Well, today was, shall we say 'stretching' for me. We have spent the entire day (11 hours) on a bus traveling to the orphan home we are going to be working and filming in. We only stopped a few times along the way to use the squatty potty and get gas. The bus was nice and had A/C but Mark andI Shari g a seat got to more than I could handle at about hour 6. He as a great sport even sitting on the chair arm for a while. Ouch!!
Watching the Cambodian country side was fascinating. All of the houses, big and beautiful as well as the shanty wood p,and shacks, are all built on stilts. I discovered that that is partially to do with the rainy season and the water flooding and partially to have an outdoor covered place to cook... Under the house of course! The ancient temples and natural wild life were also breathtaking.
Along the way we did stop at one roadside market that specializes in tranchula spiders... Fried AND live! You could pay $1 to eat one or let one crawl all over you... PASS!!! No thank you! I did getaway group of kids to meet one very sweet little girl named Holly. It was like she had assigned her to me! She was so sweet. She asked in her broken but good English, 'where you from?' I said the US a she said "where? California? It was so funny. I didn't buy her bananas but I did giver her $1 and get her picture. After 11 grueling hours we finally made it to Chuuk. It was dark and we had dinner and went straight to bed. Tomorrow we get to meet the kids...
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
We have arrived in Cambodia
Just a quick post to say that we are safely in Phnom Penh (pu-nom-pen) Cambodia. It was one heck of a journey to get here and the enemy was working hard to rattle Mark and I at the airports over the camera gear. We got stopped at each location and searched/questioned about some piece. But we remained calm and confident, praying all the way. God was good and poured out favor.
Our room here in Phnom Penh is very nice with the usual amenities and AIR CONDITIONING!! Just having air moving is a blessing. The planes were very stuffy and warm so we were battling a little nausea. After check in (and a potty break to which I was told NOT to flush the toilet paper) we walked across the street to a gas station and bought some ice cold water bottles. We have showered, brushed our teeth (they had disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste on the 1st 11 hour flight. It was so nice to brush up!!) and have done a little laundry so we are ready for bed.
Tomorrow is breakfast (eggs, bacon and hot dogs) and off to church at the training center (the beginning of Foursquare Children of Promise (fcopi.com for more info) here in Cambodia. Beyond that we have no idea.
Keep praying for health, smooth travels with all this gear (we have been the last 2 team members at every stop so far. We don't want the team to feel like we are slowing them down but they have all been so very gracious and helpful!). We are so excited about what God has in store!!!
More tomorrow!!
Our room here in Phnom Penh is very nice with the usual amenities and AIR CONDITIONING!! Just having air moving is a blessing. The planes were very stuffy and warm so we were battling a little nausea. After check in (and a potty break to which I was told NOT to flush the toilet paper) we walked across the street to a gas station and bought some ice cold water bottles. We have showered, brushed our teeth (they had disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste on the 1st 11 hour flight. It was so nice to brush up!!) and have done a little laundry so we are ready for bed.
Tomorrow is breakfast (eggs, bacon and hot dogs) and off to church at the training center (the beginning of Foursquare Children of Promise (fcopi.com for more info) here in Cambodia. Beyond that we have no idea.
Keep praying for health, smooth travels with all this gear (we have been the last 2 team members at every stop so far. We don't want the team to feel like we are slowing them down but they have all been so very gracious and helpful!). We are so excited about what God has in store!!!
More tomorrow!!
Day two in Cambodia
We have returned to the hotel after an amazing, heartbreaking, tear jerking, beautiful day here in Cambodia.
We attended church this morning at the training center where this all began for the Foursquare Children of Promise mission. As soon as the bus pulled up all you can hear are the children rushing the bus shouting "hello!!!!!" It was precious! A few spoke some English while others saw the camera and struck a pose, with the universal peace symbol on their fingers of course! Ha! Their little faces will forever be etched in my mind. One sweet little boy, named Nazareth, asked what my favorite food was. I told him chocolate and patted my belly. He laughed and said his was mangos. Mark had the chance to I to interview him later and boy does he have a story... I wish I could hear them all, hug them and tell them how beautiful they are and how blessed I was to get to spend some time with them. They truly are Gods little chosen ones.
