University of Michigan Law School (Fall 2007) (no, this is not Indonesia)
I always think Thanksgiving when it comes to fall, and I am happy to write that we are currently gearing up for our first Thanksgiving Dinner in Indonesia, and it has been really interesting scavenging for the availability of traditional Thanksgiving foods. (We have a couple here at HMCC of Jakarta who work in the US Embassy, and have two 16 lb – US sized – turkeys standing up in their freezer, waiting for us to dress and stuff them at the end of the month! One of the challenges has been finding ovens in which to actually bake the turkeys, because many Indonesian homes are not actually outfitted with them, including our own apartments. Fortunately, some of our life group members do have ovens – and I am sure you will be reading about our Thanksgiving preparations and dinner towards the end of the month. Stay tuned!)
Thanksgiving preparations have challenged me on the thankful heart. Yesterday, I had a fleeting moment of homesickness as I was thinking about keeping in touch with people from home. My roommate Sarah and I were in our room last night, talking about correspondence with people, and it was the first time I admitted to myself in the almost four months that I have been away from home that sometimes I do feel so disconnected, and to say that I feel like I am experiencing how it feels to be on the receiving end of “out of sight, out of mind.” I don’t mention these things, though, to elicit a barrage of e-mails or blog comments or snail mail. Really. I mention it because it is easy for me to jump to all sorts of conclusions when I don’t hear from people for a while – too busy to contact me, don’t care about me, they forgot about me. As soon as I thought about those things, I felt like Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway) in “Princess Diaries” at her coronation speech, telling her audience all of her excuses for not wanting to accept the crown because “I am not this or that” and then she says poignantly, “And then I realized how many stupid times a day I say the word ‘I’.” How easy to become inwardly focused as things here have settled somewhat into a routine!
And then I remembered all of the relationships we are building with people here, and seeing some of them challenged to love Christ even more. I thought about the people who have been curious to know more about this Jesus and why he is worthy of our worship. I also thought about the people who do write (e-mails, snail mail, even packages!) on a somewhat regular basis (thank you!) – and are even lifting up prayers for our team, even though I might not see any sort of electronic or paper proof of it (thank you so much!) (Actually, I shouldn’t be pointing fingers, because I myself am actually very behind on correspondence with people outside of Indonesia…I hope that those of you awaiting those well-thought out responses I promised weeks ago will allow me to impose upon your patience for a little while longer...) I felt very foolish to realize the ungratefulness of my heart, and that I need that heart of thanksgiving every day – whether I am at home where everything is comfortable and familiar, or luar negeri [overseas; luar – out, negeri – country].
Since being away, I know I am learning things that might be very basic – but still important. I am learning that it is one thing to learn lessons that shape our character – and it is another thing to continue to apply those lessons faithfully in our lives everyday. (Easier said than done!) This is also probably basic and obvious for anyone reading this, but I guess I myself had to come to Indonesia to realize this! Thanksgiving (which I am so excited for at the end of this month!) is an attitude of the heart, and having settled into a routine and experiencing the grind of working 8 hours and then “doing” ministry during and after, I realize how important it is that followers of Christ are “transformed by the renewing of [our] minds.” I can learn or realize thankfulness, but it is effectively useless unless I practice it everyday. I hope some of you, no matter where in the world you are reading this, can be challenged also to have a heart of thanksgiving every day.
And to anyone reading this, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy…” especially to the believers, “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…”
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