Book Review: The Translator January 11, 2009

The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur
By Daoud Hari
ISBN: 978-0670-91765-5

I just finished an incredible book called The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur written by Daoud Hari.  This tenacious young man was forced, along with his family, to leave his village in Darfur because of a complex chess game of sorts being played by the Arabs in Sudan regarding oil and resources.
The issues surrounding the Sudan-Darfur conflict are complicated, but Daoud does an awesome job putting a human face to the problem and describing the pure evil that has inflicted on innocent men, women and children. It seems as long as I can remember there has been turmoil in this region but actually there were years of peace while both Daoud and I enjoyed our childhoods growing up in very different traditions.  His joy in his culture is evident as he explains it clearly to western readers. You will want to join him with his camels or long to see the colorful traditional dress of the women.  His warm writing style makes you feel like one of his friends of which he speaks so highly. Even as I read through my review I realize I’m using his first name instead of how I normally refer to authors either by their surname or simply “the author.” After reading his book you will feel that you know a bit about what he has endured, except without the gravity which he must bear.
Daoud’s story is full of remarkable twists and near death incidents that keep you on the edge of your seat. If you didn’t know he was the one writing this memoir, you’d believe multiple times that this must be the end.  God has kept him on the planet so that he can share with the world the intimate details of what is actually happening in Darfur: genocide. He writes

Can you do that in this century? Can you solve all your problems by killing everyone in your way? That is for the world to decide. Deciding if and when the traditional people of Darfur can go home will also decide if genocide works or not, and therefore whether it will happen elsewhere in the world. It seems to me that this is as good a place to stop it forever.

The world cannot turn away from what is happening in Africa today – in regions like Darfur and other places. We cannot just watch movies and read books and grieve as an afterthought to the atrocities that are occurring right now.  You can make a difference by reading this book, praying for the Darfur people, paying attention to the news reports and letting our governments know that you support efforts to support Darfur. To find out more about how you can help, go to www.thetranslator-book.com.

What You Can Live Without November 14, 2008

We’ve been in Africa for almost 3 months now and we’re learning what is really necessary in life. It’s amazing as Americans what we have come to just expect out of life. No-wait internet, central heating and air, satellite tv, my own car, mail delivery and home phone lines were all just part of my regular life back in the states – none of which we have currently in Swaziland. And to be honest it’s not too bad.

The people we work with have even less. We are wealthy compared to the majority of Swazis. In fact, I heard a fact recently that if you have the education to be able to read a book and finances to purchase a book, you are among the wealthiest people in the world. And I believe if you’re reading this on the internet you may be in an even higher minority.

Average Americans do not consider themselves to be wealthy, but we are! Our blessings are way beyond the norm compared to the world. I believe part of the blessings given to America is because of our Christian heritage and being founded on truth from God’s Word. While everything in America is far from perfect, God has been so gracious to us and continues to shine His grace on us. Praise God!

Where I Have Been November 14, 2008

So I’ve moved to Swaziland, Africa – a small country about the size of New Jersey that borders South Africa and Mozambique. We only have dial-up speed of internet service so updating the wordpress blog has been challenging. I’m really enjoying living in Africa but would love faster internet service. Right now we are on a little holiday to Durban, South Africa so I have great internet. Just wanted to let you know – if I still have any readers – where I’ve been.

Hastitly Make It To Hastings August 12, 2008

So we are trying to clean out our house as we prepare to rent it while we are in Swaziland. Thankfully some good friends are staying here and we’ll be leaving some of our stuff that we hope to get to Africa at a later date. Today we sorted – once again – through our books. Both of us love books so this has been an on-going process. Sort – giveway – sort some more – giveaway some more.

A couple of weeks ago I found a new motivation for sorting and getting rid of more books – Hastings. It’s a gigantic store that sells movies, cds, video games, and books – new and used. They will buy – for cash or the best, store credit – used items that they sell. So we took three big bags full of books and received over $100 in store credit!! Pretty good considering those books would have been attempted to sell at a garage sale for next to nothing. Now we can use store credit to buy more books (and dvds) to take to Swazi! Pretty cool.

