The Adventures of Mini Asher and Timo in Rwanda

August 3, 2015January 1, 2018 ~ tashajun

There are 2 more days until it’s go time! I am ready and not-quite ready all at the same time. Our team had an wonderful commissioning at our church yesterday. My whole family left there encouraged.

Be on the lookout for more about the adventures of these two little men…

Last night, in a moment of sadness over leaving home, Matt reminded me of all the stories that will be involved. He reminded me that God has made me a lover of stories and that I was going to learn new stories because of this trip, share my own story, capture beautiful stories that God is writing in Rwanda, and bring them home so that they can brush up against stories here. What an amazing honor.

Then, as we were talking, I remembered that the word I choose at the start of this year, for 2015, is story. I had completely forgotten about it. God brought it to mind as we were talking and I was overwhelmed by his faithfulness in something as simple as picking a word for the year. I picked story because I wanted to have a year where I payed close attention to the story God was writing in and through my life, in my family’s lives and in the lives God places around me. I wanted to search for HIS story in all things and I wanted to be faithful to write stories like I believe he has made me to do. I didn’t even have a single thought about Rwanda then. I had no idea what it would mean for me this year, but He did. He is so faithful and he is in the details of our lives down to a five letter word.

While I am still struggling with sadness over being away from my boys, I also see the incredible opportunity and gift this trip will be to model for them the value of living on mission. Of course, I think there is opportunity to model this every single day in the everyday and the mundane, and that it is VERY important to do so. However, I also know they will not have to choose the everyday and the mundane in the same way they might be able to choose to say yes to something outside of it. We all get some of the everyday and mundane in life. Beyond my prayer that they will faithfully live in and through the everyday and mundane, I also hope and long for them to grow up to be men who will say yes to risky things, men who will choose to walk into unknown places and things bigger than they are, when God calls them to. I pray they will know that choosing to be brave because of Jesus’ love for them and for others is worth it, no matter how scared they feel by the choice. The husband and I want them to know that they can say yes to crazy things if God leads them to, and that we will be behind them 100%, no matter how brave we have to be as parents watching them say yes.

So, this trip is also for my boys and the story that’s being written for them. It only made sense that Mini Asher and Mini Timo should head to Rwanda with me so we can create a lighthearted story of our own! I hope you will follow along.

The Land of a Thousand Hills, Over the Sea From Me

July 20, 2015January 1, 2018 ~ tashajun ~ 2 Comments

There are 16 days until I head to the land of a thousand hills for the first time.When I was asked to consider going to Rwanda with my church last April, my first thought was that it was only that: an exciting thought that was for someone else and not me, due to our season in life. I said I would pray and think about it…but I really thought I knew that my answer would be a no. That evening, I told the husband about it over the phone in our usual he’s-heading-home-from-work-while-i’m-cooking-dinner-and-at my-wits-end-because-it’s-5:30pm-and-the-boys-are-running-in circles-around-the-house-or-fighting-phone-conversation, fully expecting him to say it was too crazy for us right now. After all, he is the one grounded in reality and I am the one with my head in the clouds. Instead, he simply said, “You should go.” Jaw-drop. I am pretty sure I relayed the details again, just in case he couldn’t hear me due to his electric-guitar-damaged-ears and the Pteranadon-level-screaming my boys are capable of during play and sibling fighting: Africa. Me going. In a few months. We have no one to watch the kids. He said the same thing again, and added, “We can figure out the details. It sounds too good to miss.”

Too good to miss. The hubby is realistic, yes, but his reality is not only grounded in the hard and tangible facts, it is also grounded in not missing the ultimate fact that God does amazing things in and beyond our current reality, and these things are things you don’t want to miss. I am so thankful for his faith.

So, we said yes.

In 2003, I was spending the week on the Spanish coast with the ministry team I was doing campus ministry with in Germany that year. We were in Spain for a week mid-year conference for encouragement and training with teams that were serving all over Europe. On an afternoon off, my teammates and I went to the Rock of Gibraltar and at one point before heading back up the coast to our conference site, we stood and looked at the sea. In the distance, we could see Africa. I can’t describe the feeling I had then, but I remember wondering and sensing that there was yet much of God to see and know in that continent that had always seemed so far away before. I wondered if I would ever get to go there.

