My Hope

I wrote the first part over of this post over the summer but never actually posted it. At the time I'd posted a few back to back and didn't want to flood everyone's e-mails with one more thing. Today though I experienced the same humbling grace from my kids so I thought I'd share both experiences. "Recently I was humbled by the grace of my children. GFM always has group gatherings to pray for people as they head out and also to hear about what’s happened on mission or vision trips. I love going and hearing and praying, but they aren’t the most child-friendly, particularly for children that have a hard time sitting for any length of time. I feel like there are times my children have to learn there are times they have to be quiet and times for play- a time for everything under heaven. Unfortunately, I told the girls we were going to a party. It really was a going away party of sorts… but not party in the sense that a 6 & 4 year old automatically pictur...

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 ...

It’s been wonderful seeing family and friends. I feel like the time is passing too quickly though and I haven’t had a chance to see as many people as I’d hoped. I feel like we’re close and yet so far away up in Clarkston. Always know you’re welcome anytime you’re up in Atlanta to come on over and see us- we’d love to have you and show you everything going on!! We’d taken two cars to church and the girls got back slightly earlier than the boys. After unstrapping H and letting both out of the car, M started to dash for the garage door. As she started I could see my father-in-law driving down the road and about to pull into the driveway. I called out a quick ‘whoa’ to M and she immediately stopped. I smiled at her (happy that she’d obeyed the first time) and explained I hadn’t wanted her to get squished by Poppy’s truck (which is my usual speech in parking lots or near roads). Her reaction wasn’t usual though- she burst into tears and came running to me for hugs. Unlike previ...

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...

I went to a new grocery store yesterday. The rules are different there though and no one warned me. You have to deposit a quarter to get a cart and there were no bags. I was blindsided and hadn’t brought my own this time. It wasn’t too big of a deal until I got home and didn’t want some of my neighbors to be offended by the ham I was bringing in, so I quickly bagged everything up to haul ten feet to our door. It’s easy to be thrown off when the rules are suddenly different, even in our own culture. I expected different social rules when we moved out west and when I’ve visited people here from different places, but I expected the rules of a grocery store to be fairly standard (except of course in states that are banning plastic bags across all stores). How much harder must it be when the rules everywhere are new and different? Do our rules intimidate in churches too? I overheard one person sharing how she went to a new church and realized she wasn’t taking communion the ‘ri...