My Hope

The struggle is real.... I’ve been struggling this past week.  There are so many conflicting views and thoughts on my news-feed and I’m wrestling with reconciling them all.  I love the community we’re in.  When we moved here I imagined it would be a step towards ministry and knew we could impact refugees in the area, but being here for the past year and a half has been so much more than I ever imagined!  The friendships I’ve made have enriched my life so much!  We share each other’s joy and pain.  I feel like the time here has stretched my faith and caused me to examine in different ways what it means to truly live my life as a Christian.  Welcoming the tired, the hungry, the huddled masses is not just something that is symbolic of my view of America, it goes to the very core of my beliefs as a Christian and being here I’ve been able to practice that faith in a way more richly than before. It’s not that the outreach I’d done in the past was superficial, but it truly wasn’t incorpora...

I’ve heard that Atlanta is the new Hollywood, but until now I’ve been living in my international/mom bubble. Recently though the two merged. An episode of 24 was filmed next door to some GFM property, so the girls and I took a field trip to check everything out. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a whole lot to see. There were a couple of huge semi’s full of equipment blocking our apartment complex and some lighting rigs, but all the action was inside a house in the neighborhood. We could tell there was stuff happening, but I honestly have no idea what the episode will entail. We won’t know right away either. The show will air sometime in February… for now it’s undergoing the editing process. Two days of filming and four months of editing seems like a lot of work for a one hour show (45 minutes once you factor in commercials). Do we allow God to work on us from the inside, editing (or pruning) us? At times it can be difficult. We’ve put work in, only to have it trimmed...

I love watching the Olympics when it rolls around every couple of years (I love both the Summer and Winter games). I enjoy some of the sports themselves, but it’s more than that. It’s the hope for world peace (for at least two brief weeks) and it’s seeing the realization of people’s lifelong dreams become reality. I love watching the backstories on the athletes almost as much as the competitions themselves and am amazed at the dedication by both the athletes themselves but also of their families. I was excited this year to hear a new group has been added. Ten people proudly marched in the parade of nations under the Olympic rings. They belong to no one country. They have fled their home countries and for all intents and purposes, they are homeless. They are the first team to represent refugees world-wide on the Olympic stage. The backstories of more than one of them had me tearing up. One swimmer fled from her homeland staying temporarily in one host country before le...

I shared a video in a post a few weeks ago, but I'm not sure it pulled up in people's e-mails. If you haven't watched God's Heart for the Foreigner, please take some time to watch it. Here's the link to it on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd4IEuPvQw8 Everybody always says it would be nice for babies to come with instruction books and it’s true, but it’s even more exciting parenting a newborn in Clarkston. When M was born many of my parenting decisions and styles were much like those of my friends. Sure there were some differences, but common threads throughout. It’s easy to forget how many things are influenced by culture. Now I’m getting glimpses of how different people parent across the globe. Take something as simple as nursing. I’ve always been told that brand new babies need to eat every couple of hours and as they get bigger and older you can extend the time between meals further. It makes sense to me. If they fuss between those times ...

Church felt so healing this Sunday after the weight of this week. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me in how He works through people. Our church had been planning this Sunday for weeks (or longer) and God’s timing (as always) was perfect. In the midst of so much racial division in our nation, our church had a unified service. The church we’ve attended in Atlanta has a very large building and so twelve other congregations also meet there. They’d been planning a combined service for this Sunday long before the tragedies brought fear and outrage. The church worshiped in English, French, Spanish, Burmese, Karenni, Nepali, Lautu, Senthang, Hakha, and Swahili. I couldn’t help but wonder how amazing heaven must be as my eyes filled with grateful tears. I just felt so much joy and hope just being a part of it and lifting praise as part of one body. I love our pastor and his challenging messages, but this Sunday was excited to hear a pastor from Kenya speak. He preached on Jes...

Part 2 The World divided The rush to suddenly stop welcoming refugees who only a few months ago were being welcomed with open arms is making my head spin. Can we guarantee that all refugees will be law abiding residents? No. They undergo vigorous interviews and background checks, but there is no way to give people 100% assurance. Can we guarantee that all U.S. born citizens will grow up to become law abiding residents? No. There are untold things that will influence them. There are no guarantees that our citizens won’t leave and join terrorist extremist groups, then return and carry out mass killings. There are no guarantees that our citizens won’t stay and carry out mass killings as lone gunmen. The bottom line is we don’t have any guarantees in this life. We never have. We never will. We are called to love despite these uncertainties. NAS Hebrews 13:1 Let love of the brethren continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have ent...

We grew up in an innocence/guilt society but we’re now living and working around people who primarily grew up in honor/shame societies. There is no right or wrong, all three structures are addressed in the Bible, but it takes some adjusting. I’ve had some social and cultural blunders in our short time here. First and foremost, what’s the difference? What motivates you to do what is right? Do you get a ‘guilty conscience’ if you’re breaking the rules? Tommy always laughs at me for seeing the world in black and white- it’s right or it’s wrong, there isn’t much grey. I’m a work in progress- what can I say. I’m a rule follower and feel guilty if I break a rule- even if no one else knows (or cares for that matter). Our justice system centers around the idea that people are innocent until proven guilty. American churches focus the gospel message on the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood- bringing innocence and washing us white as snow (which in itself is humorous as this w...

There’s a community garden in Clarkston where Tommy has been helping. I have found so much healing tilling the soil of our garden in Bainbridge and spending time talking to God and am glad there is a place here for people to feed both their bodies and souls, in more ways than one. I’ve wondered what the transition to the United States must be like for some of the families, coming from war torn nations where violence disrupts day to day life. I’ve wondered how they adjust to different cultures in which values are vastly different from those in their homeland. There were some disruptions to family life that I hadn’t taken into account though. Leaving their homeland and coming to the United States has created an imbalance in the multigenerational family units. The normal hierarchal system allows the wisdom of the ages to be revered and honored. The grandparents guide and assist their children and grandchildren with knowledge and understanding, gleaned through years of experience ...

It’s easy to forget that not everyone has the same perspectives. Different things take on a different meaning when viewed from different cultures. Last week a family we’ve been getting to know came knocking on our door asking for a ride to the grocery store. The rain was just starting and it appeared to be getting harder. Not the type of weather I generally want to go grocery shopping in but I couldn’t tell them no. The whole family came along. On the way the wife kept telling me how much she loved the rain. I started thinking about it from her perspective. She comes from a dry desert climate. Rain is not an inconvenience, something to grumble about. It is something to be cherished, savored. There’s a little boy in the apartment complex who literally lies in a puddle that forms in the parking lot. Free water falling from the sky is such a blessing, just ask anyone in California. We’ve just grown so accustomed to it, we forget to see it for what it really is. The Word ...

The internet is hit or miss and our phone reception is terrible, but word of mouth can travel faster than the speed of light at Clarkston Oaks. Everyone seems to know who we are, especially the kids. We’ve had kids ask us about stuff that we were unaware people noticed- the ice cream truck came by Saturday and someone who hadn’t been nearby asked us two days later what flavor popsicles the girls picked out. When I seemed surprised and told him, he laughed and informed me that people are watching. The banker when we set up an account said the same thing. Not that I really do anything I feel the need to hide, but it’s good to know. I’ve felt under a microscope for the past five years anyway. I want the girls to view my life and faith as consistent which means I have to do my best to live out what I say. Do you ever get the feeling you’re being watched? It’s because you are. That isn’t always a bad thing though. God is always watching over us. Sometimes we treat his careful ...