One Living Room
"I remember putting pennies on the railroad tracks and then going back to find them flattened," a grandchild said.
"How about the time we all collected frogs?" another commented.
"I remember all our 4-H projects," my brother said, "and Dad and Mom supporting us in everything."
The night was New Year's Eve and three generations sat in a circle in my parents' living room, inside the home my dad and mom have lived for almost fifty years. A home where they raised four children and have enjoyed the visits of thirteen grandchildren.
A home they are contemplating selling. Downsizing.
So rather than doing the typical New Year's tradition of looking forward with resolutions and goals, we looked backward, talking about our individual and collective memories of spending time in this place.
"Don't forget racing scooters down the hill," a cousin said.
"And the large garden. Beans to weed. And rotten tomato fights."
"Rolling lefse and kringla," chimed in another. "Grandparents and kids and grandchildren in the kitchen."
There collections continued until it came to my brother-in-law, Dan, who talked about the uniqueness of our Christian family with a legacy we shouldn't take for granted.'
"From this living room, you have touched the world," Dan said.
"From this living room, you have touched the world."
I could not get his comment out of my head as we opened bottles of sparkling juice, donned our silly party hats and welcomed in the New Year.
To me, our family is just who we are. With inside jokes and weird quirks -- an aunt who collects hippos and an uncle who talks like a want ad. As kids we fought World War III while playing monopoly and I remember my brother and I dragging our two younger sisters up to bed when we were babysitting.
But somewhere in the head-banging-arguing-World-War III-fighting-quirkiness, we discovered God. Or more accurately, he discovered us. Our hearts were captured with the love of Jesus. Each of us. In unique ways.
And it changed us
from an inward-focused, look-at-me bunch of people
to those who have grappled with the needs of a big world.
So I include here, not as a way of bragging, but as a humble listing, of the places in the world we have gone, not on vacation, but on trips to share with others about a heart-changing God encounter.
My parents have served on the Mercy Ship Anastasis which provided medical services in Latvia and then traveled to Denmark, Holland and Switzerland. They went to Costa Rica and to the Tarahumara people of Mexico. In the United States they worked in the Dream Center in Los Angeles, were cooks for Youth for Christ trips to Colorado and helped with a church building project in Hawaii. For years they have supported Children's Vision in Bogota, Colombia and have taken many family members there, including grandchildren.
Our daughter, Aleah (in blue) and cousin Breezy (in red) in Bogota in 2005.They dug a hole using shovels and buckets for a water tank.
My parents with their sponsored daughter, Luzenia, from Children's Vision.
As for the rest of us, the next two generations, we have lived and worked and loved:
The Cree people of Shamattawa, Manitoba in Canada
The Ojibwe people of Fort Hope, Ogoki Post and Collins, Ontario in Canada
The Chipewyan people of Tadoule Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada
The Ilchamus people of Kenya, Africa
Gypsies in Romania
A summer camp for AIDS orphans in Zambia, Africa
AIDS education and prevention in Uganda, Africa
Visiting the sick and dying and working with street boys in Mozambique, Africa
Children's Vision in Bogota, Colombia
Medical missions to various places in Colombia
Many trips to Mexico
Kuna nation in the Darien Jungle of Panama
Buddhist monks and Thai University students in Thailand
Youth of El Salvador
Remote peoples in Guatemala
School children and orphans in the Dominican Republic
Although the night began with us sharing about our past memories in Dad and Mom's home, I came away with a desire to plan toward the future, to pass this legacy to my children and grandchildren.
I wonder what could happen in my living room?