by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I recommend this book to everyone! Greg Mortenson is one ordinary guy that is changing the world. Here is an excerpt from the back cover:"In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools--especially for girls--in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit."
The whole book has been inspiring and yet another testimony to me that we all have a special mission here on this earth and God will help us to fulfill that mission. One of the most significant parts of the book is during the construction of the first school. He is so uptight that construction goes according to plan that he is standing over the workers and checking every detail being, in short, rather annoying to the villagers. His mentor and village leader, Haji Ali, takes him aside and says:
"If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways. The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die," he said, laying his band warmly on Morenson's own. "Doctor Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea..."
Mortensens says, "Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life. We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly...Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them."
As we begin home education (I like that better than home schooling ; ) again this week, I am once again struggling to slow down and connect with my children. I am trying to find the balance between what I envision "has to be done" with making them not the task the most important thing.
What has help to shift your paradigms? How do you focus on relationships in your home? Any feedback will be like manna...
I know this may sound grim, but I try to remind myself life is so precious and can be taken away at any moment. Thinking about that always makes me enjoy my family in every moment a lot better.
ReplyDeleteLove you blog!
We're on day 2 of home school. It is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
Go Amanda! I'm so glad you like it. I was talking to Linda M. today and she said something similar. She tries to remember how quickly they grow up and how precious each moment really is.
ReplyDeleteIn the Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis writes that the present is the only time that is connected with eternity. Getting us to focus on the past and especially the uncertainty of the future is one of Satan's tools to keep us out of the present.
ReplyDeleteSurrendering to Motherhood has a wonderful conclusion that I remember often. There are moments, usually few and far between, when I KNOW I'm in the right place doing EXACTLY what I should be doing. They are usually moments of doing "nothing" with my kids. Sitting on the floor with them watching a video, dancing in the kitchen, playing peek a boo with the baby. I hold on to those moments as hard as I can. I can't feel that reassurance all the time (usually because I'm getting "caught up in the thick of thin things" as President Monson put it)but I can remember them and feel them all over again.