The Hourngs in Cambodia!

Solitude Saturday 😅💕👍 Spent on readings, reviewing, gardening, baking and resting.  Dad’s on a mission trip 🥰🙏 #InternationalChildrenDay  Psalm 46:10   "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" David counted his coin collections                               Oat peanut butter cookies with red velvet chocolate hearts                                 Final Exam Reviewing "Strategic Management"

We are almost half of the year! whoah! We are wrapping up the month of May with gratitude 😀😍💞 God you are to be honored and be praised.  We can't fathom your love to us! It's YOU who are keeping us and making us fueled to do more. All blessings flow under your name.  ** About our ministry 👉 Up Close: What we do & who we are?   The Hourngs serving in Cambodia 👉 We are serving in Cambodia  

  David’s end of the academic year and Recognition day 🥰😅🙏😍  Thank God our 5th grader has ended strong! All by God’s grace! David ✅ is now ready and qualified for 6th grade 🙏😍😅💕 He received a certificate and was awarded: “Effective Communicator for asking thoughtful questions” #MovingUpto6thgrade

What a rainy morning we have in Phnom Penh today 🙏😉.  Has summer ended in Cambodia already? As a plant lover, I do rejoice about it! It's about time to experience some rain shower 😍 While on a tuktuk today, I pondered on this verse in Colossians 1:13 "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. "  It is a great reminder that we have been saved through Jesus’ - His death and resurrection made it happened. God has saved us from darkness and evil, and we should be grateful for being citizens of His kingdom. Our freedom comes from Him, who can change our circumstances. Over dinner last night. our David has again asked a question, I think this is still in reference to our previous conversation a few nights ago but this time, he has included his dad 😅✌👉  David's lamentations ***While eating... David: Mom, will I go to heaven with dad someday? Mom: David, do y...

Cheers for Durian fruit! One of Vandy’s best friend pastor Sopheak from Kampong Cham has sent us Durian (first ever fruits from his own planted durian trees 🌳)  He really knows this is our family’s favorite 🤩 We devoured it right after dinner for dessert! (by the way, it was really yummy 😋)  Vandy wouldn’t be able to eat any fruits yet, since he is still on a meat diet!! I pitied to see him salivating while taking photos of us eating the durian. We do really appreciate pastor Sopheak for sharing his produce. He should have just sold it and have some extra income for his family, but he went all the way sending it to us.  Lowkru Sopheak has a big heart indeed! His local church in Suong Kampong Cham has an "Orphanage" as well. I have written some posts about his ministry here 👉  Church work and worship service @ Suong  and  Passion for the Orphans These durians were freshly harvested from Pastor Sopheak's farm. He sent these to all his co-laborers in Chris...

My takeaway from my husband's preaching yesterday. He would normally share his sermon gist to us the night before, so we would be able to cover him in our family praying time. A life of worship honors God. Worship is the appropriate reaction to God's nature and future plans. If we do not know God, how can we worship him?  We worship God even with our failures not only when we are in victory. Both our best and worst should be offered to God. Let us love God even when we fail. Like the life of David in 1 Chronicles 21, God used his life to show us that He could turn our mistakes into blessing for God is merciful.  A powerful God will influence our worship. As we worship God collectively when we come together, we should also worship God in our personal solitude as part of our relationship with God.  

I have a husband that loves me enough to correct my mistakes and help me fill in my shortcomings. Unfortunately, sometimes I don't appreciate it. I forgot and ceased that he is my accountability partner. I failed to recognize it a few days ago. I let my pride and went over on taking my rights. I became so critical on my husband's shortcomings as well. I was so foolish and acted silent treatment and disrespect action toward Vandy 😓😌 Kiss and make up! Reconciled 💞😅👫 You know daily encounter with God does really help in times like this. My unpleasant character would resurface and would come and go at times. And it will really be impossible not to experience God's "heart surgery" on me. Yep, that loving correction started over my solitude with God. I will never be able to refuse His gentle reminder that my selfish action toward my husband wasn't honoring. It gets into my heart that I felt uncomfortable not dealing with it. My pride managed to creep again.  Bu...

Extra ordinary Graduation This year's graduation event would be for the books.  Our special guest is no other than the Kingdom of Cambodia's new Prime Minister Hun Manet.  We are very honored for his willingness to come and to witness our graduation rites.  His security protocols are now being felt and strategized in every meeting we have particularly on this event. VVIPs from our Malaysian Headquarters are also doing lots of preparations about this. It is always a delight to coach graduating students on their speeches.  By God's grace, this is going to be my 3rd time (in a row). I'm glad to be given the opportunity to coach. I am always amazed on how they would come up with the content of their speeches. I don't normally change the content of what they are going to say, as much as possible I will only inject enhancement on the wordings and flow.  Delivering the speech is actually more challenging due to time constraints (3-5minutes each). I hope to be able to g...

