Update from my parents in Cambodia:

When contemplating going to our Thailand Conference, Ron and I both really felt the need to reconnect with the missionaries in Cambodia as well as the orphanages. I (sally) had 4 children in particular that the Lord had placed on my heart to search out. The first one was a young lady named Bora. She had been raised in the orphanage and at the age of 18 was turned out on the streets. She is now 22, and I found her living with her birth mother and ½ sister and brother. To my surprise she now has a 6 month old daughter. But she seems to be doing pretty well. She has been pouring her love into her daughter and her baby seems to be very healthy and happy. She is a very good mother and providing for her daughter by clipping strings off of clothes from the clothes factory that makes Old Navy shorts.

The second child I was looking for is a young boy named Sampson. We found Sampson still living at Sovannapoom care center. He is now about 13 and a very happy Healthy young man that continues to astonish those around him with his love for the Lord. He had been abandoned at the age of 4 and left on the streets to die after both of his parents died of aids. PTL he is doing really well.

Srey Vin was the baby that never cried, never smiled and had almost disconnected from humans. I was thrilled to find out that she had been adopted by a family from Italy! I really pray this family will find an amazing connection with this precious little girl and that she will be laughing, and growing in a loving family.

The saddest part of my trip so far has to be the little girl named Ratana. Ratana was the most loving little girl that I had spent the most time with while we lived here in Cambodia. Ratana is now 15 years old. I have been searching and searching for her the past 4 days. We have gone from one side of the city to the other searching for any leads. She had ran away from the orphanage about a year ago or maybe I should say lured away by a 45 year old policeman. Since then she has been working in a beer garden (brothel). It has really broken my heart to follow the path this young girl has taken. I have not been able to find her in order to talk to her, but I have lots of people looking for her. I have distributed pictures around and I continue to pray that in the next 4 days we are here, we will be able to make contact. Please pray for Ratana and all the young girls that are continuing to be trafficked in countries like this.

Please continue to pray for our few days left here in Cambodia and then our flights to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Also pray for all our co-workers from CS countries and the US coming into Thailand for this upcoming conference.

Blessings

Ron & Sally

four years....

I started this blog four years ago. And this is why I started it... this precious baby girl. I still remember the first time I saw her. I remember so clearly every detail of how she looked, smelled and how I felt about her. She has been my precious gift from God and everyday I come to know her and love her more. This week my baby girl turned four. Four is a big deal, it is like the line between toddler and kid or something. She just seems so big and so grown up here lately and it is so hard for me sometimes! Don't get me wrong.. I am loving watching her grow and coming to know her more. She is so incredibly smart, so sweet and such a big helper. She always tells me, "You don't want me to get bigger do you, mommy?" haha She knows just how I feel. :) She actually knows me really quite well. Being her mommy has changed me forever. It has made me see my sin for what is really is, it has made me strive to be the person that I want to be so that I might be able to someday be an example to her. She is my little angel and I am so thankful for her! She loves to play dress up, she loves to play with her baby dolls and her ponies. She loves to color, to paint, to cut, to glue, to make things for the people she loves. She tells me she loves me about twenty times a day and it means the world to me. She loves her daddy so much and she would do anything for her "bubbsy" (brother). But the most amazing thing to see is how she is growing to know and love Jesus. She has so many questions everyday about God and who He is. I love her heart to know Him. Tears come to my eyes when I hear her pray. I know she is still so young but I pray so much that someday she will truly know the God that she so desires to know right now. She loves her friends and is lost when we go a week without Sunday school, Cubbies and Kindergym. She still tries to climb in bed with us every night and just loves to be cuddled and hugged. She wakes up so happy every morning and loves to sing. Four years, wow.. what a blessing. Halle Jade, I love you my precious precious girl. I can't wait to watch you grow more and more. You are so beautiful to me, inside and out. Thank You Jesus for an amazing four years with this precious child. Please guard and protect her and help her to know You.

HALLE- one day old

HALLE- four years old

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

An Afternoon in Beverly Hills

A few pictures of an afternoon we spent driving through Beverly Hills with a lunch stop at the Grove.

