Thursday, October 28, 2010

I'm Moving! (again)

I have been hearing about it for months, but it is now becoming a reality.  We (my Dominican family and I) will be moving next week.  In case you don't remember, for the last few months I have been living with Eddy's sister Guille and her two daughters.  For a few years now, they have lived in a very small apartment above a colmado.  In this apartment there were one and a half bedrooms, I slept in the half and Guille and girls slept in the other.  It was tiny but it worked. 

However, next week we will be moving into a house.  I finally went to see it today.  It is about twice the size of our apartment.  There are three bedrooms, so the girls will actually have their own room and my room is much bigger.  It's still about half the size of the average bedroom in the US, but there may actually be space to stand or even walk in this bedroom.  Which would be a big change for me.  I have even heard something about a closet.  This very exciting.  However, I was in my room and there wasn't a closet, so I'm not really sure what they mean by "closet", but again, if it's something to put my clothes in other than a suitcase, I will be thrilled. 

The best part about it though, is how excited everyone is.  The girls are practically beside themselves and I don't think I've seen Guille in a better mood.  I kind of feel bad that I am not more excited.  I am looking forward to having more space, but I really don't like moving.  I am not looking forward to trying to pack all my stuff into my four suitcases and carrying it down the road as all the people look at the crazy American girl with all her stuff.  And it's true.  Honestly, in my tiny little half of a bedroom, I probably have more stuff (that came here in a total of four suitcases) than the three of them have in the whole house, and I'm including the kitchen.  This is definitely a humbling realization, especially when I realize how often I take the blessings I have been given for granted.

Recently I realized that one of the reasons that the decision to move was made was because of me. It was because now they have added another person to their family and they need more space.  Through this whole process, I have been shown that in their minds, in a very matter-of-fact way, I just another member of the family.  They look after me, and worry about me, and take care of me as if I am one of their own.  (In order to avoid confusion, let me explain that when I say "they", I mean the whole family.  Not just Guille, but her parents and siblings as well.  Because here the family is one, even though some of them live in different houses, they are one unit.)

I know that I am probably repeating myself talking about this again, but it continues to surprise me.  It's something that is so different about the Dominican culture.  They are so open and welcoming and you are never made to feel like a burden.  They see you as a blessing and they treat you that same way.  This is one of the biggest things about their culture that I hope rubs off on me.  It is my prayer that in my life I will be as open and welcoming to the people that God puts in my path as this family has been with me.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Things I have learned about myself since moving to the DR cont.

6. Skim Ice popsicles make me happy.
7. I am terrible at driving a moped.
8. This close to the Equator, I will burn in 10 minutes.
9. In the US I prefer Pepsi, but in the DR I prefer Coca-Cola.
10. For Dominicans, my name (Carrie) is weird and impossible to say.  (So they renamed me Carolina.)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Something to think about

Something that my friend Katie Copeland said to me several months ago has stuck with me ever since.  She was telling me about another friend of hers that was also a missionary.  I don't remember which country she was living in, but everyday, on her way to work, she would have to walk past a group of men that would harass her.  They would say horrible things to her, make gestures, basically they just enjoyed trying to make her miserable.  And when she would talk about it with Katie, she would say things like "I'm just having a really hard time loving them right now."  Because she understood.  She understood that we are called to love, that we are called to show the love of Jesus to everyone, whether they deserve it or not, because Jesus loves us, even though we don't deserve it.  Her reaction to these men, to try to show love to them, is not a typical reaction.  It's shocking.  And when Katie was recalling this story, she told me that her reaction was "Wow, you've been spending a lot of time with Jesus, haven't you?"  That is the sentence that I have thought about repeately ever since.

"Wow, you have been spending a lot of time with Jesus, haven't you?"

And in that moment, I knew that I wanted to live the kind of life that causes that kind of reaction.  I want to have such a close relationship with Christ that the things that I do or say are so abnormal and so shocking, that people have no other reaction but to accuse me of spending a lot of time with Jesus.  And most days, I fail.  Most days, people probably would not have that reaction to my life or to the things that I say.  But it remains my goal.  God puts this thought in my  mind often:  When people look at my life today and listen to the things that I say, will they look at me in surprise because they can tell that I have a deep, personal relationship with Christ? I hope so.