David's happily waving as he entered his campus Psalm 42:11  "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."  The verse today is somewhat speaking to my heart ❤️  Just last night, when David and I were walking/exercising around our neighborhood.  Our wonderful conversation was a revelation. **Background: he has already told another story over dinner and obviously shared a different version 😅😌 David: “Mom, it was actually me started first to get angry with Porchung (classmate) because he cut my line during our lunch, I pushed him, and he cried I got angry at him.  I’m just being honest mom please don’t get mad at me 🥺 what will I do now? Mom: “I am not mad at you David but I actually appreciate that you are honest for telling the truth. I think you might already know what to do next 😉💕 do you remember last time dad said? We have to always respond with love even though people...

  Short skit from Dad & David How do we love God? 1. Obey God 2. Have faith in God 3. Worship God  = = =  ❤️ ព្រះយេស៊ូវស្រលាញ់អ្នកណាស់ - យ៉ូហាន ៣ៈ១៦ (អត្តសញ្ញាណអ្នក)  Jesus loves you so much - John 3:16 (Your ID)  = = =  ✍️ តើអ្នកអាចបង្ហាញថាអ្នកស្រលាញ់ព្រះតាមវិធីអ្វីខ្លះនៅសប្តាហ៍នេះ? ✍️ How can you show love to God this week?  Dad preached a challenging sermon last Sunday.  He started a new series in response to the Hosea series that he just wrapped up a few Sundays ago. I actually teased him while we drove home: "Dad, it was a heart provoking sermon this morning, I thought you will ask for an altar call eh"  ... and Vandy just smiled and said "ah really?! Praise God!" 

We love walking at the park inside our community 😍😊😅 At least every after dinner (before Bible study sessions) would be the best time to stroll for the three of us since it's not crowded with people & pets.  Evening walk  enhances digestion, reduces heart disease risk, improves blood sugar management, helps in weight management and promotes better sleep patterns are some of the good benefits. Honestly, I enjoy this time better because I get to spend time it with my boys.  Sometimes, we would just goof around or race, and even stepping at our shadows .  It's just so fun doing walks with them! Our shadows were so clear on this part. The bright light from the moon (or streetlights) illuminates it perhaps?! God's Shadows The Bible frequently uses the shadow as a symbol of divine protection and refuge.  In Psalm 17:8, King David prays for protection from God, comparing it to a bird sheltering its young under its wings. ** “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hid...

I'm always grateful for discipleship meetings like this (online in our case).  I get to listen about sharing life experiences, reflect and relating on God's shaping up process because let's admit we are all still work in progress. Sheryl is my constant disciple now. I praise God for her life. She is helping me to be always accountable, since I would share to her my morning devotions every day. I think I have somehow posted our encounter on this post 👉 Meet Up with Sheryl   Our meeting time won't be complete without our special guest - David of course!  He gets a chance to share his experience at school too. I'm glad Sheryl won't mind if he's joining us during closing prayers.  Here are some of the lessons (take away) during our sharing time. We have reflected on John 15:2 - there are two separate actions that Jesus mentioned in here: the step of cutting off what's dead and process of  pruning fruit .  I have shared before that I love plants a lot! perh...

we were teasing him if he just gave birth! 😁😆😂 We just want to THANK YOU for covering Vandy with your prayers.  Truly we could count on you - the body of Christ 💓💕😍 your generous hearts to think of us and pray for us is more than enough to move us. We are praising God for the wonderful results of these procedures on Vandy (no cancerous cells found!).  The doctor wrapped up that my husband has a healthy body and there's nothing serious to be concerned about. He only added that Vandy just need to have an "all meat diet" for a month (still would want to observe him because the abdominal pain isn't completely ruled out yet).  Also, the lab results also revealed Vandy's lower part stomach is inflamed, and his kidney has lightly shrunk (due to UTI-urinary track infection). All of these would be taken cared of through right medications.

Hospital visit Vandy's tolerable to any pain. In fact, he won't never take any medicine or visit a doctor unless it's unbearable. At home, it has always been a practice to resort on home remedies and cure our sicknesses on natural way and it has been effective to us. However, my husband has started to have reoccurring abdominal pain since last year.  The last time he had brought himself to doctor was when he was still church planting in Kratie province (19 years ago!). He had malaria and almost didn't make it - his family even thought he has died in the mission field.  So over the weekend, we brought him to see a specialist and was advised to have an annual physical exam (it's his 1st ever check up!) - it's like an almost full day stint of checkups. They run some blood tests, glucose, vitals, even ultrasound on him.  Praise God they all came in good results. However, doctor would want to run a thorough check on his colon since it seems like this might be the cul...

We (mothers) felt really special and loved today as we celebrate Mother's Day at church. Indeed, God is gracious to be able to be prayed for in the congregation. There are actually 9 mothers at PPC (and we are discipling 4 young couples out of them).  Some weren't able to join church today because they are in the provinces rearing their young babies 👪👪👶👶😁😍 We give thanks to You, Lord, for the gifts of motherhood on this day honoring moms.  We are appreciative of our mothers' love, support, and wisdom in guiding us through life.  On this unique day and every day after, grant them happiness, serenity, and love.  In Jesus Mighty name,  Amen! Mother's Day is a wonderful occasion to celebrate and pay tribute to the amazing women who have shaped our lives with their love and support.  This was the perfect gift we got from the church! and that boy named David is the reason why I became a mother 👦😍😂haha!  