This was our first experience with American Girls Dolls and it was quite impressive I must say :)

Halle checking out her American Girl Doll magazine in the stroller haha

Lunch at the Grove Farmer's Market

The loves of my life...

a bad pic of Jade... but proof that I was there :)

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD. Job 1:21

For I the LORD do not change Malachi 3:6

I am totally amazed at how God is always the same, yet I experience Him in such completely different ways in my life. I have learned so much about God these past few months since beginning this journey of Seminary. I recently had a miscarriage, I was 9 weeks pregnant. It seemed so surreal after experiencing a time of abundant blessing to feel such overwhelming sadness and loss. It has been really hard. I have come to really be thankful for my Bible these days and thankful for the God that it tells me about. It has been overwhelmingly comforting to know God doesn't change. His purpose and plan have been the same since the beginning and each day of my life and each event in my life is a part of that plan. So even though it is extremely hard to comprehend that the God who blessed me with pregnancy was the same God who let that baby die, I am still comforted knowing that none of what has happened is out of His ultimate control. I have been so thankful through this sad time that I can always find TRUTH in the Bible. It is an amazing feeling to not just hear people's words of comfort, but to read God's own words written to me.

Ps. 22:9-10 Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother's breasts. Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother's womb.

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Ps. 139:13-15 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

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2 Sam. 12:21-23 Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food." He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live.' "But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

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Ps. 23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

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I have learned some amazing things through reading God's word regarding the loss of a child. I was given a book written by John MacArthur by a friend. The book was called "Safe in the arms of God" and it is wonderful because it just takes you through the Bible and helps you find comfort in what GOD says. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has experiences miscarriage or the loss of a young child. God loves us so much and He wrote several amazing things to those of us who would experience this type of loss. He wanted us to know the truth, He wanted us to find comfort in knowing that He loves us and He loves our children even more than we do. He knew each child long before they were born and He allowed each conception for a purpose. I have been so blown away to realize that God saw my baby's unformed body, He saw and knew that my baby wouldn't ever be born but He still created my baby for an amazing purpose. My baby will never know sin, never know the sadness I felt in losing them, they will never experience this world, but they will live for eternity with Christ. My baby will spend eternity worshiping their Creator. And what is so amazing is that because I know with certainty (as David did when he wrote Psalm 23) that I will spend eternity in heaven with God- I can know with confidence that I will get to meet my baby someday and spend eternity with them. God has brought me amazing comfort through His word and I have never been so thankful for His word. God does not make mistakes. Nothing is out of His control. God is love. These promises have comforted us through this sad time for our family.

A Time of ABUNDANCE

Has it really been that long?? Geez, I am terrible at this blogging thing! I had great goals of keeping this updated with our summer happenings.. but summer just happened and it happened quickly. I guess I will try to do a brief (haha) overview of our past 15 weeks. :)

I had a dear friend visit this summer and while we were out for lunch one afternoon she told me something that was incredibly profound. She said, "Trisha, you and your family are living in a time of Abundance. God is blessing you abundantly in all areas of your life and it is very clear to see." Well, my friend had summarized our summer in that one simple word.. abundance. God moved in huge and amazing ways to bring us to The Master's Seminary and since arriving here, He has blessed us like we could have never imagined. Jade had a friend from Seminary ask him the other day, "Who is praying for you guys?? I am just in awe the blessings in your life!" It has been so incredible to be in this place and to feel such peace and joy after what felt like a long desert of waiting. Long.. well, not long compared to what many people go through!! But we did have several years of waiting and preparation and learning. We wanted SO badly to be right here... and how blessed wde feel to actually be right here right now. As far as specifics.. our housing situation has been incredible- we are managing apartments in return for rent and it has worked out so well! Jade is working nights at The Master's College, which is a hard schedule to get use to- but it does allow him to attend all his classes and have quite a bit of time at home during the day. We also have amazing benefits through his job. What an amazing comfort to have great medical, dental and optical insurance with kids!!! We found an amazing church here and are getting involved in a great fellowship group. Jade has already found great opportunity to get involved at our church as well- huge huge blessing getting to work alongside an amazing group of men!! And last but NOT least, we are expecting baby Greenfield #3!! We have had an amazing summer with visits from a lot of great friends as well as a week-long visit from my parents (including trip to Disneyland)!! We also have enjoyed several beautiful days at the beach, Santa Monica is our favorite spot for now. :) Jade and I were talking tonight and just praying together. We know that there are going to be so many hard times ahead but for now we are so thankful for the joy and excitement that we have for being here. I'm not going to lie though, we have already started to have our homesick days. It seems every time I log onto facebook I see pictures of another event back home that we missed. :( My friends are all having babies or about to have babies.. some days are definitely hard. We are trying to just stay focused on being here and making the most of every opportunity that God brings our way. We are excited to meet new friends and connect with people here- although we know that it will take time. Jade and I are constantly reminding each other to take 'one day at a time'... to be obedient to what Jesus calls us to do in Matthew6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." It seems like whenever we try to look at the whole big picture of how we are going to accomplish this huge task that is ahead of us- we get incredibly overwhelmed and stressed. One day at a time though- and we are doing just fine! :)