The service was beautiful, we couldn't understand a word of it but you could feel the Lords presence. Mark and I were filming the entire time and seeing their faces and hands lifted in Praise was breathtaking. No ocean view or mountain view could even begin to compare. After the service we were given a wonderful tour of the property which includes the church, the medical clinic with doctors and a dentist! As well as the housing for the kids, tractor repair shop (where they have been refurbishing old Case tractors teaching the young men mechanical skills as a trade and also selling them to support the home. There was a huge fish pond that they had just drained and harvested the fish from. Funny story there to tell later! They also have a large hotel/apartment building that the pastors live in and they rent out rooms to young women that are factory workers to help keep them out of slavery.
After our tour we left to get some lunch and had the privilege of going to Mikes burgers. It was a wonderful burger place started by a Cambodian named Mike who survived the genocide here in the 70's and came to California to go to school. He graduated and worked for the US postal service for 21 years then retired back to Cambodia. He missed the food so much he started his restaurant and is actually rather famous! It was packed! And the burgers were wonderful!
After we left there we went to a heartbreaking museum at the S-21 prison from the genocide/communist take over that happened here from 1975-79. S-21 was a high school that was converted to a prison/torture facility and brutally ended the lives of over 14,000 Cambodians. At the end of this heart breaking tour we had the honor to meet one of like 4 survivors, and 1 of 2 still living, and hear some of his story. We bought his book and I am anxious to hear how he escaped. After we left S-21 we took a rather long drive out to the killing fields. I didn't even know this place existed until a few weeks ago. It is where they took the prisoners from all of the prisons and executed them and buried them in mass graves. We took the audio tour read by a young man that was able to escape ever being captured but lived through the horror. As heartbreaking and down right gut wrenching as this was I am so grateful we went. It really explains the hard ships the people have suffered here... And in my lifetime!! Mark was able to capture a lot of this on film so you will get to see some later.
After we were all sad and depressed we sat in traffic for hours and had dinner at a very nice buffet place. I stuck with what I knew while others of our team had chicken feet, fried frog and chicken tongue. No thanks!! I'll keep to the fruit and bread! Ha!
Well, I have showered, washed my clothes in the sink and now fallen asleep 3 times just sitting here typing this. I guess I better get some sleep. Love you all very much!
Oh! Still no phone and the iPad is the only thing we have on wifi so feel free to write back to this address.
Love
Tiff
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Pray!
I am in the middle of some HUGE assignments, one is an essay that ill help determine whether or not I get into a school that I REALLY want to get into. Please pray for this amazing opportunity!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
The Gilbaugh Family Adventure is born.
Gilbaugh Family Adventure Days
September 2012
So it has been a desire of mine since we moved to Washington State 11 years ago to 'float a river'. I finally decided that unless I set it up it was never going to happen. I ordered the 'river rat' tubes on Amazon and set labor day weekend as the day. I put out a facebook request for any suggestions local friends might have on a good 'family friendly' river to float... The Green River in Flaming Gyser State park. I was assured it was not very swift and rather shallow. Ok, I thought, we can do that. We invited a friend and her son to join us and she met us in the parking lot at work to caravan to the park in Auburn. It was a gorgeous day and we arrived around 10am before the labor day crowds, picnic baskets and our new uninflated tubes. My friend brought a cool air pump that plugs into the car charger and 30 minutes later we were ready to get our feet wet. Andrew and I were teatherd together as were Mark and Abbey. I had a fabric lunch bag tied to my tube with 6 water bottle inside. Now begins the few very bad decisions that will alter the day... Bad decision #1, I don't need shoes in the water. I will just wear my crocs until I get in my tube then tie them to the side so I have them when we get to the end and need to get out. I don't know if you are aware of this but rocks in a river bed are extremely slippery and in WA they are very round... No grip... After I finally get my big fanny in my tube and Andrew is floating us out into the stream I think... 