And now, more than 12 years later, with 16 days to go, I will be standing on that continent for the first time. And while I don’t have a clue what it will be like there, my heart is expectant to see God in the people there. I don’t love travel only because it is exciting. Like Mark Twain, I agree that to a degree, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” I have needed it sorely on those accounts in my own life. But it’s more than mere travel. It’s seeing the One who made the lands and people so different from our own, and understanding that we are connected and meant to be connected because of Him. It’s traveling and seeing more of the places and people God’s heart beats for, and allowing our own hearts to grow and beat with his for the same, not just in theory but up-close and personally. I believe that travel can deepen the fear of God in our lives and directly combats against our natural fears of all that seems so “other” to us.

While in Rwanda, our team will be working with ALARM and specifically with women leaders. We will helping to put on a conference for around 40 women from all over the country. These are women who have influence where they live and the conference will serve to encourage and equip them in their leadership. Would you pray alongside of us for these strong, precious women who will be traveling to learn about the bible and about leadership from all over Rwanda? And would you pray for our team as we prepare to travel and for our upcoming travel and all of the last minute details?

I am almost finished reading Forgiving As We’ve Been Forgiven, co-authored by L. Gregory Jones and by Celestin Musekura, the founder of ALARM. If you haven’t read this book, you should. Not only does it shed light on the history of Rwanda, it is powerful in it’s message of forgiveness and I have been so moved by Celestin Musekura’s story, vision and ministry. I think we, as the global church, can learn so much from the message of forgiveness through our Rwandan brothers and sisters who have modeled this and continue to do so, in such amazing ways.

There’s more to come. I hope you will join me here, and travel with us in the days ahead…

Celebrating 10 in Quebec City

July 6, 2015January 5, 2018 ~ tashajun

Place Royale, the most charming spot for people watching.

The end of spring and beginning of summer are filled with celebrations for our family. Anniversaries, birthdays, the end of a school year, and both Mother’s and Father’s day to name a few…

The hubby and I celebrated 10 years at the end of May. We spent the good part of the year prior, planning on a trip away, without the kiddos. It was so good for us. We had to start planning early, because at this season in life, getting away, just the two of us, takes a lot of work!! It was worth it.

We went to Quebec City and it not disappoint. A few of our favorite things together from early on in marriage are the same after 10 years passed: exploring new places, eating everything from street food to fancy food, and being in nature.

We loved le Chic Shack! The fries and their homemade sodas were amazing.

For the first couple of weeks after our trip, I was honestly sad because I missed that one-on-one time with my guy. While we missed our littles every day that we were away, it was so good to be reminded that there’s a solid “us,” and that we love to be together and enjoy things that don’t include our littles. It’s so easy to forget that in a season with small ones.

I had forgotten how much I like to explore and wander a new city and get around by instinct and love every minute of it until I get lost. I had forgotten how the hubby likes to use a map at all times. He likes to have it in hand and know exactly where we are on a map, at. all. times. While those different exploration methods might have produced a few “squabbles” for us, it was ultimately good to remember and see how well we are balanced. I help the Hubby notice and savor what’s around him and he makes sure we don’t end up in a new city altogether with our heads stuck in the clouds. This is how we are in a lot of life, actually, and it’s a good thing.

Out for a fancy dinner! I love wearing my Noonday Collection Helena necklace

for the perfect amount of classy elegance.

I don’t know when we will have the chance to get away like that again, but I have been reminded of how important it is to make time for each other, to value one another over all the other things in life. Because there are just SO. MANY. THINGS, right? Even on weeknights at home, listening to, noticing and valuing one another is important. Those things shouldn’t require a vacation away to happen, though I would recommend getting away when and if it’s possible, because I believe that we see differently when we are in a new place. Being “away” gives us fresh eyes for what we call home and that is so important.

Montmorency Falls was beautiful. Look at the rainbow!

We must to small things with great love in our marriage everyday to keep it growing in good ways. What small things do you do that communicate great love to your spouse? I would love to hear new ideas and I’m sure others would as well.

My favorite person to explore new places and all of life with.

