August 31, 2005

Seda


Over the last two years Seda has become a very good friend. We email weekly or so, and it is always good to hear from her. This pic was taken off of a video camera, so it didn't come out very clearly, but it sums up some of the things that I like about her. A pretty smile, a beautiful face, a pleasant attitude and a faithful friendship. Have a great day Seda!

August 30, 2005

My favorite picture that I didn't take...


This picture is of Sreynith who lives at the Battambang orphanage. She is 11 years old, and if I understood correctly lives there with two other siblings. She was orphaned when her father went to climb a coconut tree after a rainy day, slipped, fell and died. There are several other children in the family and the mother could not afford to keep them so she gave them up. She has gone to work somewhere in a restaurant, I believe. If I had the resources and the laws weren't as they are, I would adopt this girl in about the bat of an eyelash. This picture was taken by my friend Jen, but I could only wish that I took such a fun picture!

August 29, 2005

More from Edith Schaeffer...

"...by accepting what Christ accomplished in His death on the cross in our place - as He took our sins upon Himself and became our substitute - then a part of what He paid for us was a moment by moment access for us to the Infinite God. Each of us has been given another portion in the fabric of history which our individual thread is meant to weave. We are not only to affect history in the geographic spot where we are meant to be in God's plan, and to have victory in the heavenly battle as we trust God in the midst of affliction and persecution right up to martyrdom, but we are to be having results two feet away from us in prayer - and also two thousand miles away. It is also a part of the battle that we "make our requests known" in the faith that God will hear and can and will answer our "intercession," " - Affliction, pg. 101

August 26, 2005

Sineth


This has to be one of the luckiest shots I have ever taken. It is almost perfectly composed. She is obviously the center of the shot, but even the things that are not central to the picture seem to add more than background. When I got this picture back, I was amazed at how good it came out. There is even something to the angle of her arms in the picture which adds something, but I can't put my finger on it. Sineth, who is a French major in college, is such a nice girl. I met her last year and got to know her better this year. She is from Kompong Cham province in Cambodia and is in her second year of school.

August 25, 2005

#15 Lakhana


This is my friend Lakhana who I have met the last two times to Cambodia. She is a real sweetheart who has a really infectious smile. I think that she wasn't sure whether she wanted to smile in this picture, but it still turned into a very good picture. She is training to be a beautician, she sews well and cooks like a genius.

from Edith Schaeffer...

"The glorification of God by us - as imperfect, sinful, finite creatures in all our weakness - is a staggering opportunity set before us. It is a fabulous possibility for us to contemplate that we can really do anything which will glorify the Living God, the Creator of the Universe. What could we possibly do? Paint the greatest picture, write the most outstanding symphony, design or build the most magnificent building, change a piece of land into the most beautifully landscaped garden, care for the poor and destroyed people of the world in some practical and specific way so that there will be a difference before they die? Yes - all these things we can do with special love for Him whose Creation we so appreciate, and for whom nothing is too hard. The enormous projects we think of might be out of our reach. Prison cells, hospital beds, concentration camps, and wheelchairs bring limitations, even as does lack of talent or lack of money or land. However, there is unlimited possibility for glorifying God - moment by moment, hour by hour, every day in every situation... How? By offering praise, not with our lips and throats in repetitive cadence, saying the words while our minds and emotions are filled with other thoughts and feelings, but by actually loving and trusting God when there is pressure being brought upon us to not trust Him. " - Edith Schaeffer, Affliction pg. 62-63

August 24, 2005

August 24

Well, today is the first day of school at MCS (see side link). School always starts with a bit of trepidation, and then continues with a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts throughout the course of the year. There are some excellent high moments (concerts, breakthroughs with students) and some lower moments as well. Above all though is the fight with fear. Trusting God to guide, direct and provide is a constant battle. I am sure for other people it is other things, but this is the temptation for me. It is not like I do not know what I am doing. By God's grace, I do have a pretty good grasp on what has to happen. It is always just the intangibles that get me. You'll have that. Take them to the Lord. Okay, here we go... the annual routine of helping junior high girls to get their locker open... a true sign that school has indeed begun. Have a great day!

August 22, 2005

#16 Pheara


This is one of the orphans that befriended me at the Phnom Penh Orphanage. This still was taken off of a video camera so the shot is a bit blurry, but I thought that his face and eyes were, eager and (because I can not think of a better word), beautiful.

