Isaiah took his first steps on June 24th. We were outside playing with chalk and he picked up some chalk and started walking away. For the next few weeks he preferred crawling, but last week he gave up crawling. We now have a walking and running little man in our home.

Becca and Isaiah enjoy playing our piano. One day when Becca was playing, Josh and I started dancing. Isaiah got really jealous because he wanted to dance with Mommy.

Isaiah participated in his first finger painting session – I believe the pictures prove it was quite a success!

My good friend Steffanie Arnold came for a visit. I enjoyed catching up with her and reliving some of our childhood memories!

Isaiah continues to be a happy little boy. He loves chasing Becca around our new home. He loves to eat and sleep and play. We’re so thankful for our boy.

While Josh and I were in Cambodia Becca and Isaiah spent time with their Grandpa and Grammy Sutter. We are very thankful for the way my parents gave up two weeks of their summer to watch over our children. We were glad to leave them in good hands. . .as Becca said, “Grammy knows what little girls like.”

Aunt Emily was a big hit with Becca and was greatly missed when she went off to CEF summer training.

Uncle Joey is now known as the uncle who gives candy canes at Christmas and Pepsi!

Uncle Sam, Aunt Ashley, and Cousin Colette came to visit for a day. My parents took them all to visit a farm.

Uncle Jon, Aunt Ashleigh, and Cousin Megan were up in PA for their summer visit.

Great Grandma Buecher spent several days helping my parents watch our kiddos. Isaiah enjoyed helping her walk Toby.

Great Grandma Sutter and Great Uncle John were able to visit with our kiddos when they were up for Emily’s graduation.

We were happy to return to Becca and Isaiah and so thankful for all the love and care they received while we were gone. (Picture on left is right before we left. Picture on right is when we returned from Cambodia.)

On Friday, we drove half an hour to Blang, a nearby Jarai village. The village is situated just off of the main road (paved!) that goes to Vietnam. There’s electricity running to a house or two in the village. We spent our time visiting with a Jarai Christian leader and his wife. The husband wanted to give us his testimony of coming to Christ: it’s a beautiful story of how the love of Christians was used by God to draw him to a firm faith in Christ. He spoke in Khmer (his second language), with J.D. interpreting for us.

Saturday lunch we had an EMU get-together at the Kanes’ home. It was helpful for us to spend time with the Crowleys, Kanes, and Farmers. All three families helped us get a good perspective on the challenges of transitioning to life in Cambodia. We were helped not only by asking questions but also by observing each family’s life together.

I especially enjoyed being with the MKs. These are a very special bunch of children!

Sunday morning we said goodbye to the Crowleys and went with the Farmer family to a Khmer village church. We had to leave the service early to start our 8-hour drive back to Phnom Penh so we could make our midnight flight back to the States.

We arrived safely in the States Monday afternoon without any flight delays. We are very thankful to be back with our precious children. We appreciate all your prayers for us as we traveled and appreciate your continued prayers as we seek churches and individuals to partner with us in our ministry to the Jarai.

One last picture: our mosquito netting in Ban Lung.

June 10^th – Monday we went to bed preparing to head to the Ratanakiri (a northern province) in the morning. However, that night the tone of our trip changed. . . Josh woke up sick with some sort of stomach virus. He spent all Tuesday in bed with little improvement. Wednesday Josh was weak and miserable, but we decided to try making it halfway to Ban Lung. Our plan was to drive four hours and stay in a hotel, then drive the next four hours on Thursday. Josh’s sickness lasted four days. Saturday he woke feeling better and actually showed a real smile. (Pictures below show our dinner at the hotel halfway to Ratanakiri – delicious! –  and JD’s breakfast there the next morning.)

There is something about sickness that drains the body and wearies the soul. God allowed Satan to fire arrows of doubt and discouragement at Josh during his time of sickness. Below is an except he wrote in our post Cambodia update:

My own impressions were colored quite a bit by jet-lag for the first couple days and then, as that was wearing off, the physical and emotional drain of being sick. I found the heat of Phnom Penh somewhat more oppressive than I’d remembered. I much preferred Ratanakiri, which is milder and greener.

Our survey made me painfully aware of how attached I am to comforts such as air conditioning, good water pressure, and clean bathrooms. I had prided myself (based on my previous two trips) on being adaptable and unattached to basic American luxuries. I’m now making it a matter of prayer and reflection to prepare my heart for the changes that await us in Cambodia. In many ways, this is basic Christianity, the willingness to suffer (or in this case, be mildly uncomfortable) for the sake of eternal goods.

