there's no place like home

well, i'll start by apologizing for the lack of posts over the previous 3 weeks. in case you don't follow me on instagram  (because if you did you'd already have been inundated with photos from our trip!) you maybe aren't aware that i've been in Europe with my family...Paris and London to be exact.  it was a sort of 'last hurrah' family vacation of sorts, as our son, Solomon, will be getting married in June and every trip after that will either be with 3 people or 5...

i'll be posting a recap of sorts (via my previously posted instagram photos as well as some shots my daughter captured with her much-nicer-than-an-iphone-Nikon-camera) in the coming days.

but first, i wanted to share one of the big ah-ha lessons i learned, before life gets away from me and busyness sets in. again...

we are American.  all four of us were born and raised in the US.  we speak a certain way based on where we grew up and also, in part, on where we live now.  having been raised in southern California, i suppose there are traces of so. cal lingo that remain, even though we live in Montana now, which doesn't seem to have much of an obvious accent.  i'm sure we say 'like' alot as well as other californiaisms that set us apart and make our origin obvious.
but i must say, i've found that as soon as i spend time in places that DO have clear accents, i tend to start mimicking the cadence and inflections i hear.  this is unintentional, seriously (although really fun).  and Brian has, many times, said to me...(especially in Latin America) "you know, they can't understand you any better because you're speaking with an accent. you're still speaking English".  this also happens quite regularly in New York and Texas. somebody help me.

with this in mind, i walked the streets of Paris and London; attempting to remain true to my home language, while still not appearing to be a tourist.  and i found, that try as i might, my origin was obvious.  there was no way that people (and there were A LOT of people everywhere...unlike Montana!) could here us and think we were from anywhere but the good ol' USA.  and that got me thinking...

as a believer.  a Jesus lover.   a Christian.   does my language give me away?   does the content of my conversations betray my beliefs? i hope so. i hope people don't have to spend time guessing 'where i'm from'.  i hope the fact that i spend time with Jesus is clearly communicated in what i say and how i say it.