Talk To The Hand

I know, when you hear someone say "talk to the hand" you are thinking that they are being disrespectful, and rebellious. You can imagine someone holding their hand up to your face as if to say "stop, I don't care about what you are saying and I'm not going to listen.   I'm going to stay in my own little box here and nothing is coming in and I am not coming out."

  

This "talk to the hand" came to mind during my stretching exercises for my wrist as I have been trying to regain some range of motion in my wrist after falling and injuring my hand.

 God has been working on me, myself and I to be more flexible, to have more "range of motion" in a culture that is different and sometimes hard to live in. 

There are many days when the attitude in my heart may be "talk to the hand".  So what does this do to one who is trying to overcome culture shock, to one who is trying to make a home for the family, to one who is trying to learn about and embrace the Singapore people and culture.

  What it does is put a barrier up, see it?  That "hand" is a wall between you and the person or the culture you are trying to interact with.  It takes great flexibility, range of motion and will power to move it.  It is in fact a decision of the heart.

I'm not going to paint a false picture here, it is hard to live over seas, it is also adventurous, and interesting and very, very revealing about who you are as an individual.

As I continue to try and gain more range of motion back in my wrist, hoping to reach "normal" I have to push that wrist to the point of resistance, the point of slight pain and hold it there for a bit.  Each time I choose to push past the pain it gets better, it is easier the next time.

Each time we choose to have POSITIVE talk about the culture we are in the people that make up this culture it is easier to see them and this island through God's eyes to know that here, they ARE the normal ones, it is US who are not so normal.

 Each time we choose to venture out knowing that we are going to face frustration, knowing that there may be a bit of "pain" involved and we push past that pain it gets better, it is easier the next time.

  We have found prayer to be key to our ability as a family to push pass the pain of culture shock.  We feel that God wants us here and that He has it under control and that does not mean that it will be pain free.

  You see, His hand is open available and willing to accept what ever the issue may be, we simply need to turn the hand, we need to be ready to accept what ever it is that comes our way without judgement or frustration.

The reality is Singapore is a great place to live and the people are fabulous!  This little island country is so diverse and offers so much to anyone who chooses to step off that plane.

 However if you are living here from a different land and culture you must "talk to the hand" tell it to get out of the way, to be flexible, to move with fluidity and full range of motion or you are likely to miss the special blessing that God has for you while living here.

Our family has certainly struggled but our family has also thrived in the process of this cultural adjustment so "move over hand", here comes the Miles Family ready to explore and learn to love and embrace  this new land in our hands.