a flower and 74 cents

I am currently on week 3 of my "marathon trip", visiting family and friends and sharing about my heart for Cambodia. I was in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and am now in Connecticut. North Carolina and Florida are next on my list of places to go.

Today at church, after I had spoken in the service, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a young boy, about 11 years old, and he whispered to me "Good luck with your work in Cambodia." Then he gave me this handful of change.


74 cents.

I was so touched by this gift and immediately thought of the story in the Bible of the woman who gave her last two coins as an offering and how her gift was so precious because she gave from her heart all that she had. So did this boy.

He also brought me the little flower after the fellowship time. Again, this seemingly small thing is actually a big deal to me.

My whole life, every time I see those name meaning plaques, I have always looked for my name. In the back of my mind, I know that it is the same thing every time: flower. Truth be told, I kinda found that boring and wished that there was something more spectacular about my name. I was shocked when, by pure habit, looked through a display of those cards last year and found that it listed a different meaning for Heather. It jumped off the page at me: "Cover of Beauty"

Heather is a flower that is pretty hearty, covering otherwise hard, peaty, barren lands and bringing beauty to it. And a flower brings glory to the Creator through it's beauty...it's existence. And that is my heart...to bring glory to my Creator as I live out my purpose and calling to Cambodia. I believe that the flower, which is purple like heather, was a little reminder of that for me today.

This young man didn't know that his two "small" gifts would be speaking volumes to me, but they did. And I am so grateful.

Happy Thursday To Me!!

I did not peg Cleveland, Ohio to be a hub for international cuisine, but I have been here for less than a week and have had Thai food and Khmer (Cambodian) food!!! Thai is a little easier to come by, but one of my favorites so I am always excited for it. Khmer, on the other hand, seems to be a rare treat. As soon as I heard there was a restaurant here in town, I got the address and high-tailed it there.

My dear cousin, Melissa, went on the adventure with me. She has never had Khmer food so I was excited and nervous for her since she was taking a big leap with me to make sure we ordered something tasty.

We settled on the "Bahn Hoy"...

...which is lettuce wraps that you stuff yourself with meat, onions, bean sprouts, basil and vermicelli noodles. SOOO good!

And for dessert, we had this yummy pumpkin/coconut/palm sugar treat!


I applaud Melissa for being brave and trying new things. I don't know that she will be going back any time soon, but she said it was okay. I, however, LOVED it! This was a very good Thursday.

Surprise, surprise!

I love surprises! Big ones, small ones....it doesn't matter to me. And unexpectedly getting to see a Cambodian friend in America counts as a great surprise in my book.

I saw on facebook Friday night that Pastor Sophea from my church in Cambodia had just arrived in Cleveland. I could hardly believe it because I was flying into Cleveland the next day!!!! It worked that we were able to meet for dinner with my aunt and uncle that I am staying with! I loved that someone from my family could meet him since I will be moving there soon to work with him and his church.

As soon as I saw him, I got so excited. Not just because it's been a more than a year and a half since I last saw him when I left Cambodia, but because it felt like confirmation and assurance that my heart was really ready for this! It made it more of a reality to me...a very good reality.

The church that I shared at this morning is actually the church that I was a member of 25 years ago. I was young, but I still have fond memories from here. There are even some people that I remember and it was so good to see them and catch up a bit. They are old Sunday School teachers and people that had an influence over my very young years.

From here, I will be heading to Pennsylvania to see some old family friends and then on to Connecticut to visit with family and share at churches in both places. This is kind of a "marathon" trip, with lots of family and friends and lots of states and traveling...but it is all worth it.

And I am looking forward to having more surprises along the way!!!