Scylla and Charybdis

HI all. Well, I'm going to get all "heady" on you. I had to look up the title of this blog on google, as I had no idea what it meant, but wanted to use it. Here's what I found out, they are the names of Sea Monsters from greek mythology:

"The myth has Charybdis, lying on one side of a blue, narrow channel of water. On the other side of the strait was Scylla, another sea-monster. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being in a state where one is between two dangers and moving away from one will cause you to come closer to the other. "Between Scylla and Charybdis" is the origin of the phrase "between the rock and the whirlpool" (the rock upon which Scylla dwelt and the whirlpool of Charybdis) and may also be the genesis of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place."

All that just to quote Elisabeth Elliot from a book of hers that I read recently, that I could NOT put down, "The Savage, My Kinsman," where she tells the story of going into the jungle, her and her 3 year old daughter, to live alongside the Auca people, the very same who murdered her husband and 4 other men, 3 years prior. Just a fasciniting read, I recommend it.

However, in her epilogue, she comments on the writing of the book, and of telling her missionary (or any) missionary story:

"We must recognize the treacherous Scylla and Charybdis of missionary reporting--not telling enough of the story, and telling altogether too much. The first temptation is to minimize what is great. The second is to magnify what is trivial."

Hmm.

I haven't written for a little while, and when I read that I thought, maybe I haven't written because there's been nothing trivial to magnify? Things have been just going along lately, without anything too sensational to write about! I certainly have been guilty of that error on this blog at times. Or, perhaps, I am simply minimizing the astonishing greatness of our Father, by not writing enough about who He is and what I see of Him here! When I think of it, It's a tough situation to be in really. So, I apologize for the extremes. When I write, I know there are trivial things I want to say, but I hope I can tell enough of the story, that God gets the Glory.

If you want trivial details, there are certainly many to share. We have been well. Dean is sick right now with a nice bout of laringitis, but he's feeling Ok. As nice as that may sound for US, that he doesn't have his voice, (haha) he still continues to try to whisper and communicate with actions, so it's actually worse than when he's talking too much!

Dean and many other staff members and all the high school students are headed off to camp this week, so he needs to get better quick. Dean went as a supervisor last year, and it's an adventure camp, so they have alot of fun, great teaching times, and I know he's looking forward to it.

That leaves Monday to Friday as "girls" week for the rest of us. (Who am I kidding--it's always "girls week" around here! haha) Anyways, we'll try to get to school on time without him, which should be interesting.

Steph's had alot of homework and was pretty choked about things earlier this week. When it slowed down a bit, that helped, but it sort of feels like nothing has been "fun" lately at school--just getting down to the nitty gritty of class after class, assignment after test, and although this is normal for this time of year, it can get wearisome for a kid who cares and wants to do well at things.

So, we solved the lack of "fun" problem this Saturday, as it was the Logos Carnival, where the school puts on a fun fair, complete with food, games, tickets, prizes, tables with sales, face painting--did I mentions food?--hot dogs, drinks, Korean food, indian food. and all the grades put on games where kids can win prizes. Alot of school and non-Logos kids show up for this and it was really a fun day for everyone. Maya's arms are covered in transfer tattoos, Julia got soaked in the "Throw a water balloon at your favorite Gr. 6er" game, and Steph hung out with friends, put a few people in "jail" (that was one of the games--a highlight, as you apy to get someone "Arrested" then they have to get bailed out! Quite a hoot.) and Steph also watched Ally Hein a bit, for some babysitting. All in all, a really fun day. What made it even more enjoyable, is that when all was said and done (it went from 10-2 Saturday) we took our swim suits and jumped into the pool and cooled off. Lovely.

