Amazing Gift!

A couple weeks ago our family received an amazing gift from a friend of ours. It goes without saying, although I will, that we have been blessed in so many ways over the past year since we decided to move. Many of our friends and families have shown us tremendous generosity and kindness in our many facets of change. However, one of the most unique gifts came a few Sundays ago. Rachel Olsen, a photographer friend of ours, gave us the gift of a one hour + photo shoot of our family. The pictures came out so beautifully and we are so appreciative. We could not have imagined what a blessing it would be and now we have keepsakes for a lifetime. We recommend her very highly to anyone who needs pictures done professionaly and at the highest quality. Please check out Rachel's website at www.rachelolsenphotography.com. To see her blog and some of the pictures of us you can go to www.rachelolsenphotography.com/blog. Thanks again Rachel and thanks to all of you who are so actively involved in our journey. We are truly blessed to have you all along.

Being Helpless

Wow! It is hard to believe it is already November. We are continuing to move closer to our goal of moving to Cambodia and excitement hasn't been greater. We just had a church take us on as their missionaries which could really boost our monthly support goal. We also have a meeting with the missions pastor from another church scheduled for next week. God sure is moving. We are at 70% of our monthly support now and are trusting that we can report a large jump in that number once all of the details with these 2 churches are ironed out. Thanks so much for your prayers.

In the midst of all of this, we had an opportunity to experience receiving help when we were helpless even as we prepare to do the same for kids in Cambodia. It happened on our way back from a trip to Minnesota to visit Carolyn's mom. It was a nice and productive trip as we were able to help her out when she had back surgery. On our way home we looked at the weather forecasts and knew we would hit some snow in Eastern Colorado. No big deal, right? That's what I thought until the interstate was closed...about 50 miles from home. What a bummer. With an entire interstate full of travelers converging on a small town, I knew our chance at a hotel room was slim to none. We simultaneously looked for a room and another road out. Neither would yield positive fruit and we were stranded and helpless. We didn't know anyone in that town, the snow was piling up and it was getting colder by the minute. But thanks to the kindness and generosity of strangers we ended up safe and warm. We secured a room in hotel Red Cross. We ended up spending the night on the floor of the local High School Gymnasium with 80 other stranded travelers. We were fed and housed by people we had never met and will probably never see again. It was a humbling experience to be so dependent on strangers but it is also an experience that we will never forget and showed us the other side of being helpless.

A Little Fall Fun

To be honest, we were hoping to NOT see the fall colors this year. Not that we have anything against them but we were hoping to be in Cambodia by now. For whatever reason, God does not have us there yet. As we continue to look forward to moving we also continue to put our hope in the One who has called us there as well as in His timing. As Carolyn put it, "Our hope is not in our circumstances changing but in God's plan in the midst of it." He is certainly using our time here to grow us, stretch us, challenge us as well as bless us. One of our blessings was to get up into the beautiful Colorado Rockies to see some of the fall colors. We went for a hike to celebrate Calli's 10^th birthday. How soon we all forget and take for granted the beauty right in our own backyard. We took a long walk around Long Lake, saw snow, collected leaves and generally just had a good time as a family. All 6 of us are in a way grieving not having reached our destination yet, but trying to find good from God in the midst of it…and you know what? Its there!

Traffic

This journey we are on is exciting and there is no where we would rather be but It can come with some frustrating times as well. Focusing on these times is counterproductive. I was reminded of this last week. I was driving north on I25 in heavy traffic (a lot more than usual) when I found myself getting unreasonably frustrated, especially because there was nothing I could do about it. In the midst of my fuming I glanced to the West and saw one of the most spectacular sunsets I had ever seen in my 30 years in Colorado. The sun had just gone behind the mountains and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It just gradually went from a dark orange to a brilliant blue with all of the reds, purples and pinks in between. It was truly an awesome sight. My enjoyment of it was interrupted by God reminding me of something. It was like He was telling me "during this time of waiting to go to Cambodia, don't focus on your frustration. Look for the good in where you are at. Don't focus on all of the "negative" things that are happening around you to cause you to go slow, but look for the good."

So much for my fuming. That was over. While the temptation is still there to become restless and discontent with Gods timing, we are finding ourselves more content with where we are. While we are being diligent and faithful in our pursuit of moving, we are resting completely in God's timing and faithfulness...trying not to focus on the 'traffic' around us.

Holding Pattern

Well, here it is the end of July and we are still hanging out in the States. We are just waiting to reach 100% of our financial needs for our ministry in Cambodia. It is amazing how our timing is not always consistent with how God sees things. Ultimately we are content with His plan. Not because we are super spiritual, but because our past experience has shown that God's timing always works out for the best. That is not to say that there are times that we may feel unsettled or discontent but as a whole we are confident that God's timing will be best for us when all is said an done.

During our extended time here we continue to be amazed at the people that God causes our paths to cross with. One such family is a Cambodian family that now lives about 3 miles from us. Who would have thought? They have been so fun to get to know and have had us over for their son's graduation party, lunch and most recently invited us to spend the day with them at the Dragon Boat Festival in Denver. Through them we have also been introduced to a whole community of Cambodian people, most of who live in our area. That is something we could not have manufactured on our own.

