Random

My computer calendar tells me that it is almost Christmas time. Somehow, that seems a little strange to me in this climate. But, I did put on some Christmas music so that I could try to feel festive while I write. Now if you know me well, you know that I don’t really do the Christmas thing. I rebelled at the materialistic selfishness a long time ago. But, I have read that this time of year can be used to point others to Jesus and what he did for us, so that is what I try to do.Over here, at least where we live, we don’t have the problems that this time of year offers to those in America. For the few Christians in this area, Christmas means that you invite all of your neighbors over for a religious service, and then you feed them afterwards and visit. This can be done anytime between the end of November and the end of January. We are hoping to have one when Ben gets back and can help us.In the mean time, we are thoroughly enjoying Andrew, Khen, and the mystery visitor….Khone! (She is Khen’s sister) If you watch my slideshow, you can see that yesterday we went up to the river and went swimming in the ice cold water and had a picnic. It is kind of nice to go on a picnic here…you don’t need to take plates or anything; you just pick some leaves when you get there and use them for plates. It works great and you can throw them away afterward without any guilt at all! The only drawback to picnicking at the river is the road that you have to drive on to get there. It is TERRIBLE!They don’t seem to believe in switchbacks here, so the road, which is full of deep ruts, goes straight up and over the mountain. Khone was driving one motor bike, and she crashed on the way up the mountain with Meme and Ahmesow. She ended up with a bad bruise on her leg and knee. I stayed on the bike to the top of the mountain, but NOTHING could convince me to stay on the motor bike on the way down the other side! It is so steep that it is really difficult to walk down, so Destiny, Hannah and I decided to take our chances on our (my) feet, while the braver members of the family drove the bikes down. Khone was really shaking when she arrived at the bottom! She said that it was a good thing we did not warn her about the road before leaving, or she would not have come. When we got to the bottom of the bad part of the road, we got to a swinging bridge, which is also pretty challenging on a motor bike. But, once you get to the river it is well worth the drive. The scenery is spectacular and the river is nice….although cold! The road there makes you want to spend a great deal of time enjoying the river, but unfortunately we had to go back all too soon to pick up the girls from school. There was only one crash on the way home, for which we were all grateful. There is just nothing like a bad road to inspire you to want to get more exercise…walking for instance… If you think that I am exaggerating, come on over and visit. We will go for a picnic!Ben and Travis left to go to the Karen campmeeting earlier this week. They took the little projector and plan to preach at every home and village they are able to on the way there and back.  I am glad that they get to go, but we sure miss them. They will be gone for 2-3 weeks.So far, Khen has us completely convinced that we want her as a part of this family. She, like Andrew, is a lot of fun to have around. She is also a hard and enthusiastic worker and is always looking for ways that she can help. She told me this morning that she is going to go home and study massage therapy so that she can give me better massages.  O f course, I am not going to argue with her…the more education along those lines the better, right? Along with all these nice things, she is also a very spiritual young lady and deeply interested in learning more about how to live for Jesus.I have been talking to Andrew and Khen about their plans for the future.  They would like to go to an unreached area of Cambodia and start their own school. They already have the area picked out, and are just waiting for the funds to be able to go…after they are married that is. This area has no schools, hospitals, or churches at all. Khone shares their dream.  It seems a shame to me to see dedicated young people who want to spread the gospel handicapped by a lack of funds to do God’s work. If we all pull together, we can finish the work and take a bunch of friends with us to our new home in heaven.  Won’t you join us?