Happy August to you! It has been quite a few months since I’ve had the opportunity to update you guys. I have a good reason, I promise :) As some of you may know, my good friend, Katherine, who is the House Mom for the children’s foster home under Water of Life, was given the biggest gift ever and was granted permission by the Khmer Government to travel to the USA with her adopted son. This was her first trip home in 5 years. After much prayer and reliance on God, Katherine was finally able to introduce her awesome son to her family… in person!
Let me just tell ya, God’s timing is perfect. This came at perfect timing in ministry. Right before Katherine was granted her son’s US visa, Katherine and I decided to collaborate at her home. She asked me to manage certain sections of the home, i.e. staff, organizing activities, etc. So when Katherine scheduled her trip from April until July, she trusted me with her home and children… which I thought was a huge mistake on her part. But God knew better.
You guys probably know that I am not a kid person, but God decided that I should get over that so He threw me in the deep end. I am so thankful He did. So for the last 3 months or so I have been managing a home of 24 kids and one baby plus staff. To say my journey there was difficult would be an understatement and the Lord stretched me farther than I ever knew possible and I would not change a single thing. The Lord used me at my weakest point to help out a very fruitful ministry and it had nothing to do with me. I ate a huge piece of humble pie. I was not equipped in any way and I fell short daily, but I’m so glad that God’s plans are bigger than me. I love those kids and that home and I feel truly blessed to be part of their lives.
Can I just say that I have the best husband in the world. I am truly undeserving of such a man. Curtis is currently heading up two different pastor conferences in the village, studying and becoming fluent in Khmer like a boss, and reforming the sound and worship team for church, among many other things and he still found the time to be the most attentive husband on the planet. For the last few months I had been working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day not to mention the fact that this was way out of my comfort zone emotionally, spiritually and physically (did you know children are very energetic?) and Curtis held my hand throughout the entire experience… even when I was not the sweetest to be around. On top of all the other ministries he was doing he also helped me clean the house, do laundry, run errands, and even tried to cook for me.
One day, the kids decided to get into a baby powder fight (I still have no idea where they got the baby powder) and I was their prey. Then they thought it would be funny to get into a water fight afterwards to make the powder pasty. It was a really fun day but seriously exhausting after 14 hours. I came home and Curtis had swept and mopped the house and got food for us already. Seriously, this man is a keeper.
So to sum it up, I was a substitute mom for 3 months for 24 kids and it’s safe to say that I lost my sanity and truly sympathize with the mom community. I mean do you know how hard it is to get 8 little boys to take a nap only to come back 15 minutes later, after you thought they had fallen asleep, to find them carving a guitar out of their mattress?
Katherine is home now and all is well with the world. She came home refreshed and seriously homesick and the kids missed her just as much. Life has not calmed down at all, but Im glad it hasn’t. I loved managing those munchkins, but I’m glad to be back in my position of manager. I adore those kids. There was literally never a dull moment, but I think I’ve had my mom fix for at least another year :)
Water of Life and this kid's home are amazing ministries. I have never experienced anything like this community before. Please continue to lift up Water of Life in prayer. These kids are great kids who are on-fire for Jesus and have been through some really rough stuff in their childhood (and some of them are still little kids!)
Thank you very much for your patience. I can’t wait to see you guys in 2 weeks, and thank you for your support financially and prayerfully. It makes a huge difference!
God Bless,
Bre