Yes, the Logos pool is really lovely, pretty much exclusively designed by Dean, so he's pleased as punch with it. It's a full size, 25m laps pool, saltwater, so it's really, really nice. There is a small kid pool for little ones, that you can see easily from the main pool. So, I now have found probably my perfect exercise regime for cambodia! Getting up at 5 am to run when it's not hot and still have people staring at you was difficult. Running any other time of the day, and where--was always an issue. Walking is ok, but there's no park close by to do so and still people stare (I could just get over that, but when you're trying to get some exercise, it's a good excuse to avoid going out!) So now, After a long, hot day at school, when most of the kids are gone home, I can jump into the pool, do a few laps, let Maya and any of the other kids swim too, (I can watch Maya in the small pool WHILE exercising, now that's a miracle) AND it's lovely, refreshing, the water is a perfectly warm enough temp that I'm never cold, and my goodness, doesn't that sound nice for those of you who are freezing cold in Canada right now? I'm sorry, not bragging, but boy am I enjoying the swimming, and making the most of a win win situation. It is good and I'm thankful.

I guess we did have a little fun also the Friday before carnival, as it was High school/middle school chapel, and the Gr. 12's did a pie in the face ufndraiser. Dean was of course, on the list, along with a number of other favorite teachers, and he paid his dues. Unfortunately for me, another staff member grabbed our camera while Dean was covered in whip cream, and Dean planted a big ol' kiss on my face, so I had whipping cream up my nose for the rest of the day! Gross. However, the kids enjoyed the bidding, and boy, if Julia only had remembered to bring money!!! She was so into it. Too bad there's not alot of forethought in all that enthusiasm!

Weekends lately have been filled with trying to rest. Been so tired, it seems. The power coming into the school building is still not enough for half of the classrooms to run even one aircon for part of the day, so we are always blowing the system, and shutting off breakers. What this means is that while we are technically still in "cool" season (I prefer to call it "Not roasting hot season,") we are teaching in some very warm classrooms, and it is a fair amount tougher than I thought it would be. You just eventually overheat, and it tires you out.

Last Sunday, on the invite of Bill Lobezoo our neighbor and CMA missionary, we went to church at David and Patti's TNT, Khmer church on the other side of the city. Any gals from my old missions team, you were there, and maybe some of you SOAers know that they are currently building a new building on the same property, and we wanted to see how it was going. In a word, unbelievable! It is HUGE, gorgeous, and really like David said, Taj Mahal--ish! Really, we took pictures and hopefully they will be up for you to see. What a blessing for this community. Alot of the money has been fundraised from the West (which is a good and bad thing, because dependency on the rich West is such a struggle Cambodia in general out here) but it is really a nice space and the people are very happy.

Name dropping time. We heard from Ange Booy in an e-mail last week, that she was in and out of town within about 12 hours total, coming from Siem Riep and on to India, where she will be doing the rest of her YWAM. I think she comes back for a few days in March, then home, so we will see her then. But, this is the culmination of her time out here, to head to India, so be praying for her. And the big news is that she has done something to her back, and was on complete bedrest for like 3 weeks in Siem Riep. She was hoping to get some medical attention on that short stay here, and has been very immobile. Not able to do stuff with her team, and it's been good and bad in many ways. Making her spend time with God. So, I dont' know how much we're going to get to hear from her while in india, but that's the scoop on her. Please pray!

Next, we're going to host Jim Williams next weekend, while he's doing some touring of SE Asia on his school break. He'll be here with his significant other (I'm sorry, I've forgotten her name) and they'll stay with us a few days over valentines day.) looking very much forward to some COMPANY! Stew and Sue McKercher with Ratanak (some of you know them) are out again, and we've invited them to see our new school. (We're always trying to give tours!) Hopefully that will take place next week. And finally, the MEI missions team, headed by Henry Zukowski and Maryanne Quiring will be showing up on our doorstep for supper March 8th, around there, as they get in that weekend. (Due to the Olympics, everyone has different spring break schedules in BC? IS this true?? Sounds interesting.) So, we hope to spend some time with their ministry on the Tuesday at New Life school, and then we can sup together and they can tour our new school. Looking forward to all of this.