What hit me most as Josh dealt with being sick and the discouragement that came with it was how hard it was for me to be strong for two . . . and how much harder it will be when we have kids here too. We will adjust to living in Cambodia (heat, language, etc) – it will become our loved home. Fighting discouragement and unbelief together as a couple and as individuals will be an ongoing battle. Pray for your missionaries – especially when they are fighting sickness. It is a time when Satan knows they are weak. . . praise the Lord that our God is always a strong tower of refuge.

One thing we did Thursday afternoon after we arrived in Ban Lung was to drive around the town with JD. JD took us up to a hill overlooking the area. . .a place where a giant Buddha was reclining. The view was beautiful – a fresh breath after being in Phnom Penh. God has called us to minister to the people of Cambodia. It will require us to give up much. Satan will tempt us to despair, but we can look upward and see the One who has made a way for us to approach into the throne of grace and call upon God to rescue us and give us grace to do His work for His glory.

Next week I hope to wrap up the summary of our visit to Cambodia – with pictures from our village visit, our time with the missionaries in Ban Lung, and a few pictures from a Khmer church service.

Gone fishing for the week – will continue Cambodia Chronicles when we return.

We arrived in Phnom Penh Saturday afternoon, 14 hours later than we expected. Jeremy Farmer picked us up and took us to his home so we could spend Saturday through Tuesday morning with his family. We had dinner with the Farmer family and their other guests (Bonnie Ruth’s mother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece) as well as JD & Taylor Crowley, and Yo Shirato.

Sunday we attended a Khmer church. Jeremy Farmer’s Khmer teacher translated the service for us over wireless headphones. Sunday afternoon I accompanied Bonnie Ruth to Lucky’s – a grocery store very similar to what we have in the States, except the prices at Lucky’s are much higher!

Monday Josh and I accompanied the Farmers as their family got some vaccinations. After that we visited the Russian Market. The Russian Market is an indoor market – think: dark, hot, and smelly. (It’s not Russian, however.)

Monday after lunch Josh and I took an 45-minute tuktuk ride to The Cheoungek Genocidal Center. It was a sobering experience.

Our impressions of Phnom Penh: it’s very hot, lots of concrete, not a lot of green, smelly. . .not exactly our dream place to live, but we will make it our home and adjust to Cambodian city-life. We plan to live in Phnom Penh for our first year or two in Cambodia while we study the Khmer language and surround ourselves with Khmer speakers.

Monday night our time in Cambodia took a turn – Josh woke up sick. . . (more next week).

Josh and I just returned from our trip to Cambodia – we have much to share, but for today I’ll simply share our Shanghai pictures. On our way over to Cambodia we had a 25-hour layover in Shanghai. We were able to leave the airport and spend the day with some college friends (Desiree Talbert and Natalie Cary). Desiree and Natalie both teach at  Shanghai Institute of Health Sciences. Both friends went out of their way to make us very welcome in China. We stayed in the guest suit and got a good night of sleep before we spent the day touring the city with Natalie, Desiree, and Mrs. Tufts (another member of the team there).

We’re very grateful for the friendship and kindness Natalie and Desiree showed us during our time in Shanghai.

Unfortunately, our 8pm flight from Shanghai to Cambodia was canceled because of bad weather. It was a crazy situation. There were several delayed flights in our gate area. It was crowed and hot. Eventually several of the Chinese people started expressing their frustrations over canceled flights, poor communication, and poor customer service rather loudly. The police were called 3 different times. Finally around 2AM Josh was able to get confirmation that our flight was indeed canceled. We spent what was left of the night in the airport and around 7AM figured out how to get our rebook tickets to fly out of Shanghai at 10AM.

Happy Father’s Day to our wonderful Daddy! We miss you and can’t wait to see you this week. Thanks for loving us and doing so many fun things with us. We love you!

June 1st was Isaiah’s 1st birthday. He didn’t seem too excited about having a party until he stuck his face in the cake. He loved his ice cream cake.

One of our favorite parts about Isaiah’s birthday was watching Becca help him open presents. Becca wanted to give Isaiah a dog. (She also helped pick the dog out.) She was so excited about it. After Isaiah opened the dog and held it, Becca squealed and said, “He’s so excited!” Becca also was very sweet in creating tabs on Isaiah’s presents for him to have easy tearing spots.

Can’t believe our little boy is 1!

