Welcome to the May 1st edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
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The Story of My Week
My family made a huge transition this week.
We moved from Spain to Senegal.
Yep, after over 5 years in Spain, my job moves me to Senegal.
When you have a small family, it’s important to have connections in the new location before transitioning.
I had been traveling between Spain and Senegal since the notification from my office.
This allowed me to create a couple of connections to ease the family move.
I got a recommendation on a school, we got in and we have started the usual school runs already.
This ensures that the kids start creating connections. It minimizes boredom and feelings of “I’m not happy here.”
This is the second time we are moving into a new language. It's important to have people who we can speak with as quickly as possible to minimize isolation.
We have also got a church where we have people who can become friends.
I had shown up there a couple of times to make friends.
So, there were people ready to welcome other members of the family.
We start a new phase of our family life.
But it's part of the big picture that God has been working out through us.
During the 1st or 2nd year of my undergraduate studies, a prophecy was said over me.
The visiting preacher at my campus fellowship said "God was sending me to the nations of the world for the sake of the Gospel"
Some years later, God sent someone else to reaffirm the prophecy - someone I had not met until he came to deliver the prophecy and I have not seen afterward.
The prophecy did not come alive until over 20 years later.
But everything I did, how I lived my life afterward worked towards its fulfillment.
I know I am a Workplace Multiplier - this is where I spread the gospel.
Now we are on to another country.
Another place to let God's fragrance be experienced.
Things I Learnt
1-Hearing Unknown Stories: A couple of ladies in my wife's community group had a farewell get-together just before we left.
Two of the ladies shared stories of how the meetings we used to have in our apartments helped to bring their husbands closer to God.
They didn't even have a Bible.
From hanging out with us during our family community group (aka Cell meetings), they started getting interested in the gospel.
I remember how one of the husbands had come to meet me after one of those meetings to ask how long it took me to prepare for the meeting.
He said he understood better than the Sunday sermons.
I don't think it was because I did a better job.
It's probably because he could ask questions and get responses. He was not left hanging.
This is one of the reasons why Pastor Tim Keller despite his age is probably more in tune with cultural issues. He pastored in New York and used to have regular Q&A sessions after his sermons.
Doing that helped him to learn more from the audience as his audience became better.
I am glad that we could be part of the transformation in the families of these ladies.
We hope to continue doing this.
2-Don't Blame Spouses But the Offenders: One of my colleagues at the office had an issue with a domestic staff at her home.
After over 2 years, she all of a sudden decided to stop working after making a fuss over something very pedantic.
The colleague said she was surprised. She reached out to her brother to know if anything was wrong.
He could not provide any insight.
As she spoke with me, she said “it must be her husband.”
I smile when I hear such statements like these.
When a spouse makes a life blunder, we are quick to blame the spouse.
Consider Prince Harry leaving the Royal Family. It must be Megan’s fault.
Or Will Smith - it must be the spouse that pushed him to the point of doing what he did.
Years ago, my wife and I signed up for marriage mentoring training.
The older couple that worked with us had over 50 years of married life between them.
One lesson I learned from them which stuck with me is this.
“One of the biggest burdens you carry as a spouse is not to try to change your partner but to live with the consequences of what your partner’s behavior brings.”
This means I am responsible for my actions as my partner is responsible for hers.
Anything I do is all my fault - no matter the role my spouse may have played leading up to it.
Every day I live with my spouse is a result of the decision I made at the beginning to commit the rest of my life to her.
This is why I don’t go with the “it’s the spouse’s partner that is responsible for the spouse’s behavior” excuse.
The offender is the responsible party, not the spouse.
Postscript
May you be reminded about the new life of Jesus in you that gives you the courage to take responsibility for everything you do. May that sense of responsibility help you to discover the grace for change available to you. Amen
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Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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