August 21, 2005

# 17 Chantha


This is a picture that I took on a boat ride that we took on our last Sunday in Cambodia. The riverboat tools around where the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River come together. This picture just struck me because he was sitting out on the end of the boat singing along to some of the songs that his friend Phillip was playing on the guitar. In some ways it seems like a lonely picture, but it is not at all. I also liked the texture of the water in black and white.

August 19, 2005

James


This is a picture of James, one of the children at the Phnom Penh orphanage. I actually met him last year at New Life Christian School, and at that time he was living with a family from the church, but the woman who was caring for him (one of the school teachers) already had a large family of her own to take care of and it was very financially difficult for them to continue to keep him. So now he is at the Phnom Penh Orphanage, and seems to be doing well. I did not recognize him at first because he had gotten bigger, and his hair was a lot longer... highlight of him on the trip was seeing him at the water park. He was having a great time going down the slide!

August 16, 2005

#19


This picture, while not that aesthetically great is just a great shot of how happy the boy is, and I thought that the boy's recognition of me was interesting considering Scott did not even know I was taking the picture. It has this cognizance/non-cognizance conflict that I thought was a neat effect. Obviously, I did not pose this picture.

August 15, 2005

20 Great photos


From time to time I will be sharing my 20 favorite pictures from my trip to Cambodia this summer. I took 400+ shots, so it took some work to narrow it down! Some of the shots are not particularly spectacular, sometimes they just had some personal significance, which I will attempt to explain concisely. This will be #20, which was one of the few that I knew I would like when I took it. It is a woman that I do not even know, but was on a boat ride with us. There was just something about her face that I knew would translate into a good black and white shot.

August 13, 2005

Yes, the bathroom is the first door on the left...

Having some difficult relatives over? What about a meetimg with a business competitor? What about a parent teacher conference with some stubborn parents? This may communicate something to them...

August 12, 2005

Great Books Batman! - Continuosly Updated!

I realized the other day that I have spent a lot of time reading this year... I tried to nail down with a calculator about how many pages I have read in various books... okay, I must have a problem, because it was some 3000+ pages... I must have no life, because I read so slowly, and I even I was astounded... so if you are looking for a good book, let me recommend a few...

Novels -
Angels Flight by Michael Connelly
Void Moon by Michael Connelly
A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
The Poirot Casebook - Agatha Christie
City of Bones - Michael Connelly
Murder on the Links - Agatha Christie
The Strange Affair of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Lord Edgware Dies - Agatha Christie
Chasing the Dime - Michael Connelly

For Fun -
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Suess
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess
The Beatles: The Unseen Archives by Tim Hill and Marie Clayton
Cows of Our Planet - Gary Larson (The Far Side)
The Perfect Season (Why 1998 was Baseball's best year) - Tim McCarver

Shakespeare -
The Tempest
Richard III

Christian Philosophy -
The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century by Francis Schaeffer
How Shall We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer
Affliction - Edith Schaeffer
Passion and Purity - Elisabeth Elliot

History -
Brother Number One: A Political Biography by David Chandler
The Gulag Archipeligo by Alexander Solzenitzyn
The Communist Manifesto - Frederich Engels and Karl Marx

And these are just the ones that I can remember right now... whatever, next book please...

August 11, 2005

Cambodia night



Thank you to all of you who came to my wrap up night for Cambodia. It was a great turn out, and everyone was very encouraging. Please pray for me as we seek to improve how the Christian schools in Ohio can help improve New Life Christian School in Phnom Penh. Here is a picture of my friend Sreynith (she lives at the Battambang Orphanage) and my other very good friend, Pheakdey, who is from Battambang.

August 10, 2005

Indians destroy the Royals

If you did not hear, the Tribe scored 11 runs in the 9th inning last night to bury Kansas City 13-7. KC helped out with three errors, including one on the potential 3rd out that were the nails in the coffin. Check it out at www.indians.com !

August 08, 2005

Blog Number 1

Well hello there world! Nothing like speaking to someone who isn't listening! Well, we'll see if we can change that. Maybe as I start this, it will become a place to relax, and enjoy some of the things that I enjoy. I hope that all of my friends and family will stop by whether you live in Ohio, Chicago or Cambodia and see what is going on in my life. When writing, I am rarely at a loss for words, so you should have a few things to read from time to time. Catch you soon. G