{off topic} His love is wide

There was a time when this blog was supposed to be about my artistic endeavors. Yes, even cooking is an art. Oh, what good times they were. I started off so strong and then lost all my umph. One thing about me is that I am NOT a naturally creative person. Not in the least. I have always been more logically driven. It just so happens that everything I find passion for, that I enjoy and strive for, involves a decent level of creativity. Since it doesn't come naturally to me I work at it. Painstakingly work at it. At times...err, always...its a slow process. I'm working on that. In the meantime I find it impossible to not share where I am personally. 


When I started going to church, just over a year ago, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had gone to church as a kid but don't recall being too involved. What I never expected was how much it would change me, consume me, fill me with joy. I was seeking to refine my beliefs, and I got exactly what I asked for.

I have had the song Furious by Jeremy Riddle in my head for the last two days. I have heard it in church a couple of times and all I can say is that this song completely overcomes me. One thing, in any genre of music, that pulls me in is emotion. I want to hear it in their voices. To feel it in my heart. And when that happens I am moved to tears without any real knowledge of why I am crying. This song is no exception. The only thing I can say is that it fills my heart with love, and who doesn't want that? And His love at that. 

I came home from Cambodia two weeks ago. I have been struggling with what to post and sat down several times at my computer to do it but the words would not come to me. This song has inspired me. Although I'm still not sure what I am trying to say while I am typing away :)

"His love is deep. His love is wide. And It covers us. His love is fierce. His love is strong. It is furious."

My time in Cambodia was spent helping people that needed to be shown this kind of love. To know that it is available to them, waiting for them. After enduring years of genocide, which is still fresh in their history, their country needs healing. And what better way to heal than with God's love? It empowers us to do more than we imagined possible. 

During the week we spent in Takeo visiting different villages I helped register our "patients". I struggled with not having much opportunity to interact with the people more than I did. They told my translator what they needed to be seen for; I wrote down what he said. But I tried to find moments to connect when words were not necessary. A smile is universal, right? Those small connections were some of the highlights of my days that week. Of course learning a tiny bit of Khmer, their language, helped a little too. 



We saw just under 900 people in that week and I saw many people turned away because we simply could not help everybody. A majority of the people had pretty standard complaints; arthritis pain, toothaches, colds and stomach aches.  There were some that had been dealing with chronic issues for 5, 10 even 20 years without ever seeing a doctor. Whether it was a 7 year old boy that had an abscessed tooth pulled. An 85 year old woman getting glasses so she could read again. Or a 40 year old man being given pain medication from falling out of a palm tree, true story! We brought relief and hope. 

I was met with so many faces of endurance. Of resiliency.


of innocence. 

The children. Oh, don't get me started on the children. They truly stole my heart. Seeing as though I could probably talk about them for hours, I will save that for another post. 

I can only hope that I helped touch their lives as much as they touched mine. 

{off topic} Changes

I'm totally rollin' with 'em.

A lot has changed in the last, oh 45 days, or so. On July 24th my husband and I wrote an offer on a house. We saw the house the day before, and within minutes knew it was the right place for us. Granted, neither of us really expected to purchase a house this year. And not just A house, our first house. We have been saving for it, and occasionally looking, but we felt that we wouldn't find "the" place until after I came back from Cambodia. Then we found this place. I didn't expect to like it from the listing pictures but was really surprised when we walked in to find that it had everything we have been looking for. A spare room, closet space, a pantry - let alone a walk-in pantry! and it has a yard. It wasn't exactly the cute house with a big yard I was hoping to find, but it had what we actually needed and at the asking price, it was hard to walk away! So, as I said, on July 24th we wrote our offer. Since it was a Sunday it was submitted the next day. On August 26th we were signing! 31 days. That's fast! Everything fell in to place as it was meant to be. My husband had to leave town for a week for work just two days after we signed, so we officially moved in to our new house this past Monday. It feels great to finally be in a space we can call our own. We already have big plans, for much later on down the road.

On top of that my little man started pre-school today. Preschool!? How did that happen? He is going 3 days a week, for 2.5 hours each day. I think its just enough time to give him a break from mommy. And mommy some time to craft, or who knows, maybe even read :-) At this time last year he was terrified at the idea of going to school. He has changed so much over the course of a year, he is definitely not my little baby anymore. This morning was all smiles and hugs getting ready for school. He had a wonderful time, and is even excited to go back on Monday.

The craft show I am doing in October is fast approaching! I am nowhere near ready. I would love to get another 10-15 items done before then, as well as a ton of vinyl wall sayings. I will have a new craft space in our spare room so lets hope that, combined with some free time now, I will push on through. I am still praying for a good turn out. I would love to get my name out there and start a little side business. And of course, selling a few items would be great too! It would be a nice addition to my Cambodia fund.

