This past weekend I skyped with my brother, Dustin, and his wife/my sister, Jenny. Ah. That could be enough said, but I will go on to say, from the laughter to the conversation, this really made my heart happy! During our conversation Jenny said something that really struck me, and it has been on my mind since. I shared with them the disconnect I feel with a lot of the people here and the difficulty I have had in my attempts to communicate who I am and why I do what I do. If I could give you a picture it would be this: the nonathletic kid at a camp, facing a flat wall, rope in hands and for the seventh time getting ready to go at it again (wondering why he is trying for literally the seventh time). Yep. I relate.
I thought this difference was the language thing. It makes sense.
Well, I was reminded otherwise. Jenny reminded me that the ultimate difference or disconnect between the world that I live and the world of the people around me is not that I am American and they are Spanish. Yes, that is certainty true, but she reminded me of the shared human experience in that we are all people who have emotions, friends, share stories, laugh, cry, eat, walk and drink. This was a good reminder for me. It was good because, in her even saying that, I felt that disconnect shrink a bit. But, what was even better was when she pointed out that the greatest difference I have experienced here, and one I will have in my time living on this earth, is that the life of Jesus and the life of a soul where He lives will clash against any other. I think this brought me a lot of peace, because the burden I felt from my inability to really connect lifted.
It is easy to forget that I am not an American sojourner in a land belonging to Spanairds, but that I am God's child living in a place that is not home. I am so glad to recall: seeking comfort here will disappoint and expectations don't have a return. And, somehow the best news of all is that Jesus suffered and said we will too (but he also said take heart).
1 Peter 3:13-16 and 1 Corinthians 4:12.
"Above all, keep loving"
1 Peter 4:8
I thought this difference was the language thing. It makes sense.
Well, I was reminded otherwise. Jenny reminded me that the ultimate difference or disconnect between the world that I live and the world of the people around me is not that I am American and they are Spanish. Yes, that is certainty true, but she reminded me of the shared human experience in that we are all people who have emotions, friends, share stories, laugh, cry, eat, walk and drink. This was a good reminder for me. It was good because, in her even saying that, I felt that disconnect shrink a bit. But, what was even better was when she pointed out that the greatest difference I have experienced here, and one I will have in my time living on this earth, is that the life of Jesus and the life of a soul where He lives will clash against any other. I think this brought me a lot of peace, because the burden I felt from my inability to really connect lifted.
It is easy to forget that I am not an American sojourner in a land belonging to Spanairds, but that I am God's child living in a place that is not home. I am so glad to recall: seeking comfort here will disappoint and expectations don't have a return. And, somehow the best news of all is that Jesus suffered and said we will too (but he also said take heart).
1 Peter 3:13-16 and 1 Corinthians 4:12.
"Above all, keep loving"
1 Peter 4:8
LOVE that we (Jenny) could be an encouragement to you. Sorry I missed you yesterday. Yo tocaba la guitarra a la iglesia. May your sojourning continue to remind you that, as Peter says in 1 Peter, that we who believe in Jesus are exiles here -- whether in the US or Spain.
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