At the beach Joy spends most of her time reading and I sleep. We spend a lot of time talking. This trip, although not on the agenda, we concentrated on cultural differences. One day for young kids rode up the beach on a four wheeler and struck up a conversation. Come to find out two of the kids were from a small town close to where we live. They were vacationing with their families at another resort nearby. One of their questions was if we had any food that we wanted to share with them. We said no, but later regretted it. Their question was the spark that ignited our discussion about cultural differences. ….and you thought I had forgotten about the subject.
Another thing that happened that afternoon was that a large extended family group moved into the cabana next to us (about 25 feet away). We were quietly sleeping on our little porch, and they were being very loud and boisterous. It seemed very rude to us, but they turned out to be very nice folks, and I’m sure never considered their behavior inconsiderate. I know we have written about cultural differences before, but (after 5 years) the longer we are here the more we understand how little we understand.
I was brought up a traditional church of Christer. It is very difficult for me to separate tradition from scripture, but it is extremely important to do so when trying to persuade a soul to become a disciple of Christ. We are finding it incredibly difficult to be an example to folks we don’t understand. After a couple of days at the beach we think we have our heads on straight but fully realize we do not.
Joy and I and our marriage are good – probably better than ever. I will see some of you next week when I will be in Yellville for a month with my Mom. Joy and Yari will be holding down the place while I’m gone.
Thank you for your prayers for us and the young Christians here.
2 comments:
There has been so much snow and cold here this week, A couple of days at the beach sounds lovely
An Arkies Musings
:)
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