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Friendships, Easter, and Roadblocks...

  SHANNON’S CORNER


What a beautiful blessing from God is the gift of friendship.  Those folks who not only love you but know you, a deep connection.  I spent a few days with my friend, Fanny, and her family.  I got to be a part of her everyday life, participating in her women’s bible study, helping her to make papa relleno (stuffed mashed potato), staying up late talking, and finishing the final edits of the book, The Invitation into Spanish.  In translating this book, Fanny and I talked about how we felt the weight and responsibility of staying true to the author’s message yet in a way that makes sense to the audience.  It gave us a small glimpse into the work of Bible translators as they translate God’s Word into the various languages so people can read and understand God’s word.

Lent, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday can be described as riding a roller coaster where your emotions and thoughts are at times the lowest of lows and the highest of highs along with twisting and curving throughout.  Reflecting on why I love Easter, I realized that it was one time of the year that brought the communities we lived in together.  It did not matter what your background was or even what church you attended as believers came together worshiping Jesus Christ as one body.  Because of the work of the cross, we are all equal (Gal 3:28).  Easter is what separates us from all other religions because Christ is not dead but alive.  Hallelujah!  He is risen.  Risen indeed!



TCK Connect celebrated its two-year anniversary.  It started amid the pandemic to connect TCKs who were isolated to have a platform to connect with other TCKs.  They had a birthday party and had the teens share some words of what TCK Connect has meant to them.  A teen from Southeast Asia shared that TCK Connect is a safe space, not alone with what she is going through and the highlight of her week.  Another teen in the US shared that TCK Connect was a safe place to express her thoughts, people get her, and in the same boat as she is as people do not understand her where she is living.  A teen from the middle east shared that TCK Connect was an unexpected opportunity for him as he was in a lot of transition, no friends and a place for social interaction resulting in some great friends on Connect.  A teen living in Southeast Asia shared that she had no idea how much this would mean to her.  Now looking back how would her life have looked without the deep, instrumental friends she has from being a part of TCK Connect.  These are just some of the comments.


TCK Connect is a platform for third culture kids to connect with other third culture kids.  A place where they will be seen, heard, and understood.  A place to have fun and laugh.  Recently one of the activities was as a team to draw on the collaborative whiteboard what this quote means: “While we may come from different places and speak different tongues, our hearts beat as one.” – Dumbledore.  We had two teams and so take a look at the two drawings the teens came up with. Quite amazing in only 10 minutes.




Have you ever had a roadblock in your life that you cannot see beyond it?  Have you ever felt stuck in your circumstance?  Here are some of the roadblocks that have been hindering the folks I am ministering to.  Living in constant transition or going through multiple transitions at the same time that is overwhelming and brings such uncertainty about the future.  Trying to find community both where you work and in a church family by putting yourself out there, desiring to belong even after six years and still feel disconnected, unknown, and lonely.  Having a fear that is so powerful that even when you see the good with your own eyes, you still believe the opposite is true.  Planning a course to help with financial security yet not sure if this is the right direction as your passion lies elsewhere.  Living in a host culture that is harsh, cold, judgmental, and loads of red tape while also being under high expectations in getting things done in ministry from your passport culture.  

 

How do we become unstuck and tear down or go around the roadblock?    Assessing what is really going on to acknowledge and name it so that we can be aware of it and respond to it.  Being tethered to God, knowing his love for us which that attachment or tetheredness gives us the strength to press in and engage in other safe relationships to walk through this journey together.  Carrying one another’s heavy burdens.  Having God, and others speak into our lives with truth and love and keeping us accountable in whatever way that looks like.  God is a relational God and he said it is not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18a).  We need others in our lives to walk through the different seasons of our lives in this journey called life.


“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”

Psalm 133:1


PRAYER REQUESTS

Praise the Lord for safety, fun, fellowship in visiting with Fanny & her family!

Praise the Lord for finishing the Spanish translation of The Invitation!

Praise the Lord for participating in Women on a Mission night at the church!

Praise the Lord for Easter Sunday! 

Praise the Lord for spending time with Jack & Theo on their spring break!

Pray for small group, TCK Connect every Friday morning.

Pray for wisdom, discernment, and insight as I meet with people either one-on-one or debriefs.

Pray for BCM Peru as they have recently started up their bible clubs and classes at the bible institute.

Pray for Karina & Ricardo’s son, Job (2 yr) as he is needing therapy for some developmental delays.

Pray for wisdom & discernment regarding next steps for life coaching.







Here is the link to watch the video of Fanny making papa relleno. 











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Shannon Eaton

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