Oh beautiful Cambodia

As I sit here in the Seoul airport I miss my kids sooo much. I also cant help to think about the sunset we watched the day after the leaving the kids sitting in the middle of the floating villages. We were in the middle of complete poverty... I am talking these little shacks on the water, where people had nothing, kids were so objectified as they swam up to the docks and to our boat begging for money for their family, and so many of the people missing arms, or legs, or even eyes. It was worse poverty along the water than I had seen along the roads. However, in the middle of all this we stopped the boat, floated in the middle of this huge lake (which resembled more of an ocean if you ask me) and watched the breathtaking red sun set over this beautiful country. I have never seen anything like it in my life. You cant see this anything close to this in America. It was a life awaking moment in the wake of missing the children of the orphanage watching this most amazing sunset... like it was God reminding me "everything will be alright Nat, I'm right here with you."

Leaving Is the Hardest Part

Well today is Saturday. I am sorry I havent written in a few days... internet has been hard to come by and I have been trying to sleep as much as possible... my body is tired... and SAD!
Leaving the orphanage we harder this year than it was last year. I know I will return again to see my kids, but its so hard leaving. They get very emotional and my little Chhing said "I love you Nat" in between tears as I got on the bus. I am the most happiest when I am in Cambodia at New Life Orphanage. I dont really know how to explain it other than its funny the way people write on my facebook about I am so good for what I am doing, and that its so special to the kids that I am showing them Gods love, etc, etc... BECAUSE I dont know if I bring anything to the table compared to what these kids do to me. They are GODS LOVE! Most of them have no parents or a parent or parents that cant afford to take care of them, or in some circumstances sold by their parents... THEY have sufffered so much, yet they are so happy! They our LOVED BY GOD so much that every move they make, or every breath they take is something to celebrate because its a gift from God... they just get it! They get what takes most of us a lifetime to realize!!! They praise the Lord and bring thanks to the Lord every minute of everyday!!!! They teach me what it means to be a Christian and have a "real, no questions asked" relationship with the Lord. They are intoxicating and you can see the way God loves each and everyone of them in their eyes!!! I cant wait to share pictures and videos with you once I get back to the states.

I miss them so much... I sit here and can picture their faces and voices in my mind and it makes me cry. I think "Its not fair I live so far away from them..." but according to them this is all Gods plan. It makes us realize not to take anything for granted and the time we get together is just a glimpse of what Heaven will be like... simple, beautiful, peaceful, and full of UNCONDITIONAL and powerful love. Love that makes you a more simple, beautiful, and peaceful person who understands the best part of the day is the understanding that its a gift from our most Heavenly father!!!

Please keep the children and staff of New Life Orphanage in your prayers everyday! They are short on funding going into next year and need our prayerful support. Stay tuned to my blog for the days to come as I will post pictures, videos, and links to different ways you might be able to get involved with the 40 most wonderful children you will ever meet!!!

"... He called a little child and had him stand among them and He said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." - Matthew 18: 2-4

Waste Not Want Not

Went to the Cambodian BBQ tonight with the kids. It was an all you can eat buffet and the kids literally ate the entire 3 hours we were there. I hope, I hope, I hope they don't have tummy aches today!!!! It was just so funny to see them going crazy for the meat... I guess all they eat 3 times a day is rice so all the meat and vegetables were like Heaven to them. There was even fried FROG!!! That was Chhing's favorite! :-) He spells his name with a "g" now because thats how I spelled it last year! LOL
Talk about unconditional love... I sat across from him watching him eat FRIED FROG and still love him with all my heart!
Anyways, to say the least, this was the best thing for the kids... they were all in HEAVEN! :-)
I cant believe today is the last day... it will be even harder this year. Pray for me.

Movie Night at New Life

A great day at the orphanage... followed by a wonderful MOVIE NIGHT! We brought the glow necklaces, chex mix, and soda's for the kids! They were in Heaven! And speaking of Heaven, God showed up... listen to this:
So it all starts with my laptop hasnt powered with the converters me or Kira have since we got here and i was the team member who volunteered my computer to plug into the projector for movie night. So we brought it to the orphanage hoping it would power on with Sandra's converter... and well it did! So movie night was going to be a success. Well... not so fast! We got everything hooked up and put the DVD in my laptop... and it wasnt reading the DVD. So we tried another... nope... and another... nothing. So we went to plan B which was Carries computer. Carrie's computer played the DVD's but we couldnt attach them to the projector... they were all Disney movies and Disney puts some kind of restriction from playing DVD's to a projector. Oh my... so we told Patrick (our leader) movie night wasnt going to happen and he goes "Oh! I got a bootleg copy of Ice Age I recorded from TV a couple weeks ago to leave behind for the kids once we left. Sure enough, we put it in Carrie's laptop and it worked! :) WOW!!!! Everything happens for a reason huh? A reason that only God creates!!!!
AMAZING!!!!

Anyways, the kids loved the soda, the snacks, and the movie! They probably couldnt understand the words, but they sure loved that little muscrat guy running around the whole movie trying to get his acorn! :-) Chinnh, Son, and Sryley cuddled up with me the whole time. Chinnh always had one hand on me even when he was eating or drinking! My little precious guy... I just starred at him the whole time wondering how in the world i can get him home with me. I could picture myself cuddled up on the couch with him... or any of those kids for that matter! :-)

Well I am off to bed America. Good night!!!!

GODS TEAM YEAH!