25 years ago…. August 11, 2008

I saw this on someone’s blog a while back and just finished my post. It’s fun! Just an abbreviated history of my life…

25 years ago…My sister and I were playing Barbie dolls. I lived in Kenner, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. We loved our house, but our parents said it was too small and we were planning to build our dream house in Mandeville, Louisiana. We went to Walter G. Schneckenburger Elementary (can you imagine learning to spell THAT as a 1st grader!), a small neighborhood school that we walked to everyday. Times were different…

A year later our brother Peter was born and he was the joy of our lives…a real live doll!

20 years ago… We were now a family in crisis…after a four year battle with cancer my mother passed away when I was 14. The silver lining the dark cloud over our family was my father’s decision to follow Jesus days before my mother died. I think she finally knew my dad would be ok. So my high school years (and jr. high) were filled with the normal teenage stuff of dating, church youth group, dance team and band plus the abnormal stuff of caring for a little brother and cooking and cleaning at home. My sister and I tried to fill all the gaps left by my mom’s death…exhausting.

15 years ago… I was in college at The University of Southern Mississippi and feeling the freedom of just having to keep up with myself. I like to say I was in college for the entire experience, not just education, but actually it was an education in life. I dated a bunch of completely different people. I handled my money so poorly at one point I gave my checkbook to my sister and asked her not to let me spend any money. (She was at Southern Miss too.) I grew as a Christian and was actively involved at church and my college ministry. My immaturity made me a paradox of sorts, but it was all a big learning curve. It’s good to look back and remember that…and give grace to those who are there now.

10 years ago…I’ve been teaching for two years with Shelby county as a hearing specialist traveling and a little time at West TN School for the Deaf. God has been radically changing my life through my involvement at The Life Church of Memphis. I came on staff at The Life Church as a little bit of everything. I answered the phones, assisted the pastors, copied sermon tapes, led the children’s ministry and did whatever needed to be done to make church a success. It was a great learning time for me…full of new, exciting things! 

5 years ago…Now living in Memphis, I was in my fifth year on staff at The Life Church of Memphis. This would a great year for me as I was finally feeling at home in my role as Children’s Pastor. I was living with my sister and best friend in a house we had all purchased together. While being single was never my goal, it was becoming a fun thing. We watched tons of Jane Austen movies, traveled, entertained friends and enjoyed life. And I had a precious little Pomeranian who received all our nurturing and caring tendencies…needless to say she was spoiled rotten.

Today…I have been married the perfect partner in life for me – Greg Evans – for almost 3 years. Both of us were in our thirties when we met, but we adjusted well to married life and love it! We are getting ready to move to the mission field of Africa. We don’t have any children yet, but have two dogs – Cocoa and Sugar – who we love! We’re so excited (and nervous) to be moving and beginning this new chapter of our lives! 

Too Many Promises to Count August 1, 2008

A few Sundays ago we were visiting a church and heard a great sermon – though a little ambitious – the speaker had 27, yes 27!, points to his sermon. Needless to say he did not get through it in the 30 minutes he had to speak and had to rush through the end of it. Regardless, the points were great – all God’s promises to us based entirely on God’s word. He started it by saying that is not like so many people depict him to be – mean, and glaring down from above waiting to strike us if we mess up. Instead, God has a loving heart towards us and wants the very best for our lives. From the time of creation to the when Jesus returns, God is always about drawing His creation back to Himself. The promises in the Bible are too numerous to even count, but here are a couple that struck a chord with me.

God Turns Curses Into Blessings! – Deuteronomy 23:5 – “…He (God) turned the intended curse into a blessing because the Lord your God loves you.” What the devil intends for evil, God works for the good of those who love Him and are called to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Jesus showed this even on the cross when the devil thought he had beaten Jesus by killing him. What he didn’t realize was this marked a huge turning point in our relationship with God because Jesus paid the price for our sin. And death could not keep him down.

In my own simple life I’ve seen this played out over and over. Like with the death of my mother – while it’s not the way I’d like to grow spiritually, God has used it for good in not only my life, but my whole family’s life.

