Our Creed on Culture

We, The Mosby's love God & His Son, our Savior, Jesus.

 We also love people. People that He created in His image, out of love.

We believe...

 ...that the differences in culture, people, language and customs are good & we celebrate them.

...that culture & differences among us are to draw us closer to Jesus & to glorify God.

...that in every culture there are pieces that are reflections of Jesus. We love discovering new cultures.

...that every person, created in the image of God, reflects aspects of who He is and His character.

...we live in a fallen, sinful world so sometimes, those pieces are really hard to find in a culture and a person. Sometimes they are buried deep. Sometimes they're buried deep by sin, government systems, pain, loss, grief, greed, selfishness, pride, beliefs, customs, and the list goes on and on.

...Sometimes those pieces of God, are more obvious and easier to see;  like; in the Chinese & how they take care of their family & in the province of Yunan, in the passion of the Koreans & in the beauty of Sorakson, in the huge smiles and hospitality of the Thais, & in their Northern Mountains & in their beautiful beaches,  in the free spirits of the Costa Ricans & in their lush coffee farms, in the determination of the Americans & the Tex Mex of the Texans ;),  in the simplicity of the Haitains & in the strength amidst the rubble of Port Au Prince.

We are determined to see God's fingerprints upon all the cultures He allows us to, even if sometimes we have to dig deep.

...that God loves every person and that Jesus died for every man & woman.

...that He is God over all. Over every culture & every heart, regardless of a country or culture's belief.

...in loving the world & it's people as Jesus loved us. Humbly, selflessly, courageously & fully.

...God wants every nation, every tongue & every man/woman to know His love for them by Jesus sacrifice on the cross.

What are some of your beliefs about culture?

In Those Small but Huge Moments

It's funny how the smallest of experiences can be the biggest of encouragements in following the Lord. Because, that's the thing though, isn't it, sometimes things that seem so small, actually are huge to your heart. And sometimes those small but huge things are the reminders we need that God is with us. That He never leaves us. That He's for us and good and oh so faithful.

In Thailand we had one of those small but huge moments. 

We were on our awesome and relaxing road trip when we hit a pot hole and got a huge bubble in our tire. We were far up into Northern Thailand and about 3 1/2 hours out of Chiang Mai, where we needed to get back to for the night. To get a bubble in our tire, when we had that trip ahead of us, and the sun was about to set, was deflating. Pun intended. ;) We found a spot to pull over, which just happened to be at a hill tribe village entrance, which worked out perfect, and Zachary and some of the locals changed our tire out for the donut in the trunk, while I toured the village. I say Zachary and some locals changed it but really what I mean is, in usual Thai hospitality, the locals took over and refused to let Zachary do any labor. They changed the tire and sent us on our way.

We knew we needed to find a tire shop soon, as it would have probably not been a smart idea to drive the 3 1/2 hours, which included several windy stretches, in the dark, and through the mountains, on a donut. So we just started praying for God's provision and trusting that He'd provide. About 30 minutes later, He did, in a small enough town that we're not even sure the name. We pulled into a tire shop and were immediately greeted by a group of young guys, eager to help us. We quickly found out that 3 of the 5 were Christians. We would tell them thank you for their help and they would quickly say, "No thank God! It's dangerous. Oh, thank God." We, in our zero Thai, their broken English, our Chinese, and hand motions, shared in God's goodness, praising Him. We felt so blessed by them and their love for Jesus, in the middle of North Thailand, on this random night, surrounded by temples & a culture thats predominately Buddhist. They loved Jesus. It just flowed from their lips and we felt it in their spirit. One of the guys was Chinese who had lived in Thailand for 9 years. We shared and laughed in Chinese, thankful again, for more ways to communicate. We met his wife and son, and sang "happy birthday" to his son, who's 4th birthday it was. We just happened to get there for his birthday and were able to gift him with the treats we had in our car. It was good and a sweet moment.