Our last Saturday in Texas (May 25th) we took a day trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. We love the Fort Worth Zoo and will miss being able to visit – it’s a fantastic zoo. Isaiah was excited to be able to see “Jeremiah” (a zebra) in real life.

One thing both kids enjoyed was the large glass areas where they could see the animals close up. The animal statues are always a highlight.

Sunday after church we started our trek east. Sunday we drove to Jackson, Mississippi. Monday we drove to Atlanta, Georgia, and spent all Tuesday with Grandma Martin. We also saw Josh’s Uncle Doug and two cousins, Autumn (and kids!) and Bethany. We were also able to see Trey & Angela’s family (they also have two kids) Monday evening for dinner (Trey is Josh’s cousin on the Jensen side).

Wednesday we drove to SC and spent Thursday with Josh’s family. We had an early birthday celebration for Isaiah with them (we had another on his birthday in PA). Friday we drove to PA.

On a side note – Josh and I left yesterday afternoon to fly to Cambodia. Becca and Isaiah are with my parents in PA. We’ll be in Cambodia for about 12 days. We appreciate your prayers during our trip.

A very happy 1st birthday to our sweet little man. We are truly blessed to have you as our boy.

The weekend after Josh’s graduation we spent two nights at a cabin in the hill country of Texas. Our friends Micah, Anna & Adam Martin invited us to spend some time with them at their uncle’s place. It was beautiful and very relaxing. A perfect way to rest after our very busy weekend before – weeks before – months before – years before. We enjoyed spending time with our good friends and having a day and a half with no schedule.

Since Dad and Mom J came down for Josh’s graduation, we decided it would be best to pack up our apartment, load a truck, and have them drive our belongings to SC. It made for a very busy weekend (guests & graduation plus moving). Thankfully, I had a lot of help packing things up the week before. One of my best friends, Rebekah Pringle, flew in for 5 days to help with the packing. I don’t think it would have gotten done without her help. Another friend, Jan, came on Wednesday to pack up Becca’s room. Another friend, Anna, took Becca out for a morning so Jan could pack her room. These friends were a great help to us.

Monday morning we had a very educated moving crew. Three people with doctorates, one working on his Ph.D., and another working on his masters’. Dad J oversaw the logistics of loading the truck. Mom J finished packing up the kitchen. A friend from church, Megan, watched Becca and Isaiah while we loaded the truck. We are very thankful for everyone who helped us in packing up and moving our belongings. [And I’m so thankful I didn’t have to drive a huge truck from TX to SC! Thanks, Mom and Dad! -Josh]

We are now living with the Woods while we wrap up our last weeks in TX. We’re getting a chance to say goodbye to some of the friends we’ve made. Graduation weekend, we had a picnic with Dad and Mom J. and were able to get together with one of Becca’s NICU nurses – Miss Kathy. We’re so thankful for everything Miss Kathy did for Becca during her preemie days.

We enjoyed visiting with the Johnson family. We’ve made many good friends in Texas and are thankful for them all.

Sunday we celebrated Josh’s Ph.D. graduation. We thank the Lord for His faithfulness to us these past 6 years. We have seen so many prayers answered concerning Josh’s Ph.D. requirements.

We are very thankful to all who had a part in Josh’s degree: family, professors, and friends.

I’m very proud of my man. He has worked hard and has accomplished his goal. He started as a single man and finished with a wife, daughter, and son. He has pressed on when things were discouraging and did not give up. He truly is my heroman. Now we’re a “paradox” (say it a few times and you’ll get it)!

Last weekend we had a great visit with the people of North Houston Baptist Church. Pastor John Bray and his wife Jen welcomed us all into their home for the weekend and we enjoyed our fellowship with them. Josh preached in the morning service and gave our missions presentation in the evening service.

Both kids did great on the drive and during our stay. Becca absolutely loved playing with 7-year-old Charis. We’ve never seen her enjoy another friend so much.

This week we’re packing up our apartment in preparation for our move. Sunday Josh graduates and Monday we load the truck. Busy times.

A big thank you to Grandpa Sutter for sending Flopsie some real bamboo! It’s been a part of almost every meal here.

As we prepare to leave Texas, we’ve been presenting our ministry to our friends. Last Saturday we had a missions presentation for a group of folks we know in the area. Our church let us use one of their buildings for the event. One of our dear friends at the church, an older woman, offered to coordinate the refreshments. I cannot tell you how much this encouraged and blessed me. We enjoyed seeing many of our friends from our former church.

If you haven’t seen our ministry website yet, here’s a link: jarai-in-cambodia.org  We’re praising the Lord for supplying 20% of our needed monthly support already.

