The Good House Guest

What does it take to make a difference? Some might say that it is both audacious and arrogant to believe that one can make any lasting difference in a foreign country, filled with dissimilar practices, a distinct world-view and a history that is only understood through research. Though I am convinced that there is an element of daring involved, which perhaps borders on arrogance, I believe there is a drive deeper than this.

As a Canadian I have been given much. Even as a recent graduate and newly wed I have more than most people around the world. I find that I cannot shake the saying “to whom much is given, much is required”. I think this saying was Spiderman-ized into “with great power comes great responsibility”. It is this sense of responsibility that drives so many.

This realization seems to be taking centre-stage in the theatre of world affairs. While we have watched Angelina and Bono take affirmative action, there must be something said for the everyday actions of everyday people. We are all to leave this world a better place than how we found it; truly the cardinal rule of a good house guest. I believe we are all capable of making this contribution.

Some will do so here in Canada, while we commit to doing so in Slovakia. Our contributions may vary, and our surroundings may differ, but we can all choose to be involved. So, much like making the bed, rinsing your dishes and not making long-distance phone calls while at a friend’s house, what is your contribution? I believe that the true challenge is daring to embrace this responsibility and seeing it through to the point where it has an impact.

Change demands action...so I guess it's time to make the bed.

The Return of the Roamers

After about a month’s hiatus, we have returned to set-up our home. Decidedly, we’re not allowing the fact that we will be deconstructing our homestead in six months time to detract from our enjoyment of this process. Excited does not seem to fully capture our feeling towards the next few months. There are just so many things to tackle and each of them is intriguing, involving and most are simply a lot of work.

Our intention is to depart for Nitra in January of 2008, leaving us the remainder of this year to further our language and culture study, grow the number of people who know of us, pray for us, generally like us and think good thoughts about us, and establish our finances. Oh, and let’s not forget that we will be exploring the meaning of the words “wedded bliss” (to date we have learned that neither of us are accomplished blanket share-ers). And so our days are filled with language learning, house arranging, car finding, and schedule making (we are really hoping to travel to northern BC to meet with churches).

As with all journeys of an epic proportion, this beginning certainly does feel quite grandiose. We are making sure to take in each moment – from the larger-than-life “we just got married” times to the “let’s meet a friend for coffee” instances. Each is invaluable to us....so, uh, whose up for some coffee?