Skip to main content

Loving Something Better


Woke up to this magical black and white world. God is such a masterful artist, and I am going to miss this view of His handiwork.

Yes, I'm going miss this. People sometimes assume cross-cultural workers are different kinds of humans. That maybe we don't like where we were born, have some kind of unquenchable thirst for adventure, or don't want our kids to experience any of the good things we did growing up. None of those could be further from true for me. I am a Buffalo girl, through and through. I don't like change (I am a type A+ control freak). My heart hurts to think about our kids missing snow days, football/hockey with extended family on Sunday afternoons, huge free libraries, gorgeous parks, amazing public education, four uniquely delightful seasons, and all the beauty/privilege that accompanies life in America. 

I love all those things. But I love Something else more. I want to teach my kids to obey God, no matter the cost. If they are called to live in Western New York or Central Arkansas, I hope they will count the cost of whatever God is asking them to give up and live every day for Jesus. If the Lord opens doors for them to live in Africa, or Asia, or the Middle East, I hope they will count the cost of whatever God is asking them to give up and live every day for Jesus. 

Yes, I'm going to miss snuggling under thick blankets as the snow falls, and so many other things about life here. But this I know: God is big enough to carry everything I leave behind, and everything I face ahead. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On Losing My Virtual Footprint and Physical Ticket

Thirty years ago, the technology that just turned my digital world upside down was unimaginable. I was locked out of my Google account because I foolishly left a Google voice number as a two-factor authentication. So when I was logged out of all devices unexpectedly, I couldn’t receive text messages to prove my identity.  The thought of trying to describe this situation to someone in the 90’s is comical. What is Google? Two-factor authentication? A digital world? Similarly, I can’t imagine explaining that despite having a ticket, I couldn’t board a plane that had a seat for me because a computer wouldn’t print my youngest child's boarding pass. In pursuing security and efficiency, have we lost common sense?  Technology has changed the world so quickly that I am old enough to remember a time when manual workarounds were commonplace and young enough to expect a lot more change will come in my lifetime. I spent much of yesterday trying every possible means of recovering ten years of e

Making a List and Checking it Twice (Choose Joy)

  Some of the best advice I heard about moving is to focus on what is good about where you are. This is solid counsel, and applicable to both temporal and geographic contentment. The pandemic provides endless opportunities for discontent, particularly comparison to how things used to be. But perspective is powerful.   I could think about snow, which reminds me that Summer is by far my least favorite season (especially in pregnancy), we don’t have a yard/lawn/parks, and the kids have been stuck inside for months (and now can’t go three minutes without fighting). We can’t bake Christmas cookies because we made the difficult but correct decision not to have an oven in our 90 degree kitchen. Our kids miss soccer, gym class, running, and having friends. And if my thoughts go in that direction, my jaw tenses up and frustration mounts.  Or I could think about how we have everything we need and so many things we want. A huge fan blowing. Christmas music streaming on internet better than we oft

Giving through Christian Health Service Corps

We are now Christian Health Service Corps missionaries. We’ve had people ask about the best ways to support us, which we will list below. Thank you for considering joining us on this mission!  If you have any questions we would love to hear from you. By Check Make payable to:              Christian Health Service Corps or CHSC Memo line:                             Project Number #176/Helm Mail to:                       Christian Health Service Corps PO Box 132 Fruitvale, TX 75127   Via Bill Pay Set up an automatic Bill Pay instruction through your bank/financial institution with donations mailed to the address above, giving your “ Project Number 176/Helm ” as the account number.   Via CHSC’s Website – for credit card donations Donate online at: _ https://www.healthservicecorps.org/author/helm/ (Please note when donating online that the Recurring Frequency default is monthly .   Use the drop down box to choose your preference.    Also, when donating online,