Last week I was candid about cross-cultural living. It can instigate culture shock and can leave
a person baffled, confused, bamboozled, stymied, discouraged, befuddled, and
even angry.
Cross-cultural
living can leave a person disoriented. Culture shock can lead to severe depression.
And personal and professional failure.
But today,
our guest blogger, Sheryl O’Bryan, tells us there’s hope: We can adapt to new
cultures. I encourage you to read more about her from last week’s post, and
then settle in and enjoy her inspiring insights, below, first shared with us in
May 2010.
Welcome,
Sheryl!
New stuff
fascinates me.
I am not a
Mac. I’m a PC who is intrigued by all the iStuff.
I want to
play with an iPad, but I don’t think I’ll get one.
My laptop is
officially old by computer standards, but I’m reluctant to trade it in—even for
a new PC.
I have a
binder full of new recipes to try, but 97% of the time I go back to the old
standbys.
The gym has
new machines, but it will be a while before I give them a try.
Here’s the
thing. I know newness doesn’t mean everything is shiny and happy.
I can’t think
of a time when a new thing didn’t bring some pain with it.
Granted most
of the pain doesn’t last, but it’s still there. I don’t know about you, but I’m
not a big fan of pain.
The Groan
Zone
Every truly
new thing takes some getting used to.
I call this
the Groan Zone. You know, the period between doing things the old way and adapting
to the new thing and the way it requires life to be lived.
In the space
between discarding former habits and learning new ones—in the process of growth—there’s
groaning.
Transitioning
from a Big Wheel to a bike meant learning a new skill set, lots of skinned
knees, quite a bit of groaning and more than a few tears.
A new baby
brings lots of joy with her, but she also brings many hours of interrupted
sleep to her parents.
Changing the
kind of car you drive, be it an SUV for a sedan (who remembered they were so
close to the ground?!) or a standard for an automatic (where did the clutch
go?!?!), produces groan-worthy moments.
I think it’s
the same way in my spiritual life.
When God is
at work growing me into the next part of maturity there’s groaning to be done.
I realize I’m
not as humble/generous/kind/accepting/loving/ _____ (fill in the blank) as I
thought I was. Rarely are these pleasant realizations.
God knows I
need these epiphanies. They are essential to me becoming who He created me to
be.
Growth is
hard work.
Pregnant
women groan as their body changes to accommodate the new life growing inside
them. A chick that doesn’t persevere through the hard work of getting out of
the shell never reaps the benefits of life. Having a tumor cut out so healthy
tissue can develop isn’t fun, but it’s necessary for good growth and good
change.
When I hear
myself groaning, I have to stop and ask, “Where is God trying to grow me now?”
Knowing
groaning can lead to growth doesn’t make the process easier, but it does make
me more aware.
A new zone:
Refinement
The good news
is we don’t groan forever. It happens in different seasons. We move from the
frustrated and sometimes painful sounds of the Groan Zone to a new growth zone,
Refinement. Growth continues here, but it’s more like “Look what I can do!”
Are you in
the zone?
Are you groaning and growing
or are you refining and growing?
I was right,
wasn’t I? Sheryl’s words are wise and oh-so-practical. Encouraging. Full of
grace. Thanks, Sheryl!
I “met” Sheryl—or
rather, I discovered her blog—in 2010, thanks to a couple of blogs we both were
following.
And it was so
fun to discover that Sheryl and I almost met in real life. When my husband and
I worked in Africa, we once spent a few days on business at Ivory Coast Academy,
where Sheryl taught missionary kids for ten years—but our timing was off: We
arrived while Sheryl was on furlough.
She knows a
number of teachers we knew at ICA, though.
Sheryl also
knows our friend, Dr. Thom Votaw, President of Teachers in Service.
Small world,
indeed!
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