This week Clara turns 18 months! She’s one-and-a-half! One thing Clara loves is to play the piano…and she loves pressing all the buttons. Books Clara loves are The Hungry Caterpillar, several different animal photograph books, and If You Give  Pig a Pancake. Clara absolutely loves pigs and wants everyone to stop and look when one is walking through our yard. She says lots of words and is talking all the time. Clara now consistently wants to ride in the normal swing and isn’t content in the baby swing. And she’s just about done nursing. She’s a big girl now. Love her!

Homosexuality. We each have our own personal reaction to the word. We can tell you what it is, how we feel about it, and how we’re dealing with it and its ever growing—indeed, bombarding—presence in our society. We can’t ignore it . . . not even in the northeastern corner of Cambodia.

As I’ve thought about the issue of homosexuality and our dealings with people caught in that sin, I have been burdened by a truth in Scripture that I believe we need to keep in mind as we call homosexuals to turn from their desires and follow Christ.

In Matthew 16:24 Jesus tells His disciples that if anyone wants to follow after Him, he has to deny himself and take up his cross. That was easy for me. I was a young child when I made the decision to follow Jesus. Following after Jesus meant that I was accepted in my community – my parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and teachers were all thrilled for me. But for the homosexual it can truly be a cross – dying to everything they know and are. It’s a cross to say, “I’ll forsake myself and the whole life I’ve created for myself for the sake of knowing Christ.”

You see, Jesus never promised that when we come to Him, He’ll remove all our sinful inclinations. He doesn’t promise that when a person with homosexual desires turns to Christ He’ll remove those desires and change them into heterosexual desires. Picking up the cross for a homosexual may mean fighting those desires every day and never being sexual fulfilled; it may mean never having even the hope for sexual fulfilment on this earth. This is a hard cross to bear.

In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul writes about a thorn in the flesh that he’s pleaded with the Lord to remove. The Lord says no. He tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in weakness.” We don’t know what that thorn in the flesh was, but what if it was a specific temptation to sin that Paul had to fight every day? Something that constantly reminded him of his need for Christ. Christ wouldn’t take it away, but He promised the grace to live with it every day for the rest of his life.

This is a message we need to keep ever present in our hearts as we reach out to those in the homosexual community. Coming to Christ means picking up a cross that many of us cannot grasp the weight of. Coming to Christ doesn’t guarantee He will change your sexual desires, but He will give you the grace you need to fight each day.

I’ll never forget the look in a friend’s eyes as I shared these truths with them. It was the look of a lost child, who wanted something but understood what it would cost. Could one really forget everything that was behind and set aside every weight to know Christ and the power of His resurrection? This is hard. But our God is greater. He is enough. We must pray. This is war and Satan would love for us to cry out to people that coming to Jesus is easy and that everything will be okay. But that’s not what Jesus said. He said the world would hate us. He said it was a cross. But He promises us all the grace we need, and His Spirit, and a peace that passes all understanding. Thanks be to God.

May I encourage you my friends, in the midst of your world where you may feel bombarded with the homosexual agenda – to stop and consider the cost of what following Jesus means for these dear people. It’s not something for us to laugh at or to ignore. It’s something for us to pray about. To weep over. And to teach our children to weep over. May God gives us each the wisdom and ability to love, to weep, and to call all those who are weary and heavy laden to the rest that Jesus promises.

Last month we visited a new waterfall about an 1.5 hour’s drive from our home. We’re in the middle of rainy season, so the water was rough and very dirty. We’re looking forward to going back when the rains have stopped. It looks like a great place to play.

The kids enjoyed running about and climbing into a tribal wedding house that was on display.

Meet Scamper – the newest member of the Jensen household. We always assumed we’d get a cat once we moved to Cambodia, but until this year we really didn’t see a need for one. Unfortunately, we have rats/mice and traps just don’t seem to do the trick. Thankfully, our friends the Farmers had some kitten that were trying to find homes for and they gave us Scamper – a very friendly and already litter-trained cat.

