Experiencing joy

So I find myself sitting at ‘Snap café’ watching the kids play here probably for the last time. There are lots of mums here from many places around the world, Malaysia, France, Germany, Japan…I think we all come here as a bit of a relax. I can watch the kids play and just sit!

On the way here Matt messaged me to tell me he’s just finished teaching his last lesson! That means no more assignments or lessons to do, I’m so proud of him he’s done so well, it’s been a very intense 4 weeks, most nights he’s been going to bed after 1am. But now we can start to get ready for the next part of our trip and he can just relax. But I know he is so glad to have done the course, he’s learnt so much and now he can literally teach English anywhere in the world! Here we come WORLD…

HCMC is a great place and I would recommend it to anyone, I would stay minimum of 2 weeks here to really get a feel for the place. But there are so many other places to visit while you are here, the Mekong Delta (floating market) which we were unable to do at this point, but you can also go to Cambodia and Laos…we even overheard someone saying they were taking the train all the way to Bangkok!

The guest house where we are staying is fantastic, cheap, very clean and breakfast although basic was great…The people have been wonderful and extremely generous, giving the kids biscuits, bananas and other interesting Vietnamese snacks! The lady who makes our breakfast also cleans our room with another man, both are so humble and we try our best to show our appreciation although we cannot speak to each other (due to the language). Even the 3 young people that look after reception have been great, we’ve been able to get to know them and have good chats (their English is good). I can’t express how grateful to God I am that he helped us to find this place that has been our home…the place to come is Nhat Thao guest house (www.nhatthaohotel.com).

We have met so many fantastic people, I do believe that you may come to a country to see the sights but you are by far, much more rewarded by the friends you make. When you trust God for your life it’s amazing how he can turn any situation, even the bad, into good. Life is multidimensional, there is the physical, the mental and through God he makes the spiritual dimension come alive, you get to see how His hand is at work in people’s lives. It is evident to me that He is constantly searching out people who want to have a deeper relationship with Him…he is a personal God that wants to be part of our everyday life so that we can share in the joy and purpose He has for us….this joy is different to happiness or excitement, its having peace in all the circumstances we find ourselves in, being assured that God will never leaves us or forsakes us. In the Bible there is a scripture that says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalms 119:105)...I always get the picture from this that he lets us see just enough for that next step…but his light never leaves us!