Our professor Dr. Moodley is here for a visit and a time of debriefing during our time here in Cambodia. We gave him our journals yesterday and I felt both relieved and naked without it. We are required to journal daily (about 3-4 pages) as a part of our class requirements. Although it is very difficult to keep up with, I have learned a lot of things about the significance of journaling and spending a significant amount of time with God intimately and daily.
So anyways, without having our journals... I felt like I had so much free time last night and this morning so I started to read Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller. Mind you, I've had this book for a few years and I have not just had time to sit down and enjoy a book without school stress or something over my head and last night and this morning I finally had time. I'm already almost halfway through and I'd liked to finish it before we get our journals back (which will probably be at some point tomorrow). Anyways, it's basically a descriptive journal log of Don and his friend Paul traveling to Oregon from Houston in a VW van and a few hundred dollars. It's a fantastic perspective and I've just had true and utter joy as I dream adventurously and feel so relaxed to finally just read stress-free.
Well anyways... this book is reminding me the significance of really making every moment of life count and being light-hearted and just seeking joy and adventure in every possibility. So in the midst of this, we were going to the Children's home today to participate in a welcome celebration that the kids presented for us (which was awesome by the way). Matt, the director of the Children's Home could not pick us up with the van so he suggested we get a Tuk Tuk.
First of all, I didn't feel like spending money on a Tuk Tuk and secondly I reminded myself... I have a bike and two feet and hands and a water bottle. So I was able to talk Kristin, my teammate into riding to the Children's Home with me. It really only took me the question to ask her and she was up for the challenge. It's on one of the main roads here where traffic seems much scarier in a car than on a bike (surprisingly). I don't know how far it is, but I timed it on our way back and it took us 22 min, 30 sec. I loved every second of it. I loved the sweat pouring out of my body and the dust blowing in my face and the grit in my teeth. I loved every rattle and clang on my bike and the bumpy dirt road before the Children's Home. I loved feeling the hot sun on my skin and I loved just living the life and being a part of the Khmer culture. So many different smells, so many different people going and coming from so many different places. It was an awesome experience. Now I want to start riding my bike to the Children's Home as often as I can.
I will need to take a picture of my rickety bike! [Insert photo here]It's a beach cruiser-ish road bike with a basket on it. The first few days after I bought it (for $38 with a lock), I had a flat tire and my handlebars got so loose I almost crashed... but I kept riding it for a few days before I got it fixed. We ride our bikes every day and even took an hour bike ride around town on Sunday. I thoroughly enjoy riding my bike. I've always been so afraid or more so nervous to ride on the road in treaffic, but here with the traffic you just have to jump in and go with the flow and ring your bell and hope people hear it. There's always some close calls with a moto cutting you off or someone riding directly at you and you both awkwardly try to figure out which side the other is going to choose... but I love it. I love the freedom and adventure of it. I just want to ride my bike everywhere!!!
But I think so many things lately, while being here, have been teaching me the importance of enjoying life, enjoying opportunities and accepting circumstances and most of all just finding joy in these situations. I had an amazing talk with John Mark this morning about how our relationship has changed and grown in the 5 years we've known each other. The amazing memories, events, places and time we've spent together. In reading this book, I am reminded to ask myself... if my life was a book, would someone want to read it and would they enjoy it? I hope so. What an amazing gift God has given us to experience life. I hope I will live a life that tells a story and most of all, has God alongside each and every part of my adventure called life!
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