Day 14 of Slice of Life: Love from me to there: to my parents

This is the third country I've lived in since I was born. I am blessed to know that I grew up being what researchers called A Third Culture Kid: children of expatriates, missionaries, military personnel, and others who live outside their passport country. If you would like to know more about Third Culture Kids, this is a useful place to start. This book discusses this topic in great detail. 

This particular blessing has allowed me to meet people from all over the world. Each individual I met on my path was placed there for a reason. Even though, I wouldn't understand this right away, later on I can see where everyone fit, who contributed and who took away something, who helped me grow, who taught me something about love and friendship, and who simply left scars that would later on become blessons (blessings that became lessons!). 

My particular journey, way of thinking and outlook in this life sometimes puts me in a different position with people. With some people I have strong connections because we know what this particular journey feels like. Some other people try their best to understand our mindset but in reality it's not that easy to follow. That's what makes life so unique. If we were all the same, we would be completely bored out of our minds. It does, however, takes a growth mindset to accept other peoples's point of views. Living in different cultures and languages have allowed me to develop this growth mindset. I'm so thankful for the lenses I can see things through. 

I thank my parents every day for the way they have educated my sister and I. They showed us the world from an early age. They were "Third Culture Kids" themselves so they understood. They had long conversations with my sister and I about acceptance, differences and assimilation. My parents had the most humbled upbringings. Yet they lived the richest of life. They invested their money in experiences. They listened to people when they told stories and they remain opened to possibilities. I'm eternally thankful that they took us on trips, showed us the best and also the tough realities. They made traveling part of our lives. They didn't spoil us with toys and dolls. They didn't buy us expensive clothes. But they invested their money in giving us experiences and trips that shaped and defined us. 

So this post is dedicated to my amazing and humbled parents. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't thank God for having them in my life and for the blessing to call them Mama and Papa.