defining normal

“I never knew you could become fat like that.”  Yes, this is a direct quote, and from one of my good friends, and a man none the less.  But people are happy that I am now fat. At least that’s what they tell me. One of my friends even tried to stop me from walking, for fear that maybe I was walking for exercise to reduce the body size. I told her I enjoyed walking from place to place and reassured her I would do my best not to exercise too much and lose all these fats I gained in America. Ha. I am definitely not in america any more. It’s funny the way cultures are often so different and at many times quite opposite. Like take for instant being overweight. Here they were worried about me because I was looking too thin before I left and now that i’ve come back, and i think i’ve gained like 5-10lbs being in the states, they now say I’m healthy. Here being what they call fat, what we might call overweight, shows that you have enough, you are happy in life and you are not in need, which is what most people struggle to attain. So while American’s are busy paying millions at the gym and other methods of reducing weight, most Ugandans are doing their level best to increase.
Another funny opposite is skin color. Most american brides will go tanning before their wedding, and millions of people will lay out in the sun and “bake” (as Ruudy likes to call it) in an effort to become darker. And yet from here a bride is actually hidden away for days before the wedding so that she becomes lighter. And telling someone they are brown rather than black is a compliment. Everyone is looking for ways to get lighter and stay out of the sun. Most ugandans will compare their skin color with others saying, at least I’m not as dark as so and so. Always looking for someone to be lighter than.
Culture has so much influence on the way we see things and our expectations and beliefs. And too often defines our “normal”. And we have been rescued from from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, Jesus (Col 1:13). As christians we live in a different kingdom, which means we live according to a different set of rules and in a different culture, a different normal. So no matter what culture we live in on this earth, we should not allow that culture define our “normal”.
After several months in America I really realize that I am also somehow a foreigner there, and because of my skin color among other reasons I will always be a foreigner here. And because Ruudy and I come from such different cultures our home will never be completely american or ugandan. God is really teaching us about finding our home in Him, and allowing Him to define our “normal” and allowing His kingdom to define our culture.
Whether you are white or black (or brown), or fat or skinny, or whatever, you don’t have to live feeling you are out of place or you don’t fit in because, in the kingdom of God, He delights in His children and each child is celebrated, you are celebrated. His “normal” is unconditional love and that’s the kind of normal we try to live in. Knowing His unconditional love and giving it out. Let’s let God’s kingdom culture define our normal.