Help

I figure that most of you receive my email newsletters every month or so. But just in case here's the lastest news. Life is good at the moment. But it feels rather ordinary. Language study five days a week. Swimming on Saturday. Emails once a month. Hmmm.... must be something brewing out there?

One of the first phrases I learned in Khmer was, "Can I help you?" I wanted to be friendly. I wanted to build relationships. Can I help you cut the vegetables? Can I help you sweep the floor? Can I help you wash the dishes?

There's another question I'm learning to ask that also helps to make friends. "Can you help me?" I'm learning to ask for help in a thousand ways.

A week or so ago I asked the waitress at my local coffee place if she drank coffee. (Partly as an excuse to start a conversation in Khmer.) Surprisingly, she said she did. (It isn't too common for Khmer women to drink coffee.) So I asked, "Can you help me? I don't know which one to drink. Which one do you like?" The waitress was more than happy to help! She told me her favourite used to be the vanilla cappuccino. But the vanilla powder from Malaysia had been replaced by a US vanilla powder which wasn't quite as good. So her new favourite, I discovered, was the caramel cappuccino. The iced caramel latte also came highly recommended. I went with the caramel cappuccino and it was very good.

Can you help me.

Can you help me by speaking slowly? Can you give me grace to make mistakes? Can you give me time to learn to speak again?

Can you help me find my way around? Can you tell me how to get to this place? Would you mind giving me a ride?

Can you help me learn how things are done? Can you tell me how you feel? Could you share with me your stories so that I can begin to understand?

God, can you help me worship you in this place? Can you help me sing new songs of praise? Would you help me pray when our house is so busy and I cannot close the bedroom door?

I'm constantly asking for help- requiring it from people that six months ago I didn't have to "burden"at all. Yet these experiences begin to build webs of community. While it is humbling, I'm learning to ask, "Can you help me?"