You know you're a missionary kid when...

I read a post the other day about how to tell if you're a third culture kid, so I decided to make my own list. :)

You know you're a missionary kid if...

1.You don't know where home is.
2.The question "Where are you from?" does not come with a short answer.
3.Your life story uses the phrase "Then we went to..." five times.
4.You'd rather never say hello than have to say goodbye.
5. You think football is played with a round spotted ball.
6.You realize how small the world is.
7.You go to a church you have never been in before and find your picture on their bulletin board.
8.You had a passport before you had a drivers license.
9.You've missed a Skype call due to confusing the time zones.
10.Your neighbors say, "I met an American once" and then ask if you know them.
11 Sometimes you do..
12.You've spoken at many churches even though you aren't a pastor.
13.Your friends are mostly people that visited for a week.
14.You're surprised when a driving rule is enforced.
15.All black people do not look remotely alike, nor do Hispanics or Asians.
16.You don't know whether to write the date as month/day/year or day/month/year.
17.You know whats its like to be the minority.
18.You're used to people rubbing your skin or touching your hair because they've never seen anything like it.
19.You don't take anything for granted.
20.People all over the world know who you are, but you have no idea who they are.
21.Way to often you have surprised people by saying, "I know what you said" in their language
22.You are used to people staring.
23.You divide your friends based on where they live.
24.You're not afraid to eat food that you can't even pronounce.
25.You have found yourself struggling to read what something says, only to realize that you're trying to read in a different language.
26.Switching languages in mid-sentence seems normal to you.
27.You are not surprised to see people peeing or sleeping on the side of the road.
28.Seeing 16 people in the back of a truck seems normal.
29.There is always room for one more person on the bus- even if that means hanging off the side.
30.You know words in another languague that you don't even know in your national language.
31.You have no clue whats in style.
32. People have asked you what language you think in.
33.You feel surprisingly at home in an airport.
34.You are a giant compared to your friends.
35.You've been to the places most teenagers only read about in their textbooks.
36.You know the value of peanut butter.
37.You have rainy season and dry season, not spring, summer, fall, and winter.
38.You get annoyed when people waste.
39.You understand what all of these mean.

They corrected me when I asked, "Are you pregnant?" instead of "Are you embarrassed?"and they corrected me when I  said, "I have a man" instead of "I am hungry." Through all of my embarrassing Spanish mistakes (some much worse than the ones listed above) no one has been the least bit rude to me. Occasionally they laugh, I don't blame them, it is kind of funny, but they have always corrected me in a loving way, helping me to learn.

In the states, its pretty common to hear someone say, "If you're in our country, you need to speak our language."

That makes me sad.

Don't get me wrong, I love my home country. I truly believe that it is the greatest place to live. We have everything we could ever need right at our fingertips.

We have healthcare so that we don't have to die of AIDS, or lay in bed with no skin because it got burned off and we can't afford a transplant, or be crippled because of polio.

We have good education, so that our kids can learn to read instead of repeating their fourth year of second grade because there are too many students stuffed into a classroom where the teacher just graduated high school and has no book to teach out of, so he just teaches off the top of his head.

We have security, so that people can't just walk around robbing people at gunpoint. (Not saying that this doesn't happen in the states, but it definitely happens a lot less.)

We have food stamps, so that families don't have to go hungry once again.

We have clean water, so that children don't get sick with parasites.

We have freedom.

We are a blessed country, but I think that sometimes, we forget just how blessed we are.
 
 Since moving to Guatemala, I've realized just how hard it is to learn a language. Its definitely not something that is just going to come to you the moment you step foot over the border. Languages take years to master.

Quite frankly, as people of the United States (I'm not real fond of the word American unless it relates to people from North, South, and Central America, but that's a post for another day) we are ignorant. We fail to realize that these people are trying. It's not easy, especially when everyone keeps knocking them down.

We get angry, saying that anyone with brown skin is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Let me just share a little bit of knowledge with all of you. Not everyone with brown skin is from Mexico, and not all of them are illegal. Sure, some of them are. I've met the ones who have been deported. Honestly though, I can't blame them. If you saw how they lived, you would understand why they want so badly to go to the land of opportunity.  Not to mention the fact that all of our ancestors were at one point immigrants.

Let me share something else, the United States is one of the only countries where the majority of the people only speak one language.

Yep, that's right, we get angry with others when they don't know our language, but we fail to put forth any effort to learn any other than our own. Most of my friends in Guatemala not only speak Spanish, but they speak a Mayan language too, and its the same thing in many other countries.

We truly live in the greatest country there is, which is why so many people want to go there, but why don't we make it better by trying to help others instead of judging them.

