Is that boat sinking?

Welcome to the new and improved Phnom Penh riverfront! Above is the view from one of my favourite restaurants in town. For a number of months the area was fenced off, and then for several more months it was like a desert, but now it seems to be complete, although I think some of the palm trees have some re-establishing to do - they look a bit sad at the moment, but they haven't been in very long. The riverfront was actually rather quiet as a friend and I sat and enjoyed our lunch yesterday, but sometimes I like to go there on a Sunday evening after church and it's fun watching the locals enjoying the open space. In a city where most houses have very little yard space, if any, and most of what they do have is paved for parking cars and motos, the people tend to gather in parks like this in the evenings to exercise and socialise.

What caught our attention yesterday, and was the cause of this photo being taken at all, is the boat in the centre. If you look at the picture below you can see two boats. The one on the other side of the river looks as you would expect it to, but the one in the foreground seems to be sinking! It only seems that way though. It was actually travelling at quite a pace up the river. We saw another one a while later that looked much the same. Not sure what the story is, but as I looked back at the photos I was reminded that when it seems like we are going to drown in all our cares and struggles, we need to refocus our attention back on Jesus, and let Him take care of them.

Found it!

Did you ever put something in a safe place, only to be unable to find it again 2 days later? Never? I don't believe you! Well, OK, maybe I believe you, but I seem to do it all the time, only sometimes it's not 2 days, it's 2 weeks, or months, and then it's really frustrating.

One of the challenges of changing schools has been that I brought home a number of the resources I've bought over the years, and then had to find places for them. Obviously some will end up in my new classroom, but others will live at home, for reference & planning purposes. That means that I have to find homes for these treasures (temporary or permanent), and sadly some things have been misplaced along the way. Like the CD that goes with a maths program which we don't use at either school, but which has some great resources in it. I've got two levels (3B & 4A) and each teacher edition comes with a resource CD. Well I found the level 4A CD without too many problems, but could I find the level 3B one? No way. After hunting through all the "piles" and putting all my CDs & DVDs in one place I still couldn't find it. Eventually, in utter frustration, I decided to have one last book inside each teacher edition (they have pockets for the CDs). So where was the 3B CD - for some obscure reason, which I'll probably never remember, it was inside the level 4A book! Hooray! At least I found it.

My main goal for this weekend, apart from phoning my mother, and going to the gym, is to sort and find homes for all the "junk" that has accumulated in my living room, and to put the stuff that has to go to school in a box so it's easy to take! Hmm. Watch this space to see if I can actually achieve my goal. Meanwhile, if you have "lost" something, don't look in the sensible places, look in the weird places. Who knows what you might find!

Love in Action

Today at the gym I was inspired and challenged by a delightful example of love in action. When I arrived there was a lady getting changed with some assistance in the change room, and a short while later she came out to the gym, and a gentleman (not the trainer) helped that lady get started on one of the treadmills. I think I noticed this lady because there are quite clear notices saying no "bodyguards/maids/children" are allowed in the gym, and the helper seemed to be staying very close. As I continued with my workout, I noticed something I hadn't expected. The lady doing the workout needed quite a bit of assistance with some tasks, and I suspect she is recovering from some sort of illness. That wasn't what impressed me though. As she moved through a variety activities, the gentleman continued to help her in the most loving way. Later they joined me in the pool, and again I really enjoyed seeing his gentle care for this lady. I praise God for this reminder today that what we first see is not necessarily the whole story, and the reminder to slow down, and look for the whole picture. Don't worry, I wasn't staring, but with mirrors all around, it was easy to observe this beautiful demonstration of love. Thanks Lord.

A Different Sunday in Cambodia

My usual Sunday in Cambodia involves a sleep in and a relaxed morning, occasionally phoning Australia, catching up on e-mails, sometimes some prep for school or some grading, and then off to church mid-afternoon. The service I usually attend starts at 4pm, so if I'm on worship team (leading, singing or playing piano), then I'll leave home around 2.30pm, otherwise I leave about 3.30pm. Not today!

