So it has been quite a while since I have posted on here (sorry) but I have been super busy (a good thing) and I have been contemplating this post for some time. Most of you read the title and weren't surprised. If you know me at all, you know my intense love for all things Michael Jackson. And how apropos on the 50th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. But I feel like this is something that needs to be said.
So being completely honest, when I moved here I had a HUGE culture shock. I mean not only the physical environment but the people and culture and just general way of life. As I have previously said, I moved to an area predominantly of the Hispanic culture and particularly Dominican. *Disclaimer: I am super blessed to live in a community filled with literally every background, race, and culture but it is primarily Hispanic.* I'll tell you what I have learned in just my 3 short months of living here about this culture.
1. They love. Their love is loud. Their love is infectious. Their love is defensive. Their love is like a love I never felt in TN. Not that my parents and friends weren't this way but a whole community? Nope. I have felt love and help like never before.
2. They are super family-oriented. Everyone is family whether by blood or by location or whatever else. Everyone is family. I love it. I feel very included and loved. My absolute most favorite thing in the whole world is when the owner of the laundromat I go to calls me "Mami". He is this super cute little old man who wears suspenders and a boaters hat and he looks out for me. I sincerely melt every time he calls me that because I feel like he is treating me like a family member and friend (except when he tells me 800 times to check to see if the dryer is on before I assume it is and waste time. Although really I think it is just he feels bad for me wasting my time sitting there.)
3. Their food is DELICIOUS! I have made a bunch of friends who have introduced me to true Dominican food and let me tell you: YUM!!! I believe my taste buds must be Dominican. 90% of the dishes I've had I couldn't tell you the names but so stinkin delicious!
4. They need Jesus. This is nothing specific to the Dominican community. This is every community. We all need Jesus. We need Him to come pull us up out of our sinful mess, clean us up like only He can, and change us so He ultimately gets all the glory.
As you can see, this community was perfectly made to woo my heart. But when I first moved here, I felt so out of place I couldn't see it for all its glory. (Here's where I get really honest). Being the minority here was something I really struggled with. I think everyone here knew that I was struggling with this too. I had no idea why I was suddenly so aware of my race. And then I started to get so mad that people treated me differently because I was white (or so I thought). I literally would be so aware everywhere I was of my race. I even got to the point where I was sad/angry that I was white and wanted to be Hispanic so I could fit in.
I am so thankful for the people God put in my life during this time to speak truth about the situation to me. One conversation in particular really changed my thinking. This person told me to stop trying to be like everyone else. God made me who I am for a reason and the color I am for a reason and the background I am for a reason and even my Tennessee twang for a reason. This person told me to stop trying to fit everyone in to one little box but instead embrace everyone's differences and learn from them. How dull if we all were the exact same! Reminds me of 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. We can't all be a foot or a hand. We need eachother and we need our differences!
And then I was reading and Jesus said the exact right thing (as He always does).
Psalm 139:13-14 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
I am perfectly made as me because of God's great works. I am so thankful that God made me so uncomfortable or else I might never have faced this issue. I am so thankful I live in a community as diverse as I do. I am thankful that I have brothers and sisters in Christ who not only celebrate our differences but also the one uniting factor, Jesus.
I pray this post enlightens you and maybe spurs something in you. I literally can't thank God enough for sending me here and letting me find some of the funniest, coolest, greatest friends who I know I can call family as well. And as always, I thank God for sending His son to die for my messy, dirty, rotten, undeserving life.