So, Olympic news?? We hear none of it. Someone fill us in. All I've heard is from a few e-mails about the snow transfers, the bills running up--anyone with insider info can write us and let us know how things are turning. We're very interested, but this side of the world doesn't know anything about winter or olympics, so we're not getting much!

Well, that's the "trivial" list. The "great" list? God is always good. We had a student run away from home a few weeks ago and he was prayed for so much by the school. He has returned safely and I cannot comment on his current home life, but sure hope and keep praying that things will improve. Our staff continues to meet each morning for devotions, and you know, I look forward to these mornings all the time. It's sometimes a challenge to get there early enough, but each morning, we hear God's word together, pray for our students and whatever needs arise. It is good to be part of a staff like this, very good. Comforting when you're the one who is down and need the prayer, and to have people cover you like that.

The House of Smiles kids were able to come to Carnival! We gave them everything free, and I think they had a great time--what a jolt out of their quiet reality, of day after day, in their house, having school and the basic structure that they have, to getting such a noisy, unusual outing! They seemed to enjoy themselves, and the workers did, so that was nice.

And, it's staffing, recruiting and hiring time for Logos. Teachers have to decide (if their contracts are finished) if they're staying or going. Dan spends alot of time answering e-mails, phone calls and other inquiries about working at Logos. There are usually alot of unanswered questions beginning at this time of year, but in every year, Dan will really attest to how God has filled the gaps, brought the right people out for the jobs, and it's been really an amazing testament to his Will for this school, to watch how things have fallen into place over the years. However, there is still much footwork to be done, and now is the time of year when it starts to get busy.

Our own thankfully great news. We were waiting to hear back from Action, that they would agree to extend our 2 year short term missionary status to 3 years, and they did! We heard that this past week, and are very excited about officially planning to come back to Logos for a third year. Unfortunately, that news came back to back with hearing news of difficult health issues with some of our close relatives. It's so tough, some of these situations. I just keep praying...

Thank you for your continued following of our blog, despite the trivialization of the important, or the magnification of the mundane! Thanks and blessing to those of you who support us in the ways you can, prayer, funding, love, reading the blog. We appreciate you.

God Bless. I shall leave you with one last comment/story just cuz if I write about it, it gives me some clarity on what to do. Hope to hear from some of you soon.

A comment about the dogs, then I go. Julia loves dogs. All the girls love dogs! The dogs out here are quite frankly, gross. Dogs are not taken care of here, they are treated very low and frankly, when so many people are poor and hungry in this nation, why does anyone have a dog and have to feed it? Oh, no one really buys dog food, they just feed them scraps, or they scavenge on their own for food, but really, they are awful looking creatures, they are loaded with ticks, worms, scabies, no one cleans them. Regardless, Julia loves the dogs, especially our landlord's dogs Lilly and Rosy. Lilly has always been Julia's favorite, however, Lilly is not a smart dog, and with no training, she's learned some horrible habits. She tears at Rosy, the younger (and nicer and smarter)when they are fed, and fights for her food too. She barks and chases at motos when she's let out of the gate. Currenly, our landlords are building another home somewhere out of town, so they are RARELY home, which means if it wasn't for us (well, Julia) taking care of these poor creatures, they'd almost never get fed. It's so annoying. Anyways, long story short, Lilly's been really nipping at Julia, she seems to have crossed some play boundary to a point where I don't feel it's safe for Julia to have interaction with her. I really want her to back off with her contact with this dog, but it lives in our yard and it's really hard to do cuz Julia's so attached. This is all quite hard for Jubes, and I hope things can be resolved soon. The landlords keep talking about taking Lilly out to this "farm" (their new house) and leaving her there, and I sure wish they would, cuz I can't stand having this animal around much longer. She licks us non stop the second we get out the door, they try to get into our house, I keep kicking her to stop her from coming close and again, I'm concerned about this biting issue. Anyways, I'll let you know what comes of this, but it's quite an irritating situation right now. Poor Jubes, all she wants is a nice dog for a pet. Maybe one day.