The Dragon Boat Festival was amazing. There were over 100,000 spectators and about 2 dozen boats that competed. The Spirit of Cambodia, the boat representing Cambodia in the competition, ended up taking 3rd place overall. The Festival highlights the people, customs and cultures of Asian Pacific countries. Food vendors, performers and many activities highlighted the weekend. We all enjoyed soaking some of what we will be experiencing in our new culture.

As we continue to wait, we continue to trust the One who has called us. We will be sending out our newsletter soon to update more specifically where we are at. If you wish to receive the update you can email me at dohlin@asianhope.org or post a comment at the end of this posting.

Excitement is Mounting

Wow! What a fun journey God has us on. Excitement is mounting as we move closer and closer to our departure date. We don't want to miss out on any of what God is doing in Cambodia. He is really at work and we can't wait to join Him. Along that line we are asking each of you reading this if you would join us in praying specifically for God's provision. I copied text from an email I sent which will explain a little better:

Hello again from the Ohlin's. A very humble and appreciative thank you to each of you for your prayer and financial support of where God is leading our family. We are so thankful for each and every one of you who is joining us on this journey. I wanted to update you on where we are at currently and let you know what we as a family are up to this week. First, we are right about 50% of our monthly pledged gifts (which we are so thankful for). However, we really feel like God is calling us to be over in Cambodia by July 31 and in order for that to happen we need to be at 100%. A big task for us but pocket change for our God. With that in mind, we would like to ask each of you to join our family in praying specifically for God to provide for our needs so that we can make it to Cambodia in 33 days (by July 31). The 6 of us are bringing this request specifically to God and trusting in His provision. He has been beyond faithful so far and we are confident He will contiue to be. A few of the verses we are reading as we bring this request to God are:

Mt. 18:19-20 : “Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them. “

Eph. 2:8-10 : “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Jer 29:11-13 : ”’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”

Thank you so much for joining us in this. We look forward to reporting back about God's faithfulness and provision. Again we appreciate all of you. God Bless!

Thanks for reading. We will report back.

Obedience

The pictures, from top to bottom are: a unique picture of Abby (in green shirt), Abby's friend Tara, Cameron and our missionary friend Nicole; Alex and Nicole; a goofy picture of Carolyn, Cameron and Me; our Family.

I guess it is time to update our blog again. To me it seems a little pointless or boring since not much has changed but we might as well let you all know what’s going on in our lives. As many of you know we were thinking we would be in our new home by now but that isn’t the case. It is hard to explain all of the emotions that we are feeling on a daily, if not hourly, basis. As it becomes clearer that each of our hearts are 10,000 miles away, life here only becomes more of a paradox. We are trying to “connect” here while at the same time we are trying to say good-bye and unplug. If that sounds hard to do at the same time, you are absolutely right. This is where well meaning people will chime in and tell us ‘well you chose to do this”. To which I say an overwhelming “you’re right”.
You see, we are by no means complaining when we describe to others how where we are right now can be a hard place at times. But the fact that it is a hard place doesn’t by any stretch mean it is a bad place or that we would go back and change where we are for anything. We love the place that we are at but at the same time refuse to pretend that it is always easy. I look at the position that we are in similar to a story of Peter in Bible (Matt.14:22-33). He was in a boat on a lake when a violent storm came up. He saw a “ghost” walking toward him on the water and when he realized it was Christ he wanted to go out and see Him. So Christ called him out and Peter stepped out of the boat, where it was relatively safe, into the stormy water. That’s where Peter needed to go if he wanted to join Christ. Similarly, our family has felt a compelling call to join Christ where he is working in Cambodia. Our “boat” is America and its predictability and safety…what is yours and where might Christ be calling you to step out and join Him? Moving a family of 6 to a third world country is counterintuitive to man and may seem a little ridiculous but in order for us to join Christ, Cambodia is where WE needed to go. Into the “storm”, where it isn’t necessarily comfortable or “safe”. We had to get out of our boat of comfort and predictability and step out in faith. Easy? No. Good? We think so.
When it gets down to obedience, especially as a follower of Christ, for me to really grasp it I have to boil it down to a very easy to understand level. So to do that I look at my relationship with my kids and liken that to my relationship with God. I was thinking the other day about our 4 year-old Cameron when he was helping me carry a piano bench across the room. He really thought his contribution was making a difference. But what I realized was that no matter how much he tries he really doesn’t have much to offer me. Now before you start calling me nasty name and thinking I am totally insensitive, let me explain. He doesn’t have anything tangible to offer me. As his dad, he can come to me and offer his strength in lifting something. Or offer the penny in his pocket (or maybe even a quarter if he’s real rich) when I am buying a treat. Or maybe he offers a great idea for solving a perplexing problem. Whereas I listen or even receive what he has offered, it hasn’t really made a huge difference. But what can he offer? His priceless gift of his heart in relationship and obedience. Again as it says in God’s word, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” So too for us, we may sacrifice our money which to God may even amount to a whole quarter but what He really wants from each of us is our hearts in relationship and our obedience. After all, that is really all we have to offer our Father that He doesn’t already have. Just like a 4-year-old and his father.
So that is where we are these days. In the midst of obeying without seeing the end result. Struggling sometimes but always confident that we are obeying and trusting that God, who is all powerful and all good, is in control and has our best interest at heart…just like a father is to his 4-year-old.