week TWO in sunny California

Sunday officially made it 2 weeks since arriving in California and the time is really flying by. This week felt so great though, despite having a little city life cultural shock initially, we all started to feel a little more settled and comfortable this week. I drove quite a bit, even on the big fast interstate haha. I can find my way to Target and back as well as to the grocery store without the GPS.. come on now, that is good right..? I have had several friends and family members tell me that they were praying that I wouldn't be fearful. These people know me well, I am the biggest wimp when it comes to trying new things, high things, dark things, fast things, wet things... well the list could go on but you get it. God has done amazing things in just two weeks though because I can honestly say that I don't feel afraid. Jade is still working nights for now, but I have slept really well the past few nights. I made several outings with the kids this week while Jade slept and I actually enjoyed exploring, getting lost and finding my way back. God is so good. I know that I will still have unexpected things happen and I will probably have to continually be in prayer over it, but for now it feels good to not be battling fear. God has blessed us so much though, the town/suburb that we are in is so great. I have heard so many people say how safe it is here and how much they love it. I haven't seen any sketchy people or house anywhere near our apartment and everyone has been so nice. Another huge blessing has come in our tenants. We have people from all nationalities, all ages, all vocations.. it is quite a mix.. but I guess that is LA for ya :) The amazing thing is that so many of them are Christians and are doing their best to live for Jesus here in Glendale. I am so excited to get to know them better! The people here are so different than what I expected. You always hear about "those Californians"and how crazy they are.. But Jade and I have been absolutely blown away by how kind, generous and friendly we have found them to be. I went to borrow soy sauce from a lady a few doors down... this is SO not like me, but I literally had the veggies and chicken stir fried, the rice ready and then realized I had no soy sauce and nothing to even substitute.. so anyway, this woman ended giving me a whole 1/2 gallon of soy sauce as well as a big thing of ice cream for dessert.. I was totally blown away. We found out a few days before coming here that there were no other kids in our building and I was worried of how people would take our kids, but another neighbor brought them popsicles and came down just to meet them :) I also met another tenant that just had a baby 3 months ago and is going to stay home with her baby! So there IS another kid here.. :)

We got to visit Santa Clarita Baptist Church where our good friends, Scott Basolo is the pastor. They had a music group from The Master's College called Messiah perform an outdoor concert on their lawn. It was so incredible! It was so special for me to see my kids smile and go straight to "Auntie" Karyn Basolo. It was a really encouraging night for both Jade and I!

Our boxes are all unpacked, there are just a few pictures still to hang, but we are getting close. We were able to spend a little more time just hanging out with the kids.. we took them both swimming yesterday and they LOVED it. Below are a few pictures from our week..

This day Will was sleeping so I just took Halle into the pool, she thinks it is pretty cool to have a pool! So do I :) She was cracking me up in her goggles.. and no, she didn't ever put her head under the water to actually use them :)

Happy girl on a hot day

It is a small pool, but so so great!!

Jade had good intentions of coming swimming with us, but he had worked the whole night before and once he laid down he was sound asleep haha...

The black door to the left of the plant is our front door.. pretty close to the pool eh ?? :)

As I have said before, we have all had to get use to spending more time in the car as everything seems to take so much longer here :) I pulled the camera out to entertain the kids are Jade went into the bank to set up our new account.

"so big"

haha

Riding bikes in the parking garage under our building :)

Big boy wanting to ride all by himself :)

Halle being bored in the car

So here is the courtyard.. this is about directly above where we were riding bikes in the garage. :) Our apartment is on the bottom floor in the back right corner.. kind of down the little hallway.

Halle exploring a little

A little room to run :)

Hopefully I will have pictures of the inside of our apartment by next week :)