We left these guys, new tire on, a nicer tire than what was on it and for a little over $10, with our hearts full. We left their shop at sunset and felt a peace go with us as we approached all the mountains and treacherous, windy roads we drove so slowly on, in the day, on the way through and would have to now drive at night. We felt a little anxious about all the curves and the darkness but had a confidence in our Protector and Provider and we felt giddy. Giddy at the time we had with those guys and giddy at how awesome God is.  These small moments, connecting with other believers, feeling that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, dwell in them and in us, brings life to our weary bones and it doesn't matter where we go, He's there. And faithful and provides for our needs, no matter how small or trivial.  Where shall I go from Your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, You are there!  If I make my ben in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning,  and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,  even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Psalm 139:7-12

Love Your Neighbor: The Homeless

This is not a post about the issues involved in homelessness. It's not taking a stance on politics. And it's not an invitation to a debate about if people are actually suffering or just lazy, etc. Though, I suppose anything posted on the internet for all to see is always open for debate.  This is simply a post in response to the two greatest commandments, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; And your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27 Who is my neighbor?  This is a good question and thankfully someone in the 1st century asked the same question to Jesus.

Essentially, your neighbor is someone you see in need. 

Before I get into this post let me just say, loving the homeless is often hard. The closer you get sometimes the more confusing it gets. Sometimes, if you hear their stories, it gets really hard. Loving someone who lives so differently than you, that the majority of the world looks down on, that's dirty, that's unknown, it's hard. More than once it has gone through my head to walk a different way when I have known a certain area or place is where a homeless person usually is. Many times I've had to resist that urge and that selfishness. It's not easy. But we must do it. I must do it. If I lack compassion, I have to pray I find it. If I lack the strength, I have to pray the Lord gives it. Why? Because Jesus says to love my neighbor as myself and because whole heartedly I believe that they are loved by God and I want to love them too.                                                                                source So, practically, how can we help the homeless. Without going into the numerous ways of active support for the homeless and organizations that are already established, how can you and I do something simple to aide our brother or sister who lives without a home. There are 4 things that I think are so important when engaging with the homeless. 

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1. Talk to them.  Honestly, I think the majority of the homeless, especially outside of America, are loners. They live the majority of their time away from human interaction and contact. Sure, humans are before them everyday, walking past them quickly, and trying not to look their way, but seldom do I think they have conversations with other human beings. I think this is so very important. Talking to them shows that you value their life, their thoughts and see them as an equal and fellow man. And when you talk to them, look them in their eyes. They are loved. They have much worth.

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2. Touch them. I think the majority of the homeless are starving for touch. Think about it. How long do you think its been since someone actually touched them? Hugged them? Cared about them and for them? I try to make an effort of this every time I pass a homeless person laying or sitting on the street. I bend down and look them in their eyes. When I hand them money, I hold their hand while giving it. I don't believe in just throwing it in their bucket, I want to hold their hand, pat their back, love them through touch, while giving them money. It's easy to give money. It's harder to touch someone who is dirty and unknown. But to me, that is loving them. That is showing them I could care less about the dirt, they are loved. If Jesus could touch & love a leper,  I can touch & love the man or women with no legs & shower-less on the side of the road. 

source 3. Pray When we approach a homeless person, even if just to give them some money and say, "Jesus loves you," in Chinese, because that's all we really know how to say about Jesus, we try to pray. We pray for them and their life. We pray for the interaction, for them to some way, somehow see Jesus, through our eyes, the money, smile or touch, we pray and hope, that they'll come to know Jesus or desire to know who He is.   More specifically, what can we provide for them?  A lot of these ideas are really no brainers but I like lists and lists help me put all my ideas together to remember for later.  A back pack. Living homeless means that everything you own is carried with you as you go. Homelessness, obviously, often doesn't come with the luxury of sleeping in the same place every night or having a place to safely keep your things away from you through out the day. A back pack is a great solution to this problem.  Wet Wipes This is such a simple, practical thing to give yet I've never even thought about giving it before. God bless wet wipes. A shower in a bag. In Thailand, there was a sweet, old man waiting outside of the church that slowly approached us and asked for something to eat with his hands. We told him to follow us down the street to the gas station where we went in and stocked up on some goodies for him. Zachary, genusily picked up a pack of wet wipes & placed them in the basket. A little while later we were passing the man on the side of the road and he was taking off his shirt. Zachary just knew it was to use the wet wipes. I can't even imagine living a life where a shower is so seldom and a wet wipe is a luxury. Wet wipes will be a huge blessing to your homeless neighbor.  source Toilet Paper Obviously, I don't have to go into much detail about why this is a need. We all use it, every.single.day.  Sanitary pads for females Again, I think this goes without explanation. source A loaf of Bread I have never seen someone so excited as I saw that man in Thailand when I asked him if he wanted a loaf of bread. Later, Zachary and I were thinking about what he must have been thinking when that excitement flashed across his face. A loaf of bread is not just a one time meal, but could be multiple meals.  Daily Vitamins I would bet a gajillion dollars that the average homeless person is seriously lacking in vitamins. Okay, I guess I could say the same for the average American, too. But I'd say it's probably even more true for the homeless. Vegetables and fruit, unfortunately, are often times expensive in the States and healthy food is much harder to come by for life on the street. Not only are they expensive but also heavy. Can you imagine carrying around all your possessions and a bag of apples every day?                                                                               source A Water Bottle Especially if you are living in the States, tap water is usually safe to drink and a water bottle is a great way to help your homeless neighbor carry water with them all of the time.  A journal and Pen A sweet friend of Zachary's from his time working at Starbucks, Diomi, was homeless. Diomi was a young guy that would often come around Starbucks looking for a spare bite to eat. Zachary developed a friendship with him quickly and often spent his breaks outside on the patio talking life, stories and Jesus with Diomi. Diomi had a journal made of pieces of card board boxes tied together. It looked awesome but came out of his need for a journal. Honestly, if I was homeless a journal is what I would long for the most. 