Out of your zone

A few weeks ago, I sat in a small room in the American School in Guatemala City along with eight other teenagers who were taking the ACT. We didn't have anything thing in common except for the fact that we don't fit in.

During one of the test breaks I asked one of the other kids where he was from. He kind of chuckled and shook his head. Then he looked and me and said, "I don't know." He went on the tell me that he had lived in 4 different countries, but he had never stayed in one place long enough for it to feel like home. I think that's what life is like for a lot of missionary kids. We are stuck between different countries and cultures, and we don't belong in any of them.

In some ways, never knowing where I come from or where I belong has been so hard for me. Is home in Guatemala or Texas or Indiana or Illinois or Pennsylvania or one of the many other places I have lived? Is home a place or a feeling? Is home where the family is? Is home where the heart is? To be honest, I don't have an answer. I'm homeless, both in the physical sense (our family seriously owns no house) and sentimentally. But on the other hand, this feeling of not belonging anywhere has made me cling to my savior all the more. While I may not have a home here on earth, I am a citizen of Heaven, and I know that there is a place waiting for me.

I have come to realize that as a Christian, I am not supposed to feel like I fit in or belong, because I don't belong on any place here on this earth.  This place is only temporary. We are not supposed to ever be comfortable, because the moment we start feeling safe is when we start trusting in our security instead of depending on God. When we feel comfortable, we lose our sense of urgency to find those who are lost and to help those who are hurting.

I recently read a quote that said, "The greatest enemy to human potential is your comfort zone" I think its pretty safe to assume that God's potential is way greater than ours could ever be, but in order for Him to work in us, we have go to get out of our comfort zone. I think that the Lord allows us to feel like we don't belong here so that we anxiously wait for the day that we get to be with Him. He allows us to struggle, because it in is these difficult times that our faith is strengthened and we turn to Him.

I know that as a human, comfort is appealing to us. That's why we stay in hotels that are labeled as comfortable. We shoes that are comfortable to walk in and clothes that are comfortable to wear. We eat food that brings us comfortable and we surround ourselves with people that we are comfortable around. That is not how Christ intended for it to be! I don't think Daniel was comfortable when he spent the night with lions.  I'm sure Job wasn't comfortable when God stripped him of everything he had on this earth. I bet Paul wasn't comfortable all those times when he was persecuted, and I can guarantee that Jesus was not comfortable when he hung on that cross, but think of how those stories were used for the glory of God!

Following Jesus is not supposed to be easy, its really hard. It requires dying to yourself in order to live for Christ. It means picking up your cross daily to follow Him. The cross isn't a piece of jewelry that we wear around our neck, it is a weapon of torture! But it will be worth it on the day that we stand face to faith with the Father and he tells us, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

I encourage you to take that first step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. Let God guide your path, one step at a time.

Am I missing out?

As the end of the school years draws close, I realize how many things I would have been doing, and I am reminded  of everything I am missing out on.

I probably won't ever have the memories of dressing up for Prom or playing on a Varsity team. I might never go on a Senior trip or drive to the mall to hang out with friends after class. I may never walk across the stage to get my diploma.

Sometimes, I mourn for the things I am missing. Sometimes, I desire to be a normal teenager, and I wonder, "Does being a missionary kid cause me to miss out on the fun things in life?"

This week, I got my answer.

I spent a couple of days this week translating for a team of surgeons. People had traveled for hours, some even from out of country, just to come to the evaluations. They stood outside the doors, clinging to their families, and what seemed to be their last hope. One by one, they passed through those doors, only to leave a few hours later, some with their names on the surgery list. I stood on the inside of those doors, working with the doctors, loving on sweet babies and learning their diagnoses.

The next day, I went back to the hospital for the first day of surgeries. As I suited up in scrubs (thanks Dr. Casatelli) a surgical mask, and head and foot covers, I couldn't help but think of all the families who were depending on this surgery. I couldn't help but think of the lives that were being changed, and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of that.

I think I had always taken the things that go on inside an operating room for granted. I just knew that people went in there with something wrong, and they came out with it fixed. This week, I learned just how important each and every step is. I learned just how guarded every single utensil is, if just one piece of dust were to land on one, the whole set would have to be re-sterilized. Each motion is so precise, because it could mean life or death for that child.  Each patient is monitored so closely, from the moment they fall asleep due to the effects of anesthesia, to the moment they wake up, not having any clue what just happened to them.

I stood in the operating room as they put in a shunt and drained the liquids out of the head of a little girl with hydrocephalus. I watched as they untethered the cord of a child born with Spinal Bifida. I saw the difference that was made in the lives of these children when they were healed. It was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life.

So, to answer my question: no, I am not missing out by being a missionary kid, I am actually gaining. I may never go to high school dance or walk across a stage, but I am dancing with Jesus and walking on His path. God's plans for me include something bigger than high school drama, and I couldn't be more thankful for it.

