James 1:17

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (NIV)

Aaron is home from Florida, and we are enjoying hearing the lessons and experiences that he learned while at his class.  I wanted to share one with you...

Lesson: Personal space, personal property and respect of such things vary according to cultural norms.
**This lesson was shared in love by missionaries who were honestly relating their own experiences- with no criticism or judgement- we are thankful for any insight or input that we receive, so that we know how to better mentally prepare and pray for God's help with necessary adjustments.

Obviously, you don't enter another culture and expect no change!  We had cultural adjustments going from San Diego to Montana, and we certainly have had a lot of adjustments leaving Montana and coming to Atlanta!! (Part of why we moved to Atlanta was to force these adjustments to occur while still in a context that speaks english and has ample supply of Mtn. Dew!)

The lesson that Aaron learned at his class was important~ even though it was only verbally related to him- but it was one of the first things that he told us about when he got home.  It was a blessing, however because the kids and I had dealt with this lesson a few months ago  when someone in our neighborhood helped themselves to the jacuzzi on our back porch while weren't home.
Through that experience, the kids and I had to work through our feelings of being invaded, and we learned about cultural norms and personal property.  It affected me to have a stranger on my back patio, using my stuff.
I pouted and cried some (no shock there- I cry a lot) but what I realized was that God taught me a valuable lesson through that experience.  Apparently we needed our boundaries pushed a little bit! We thought that we were holding onto our things with an open hand, but we needed our hands opened up a bit more!  Aaron learned this lesson from people who have overseas experience with this cultural 'shift' and the kids and I learned it at home in our neighborhood!

I am so glad to see how God is using each day here to teach us important concepts that serve us as we serve Him!  He continues to train us, and He is providing opportunities for growth and stretching. 
Attending training courses, reading a miriad of books, serving in a small church setting, depending on the Lord more fully, doing a lot of seeking Him IS GOOD.  but... only God will make us ready, and the trick is knowing that we cannot be completely ready for all that is ahead of us!  We don't want to pretend that we can...instead we want to be full of faith and have our eyes fixed on God so that we can live lives that point to Jesus and His good gifts over and over again.