The "Norm"

It's amazing to me how less than a year ago the "norm" to me was driving a car wherever I needed to go, getting Moe's (or whatever I wanted) whenever I didn't feel like cooking, going to Walmart and purchasing enough food to last me two weeks (other than veggies and fruit of course), and only taking 20 minutes AT THE MOST to get anywhere in town I needed to go.
Oh, how things have changed!
As I was sitting on the bus looking out the window at the giant Soviet style buildings I was passing, the thought occurred to me, "this is my norm".
I now don't ever drive, I cook almost every night because there isn't really the option of "fast food" here, I walk everywhere that I can, I usually get yelled at (at least once a day) by someone because I don't understand what they are saying to me :) (FYI: this doesn't bother me...I usually just laugh!) It takes me 45 minutes or more to get to church (by bus, tram, and on foot), and I go to the store almost everyday to buy fresh food. This is my "norm".
None of these changes are bad; they are just...changes.
Before coming here I owned what comparitively would have been a minimal amount of clothes to a lot of people in the USA. However, it was still a LARGE amount. Yet, I NEVER had anything to wear. I now own about 1/3 of what I did in the U.S. and I don't think there's been a day that I've thought, "I don't have anything to wear today." It's just not a concern now. It's just not a "norm".
Before coming here I was always so busy that I went from one thing to the next. Any "inconvenient" unplanned things (like someone wanting me to spend time with them spur of the moment) just had to wait or caused me to get "huffy". Now :) HA HA! My life is full of "hey, come for coffee, right now". Those "drop what you are doing and come do this" moments that use to irritate me and "mess up my whole day" are now my "norm". And by the way I LOVE IT!!!
Before coming here I had a perception (a theory if you will) of what it meant to cling to Christ. I'm not taking my growth over the years as not serious by any means, but now my "norm" is clinging to Him daily in a way I never knew before.
You see, the Lord grows us in different ways at different times. He knows what we need, He knows what we need to let go of, He knows what we need to give up.
He knew that in coming here it wouldn't just be to use me to share His love, but it would be a-WHOLE-nother realm of growth in my life. So far it's taught me that while I didn't loose my identity (first as a believer, and also as an American) by moving to a different culture, my "norms" have changed. And with those changes, I'm learning to serve and love Him more and more, and I'm also learning what "norms" I need to "let go of" more and more. Things like accumulation, things like not letting go of plans and taking time for people. And I'm learning to pick up "norms" like the joy of cooking/creating every night, learning how to be intentional to talk with the Lord during a bus ride, tram ride and walk to church, and just learning how to "be" and slow down.
So, I can tell you one thing, no matter what my "norms" become year after year I pray the Lord continues to grow me to see Christ as my constant "norm".

A Request

I remember walking into his office and sitting down to discuss some very important matters. I had been aggravated with some friends of mine because I felt like when we discussed the scriptures our conversations were just petty, not "Gospel-centered enough". (Yuck! I think back to that and my self-righteous demeanor of thinking I was better than these people because I saw myself as more ‘spiritual’.) I gave my argument and was ready to hear my thoughts confirmed and encouraged, but instead with one question out of Dr. McKinion’s mouth I was knocked off my high horse and on my face before the Lord, “So, but how are YOU loving them?”

Dr. McKinion has always been someone I’ve admired. He has a wealth of knowledge, but more so he understands that the Gospel isn’t about knowledge, but knowing Christ. During my seminary days, I enjoyed sitting under his teachings and the times when he and his wife would open their home to students. His family isn’t just involved with the seminary they truly invest in the lives that come in and out year after year.

So, when I was checking my facebook one day and saw a post from someone about Dr. McKinion’s 10-year old son being diagnosed with cancer my heart sank. I read Dr. McKinion’s “non-sugar coated” blog post about the course of events leading up to their finding out sweet Harrison had been diagnosed with leukemia and I just wept: for Harrison, for Steve, for Ginger, for Harrison’s siblings, Lachlan and Blakely.

Such a sweet family, who loves and trusts the Lord, and now even more so they are learning how to cling to Him in a new circumstance…a terrifying circumstance…a heart-wrenching circumstance.

Harrison was diagnosed on December 9, 2011 with Leukemia. Since then he has started chemo and they have had a roller-coaster of a scary ride. He has had brain clotting, seizures, a stroke, been rushed to the ER, been in ICU, gone through testing, treatment, and more testing. Dr. McKinion has been very open in his writing about the joys of good days, and the heart-ache of scares and bad news. And through all of this the Lord DAILY reminds me to lift Harrison, Steve, Ginger, Blakely, and Lachlan up in prayer.

Harrison came home this past week. He has continued treatment and is under great care of doctors who are doing what they can to prevent the clotting, the seizures, and bring about the day that Harrison will be in remission. But today upon reading an update from his dad the news came that the cancer is not responding to treatment. This a rare form and this devastating news.

So in writing this I am asking that you would join in earnestly praying with me for Harrison. Pray for his healing, for God, who created all things with a WORD to heal this cancer in Harrison. Pray for the McKinions as they go through this time as a family, pray for the doctors treating Harrison, and pray that God would take this situation and blow our minds as He works to bring glory to Himself in this. Please lift them up as often as you think of it, and I will pray that God will lay it on your heart and mind continually.

If you want more information Steve’s blog is a great place for that:
stevemckinion.com