'ok, we can do this... I can't feel my butt or my feet as they are currently froze from the glacier run off we are sitting in but it's ok.. This is gonna be fun... Then comes epic failure #2, Andrew and I are floating along so nicely I decide to take Marks iPhone out of the waterproof case I had purchased and attached to my life vest. I wanted to get a picture of Mark and Abbey getting in the water. Mark looks up and says 'what are you doing with my phone out? There is a big branch headed toward your head! Turn around!!' I reply with 'theres nothing I can do! I don't know how to turn this dumb tube around!' about that time BANG! And I get thrown out of my tube and am now submerged in the freezing water. Now please keep in mind, I have on a fleece Old Navy sweatshirt (ever held one of those soaking wet?) and I also have Marks phone in my hand! Yep. It ALL, went under. I am frantically trying to get my bare feet under me (the water isn't that deep, just moving swiftly) and trying even harder to keep the phone above my head OUT of the water. Then it hits me. The waterproof case attached to me that is open is now full o water...has our car key in it! To add to the excitement Andrew, still safely in his tube, is caught in the current and his tube is dragging me out into the river... Not IN my seat... I keep yanking him back to me all the while trying to keep the phone up and the phone case from flushing our car key. Somehow, by the grace of God, mark and Abbey make their way to us. Abbey holds on to Andrew and Mark is trying to help me back into my raft. I am so drenched and cold I am seriously questioning what I was thinking. Because this was NOT what I had in mind when I dreamed of 'floating a river'.
I am finally reseated and have the now soaked phone back in the not so waterproof case and have secured the key. Ok. Deep breath. We can do this. Mark and Abbey go on down the river and I see what is about to be another adventure... Another low hanging branch and there is NO way to avoid it. My friend and her son are already tangled in it then Mark gets he and Abbey through... Now come the wet rat and her terrified little son... I was at least facing forward when we hit this one but our tether rope got tangled in the overhang. Michelle is still wrestling her way out and we are smacking into each other. Then DUMP! Yep, I go under again. About this time I'm ready to scream but don't want to freak out the kids. Not because I was drowning but because I was annoyed! Michelle gets out and I finally get our rope undone but that's when I realize that my inner tube is all but flat... Apparently I didn't seal it very well in the beginning. I swim over to Mark and Abbey waiting on a rocky open spot in the river bed. I slip slide my way (no shoes, remember) to them where Mark grabs hold of everyone and sighs and says :Ok, so lets reevaluate what we are doing well and what could use some improvement. The tethering was a good idea... " then he started re-inflating my tube for me. As we reenter the water I am soaked, freezing, actually pretty much numb by now and ready to run back to the car and cry. But there is no way back but forward. The rest of the "float" was relatively uneventful. I noticed a water bottle in the river and thought, "someone is littering!" only to look down at the bag I had tied to the side of my tube that is now empty... I was the one littering! We also came up to a shallow area that required us to lift our butts up to attempt to get through it all the while Mark and Abbey sail smoothly past us on the other side in the deeper water. Andrew is now beyond freaked out and I am just tired and done. But I wanted this adventure so I had to see it through. By the time we arrived at the exit point everyone is on the bank waiting for us and I am so relieved it is finally over. I waddle and stumble up the bank, soaked, frozen to the core, feet bleeding but trying to laugh to my kids saying " That was awesome!!! Can we do it again?!" Are you nuts? We barely escaped with out lives! Ha! We had lunch, packed up and headed for home. And this is where the Gilbaugh Family Adventure comes from. That was such an adventure we decided to do something random each month as a family... oh the stories we will tell...
