Nancy Beach

A Thanksgiving to Remember

     Our family just returned from a week in Ghana where we visited our daughter, Samantha.  What a memorable week!  I can't possibly describe all of our adventures there, but I will hit a few highlights. First, what a deep joy to hug my girl again!  She's been gone since early August, and that is just plain too long...She looked great, tanner than I've ever seen her, very fit and smiling from ear to ear. The biggest change I observed in her has to do with assertiveness. Sam has always struggled with being a "pleaser" and standing strong for herself in the face of opposition. So imagine my astonishment as I watched her negotiate boldly with taxi drivers and sellers in the marketplace, even walking away when they would not match her price!  In addition, Samantha has shown incredible adaptability to difficult conditions. Her trait of "Positivity" has never been tested so much. In the face of no water at times, unpredictable schedules and unreliable transportation, an entirely different culture and extremely spicy food, oppressive heat and no air conditioning, she has chosen to adjust and simply make it work. I could not be more proud of her.

     One of our visits was to the Cape Coast Slave Castle.  You may recall that President Obama and his family visited there about 18 months ago. This is an extremely sobering place to explore. Somewhere between 12 and 25 million Africans were held in horrific conditions here, chained together with no toilets and very little food, waiting to be loaded onto ships heading West. There are actually marks on the stone walls where people clawed their fingers in agony. A door marked "The Door of No Return" leads from the castle to the tunnel walkway where they would board the ship. Above the slave quarters sits a chapel where the white traders worshiped. I can barely get my heart and mind around that juxtaposition. Our Ghanaian tour guide summed it up well at the end of his tour, expressing hope that mankind may never again show such injustice. Sadly, slavery still exists in too many places.

     On Thanksgiving Day, we went to the Beacon House, an orphanage where Samantha volunteers every Thursday. She works with the 4 and 5 year olds, who jump up and down when Sam arrives. We blew bubbles with them, played with sidewalk chalk, read them stories, and colored pictures. Most of them are healthy, but some have HIV.  Samantha was hoping we would bring a few of them home to join our family permanently, and it was certainly tempting!  It was such a wonderful way for our family to spend the start of Thanksgiving.

     That evening we attended a dinner for the American students. The hosts from Ghana did their best to prepare a Thanksgiving meal, including turkey and their version of "mashed" potatoes (no gravy, stuffing, or pumpkin pie).  I was beginning to feel a little ill, so I only took a little food. On the way walking to the taxi, I got sick by the side of the road 3 times, and that began what I can only describe as a very, very long night!  I told Warren to take a sleeping pill so he would at least get rest before we traveled home in about 24 hours. That turned out to be dumb. In the middle of the night, I heard a deafening crash in our little cottage. I assumed someone was breaking in. When I tried to rouse my husband, he was absolutely dead to the world. So sick as I was, I got up to see what had happened. Johanna was throwing up in the other bathroom. She had leaned on the sink and the entire unit had crashed to the ground! So I tried to hold her head, and when she was done, I got sick again myself. Samantha and her father slept through til the morning...No comment.

     Somehow we made it home. I'm so very grateful to have been with my family for the holiday, one that we will never ever forget. Johanna and I are recovering, and Samantha will be home for Christmas. Ghana is an amazing country, one that is so worth visiting if you ever have the opportunity.

Thanksgiving in Ghana

I am counting the hours until we leave for Thanksgiving - visiting our older daughter who is studying at the University of Ghana. We haven't seen Samantha since early August, and I can't wait to hug her, have a relaxed conversation, and be together once again as a family of 4.  I have no idea what we will find to eat on Thursday - maybe a Thanksgiving goat or chicken will have to suffice!  But the more I think about it, this holiday is all about gratitude and love. There are no people I'd rather be with than my husband and 2 daughters, no matter what we find to eat.  Of course, my younger daughter Johanna wants me to be sure to make the American version of the meal sometime after we return to Chicago!