I’ve been rear-ended and received more money from the insurance company than it really took to fix my car.

When I first moved to Memphis my roomie and I accidentally got an apartment in the ‘hood. Numerous times the cops were called to our apartment cove area for a neighbor’s drug dealing, we suspect. We prayed and decided to just take the hit that breaking our year-long lease 3 months into it would result. Instead the apartment complex offered to let us transfer to a new property they had just purchased in Cordova. All our deposits transferred PLUS we got the move-in special of a month free rent. (It happened to be December so we were overjoyed to have some extra money for presents!!)

How has God turned a curse into a blessing in your life?

Happy 4th of July! July 4, 2008

I love celebrating Independence Day! Though, my husband just told me that the declaration of independence was actually voted on July 2nd (his birthday!) but the newspapers didn’t report it until the 4th, so the 4th it is! I love that our country, the great experiment is still the free-est places on earth; a place where you can pursue your dreams and a place full of opportunity.

Now I realize that right now we are all focused on the problems of our country because we are in an election year. Everyone likes to make the case that we are so bad off and that we have so far to go. But let me tell you – as a person who has traveled some to other countries – I am so thankful for my American passport. I’m thankful that in spite of all our challenges, we are still the greatest nation in the world! (I know – some American pride there!) But we still are farther ahead than many other countries in working out our issues. Just like every family has some dysfunction – every nation has issues to keep working out. But today is day to put aside all those issues and focus on the great things about our nation. So as I sit here in my red, white and blue, here are a few things I love about the US of A:

1. Women can vote, drive, work, and generally enjoy all the same rights as men.
2. Anyone with the perseverance, capital, and guts can open their own business.
3. Freedom to worship the way I choose.
4. You can own a gun if you want to.
5. Free public education.
6. Fireworks on the 4th of July!
7. Disney World!
8. Hawaii – what a great addition to our 50 states!
9. College football
10. Minor league baseball
11. Immigration – my dad became a US citizen in 1972!
12. Free refills and ice in drinks at restaurants.
13. Reasonable laws and policies – for the most part, they make sense.
14. Equal access to representation
15. In God We Trust
16. Smooth transition between administrations – there’s not a chance of a coup or that Bush will refuse to vacate the office of president when the election happens later this year. As we move to Africa, I appreciate this even more!
17. The idea of personal responsibility – we are not completely dependent on our government for everything!
18. Good hygiene and health habits

Those are off the top of my head…I’ll update…what do you love?

Irony June 5, 2008

Ironic that my last post was about dealing with grief and tomorrow my dad will attend his mother’s funeral. We called my grandmother Farmor, Norwegian for father’s mother. She still lived in Norway where my father is from, so we did not get to grow up knowing her very well. My sister and I had a wonderful visit with her when we went to Norway about 3 years ago. Please say a prayer for my dad and his brother, her only children, as they attend the funeral and all the things that go along with that. Thanks.

Deal With It May 16, 2008

I’m continuing to read Joyce Meyer’s book, The Secret to True Happiness, and I had to share this about this chapter about grief I read a couple of days ago. It’s probably the best advice I’ve ever read about grief.

Grief is not really a topic that you want to read about. I mean, really, who wants to pick up C.S. Lewis’ Grief Observed unless you really need to deal with grief. And then it’s hard to really absorb what you need. It’s kind of like getting ready for swim in the ocean. The time to put on your swimsuit is not when you are walking into the ocean. You’re going to get soaked! Grief hits you like a huge wave and can really knock you over if you’re not prepared for it. I know – it hit me hard 20 years ago when my mother passed away.

She had been sick for some time with cancer, but being the positive believing Christians that we were, we didn’t go there in our minds…at least I didn’t. When she died, I immediately went into shock. A normal reaction – in fact, a healthy reaction that God designed to keep us from being knocked over by the emotions of it all. It’s the numbness you feel after a big loss; the just-going-through-the-motions type of living. It’s healthy for a little bit, but will not last forever. Sometimes the shock happens directly after a loss and we see the person standing strong, believing God, and seemingly doing good. Then all the attention ends, life goes on, and people go back to their normal things. And the shock wears off.

