This is What it's all About!

Cynthia here...

I'm skyping my mom (who lives in the States) about 8 p.m. and my cell phone rings. I look at the number and it's not on my contact list, but I recognize it as one one of students who calls me quite often. :) I tell my mom, "Hold on mom, this is probaby one of my students."

Now you're probably thinking...gosh you're skyping your MOM! Your students can wait, or call back. But...I have this feeling I should answer it. Besides, my students are kind of like my kids! That's how you end up feeling towards your students when you're a teacher :)

Anyways....with my mom hanging on, I answer my phone. Sure enough it's one of my little kids.
A weepy, whispery voice says, "Mrs. Jones, I have a prayer request for Monday."
Everyone morning for devotions, we sing some songs, then take prayer requests and pray.
Me: "What is it sweetie?"
Student: "My bird died."
Me: "Oh no, what happened?"
She proceeds to tell what happened.
Me: "I'm so sorry, I know you are sad. It's ok to be sad about it and to cry. It'll help you feel better. We can pray about it on Monday, but can I pray for you right now?"
She says yes and I pray for her.
We talk a litte more, she thanks me and says goodbye.

This is what it's all about at Logos and that's what Tim and I love best about teaching at Logos. Sure the education is important and they have high expectations for the students. But the most important thing is the relationship we build with the students - our "kids." Logos encourages relationship building; it is only then will they trust us and only then can we have an impact on them. Through the relationships, God will reach them. How cool is THAT? Very cool!

First rain of the season

I am sitting here after having a time with some Caedmon's Call, worship and prayer time. And it just started pouring down rain outside. I opened up all the doors and then promptly stuck my rat sticky plates in front of all the doors, cause I know they are just waiting to run in to the Patelavang and say Hi to me... sinister little beasts! However, I digress. The breeze is like a gift from God. It was about 100 degrees today and with the humidity of the tropics it is really warm. This coolness just about makes one want to weep with gratitude. God is so good with the small things. It is these little blessings that you never take for granted anymore. Always will I look for the beauty of God's goodness upon earth and upon us as His creation. I really need to get to bed since I have an 8:00 class in the morning.. this morning. I just don't want to stop standing in front of the door and feeling the cool breeze blowing by me at about 30 miles an hour. Wow! Only downside is that we will probably encounter some pretty intense flooding tomorrow as everything for the last many months will be clogging up the drains in Phnom Penh... but right now.. LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Khmer New Year

This is the display in the lobby of the place where we're staying. It's for Khmer New Year. A closer look...fruits and incense for the gods hoping it will bring good luck and good health to the people.

here is another appeasement in the lobby

new color I put in about week and half ago...didn't like the red, so had to cover it

new pretty purple toenails :)

Staycation

Here's the pool where I've been swimming in for the last few days. I do laps for an hour and then today I actually got to sit and read too. :)

The apts behid the pool are where we're staying

For those of you who read one of my previous blogs, here are pics of the place God provided us to stay. And we just found out today that we get to stay a few more days! Yeah!! It has been such a healing time for me, emotionally and mentally. Here's the living room and that is Tim there. Beautiful solid wood armoire in both bedrooms!

Our lovely bedroom

Nice kitchen

Here's the enclosed shower I was talking about!

That's a pool way up top (this is on the house across from the place we're staying in)

Our view outside our living room - once again you see the extremes of Phnom Penh - the haves and the have nots. This is def the haves!!

Rats on a Plate...GREAT!

So Here is the infamous 12" Plate that has captured a rate behind the refrigerator. This is a Momma that was looking for a place to have some more little rats. She jumped out of the desk when I opened up a drawer and gave me a little bit of an adrenaline rush. I chased her down the hall with my Mosquito zapper raquet, trying to smack her, but she was much more scared than I was, and much quicker. I then was able to figure out that she was holed up somewhere behind the refrigerator washing machine area. This is no mans land under the stairs. No one goes in there unless they are crazy. So... out come the plates. I uses a strategy of identifying possible escape routes and placed my plates. The rat squeaking started of and on about 3 in the morning. upon going downstairs I found this big girl and another smaller one on a separate plate on the other side of the fridge. We took both plates, turned one over and kind of made a rat sandwich out of them. Cynthia has dutifully filled a plastic bag with water and was waiting for me as I deposited the mess in the bag. Wait for the required one minute and, viola', no more rats. Just another day in Cambodia. We are looking to upgrade our living situation in the future but that will cost some more money. However, Cynthia and I are getting real tired of our rat patrol duties and being woke up at night to rats screaming downstairs. Sleep is precious over here! So there you have it. For all of you who were asking what a rat plate is. Here you go.

God Cares For Us...

