Thank you to all those who sent cards and gifts!

This was a very meaningful Christmas. I asked the Lord for one gift:  to  be able to drive a motorcycle on my own! But, He also gave me another unexpected gift.

The first gift

I bought a motorcycle three months ago, but was never able to ride it on my own. I had all kinds of reasons, including:  1) I wasn't brave enough. 2) The rainy weather and muddy roads were very dangerous for a beginner like me. 3) The motorcycle was loaned to House of Joy for going to buy vegetables. In the end, last week all these reasons were taken
away one by one.

First of all a missionary whom I respect and who had served in Hong Kong for 20 years is now one of our team members. He said to me, "If you really want to get to heaven, then you can learn to ride right away." (When I heard this I realized that I needed a spirit of braving death.) Previously a young man in the village, not realizing how nervous I was, taught me how to ride down the road with my eyes shut. I jokingly replied, would he please stand in front of me so that I could close my eyes and steer toward the sound of his voice.

Next, the dry season has begun, with less rainfall. The road construction company has also started to fill, level and widen the road. This is a great help for me as the previously muddy, pot holed and uneven road surface is being renovated day by day. With the wider road, I can keep toward the edge. Later on when the marshy sections are filled it will be even better.

Finally, House of Joy bought their own motorcycle and no longer needs to use my little 50 cc one to carry a driver, me and several tens of kilograms of foodstuffs. From time to time I had to sit on the back and play juggler, that is to sit sideways, both hands holding a box of fifty packages of instant noodles and three brooms, or if not that then hugging 38 long loaves of French bread, each of which is enough for two people for breakfast. (These two things are the House of Joy children's favorite breakfasts.) One day, just as we rode under the overhang at the House of Joy, the sky opened up and poured down rain. How could we not praise God! If it had started to rain while we were on the way, our students would have been eating soaking wet bread the next day!!

There was also a reason related to a problem with behavioral customs. Here it is not proper for two unmarried people (of opposite sex) to go out together regularly. (Even if they are boy friend and girl friend, they do not date regularly.) Since it was like this, I had no further excuses and I was not comfortable making the House of Joy staff member
(his name is Mong) go back and forth everyday to get me and take me back. Each round trip, including waiting for the ferry to cross the river, needed two hours.

I'll tell you how I started:  First, I picked a day because I needed to get up my courage and harden my resolution. From here where I live in Prek Thei Village, before the students leave their homes to go to school and before the factory workers start work, I drove the motorcycle to the market. It takes fifteen minutes, but I needed 25 minutes because I drive only a little faster than the bicycles. After buying the food, the staff member drove back to House of Joy. That was the first day.

When Christmas week started, with fear and trembling I decided to ride on my own to Kaosachtunlea. Mong also rode in and met me at the market to buy vegetables, and then we both rode our own motorcycles to Kaosachtunlea. Thank the Lord, everything went well for three days. But, I still needed the ferry pilot to help me to drive the motorcycle from the island onto the boat, because the water recedes with the dry season and the path down to the river surface is steep, about 45 degrees! Later on when the water recedes so that the sandy river bottom is exposed, it will be even more challenging. I hope that after my driving skills have become more mature and natural, I will be able to ride at busy times
also.

The second gift

There was another gift I had not expected:  On Christmas day, because the work got somewhat confusing, I just dropped everything and went and cried for about an hour. I haven't cried like that for a long time. As far as I can remember I never did when I was here as an intern, nor did I cry like that after I returned to Hong Kong. After crying, I felt much better. (When I told our field supervisor, she thought that it came from all the pressures and exhaustion, both physically and emotionally. She also agreed that crying makes things a little better.) At dusk when I set out for Phnom Penh, a Form 2 student who looks like he is in Form 7, had a good observation: "Today teacher looks very 'Sop Bai Chuk' (meaning happy, joyful)." Actually I also was awakening to the end of my constant state of nerves. Who would have thought that crying like the fast flow of the Bassac River would have the result of opening up happiness? Would you think about trying it?