When we lived in America on the way town, my boys would count basket ball hoops... now they count roadside shrines. When we lived in America, my children never rode on trains... now they are quite familiar with all kinds of public transportation, trains, trams, buses, and metro... When we lived in America, my children wouldn't have thought twice about the cashiers at Walmart... now they whisper in amazement, Mom, that lady speaks English!!!...
My children talk about rondos, markets, street vendors, tutors, bigos, pierogis, gates and fences, drunks, Warsaw, and fiats like they are normal life. Which indeed they are!!! Their world has expanded to a new culture. In fact, this is the culture they know. This is their home!
I always get ecstatic when I think about furlough. My heart hammers as I think of this summer and the ten weeks we will spend in America. For me, I will be returning home, to the comfortable, the familiar, the life I knew. But for my children, they will be leaving their home. For them it will be like entering a new culture. They can't understand why mom gets so excited about Wal-Mart, cantalope, roast beef, cran-raspberry juice, chai, turtle brownie mixes, carmels, and malted milk balls.
Mom, what's an RV? my son asked me one day when he was reading. Why would he know? Where had he ever encountered that word before?
One of my friends asked me if I would like to move back to America someday. Would I really? I think of the shopping, being with family and friends, and the joy of being surrounded by a Christian community. Yes, I do miss America. It isn't easy replanting to a new culture. But then I think of the blessings we have encountered here, the stretching God has brought us through, the relationships that have developed, I wonder, Am I really the same person that came here almost five years ago? Could I be happy anywhere else? For now, God has placed us here and I'm content with that. The most important isn't where you live, but if you are living in the place where God wants you.
As my good friend Crystal always tells me, "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." a quote by Jim Elliot.
Allison (after Conrad tells her to hurry up because all the rest of the family is done eating and want to get down from the table), "I'm teaching all of you patience."
My children talk about rondos, markets, street vendors, tutors, bigos, pierogis, gates and fences, drunks, Warsaw, and fiats like they are normal life. Which indeed they are!!! Their world has expanded to a new culture. In fact, this is the culture they know. This is their home!
I always get ecstatic when I think about furlough. My heart hammers as I think of this summer and the ten weeks we will spend in America. For me, I will be returning home, to the comfortable, the familiar, the life I knew. But for my children, they will be leaving their home. For them it will be like entering a new culture. They can't understand why mom gets so excited about Wal-Mart, cantalope, roast beef, cran-raspberry juice, chai, turtle brownie mixes, carmels, and malted milk balls.
Mom, what's an RV? my son asked me one day when he was reading. Why would he know? Where had he ever encountered that word before?
One of my friends asked me if I would like to move back to America someday. Would I really? I think of the shopping, being with family and friends, and the joy of being surrounded by a Christian community. Yes, I do miss America. It isn't easy replanting to a new culture. But then I think of the blessings we have encountered here, the stretching God has brought us through, the relationships that have developed, I wonder, Am I really the same person that came here almost five years ago? Could I be happy anywhere else? For now, God has placed us here and I'm content with that. The most important isn't where you live, but if you are living in the place where God wants you.
As my good friend Crystal always tells me, "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." a quote by Jim Elliot.
Allison (after Conrad tells her to hurry up because all the rest of the family is done eating and want to get down from the table), "I'm teaching all of you patience."
Comments
Lisa, we like you just the way you are.=)