“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.  His love endures forever.”
Psalm 136:1

In the countries where I have lived over the last 20 years, Thanksgiving rolls around unnoticed.  There are no cartoon turkeys on decorations in the shops and no children wearing pilgrim hats as they re-enact the feast from long ago.

Yet, unlike a list of other North American holidays, Thanksgiving is one of only a few special days that we have transported with us into our lives outside of our passport country.

Why is this?  I believe we’ve chosen to remember Thanksgiving because giving thanks is a celebratory and realigning spiritual activity that brings us back to the basics.  Thanksgiving encourages us to shed some stress and take time to reflect on the goodness of God.

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It's never good to wake up to several emails saying things like, "Just want you to know that your boys are O.K." or "The fire is approaching campus but they are all in the gym."

I have a lot of stuff!  All this stuff has a story; a history of where it came from and where it's going once I'm done with it.

It's an important story.  It's one that we all need to know because our stuff impacts the globe.  It impacts people, their economies and our environment.

Here's a great (as in creative, clever, educational, challenging, helpful) little video that explains the story of all this stuff we gather and use.  It's 20 minutes long but well worth your time.

Please take a break to ponder how you might love your Creator by taking better care for his gift to us: the earth and her people.

Make a cup of something you like and pull up a seat!

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

It wasn’t until I moved to Kenya when I was 22 that I began to understand how truly global the audience is that watches what happens in U.S. politics. The event (indeed, the process itself) of the U.S. changing political parties, handing power from one to the other, or just replacing the incumbent president with a newly chosen one from within the standing party, is something that captures the imagination of people all over the world.

This fascination with what is happening in Washington is not necessarily due to the popularity of the U.S. Yes, her ability to hold free elections that are not marked by massive campaigns of intimidation and violence is greatly admired and envied by many. (I remember local elections in Kenya not so many years ago when voters had to line up behind the designated spot for their candidate. That wasn’t exactly what the people were hoping for in a “free and fair” election.) But that's not the entirety of it.

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Calling... it's a concept that I've not been able to define very clearly. Even after choosing to live cross culturally for 24 years, I feel sort of vague about what the word means.

I think this is because "calling" can come in such a beautiful array of shapes and shades. I know people who can confidently say, "I was called to (some specific spot or people group) when I was 10 years old." Others say, "I received the call during my first year in college," or "...at Urbana," or whatever.

But that's not really how it was for me.

I was raised by parents who were in full-time ministry. For 8 of my growing up years we lived in Europe, splitting time, 4 years and 4 years, between Sweden and England. It was great. I loved each place.

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Warning:  I have a feeling I might sound cynical in the post.

Disclaimer: I don't mean to be.  I just don't want to beat around the bush. 

OK, maybe it's just because every Christian young person I know right now in the States wants to come to Africa "for the children" that I'm feeling a stirring to rant a little about cross-cultural living.  Here it comes...

Making the choice to leave what is familiar and go take up residency where it is not familiar is not a game we play because we got high at Christian camp.  (Ouch.  That was harsh.)

This is not a vacation/adventure that is designed to ease my guilt about the fact that a vast majority of the world lives on less than $2 a day or that millions of people die every year without ever knowing the  freedom and fullness of Christ. 

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On Sunday, June 29, Mr. Mugabe was sworn into his 6th term as the leader of  Zimbabwe.  

Though I have lived a good number of years in Africa, I confess to not being totally up on the sad history of this ravished country that has been pulled into despair over the 28 years that Mr. Mugabe has been in power.

This is what I DO know--

The people of Zimbabwe voted in March and their clear desire was that the ruling party exit immediately. The standing parliament and the president himself were shown to NOT BE the people's choice for their future.  The people spoke up and said it was time for something new. 

In the calm of the days after the election, the nation dared to believe that things were going well and that change was on its way.  But the calm was short-lived.

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When I first arrived in Africa more than 20 years ago, most everything I bought in the grocery store came in a can or a paper bag. Very few items in those days were packaged in plastic.

The great thing about the canned goods was that the can itself was reusable by local people. Tins were washed and smashed or cut and shaped into new, useful items. Small oil-burning lamps were made from these. Boxes that resembled little suitcases were created for storage.

Paper bags were used again, too. In many a smoky hut hot pots were lifted off the fire with the aid of a folded bag in place of a fancy oven mitt. Lists were written on second-hand bags, math problems were scratched down and solved and fires were started all with the assistance of already-used paper bags.

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