I’ve just posted a poem from Teresa of Avila that is worth looking at. You can find it at:
www.spiritualsynergy.blogspot.com
Well after over 21 years, my family and I have relocated back to the USA from England. It has been one serious transition, and has taken its toll in many ways–physically, emotionally, etc. We felt it was time to move back to the USA, where we will still be doing work with Searchlight Missions, providing resources for Christians in countries around the world.
This is the first time my wife and kids have lived in the USA, so it has been a major adjustment. Everything is bigger, faster, and more hectic. We’re getting used to the size of Walmart, the amount of restaurants in most towns, turning right on red, and the amount of churches that seem to be everywhere.
We have been delighted to find that in our area of the world–Brownsburg, IN–is a homeschool cooperative of nearly 120 families! In England, we had drive nearly an hour to find any other Christian homeschoolers. This will be a major change for us, but one that we’re very excited about.
Now that we’re getting settled in, I hope to get back to regular blogging as our new life unfolds back in my native land. Being out of the country for a while has opened my eyes to several things within the country. Hopefully I can make sense of it all and help my family to live the best lives we can here in the USA.
I am a great lover of biographies. I try to read the lives of the good and the great in a number of fields and walks of life. I’m currently reading the life of Winston Churchill and the incredible role that he played in the monumental conflicts of World War II. A few days ago, I was reading a short biography of the former UN Secretary General, Dag Hammerskjold. As I reflected on some of the quotations from his own diaries, Markings, I thought how easy it is for me, or for anyone, to hide behind the stories of other people. Because I can easily recount the heroic moral and spiritual exploits of others, I somehow justify the fact that much of the time the story of my own life may not be very heroic or spiritually inspiring.
Perhaps that’s why our society is so consumed with "celebrity" or hero worship in its various forms. Maybe this is why the phenomenon of "reality TV" has reached such unimaginable heights (or perhaps "depths" would be more accurate). People tend to live their lives through others. They watch movies, reality shows, celebrity lives, and they don’t have to face the fact that the story of their own lives isn’t really saying much. Unfortunately this can be true for Christians as much as it can be for others. We have to admit that the cult of celebrity has infiltrated Christianity as much as it has other areas of society.
As I sat thinking about Dag Hammerskjold and the impact that one life story can have on those around it, I felt convicted that I have often avoided the story that God wants to write with my own life. Maybe the story was going to involve risks, or sacrifice, or steps into the unknown, and I simply wasn’t ready… or willing. Maybe you can say the same about your own story.
The truth is we’re all called to allow God to write a story with our lives. It may not necessarily be on the level of a Winston Churchill or David Livingstone or Dag Hammerskjold, but God wants to write a story that, when read, will bring glory to him. The story we allow him to write will be seen primarily through the relationships we develop and the people that we allow to impact our personal world.
The apostle Paul could say to the Corinthian Christians, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). What a challenging comment!
The world around us is looking for good news. Christians carry within them the Spirit of the living God who is constantly writing his glorious eternal story of life and hope. What story are you allowing him to write with your life?
A couple of weeks ago I had to make a two-week flying visit to the USA. I was there for several meetings related to our missions work. While I was in the States, I was able to spend about two full days with the Suarez and Igarashi families at the nerve centre of “The Old Schoolhouse” family. I had a great time.
I had an amazing drive down from Indiana to Tennessee. Since it was the latter part of October, the trees in Kentucky and Tennessee were simply stunning. The day I drove down, it was sunny and mid-70s. The colours on the mountains made me realise again that, when it comes to art, God really is in a class all by himself. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh–none of them come up with the colours and beautiful patterns that are everyday occurrences for almighty God.
When I finally arrived at the Suarez homestead, and the Igarashis came over to spend the evening, I felt that truly I was in the presence of homeschooling royalty. They were all so gracious and welcoming, and the meals were so incredible (I had forgotten just how much Americans put on the table!) that I immediately felt at home. The children of both families were wonderful to be with. I felt so comfortable with them, I was even persuaded to act a little silly myself a time or two. (grin)
It was a great encouragement to me to see that God is working with people in all kinds of places, in all kinds of situations, for HIS eternal purposes. It also helped me to keep a focus on what is necessary for the Christian homeschooling community here in England. By God's grace we'll continue to attempt to make a difference in the UK. And I am glad to be able to say that our friends in Tennessee will be one of our biggest sources of encouragement, advice, and wisdom. God's global network continues to astound me. He sure is awfully kind to us.
I know it looks like I rarely blog anymore, but the truth is I'm actually blogging every Friday at www.homeschoolblogger.com/livingheritageuk. We're trying to raise awareness regarding homeschoolers here in the UK, and that's where I'm putting in my effort. I will keep blogging when I am able here, but just in case you were wondering if I had fallen off the planet. I haven't; I've just fallen into livingheritageuk.
Bruce
Bruce Garrison