This is where I detoured on my grief process as a teenager. After shock is the emotion, the feelings all come rushing back. The tears flow and the deep pain comes. Or at least it’s supposed to. For me, I bottled up those feelings. Sure, I had nights when I cried, but I stuffed most of these feelings deep down inside because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with them. When you stuff anything, especially emotions, it’s like trying to bottle up shaken soda. It will look like things are calm, but it will eventually explode.

My explosion came along 7 years after my mother died, after some of the effects of having such pain bottled up had already done some damage on my young adult life. I was in college, just hanging out at the mall. I’m sure my emotions were already a wreck just because I didn’t handle stress well at all back then. I’m not so great now, but at least I recognize it better. While walking in the mall, I found a new book called Motherless Daughters all about women who had lost their mothers and how it affected them. I read the back flap and it pegged me totally. I was reading a description of my life. I could barely hold it together in that bookstore. I bought the book and immediately started reading it at home. And the emotions came – like a tidal flood. For about a week, I cried and cried. I remember talking to my sister and her saying gently – “I think you need to talk to someone.”

So I went to my college pastor and he directed me to a wonderful counselor. She helped my admit my feelings and deal with it instead of stuffing it down. She said great advice that I do today – when you find yourself dealing with emotions, give yourself a break and do something you love. Taking time to relax will give you the energy to deal with your emotions. None of us are super-human. Even Jesus – who WAS supernatural – took time to weep when he found that his friend Lazarus had died. He has experienced every emotion we have. He knows our weaknesses and can comfort us in the middle of our despair. 

Joyce Meyer continues explaining the grief process – anger is the next stage. I don’t really know why anger is in there, but it’s part of the whole thing. Remember, the Bible urges us to be angry but don’t sin. Go to God with your questions, your crazy thoughts, and even your anger. He can handle it and He will help you through it. We can’t understand why everything happens the way it does, but we can trust in a loving God who is working even the cruddy bad stuff for our good. 

The key to this process is the keep moving through the process. It make take weeks, months or years, but however long, I urge you to keep moving forward. Don’t stuff it like I did. Or think that you can bypass the process. Just let the Holy Spirit comfort you and be honest with yourself and God. Loss is a part of our life, but it doesn’t have to define our lives. God can bring us through it to the point we won’t recognize ourselves on the other side! 

Passing the Grade May 7, 2008

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a challenging situation and wondered – how did I get here? Many times I assume that a difficulty is the enemy trying to discourage me, but really it could be a test set up by God for my benefit. I ask for it sometimes when I pray the Psalm – “Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” (Psalm 139:23)  Everyday I surrender to God and say, He knows what is best. But then when the best thing is for me to be tried and tested through a tough time, I panic.

What have these testing times developed in me? In James, it says it develops perseverance. And perseverance must finish its work so I will be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4) So trials can pretty much bring about anything and everything that I need. God tests us when we are headed for a blessing so He can see if we are ready for it. A blessing without the testing can be disasterous – just look at the young stars who can’t handle fame or lottery winners who squander all their money. The children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for forty years because they were not ready for the blessing that God had prepared for them. They were led to the wilderness by God, but they didn’t pass the test! Whoa! Are there things in my life that I’m longing for that I’m not passing the test for?

So if trials and testing are so good for me, why do I dread them so much? Because I need to learn to trust God more. Tests and trials are bearable when our trust in God is high. Trust comes from knowing someone well enough that you can relax when they are in charge. It comes from understanding His purposes are higher and greater than my purposes. And comprehending how deep and how wide His love for me really is. Joyce Meyer writes in her new book – The Secret to True Happiness (the book that spurred these thoughts of mine – chapter 7) – “…don’t forget that trust allows you to enter God’s rest; only in that place can you truly enjoy your life.”

I’m going to enjoy my life – everyday – through the trials and tests because I know they are for my benefit and making me into the person God intends for me to be. I know I’ll not always remember that in the middle of tough stuff, but renewing your mind now helps in the future.