Well Hello Friends!
We have had one of
those weeks in which I ask myself, “Should I blog or wait until something totally
awesomerific happens?” Well you know what… Every day in God’s will is
awesomerific, and I am gonna write about the things that have been happening
here in PP (don’t giggle, because you just read out loud or in your head “Pee
Pee”).
Firstly, I want to
tell you about what it is like to become the parent of two little girls (and also
suddenly become outnumbered in a household that was once a majority of boys—Me
and Muggy). We have found great joy and also some challenges. The joys first: I
have always dreamed about telling my kids Bible stories to put them to sleep.
Part of my fascination with the Old Testament was due to this fact. I have told
Kelsi that I do not want to have Bible story telling books in our house (other books are already in our house and the girls love reading them, but I don't want Bible story books), because I
really want to be able to do the stories with all the details form memory. I
can just picture one day, the girls saying, “Tell us about Joseph!” or “Tell
the story about Baalam!” I want to be able to just pull all the major stories
right out at anytime, and tell them in such an interesting way, that there is
no need for pictures. Also, during the last few days, it has been revealed to me
the amazing wife that I have married. I always thought that Kelsi would be a
good mom, but I am every day amazed at how naturally she fits into the role of
being mommy. I have seen a drastic change in my daily routine. It is really
neat to say, “We wake up at the same time everyday regardless of weekend or
not, eat breakfast, have school or Saturday/Sunday time, eat lunch, the girls
go down for their nap, when they wake up I am either in computer class or
shortly heading that way, at four I have Bible study with the guys, after that
we eat dinner, bathe the girls and have family time for about an hour or two,
then the girls go to bed, Kelsi and I gather ourselves from the day and have “us”
time and then go to bed. The funny thing is, even doing the same thing day
after day, it seems like such newness each day. Abby Roat has spoken her first
words. They are, “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!
Good job!” and “Daddy Chakuat!” (which means Daddy Crazy). She is also working
on Mema, Papa, Grandpa, Grandma J
She can also say some colors, and “Muggy no!” and other variations on Muggy
______! We have been training Muggy to come, sit, and stay during our family time.
I have already seen improvement in him. It used to be that I had to catch him
to bring him to put him on the leash for the night or get him out from under
the couch, but now I just have to bend down, put my closed hand out, and say “Muggy
Come.” He comes right to me, even when I yelled it at him the other day.
Anyway, Lily is adorable and makes the cutest face—basically this emoticon in
real life :o She has learned some words too: “help” is the most used. Kels and
I have been trying to break the girls of whining when they need help. When they are
having trouble with something, the first thing they do is hold it up to you
and pouty face and whimper. We have been saying, “Don’t whine, just say help.”
This is a nice transition into troubles we have been having. Abby is definitely
a healthy three-year old… and all that entails. We have dealt with explosive
tantrums (both in private and public) and crying to get her way. I know from my
classes at MSSU that she is merely testing the boundaries, and deep down, she
wants to find that we will not back down on our boundaries. We are trying to be
consistent and stern (but we also love her so much it hurts!). I told Kelsi that I wanted to make a shirt for her to
wear that says “Crying is temporary: Spoiled is forever” as a play on the
t-shirts that the weight lifters wear: “Pain is temporary: Glory is Forever.”
We love her lots, and we are probably spoiling the girls a little, but it is
hard not to, since they are beautiful. Lily has a big problem of screaming in a
high-pitch scream whenever she is uncomfortable or mad: so instantaneous and
loud, it is shocking. The good far out ways the whining and screaming, though, and I
think any parent would agree. Now that the girls are in my life, I cannot
imagine my life without them… it must have been boring and dull, and I
definitely did not know the meaning of unconditional love that you learn when
being in full care of babies. On a last note, Abby’s bad dreams have gotten
better. Kelsi and I, under the advice of Rhonda, have been praying with her
every night that God would protect her thoughts and wipe her memory clean of
her father. The other night we had her in bed with us and she began to thrash
and scream and kick. I tried to console her, but she just hit me and pushed me
away and screamed all the louder. Then the next night, a more pleasant
awakening: she sat up, pulled my arm so I would turn towards her and said
random gibberish before laughing and falling backwards sound asleep again. Kels
and I could not help but crack up. I could tell a hundred more stories about
the girls, but you guys could do that with your kids too ;)
On another topic:
Kelsi’s parents are
coming to visit! As I write this, Kelsi is on her way to pick them up at the
air port. We have plenty for them to do while they are here. We have a garden
on the roof that needs to be built, a shelf in the kitchen, a play set for Christmas
for BYKOTA House, and plenty to do in the school room… but don’t tell them (it
is their “vacation” ;) Just kidding, they know what they are getting into, and
we will be taking some time off school to go to Seim Reap to visit one of the
seventh wonders of the ancient world… that just screams vacation. I know Kelsi
is excited to see them, and I am too.
Lastly, I would like
to prove that I am in fact an old man. Kels and I wrote in our last blog about
how we took the kids to the park. The older boys that are in my Bible study
were supposed to be able to play soccer also, but it didn’t work out. I felt
bad, so I told them we could play the following Monday. It turned into ten guys
(some from the neighborhood) going to a field and renting it for two hours. We
played soccer for two hours straight. I held my own for the first hour or so, made some
goals, made some assists, and tore every muscle that exists in my legs. I knew
it was bad, because I was sore that day—legs are supposedly a slow hurting
muscle, meaning they hurt the worst the second day… um. Yes. I literally had to
push my legs out of bed to get up, and then the four flights of stairs in our
house were not pleasant. As much as I hurt, I am not stupid. I could see that
this was a blatant evangelistic opportunity. My Bible study and neighborhood
boys who have never heard the gospel, and a chance to hang out with them… we
have to keep that up. So I told the boys that once a week or however much we
can afford on our budget, we would play and invite the guys. Building some
relationships, and getting some exercise for the glory of God! We played again
today, but only for an hour… I blocked the ball at one point from five feet
away, and it rolled my heel with such force I got a rug burn on the top of my
foot… man that hurt! I also pulled some mysterious muscle in my buttocks
region, but it is all just suffering for Jesus! My prayer and earnest desire is
that these neighborhood boys learn the truth of the Gospel through the young
men in my Bible study. I will tell it to them with my actions and words if
necessary, but I would love to see someone get saved because God opens the door
for one of these guys to share! Pray for
us, and also consider maybe taking this on as your financial sponsorship, if
your desire matches this need. To rent the field is $6/h. If we play every week
for an hour, the cost would be $24/month. I am not sure if we have the money
right now to keep that up, especially with the addition of the girls, but if
someone were to take that and tell me they are, I would most definitely use it
for that purpose.
Ok. That is all for
now. I hope that this has not been too mundane or day to day for ya. I think
that some get the idea that missionaries are somehow special and don’t have
routines and daily drudgery. I am simply reminded daily that my day to day
stuff is all for God, because I am in a different country, but everything you do
day to day is also with the main purpose to glorify God (or should be), and you
have the same opportunity to do everything that you do for the glory of God
that I do. Live today as if you believe that. Go out to your mission field, and
if nothing else, pray for us here in Phnom Penh. Thanks everybody for your
prayer and support, and we will keep you updated, even if it doesn’t seem like
exciting things have been happening—because anything that God is in, is
exciting!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah and Kelsi.
