I receive a Newsletter from a family of Missionaries. They live in Africa. They are getting ready to head back to the United States for a year. In their newsletter they always include a prayer request section. This was on of their requests…..
” For our transition back to the States. I’ve never done “this phase in life” with my kids before, in a culture where you fear for your kids’ safety, influence at school, peer acceptance, and availability of high fat/sugar food. Making new friends, figuring out where to shop, finding doctors…”
I had a WOW moment when I read this. I sat back and thought about the culture she was describing. It is the culture that I raise my teens in. It is the way I live everyday when Hope gets on the bus and Ryan drives off for the day. I do fear for their safety, peer pressure and all of their influences. I take steps to make sure that they eat and enjoy real foods. I don’t fill my house with processed dinners and I have organic produce delivered to the house weekly.
I didn’t realize the extreme of what she describes as being my “normal”. But sadly it is.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not bringing this up in a bad way. I was not and am not upset by the prayer request. It was just a moment where I wondered which would be better for the raising of kids. Africa or Here?
Part of me is thinking Africa.
I can totally relate! No, I don’t have kids (yet) but every time i come home on furlough I feel like I have to pray for my transition back into my own culture because its so difficult for me. When you’ve lived outside it for so long, it isn’t your “norm” anymore, and thats a scary thought. I will pray for their family too!
The most important thing is to be born into a loving family. The country we are born into doesn’t make that much difference, unless its a place were the curse of war, or extreme poverty, exist.
Every country has problems, and parents worry about the safety of the children everywhere.
Parents worried about their children in the time of Jesus, today, and they will do so a thousand in the future.
Signs of the times, I guess. I remember when I made the choice to move to a rural area in the heartland of America. I thought I was choosing a great safe place to raise my future family. However, it’s sad to note that all the the outside influences that I thought I was moving away from are here, too! We have to live and move and have our being in Christ to find security!