One year

A year ago today, almost to the minute, I was stepping into Cambodia for the first time.

There are so many memories that I could type here about that first trip. Some good, some not so pleasant...but I am amazed at God's faithfulness through it all. Thinking back, I guarantee you that in the beginning, I wasn't considering coming back on an extended outreach. But here I am.

I could tell so many stories of things not going as planned, sickness and any other struggles as I led that 7-week outreach...and while they would "justify" why it was hard and how I was being stretched in a drastic way...I have learned that that is not what God wants me to look at. Of course He wants me to learn lessons from the situations He walks me through, but more than that He wants me to see, know and completely trust that He is the one walking me through the situations. And they all serve a purpose if I seek after Him.

I can pinpoint a few key things that happened during that outreach that changed my life...because I feel like my eyes and my heart were opened to a love for Cambodia that went beyond a "good" missions trip. It is something deeper. And as strange as it may sound to some reading this, I believe that love is deeper because I had to "fight" for it. It was something that was planted in my heart like a seed. It struggled to crack the surface, but as it did, it began to grow...both the tree above ground and the roots underneath.

And it is still growing.