first of the lasts

Today is our last parent/teacher meeting at the school. It is one of the first "lasts" that I am beginning to experience here in my beloved Mexican community. I put on my beloved blue tie, shine my battered dress shoes, and spray on a little cologne, remembering how I live in a culture that values personal presentation very highly. I arrive at the school and then remember how I didn't shave this morning. Oops. Hopefully my students' parents will think the scruffy look is professional.

Such thoughts about my host society make me reflect on the past two years, and what I've learned about living cross-culturally (as we say in the Bible Division at John Brown University). In my different cultural communication classes at JBU, I remember learning about "style switching," which involves learning the different values and behaviors of your host culture over time, then imitating them. To say that I've done that like a pro would be a lie, but thank goodness there's a learning curve, as well as plenty of grace bestowed by my Mexican brothers and sisters.

Many of my friends tell me, "No te vayas!" which means, "Don't go!" How am I to respond to that? I know I must go - I am convinced of God's call on my life - but it feels as if the roots I have put down here are being torn back up in an unnatural break. Although I know I will probably be able to come back and visit, things will certainly not be the same. As someone recently commented to me, "Saying goodbye is a little taste of death."

The other day, I counted the number of places in which I have lived for the past 6 years (counting dorm rooms, houses, apartments, etc.). The tally? Nine. Number of states? Four (including the state of Chihuahua). This period of my life has been very transitory, full of change and adaptation. And now another change will happen. Who knows how long that stage will last before more change occurs?

The point? Change is life, life is change. But oh, how it produces in me a longing for my true home, where I will be eternally at peace, never shifting, always abiding. My soul's ache in this temporal reality is for an Anchor, fixed in that eternal Reality, where rest is forever and faith is no longer necessary, for we will know him face to face.

back at it...one last time

Apologies to my faithful readers for my two-month silence. Much hath occurred this spring in my life here in Parral. The following is a brief summary:

1. Spring Break - I was heavily involved with our numerous youth activities during the first week of spring break (Mexico has two weeks, called Semana Santa), in which we decorated the house of prayer at the church, cleaned parts of the church building, and hosted a group of youth from San Luis Potosí, a large city in central Mexico. During the second week, I was able to take a bus trip up to Ciudad Juárez and meet the youth group from my church in Kenosha at an orphanage there, where we spent a week with the children, serving and loving them in whatever way we could. 

2. Swine Flu and a Trip Home - Upon returning from Juárez, we had classes for a few weeks, but then the global panic about swine flu began to hit the fan the last week of April. I had a plane ticket bought for the first of May to go home and visit my family and watch my brother graduate from college, but a nationwide school suspension and a generous move of my parents brought me home a few days early. I enjoyed a week in Kenosha, reuniting with different folks from the Body there and receiving much from good fellowship. Then my mom and I drove to Joplin and spent time with my grandparents for a day before going down to Siloam Springs and visiting my brother at JBU. After a sweet reunion with several JBU friends and professors at graduation (and hearing an excellent graduation speech from my bro), Mom took me to the airport in Tulsa, which eventually landed me back in Parral, after an overnight stay in El Paso with a delightful missionary family. 

3. A Big Decision - As the title of this post gives away, I have finally made the official decision to return to the States after this year of teaching is over. The school year terminates in early July, and I will moving back home and (hopefully) starting at seminary in the fall, as well as become involved in my local church in Kenosha and (again hopefully) find a part-time job as I go to school. It was a difficult decision in that I will certainly miss the people of the church and school down here, but God made it very clear that this is the right direction in which to head. 

So, I would covet your prayers as I finish this school year. I have two months to faithfully love and serve this school and church, and I want to do it with all my heart, unto the Lord. Please pray that I remain faithful and that I don't give into the temptation to mentally "check out" (believe me, that temptation is very real!). And if you have been praying for me and the work of the Gospel here, I thank you wholeheartedly! May our God continue to establish the work of our hands as we toil for his service and unto his glory.