I grew up in The Netherlands. My parents with their 5 children boarded the Holland America Line to cross the Atlantic Ocean in frigid winter of 1962/1963. My Christian parents went to Europe to work with a small church and save people. We had not come across the high seas on a boat to Americanize the Dutch but we were coming to share Jesus with them. Therefore my father quickly declared English off limits. We were going to learn to speak Dutch fluently and fit in. We’d be Christian examples to others so they could see Jesus in us.

One day it was my turn to say the prayer before dinner and while I had already learned many nouns in my new language I could not remember how to say, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen,” in Dutch so I just kept thanking God for ” forken, lepels, melk, appelen, borden, kaas, brood, zout, peper, tafel, stoel, Mama, Papa, Phil, Terry, Sally, en Linda,” until I exhausted my know Dutch nouns and all my family members and I quietly whispered, “I do not know how to finish this prayer in Dutch so I either have to start repeating things or end in English.” Immediately my Dad smoothly finished the prayer with, “In Jesus naam, Amen” That is the very tricky part of learning a new language, the things that are almost exactly the same are often the very hardest to remember.

My parents lived lives trying to be good examples. They sincerely desired to serve Jesus. They left the USA to serve people who were still bouncing back from World War II. Being courageous enough to leave your country, culture, and kitchen and start over as an adult with five children in tow is no piece of cake. You have to be willing to look simple, even dumb, and sound like a little child before you gain any kind of fluency in your new country. It will take a good amount of gumption, fortitude, tears, and heart break to survive. And my parents did it with all their heart. It became my ever present personal goal to also be a good example to others. My needs, my problems, my desires could be put on the back burner so I could tend to other people’s needs and show them Jesus. No temper tantrums, no screaming fits allowed, no pitty parties; Be in control of yourself, Be a good example to save others.

Succeeding at being a good example takes a lot of rigid self control. It is easy to desire to control one’s children, one’s spouse, even one’s self. Who does not desire to control how things will turn out in life? But the desire to control will create havoc in one’s life.

Can we lose something something we never truly had?
Soon I will be writing about how control was lost in my life.
Hope your Friday is filled with forever fun, family and friends.
P.S. -SP