Here in southern Idaho, we are certainly not fluent in Spanish, but know enough words and phrases to very basically communicate with the Mexican immigrants that heavily populate our area. However, today's lesson is not on "se bueno"... today's lesson is on how to speak "Cebuano" (say-bwanoe).
Although most Filipinos do speak some English, I'm sure it is always a good idea to learn the local language, and that language happens to be Cebuano. Our mission organization will give us formal language training when we get there, but there is really no time like the present to begin, right?!
Where we'd once said "buenos dias," we now say "maayong buntag."
"Por favor," "gracias," and "de nada." are being replaced with "palihug," "salamat," and "walay sapayan."
Who knows if our dialect is exactly right, or even our pronunciation, but we're giving it our best shot.
Ah... this new chapter. Chaos in our home, our minds, our email in-boxes, and now in our mouths. Chaos is our new best friend.
Yep. This is gonna be fun!
This will only be the seventh time we have moved in four years.
From the outside, one may wonder at the instability. Like it's actually just a character flaw that we feel the compulsion to move constantly. I offer another reason entirely...
Sometimes God has to take away (and take away) to give something greater back.
We left the Coast Guard six years ago for stability. We left because we were tired of always leaving. Only, we had no way of knowing it would be the onset of the greatest leaving we'd ever know, up to this point.
COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD, TRUST ALSO IN HIM, AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS. psalm 37:5
Leaving just our homes wasn't the point.
...and in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. psalm 139:16
For he knew the plans he had for us -- before. He had to take us through the waters, the rivers, the fires... unscathed, to bring us to a place of surrender. To free us from ourselves. To break our dependence on abundance. To gently, yet boldly, mold us into willing vessels that would say...
"YES."
Yes, we will move back home with our parents. Yes, we will take a job that requires many hours and little pay. Yes, we will take on overgrown acreage and a tiny house in the hope of a longing fulfilled, with little money and even less time... and then yes... we will even give it up. Yes, we will move our family to the hills to restore a marriage in trouble and then, yes, move back to town to the smallest of dwellings imaginable for a family of our size
...all to dwell in the will of The One who ordains our days, before even one of them came to be.
Just maybe all this isn't really about the location of our feet, at all. And allow me this: maybe it's not about the location of your feet either... Just maybe it's all -- all this life -- about the location of our hearts.
Was it our desire to live a life so unsettled? Not for a second.
But then ask us this: Was it your desire to follow after the will of God, no matter the stability of ground?
We answer: Absolutely. "When the earth all around us is sinking sand, on Christ the solid rock we stand."
BEHOLD, I AM DOING A NEW THING; NOW IT SPRINGS FORTH, DO YOU NOT PERCEIVE IT? I WILL MAKE A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS AND RIVERS IN THE DESERT. -isaiah 43:18-19
Oh, and how He is. He is faithful to His word. Can we not trust the Savior of our souls with the details of our days? When things beyond human control bid a family of seven to pack up and move... again, is there not something beautiful in store for they that would willingly obey?
Say, for example, something as beautiful as taking The Gospel of Jesus to the Philippines?
After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the
tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he left everything behind,
and got up and began to follow Him. Luke 5:27
The example of Matthew
Matthew (Levi) provides us the example here. See what the call cost him:
It cost him his fortune – he was a rich man. Being a tax collector didn’t
give you social status, but it did make you rich.
It cost him his hours – the man who used to command his day must now wait
and see what his Master will do with those hours.
- It cost him his thought – he leave the familiar world of tax laws and
polite extortion and enters the world where he is a beginner. - It cost him his passions – he goes from despising his victims (not
without envying their social status) to treating them like brothers. - It cost him his pride – which he gave up in full sacrificial rites by
inviting his friends over to meet his new Master.
The call of Christ: it is based on [H]is personal authority; it is a powerful call,
yet unique to you. Will you politely put it aside? --
We know very little else about Matthew than what is recorded in this passage. It
is the only example Matthew sets for us – but it is an impressive one. He
forsook all, took up the cross, and followed his Master.
- Becoming Closer Adult Bible Fellowship Eastside Christian Church, Fullerton, CA
The road we've been on for years, though once vaguely defined, is now becoming more clearly known. How can we, then, put it "politely aside" and take another road?
We have so much to say regarding our decision to move our family to the Philippines, but we'll try to stick to just a point or two at a time. So for now, I'll just say this: we have surrendered our hearts to Jesus. We have submitted our lives to His call and purpose. We now abandon our American life and monetary (momentary!) security, as Matthew did, in service to Christ... and to take "life more abundant" to the Filipino people. Amen!
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