Kenny Rogers, the Eagles and tears on my cheeks

So, our car broke down.... again.
It happens a lot, so we're kinda accustomed to it.
Recently when our car broke down in the middle of a busy intersection, the girls and I had to jump out (in our best Sunday dress) and push it to the side while CJ steered it. He was driving and we didn't have time to switch. We did get lots of stares and gaping mouths, even more than we usually do.
Also we had some visitors come in town once and when our car broke down then and we had to get out and push, my friend kept wanting to take pictures of the whole ordeal.
"I've never had a car break down in the middle of the road before," she said excitedly. She said it was one of her favorite experiences of her trip here.
So glad we could provide her that opportunity (said with heavy sarcasm.)

Anyway, I'm not complaining. We're really thankful just to have a vehicle and normally we just take it to the shop and it gets fixed. Easy-peasy. No problem.
But this time, the car repair shop was full and they said it would be a week until they could look at it.
Thankfully, we have some co-workers who are currently Stateside and so our logistics coordinator said we could borrow their car until ours gets fixed.
The borrowed car is the exact same make and model as our car, but the only difference is, the borrowed car has a radio in it!
Our regular car doesn't have a radio and when you have to sit in traffic for several hours, you really notice the absence of music.
So the fact that this borrowed car has a radio is a big deal!

This morning, I had a language class and then had to run some errands downtown.
When I got in the car, I noticed that the previous drivers had left some music cds in the glove compartment, and much to my delight, one of them was an "Oldies, but Goldies" collection.
I just can't express how great it was to have music in the car. It really made the traffic seem not as bothersome and I didn't mind so much having to sit in bumper to bumper stand-stills for long durations.

As I sat there enjoying some beloved ENGLISH language songs, the memories associated with those songs also came flooding in.
There was an old Kenny Rogers song that played, and it took me back to when I was a little girl riding in the car with my mom who loved to play Kenny Rogers on the 6-track. We used to sing those songs at the top of our lungs while driving down the road. Before long, I had tears running down my cheeks.
"What's wrong?" my friend who was with me in the car asked me.
"I miss my mom!" I whined.
The emotions connected to songs I haven't heard in so long just bowled me over.
There were Elvis Presley songs that reminded me of when my uncle used to dress up as Elvis and perform.
There were songs that reminded me of my grandmother who recently passed away. She loved Dolly Parton and other country music.
There were songs that reminded me of my high school days and the friends from there I miss so much.
There were some Eagles songs that reminded of the long drives I used to make from Samford back to Nashville during college breaks.

It's amazing the power music has to bring back memories and fond experiences.
Today, it made me miss home.

Often we're so busy here, running around doing stuff all day, everyday, until we come home and crash at night. We just don't have time to think about all that we're missing.
And I guess, that could be a good thing.
But then sometimes those feelings come washing over you, and it can be really hard.

I'm so thankful for the "job" that we get to do and the place where we get to live, but it doesn't come without challenges.
Missing family and friends at home is just one of those challenges.

I think my friend in the car with me was really worried because I kept crying the whole day.
I assured her it was tears of happiness because I have so many wonderful memories and loved ones that I made those memories with.
"Maybe next time, we shouldn't play the music," she thought out loud.
Well, soon we'll have our regular car back and so it won't be an issue.
But for today, I was grateful for the trip down memory lane and the wonderful music of my youth.

I'll leave you with some sage advice from the brilliant Kenny Rogers:

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done.

I think that song'll preach!
Amen.

Warning: this may be painful

"That's just not the way I was brought up..."

Have you ever said that before?
In the past, those words have always meant something good.
Like when I saw some other kid being disrespectful to their parents, I would say, "That's just not the way I was brought up." - I was taught to use good manners and treat elders with courtesy.
Or when there were people who didn't go to church on Sunday because something else got in the way - whether that something else was worthwhile or not - I would typically say, "That's just not the way I was brought up." - I was raised up going to Sunday morning service every single Sunday, no matter what.

Well, all those things are fine and good, but I've come to understand, living in a foreign culture, that the way I was brought up doesn't always fly over here.
I'll give a funny example. (Well, it will be funny for my Western friends.)
Here, it's pretty common to see someone picking their nose in public. They don't find anything wrong with that and you see it being done pretty much everywhere.
Opposite to that, they find it very rude to pick in your teeth here or even using a toothpick. That is something that should only be done in private without anyone else being able to see you.
My American culture is just the opposite of that, right?
It's not that my American way is right, and the SEA way is wrong or vice versa. It's just that our cultures and traditions are quite different.

