One Phrase + Two Days = Changed Ways

It first resonated with me when I heard it in a sermon. Every Sunday we get together with several other families in our area for church. We listen to the weekly message via podcast and the pastor is Todd Cook from Sagebrush Community Church in New Mexico. He is a gifted speaker and his words are powerful, God-inspired, and often hit you with a force that reaches your heart by nailing you right between the eyes - you know those kind of messages?

A couple of weeks ago he was speaking about the persecution of Christians around the world - a monumental crisis even today... This is what he said, "You don't have to go to church, you get to go to church." It resonated with me then - I felt its meaning, I understood it...I get to go to church with freedom and without fear of persecution - even in China.

The 'don't have to but get to' phrase has reached a new depth of awareness as I reflect on my time in Cambodia. We spent just two days there last week - one day visiting the people - the human element, and one day visiting ancient temples like Angkor Wat. I plan to blog more later from the tourist perspective, but for now I want to share how the experience touched me...

We took a rickety boat down a brown river and were witnesses to a way of life that cannot be captured adequately in mere words; likewise pictures cannot sufficiently reach the place where your heart physically aches... Many of the poor live either along the river in houses built on stilts or in the adjoining lake in what is known as a floating village. It is in the brown water that you will find people bathing, fishing, scavenging for recyclables, playing, washing dishes - here is what I learned...

Local people bathing or maybe searching along the bottom for items that can be recycled

You don't have to take a shower, you get to take a shower - a hot clean one and recycling is something you do to help the environment, not to earn your days wages...

Fishermen along the river

You don't have to go to work, you get to go to work - most likely where it is clean and air-conditioned and you collect a regular paycheck...

A woman washing her dishes in the filthy water.

You don't have to do the dishes, you get to do the dishes - in hot, clean, soapy water...

The local school which was overflowing with kids - our guide told us they learn just very basic reading, writing, and math because they will grow up and stay in the village.

You don't have to go to school, you get to go to school - where there is enough space and books for everyone, where you can run and play at recess, where your dreams for your future are limitless...

Every year the river floods and the people in the village move to the hills where they will live until flood season is over (a few months) and then they return to fix or rebuild their homes.

You don't have to pay a mortgage, you get to pay a mortgage - on a home that is clean, safe, and filled with more stuff than you could ever use...

This is the floating produce market - fish and a few fruits and vegetables make up their diet.

You don't have to go grocery shopping, you get to go grocery shopping - you can stop at the ATM after work and pick up everything you need for dinner in 15 minutes...

For me, the more I saw the more overwhelmed I felt with guilt, sadness, helplessness, hopelessness...Why was I lucky enough to be born where I was born? At that time, at that place, to those parents? Isn't that what it comes down to on a very simplistic level? I can't feel guilty about that, it's out of my control. So I must daily recall that supreme blessing and make the most of what I have. I also have to remind myself that they don't know anything else, any other way of life. While this is true, it's still gut-wrenching when I know what else is out there for those children. I know what the future could hold if they were given the right opportunity.

Emma and Erin are too young to 'get it'...if you asked them, the best thing about Cambodia was the ice cream, or riding in a Tuk-Tuk, or leaving Cambodia...I understand, and I know that they will often be reminded by their parents of their many blessings - they don't have to brush their teeth, they get to brush their teeth...they don't have to go outside and ride bikes, they get to go outside and ride bikes...it's my new mantra. After seeing all the vacation pictures of myself, my own personal mantra is: "I don't have to exercise, I get to exercise..." Hmmm...nope, doesn't make it sound any more fun...