September 2012
So it has been a desire of mine since we moved to Washington State 11 years ago to 'float a river'. I finally decided that unless I set it up it was never going to happen. I ordered the 'river rat' tubes on Amazon and set labor day weekend as the day. I put out a facebook request for any suggestions local friends might have on a good 'family friendly' river to float... The Green River in Flaming Gyser State park. I was assured it was not very swift and rather shallow. Ok, I thought, we can do that. We invited a friend and her son to join us and she met us in the parking lot at work to caravan to the park in Auburn. It was a gorgeous day and we arrived around 10am before the labor day crowds, picnic baskets and our new uninflated tubes. My friend brought a cool air pump that plugs into the car charger and 30 minutes later we were ready to get our feet wet. Andrew and I were teatherd together as were Mark and Abbey. I had a fabric lunch bag tied to my tube with 6 water bottle inside. Now begins the few very bad decisions that will alter the day... Bad decision #1, I don't need shoes in the water. I will just wear my crocs until I get in my tube then tie them to the side so I have them when we get to the end and need to get out. I don't know if you are aware of this but rocks in a river bed are extremely slippery and in WA they are very round... No grip... After I finally get my big fanny in my tube and Andrew is floating us out into the stream I think... 'ok, we can do this... I can't feel my butt or my feet as they are currently froze from the glacier run off we are sitting in but it's ok.. This is gonna be fun... Then comes epic failure #2, Andrew and I are floating along so nicely I decide to take Marks iPhone out of the waterproof case I had purchased and attached to my life vest. I wanted to get a picture of Mark and Abbey getting in the water. Mark looks up and says 'what are you doing with my phone out? There is a big branch headed toward your head! Turn around!!' I reply with 'theres nothing I can do! I don't know how to turn this dumb tube around!' about that time BANG! And I get thrown out of my tube and am now submerged in the freezing water. Now please keep in mind, I have on a fleece Old Navy sweatshirt (ever held one of those soaking wet?) and I also have Marks phone in my hand! Yep. It ALL, went under. I am frantically trying to get my bare feet under me (the water isn't that deep, just moving swiftly) and trying even harder to keep the phone above my head OUT of the water. Then it hits me. The waterproof case attached to me that is open is now full o water...has our car key in it! To add to the excitement Andrew, still safely in his tube, is caught in the current and his tube is dragging me out into the river... Not IN my seat... I keep yanking him back to me all the while trying to keep the phone up and the phone case from flushing our car key. Somehow, by the grace of God, mark and Abbey make their way to us. Abbey holds on to Andrew and Mark is trying to help me back into my raft. I am so drenched and cold I am seriously questioning what I was thinking. Because this was NOT what I had in mind when I dreamed of 'floating a river'.
I am finally reseated and have the now soaked phone back in the not so waterproof case and have secured the key. Ok. Deep breath. We can do this. Mark and Abbey go on down the river and I see what is about to be another adventure... Another low hanging branch and there is NO way to avoid it. My friend and her son are already tangled in it then Mark gets he and Abbey through... Now come the wet rat and her terrified little son... I was at least facing forward when we hit this one but our tether rope got tangled in the overhang. Michelle is still wrestling her way out and we are smacking into each other. Then DUMP! Yep, I go under again. About this time I'm ready to scream but don't want to freak out the kids. Not because I was drowning but because I was annoyed! Michelle gets out and I finally get our rope undone but that's when I realize that my inner tube is all but flat... Apparently I didn't seal it very well in the beginning. I swim over to Mark and Abbey waiting on a rocky open spot in the river bed. I slip slide my way (no shoes, remember) to them where Mark grabs hold of everyone and sighs and says :Ok, so lets reevaluate what we are doing well and what could use some improvement. The tethering was a good idea... " then he started re-inflating my tube for me. As we reenter the water I am soaked, freezing, actually pretty much numb by now and ready to run back to the car and cry. But there is no way back but forward. The rest of the "float" was relatively uneventful. I noticed a water bottle in the river and thought, "someone is littering!" only to look down at the bag I had tied to the side of my tube that is now empty... I was the one littering! We also came up to a shallow area that required us to lift our butts up to attempt to get through it all the while Mark and Abbey sail smoothly past us on the other side in the deeper water. Andrew is now beyond freaked out and I am just tired and done. But I wanted this adventure so I had to see it through. By the time we arrived at the exit point everyone is on the bank waiting for us and I am so relieved it is finally over. I waddle and stumble up the bank, soaked, frozen to the core, feet bleeding but trying to laugh to my kids saying " That was awesome!!! Can we do it again?!" Are you nuts? We barely escaped with out lives! Ha! We had lunch, packed up and headed for home. And this is where the Gilbaugh Family Adventure comes from. That was such an adventure we decided to do something random each month as a family... oh the stories we will tell...
