Category: General Family News

Some people are defined by where they are “from” or where they live. . . Me? I feel like I’m all over the place!

I was born in southern Illinois, where I lived till I was two. We moved to New Jersey, right across the bay from Staten Island, NY, and lived there for 10 years (well, except for 5 months in Lafayette, Indiana, near Purdue University; and 3 months in Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas, Texas). In junior high and high school I lived in Indiana: Winona Lake, near Grace College; Claypool; and on 10 acres a few miles outside of Warsaw. I went to college in South Carolina, where I lived from ’94 – ’07, before moving back to the Northeast with my husband, where we now live in the innercity.

My parents’ backgrounds play into this as well: My mom grew up mostly in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved a lot, as her father was in the oil business, and lived in Denver, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. On the other hand, my dad spent his first 17 years on a dairy farm outside a small southern Illinois town (still less than 2,000 people, still without a McDonalds in the county!).

So when people ask where I’m from . . . ? I’m still working on the answer to that one.

If I’m traveling internationally, that’s easy: The States! That’s all I have to say. No further explanation needed. At that point, they assume I’m from New York or Hollywood.

But in the states, it’s a little trickier. My favorite way to respond is to turn the question around: “Where are you from? . . .  Oh, me too!” And it’s true! Probably I was born there, or went to college there, or my grandma lives there, or maybe I live there now!

I kind of like it, being from the States.

The gospel will always be counter-cultural.

Listen to Luke 6:

²⁰And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed [happy] are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²²“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

²³“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

²⁵“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

²⁹“Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

³⁰“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

³¹“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

³³“If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

³⁴“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

³⁵“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

³⁶“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

³⁸“Give, and it will be given to you. . . For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

The text really speaks for itself. I don’t think I even need to mention that I struggle (we all struggle, in differing degreees) to live this way.

Christ came into our world this way: poor, hungry, weeping, hated by men, insulted and scorned for righteousness’ sake, kind to ungrateful and evil men. He loved men who hated Him–and He died for them! He calls us to that same radical, counter-cultural, self-denying, Christ-exalting life.

But the paradoxical beauty of this kind of living is that ultimately, as we give up ourselves, our lives, our “rights” to follow Christ, we will experience the greatest riches and satisfaction imaginable as we pursue God’s kingdom!

I’m praying that He will change me into this kind of person!