Well, if you’ve read our family blog you’ll see our short video of our first July 4th celebration here in Wentzville. I wasn’t really looking forward to it as, well I wasn’t sure why. I think I was being stubborn and British and not looking forward to a big ‘show of emotion’ (ie big high 5′s, standing up when war vets go past, big smiles from people saying ‘Happy 4th July’ every 10 seconds!)
But you know what, I loved it! When you’re brought up in a culture for 32 years, you think that how you live is ‘normal’ and anything different is, well, abnormal, wierd, not as good. Being in another culture has made a HUGE difference to how I see things.
For the first 3 months, if I’m honest, thats how I’ve seen some parts of the US culture and just thought, ‘Wierd’. But seeing people yesterday being hugely proud of their country, honoring these heroes who went to war, being unashamedly happy and just having fun not at the expense of someone else, was fantastic!
MAYBE its not right to have a stiff upper lip. MAYBE its not right that an ‘englishmans home is his castle’. MAYBE its not right that we don’t get really excited at times other than birthdays. MAYBE ‘Bank Holidays’ are just a strange reason for a day off work (think about it).
MAYBE, just maybe, we can learn LOADS from other cultures. God has brought us over here for a number of reasons. Planting a church isn’t just something I could do without falling in love with the country, the culture and the people first. In fact, I couldn’t do it at all without these things.
Do you love the people in your city?
