I want to introduce you to my boss today, friends — Jeff Pinneo, the President and CEO of Medical Teams International. He was in Greece last week, holding chariot races with Syrian refugee kids in Camp 14.
And doing other stuff, too, but I think this was the most important.
I always think it’s the most important to make moments of joy in the middle of great sadness. ...
Oh, friends, I have OPINIONS on the Syrian refugee crisis. And opinions on terror. And opinions on Paris. And Lebanon. And ISIS. I sure do! Opinions GALORE. And I would LOVE to share my (awesome) thoughts on immigration, security, politics and faith with you.
I have WORDS, y’all.
PROFOUND IDEAS, no doubt.
I just wrote a flurry of them.
And then I hit delete, erasing them all. POOF. Gone. On purpose. ...
I made writing to you a priority ever day for ReLent — you know; ReLent, which is “Lent Again” for those of us who forgot to do it the first time around. Whenever possible, minus a few extraordinary circumstances along the way, I’ve kept my promise. Writing drivel at times, yes. And using a very liberal interpretation of “extraordinary circumstances” because I believe to my toes that you, like me, know that “can’t keep going” and “need rest” and “have to watch Outlander” count as extraordinary. ...
I’ve been a little off the grid lately, for which I’d apologize except that apologizing for attempting to manage a life that’s full-to-overflowing seems a little silly and a little like I think you wouldn’t understand. Like I think you’re not this busy. Like I think you’re not trying to hold things together, too. And I’m not opposed to being silly, but I think we’re past that last part, right? Apologizing for doing the best we can? Or for doing our mediocre, which sometimes is the best we can? Right. So let’s skip that part, shall we? Excellent. Moving on. ...
We adopted our oldest daughter from Vietnam and our next two kiddos from Guatemala, so we regularly consider ways to incorporate their birth countries into our family life.
Now, because I’m me and you’re you and we’re not good at facades around here, I’ll tell you I sort of suck at the more common or, shall we say, consistent ways other adoptive families blend cultures. None of my kids have had language lessons. We rarely remember to participate in adoptive family group gatherings. We once, ten years ago, celebrated a Vietnamese holiday but we’ve never managed a repeat with a Guatemalan fiesta. And we haven’t done well at participating in our local Asian or Latino communities. All of those are good ideas. I fully support them. I even intend to keep making attempts. But the current reality is, we don’t manage to do them. ...
(This is after the Medical Teams International Big RunI ran a 5K last weekend.
It was a miracle.
Four show-offy senior citizens passed me, speed walking, on the course. I didn’t care, though. Pfft; not me. I ran a 5K, folks, just four weeks after starting the Couch-to-5K program again. Last time I did Couch-to-5K, it took me 16 weeks to complete 9 weeks worth of sessions. So my running is slower than old people walk? Whatever. I totally outpaced the lady with the oxygen tank, so I’m marking it in the win column. ...
Today, I’m privileged to be guest posting in honor of Mother’s Day at Medical Teams International.
I work part-time at Medical Teams International because their mission – to demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty around the world – owns my heart. In a world where atrocities exist, where people hurt each other, and where the very Earth can heave and buckle and betray the people who depend on it, I am honored to be part of the amazing work of healing the sick, caring for the poor, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. This is part of the life to which I’m called and a glimpse deep inside my heart’s desire. ...
