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One White Woman’s Thoughts on Being Multi-Cultural
“Before you go and live in Guatemala to study Spanish, you need to read this book,” my friend advised. Easily detecting my time-is-of-the-essence-say-it-like-it-is-I-can-do-this-on-my-own base culture, she knew I needed a multi-cultural “crash course” before my extended stay in Guatemala. As she is a second-generation missionary having served more than fifty years in Latin America, I heeded her advice, and I’m glad I did. Unknown cultural blinders fell from my eyes when I read her recommendation, From Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold-Climate Cultures. The multi-cultural information gleaned from this book not only made me aware of what I had been doing wrong while serving in U.S.…
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For the Love of Mothers and Others
If upon meeting you for the first time I asked, “Who are you?” How would you answer? (Para español, lea abajo.) Perhaps you’d say: I am a teacher. I am a student. I am a wife. I am a business owner. I am a missionary. I am a homemaker. With the recent celebration of Mother’s Day, you might also identify with one or more of the following: I am an expectant mother, a new mother, an adoptive mother, a single mother, a stepmother, a divorced mother, an empty-nester mother, a widowed mother, a grandmother, a mentoring and disciple making, spiritual mother, I am a caregiver of my mother. Research A…
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He Was Not What They Expected
He criticized the prideful, religious elite and dined with criminals and tax collectors. He spoke to shunned women and healed unclean and contagious lepers. He welcomed little children and gave mercy to the desperate and the weak. (Para español, lea abajo.) “Who is this supposed King? He does not behave as we had expected,” they thought. They expected a warrior king, not a humble servant. They expected a savior from foreign oppression, not a Savior from their sins. They expected their long-awaited ruler to ride victoriously on a horse. The King of Kings rode peacefully on a young donkey. (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:5) They waved palm branches and put their…
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What is it like to be “Unseen”?
Do you live your life wanting to be seen or unseen? Whether seated in an office maze of cubicles, standing behind a podium before a grand audience, or mopping up spilled milk and cereal for the third time today, we want to be acknowledged, understood, and liked. Our current world of social media has not helped our helpless and desperate desire to be noticed. These days if we do not post a photo of our dinner out, our vacation, our birthday, our promotion, or our child’s new accomplishment, it’s as though it never happened. Additionally, we want our online friends to see, like, or love our posts. Only if the…
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More Than Just a Day for Chocolate
Do you happily celebrate Valentine’s Day or bitterly avoid it? In years past I revolted against this “Day of Love.” The only benefit in my opinion was the half-priced chocolate offered the following day. You might have mixed emotions the same as mine. But this year I propose a solution to transform this “Hallmark holiday” from one of stress and sadness to fellowship and friendship: Celebrate like a Mexican. Mexicans see February 14 as El día del amor y la amistad (The Day of Love and Friendship) and share cards and small gifts with close friends, family, and coworkers. Yes, much of the United States’ Valentine’s Day marketing has made…
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New Year: Looking Back and Forward Through the Lens of Struggle
It’s easy to look back at the previous year through the lens of struggle—to look only at the difficulties, the disappointments, the dark places—and then jump to inappropriate conclusions. My husband and I have had more than our fair share of “hard” the over the last year with tough ministry decisions, medical treatments for our son, and the loss of loved ones. Friends have faced equal if not greater challenges as well. The list of those struggling is endless. Thus I’ve been pondering on the struggle and the hard lately, but not in the way you might think. For churchgoers who think the Christian ideal is “health, wealth, and happiness,”…
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The Gift of “God With Us”
A wailing scream pierces the air. The new mother cries tears of sheer exhaustion and joy. The father stands speechless, astounded, holding a wriggly bundle in his arms. Mom and dad lock eyes and they silently ask each other, “What should we name him?” (Para español, lea abajo.) A name means something. Depending on the culture, a name implies family respect, honor, and tradition. In the Latino culture, for example, parents typically name their firstborn child after the father or mother. If the father is Luis, the baby boy is Luis. If the mother is Elizabeth, the baby girl is Elizabeth. In doing so, the parents preserve their family legacy.…
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Adoption: Dispelling Four Common Myths
November is National Adoption Month—a month for focusing on how ministries and organizations can best seek to care for waiting and vulnerable children locally and around the world. It’s also a month for focusing on how we can best support families who have answered the call of adoption or foster care. But in order to understand how to best serve these families, we need to dispel a few common myths so that we can to gain greater comprehension and awareness. Myth #1: Agencies find children for families. Truth: Agencies find families for children. When we view adoption as finding families for children, we create a major mindset shift—a shift…
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The One Who Hears and Sees
It’s not often that I feel seen—understood, valued, heard—as a medical mama. But two conversations occurred recently that gave me pause. The first was with my son’s pediatrician. While I reviewed the updates to the long list of supplements and over-the-counter medicines that help keep my son’s body functioning in a normal way—rattling off names and dosages from memory— the pediatrician paused our conversation and said, “It’s a good thing you’re his mom. This is a lot.” She acknowledged my burden and my giftings in it. I felt understood. I felt valued. I felt heard. I felt seen. The second was with a nursing care manager with our health insurance…
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Leadership and Friendship—Are They Mutually Exclusive?
With whom can you be yourself—totally raw and without filters—without expectations? Someone recently asked me this question. Several names came to mind, but I realized my list was short. This person advised, “You need these types of people in your life, people who will listen to you without expectations or judgment, with whom you can climb down off the mentorship and ministry pedestal.” Regardless of the world in which you work or serve—corporate, construction, education, marketing, medical, ministry, research, restaurant, the arts, or the home—being a leader can make finding raw-and-without-filters friendships difficult. Why is that? First, leaders are visionaries. They lead the charge. They think outside the box.…
