We're Back!!

To Blogger, that is.

We've been blogging from Love Global for the past year and a bit, and you can go there to read our last posts. We've decided to start posting more on our personal blog. I've struggled with what I should write for our re-inaugural post, but finally decided, just do it! So we'll ease in, first with some recent family photos!

Family pic from last November by my lovely and talented cousin, Meghan

Another beautiful pic by Meg

It's a new year (I'm sorry, is it really 2014? Does that question make me sound old? Oh my gosh, I'm turning 30 next month!), we are well into our second year in Cambodia, and, no, we are definitely not resting on our laurels! New challenges lie ahead. In spite of having been here for almost 18 months, I still feel I am only scratching the surface of Cambodian culture and language, although the language is coming along. One of my goals this year is to become "conversationally at ease" in Khmer, on a basic level at least. Suffice it to say I want to do more than have a three sentence conversation with someone that covers my name, where I'm from, and how old my toddler is!

Why is it so important to me that I learn Khmer? So many reasons! Here are some of them:

1. So I can get to know my colleagues and others better by increasing communication options. Even if we can't get very far into deep conversations in Khmer, the mere fact that I am trying is (usually) appreciated.
2. Respect for the country that I currently call home. I should not expect everyone here to just speak English (or French) just because I do. I want to engage deeply with Cambodian culture and people, and language is probably the most straightforward way to do that.
3. To get around easier. This is just plain practical.

I believe learning Khmer is part of my calling here. I'm not just here to work or live or spend a few years, I want to BE here in every sense of the word. I still don't know all the ways that God will use me in Cambodia. I do know that I 100% believe in contextual ministry, and because Khmer is a huge part of the context God has placed me in, Khmer I will learn. 

Easier said than done, so back to my lesson book I go...