Another thing, everyone here wears longyis (long skirts from waist to ankle wrapped around the lower body and tied with a knot at the top). Both men and women wear the longyis.
You ever seen a man in America wearing a long skirt?
Probably not, unless it's for some special occasion.
Here, it's more common to see a man in a longyi than wearing pants.
"That's just not the way I was brought up," would probably be the typical response for a Westerner visiting this part of the world.
And that's ok, unless you want to be a part of the culture where you are.
Which brings me to my point.
I frequently have to ask myself, "Do I want to separate myself from the local people and be more like a visitor or do I want to embrace this culture and try to relate and understand their way of life?"
Oh, I will always be an American (and proud of it!)
I will always be a "white face."
But I have tried very hard to be a part of the culture here and not isolated from it - i.e. speaking the language, dressing like the locals, and taking on some of their habits.
I frequently have to question some of my traditions to discern whether these practices help me to reach the people where I live or do they segregate me?

For instance, like I mentioned earlier, I was brought up to go to church on Sunday mornings. From 10am - noon, every Sunday like clockwork, you could find me in the big brick church with the steeple on top.
And that's the way it's supposed to be, right?
Well, what if you have a job - a job you're thankful for because it means you can feed yourself and your whole family - but you have to work everyday from sun-up to sun-down? Everyday including Sundays.
What if you have to attend school on Sundays? (They have school here every day of the week. They don't have weekends here. In fact there's not even a word in their language that means "weekend.")
What if there are no brick buildings with a big steeple on top?

Please hear me. I'm not saying that any of our Western traditions are bad.
I'm just trying to point out that sometimes we have to change our way of thinking in order to do whatever it is that God wants us to do.

In the book of Mark, chapter seven, verse eight, we read: "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
This was Jesus talking to the religious leaders of his day.
He was telling them that what began as good intentions - good habits and traditions of following God - had become rituals with no meaning. The leaders were more concerned with how to do the rituals and who was doing them, rather than focusing on the meaning and purpose of those rituals.

As I read that passage this morning, I began to question myself again as I so frequently do.
"Lord, are there traditions or habits that I'm holding on to that keep me from doing what you want me to do?"

Can I challenge you with this same thought?
What is it that's hindering you from doing what God wants you to do?
Is it a tradition that's been engrained in you from your earliest days? - "That's just the way I was brought up!"
Maybe it's your culture and the practices of your culture that separate you from the people God wants you to share His love with. (We have many cultures such as a Southern culture, or a teenager culture or a professional culture, etc.)
Maybe it's even the concept we have of ourselves and the things we hold dear that isolate us from others.

Whatever it is, if it keeps us from doing His will, then we need to lay it down.
Even if it goes against the norm.
Even if it makes me stand out from the crowd.
Even if it brings persecution.
Even if it brings judgement and scorn.
If it means doing what He wants you to do, are you willing?

Planning in Paradise

In January of this year, our family took on the Strategy Coordinator role for our city. And now that we've met our required language proficiency and have begun a phase of full-time engagement, the question we've received most often is, "So what are you going to do to reach the six million people living in your city?"
That's a good question!
How do two people, well four actually, set about to share the Good News with that many people?
It's a daunting task and a little overwhelming to say the least.
That's why when we were offered the opportunity to attend a strategy planning conference, we jumped at the chance.
This conference purported to help us discover Father's vision for our people group and determine a strategy for implementation to help us work towards that vision. It was exactly what we needed!
The conference was held in Penang, Malaysia which is on a beautiful island in the Andaman sea off the Malaysian coast.

We were there to work, and work we did from 8am to 5pm every day. Our daughters helped to babysit the younger kids of the other families who were there while we were in our trainings everyday.

But on the weekend we got to enjoy the tropical destination and have a little fun.

Our company has a guest house there, so we stayed in a home-type setting with a nice kitchen, a comfortable living area and an outdoor patio.

We also took full benefit of the assortment of Western food restaurants in Penang as well as Mexican food and Mediterranean foods that we just don't have access to in the city where we live.

It really was a rewarding time both "professionally" and personally.

In the end, we left the conference with a feeling of direction, and now back at home we're ready and excited to implement the action plan we feel Father has directed us to.

Would you please take a few minutes right now to pray for our family as we strive to see Father's will done in this place? Please pray that He would put people in our path who will partner with us and who also have a heart for seeing their own people come to J.C.
Pray that Father's kingdom would spread throughout this city until everyone has the opportunity to know Him.