Whenever any of us has a life-changing experience, especially in another country, we struggle to describe that experience to those we love. We show our photos and use our words...but it never seems to adequately capture our sense of the adventure. Samantha is therefore incredibly excited for us to actually come into her world there in Ghana, to meet her new friends, to see the orphanage where she serves, to smell the smells and eat the food and see the sights. How deeply grateful I am that we are able to share this as a family!  It will certainly be a Thanksgiving to remember...even without the pumpkin pie.

Nothin' LIke A Brand New Church

     Last night my husband and I drove to the west side of Chicago for the Grand Opening service of Soul City Church.  As we entered (a little late) the room located in a warehouse, we joined over 200 other folks eagerly worshiping and gathering as a new community of faith. Our friends, Jarrett and Jeanne Stevens, are the co-pastors of Soul City. They left a comfortable situation in Atlanta because God clearly stirred them up to start a new work in the heart of the city. The Stevens are taking a huge leap of faith, along with several other devoted Christ followers at the core of this adventure.

     Adventure. That's the best word to capture the wonder of a brand new church. I've only been a part of a launch one time, many moons ago.  Years later, we tend to glamorize that era as a bit of a Camelot time, only recalling the best moments and choosing to allow the long hours, anxiety, and limited expertise to fade in our memories. There really is nothing quite like getting in on the foundation of building a new community of faith. It's truly exhilarating. Banding together because of how desperately we need one another, each person pitches in to do absolutely WHATEVER is required to get the church going. We grab a hammer, make phone calls, network like crazy, and just keep showing up whenever needed. We wake up with a twinkle in our eye, knowing that God is using us to create something completely beyond ourselves, and surprising us by His faithful miracles all along the way.

     I know several people planting churches these days, in locations all around the world. Each situation is unique, and yet they share in common the dimension of risk and crazy faith and enormous trust. Often, these new churches are started by young people simply because they are more likely to be willing to jump.  I hold these folks in very high regard. I lift them up in my prayers. I may not have the experience again of launching a new community of faith - and I will never get over the wonder of the time I got to be a part of something that took my breath away. Go Soul City...and all the other brand new churches seeking to usher in the transforming love and light of Jesus to places of darkness.

Just Show Up

     Years ago, I discovered a principle in friendship that I have tried to live out ever since.  It's the Just Show Up principle - when your friends lose a loved one, are in the hospital, or experience any major storm in life, don't wonder if you should be there, don't ask them over the phone what you can do to help, just show up.  I learned the hard way, by taking my attendance at a wake too casually.  Ever since, I know how much it matters.  And I have been the recipient of friends showing up for me when my mother-in-law died and when my 2 yr. old was in the hospital.  I remember all the loving people who visited, made meals, and cared for me!

     So when my good friend Suze found out she was going to have highly risky, invasive surgery to remove a non-cancerous mass from her pancreas, I knew I needed to show up.  This operation was so extreme that Suze was in the hospital for 12 days!  She was surrounded by family and a huge community of friends from her church during those first days.  But this week I was able to drive the 4 plus hours to Ft. Wayne to visit her as she continues to recover.  We had a delightful time catching up, and I loved the relaxed space we enjoyed for me to hear the stories of her experience, see her photos and scar, learn what it was like for her and her family to go through this difficult time.  I had read her blog and talked with her husband, but nothing could compare to actually sitting with Suze in her living room.

     The previous week, my older sister and I drove my parents 2 1/2 hours up to Portage, Wisconsin to visit friends they have known for 55 years!!!  These lifelong friends now are in an Assisted Living facility. So we took 4 people in their late 80's out to lunch.  Believe me, that was a challenge!  But as we watched them catching up with one another and exchanging stories and memories, it was a beautiful scene to witness.  When we left, my mother said, "That was the highlight of my year!"  How worth it to help them show up for their friends.

     I continue to learn this principle.  And I urge you to live it out as well.  If you have any hesitation about whether your friend really needs you, jump past that catch in your spirit and simply move toward them in whatever way you can.  You will never, ever regret showing up - but all of us regret times when we didn't.