A Day of One Thousand Emotions

Today was a roller-coaster ride of emotion and experience. It was our last day spent at Grace Place, Battambang, and we spent most of it with the kids!! The majority of our team slept at the home last night, so we made them all breakfast this morning. Throughout the day we played soccer withe the boys, makeovers with the girls, and taught them how to tie-dye t-shirts. After we left to put on a short concert in the city, we returned to find a delightful curry had been prepared for us, which we ate with much gusto. Immediately following that came a rather loud and audacious dance party, finding us each shedding numerous pounds in sweat, and generally having a spectacular time.

In the back of our minds the whole time, however, we were dreading the looming "goodbye moment," where we were forced to say goodbye to the children who had so quickly found a cavernous home in our hearts. When the time came, many tears were shed, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth (I'm only barely kidding).

These children have an understanding of God's love that is incredible. You can see it in their eyes... They exude joy and peace and quiet strength, and they have left me a different man.

My eyes are still red, but i will close them tonight with a smile on my face, knowing that I've given and received the most pure sort of love imaginable and that every dollar and hour of preparation spent to come here was well worth it.

Josh Graber