We brought Scamper home on the 5^th of July and he’s been great. He must be the world’s friendliest cat. He sleeps in our beds (if he can’t get under the mosquito net he just settles down on top of it), follows us around, and goes outside with us when we play. He’s great with the kids and allows them to carry him all over. He even lets Clara walk around holding him (once I saw her pulling him by the ear).

It’s been fun to watch our kids love having such a friendly cat. For me it’s living out something that I always wanted as a child. I was supposed to get a kitten. When I was 6 my parents agreed. We spent weeks studying cats and cat care. We had a cat bed made and I put together a cat-care notebook as a school project. Everything was all set for us to pick up a kitten from the animal shelter one Saturday morning. I was so excited. Then early that morning my dad received the call that my grandfather had ended his life. Rightly so, the kitten was completely forgotten and I never got one. It’s all a memory. As I watched our children so excited about our new kitten and Anna dance around with delight, I got all choked up thinking this would have been me. And though I don’t usually put much stock in emotional healing, I wondered as Scamper curled up on my lap that night if this wasn’t some small part of some emotional healing that the little girl of 6 inside of me had been waiting for. Yes, I finally have my cat and now I can share him with our sweet children and watch their delight too. A sweet unexpected blessing from our Father.

I’ve had laundry hanging out to dry since Saturday and Wednesday the items were still damp. We’re in the middle of several days of rain, rain, rain. Wednesday I multitasked and used the oven to roast a chicken and dry outsome clothes (Isaiah was out of shorts.)

Today the sun finally broke through. Clothes all dried. We played outside. We’re so happy! I cannot tell you how happy the to picture makes me. Let the sun shine on!

I was going through our photos and realized I’m behind with posting (still haven’t posted Mother’s Day photos), so today I’m just posting some random pictures of our crazy little monkeys. Recently Becca is enjoying carrying Clara more. I love hearing Clara call Becca.

Though Isaiah doesn’t carry Clara, they still find ways to play together. A few weeks ago we did some days of painting. Isaiah had a blasting “inventing” new colors. Clara likes eating the paint…

Anna and Clara play pretty well together. I’m amazed at how patient Anna is with Clara. Clara likes hugging Anna and saying “sisters!”

These precious little monkeys fill our house with craziness! They are one of God’s great gifts to us and are a continual reminder that we need God’s grace and wisdom to shepherd our children’s hearts. So thankful!

This 4^th of July we went to a neighboring province to get together with three other EMU families (the Kanes, Brooke, and the Farmers) to celebrate the birth of our country. Altogether were 19 children ranging from 8 months to 13 years old. We had a great day of fellowship and ended the evening with sparklers. Thankful for friends!

We had a traditional 4th of July meal: grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, potato salad, broccoli salad, baked beans, watermelon, with iced tea and soda. And of course Lydia and BR outdid themselves with the desserts. The Farmer girls decorated the house.

All the kids got along well together and you could walk through the Farmer’s house and find several different games going on in different rooms. Abi painted Becca’s and the other girls’ toenails. Henry and Clara ate bananas together. Thankful for friends!

Last week we celebrated our 9^th wedding anniversary. Marriage is a beautiful gift from God and I’m thankful for having that gift in Josh from God these past nine years. When I view marriage as a gift rather than a right, it totally changes my perspective on marriage. It changes the ways we interact with each other on a daily basis. If marriage is my right then I’m going to spend a lot of time frustrated about not getting all my rights. But if I view marriage as a gift, my heart is turned to joy for the many ways I’m being blessed each day by my husband.

The week of our anniversary we had a friend visiting with us, so Josh and I were able to get away for several hours to celebrate. It might sound silly, but I just wanted to go swimming with Josh. We were able to find a nice pool not too far from our town and enjoyed a lovely afternoon together. The next day I took the kids back to go swimming too.

