My Odd Life- Part 1

Today........

It occurred to me that my life is really.....odd....

I have moved an average of once every 27 months for the last 16 years of my life.

The moves began when I relocated from the beautiful dessert of Phoenix to the ice capped, pot-holed streets of the Detroit area.....

WHO DOES THAT?  

Complete strangers in Michigan would hear that I moved from Phoenix to Detroit, and all they would say was....."WHY?"

The weather was a HUGE culture shock, and not only that....

I went to the Detroit area to love, serve, and learn at an AMAZING, WONDERFUL church....with a culture that was completely foreign to me...... I was CLUELESS!!!

Until that time, I never knew anything about "shout music," I had never, ever listened to Gospel Music, I didn't know how to sway properly, and never attended a church where the choir actually wore robes! 

I didn't know that jeans (which are appropriate for ANY occasion in the west) were not acceptable attire; I didn't know people still wore hats to church, and the only macaroni and cheese my kids had ever eaten up to that point came out of a little blue box. 

When my daughter first saw home-made macaroni and cheese, she asked what it was....when she was told it was macaroni and cheese, she said, "No, it's not....mac and cheese doesn't look like that!"  Well....not in our house, at least up to that time......

That may have offended our friend who had just worked so hard on making that amazing pan of lusciousness....

I probably said some things to people that were offensive back then....simply because....I REALLY didn't know!  SO.....PLEASE....Accept my apologies!

I just didn't know.....People even talked differently there.  

Shortly after the move, someone asked me, "Where ya staying at?"  That indicated to me that he thought we were only visiting.  I replied, "Oh, we live here now."  

He answered, "Yea, so where ya staying at?"  

This conversation was taking place in the large sanctuary, and there was a lot of background noise, so I figured he just didn't hear me.   I reiterated, trying to speak VERY CLEARLY....  "WE LIVE HERE NOW.  WE'RE NOT STAYING IN A HOTEL ANY LONGER.  WE ARE IN A HOUSE."  

God bless him; he continued the conversation...."Yea, so where ya staying...are you in Ferndale or Farmington Hills or Southfield?"

Finally the light went on for me.....OHHHHH.....He means, "Where are you living?"!!!!

Where I came from, the word "stay" had a temporary connotation...you stay at a hotel (i.e.  "We're staying at the Marriott").

The word "live" would be used in reference to the family home (i.e.  "We live in Louisiana").

People used abbreviations for things that were unintelligible to me.  I quietly asked a trusted friend what the abbreviations meant, and when I was told, I realized that it was something I should never say.....because  if I said it, it would have been considered wholly inappropriate ....but it took some painful mistakes to figure those things out....

I am eternally grateful for the friends who took me aside back then and lovingly explained things I didn't understand or things I was doing that were misunderstood!  God bless you, every one!!!

Sometimes I laugh out loud at where I've been and what I've done.  If there was ever a non-candidate for this type of life, it would have been me....or so you'd have thought from looking at my upbringing.....

I was always taught to be accepting of people, regardless of their ethnicity.  People are valuable to God.  Period.  I was taught to judge people by their character, and not their skin color. I was taught that we all have the same Maker, and He is no respecter of persons.......but I grew up in culturally and racially monochromatic neighborhoods and private schools.  

How did I get to the Detroit area?  Well, the simple part of the story is that the family moved there so mom and dad could attend Bible School and serve in the ministry..... 

But Detroit?  REALLY?

Our lives are sewn together with thin threads that lead you to the next step.  Sometimes those threads go unnoticed.....but the words you speak,  the prayers you pray, the books you read, and the people you associate with will determine where you are in 5, 10, or 15 years...

Years before I wound up in Detroit, I prayed about the divisions in the Body of Christ....saying that 11:00a.m. on Sundays should not be the most segregated hour in America....

And there I was....wearing a choir robe (in which I always felt completely out-of-sorts),  learning to sway, running to "shout music," getting rid of my jeans, and learning to make macaroni and cheese sans the blue box. 

A lot of people talk about helping America cross the racial divide, but few are willing to step over and make the effort to understand or even function in another culture....because it sounds a lot easier than it is!

I am thankful for for my pastor, who had a vision of a multi-cultural church, and I am thankful for the people who explained things to me and accepted me with my "strange" ways....

Here's the thing.....just because something is "strange" to you doesn't mean its wrong.  Choir robes were very strange to me...that doesn't make them wrong! I'm still not crazy about Gospel or Rap music, but as long as the lyrics are positive...hey....listen or sing away! 

On the other hand, if you really want to build a cross-cultural church (or any kind of organization) it would behoove you to be able to see things from lots of perspectives...Choir robes may be great, but is wearing jeans to church really a horrible thing?  Can you handle some contemporary worship along with your Gospel music? 

That move from Phoenix to Detroit was extremely difficult for me.....  I think I cried every day for 2 years......the weather was....so....ruthless, and, honestly...sometimes people were....

However...... I am so, so, so thankful that God found me available to love, serve, and learn at one of the most amazing churches in America!  

He opened my eyes to a lot of things that I never even knew were issues for people of a different race.  My life has been incredibly enriched, and I pray that I was a blessing to that organization and to individuals there as well.  

I encourage you to reach out today, reach across the dividing lines....your way isn't the only way....honor others as valuable, and learn something today!

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.....Galatians 3:28

I am still following God's direction, these 16 years later, and my life is still quite odd...

That is where we will pick up next week...in "My Odd Life-Part 2"

I'll blog ya next week, but maybe not on Thursday...it's Thanksgiving!  Until then, do something to fulfill your purpose!