When we first decided to move to the DR in April, you can imagine there was a multitude of responses from friends and family. The most striking to me was this: "I could never do that to my kids." But we felt something missing, something empty for us in the everyday typical life.
Tim and I, for anyone who knows us, suffer from severe wanderlust. After 5 years max we get antsy for something else or more or different or whatever. For several years we have chatted with friends about wanting our kids to have a different story.
To us the most interesting adults and young adult children of friends are those who have a story beyond what is typical. I distinctly remember standing at a welcome home party for a friend's son who had returned from Iraq for a leave. His younger brother who was about 22 at the time was talking with me. He said "Yea, Mrs. Chittenden, I just feel a need to get out of the country for the summer so I'm headed to an orphanage in Africa for six weeks." Um, really?!?! You are 22, shouldn't you want to go to a beach house and party with friends? That's what all 22 year olds want to do, isn't it? That's what I would have done. But you know, all the stories that come from beach houses really sound the same don't they? Talk to me about your trip to Africa...now that's something I don't get to talk about every day. The same two young men grew up being moved from country to country for their dad's job: France, China, US and more. They have a different story.
On a daily basis the boys are now surrounded by people who have different stories. One teacher who is 28 has been to 15 different countries. He has worked in the DR before at SCS and has been a missionary teacher in Korea and a missionary in the Romania. Here is something he posted several years ago:
"Graduating from ***ville I had a plan that in my mind would have been nothing short of perfect. Go home for a year while I got my feet on the ground at a good job in the area, until the opportunity opened up to teach in the district I progressed through from kindergarten to graduation. Move out, find a nice mid-west girl, settle down and start blah blah blah. God definitely had different plans, and I am thankful, because I can't imagine being that closed minded 22 year old. Culture has a way of opening one's eyes to the bigger picture. Experiencing another culture has a way of breaking one down and causing reevaluation of everything. Suddenly, I have gone from this cocky college grad to knowing that there are so many more important things than the silly things we as Americans tend to stress about on a daily basis."
Yup, different story.
And another guy teacher at the school has worked in Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bolivia, Taiwan, Israel, Northeast India, Cameroon, England, Mexico, and Tibet.
Everyday we chose as parents what our children are exposed to. Do we control it all? No. Should we control it all? Certainly not. But through conversations and experiences our children can experience more than video games and hang outs at the mall. Before I was a believer I said to a Christian friend "I don't want to force my religion on my kids." She said "Why not? The world spends millions of dollars and hours forcing itself on them. Why wouldn't you, maybe not force but, share your convictions with them? Christianity is not a religion. Religion has a sense of obligation and rules. Christianity is a relationship so introduce them to God. Jesus
We don't know why God called us to the DR. Maybe it is as simple as meeting these guy teachers, people our boys can relate to, spend time with and see the world through. Maybe it is to put in check with the things we take for granted in the US. Maybe a million different reasons. Maybe we will never know in our lifetime. Maybe we'll return to the states and their lives will be typical again but their story will never be the same. But one thing is certain...we didn't do it "to" our kids.
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I love this post! As parents, we all do the best we can. I think it's awesome that your boys get to learn a new culture by living it, not just reading about it. I just pray that if God called me to move my family to another country, I would be as faithful a servant as you. We tend to get cought up in the details that we don't understand, but you boldly answered the call and I am honored to know you and follow your journey. I may never be called to move to another country, but I hope that when God calls me to step out in faith, I would be able to jump with both feet. You are an inspiration!
From someone who has chosen to live the "boring life" full of "blah,blah,blah" I feel a bit offended. Life is a constant battle and we do our best to raise our children and teach them what is right and wrong. I don't think there is only one way to learn that lesson. I think we can achieve this wherever we chose to do so, whether it is in NC or some place far away from here. Sometimes the daily grind of every-day life requires more strength and courage then we ever thought would be asked of us, but in the end, we know it is where we need to be.
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