Monday, July 9, 2012
Obedience = Success
Our culture directly associates Godly obedience with success, and consequently we associate failure with disobedience.
If I have been obedient, why did my company fail. Why did I fail? Was I fully obedient? Perhaps God does not view failure the same way that we do here on Earth.
I have prayed for 6 years that God would transform me into the man, husband, father, and leader that He wants me to become.
If my business had been successful, and I had become wealthy then I would have become self-reliant. I would not have needed God to intervene in my daily activities.
He is far more concerned with my character and my relationship with Him than the size of my checkbook balance or my influence here on Earth.
While I was going through the trial, many around me assumed that I must have been disobedient since my business failed so miserably. I was told to "go get a job," but I continued to follow the Lord each day.
During those difficult times, food arrived miraculously. Checks came mysteriously. Work that funded our necessities flowed regularly. Our family pulled closer together, and we became totally dependent on Him for our daily needs. He never failed us.
My heart has been changed, my character has been molded, and my relationship with Him has been strengthened through the pain of my failures. I believe that none of these changes would have happened if my first business attempts had been instantly successful.
When I felt directed by the Lord to get a job, He directed my paths and led me to an organization where I was needed. He sent me to a place where He could use me to make a difference.
Looking back on the past 6 years, I do believe that I was obedient throughout the entire process. I believe that He wanted to strip me down to bare metal before building me back up again. I have come to learn that God views success and failure differently than I do.
As I continue to heal from the pain of failure, I can start to see that God has answered my prayer and given me my heart's desire. I am becoming the man, husband, father, and leader that He created me to be.
My obedience has resulted in a successful transformation that did not happen in the way I imagined, but He is still God and I am forever changed.
If I have been obedient, why did my company fail. Why did I fail? Was I fully obedient? Perhaps God does not view failure the same way that we do here on Earth.
I have prayed for 6 years that God would transform me into the man, husband, father, and leader that He wants me to become.
If my business had been successful, and I had become wealthy then I would have become self-reliant. I would not have needed God to intervene in my daily activities.
He is far more concerned with my character and my relationship with Him than the size of my checkbook balance or my influence here on Earth.
While I was going through the trial, many around me assumed that I must have been disobedient since my business failed so miserably. I was told to "go get a job," but I continued to follow the Lord each day.
During those difficult times, food arrived miraculously. Checks came mysteriously. Work that funded our necessities flowed regularly. Our family pulled closer together, and we became totally dependent on Him for our daily needs. He never failed us.
My heart has been changed, my character has been molded, and my relationship with Him has been strengthened through the pain of my failures. I believe that none of these changes would have happened if my first business attempts had been instantly successful.
When I felt directed by the Lord to get a job, He directed my paths and led me to an organization where I was needed. He sent me to a place where He could use me to make a difference.
Looking back on the past 6 years, I do believe that I was obedient throughout the entire process. I believe that He wanted to strip me down to bare metal before building me back up again. I have come to learn that God views success and failure differently than I do.
As I continue to heal from the pain of failure, I can start to see that God has answered my prayer and given me my heart's desire. I am becoming the man, husband, father, and leader that He created me to be.
My obedience has resulted in a successful transformation that did not happen in the way I imagined, but He is still God and I am forever changed.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Daily Sacrifice Rebellion
Ezekiel 18:30-32
"The upshot is this, Israel: I'll judge each of you according to the way you live. So turn around! Turn your backs on your rebellious living so that sin won't drag you down. Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel? I take no pleasure in anyone's death. Decree of God, the Master. "Make a clean break! Live!"
I must daily decide to sacrifice my rebellious spirit to do the right things. I had a difficult time getting into my workout this morning, and my body just wanted to go back to bed.
Getting up and doing my workout was the first step to forming a habit and teaching the rebellious spirit to go away. I only have to take this step 88 more times before the habit will be cemented into a routine.
Exercise: 4:20am
P90X Video - 02 Plyometrics
Completed the first 30 min
Nutrition:
- Protein Shake
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