We praise God for the opportunity to witness God's love and restoration to this young family. We have seen God's hand move to their relationship. There's a blessing when we exercise humility indeed! It's always a privilege to be a vessel and be a spiritual parent to these couple. So far they're the 4th husband and wife that had a baby from our discipleship couples. To know more about Kakada & Somnang testimony, head to this link  Prayer for Protection We are rejoicing to welcome baby Chesda 💓👶😍 oh boy! he is really cute. David's prayer for Chesda is that he will become healthy, stronger, sleep well and to be an obedient child.  Chesda (means Majesty) - is our 4th spritual grandchild  

this video was taken during our 6th year anniversary  *David was just 3yrs old "obviously we love singing old worship songs!" Old Hymnal songs Vandy and I love singing hymnal songs.  Of course, I grew up in a church where these classics were introduced and has always sung at worship services. I was even become part of a choir (alto voice), and we did lots of cantatas on every occasions. Vandy on the other hand was also exposed on hymnals, since he used to study in the bible school in the Philippines.  While we love singing hymnal worships, we also enjoy singing new ones like of Hillsongs, Don Moen's and the like.. when we were serving in Kratie province (18 years ago!). Vandy only taught and sang mostly hymnals (translated in Khmer) to the local congregation. So, our youth were definitely well versed on these old hymnal songs.  Though, I am open learning new worship songs and enjoy soaking/injecting them in my quiet time, my husband still prefers playing and singing ...

I praise God for the opportunity to serve my students. I am not asking or expecting anything in return, because I would want them to learn the hoops and loops and to be resilient. That even constructive feedback could be beneficial to them as they navigate academic life) Have you ever been tired? When was the last time you were totally worn out?  Perhaps you worked on a challenging project for the whole day or week. Perhaps you experienced exhaustion after assisting others in your life. We've all had fatigue at some point. Apostle Paul was writing to encourage the church to their work among the many persecutions and wounded individuals that were prevalent during his time. Paul encouraged everyone in Galatians 6:9 to keep moving forward in doing good.  We will ultimately tire out, God understands.  And when we become weary and irritated, we'll undoubtedly start to wonder why we're even bothering with this in the first place. Galatians 6:9, however, encourages us to keep go...

I showed this poster to Vandy a few days ago.  I know he would be thrilled to join this conference, since he has always been a fan of Dr. John Maxwell's books. My husband has a collection of his books and has reread them, listened to his talks on YouTube videos and even used his learnings for his sermon illustrations countless times. I thought he would be excited to purchase the ticket immediately, but to my surprise, he said it's ok not to join the live conference anyway, he mostly sees him and encounters him on a weekly basis (listening on his earbuds haha!). I know my husband would want to go but unsure to purchase the tickets.. he said it's expensive haha.. I was pushing him really to buy but said he is willing to pass the opportunity. Vandy is actually planning to undergo a "Colonoscopy test" and that test will cost at least $500. He has been experiencing reoccurring pains these past few months. He may not say it, but I believe for him this kind of expense is...

Hey you all! how are you doing? 😅 I decided to take a sick leave from work today. I think my body is needing a pause and rest at least for a day. My cough is making me weak 😢😷.  I actually volunteered to bring David to school, so dad could sleep in longer (he's also experiencing abdominal pain again 😌😰). It is always a joy to bring this boy to school! He has shared numerous stories within that 15minute tuktuk ride.. it's fascinating to listen to him haha!  So, when he came home this afternoon, I told him we could bake some cookies (we normally make batches of dough ahead, freeze them so we could bake anytime).  He said "It's a delightful afternoon indeed!" hahaha.. While baking these cookies this afternoon, I was thinking of my devotion on that verse in  1 John 4:11 that says "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."   We should love others as we have been loved by God, who has shown us such incredible love and kindness. God...

that's my queuing number in the hospital, I was hoping to meet a respiratory specialist but soon gave up because I needed to get back to work 😔😢  Sleep deprives - "coughing" I have been unwell for two weeks straight now. I felt physically weak due to coughing too much 😓 I would want to take a break but couldn't since I have a lot of things to finish: deadlines after deadlines. I have written two papers and prepared one presentation for my mba classes and on top of that, I needed to wrap up this semester for my teaching classes in the Foundation/Bachelor (yep! overlapping due dates)  It's all by God's grace that I am being sustained every day. I pray to get better in the next days to come. I will take some few days off just to recuperate.    On waiting.. So this afternoon after my class, I went to the hospital and was hoping to meet a respiratory specialist. I waited for more than an hour. I was seated side by side with different people who might even be sic...