We’ve also been having people over our home to say goodbye. We’re so blessed to have so many good friends in Texas.

Tuesday night Josh and I went to a Rangers game. I’ve always wanted to go a Rangers game. Actually, I’ve wanted to visit the stadium ever since my family drove by it when I was about 13. We enjoyed the game: Chicago White Sox Vs. Texas Rangers. We got to see 3 home runs and we’re glad that the Rangers won 10-6.

Our little man learned a lot this month. He is now officially crawling and is fast. He always makes a beeline for the front door if it’s left open and loves crawling outside. He’s pulling himself up on everything. His “new” trick is to pull himself up in his bed and throw his zebra out. Then he cries because he misses his zebra. This seems to be his new nap-time game.

Isaiah loves “riding” Becca’s bike. The past two days we spent a lot of time riding on the grass. Isaiah also loves playing the piano. He seems to be inclined to music. He’s not saying any words. . .except maybe “no no”, which sounds like “whoa-whoa.”

Isaiah also loves to eat – even dirt! He was pretty upset when I tried to get the dirt out of his mouth.

Isaiah continues to be a happy cute little boy and we’re so thankful God gave him to us.

Several weeks ago we traded Becca’s nap time for “rest time.” Rest time lasts for one hour. Before rest time Becca chooses a huge pile of books and then reads them in bed while listening to a story. When the hour is over I come in with a snack and read a few of the books to Becca. About three weeks ago Becca began listening to Anne of Green Gables (Focus on the Family’s Radio Theatre). She loves the story. It’s so neat to share that love with my daughter. I told her that one day Mommy and Becca will have a special movie night and start watching the movie.

One day Becca started talking about the picnic we were going to have on Sunday. For a few days before Sunday she talked and talked about it. I realized that it was from Anne. So that Sunday after church, Becca and I got dressed up, did our hair in Anne braids, and had our first picnic of spring. This was the beginning of many picnics. Since the weather has been so nice lately, we’ve been able to go out for a picnic several times each week. Josh has been able to join us on the days we’ve had supper picnics.

One day our picnic activity included flying a kite. Becca did a great job keeping our kite in the air. She was loving it!

Another day we splashed in the puddle after our picnic. This was the same day we went to the fountains in the late afternoon and enjoyed running through them. Even Isaiah got in on the fun, though he wasn’t very happy when the fountains first turned on!

Lately our picnics have been near the creek, and Becca has found a “tree house” to play in (two trees growing close together). We enjoy spotting our turtle friends each time we’re out, and we got to chase some ducks the other day. We are blessed to live right next to campus and have access to all the paths, grass, and trees.

A few minutes ago I submitted the final draft of my dissertation to the division of Graduate Studies at UT Arlington. Apart from any formatting problems I’m asked to fix, I am officially done with the dissertation. I reproduce below what I regard as the most interesting (and perhaps important!) part of the dissertation, the acknowledgments. In particular, this is the part of the acknowledgments where I thank my family.

[…]

Thanks to my parents for life, for education, for faith. You sacrificed to pay for my excellent Christian schooling. You taught me to discern between things that matter less and things that matter more. You taught me to think critically without being doomed to a life of skepticism. You supported me throughout my BA and MA work. And you encouraged and helped me through these last six years of PhD work. To my sisters and their families, thank you for your love and words of encouragement, as well as the gift cards for Amazon and Papa Johns.

To my daughter Rebecca Grace (our cancer survivor!): you are a sweet and beautiful little girl. During the last three years, while I’ve tried to master a few small corners of Jarai grammar, you have acquired a remarkable mastery of English (in addition to memorizing long passages from the Gospel of Luke, lots of catechism questions and answers, just about every song you’ve heard, and all the things Mommy and Daddy think they said too quietly for you to hear). Thanks for keeping Mommy company and playing with Isaiah every day while I’m away “writing my dissertation.” And to Isaiah Emil, I’m so glad you’ll have no memories of Daddy’s dissertation era. Someday, you’ll wonder what that big black book is that we use as a doorstop: you’ll pick it up, perhaps, and read this paragraph. If you think language is cool, keep reading. If not, please put the book back down so the door doesn’t slam shut.

To my wife: thank you so much. When we moved to Texas, it was you who got a full-time job while I went to school. You’re the one who now stays home with our kids while I write and work. You’re the one who keeps us all fed and makes our home a wonderful place to be. You’re my hero. I am inspired by the persistence you showed in writing and defending your own dissertation in the midst of so many life changes: our marriage, a move to Texas, your work as a public school teacher, and the premature birth of Becca at 27 weeks—any one of these might have been justification for giving up. But you kept working, even through the emotional and physical drain of a miscarriage. Thank you for your faithful love and companionship. Being your husband is a high honor and great joy. I love you.

