Please Stop Running {A Life Overseas}

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by Jonathan

I’m writing today over at A Life Overseas.

 

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In my former life (and I mean that in a totally non-Buddhist way), I worked as a trauma nurse at an inner-city emergency department in the States. One of the first rules new hires had to learn in the ER was that No.One.Runs. Even if someone just got shot or stabbed or is actively dying, no one runs. Even if you have to go to the bathroom really bad, no one runs.

Even in the middle of taking care of a trauma victim, it was better to be calm and methodical than stressed out and in a hurry. So many times I heard a senior physician or nurse tell the newbie, “Slow down. Breath. Think.” The “slowness” of the attending physician didn’t mean she cared less about the patient. It didn’t mean she was lazy. It didn’t mean she was worn out. It meant she was experienced.

——

Could we just push pause for a second and invite the Prince of Peace to teach us what it might look like to live in peace, even in the ER? Even on the field?

For the full article, click here.

How Do You Write Your Name in the Land? {A Life Overseas}

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Here’s an excerpt from Elizabeth’s recent post on A Life Overseas:

Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of a woman from Maine who moves to Kansas as a mail-order bride for Jacob, a widower with two children. Jacob and Sarah fall in love, and by the beginning of the movie Skylark, they’ve been married for a couple years.

The people of Kansas are now facing a drought. The prairie dries up a little more each day, and it has truly become a “dry and thirsty land.” But Sarah comes from a place by the sea — a cool, wet place, where drought is unknown — and she’s never experienced a season like this before.

When the wells run dry, the people of the community travel to the river, hoping to find water there, but the river is nearly dry. In desperation, Sarah’s closest friend Maggie, and her husband Matthew, tell Jacob and Sarah that they are considering leaving the prairie and settling somewhere else. Sarah is so frustrated by this possibility that she blurts out:

“I hate this land. No, I mean it. I don’t have to love it like Jacob, like Matthew. They give it everything, everything, and it betrays them. It gives them nothing back. You know, Jacob once told me his name is written in this land. Well, mine isn’t. It isn’t.”

Maggie replies in a thick Scandinavian accent:

“You don’t have to love this land. But if you don’t, you won’t survive. Jacob is right. You have to write your name in it to live here.”

 

To read more, visit A Life Overseas here.

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MORE Reasons You Should Be a Missionary

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Your coffee shop will sell fresh meat AND fresh coconut milk. And coffee.

Your coffee shop will sell fresh meat AND fresh coconut milk. And coffee.

by Jonathan

At the end of my post on A Life Overseas called 10 Reasons You Should Be a Missionary, I asked the readers this question: If a “Top 10 List” could have 15, what would you add? Folks replied with some great stuff, which I’ve compiled and edited below.

So, just in case my Top 10 List didn’t convince you, here are some more reasons being an overseas missionary is awesome. To see all of the responses, view the original post.

– You’ll get to go off-roading in a 4×4 just to get to your village.

– All the chicken is “free range.” However, “free range” is interpreted loosely, and may in fact mean “they live and eat in the gutters and trash piles, freely.”

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I Married a Teenager

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by Jonathan

She was eighteen. A math and chemistry nerd, more fond of books and calculators than looks and popularity. She was more prone to quote a hymn or a textbook than a pop song or movie. She hated hot dogs. And donuts.

She stole my heart without even trying.

That teenaged college sophomore became my bride. My best friend became my wife.

And then she changed. Fourteen years later, the college kid I married is now a woman.

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The Two Most Romantic Things My Husband Ever Did

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by Elizabeth

I first saw you on a Sunday morning, in Bible class. The teacher asked a question, and I was so impressed by your answer. My heart sighed a happy sigh at the wisdom of your words. Oh how I loved going to church so I could talk with you afterwards about our favorite books and songs.

And you were so handsome, I was constantly trying not to look at you. I had such a crush on you. I don’t think I ever stopped having a crush on you, all through high school. It must have been so obvious to everyone.

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