Reflections

Happy (belated) New Year! I hope 2014 is treating you all as well as it is us so far. Sorry I've done a poor job of keeping the blog updated since Christmas, but we truly enjoyed our holiday season and hope that you did too. We were blessed beyond measure to spend the first week of this new year with our family. Jeri (Josh's sister) and Jonathan (our brother-in-law) came to visit! We had the mission team from my church visit in November, but Jeri and Jonathan were our first family members to host and we were thrilled. We spent 5 days showing them our life here- the normal daily things like the market as well as special locales like the waterfall and the beach. It was so fun to introduce them to people here and to have them in our home, but there really are just no words to explain how special it is to have family around. We often forget how much we miss them. Nonetheless, I wanted to share with you a letter that Jeri wrote a couple of days after they left Maria Aurora. It was really special for Josh and I to read it. We've become so familiar with the ways of life here that we often forget how much of our daily life is not normal for Americans. I'm thankful for having Jeri and Jonathan here to remind us to open our eyes to the world and people around us, taking in as much of it as we can. I hope reading Jeri's reflections will help you have a better idea of this foreign land we live in and the people we've grown to love so much...

As an American it's easy to take life's luxuries for granted. Oftentimes I don't even consider them luxuries because they are so normal to me. A warm shower, a cushioned bed, space and electricity are a part of my daily life. I don't realize how much I enjoy these things until they aren't there. In a world where one can't control how many geckos will enter the room at night and a brownout (no electricity) is common, I am beginning to change my stubborn, jaded mind. At first glance, I pity the provincial Filipino life and what I consider to be hardships. When you have much it's easy to say 'how do they live like this? How do they survive?' in regards to someone with less in our eyes. From my skewed point of view I'm pretty sure God is showing me a group of people that have more joy and pure appreciation than seems obtainable in the States. Do not pity these people. They live each day to the fullest. They are hard workers, resilient, & resourceful. They may be small but man are they strong! When they laugh, they laugh loud and hard. It's contagious. They spend most hours outdoors surrounded by God's beauty. (Imagine living in a screensaver rather than looking at one on your desk under fluorescent lighting.)  Each day has pointed me towards God in some way. The Lord's Prayer has new meaning. "Give us this day, our daily bread" is quite significant when you don't have a refrigerator & freezer full of goods. The power inevitably will go out so it would be wasteful to stock up. On a side note, pandasol (a roll that tastes similar to a Sister Schubert but all natural & fresh) is literally baked each morning and available at local bodegas & bakeries. It's typically gone by 3pm. I know because Josh kept wanting us to try it but we were always too late once we remembered to get it.

When visiting the church here, we were overwhelmed by the warm, friendly welcome we received. People shook our hands and exchanged English greetings before and after the service. From what I am told and what I experienced in this area, Filipinos are an indirect people group, typically shy and don't display physical affection. Churches in America could learn from the greetings we received. I can't say that I've felt that welcomed in a new place by that amount of people ever.  Worshipping in a foreign country or in a different language always makes me consider heaven and what it will be like. Although we couldn't understand the words, it was evident these people love our God and maybe they see Him more than I do. It's not because He hasn't revealed Himself to me, it's because I haven't looked lately. I so quickly rely on my culture, conveniences, and independence in America rather than acknowledging Christ.

I realize I am only seeing a glimpse of what life is like here. I haven't fully lived it like they have. I will go back to my warm bed, AC, and out to eat at restaurants. I don't think it's wrong that we have so much and can afford to do those things. I just think it's more difficult sometimes to be as thankful because it's become common. Jonathan and I have been given much and I pray we don't take it for granted. I ask that you pray we remember who gave us everything in the first place. Time here with Josh and Autumn in Maria Aurora has been incredible-definitely a gift from God. We have sponsored them now for 3 and a half years. Many of you that have donated will never see firsthand where your money has gone. We feel unbelievably fortunate to have seen only a piece of it. I'm here to tell you, the faces, the lives, the investment is eternal. The students in the mission school will go on to reach hundreds, if not thousands more when they too move to different parts of the world to share Christ with the nations.

I wept as we left on the bus yesterday. I couldn't decipher why I was crying until now. I know I miss my brother, and I enjoyed time with him and Autumn but it was more than that. I'm proud of how God has used them, and I'm proud of their obedience and growth. I've watched Josh grow from a little boy into a man of God, and I've seen a woman who loves God with all her heart chosen for him. That's beautiful and worthy of tears in itself, but I've also been exposed to a world now that I don't want to forget. A world where life is simple, unconcerned with calendars & deadlines and more concerned with the people around them is reason to shed crocodile size tears. Want to stir the locals?, be the americano that turns red when she cries on the bus out!

*Thanks Jeri for providing the pictures and content for this blog :)