One gift I’m very thankful about in our marriage is our commitment to honor each other in our words whether or not our spouse is present. The longer we’re married the more important I feel this is, especially as our children get older. I love knowing that Josh is holding me safe in his heart when he talks about me to others. I don’t have to worry about him sharing my faults and weaknesses with others. I don’t have to worry about not being around to defend myself. I know he honors me with his words. And as we grow older I don’t feel like I have to worry about what he’s telling the kids about me when I’m not around and vice versus. That to me is priceless. We’re so refreshed when we spend time with men and women who honor their spouses with their words (even when I know there’s a lot they are leaving unsaid). I want to be that kind of woman in our marriage too. I want to always honor Josh with my words and tone. I would love when I die someday for our kids to be able to say that I always honored Josh with my words. I want them to know that marriage is a gift from God and to see me life that out. May God work in me and help me.

Thankful for the gift of marriage – thankful for Josh.

Happy Father’s Day to my beloved man. We scheduled our Daddy’s Day celebrating for the Monday after Father’s Day, since our Sunday was packed out with activities. While thinking over that busy day I was stuck with the thought that Josh spent Father’s Day doing a lot of father-like activities. Sunday morning, he preached in our Jarai church, Sunday afternoon he did our neighborhood Bible Club teaching the kids to play kickball and teaching them the Bible. Sunday evening, we had a small gathering of believers (our family, one Khmer family, and an Indian man) over for singing, prayer, and some Bible study. The funny thing about our evening meeting is that there was not one language we could all speak together. Josh had to teach in Khmer for our Khmer friends and English for the Indian man. It was a full day doing things that we should all do as part of the body of Christ.

The next Monday we celebrated “Daddy’s Day” with pulled pork sandwiches for lunch, cinnamon rolls for an afternoon snack, and a roast for supper (ok – the Khmer beef was very chewy). After supper we gave cards to Josh and the kids did a play for him. We’re reading through the Bible and we had just read Judges 3, so the kids did a play about Ehud and Eglon. They each took their parts very seriously. Isaiah was a wonderful jolly fat King Eglon, Anna played a mean guard – my favorite part was her mean face and the way she kept asking “is he going to the potty?” Becca was a wonderful Ehud – dagger and all. So ended our “Daddy’s Day” celebration.

I’m so thankful to be parenting our kids with Josh. So glad we’re on the same team as we raise these little ones together. Thankful that Josh loves us and serves us in so many ways. Thankful he’s not only the best Daddy our kids could have, but that he’s also my best friend. Thankful for God’s many good blessings to us in Josh.

The past three weekends we’ve had overnight trips to BanLung (the main town that’s a 45-minute drive from our home). We had not planned to have so many trips in a row, it’s just the way the everyone’s schedule worked out.

The first Sunday in June we gathered in the evening to celebrate the faithful service of the Olson family in Cambodia. After many years here, they are returning home for an indefinite period to help with Kevin’s parents. The missionary families up here met for a pot-luck meal and a time of sharing. Robin Olson is one of the most thoughtful people I know. She is always thinking about how she can help others. A few days after we moved to BanLung, she showed up at our door with a chocolate cake. She has helped me multiple times with various things (loaning me books, bringing things to the kids, visiting me, bringing food when we hosted missionary fellowship, etc). I want to follow her sweet example of constantly thinking of others.

(The pictures below are of our Clara and Elisha, one of our co-worker’s children. Clara is 6 months older than Elisha, but is much lighter than him.)

The second weekend in June, we gathered on Friday to have fellowship with the other EMU families in the area (Crowleys, Kanes, Famers, and Brooke). Both the men and women were able to have separate prayer times. I think it was the first time the five women have prayed together. It was a great blessing to me. Saturday morning about 14 ladies from different missionary organizations met together for breakfast. We enjoyed our time together.

The third weekend in June, the Olson family hosted the weekly missionary fellowship at their house. Usually, the missionaries meet on Saturday night, but the Olsons’ moved their week to Friday night so we could attend. That night we stayed at a hotel because our co-workers were leaving the country the next day and it didn’t work for us to spend the night with them. We went in a few hours early on Friday so the kids could enjoy the hotel pool.

And so ends our weekends of travel. We enjoyed the extra fellowship and encouraging conversations with our missionary co-workers. Thankful that they are only a drive away.

While the rains have continued (though not every day), the mud play has increased. Our kids have so much fun. The worse part for me is trying not to think about all the animal dung which they are playing in. The clean-up afterwards isn’t too awful. Even though I rise out the muddy clothes multiple times, they still seem full of mud. Our bathroom is also gets very dirty, but it’s pretty easy to clean out.

