes! We asked for the model so we wouldn't have to put it together - they gave it to us. :)

Here is Tim walking the tree down the street to our home. The store is within walking distance to our new apt! :) People were smiling at us...
Here we are at the security door to our apt complex. It is locked from the inside and you have to buzz. There is a 24hr security guard who comes to open it. There are video cameras at the entrance and in the lobby on each floor.
Here's our living room decorated. We moved into a service apt, fully furnished. This is the furniture in it. You'll see better pics of the couch later...can you say 70s? But it is very comfortable! And the t.v. and t.v. stand is cool with drawers for your DVD, music CDs, etc.
My door decoration - snowmen hanging upside down, hanging onto each other - very cute. I love snowmen and I couldn't believe I found snowmen decorations!
Bells and stars around the columns - these were expensive, so this is all we got! :)

Beginning of our Christmas Season!

Our Christmas season is off to a start! It started with an Asian Hope Christmas Party. Asian Hope is the organization Tim and I work for. To check out this organization you can go to www.asianhope.org

Logos International School, one of the ministries of Asian Hope, is where Tim and I teach.

The Shop Too is a western style cafe. Excellent food and service!

They had a buffet outside, but you could eat inside or outside.



and you could visit/eat on the ground on mats Khmer style
The food was delicious, dessert was divine! And the company was fun! It was nice to see staff and families from all Asian Hope ministries come together. We had a wonderful time! :)

My Moto!

Here's my moto, well actually God's moto, but He doesn't need it so He's letting me use it. :)

Isn't it pretty??

It's a Suzuki Step, 125cc engine, automatic

I've been driving it up and down the streets in our subdivision. Tim won't let me take it out on the main roads yet until I feel comfortable on it and can use it without thinking about what to do. he he he

Actually I'm glad he's being so protective...otherwise I may be too crazy!

New Opportunities, Renewed Vision

Sorry, I forgot and wrote the words first, then added the photos. So you'll need to scroll down and read the words first to figure out what's going on and then scroll back up to see the pics. :)

Playground out front

Front gate, looking from the inside. This is where the kids wait to get picked up and where they play.

The hall downstairs, leading to two classes and the office. On the left is one of the 4 year old classes.

The office is through that door

Looking at the swimming pool from the balcony upstairs
Swimming pool view from the hallway downstairs

One of the kindergarten classes on the right

Inside one of the kdg classes

One of 4-year old classes

Another 4-year old class

Well, once again, God is moving in amazing ways here in Cambodia and has plunked a new adventure into our path!

Just to backtrack a bit...as all of you know Tim and I, Cynthia, arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in July of 2010 to teach at Logos International School, a ministry of Asian Hope. Tim taught various subjects to many different grades. I taught third grade. :)

This school year, 2011 - 2012, Tim's position changed. We are both still at Logos, but Tim is now MS/HS counselor and teaches 10th gr History and 10th gr English. He is also coordinating weekly Chapels and a weekly devotional time. I still teach third grade...FOR NOW

This is where the new opportunity comes into place...

Last week I was offered, and accepted, a new position with Asian Hope - as Principal of KinderCare! KinderCare is a Preschool and Kindergarten school serving Khmer families. KinderCare is meant to supplement their education and work in tandem with the Khmer school they already attend. Curriculum is taught in English and the teachers and assistant teachers speak English. KinderCare is kind of special because it was the first school that Asian Hope started back in 2000. The photos above are of KinderCare. You can go to http://www.asianhope.org/kindercare-school to read more about it!

The school day consists of two half days. Teachers are full time, but they get two different sets of kids, one in the a.m. and one in the afternoon. Some will stay all day. What happens is those who attend KinderCare in the a.m. will attend their Khmer school in the afternoon and those who attend KinderCare in the afternoon, will attend Khmer school in the morning. Currently there are 4 classes - 2 kindergartens and 2 4-year old classes. And one morning 3-yr old class beginning in Dec.!

I will stay in my current job teaching 3rd grade until January at which time I hope to change over to the Principal position. If they can't find a teacher to replace me, I will stay with the 3rd grade until they do so. KinderCare is all the way across town from where we live now and from Logos school, about a 25 minute drive by moto. So, we are planning to move to that area. Tim would rather commute than have me commute that distance. We hope to find an apt close enough to the school so I can walk or bike, but we will most likely buy a second moto. There will be times that I will need to drive myself to meetings, etc and Tim will not be able to moto me around since he will be busy with his own job across town. I am nervous about driving a moto in this traffic, but God has protected us thus far and He will continue to do so. :)

The day I was formally offered the job, I told God that if He wanted me to take this position, that He would have to work out all the details. I was not going to worry and stress over this.

One major obstacle is our current home. We are under contract at this house for another 7 months. The day after I met with the Asian Hope CEO and was offered the job, we got an e-mail from our landlord. They said due to some financial concerns, they are having to sell their house! Thus....once the house sells, our contract will be null and void. We couldn't believe it. Isn't God amazing? What an answer to prayer.

I am so excited about this new opportunity. I had expressed to my current principal that I was wanting to get out of the classroom full time and work into a more administrative position, but I definitely was NOT thinking principal of a school! Yikes. But one thing I've learned is God knows what He is doing and for some reason He wants me there! There are great challenges awaiting me and renewed vision as well. I look forward to serving the staff, and the families at KinderCare.

With my background as an educator, my focus will be on the teachers, the students and their families. My vision is for the teachers to know they are supported and appreciated and parents to know they do have a voice and their opinions count. I want to see KinderCare become a professional, safe, and unified environment for both staff and students. As we manage with integrity and purpose to love others with God's love, I can't wait to see how God uses KinderCare in this community!

You know, it seems as if God works quickly in Tim's and my life. I wonder if it is because if He waits too long, then we would think about it too long and would never do it! Ha Ha

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for us. Please continue to do so, as I begin this new job in a couple months. God is good and I know He will give me the strength, energy, and wisdom I will need in this new ministry!

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me or message me on FB.

God bless,

Cynthia, for the both of us