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Shoes.  Walking and moving from place to place the majority of your days wears your shoes out fast. I know this is a harder need to provide for because you don't know the size needed. A solution to this is to buy a gift card to a shoe store. Another idea, is to actually get to know the person you're blessing and seeking to love. Get to know them. Find out their shoe size, and pick up some yourself.  A Bible To me, loving my neighbor as myself, is not only feeding them physically but also spiritually. One of the most loving things I do for myself every day (as in every day I really set aside the time) is spending it with Jesus. When I go days without time in the Word,  I feel it in my spirit. I get tired and hungry for God. How could I love my neighbor as my self without doing the same for them? A toothbrush, toothpaste & deodorant The basics. We all need them. 

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Of course, food.  I don't think I have to elaborate much on this. We all know those basic needs.  But granola bars, a piece of fruit, peanut butter, bread, tuna & chicken packets (not the cans as they are very heavy), etc.   If we all loved our neighbor as our self I think the world would be a much better place. Don't you think?   What about you? What are your ideas for loving the homeless? 

Planes "Disappearing" & the Fear of Flying

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I was so extremely sad last night to read about the Malaysia Airlines flight disappearing. I was praying this morning that maybe just maybe, that the Lord could make it possible that they are just floating on the blow up rafts somewhere in the China Sea, waiting to be rescued. That would be a good ending to the story, wouldn't it? I've thought about those people often since reading the article online. What must they have been feeling or thinking when the plane was going down? Who were they thinking about? Probably the very same people that are thinking about and praying for them now at home. Missing them and longing for their rescue.  Jesus. We need Jesus. That's what tragedies remind me of. He's just everything. If my plane crashes, and I am plunged to the bottom of the sea, I'll still have Jesus.  But anyways, I wasn't writing this post to be so so serious. So, on to my original point. I want to talk about this a little. First off, can we just talk about a whole plane "disappearing"?! What the heck? How does that even happen? Why was there no distress signals? Or at least something? It just was cut off completely. Aliens people. Is that a possibility? Or the Island of Lost. What is that island called anyway? 

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Also, the plot thickens today. Did you see that 2 of the people on board were using stolen passports? Crazy. But I think, especially in these poorer countries, stolen passports are not all that surprising. People long for a better life, and sometimes do anything to get it. But I'm not sure how flying to China would be better...? So I don't know. The stolen passport thing just adds to the mystery. I read online that the deepest the China Southern Sea reaches in the area that they were flying is 200 ft. Is that true? Googling. Okay, now that I'm thinking about it 200 ft is really shallow. It was dumb for me to believe that, stupid forums. It has a mean depth of 4,000 feet. Still shallower than the 16,000 ft trench the Air France flight sank down into. 