Thankfully Clara has stayed out of the mud! Anna plays in the mud too, but she never seems to get as bad as her older siblings and doesn’t stay as long.

Last week we celebrated Isaiah’s 5th birthday! We started out the celebration about three weeks ago with his birthday countdown calendar. Some of the special things he got to do included: new books, an audio recording of the original Peter Pan (I think they’ve listened to it 3 times already!), treats, a camp-out on the front porch with Josh, and making a cake.

Isaiah woke up before 5:30 the morning of his birthday and promptly woke up his siblings because he was so excited about the balloons that decorated his bunk-bed. We had Cheerios for breakfast, apple muffins for snacks, and he went on a errands run with Josh. At 3 we had a birthday party for Isaiah with all our neighborhood kids. First we played games, then continued with our Bible Club lesson, and then we had cake.

Supper included hot-dogs, mac & cheese, potato salad, and chips. After supper Isaiah got some gifts from our family (a favorite has been his real garden shovel – he goes all over the place digging with it). After gifts we finished the evening watching the 1960 Broadway version of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. The kids loved it. They’ve spend hours acting like pirates.

This year Isaiah wanted a zebra cake. I was thankful to find an idea on the internet using cupcakes. The night I frosted the cake I had some trouble keeping bugs from flying onto the frosting and a mouse ran across my foot!

One of our goals for Isaiah this year was for him to ride a bike without training wheels. I was expecting to focus on that the second half of this year, but Isaiah was ready and started riding training-wheels-free a few months ago. (Which inspired Anna to actually start pedaling her tricycle). It was a community effort to teach him. Becca helped him a lot and a few of the neighbor children helped him out too. It is so fun to watch him ride. We love it.

Learning: Last month Isaiah finished the Pre-Level All About Reading. He’s been so excited to “do school.” Isaiah seems to have a good mind for math. He catches on to math concepts very quickly. He surprised me one day by counting to 100. On a recent sleep-over I had with him when Josh was away, Isaiah typed up a number chart from 1-100.

Books: This year Isaiah has enjoyed listening to audio versions of: the original Pinocchio, the original Peter Pan, The Princess and the Goblins, Briar Rabbit Stories, Kiplings’ Just So Stories, and several Focus on the Family Radio Theater productions. Currently Josh is reading through the Chronicles of Narnia to Isaiah for the first time. I’ve been reading several books by Eleanor Estes: Ginger Pye, The Moffats, and Rufus M.

Isaiah is a sweet, fun-loving boy who loves to help and is a good leader to his younger sisters (who love picking on him). We’re so thankful for the many ways we’ve seen Isaiah mature this year and learn to love more like Jesus. Happy Birthday to our little man. So thankful you’re our son.

Rainy season for our yard means lots of water flowing from downpours, draining from the street, and draining from off the roofs into our yard. The water flows from the front yard into the backyard. Depending on the strength and length of the downpour, our yard is a mess. Of course, this provides lots of opportunities for mud fights and mud play! I’m thankful we have rain barrels for the kids to rinse off from.

Last week some neighbor kids and Isaiah worked on a huge mud hole. Everyone enjoyed the project! Only half the mud ended up in our bathroom.

The Khmer kids continue to come up to our house everyday from 3-5. A few weeks ago the three brothers on the left started coming. Their family is up on Oyadao working in other people’s farms. I found out this week, after they hadn’t come around for two weeks, that our neighbors suspect the oldest boy of stealing money from several people and doing & selling drugs. We don’t know if these rumors are true, but it is a good reminder that we interact with several different class groups around our home. An opportunity to show the love of Christ to people of every race and class.

These pictures are of a 30 piece puzzle we did. The kids have been interested in puzzles lately and I pulled out this one (I’ve had to teach them how to do puzzles and they still don’t completely get it). After doing the boarder and a few other pieces of this terribly hard Where’s Waldo puzzle, the two boys gave up. I worked on it for several days until earlier this week when I finished enough for the boys to finish it up without frustration.