Today, after a short night (went to bed early, but took a long time to go to sleep), it was up at 7.10am to have breakfast and get ready to head off for the morning service. That meant leaving home about 8.00am since I was joining a morning service worship team (interesting - much more traffic then than I usually experience on Sundays). It was fun to be part of a team of 3 musicians and 3 singers this morning, and the message was challenging as well. Thinking about evangelism. Pastor Richard raised some interesting ideas, but I think that the main idea which struck me was that we are all called to evangelise, but that doesn't mean following a formula or preaching at someone or even simply having them pray to become a Christian, but rather that we are to share with them, in a wide variety of ways, the good news that the Kingdom of God is here, and to show them how they can be part of it. There was a lot more to it than that, but that's a starting point. If you Google ICF Phnom Penh sometime next week you should be able to download the message and hear it for yourself.

After the service I invited some friends home for lunch and had a great time with them. They are both on staff at ISPP where I did my final QUT practicum, so we have a profession in common as well as other things. After they left I had a more normal Sunday afternoon, checking e-mails, reading Facebook and even playing Scrabble on Facebook.

Church this afternoon was a special treat as worship was led by a talented couple who are friends of our Youth Pastor. Despite the power going off in the middle of the service (that's Phnom Penh for you), it was a blessed time of worship. It was also great to see a number of folk back both this morning and afternoon after the holidays/home assignments (OK, so I only got back a week ago, but some of these people had been away 6-12 months).

Not so unusual really, but a good day! The coming week is starting to fill up with all sorts of people to meet up with and jobs to do, so I'm looking forward to it. Bye for now. Karen

Life's about learning and second chances

Did you ever sit down with a textbook (not a novel) and find it so good that you couldn’t wait to find out what you were going to learn next? The last day or two I’ve been reading a book like that. I’m not finished it yet, and there are definitely bits that I’m going to reread, but this book has my attention. What is it? Not telling just yet.
At the Refresh! program I recently attended in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we had opportunity to complete a Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment, and to learn something about how our personality types, and those of people we work with, might be affecting both our personal lives and our ministry. As we were working through the material, I remember having moments when I thought, “so that’s why I prefer to do things that way”. After the session, the leader told me that she would like to talk with me specifically about my score and how it might impact on my new job. It was a few days before we managed to do this, but I really valued the insights that were shared with me, especially about how colleagues, parents and students who have substantially different personality types to mine may perceive me, and what happens in my classroom. At the time it was suggested that maybe it would be helpful to me, as I transition to a new classroom in a new school, to do some more reading on this.

This weekend I decided to do that, and after some digging on the internet discovered an article which seemed really relevant. After I’d read the article, which made a lot of sense, I discovered that the authors had written a book called “Differentiation Through Personality Types”, which seemed like it might be really helpful. I followed up on the book, and am now busily reading it, and thinking about how I can apply what I’m ready in my new classroom.

Most teachers will tell you that different children learn in different ways, and that catering for all the different ways can drive you crazy. Something that I’m learning at the moment is how I can change some of the things I do in the classroom, or even just the way I do things, so that all the children in my class are better able to learn, and to learn well. I knew that change was needed, but had no idea how to make the change, and I was also very afraid that it wouldn’t happen, and the consequences of that type of failure were overwhelming. I praise God for what He is teaching me right now, both about myself, and about the children I will be teaching. I praise Him for guiding me down the path of learning that I’m currently on, and for showing me a framework that will help me understand both my students and myself better. It is a framework that will allow me to continue to use the strengths that He has given me, while also allowing Him to take my weaknesses and work in my life to bring about His glory.

The words written by Darlene Zschech in the “The Potter’s Hand” are my prayer for this coming school year as I take hold of the second chance that God has given me:

Beautiful Lord, wonderful Saviour,
know for sure, all of my days are
Held in your hand,
Crafted into your perfect plan.