The Pastor of my church has been speaking more of Cambodia, and Cambodian people, in the last several weeks and it always leaves me in tears. As well as excited for the opportunity to go and make a difference in their lives. Our church has a great vision to help the people of this country, the pure outpouring of love just leaves me in awe. It really is nothing short of amazing.

I have been blessed in this life with some truly wonderful friends. My dear friend Stephanie still has a Scentsy fundraiser going for me until the end of this month. She has graciously offered me 100% of her commission from this fundraiser! If you are interested in some great Scentsy products for a good cause, you can buy directly from here. Many awesome new items were released this month! Another friend of mine, Liz, has offered up a fundraiser as well! She makes some GORGEOUS hairbows and headbands, and super cute jewelry. And they don't just have to be for your kids! I have purchased from her to send gifts to friends. I wish I could pull off a fancy headband myself, but it just isn't happening. I am hoping to have more details about this soon! I have struggled with guilt since I began fundraising for my trip. I have certainly never been one to ask for handouts. Though I am learning that God has set me on this path, and it will fall in to place as it is supposed to. I will not push. I will not hound. I will, however, take an opportunity to talk about God's plan in me. While I do not want to phish for donations, I do want to give everybody a chance to support a cause. Giving is such a wonderful feeling, I certainly do not want to deny anybody the opportunity. If you would like to support me on my trip you can absolutely do so.

Make checks payable to Horizon Community Church - its tax deductable!

Write "Amanda De Jong Cambodia 2012" in the memo line

Mail to:

Rick Meacham

Cambodia Mission Coordinator
23735 SW Ladd Hill Rd.

Sherwood, OR 97140

I am deeply grateful to my family and friends that have supported me. In contributions, fundraiser purchases, prayers and kind words. It all means so much!

In the last several months I have thought a lot about my "greater purpose" in life. That amplified quite a bit when I decided I was going to Cambodia. I love being a wife and mother, supporting my family's needs and just being there for them, but I wondered what more I could do or that I should be doing. I don't know what exactly my calling is, but I do absolutely feel it growing in my heart to help not only these children in Cambodia but locally as well. I have registered to walk a 5k next weekend, and have also volunteered to help with the event, through Stop Child Trafficking NOW. These walks are happening nationally. I encourage everybody to look for one in your own neighborhood! This organization doesn't just wait to help victims after the fact, they are working to remove the source. Their mission:

"SCTNow exists to stop child trafficking by targeting the source of child trafficking: predators who drive the sex industry everywhere in the world, including in your local community. SCTNow has partnered with specially trained operatives familiar with what it takes to infiltrate, investigate and bring to justice the predators victimizing children worldwide." 

You can check out their events here. While it is absolutely free to walk, I have a personal goal of raising $200 to sponsor my walk. If anybody is interested in sponsoring me, please click here.

If you made it to the end of this post. I totally applaud you. I really need to keep up more often so my posts aren't always a big jumbled mess.

How about I leave you with a picture?

{off topic} Not in a Rut

No, not a rut exactly.

A funk? No, not that either.

Busy? To a certain degree.

Overwhelmed? Yep, I think that's the one.

I feel like I get in this overwhelmed state more and more often these days. There is so much I want to be doing with my time that sometimes I find myself doing none of it, because I can't decide which to focus on. When I sit down at my computer I think of all the things I should be doing. Going through pictures, editing, blogging, perhaps working on a fan base for my Etsy shop and Facebook fanpage. And all I want to do is browse Pinterest and play Cityville. Ok, forget I mentioned Cityville. I'm not proud.

So what have I been doing?

I have been getting my craft on. Albeit, not as much as I would like. My "workflow" is to pretty much start every project I can possibly fit on my desk at one time and then hop around until something is finished. Right now my started-but-not-completed pile is up to 8 projects ranging from frames to printer trays.

I will be selling at a craft fair through my church in October so I am trying to get a move on so I have a decent number, and variety, of items to sell. I am praying for a good day as anything I happen to make from it will go towards my Cambodia missions trip.

Believe it or not, I have been taking pictures. Apparently, not of my new craft items.

Some from my Nikon D90

Others with some fun apps on my Droid

While I haven't been too adventurous in the kitchen, I have made some delicious recipes. Like Blueberry Cardamom Scones, delish! The Pioneer Woman's Dr Pepper Shredded Pork. Two of my favorite things, how could you go wrong? And most recently Roasted Squash with Lentils and Goat Cheese from Smitten Kitchen. Of course, I also have a long list of recipes I have been dying to try like Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel Brownies from Jessica at How Sweet It is. Or Knock You Naked Brownies from The Pioneer Woman. And Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough brownies from Brown Eyed Baker.

