I could write about the furlough the last 2 months in the US. Or I could write today about re-acclimating. Or even the new work I've been doing in the last year. But I won't.
Today my thought is about a guy I shared a table with at breakfast, which isn't uncommon when you're pressed for space in Asia. I don't see that carrying over to America well.
The first few minutes are always rough with a new person as they figure out my version of Lori-style Khmer language. As they figure out where they can laugh and where they can make eye contact with a foreigner.
Halfway done with soup, he says he's the oldest of 5 and that he's hoping God helps him find a new job. I ask if he knows God. He says yes. I ask how.
If you've got a pretty good memory and are keen to look up Asian news you'll remember that in 2011 there was a stampede in Phnom Penh that killed hundreds. It was preventable, horrible, and latter gruesome as they showed bodies on local news so the families would recognize them and come claim them.
He was in that group, stuck on a bridge. He'd heard of a God that loved him after soccer games on a local church team, but didn't really care. "It didn't impact my heart"
The night of the stampede being pressed down from all directions he remembered that 'God can give you strength when you're weak'.
"I didn't have breath, but in my mind I screamed for God to give me strength because I was so weak and stuck. And all of a sudden I had strength. My mind got clearer, I had more breath, and I pushed out of the pile, lifting those on top of me off and over, helping them too. I pulled more with me and walked away. I knew that night there was a God, that he'd saved me from death, and I wanted to know about Him."
I love stories like this. I'm pressed to pass them on. Real. Practical. Undeniable. Efficient. Lovely. If you need God today, ask Him.
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