Wednesday Web Wanderings

I was thinking about what to do with many of the interesting blogs I read each week on my Feedly reader, and thought I'd share some excerpts on here.

Third Culture Kids

When you first board a plane - I just like the 101 Dalmations gif!

Across Cultures

don't talk to me about women pastors - My friend is pursuing ordination in the COTN and has this to say about the controversy over ordaining women to ministry:

"We can value the giftings that God has given each of us, irrespective of gender or culture or generation or color. We can embrace the beautifully heartbreaking reality that God has assigned each of us a parish – a place of pain, and sin, and suffering full of ordinary people who desperately need.
They need freedom. They need a voice. They need spiritual food. They need physical food and medicine and education and protection. They need Jesus. And quite frankly, in the moment of their deepest suffering, they don’t care if the arms of Jesus belong to a man or a woman.
They care that Jesus has the power to save them. And He does."

One More Thing

Why we'll choose public school - Ryan writes about his perspective on choosing public education for their daughter.  I've wondered what this looks like in the Netherlands, rather than in America, as there are a number of Christian schools around - including one just down the street.  They seem more common than in America, perhaps less (externally) distinctive, and perhaps costing about the same.  I'd prefer not to homeschool so that my children would interact with peers that may be very different from them, and also so I can meet parents outside of Christian circles (that goes for Christian education too).  

"I guess what it boils down to is our belief that we're (and this is the proverbial we, not just my wife and I) - we're not just responsible for the education of our own children, but for the education of all children. As unfair as it seems, we're not isolated individuals; we are necessarily interconnected." 

Growing Family

Code Switching - Kohana and her family have lived in Australia for a number of years, and now they are back in America.  She writes about how they and their adopted black son are adjusting to life in America, particularly in the area of what she calls "transracial parenting."  This kind of code switching is something that I've never had to deal with, though I do switch languages and not just dialects.  She included this humorous video clip, illustrating cultural expectations within America.

Addie Zierman

One Small Change: Sunday Rest is a challenge for all of us to slow down and take some time off. In the Netherlands, most stores/businesses are closed on Sundays, which means if we haven't bought food for dinner the day before, we are stuck eating whatever we find in the house and/or ordering Chinese food.  I've generally found this to be an inconvenience, but perhaps I will slowly adjust to making Sunday a textbook-free, housework-free, perhaps even computer-free, day!  Perhaps the national tradition/law (?) will help push me away from a focus on what needs to be done.  I want to be more open to inviting people over after church on Sundays, which also means having enough sandwich/soup fixin's.
Guest blogger Heather Tencza writes,

"When I found my day of rest again, I also found another blessing. Working Saturday and Sunday made me feel scattered; I worked here and there and not always very productively. However, when I set aside Sunday, I worked diligently on Saturday to have that day free. When I had this balance in my life, I was better attuned to the needs of others. Instead of hurrying and rushing, I stopped and listened."

~*~

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