The Big Day

We made it back to Indiana safe & sound, thank God. It was difficult to say good-bye to the friends we made in Cambodia. There was lots of hugs & handshakes & bowing, & a few tears too. I'm looking forward to returning in May, but am very, very, very happy to be here in the US for the moment.

The one thing that stands out to me concerning all the experience of the last 2-1/2 weeks is smallness. The smallness of the world, the smallness of our problems, my own smallness.

The internet & global travel have made this entire little world easily accessible to everyone who will take interest in life beyond his own little world. Even so, like most Americans, I knew very little about Cambodia before our trip. It boggles my mind to think I've lived only a day's plane ride away, yet had no idea who was there or how they lived.

Although I've seen several problems that may never be overcome in Cambodia (& here in the US), our problems are nevertheless pretty small. Hunger is so simple to solve. Making sure people have clean water is easy. Reaching out to the lonely, protecting the weak, caring for the infirm-all absolutely do-able. The more I understand this world & its problems, the less I understand why we still have problems. Why are people suffering so? The only reason I can find is lack of compassion. I believe that's our real problem, our only truly big problem.

Which leads to my own smallness. It only took me a day to get to Cambodia & very little effort to solve some problems. On the other hand, I'm just a middle-aged, middle-income, Mid-American homemaker. I'm just one of billions. I'm small. I'm hoping & praying for other small ones to realize the smallness of this world & the smallness of its problems. If we'd all make a small difference we'd see a big change.

(God willing, I'll continue posting over the next several weeks to keep you abreast of preparations for the May trip to Cambodia.)