Hello readers,
My name is Kim, and I am guest-blogging today as an honour from Camille. I've been visiting her here in Cambodia for the past little while, and spending some time learning and being refreshed by the change from Canada. Something that Camille told me one day, during one of our many discussions (this particular one was on the movie "Alice in Wonderland" and the meaning and themes behind Wonderland), was "Cambodia is a lot like Wonderland, it changes how you see things and challenges your view of reality, turning everything upside down." (Camille says that "this is not a direct quote, and that it is only your interpretation of what I said", I say, "whatever".)
The other day we witnessed just such a reality challenging occurrence. Camille and I had spent the day at the beach, just chilling and spending time with God. Towards the early evening, we decided to take a walk on the rocks to watch the sunset. The particular beach that we were on had a lovely board walk along the sea, and further on rocks jutting out right up to the sea. Other tourists were passing us by, mostly going the other way, from the rocks to the sea. When we came round one bend, we reached a spot where a couple weeks before we had eaten a picnic lunch. Instead, we saw a group of seven little people clad in brown Tarzan-like outfits, and three little fairies. On closer inspection, there was one little girl fairy, and one little boy brown-clad, and the rest were all... little people. And then there was a woman, in a short flashy dress, brightly coloured, with a wig and heels, very flashy caberet style, sitting around, texting on her cell phone. On closer inspetion, "she" turned out to be a "he", and there were two other cross-dressed men, just like him sitting nearby. The tourists were all just walking by, (much like they would in Toronto, as if this happened every day, and was completely normal, meanwhile Camille and I stood there for at least 10minutes staring...). Then, who do you think would saunter down the walk then prince charming himself, clad in a gray cape, and knee high boots. He walked down to the rocks at the sea, and was followed by a collection of photographers, at which point we realized that this was some kind of strange photoshoot that we had walked into. Prince charming takes a seat on a rock at the edge of the sea and begins to ruffle his cape so that it billows in the wind, meanwhile tossing an empty can onto the rocks. "Is that Diet Pepsi?" I ask Camille, "No," she says, "I think it's Ankor, the local beer". At this point the brown-clad little people and the fairies, and the cross-dressers began to stare at Camille and me, giving us dirty looks, as if we were the ones who were cross-dressing, so we decided that it was time to move along, which we did.
But as we were passing by again on our way back from climbing on the rocks, Camille said to me again "Cambodia is a lot like Wonderland..."
From what I've seen of this country, and learned from talking to people and hearing about their experiences, this land really turns peoples expectations on their heads, and always seems to dish-out the unexpected. In a different way God is like that too, and has been using this Wonderland to surprise me and change my own ideas about Him and about how He works - revealing to me greater depths of His goodness and His Character. It has been quite a time of refreshment and discovery.
It's now Easter, when we celebrate the time that God turned all of our expectations on our heads. When Jesus, who deserves everything, all of our honour and praise, instead humbled himself and took on all of our sins and inequities, and in exchange gave us His righteousness. How amazing and crazy, and reality-redefining is that?
I hope and pray that you have a happy and blessed Easter.
Isaiah 55:1-9
1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
