A Grateful Heart

I must say first that I have written quite a few blog updates in the last couple weeks. The only problem is that have all been written in my head and never ended up on the actual blog. The Internet is not working at my house and so it made updating left to my phone Internet and I was kinda dreading that. So I waited. But here I am to tonight doing just that...typing on my phone. But I couldnt wait any longer.

Today was one of those days that I felt overwhelming gratitude to God for the ways that He has blessed me in the past and still continues to do each day in some way or another. I bought a Khmer Bible for one of my English students that had mentioned something in passing to me a few days ago. She said she wanted to read the Bible and study it but didn't have one yet because she couldn't afford one. Let me give you a little perspective into that sentence. Bibles here are not really that expensive compared to other places. A small Bible costs $3. That's it. So tonight after class I gave Pisey a Bible. I wanted to bless her with something that her heart desired...a way to get to know God. She was near tears.

I dont tell you this to share the fact that I was blessed in my own heart by this, but to share the reflection point that God opened my eyes to...to be grateful and not take for granted the ways that He has poured Himself and His blessings out over my life. I have never NOT had a Bible. I have always had more than one sitting on my shelf. I was raised in a family that loved God and was very involved with church. I learned Bible stories with the infamous flannel graph Jesus and various other characters. I have sung "Jesus loves me" more times than I think is possible to count. All of these things were a huge part of my life. They have all played a part in who who I have become today. The problem is that I have taken for granted that truth has always been shown to me. And today my heart realized that it should not just be a statement of fact for what my growing up was like, but a point of extreme gratefulness to God!

I am grateful that He has blessed me with a family who has directed towards Him. I am grateful that I have always had the freedom to worship Him. I am grateful that He continually shows me His grace and mercy. I am grateful for my Bible. I am grateful that He has called me to Cambodia to love the people the way that He loves them. I am grateful that He loves me.

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to take the Harvesters class on their first missions trip this weekend. We are going to Kampong Tom, a province about 2 1/2 hours away. It is going to be a full weekend! We start out tomorrow morning at 5:45 to leave for the province. We will be running a childrens program right after we arrive. There will be songs, skits, games, and a lesson about God's love and protection that we can see through the story of Daniel and the lions den. We are going to be preparing and serving lunch for all the kids, which we are estimating to be somewhere around 100 kids.

Once we finish with the lunch, we will head over to an orphange to help with some of the finishing contruction things as well as cleaning up the building. The biggest project we will be doing is filling in the land with fill dirt to make it all level around the building. The evening will be a youth program and then on Sunday morning, a church service. We will also be going out to one of the villages to talk and pray with people afterwards. Like I said before...we are going to be busy!

I will definitely post pictures from the weekend when I get back to Phnom Penh. Please keep me, Seyha (my co-leader) and the students in your prayers. I am believing for BIG things!