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." -Matthew 16:25

 "A la izquierda!" He yelled from the top of the tree. The little girls moved to the left just in time to catch the falling avocado.

Over and over again I am blessed by people who have next to nothing, and yet they still give of what they do have.

Yessica's family may not have much, but they share the little that they have. 

Last Thursday, we visited with their family. We prayed with them and delivered some basic groceries. Just before we left, Yessica's 11 year old brother climbed up the avocado tree to knock us down some avocados. They told us that it was the least they could do to say thank you.  

This family could barely afford to eat, yet they shared their food with us.

I stood there in awe. 

Many times, we have all we need. 

Much more than we need really. 

Yet we cling to all of our stuff, fearing that we will lose it. You see, we don't put our trust in God, leaning on Him to provide. We might say we do, but in all reality we are putting our trust in our comfort and our security and our bank account instead of in the Lord. 

Its easy to say we trust God, when we've got our savings as a back up plan. 

Its easy to say we love God, when our lives are good. 

Its not so easy on the other side of the world.

What if we lived like the Guatemalans do?

What if we had to rely on God for everything we need?

What if we prayed before buying anything, like we couldn't buy it without God's help. 

You might just find, that God has a different plan for that money anyway. Maybe you don't need that can of coke. Maybe a child needs shoes. Maybe you don't need that new purse. Maybe a child needs school supplies. Maybe you don't need that new outfit. Maybe a child needs medicine.  Maybe you don't need that boat. Maybe a child needs a home.

I encourage you to fully rely on God. Ask Him how he can use your life instead of telling Him how you want it to be.

Give. 

Serve. 

Love. 

Make your life count. 

It may be scary, it may be radical, people may even think you're going crazy, but you've got to jump out of your comfort zone, trusting that He will catch you. You may just find, that when you finally lose yourself to Him, you might just discover what you were made for.

People are always asking me about my friends here, to be honest, for quite some time after moving here, making friends was really hard for me. Its so hard to find friends when everyone around you is so different from you- and you don't speak the same language. Its even harder to see that your friends back home are having fun and have gone on and completely forgot. That leaves you on the other side of the world, struggling and alone.

Yet in reality that was blessing- because it forced me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to find the friends I have now which I am so thankful for. 

I now find myself hanging out with people that are different than me- and different from my friends in the states- and I appreciate that more than I could ever say. I am so thankful that God has put them in my life.

It's kind of fun how God has given me different groups of friends. It was the same thing in the states, I would have friends from my church, friends from my school, friends from my volleyball team, and friends from the different places I have lived. So, let me introduce you to some of my amazing, beautiful, unique friends who have taught me so much more than I could have ever imagined.

My ministry friends...

I have a lot of ministry friends, Rosa and Yessica for example. The friends I visit and  pray with. Oh how I adore them.

 

My soccer team...

 I play in a men's soccer league with my brother. All the boys on the team live in our area. Within the team, there are a couple of boy who come to our house a lot. If you were to come to my house on any given day, there's a pretty good chance you would see some of them. These boys have started going to church with us and joining us for group devotions.

My youth group...

I absolutely love my youth group, full of missionary kids and Guatemalans. I seriously don't know what I would do without them.

Inside my youth group, I am lucky to have these group of amazing girls who are both missionaries and missionary kids. I adore these ladies.

Recently I've always been able to do a lot of translating with these guys from my church. I love getting to work with them and do ministry together.

And then there are my friends back in the United States. They people who I knew before I came here, or the people who came on mission trips, people who I have never met, but yet they pray for me and I consider them my friends.

I am so grateful for all of these people in my life that I now call 'friend'. I am truly blessed.

Proverbs 27:9 “The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.”

I've been pretty quiet lately. I haven't had much to say, mostly because I've spent the last couple of weeks just listening.Sometimes, I get so busy talking, that I forget to just sit and hear what God has to say. The past couple of weeks, as I listened, God has been showing me more of who he is, as well as teaching me who He wants me to be.

 He has taught me that when you find your joy in Christ alone, you don't have to be content in circumstances. It doesn't matter where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing. Our happiness should not depend on any of that, but on God. Because our circumstances are never perfect, we will never be truly happy unless we find joy in Christ.

I have learned that translating is what I love to do. I am still learning more of how that will play into my future, but I know that is is no accident that I learned Spanish so quickly, and I have a feeling I will continue translating for quite some time. I don't plan on stopping with just English and Spanish either.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks where I was able to be blessed and bless others through translation.

Translating VBS for Team Kyler

 Praying with Brenda

Translating for a group of Physical Therapists

Working with some special needs kids in the local school.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. - Romans 12:6-8