Please pray for me as I seek to manage both our own kids and the Khmer kids during the late afternoons. Though everyone gets along, the two groups only play together about 25% of the time. The other 75% I’m managing both groups. Many times our older kids are playing outside while I supervising the Khmer kids playing upstairs on our porch, and our younger girls are experiencing after-naptime blues. I need a lot of grace, energy, and patience. God is good!

Yesterday we put together our second set of bunkbeds! We’d promised Anna that when she was wearing underwear consistently, we’d give her a bunkbed. Goodbye pack-n-play! Isaiah got to move to a top bunk as part of his birthday countdown calendar. Clara got Anna’s pack-n-play matress. Becca was thrilled to have a bunkbed next to hers and have Anna as her new shipmate

Setting up the beds was an all day event. First thing in the morning I started washing everyone’s sheets and mosquito nets. The first half of the morning the girls and I moved tubs, swept, and dusted. The second half of the morning Josh and the kids put the beds together.

The afternoon was spent putting bedding back on, arranging fans and other electronics, and rehanging mosquito nets.

Our kids were thrilled with the new arrangement. Anna looks so cute in her big bed. Isaiah loves being on the top bunk. Becca said it was the best night ever. The kids were wild with excitement. They have decided the beds are ships. Giggles and screams of delight came from their room long after I was done putting them to bed. I finally had to tell them to go to sleep…Isaiah promptly fell asleep. Love these days of delight!

Happy 14-month birthday to this rambunctious little girl! Climbing has become a favorite activity. The other day Anna came to get me since Clara was on top of my kitchen work table trying to open a soda can. We’re constantly having to move chairs and other containers to prevent Clara from climbing.

Clara has also become meticulous about throwing things out the window or off the porch. We thought she had gotten over this hobby. She’s very deliberate about what she chooses to throw over. Once some neighbor kids came up with over 10 alphabet blocks Clara threw through the porch railing. One day I watched her throw 2ft long pick-up sticks out the window. She kept running back for more. She even was able to maneuver a broom through our porch railing. She held it there by the bristles without dropping it, since she saw me looking at her. Crazy girl! I always have to be on the alert!

Clara’s getting some more teeth. She just loves eating mango/passion fruit smoothie ice pops. She’s such a clown!

This month Clara has made progress sleeping through the night.  We’re looking forward for this to be her new normal!

Love this little girl! Can’t get enough of her giggles and crazy villain laugh!

Meet Puimeng, a 61 year old Singaporean lady who is a missionary in a Jarai village near our town. Puimeng came to Cambodia about 2.5 years ago to help a church in the Jarai village of Le. She is very much”alone” in her work and we admire all that she does for the sake of the Gospel. Her main ministry is running English classes and Bible clubs in the village church. I love that she makes her students memorize the verse in Khmer before she teaches it in English.

We’ve enjoyed having regular fellowship over lunch with Om (older aunt) Puimeng about twice a month. Our kids love her.  She often does craft projects with them that she’s given them. Recently I’ve been having a prayer time with Puimeng at the end of our visits. It has been a great encouragement to me to be able to pray with another woman in English (something I’ve missed since moving to Cambodia). I’m very thankful.

I hope that when I’m 61 I’m like Puimeng – faithfully ministering to all people even if it means great discomfort and isolation.

Don’t let this picture fool you, this 13-month old is full of energy and mischief! Clara regularly laughs her “villain laugh” and looks like she’s wickedly pleased with getting away with something. She’s always trying to climb on the school table or any other tall surface she can get to. Take her outside and all she wants to do is climb the tall steps back to our house. (B&W picture credit goes to Gregory Whitaker.)

Clara bottom two middle teeth are starting to come in. On top her side tooth still reigns and it looks like the other top side tooth is starting to come in…not sure where her top middle teeth are hiding.

Clara loves to feed herself – she does not like to be fed! She happy and funny…as long as she gets exactly what she wants. She has learned to yell “MAMA” and I sometimes call her the Queen of Hearts for it sounds like she’s yelling “off with her head!” Love this little girl who brings so much laughter into our home.