Culture

What is referred to as “culture” makes up pretty much everything about our people group: what we think of as “common,” our routines in life, what is acceptable in society, what we consider to be polite,  how we process what we do and say, and the list goes on of what all our culture tells us is “normal life.” But, sometimes being a third-culture kid, living in a culture outside of your own, keeps you from doing what most Americans see as “normal life.”

When we initially moved to România, our daughter was seventeen years old. She was starting her senior year of high school, and  many told us that it would be a huge mistake to move our family to Romania at that time “because it will be a struggle for her.” They encouraged us to wait until she graduated and moved out, but Joe and I knew if we did, then Rice would be in the same situation, and then Logan. There would always be a reason to stay longer and miss what God was asking us to do. The enemy would make sure there was always a reason to delay God’s will.
* Remember that–the enemy will ALWAYS make sure there’s a reason to delay God’s will for you.

So, in obedience to God, we moved to Romania with our daughter Emilia, a senior in high school; our son Rice, a tweenager; and our youngest Logan, who had just turned double digits. It was not easy, but then again, Jesus never implied His will would be.

I remember waking up our first morning in Romania after the long twenty-six hours in transition. We were all exhausted, but still, we walked to the local mart to get some food. (At that point, our feet were our only means of transportation.) I still recall our youngest breaking down in tears because, amongst the five cereal options available at the tiny store, he couldn’t find one he liked. (Now, don’t confuse this with being selfish or ridiculous. This was simply a little boy processing the culture shock of losing all of his friends, his home, his family, his ability to communicate with anyone, and everything he had ever learned was normal.)

I still recall us and our children staring blankly at store shelves trying to decipher what the words on the packaging meant. Many times, we had no idea what we were purchasing, and we even sometimes ended up with a surprise. (Who knew the lemons on cleanser bottles could throw a foreigner off when the packaging looks more like a lemonade bottle to our American-cultured eyes.😂)

Over the next six months, God just loved on us through many tears due to missing friends and family, Thanksgiving and Christmas away from our loved ones, missing family get togethers and vacations, and many language and cultural adjustment struggles.

Then, God began to do something beautiful. He brought us to a place where we were loved and making new friends. We were starting to be able to communicate with our neighbors and build relationships with them. We started seeing God use us in unexpected ways, no matter our language abilities and struggles. He started using us in ways we never would have even been able to figure out only months before; because, no one knew in that time frame a war would break out in Ukraine, our neighboring country.

All I can say is this, God’s plan is perfect; He knows in advance all the wars, fights, struggles, inflation, shortages, famines, etc., and He has already factored all of that into His will, and if we are simply faithful to obey Him, He is faithful to fulfill all of His perfect will in us and through us, despite whatever comes.

So, even in all of that, we all began to transition. We were learning a new culture and starting to adopt parts of it as our own. We were learning to communicate with others and making dear friends.

Finally, after two years in Romania, it was time to travel back to America and share with our family, friends, and supporters what all God had been doing amongst our village people. With tears of joy, we have been sharing their beautiful stories of God’s faithfulness and about the relationships with which God has blessed us amongst these people. Everything about us is no longer that awkward American in a foreign land. God has been transitioning our hearts, and we are now different people from who we were back then.

So, for the past six months, we have traveled across different parts of America sharing the story God gave us to walk out for Him, but we have also been able to do some typical American things: Emilia was able to get her driver’s license, our kids had traditional American birthday parties, we had Thanksgiving and Christmas with family🥰, we attended my sister’s wedding vow renewal, and we’ve eaten more Tex-Mex food and Texas Barbeque than–well, we’ll just say we also had to purchase some larger clothes until we get the Tex-Mex and barbeque weight off again. 🤣

Most of those things probably don’t seem like much of a big deal to most Americans, but to us, they were an amazing God-gift, but now, the time is nearing for us to return to Romania and take off that American-culture once again.

There have been some tears, knowing it will be a while again before we can be with our loved ones here. We know that Thanksgiving and Christmas will be different in Romania and that we will miss our family, and we know that things will arise–moments when we wish we could be here in America. The transition part is never fun.

God only knows what all the future holds, but we also know God has asked us to return. He has a plan and a purpose, and as long as we are obedient to His good, pleasing, and perfect will, He will faithfully take care of us, providing every need we have both financially and in friends and family there. He always has something incredible and life-changing in the works, and all we have to do is just keep following Him.

God’s Word tells us: “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (I Samuel 15:22) However, sometimes, to obey God requires a sacrifice. So, we sacrifice, time, special moments, and holidays with our loves ones, in order to obey and follow wherever God leads, and we sacrifice our “American culture” to take on “God’s Kingdom culture,” which crosses all cultural boundary lines, in the desire that everyone receives an opportunity to hear the hope-filled message of Jesus. We are willing to go and share Jesus; because someone once sacrificed to lead us to Jesus.💝

May we be counted as faithful and our sacrifice be acceptable to the Lord. May we, one day, hear Jesus declare the words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Then, it will be worth it all.😁