Well yesterday was much success!!! We had a blast and the kids love cheering with POM-POMS and the noise makers (which of course gave me a huge headache)! We divided them into the teams... the older boys we put onto the red team refused to be on the red team sooo... the poor red team are girls and little boys and the green and blue teams are stacked! LOL!!! Its not very fair, but so funny when they start competing in field day activities. They get pretty competitive! I LIKE IT! :-) Chinnh got very mad when Takna dropped the ball (the contest was which team could keep the ball in the air the longest with everyone on the team hitting the ball). It kind of surprised me how frustrated he got, but it only lasted a second... I made them take a picture together and then "hug it out". They were both laughing!
Today we are learning about "team Noah" with a skit and some crafts about Noah and the Ark and we are learning about "team Jonah"with a skit and some crafts about Jonah and the WHALE! The kids will love it!
Of course this year, my favorite part of everyday is the worship time. They are singing louder and more beautiful than ever! Sandra, who is in chrage of all the worship this year is doing a great job with the kids. She taught them a Hip Hop dance to Kirk Franklin's "Revelation." Its hilarious!!! They love it... note to self, next year bring more HIP HOP music! THEY LOVE IT! I got some of course on my lap top, but I'm not sure if Kanye West is appropriate orphanage music! Ha!
Movie night is tonight too... this should be fun. We get to hang out with the kids until like 9pm.
I will probably have fallen asleep, but just being in their presence is enough for me!
Unti lnext time... XOXOXO

Clean House

So yesterday was amazing! I was the first one off the bus and the kids came RUNNING!!!! They all knew who i was and all I could hear was "Nat! Nat! Nat! We Missed You Nat!" Oh it was so sweet. All their hugs and tears made this long journey over here again soooo worth it! Pherong (the wife of the Ratha... this is the couple who run the orphanage) gave me big rug and said Öh Nat, we miss you sooo much!" She just held me tight for what felt like a few minutes. She wouldnt let go! It was so sweet! Chinnh was here, but didnt run up to me, he watched from the sidelines... I think in disbelief maybe? I went and picked him up, of course I got a little emotional and he just smiled real BIG and hugged me soooo tight!!!! At church with the kids, they all performed for us! Then we went back to the orphanage for the afternoon and made tie die shirts that we are all going to where at the Christmas party! This was hilarious and MESSY! The kids didnt get that they were supposed to let their shirts dry all tied up in the ruber bands and started on doing them and putting more paint all over them! HAHA! They were having so much fun. We had all different color die and they all wanted YELLOW! This was so funny! They love the brightness of the color I guess, a few of the kids did their WHOLE SHIRT YELLOW! The day flew by. It is so good to be back. My Chinnh, Sun, and Ya are still here of course and attached at my hip. There is a new little girl she is 5 or 6 and wears pigtails and the BIGGEST SMILE ON HER FACE! :-) Her name is Osa and she got to the orphanage a month or 2 ago. She is so precious and just runs up to hug you and almost knocks you over even though she is so small. When we were doing introducitons all the kids would stand up and say their name, what they like to do, and what they want to be when they grow up. Most kids said they like to play football or read or study the bible. And when they grow up they want to be teacher, or doctor, or nurse, or preacher... well little Osa said Ï like to clean house and when i grow up i want to clean more house!"LOL!!!! And she had the biggest smile on her face the whole time! She is so stinkin cute!

Oh its so good to be back!

Today we are introducing our theme for the week... I'm on Gods Team! We will show up to the orphanage today running off the bus with pom poms, noise makers, whistles! We will teach the kids some cheers and do some singing and dancing! Its gonna be a PEP RALLEY!!! Then we will divide the kids up in 4 teams (Team Noah, Team Jonah, Team Daniel, and Team David) based after Bible characters on "Gods Team." We will make team penants and team visors! We are very excited for this and the kids have NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE IN FOR!!!!

I already have some great pictures and some great video that i cant wait to share with all of you! Thanks for all your prayers and support. I love and miss all of you... and WISH ALL OF YOU COULD BE HERE WITH ME! :-) Keep praying for me, my team, and these kids!!! Oh man... I cant even imagine leaving them again this year... I cant even start thinking about it... tear.

All my love to all of you!

Plane Ride

Well... 16 hours later we made it to Seoul, South Korea. In about an hour we will board the plane for Cambodia. Then 6 hours after that we will be there!!!! It will be about midnight before we get to the hotel (noon your time).

On the plane ride I watched My Sisters Keeper and Time Travelers Wife... um hello... the nice Korean guy sitting next to me must have thought i was a basket case - i couldn't stop the tears!!! I guess it was yet another reminder to me of how precious life is!!!!! How lucky am I? I'm healthy and have a support system between family and friends that many can only wish for. I get to travel across the world to help these sweet orphans who the majority of them have been betrayed by those who should love them most... their parents. They have been sold into work or the horrifying sex industry that plagues south east Asia. If thats not the case, they have lost their beloved parents to disease or to a land mine that still haunts the Cambodian people who work in the fields. I am given an opportunity to bring them love. Love from our most Heavenly Father. Love in which last year brought even the young boys taught never to show any type of emotion to tears. I cant wait to hold them all in my arms! Thank you to all of you who made this trip possible for me through your support financially and even more importantly PRAYERFULLY! I need your prayers... for the next 10 days I need your prayers not really for myself, but for these kids. We are all so rich in blessings, even on our worst days we are sooo blessed! However, with all this being said i do not want to take away the blessings these children have recieved at New Life Orphanage. They too are so incredibly blessed. I would be lying if I said they havent dealt with horror and tragedy in their childhood that most of us wont ever experience in our entire life, but they have been rescued... they have been saved! The people who have dedicated their lives to these orphanages in Cambodia have brought them to a safe harbor by God's grace and miracles. They have come to find Jesus and they are loved! My kiddos at New Life Orphanage are so blessed too! We are all blessed and after my ridiculously long plane ride of incredibly touching movies thats what I am reminded of!

Haha! I am also very delirious! So I hope all this makes sense!!!!
I will post again from Phenom Penh before we leave for Battambang tomorrow! Ciao!