I suppose you can see where my mind is.

Time To Get Personal

Since moving to Oregon last summer my perspective of life has changed in so many ways. I have met some amazing people over the last 12 months. Amazing people with such deep devotion in Christ that led me to evaluate my own faith which I let go of many years ago. After a lot of conversation and thought I started attending church. Several weeks later, honestly somewhat to my surprise, I found myself with an overwhelming urge to give myself to Jesus. And I did.

I am a new believer in Christ, with so much to learn and experience. The last thing I want is to tell somebody I am Christian, then only go to church on Sundays and never truly ‘practice what I preach.’ So I am putting this out there for all my friends and family, believer or not, accepting or not, this is now a part of who I am.

As I have gone on this journey I have started to see events in my life as God’s doing, not coincidence or chance. Josh and I were meant to be here; together, in this place, in this city, with these people we have met. It has all brought us closer to God. 

Two nights ago I was talking to Josh about supporting a friend who is going on a medical mission trip to Cambodia. This discussion of giving some money to help quickly turned in to me going as well. For far too long I have felt myself become emotionally overwhelmed by stories of child abuse, malnourishment, sex trafficking, etc. only to walk away from it and forget about it. It can be so easy to separate yourself from something you do not see first-hand. I have always admired those who step up to be a voice for these people but never put myself into a situation where I can make a difference. I think it is time for a change. Two nights ago I planned on giving money to a friend so that she can help those in need. Today I am writing to tell you all that I will be going to Cambodia as well.

In January our group will be heading in to villages in Cambodia that have no means of medical or dental care. Children here are sold into slavery, the girls into sexual slavery, to pay for their families medical needs. They cannot even afford the most basic of needs, like aspirin or vitamins. How can I not be a part of this? I obviously have no medical background, but I can be there to assist and support in any way that I can.

I believe this will change my life. It will deepen faith. Open my heart and show me what it is like to really serve and make a difference in this world. It will change the lives of the people in these villages.

I am asking for prayer. Pray for a safe trip. Pray that we can reach, spiritually and medically, as many people of Cambodia as humanly possible. Pray for change.

I still can’t quite believe that I am doing this. It is so beyond me at this point. Now if telling you all this isn’t enough, I have to do something else I never saw myself doing. Our team needs financial support. We must buy all the medical supplies necessary. We have been told to pack as little as possible so that we have room to transport these supplies. I wish I was in a place where I could pay my way and be done with it but now I am asking my family and friends, in addition to prayer,  for support to help send me on this journey. If all you can offer is your prayers, believe me, I will take it. Please do not feel obligated. This is an opportunity for us all.

Support can be payable by check to Horizon Community Church with “Cambodia 2012 Amanda De Jong” in the memo line and mailed to me. If you do not have my address you can contact me through my Blogger profile.

A great friend of mine has also started a Scentsy Fundraiser for the cause. Just click on the “buy from party” link next to “Cambodia Medical Mission” She has graciously offered to donate 100% of her commission from sales of this party.  If you aren't familiar with Scentsy feel free to ask me about their products!

Mommies Funding Research

Over the last several years, since I became pregnant with my son, I got to know many wonderful woman through babycenter.com. I was part of a birth club of woman that were all due in the same month as I was. Sharing our experiences and helping each other along the way. Two woman from my birth club gave birth to beautiful, strong, inspirational children that fought every day of their lives before passing away due to genetic disease; Hannah from MPS, and Sawyer from SMA.

Tonight, at midnight, starts the 4th annual online auction that was started by a group of Babycenter moms to raise funds and awareness to cure both MPS and SMA. Please check it out! All items have been donated by individuals both on and off this online community. They range from gift cards to handmade items. One of the great things about this auction, is that you send your winning bid directly to the research organization specified on the item. You don't have to worry about money switching hands or where its going, which lets face it gives some peace of mind.

There are a lot of great items up for bid this year! The auction will continue through July 7th. Instructions for how to bid are on the homepage of the auction site towards the bottom.

Thanks for looking!

today

Oh hi there.





Did you know I have a blog? Because apparently, I didn't.

Every day that I sit down at my computer I stare at my blogger bookmark and try to talk myself in to clicking on it. I think part of me is feeling too overwhelmed, trying to work on the piles of projects I would like to do, to focus more attention on editing pictures and writing enough to sound a little interesting.

I do have a recipe to share. I will do what I can to get that posted tomorrow.

So back to where I was,
Oh hi there!