A group of men who encourage me every week!

The title is from Mother Teresa, who insisted that it was not the size of our action that counted, but the love which we put into it.  What happens after any major life change or event?  The letdown.  The return to humdrum, normal life.  You get a big promotion at work, then a a few weeks later realize it is still work.  You have a baby and rejoice in this precious new life, only to discover it has an incredible capacity to cry and poop.  You get married and then discover that marriage is more than passionate romance and Instagram worthy moments—you argue and nag, forgive and laugh.  It is the same with us here in Thailand.  ‘Wow, we left our country and culture and moved across the world!’  Everything is new and exciting!  But then the routine starts settling in.  We have good days and bad days, exciting moments and a whole lot more rather dull, ordinary moments---sound familiar?  We see beautiful things and we see ugly things.  As a recovering adrenaline junkie, I am often challenged when life doesn’t always present me with grand adventures.  But adrenaline is not the essence of life; love is.  I still enjoy a little adrenaline in my life and thank God for it (as I do every good gift He has given us to enjoy).  But it is the joy of loving and being loved that is slowly challenging me to rethink how I live each day.  Love is an incredibly risky thing.  One of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen, has some powerful words about the risk of love:

“Every time we make the decision to love someone, we open ourselves to great suffering, because those we most love cause us not only great joy but also great pain. The greatest pain comes from leaving. When the child leaves home, when the husband or wife leaves for a long period of time or for good, when the beloved friend departs to another country or dies … the pain of the leaving can tear us apart. Still, if we want to avoid the suffering of leaving, we will never experience the joy of loving. And love is stronger than fear, life stronger than death, hope stronger than despair. We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking.”

Thank goodness it’s not ‘hot’ season

My boss, mentor, and friend, Dave Callahan, reminded us this morning that the challenge before us is not to come up with, or produce great things---but to be faithful in many small things, especially in loving the people God has brought to our attention (I won’t say in front of us, lest we think love limited by geography, culture, or ethnicity).  And also in doing our daily work well, whatever it is.  It may not make for a very exciting movie, but it makes for a rich life.  I am always falling into two opposite errors, then struggling to come back to where I ought to be:

Either I am longing for something ‘great’ and miss the greatness of a smile to a neighbor, a note to a friend, giving money to help refugees, or just a conversation with some lonely person.  Greatness all around me and I can’t see it because I am only thinking in terms of size, not love. 

Or I am burying my head in the sand like an ostrich, so focused on my own little world, my own little family, my own little work or church, that I never take the time to look at my larger world, my more distant brothers and sisters and ask the Father of us all: ‘Am I where you want me to be?  If not, how can I change my course and direction now to get there?’ 

The challenge before all of us right now, right where we are, is to take the risk of love.  It might mean a dramatic reorganizing, reprioritizing, change of your present life.  Maybe you have settled when you shouldn’t have and you haven’t opened your heart to giving your life to others.  Or it might mean finding the sacred moments in your present life.  Maybe you are running ahead when you ought to be looking around.  If you are like me, it is probably some of both.  God afflicts the comfortable (are you feeling comfortable these days?) and God comforts the afflicted (is life wearing you out these days?). 

Christianity isn’t about giving up things, it is about giving up in order to gain.  Paul said that “all things are ours”---after all God is our Father. It is the reordering of our world, not the denying of it.  That is the secret of God’s way; give your life away and you will gain it.  Give and it will be given to you.  Forgive and you will be forgiven.  And the frightening opposite: gain everything but lose your self, hoard your money and lose it all, don’t forgive and you won’t be forgiven. 

From our Thai Workbook:  See Elephant Poo, Poo like Elephant

Audrey and I feel thankful these days.  We get to work for an organization we love and believe in, we are adapting little by little to Thai culture and language, we are mostly healthy, and though our days are often filled with small things, we are trying to invest more love in them even as we continue to look ahead for what God has down the road.

Thank you for taking the risk to love us!  Where is love leading you now? 

Audrey on the hog, she is a great driver!