And finally, to the one from whom all blessings flow, I offer these borrowed words of thanks:

Thee, God, I come from, to thee go,
All day long I like fountain flow
From thy hand out, swayed about
Mote-like in thy mighty glow.

What I know of thee I bless,
As acknowledging thy stress
On my being and as seeing
Something of thy holiness.

— Gerard Manley Hopkins

I’m several weeks behind in posting picture – we’ve been having lots of nice weather days hence many opportunities to take pictures. The following pictures were taken in March.

Have you ever gone to get a gift for a toddler and then realized you’ve forgotten what toddlers like? I have . . . Hmmmm, what does an 18-month-old like to play with? I don’t remember!  Because of this, I’ve determined to keep as list of the things my children enjoy at certain ages so I can use the list as a help when I’m trying to get gifts for children long after when I’m in the midst of certain age ranges. (Josh told me to share my random incomplete list, so here goes.)

These ideas are based on things/activities we’ve noticed that our kiddos enjoy.

Books! Books! Books! I cannot stress this enough. Books are a wonderful gift to any child. . .a gift that also gives to the parents and other siblings too. Becca loves books. She’s been given all sorts of gifts, including technology, but books are always the thing she goes back to. I’m finding Isaiah likes books too. He’ll sit and flip through our board books for quite a while. So when in doubt – buy books for the children in your lives.

The pictures I’m sharing are events related to books we’ve read. Becca loved making a gingerbread man after we read The Gingerbread Man (above to the left). One of the authors we enjoy is Jan Brett – great stories and beautiful art. Our library is stocked with Jan Brett books.  One of Becca’s favorite Brett books is Hedgie’s Surprise. It’s about a chicken named Henny trying to keep her eggs from the Tomten who eats them every morning. We got the books from the library and then Becca’s Grandma Jensen gave her the book. Last month we had our dinners for eight church meal at the Gamblins. Bob and Martha have chickens in their backyard. Becca absolutely loved chasing “Henny” all around the yard. And she was thrilled to be able to hold Henny.

Detour here: We’ve loved getting to know people from our church during our time with dinners for eight.  It’s been such a neat way to fellowship with people from church on a monthly basis. We’re really going to miss our church in Arlington.

Other gift ideas:

1) Craft items – play dough, paint, pom pom balls, eyes, glitter, craft sets, markers, crayons, stickers, etc. Most moms can’t just go out and stock a craft cabinet. Becca loves to make things – she loves to paint and get messy. And a great thing about craft gifts is that they can be used and then discarded!

2) Imagination gifts – blocks (got to have them, and lots!), plastic animals (Becca has several Little People animals and plays with them regularly), cars, puzzles, kitchen and play food, magnetic alphabet letters and number, Magna Doodle, wooden train, etc. These are gifts that help the children use their imaginations. With the exception of the puzzles, these don’t have to be used for one thing – they can help with all sorts of adventures throughout the day.  A word about stuffed animals – I know some parents are particular about having too many stuffed animals in their homes. Becca loves her animals and would have a room-full if she could. One helpful gift idea is to give a stuffed animal that goes with a book.

3) Outdoor Fun – chalk, bubbles, balls, kites, water balloons, and squirt guns.

A word about technology – currently Becca has 4 different types of alphabet related computer-like toys. Though they were interesting at first, she doesn’t really pay much attention to them now. Her Babar books are way more exciting. I’m finding at her age, things with batteries are cool for a short while and then they cease to be interesting. I’m guessing this is because they are limited in their function. And another word of advice: wrap the gifts, if only with tissue paper. If the gift has multiple parts, take them out of the packaging and wrap them all (well, maybe not a set of 100 crayons…): unwrapping the gift is one of the best parts for toddlers.

So – there’s my rather random list of gift ideas for toddlers. I guess I would include Isaiah (a 10-month-old) in this list – he also loves books, blocks, plastic animals, bubbles, play food, etc. I haven’t tried many craft items with him yet. . .I’m sure he’d love eating them!

There’s at least one other list I’d like to record for myself: gifts/helps for young mothers (and maybe another for families going through stressful times). But we’ll see if I ever get to that. We’ve been having a week full of picnicking and being outside. . . who wants to blog when you can spend time with the family!