You gently call me into your presence
Guiding me by your Holy Spirit,
Teach me dear Lord,
To live all of my life
Through your eyes

I’m captured by your holy calling
Set me apart,
I know you’re drawing me to yourself
Lead me, Lord, I pray

Take me, mould me,
Use me, fill me.
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.
Call me, guide me,
Lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.
By Darlene Zschech © 1997 Hillsongs Australia

Sunday in Cambodia

I love that I go to church at 4.00pm.  That gives me the rest of the day to procrastinate over the things that I "should" be doing, or to enjoy catching up with family and friends on Skype, e-mail and Facebook, have a sleep in, and enjoy reading for pleasure.
It was good to get back to ICF this afternoon, after a break of about 7 weeks, but it was also a bit difficult, knowing that there would be several people missing, who won't be back anytime soon, having gone on home assignment. Still there was a good number of people gathered together to worship our Lord, and to hear the message Pastor Richard had to share with us.
After church I headed to a favorite restaurant for dinner, and now I'm home and procrastinating as I try and decide what I really should do before my helper arrives tomorrow morning (at the moment it looks like I've done very little for the last 2 days or so). I have actually been doing some research among other things, but there's nothing concrete to show for it, apart from chaos, so I'd better go and get on with it.
Meanwhile, God reminded me this evening just how much He cares for me, in an e-mail that I received and have copied here.

He Sings Over You
Posted: 24 Jul 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“The Lord God is like a sun and shield; the Lord gives us kindness and honor.” Psalm 84:11
Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey . . . You can’t keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you. How? By letting God’s acceptance compensate for their rejection.
When others reject you, let God accept you. He is not frowning. He is not mad. He sings over you. Take a long drink from His limitless love.

Let's all do as the author suggests and focus on God's acceptance rather than the rejection of people. Trust me it hasn't all been rejection, and I'm very thankful for a number of great friends as well as my family who accept me as God made me, but it's very easy to focus on the rejection instead of God's loving acceptance. Praise Him for this timely reminder today.

Learning from the past to build a future that glorifies God

Today I received some information that I had been waiting about 3 months to receive. It was one parent's perspective on my classroom, as she saw it through her child's experiences & expressions. I was glad to receive it, as it allowed me to see how someone else saw my classroom, and I have to say that I didn't like what they saw. I already knew about some of their concerns, and I thought that I had made changes in my teaching practice to address those concerns. I also recognise that there is room for more to change. There were some practical things which I could do something about, and with God as my helper I will change those things. There were also some things written which, if someone who didn't know me read the letter, could lead the person to think I was a cruel, heartless, inflexible and disorganised teacher who shouted at her students all day every day. Trust me when I say I'm not, and I don't but unfortunately that seems to be how I came across to this person. I know the letter was written with the intent of improving the situation, but that it could very easily be misinterpreted in this way. It did provide me with a reminder that we all perceive things differently, and that I need to be mindful not only of my intentions but also of other's perceptions, and to consider how others might interpret my words and actions, so that God can be glorified in my classroom.

As I contemplate my future, in a new school, with a new principal, new colleagues and new students (to me), I pray that God will work in my life so that I can be the teacher He wants me to be. In considering the information I received  today, along with other information I had already received, I spent time exploring the Internet to seek information that might help me change. Some of the issues raised relate to my personality, and so I explored information about MBTI that might help me better understand who I am, and why I operate the way I do, as well as some ways that I can change. Some things I found were helpful, and others weren't, but I know that God will continue to lead me in the areas I need to change. I also know that it is God who changes us, and that if I submit to Him more fully, then change will happen.

I love teaching, and I love my students, and several people have told me that they can clearly see a teacher's heart and passion in me. Unfortunately I haven't been so good at showing this to my students in ways that they understand. Pray with me that I will do this. I believe that God has given me a second chance! He is the God of second chances, and it is my heartfelt desire to take this chance and use it to glorify Him in all that I do.