Quebec City was a magical place and we found the people there to be wonderful. Everyone we interacted with was extremely hospitable, kind and helpful. We hope to go back again and possibly go there as a family someday. I hope to write another blogpost more-in-depth on the places we visited and what we did while we were there.

The oldest church on Ile d’Orleans – the agricultural island just across
the river from Quebec City. We spent a day here after visiting Montmorency
Falls: learning about how Maple syrup is made, eating chocolates, wine-tasting
learning about cider and eating the most delicious food while watching the sun
set on the St. Lawrence River.

Brave anyway

September 3, 2014January 1, 2018 ~ tashajun

When I was a junior at IU, I took a class I will never forget. It was my favorite class because it made me think and feel deeply, and the literature was exceptional though the subject was dark: Literature of the Holocaust. I would recommend it to anyone, whether you are interested in literature, history or the Holocaust, or not. Because beyond those things, it was a class about all of us and always will be.

Every time I left that late afternoon course and walked across campus, I felt heavy like someone had put suitcases in the hands of my heart. Twice, I walked home in tears.

On the first day of class, my professor began the semester by passing out a black and white copy of a photograph. In it was a woman pointing a rifle at a man, who looked like he was dressed in uniform. There was no caption, no explanation of what was happening or who the people were. My professor silently waited until all 70 of us had a copy and then asked us this haunting question:

What separates you from the people in the picture?

My first thoughts? Um, well, I would never do that. And, I pretty much would want to be as far away from that scenario as I could be. I looked at the photo copy and tried to come up with an explanation of who the people were. Scenario after scenario was arranged in my mind, of how this picture came to be. I waited for our professor to tell us what this was a picture of and why the man and woman were pictured as they were. He never did. He just asked another time:

What separates YOU from those in the picture?

As I allowed my heart and head to clash and rub against each other while we explored the disturbing realities of the Holocaust, Jesus’ death and resurrection and pursuit of my heart took on on new meaning. Though place in history, culture, geography and circumstance separated me on the surface, none of those things could truly separate me from being either of the people pictured in another time or place. I could have been either person given the right situation. Couldn’t we all?

The beautiful, terrifyingly raw literature from that semester has marked my heart. Throughout the months in that course – two themes stood out: The reoccurring theme of ignorance and fear and the theme of brave compassionate souls. I learned that there were people, many Americans even, who knew what was happening in Europe. Many chose to not allow themselves to realize what was happening. Whether for fear, for being overwhelmed by the magnitude and distance of what was happening, or not knowing what to do, many did nothing while this atrocious, horrific, dark event in our history occurred. I remember sitting in anger and disbelief as I thought about those who knew and did nothing. I also remember feeling horrible fear in the pit of my stomach as I allowed myself to wonder what I would have done – Would I have been too afraid to get involved?

Why do we hold back from brave things? Is it because we don’t know just how truly unseparated we are to both of the people, perpetrator and victim, in the black and white picture I described? And beyond that, because we do not know just how deeply we are loved despite that truth?

Fear has always been natural for me. I could tell you story after story of how fear has gotten the best of me. And yet, somewhere along the journey of my fearful heart, God has met me and continually introduced me to Bravery. I have learned, one trembling step after another, that I do not have to get rid of the fear to walk with her. She is undefeatable grace in the most fearful of hearts. His perfect love makes her real. She shows up for those of us who are most afraid, not for those who claim to have no fear.

I am beginning to believe that each brave step we take, because we know we are loved and we love others as a result, is a stand against some of these atrocious parts of our global past. Brave for bravery’s sake has never really worked for me. I left my literature class in tears and heavy because I wanted to go back and do something. That time is gone. But today is not. And one look at the headlines or look into our neighbor’s hurting heart, and we will see that injustice and horror abound. Will I keep myself tucked away into the illusion of the safe and busy suburban life? Or will I keep allowing myself to be aware and to step forward when Bravery extends her hand?

Every conscious decision to take a stand against darkness because we know we are loved and those around us are just as loved, matters. The part we play doesn’t have to be the biggest role or most remembered role. Sometimes it will feel like a tiny step but tiny steps turn into bigger steps. And it all matters.

Do you know how deeply he loves you? And if so, where is he nudging you to take a step for the sake of his love for you and those around you? Can you see Bravery close by, extending her strong hand? Will you take it and taste and see that He is good?