A Can of Worms

I took my new (American) neighbor on a cultural adventure yesterday. We went to my friend's village, and I taught her how to harvest rice. Afterwards, we were chilling in my friend's house, where his wife served us coffee (that he planted, harvested, roasted, and ground himself) and we talked. What I like about this friend is that our lives are different in basically every way.

I am the oldest of three kids, and he is the youngest of nine.
I am single, and he is married with three kids.
I am a 30 year old female, and he is a 50 year old male.
I moved halfway around the world, and he still lives in the house he was born and raised in.
I take my toilet for granted, and he just got running water in his house 2 years ago.
I do not smoke, and he firmly believes that if he ever quits chain smoking, he will die.
I have a college degree, and I'm not sure he ever finished high school.

So our talks are always interesting, and we almost always have different opinion and/or perspectives. We talked about several things yesterday afternoon over our coffees while it thunderstormed outside. My neighbor has only been here 7 months, so she is still learning Indonesian. At one point, I turned to her and asked if she was bored, and she told me she wasn't, that she was enjoying listening to Indonesian without feeling the pressure of having to respond herself. I imagine I must have had an impish grin on my face as I said to her, "Then watch me open up this can of worms."

And I turned back to my Indonesian friend and asked, "So what do you think of America's new president?" My neighbor gasped.

But my friend excitedly told me how into American politics he's gotten. He confessed that on voting day, he stayed up until 2 AM watching the news to see who won and to watch the news coverage of it. But then he told me that he doesn't think Trump is a good president. I asked him why and he said, "Because he doesn't have a heart." I asked what he meant, and he said, "Your president says he is a Christian, but Jesus says in the Bible that if you really love Him, you will take care of others. People in this world are being persecuted and killed and they are running away from evil, and does your president even know about them? Does he care about them? Because he told them they cannot come into your country. Where is his heart? Where is his compassion?"

And for once, I could not disagree.

How Many Months??

Four months ago, I left America to come back to Indonesia. I can't believe it has ONLY been four months. Life here is so hectic and not at all routine and time seems to move more quickly here than anywhere else. I mean, just look at all that has happened since I've been back in country...

• We've celebrated Idul Adha, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the New Year, and Lunar New Year.
• I've renewed my driver's license AND my motorbike registration AND my visa.
• I got a new phone.
• I spent half a week in Hong Kong.
• I've had two different bosses
• We've had six deaths in our community.
• I've been to three funerals.
• I've had a throat infection, pinkeye, and two different head colds.
• I've said one big goodbye to a close friend who moved to another island.
• My home country elected a new president.
• I've been to three different athletic tournaments (this number will increase to 5 within the next 3 weeks).
• I've read 18 books.
• I spent a week on Bali.
• I've helped host a ministry team.
• I've made 9 trips to other cities.
• I've taken a massive language exam.
• My town has had an earthquake AND a tornado.
• Six of my students have been hospitalized.
• My teaching schedule has changed twice.

I feel like I'm forgetting so much. Many other things have happened, good and bad. But man... How has it only been four months?!

Our Words

Today, a 7th grade girl came to me. This girl has never talked to me before. I have never taught her before. But I knew her name. And she came to me. And she asked me to pray for her.

So I did.

I thanked God for her and for bringing her to our school. I praised God for the talents He has given her and for all the good things that He has done in her life. And I prayed many other things over her.

Somewhere in the middle of all the things I prayed, she began to sob uncontrollably. And when I finished praying, I hugged her for a long time. Then she pulled away from me with tears in her eyes and asked one question. This girl who has never, ever spoken to me before. After everything I had just prayed, she asked,

"What talents do you see in me?"

So I started listing things. I don't know her very well, but right away, I was able to tell her three great talents that I myself have seen in her or that I've heard other teachers talk about. I told her how highly other people speak of her. And then I asked her,

"Don't you know you are talented?"

And she said no. And she began to cry again.

Nobody had ever told her before.

Nobody.

This beautiful, athletic, intelligent, linguistic, hard-working fourteen year old girl. And nobody had ever told her how special she was.

All day, I've been thinking back over that conversation. And about how I use my words. I use them to teach. I use them to discipline. I use them to joke.

I so rarely use my words to compliment or even to encourage.

Words are powerful things. We see how powerful they are when they are used negatively. But they are equally as powerful when we use them to speak truth and life.

What do you do with your words?