Here's an interesting quote from Belgian Lt. Col. Bart Hubrechtsen. On preparing his troops to go to Afghanistan.
“My troops need to be able to react to unforeseen obstacles with an absolute minimum of force. We are not Americans. We have to act with the necessary respect for the local people and culture, rather than just shooting willy-nilly at the people around us.”
Read the entire article from Flanders Today here.
25 March 2010
10 March 2010
there is no mundane
mundane
adjective- 1. of or pertaining to this world or earth as contrasted with heaven; worldly; earthly: mundane affairs.
We're just a couple months from completing year 1 in Belgium. We're nearing the end of our third level of Dutch classes. We're growing in our understanding of what Ichtus is about and what we have to offer. But we still have difficult days. Today is one of them.
Trina's dad is having heart surgery today (Wednesday). We have known for some time that he has a bad valve and would someday need surgery. That "someday" has come, and knowing it was coming doesn't keep it from being a little scary. Please pray for Dave's surgery today. And pray for us. Part of the Christian life, maybe the biggest part, is trusting God. We desire to be close to family at times like this, but following God's call to Belgium means we have to trust him to care for our family.
Is that really so different than if we lived in South Dakota? Whether we are trusting God from the waiting room or trusting God from across the ocean, the important part is God. It occurred to me yesterday that when I talk with people here—a parent at the kids’ school, a neighbor, a language classmate—I am thinking (at least in the back of my mind) about this person's need for Christ. I didn’t live that way in Brookings. The awkwardness and discomfort of life in another culture, away from the things to which I grew very accustomed over the course of my life, has helped me realize that we should live as if there is no mundane.
My family and I count the cost, we keep a sort of spiritual accounting. We long to see a payoff for the hard things that have come our way because we have followed God. So on one side of the scale we place struggling through Dutch class, leaving family, trading a car for public transportation, leaving the space of South Dakota for city life, and on the other we look for what God will place. Will it be spiritual growth for us, building unique values and experiences in our children’s lives, seeing Belgians transformed by the Gospel of Jesus? We have to trust that in God’s economy it is all worthwhile.
So if you are someone surrounded by things familiar, I hope you will learn from us. There is no mundane. Please look for God today. Ask him to use you, not just when you lead a Bible study, teach Sunday School, or go on a short-term mission trip, but in the conversation with the cashier, or mechanic, or your 4 year old daughter.
adjective- 1. of or pertaining to this world or earth as contrasted with heaven; worldly; earthly: mundane affairs.
We're just a couple months from completing year 1 in Belgium. We're nearing the end of our third level of Dutch classes. We're growing in our understanding of what Ichtus is about and what we have to offer. But we still have difficult days. Today is one of them.
Trina's dad is having heart surgery today (Wednesday). We have known for some time that he has a bad valve and would someday need surgery. That "someday" has come, and knowing it was coming doesn't keep it from being a little scary. Please pray for Dave's surgery today. And pray for us. Part of the Christian life, maybe the biggest part, is trusting God. We desire to be close to family at times like this, but following God's call to Belgium means we have to trust him to care for our family.
Is that really so different than if we lived in South Dakota? Whether we are trusting God from the waiting room or trusting God from across the ocean, the important part is God. It occurred to me yesterday that when I talk with people here—a parent at the kids’ school, a neighbor, a language classmate—I am thinking (at least in the back of my mind) about this person's need for Christ. I didn’t live that way in Brookings. The awkwardness and discomfort of life in another culture, away from the things to which I grew very accustomed over the course of my life, has helped me realize that we should live as if there is no mundane.
My family and I count the cost, we keep a sort of spiritual accounting. We long to see a payoff for the hard things that have come our way because we have followed God. So on one side of the scale we place struggling through Dutch class, leaving family, trading a car for public transportation, leaving the space of South Dakota for city life, and on the other we look for what God will place. Will it be spiritual growth for us, building unique values and experiences in our children’s lives, seeing Belgians transformed by the Gospel of Jesus? We have to trust that in God’s economy it is all worthwhile.
So if you are someone surrounded by things familiar, I hope you will learn from us. There is no mundane. Please look for God today. Ask him to use you, not just when you lead a Bible study, teach Sunday School, or go on a short-term mission trip, but in the conversation with the cashier, or mechanic, or your 4 year old daughter.
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