Phnom Penh is sometimes called a concrete jungle. We are blessed to live in a wonderful home in a peaceful, safe neighborhood. Our house is at the end of a street, so there is no thru-traffic and the kids can play in the street with the neighbors. However, like most houses here, we live behind a big metal gate. We have iron bars over the windows and padlocks on every door. The view from many household windows is the wall of the next building. Even inside, the floors and sometimes the walls are covered in hard tile.

The scenery along my commute to work contains a lot of residences behind metal gates. I see storefront after storefront, with no space between the buildings and the road. Houses are constructed in rows with no yards in between, so green space is almost non-existent.

Within that context, our house was a rare find in this city because it has a backyard! Yet, even our backyard is too full of concrete and rocks to plant a garden or let the kids play safely. Instead, Sokion started his own special project using the space to raise ducks.

As you can imagine, living in a concrete jungle lacking natural beauty and open green spaces takes its toll on one’s mental health. After four straight months in Cambodia, I finally got my first break from the city!

Our first day trip out of Phnom Penh was to visit Sokion’s hometown in Kampong Cham province. It was Josiah’s first time there and his first introduction to many of his aunts, uncles, and cousins. We flew kites along the beautiful Mekong and my heart was happy not just for the precious moments with family and for what my kids were experiencing, but because I felt refreshed to see the green rice fields and palm trees, to sit down on grass and look up at a clear sky.

Over the winter break, we got to leave the city again for a short getaway to Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temples. It was good to get out of the city again for a longer period than one day. Unfortunately, a sick boy and a trip to a provnicial hospital put a damper on our time away. Thankfully Josiah was healthy by the time we got home and no one else got sick. 

So last weekend, to make up for the illness of the prior trip, we took a short weekend getaway to Kampot, a small river town a couple hours from Phnom Penh. I got my fill of beautiful views of the river and mountains and remembered how truly beautiful and breathtaking this country is. My soul feels full and ready for another stretch of time doing life and ministry back in the concrete jungle.