My friends and I took a weekend trip to Barcelona when I studied abroad two summers ago. Our Airbnb host Juan met us outside the apartment with a key. He was a short, enthusiastic man who was anxious to practice his broken English on us and tell us about the wonders of his city. His main advice? “Look up! Look up! Look up!” He repeated this over and over, insisting that this was the only way to truly experience the city.
Throughout the rest of that trip, we kept jokingly reminding each other to “look up!” But Juan was right; as we drew our eyes upward, we were exposed to an entirely new view…
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This summer, I’ve felt like God has been showing me infinitely more generosity than I deserve. Do you ever feel that way? I entered June anticipating a long, challenging summer of support raising and transition. Instead, I was completely blown away by everyone’s willingness to give and found myself almost fully funded at the beginning of July. I have been amazed by the encouragement and generosity I’ve been shown and have found so much joy in renewed and deepened relationships with my supporters and God. At the same time, though, I was pervaded by a deep sense of guilt and unworthiness. Who…
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How can you say you know me if you’re only seeing me through the eyes of your own culture?
I was sitting at a church cafeteria at an overnight retreat my sophomore year when God hit me over the head (it felt like literally), with this realization. In a moment, I saw with sudden clarity that I had been living and viewing God only through the eyes of the majority American culture that I had grown up in. This was evident in the churches, fellowships, and influences that I subconsciously chose to surround myself with. If my faith and culture were so intertwined, then, how much had I allowed my…
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