A Life in Exile

My goal is to write for Millennials who are called to cross-cultural ministry and missions. I realized it may be a lofty goal, as I read my Millennial son’s editorial comments on a recent book proposal.

I had written a sentence using the phrase pat answers. He told me that pat was an outdated word. I happened to be commenting on this to my brother (who is four years older than me, by the way), and he said, “I like pat.” He then asked me what I would change it to. I told him, “simplistic.”

I think we both still like pat. What does my Millennial son know about outdated words anyway? I still use groovy!

But here I am, stretching my vocabulary in order, in some small way, to walk alongside  the new generation of Christians longing to impact the world for Christ. As I think about their adventuresome spirit, I must admit that pat does sound a bit old. Maybe I’m just a bit too old to be heard, my language too archaic.

Then I catch myself and come back from the edge of doubt, where Satan would love for me to fall. I see some hearts and smiley faces on the pages too. He likes the way I draw things together in this paragraph or speak to a hard topic in another. He even writes: “Now I know why I’m the way I am,” as an arrow points to a sentence about having people in our home 24/7.

I posted this picture of me riding with my oldest brother on his motorcycle so many years ago to show just how dated I really am. Thanks to my sister, I was recently blessed with some gems from the family photo album. In a digital age, these would be the ones you quickly delete. When I showed it to my sons, one asked, “is that a football helmet you’re wearing?” Just another reason to know that times have changed. Yet, it’s also a reminder that “in my day” I was just as adventuresome as my sons are now.

In the end, I find myself handling the outdated remark with grace, because I’m just thankful that my Millennial son took the time to read his aging mother’s writing in the first place.

I’m willing to be stretched for the Kingdom…one word at a time.

What about you? What are you willing to change to be able to effectively communicate to the Glory of God?

Grace and Peace