Mundane... never! Khmer Phrases :)

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.