Just a week ago I had a call from my Mum in Australia to say that Dad had collapsed at church on Sunday morning and was now in the hospital waiting to be assessed. My folks are in their late 70’s so you prepare yourself that sooner or later you are going to receive ‘that’ phone call.

It appeared that Dad had a stroke, so this wasn’t good news. I immediately sprang into action to see how quickly I could get myself back to Australia if necessary. Travel Insurance would cover the costs!

I then started to realize that I would actually like to go back to Australia, and not just to see Dad! We had only been here in Cambodia for 3 ½ weeks, but I had started to dwell on how fabulous home was and, quite frankly, how awful Cambodia was! This was definitely an attack of the enemy!

Dad continued to improve and it turns out he had a series of mini strokes caused by a heart condition. There was no need for me to go home, and his recovery had already started!

I started to focus on the heat and humidity here….the frustration of dealing with tuk tuk drivers every day…..how tiny our apartment was…..how dirty the streets were……how expensive western style food was…..and on and on it went. I pretty much discovered that I had a complaint for everything!

Do you ever find that you need to sit yourself down and give yourself a good talking to? Well, I had to do it! My attitude about my new life here in Phnom Penh had deteriorated quickly and I had allowed discontent to steal my peace of mind.  Every day we get to choose our attitude, and inwardly for several days, I had chosen a bad one, a critical one, and an ungrateful one.  

I started to remind myself of why I had fallen in love with Cambodia and her beautiful people, and why God had chosen now as the time for us to spend here serving others. I saw again the remarkable resilience of these hard working people, their gentle nature, and the massive smiles on the kids’ faces. Just their ‘hello’ will brighten the darkest day. I repented of my stinky attitude and resolved to choose a positive, Kingdom glorifying one.

God answers prayer!

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” –  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Written by:  Ruth Bryan

Published on 8/8/2017