Head Lice and Habit Burger

“I’ve witnessed Your faithfulness. I’ve seen You breathe life within.

So I’ll pour out my praise again,

You’re worthy, God you’re worthy of all of it.

Your promises never fail. I’ve got stories I’ll live to tell.

So I’ll pour out my praise again,

You’re worthy, God you’re worthy of all of it (I’ve Witnessed It).”

If you didn’t know already, I have been in Cambodia for almost two weeks working alongside Shannon and Vikki Bobb as a mission base intern for Adventures in Missions.

Adapting to the 13-hour time change, culture, food and surroundings was pretty easy. I have made friends with the ministry director — and her cat —and have already seen so much of this remarkable city.

I’ve even eaten a bacon burger from Habit Burger and eaten ribs while God Bless the USA played in the background (so weird, right?).

I can get this very American burger in Cambodia! (Retail News, 2020)

With American comfort foods that I know and love, a quick adjustment to all the new things, and working with the cutest kids I have ever seen, I was feeling pretty good.

I couldn’t see how and why I might have a hard time learning and working here. After all, I can still talk to my family and, although it’s hot, I have air conditioning in my room. What more do I need?

However, I was quickly getting distracted from my purpose.

Pride, arrogance and limited spiritual discipline can quickly get stronger when you are distracted from your goal.

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6

Luckily, God knows all. He knows the posture of our hearts, the things that bother us, what brings us joy and what we need even before we do (1 John 3:20). 

For me, there was one major thing that made me tentative to interact with the people. It also made me realize how even when things are going well, we STILL need to come to Jesus.

This one thing, as you may have guessed from the title of this blog post, was HEAD LICE.

Lice is a bit of a problem in the villages. Even as I write this, although I don’t currently have lice, my head is itching at the thought of it. When I was in middle school, I had lice multiple times and it is still a traumatic memory. 

As soon as I learned that there was head lice, I instantly grew a bit distant from the kids. I would be with them but try not to hug them or get too close.

I found myself weirdly distant all of a sudden, from the ministry, the kids and God.

Over HEAD LICE.

Suddenly, I was distracted from my purpose and why I was here. I noticed the hot and how the long days were getting longer.

The enemy works in specific ways friends.

Thankfully — although let me be honest, I bought hairspray to try to protect my hair a bit more — this prideful, selfish attitude was what pointed me back to my bible and spending time with Jesus.

Also, one day after I was complaining about being hot, my new friend from the ministry asked me, “Why are you here? Are you here for Jesus?” Talk about a wake-up call. 

I adore her and the brown sugar bubble tea!

I’m still struggling with some selfishness, but God is reminding me every day how to be selfless. We all have different backgrounds and live different lives, but all are one through Christ.

If I let something as small as head-lice distract me from why God brought me here, I will miss out on so much.

I will miss the joy the kids have for learning English and singing worship songs at the top of their lungs, the beauty of women sharing the gospel with other women, families coming to Christ, and the fruit of the ministry God has been working to build from the very beginning.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).”

The Khmer people of Cambodia, are facing trials that are sometimes unfathomable to me.

If through their real struggles and heartaches they can still come to Jesus and worship Him, then nothing should stop each of us from serving God with all our hearts.

Not our fears and not head lice.

Because through the joy and the struggles, God’s promises never fail. 

I’ve got stories I’ll live to tell.