The past month I have felt frozen in regard to blogging and even general communication with friends and family back home. Every day here is just a new day walking with Jesus. Sometimes these days bring extraordinary challenges and other times the challenges seem quite ordinary. Big or small, the challenges are real and always moving me towards becoming more of my real self; more of who God created me to be. Every day is filled with different joys, again, extraordinary and seemingly ordinary. Every day I have numerous reasons to give thanks to God. Yet when it comes to sharing these joys and challenges sometimes I feel like I have a million stories and insights to share and nothing to say at the same time. Thus, I have felt frozen and I am sorry! Let me just share with you about one day here in Cambodia. An ordinary day made extraordinary simply because it is another day of God’s presence and active work in my life and lives of people around me, even when that work is unseen.

 

Welcome to Monday, January 2^nd in the life of Jenny Rasmussen. The alarm went off at 5:43 a.m.and I woke up feeling crabby and annoyed that I had to wake up before the sun, my Khmer neighbors and even the roosters themselves! I walked groggily down the stairs and joined the rest of my team for morning prayer. “Ok, Lord, I’m truly desperate for you this morning” I thought, “I need your strength and attitude for this day because I’ve got nothing but crankiness inside of myself.” You know, it’s also really hard to

complain about anything while reading “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Tenboom. Corrie tells her story ofbeing in one of the worst concentration camps with her sister, Betsie, in Ravensbruck, Germany during the Holocaust. On Sunday, I had just read about Betsie telling Corrie that they needed to give thanks in ALL circumstances, and so they needed to thank God for everything they could in the concentration camp. If Corrie and Betsie could thank God for the fleas in their concentration camp then I certainly should have no difficulty in thanking God for an opportunity to wake up before the sun and reflect on all of the blessings and gifts he has lavished on me! By the end of prayer time I felt renewed in my spirit and ready to head out the gates of our house; first destination- Khmer class.

 

9:30 a.m.-Heather, Laura and I got on our bikes and headed to Olympic Stadium for a morning run. Riding bikes here feels a little like being in a video game.

The goal of the game- get to your destination without running into anything or anything running into you.

The obstacles- lots of motos rushing around, other bicyclists, large cars, people walking, parked cars on the side of the road, and random potholes in the road.

Both Laura and Heather were riding ahead of me and I was pedaling along when suddenly a car door was opened in my face, and without time to swerve around the door, I found myself falling, as if in slow motion, into the middle of the street. God’s protection was strong around me, because there were no other motos or cars coming at that time, and I quickly hopped up and got out of the street. The guy who owned the car felt awful and apologized profusely. I was shaken up but ok and told him that God protected me and that it was alright. I got back on my bike and returned home, where I realized the gate was locked, I had no keys, and the girls didn’t have their phones. “This is an opportunity to let someone help you,” I thought. I decided to go to DP! (The little corner car wash and coffee shop. I used to go there a lot to study Khmer and became friends with the two Khmer girls who work there every day.)  I was greeted warmly by the girls and I explained in Khmer what happened. The girls took good care of me and helped me clean my cuts. I felt blessed by them!

 

Back on my bike I headed, once again, to Olympic Stadium. I knew the girls would be worried about me ifI never showed up and I wanted to get back on my bike as soon as I could before a fear set in. Let me tell you, I had no problem giving thanks and praising God now! I was able to enjoy a good, relaxing run with Laura and felt like God gave me some new thoughts and insights to reflect on. (I’ll save those for another blog )

 

I had just finished running when I saw a boy I had met on Christmas Eve when Elise and I had come to the stadium to play tennis. I found out his name was Cheeit. Looking at my bloodied leg, Cheeit immediately asked me what happened. I told him the story and then told him that I was very thankful to Jesus for protecting me. When I said the name of Jesus, the boy’s eyes seemed to light up. I asked him if he knew of Jesus. He said he did, but I could not understand what else he said about Him. With my limited Khmer vocabulary, I shared with Cheeit very simply about who Jesus is and how Jesus loves Cheeit soo soo much and wants to live with him forever. I don’t know if he understood what I was saying but Cheeit listened intently, and the look in his eyes gave me a feeling that he understood, maybe better than I could ever know. “Lord, translate to his heart whatever you want him to hear and to know.” I told him I needed to go find my friend but maybe I could teach him how to play tennis some time. I left to find Laura and soon after there was Cheeit coming towards us. We talked with him some more and found out that both of Cheeit’s parents had died and that he doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. He said he lives around Olympic Stadium and sleeps by the tennis courts.

There is something about this boy that I don’t really know how to explain. His situation is obviously very sad, yet he did not appear sad in his spirit. I have met many children here who are without parents and without a home. They have been trained to exploit their story and situation for money. When they see me they don’t see a person they see a dollar sign. Perhaps they have never been treated like a person either, I’m not sure. Usually, as soon as they realize they aren’t going to receive money they leave, with no further interest in conversation or friendship. Even as I was running earlier, I went past some kids who yelled, “hello! Give me a dollar!” Yet Cheeit seemed different. He was not quick to “tell his sad tale” and he never asked for a cent. He just seemed happy to be with us and talk with us. Laura and I asked Cheeit if he was hungry and if he would like to eat lunch with us at the food stand by the stadium. He said “baa” (yes) and hopped quickly down the stairs.

 

 It was so enjoyable to just sit and be with Cheeit at lunch. I was trying to tell him that I used to long jump, because there’s a long jump pit at the stadium. I got up and acted it out and Cheeit said something I couldn’t understand, but he was just laughing and laughing. Joy! “Thank you God that my bike accident did not keep me from this moment with Laura and Cheeit. Thank you God that the scrapes on me knee actually led to conversation about You!” Laura and I said goodbye to Cheeit and began to bike home. We both talked about the warmth we felt from Cheeit. “Cheeit has so little, yet I wonder if Jesus fills him with greater joy and fullness of being than we could know? Protect this boy, Lord!”

 

Just another ordinary and not so ordinary day in Kampochia…