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I just read online that one of the Americans on board, Phillip Wood, worked for IBM and lived in North Texas with his family before he moved to East Asia. His ex-wife and kids live in the Dallas area.   I read that there were 20 other IBM employees on the plane. That's crazy. It makes it feel closer to home, doesn't it?   As an expat, I think reading about a plane crash is just the worst. I mean, come on. We live overseas!! Lord willing, we are going to take a flight again, and again and again.  But, listen to this Reader. You know what my clever brain thought to do this morning? Look up flights from China to Malaysia. I mean we have a few days vacation coming up,  I wouldn't mind a little impromptu trip to Malaysia. And, this clever brain over here, thought, "Wow, well maybe just maybe, those flights will now be discounted!" They're still $400+ from Qingdao, $600+ from Beijing Reader. In case you were thinking that you might want to jump in on that action, too.

So now here I am thinking, "Wow.(there must be a lot of Wow's going on in my brain) If I hear of a plane crash, and then some time later check flights on that very same trajectory & airlines, to see if I might get some travel in and get it with the now cheaper tickets (is that insensitive? I don't mean it to be insensitive!), does that mean, Reader, that I am more a traveller/expat/trusting in the Lord kind of person, than I think I am? Does that mean that maybe I'm getting over this whole fear of flying thing?!" Also, I thought/processed through this questions this morning. Does this make me fear flying more? And, crazily, my answer was no. It doesn't. I'm not saying that I won't think about it when I'm up there at 30,000 feet, just like I've thought a few times about the people on the Air France flight and what they must have been feeling, but I am saying that I don't feel more afraid. I still feel what I've been feeling this past year, and that is, my life is in God's hands. My days are already numbered by Him. And I just trust Him with that. And that, Reader, feels good.

source And you know, I'm hoping & praying that there were people on that flight that felt that, too. I hope they all felt that. I hope they lived good lives, full lives, and that things are okay. Even in death. Even in a plane crash.  Anyways, ya. I guess this was a little serious. You can always count on me to blog post-world tragedies. I'm a verbal processor, you know. Love you Reader. Wishing you safe travels always. Let's not fear. Let's just trust and continue longing to see more of this beautiful world and the people God's made in it!  Praying for Flight MH370 , the people on board, and their loved ones back home. 

At My Heaviest

Today I am at my heaviest, well technically, I hit 10 pounds heavier then where I am today in Korea, but more or less, I'm at my heaviest. 

And here's some honesty, in my flesh,  that part that is so influenced by the world's standards of beauty, longs to have a body, right this instant, that could fit into anything I tried on. A body with long, cellulite free legs and toned arms and stomach. A body that looked perfect in a swim suit and shorts. A body that didn't require discipline & calorie counting.  But here's the thing. That other part of me, my spirit, the eternal part of me, longs for something more. That part of me, my spirit and heart, longs to be completely satisfied in the Lord.  I long to be completely at peace and confident in the Lord and who He has made me and is making me to be, no matter what size I am or what the numbers on the scale are.  Tomorrow, I am going to start trying to loose weight. I'm not going to do a fad diet or go crazy like I have in the past, but I am going to try to seek to eat cleaner and exercise more, and by God's grace, be at least a few pounds lighter by the time we go to Thailand in the middle of January. I could cry thinking about what I look like and the fact that we are going to Thailand in the middle of January. But instead, I'm going to claim it. I'm going to claim truth. I want to remember something in his moment, at my heaviest, before any pounds come off.  I want to remember, now, at my heaviest the truths of who I am today. I am loved & created by the King of the Universe. I am loved no less today than when I weighed 50 pounds heavier.  I am loved by my husband.  I am loved by my family. Their love is not conditional. I have worth. I am valued. I am beautiful in His eyes.  I am blessed.  Beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  These things I want to remember. These are the things that I want to cling to for all of my life. I don't want to cling to calorie counting websites, scales or size 4 jeans. I want to cling to the eternal truths, the life giving truths, of God.  Sister, these truths are the same for you. No matter your size, please know, you are so extremely loved, sought after and seen beautiful by Your Father in Heaven. Claim it against the lies & thoughts of the flesh & the culture we live in. Karate chop those lies and thoughts in the face and the balls while you're at it. Do it for me to and the women around you. Do it for your daughters. Do it for the women that will come after us. Let's be women who have confidence not in the tape measure around our hips and thighs, but women who stand boldly and confidently in our skin that God made for us, knowing that we are loved and have value, and that this, this is beauty.