Tim Chatting.
O.K Jeepers... I went and did it now! Cynth and I went and bought a MOTO! Yes, for all of yo who know me it is a complete SHOCK! Yes, Tim now drives around with his dear wife clinging to him like a barnacle on a ship. In all fairness, I am still getting used to the shifting without a clutch and sometimes.... (O.K. .. maybe more than sometimes) It is a little jerky. At those times my dear wife's helmeted head (She looks just like speed-racer from the cartoon), kind of slams into the back of my own helmeted head. This causes a hollow "Klunk" to resonate inside my helmet. Cynthia then mumbles something... or is it yelling that is being muffled by the visor of her helmet. In addition, she is hiding the expression of numb disbelief that clearly indicates that her husband is currently one of the most inept drivers in Phnom Penh...maybe in all of Cambodia. However, there is an up-side! Other drivers kind of "scatter" when the see the crazy old white couple weaving side-to-side like the driver is having a brain anurism and is going to keel over any second. Add to that, the sight of our helmets klunking together as our Moto lurches forward, ...... then kind of Chuga-Chugs to a stop,.... and then lurches forward again, like a confused thoroughbred at the starting gate. And then, away we go, yet again....with more Klunking of helmets and muttered words of..."encouragement" from my wife. I refuse to turn around as clarify exactly what she is saying to me.
Ah Yes, it is at times like these - as the dust is clearing, that my faithful wife, and companion of 26 years, yells at me, "Honey! Are you O.K.!" with which, I simply nod, (without looking back, or losing my death-grip on the handlebars), and re-engage the road with grim determination....as once again there is an expectant hush, as people nervously look at each-other. You can see by the amused looks and hands politely covering their mouths so I won't see them laughing, and you just know they are thinking... 'Surley he is not going to do this again! this man should NOT have a license to drive!' But wait!..... I do not have a license to drive in Cambodia. My replacement license hasn't made it over here yet from the USA. I think it may be lost in the mail....so being a good wanna- be Cambodian I went on-line and managed to print off a fake international drivers license that says I am from a U.N. Delegation. Yikes! at least it was free! The thing is... the police don't really care about the license, as long as they get the money from you in order to send you on your way. Not having a drivers license will probably cost me a bribe of about 75 cents (3,000 riel) - driving my MOTO... Priceless. I smile beneath my mirrored visor as I realize I am truly in a fairly lawless culture and city where anything can happen, and nothing is really safe at all! You really learn to trust in the Lord and the strength of His might, and wisdom, to guide and lead, you and your loved ones.
Soooooo...... we got home from school in about 7 minutes, which is when I realize that one of the reasons I might be having some of my "Issues" in traffic is because I was zipping along, on several occassions, at a faily decent rate of about 40 kph. Well, we made it home. I look at Cynthia who is doing surprisingly well, and didn't even slug me when she dismounted from the Moto! We don't really even talk about it, but just kind of look at each other, and say in unison.... "Why don't we walk to get dinner tonight." Then we drop our stuff off inside our flat, and as my hind-end begins to "un-pucker", we head off, on foot of course, to seek out some dinner. of course we cannot hold hands because that is a PDA - "public display of affection"..But we do hold each others pinky fingers when no one is looking. (this is one aspect of Cambodian culture could really be helpful in America)
As the sun is sinking low, and the familiar smells of sewage and garbage waft through the air... well, it hits me... this is my new home. And I smile! And in wonder I look at how God worked everything out to get Cynth and I to Cambodia. And I am beginning to live how people in this new place we call home live: One crazy life-and-death-filled day, at a time. But hey! we are down to about 20 bucks a month for petrol, vs the $100 for the Tuk-Tuk rides to and from school. In addition, I have cut the driving time by a third.
(Oh yeah! remember our Tuk-Tuk driver! he took things surprisingly well. Although he did try to get us to continue riding with him by offering to drop our rate by $1 for the round trip. I'm tellin ya, you just gotta love this crazy country!)
In all seriousness, I think I am getting the hang of "reading the traffic" and actually am becoming fairly adept at driving my motto. It also gets about 120 mpg. I think Cynthia was kind-of proud of me! However,.... please don't stop praying for our safety. Also, please pray that we will be faithful to these precious children, staff, parents, and so many others whom God has given us the privilege to love and serve. Simply pray that God's sovereign will may be done daily, on earth, just as it is in Heaven.
Also, if any of you out there in Blog land have a desire to get rid of any extra money that possibly is burning a hole in your pocket, there are many things that we would love to do to help out the students here, but do not have the extra money to do so. So... if you want to team up with us, and assist in financially supporting the ministry over here, drop us a line at jonesworldwide@hotmail.com and we will let you know how you can help.
Thanks again to all, for your friendship, love, prayers, Skype calls, pics from home and abroad etc... Bill, thanks for being our Stateside Manager for everything! To Innovo, thank you for your love, support and friendship! Until the next blog post God's blessings to all!
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