Well, we of course know this, but once again God shows us how He cares for even the little things in our lives. We are off work for a week - its Khmer (Cambodia) New Year. We are trying to save, save, save, for our trip home this summer, so we decided to not go anywhere this week. I was kind of bummed, cuz we didn't do anything the last holiday either. Trust me, after living in a third world country, you NEED to get away just to keep your sanity, to rest and refresh with the little comforts (like hot water, enclosed showers, aircon in your living room, no rats to deal with and peace and quiet, etc). There is no way you can understand or relate, until after you've lived in a country like Cambodia for more than 6 months. Short-term missions don't pay justice to true life here. Anyways...I digress... So, I was kind of feeling bummed, but accepted the fact cuz I am soooo looking forward to spending time with family in the States. And we're doing a lot traveling this summer, which takes lots of money! Well, here's the good part... Our high school principal's parents are visiting our fine city for a month. They are staying in some very nice apartments here in town. During this week off, they will be traveling to the beach some 5 hrs away with our principal, their son, and his family. Our principal asked us if we wanted to stay in the apt while they were gone!! We didn't even have to think about it; we just said yes! I went over there to check it out, see where it was, etc. Oh my gosh! There is an elevator! The apt we're staying in has 2 bdrms and 2 baths. One bthrm has an ENCLOSED shower and the other bthrm has a BATH TUB!! I'm not a bath person, but really? I will take a bath, just because I NEVER get them here and just because I can! :) And...there is HOT water! We don't have hot water at our own place. And...there is a t.v., WITH CABLE! We have neither of those too. And there is aircon in the living room too! ANd we don't have to pay for it! :) Oh my...such luxury!! As they were showing me around, it was actually funny. I kept saying how beautiful it was, how luxurious, and things like, "wow there's a t.v." "wow, an enclosed shower..." and of course there's internet, so we can still skype people while we're on vacation! There's a beautiful pool, with lush plants and trees all around it. And there's even a small work out room. I was planning on going to the school every day to swim laps; now I don't have to! So I just want to say, "Thank you God!" "Thank you! Thank you!" He really does care about the little things in our lives and does care for the emotional and mental aspects of our lives! He does want to bring good into our lives. Remember that...if you are feeling worried, or stressed, or down. He DOES care!! And He will work everything out! It may not be like we think or want, but He knows what's best for us and He will come through for us!!

Miscellaneous Snippets

Cynthia here: Below is a picture of some of my 3rd graders' art work. Great huh? You can't see the title, but it says "Aboriginal Art." Their art teacher is amazing (and it's NOT me)! My kids draw sooo much better than I. They're always laughing when I try to 'draw' illustrations on the board. :) :) Last weekend Tim and I got to visit with some Indonesians!! One of the 5th graders is Indonesian and her teacher knew I am a MK who was born there and lived there as a kid and could still speak it, so he pointed me out to her. A bunch of the Indonesian christians get together once a month to eat, visit, and worship together. This bunch is made up of business people and missionaries. It was fun to be able to practice my Bahasa (Indonsian language)! :) They meet at a restaurant that one of the Indonesians in this group owns.

Some More Firsts

Keep reading to find about the pool fiasco below! :)

Hi Everyone!

Well, we have some more first happenings to share with you guys!

In the last blog I shared about our first memorial here in Cambodia.

Today we had our first accident in Cambodia. Nothing serious, we're doing fine. And the best thing was that no one else was involved so we didn't have to pay anyone! Here, if you are a foreigner and involved in an accident, you pay for the other person's damages even if it was their fault. :) God is good!

We were just turning into the little dirt road, filled with ruts and rocks, that leads into the school. Our moto wheel slipped on a rock and we fell over, moto and all. Tim has a slight rash on his leg, I fell on my shoulder and back. My backpack protected me actually (and the laptop inside it is still working). But all is well. We are surprised we went this long before having an accident and are so thankful that no one else was involved! One of the side mirrors broke right off the metal, so we'll probably have to replace the whole handle, etc. But we already have an appt Sunday morning to get that fixed. :)

Another first was our first April Fool's Day here in Cambodia. Most schools I've been in you really are not allowed to celebrate it, etc. But no, not at Logos! At Logos it is done in style! :)

A bunch of high school teachers got permission to do this. One teacher gathered all the high school students in the court yard area pretending to have an announcement or something. Then a bunch of teachers who were gathered up on the fourth floor poured water on all the students below. I saw it! The students were VERY surprised and they took it all so well!! :)

They, in turn, hunted down all the high school teachers who participated in this and threw them into the pool! Of course the teachers were hiding, so it took about 15 min to find them, etc. What a fun time for all!! Never have I been at a school where you can do this and everyone has fun and no one is hurt. It's like a big happy family! LOL

Oh, and of course, Tim's 10th grade class was looking all over the school for Tim. I helped them by finding Tim in the storage room and convinced him to let them throw him in the pool! he he he

They all love me now :) LOL