Refugees

**This post was written in March of 2016, but for some reason I never published it, but it seems I should tonight.

 What comes to mind when you here the word refugee?  Have you ever seen a refugee in real life?  I have.  They looked the part, in trouble, scared, in distress.  A man in a bind, in need of help.  In over their head and in need of someone to come to their aid.

 News outlets have conditioned us to see refugees as foreigners. The refugee I'm most familiar with is the one who looks a lot like me.   A refugee is someone in need of refuge. See what I did there?  Why would an American ever need refuge? Inside our borders we have everything we need, that's why there's a line to get in right? We both rightly and wrongly place a lot of hope in our American soil and a lot of other things. We've got so much security, jobs, the constitution, there are laws and boundaries in place, we can call 911 and out roll the cops, the firemen, the EMTs,  there are programs  in place if we fall on hard times, there's Uber if I'm stranded,  insurance companies,  literal shelters, and on top of that we've got our bank accounts and 401Ks,  our families and security measures and plans of our own in place. We call for help when our internet goes out other than this we've pretty much got it covered. Hashtag BLESSED.

God bless America! And as someone who's seen other parts of this world, I can confirm, He sure has! It's always wonderful to come HOME. America is GREAT.

What flashes in my mind when I hear the term refugee?   A family huddled in a basement bathtub as tornado sirens wail, kids with a trash bag of their belongings timidly walking into a new foster care home, the line outside the homeless shelter on Commercial at dusk each evening. I see a man pleading with the loan officer in the back corner of the bank, parents rushing a feverish, inconsolable child into the ER at 1am.  I see the family of a drug addict, the couple walking out of divorce court, the widow being handed the flag at the funeral.  The girl in the mirror. It's found in all our eyes at one time or another, desperation, vulnerability, fear, anguish, depletion, need.

Refuge isn't really in our vocabulary. Our needs are met when we run to the bank, stop at the grocery store, make a doctor's appointment. It's getting cold we better stop by the mall after school and pick up new winter coats. Do you know of a good rehab?  A good marriage counselor?  Our refuge is where we go when we see need or we  find ourselves in need, for many the first stop is home, we dip into our internal resources. What's your go to?  Mine, more often than not, is ME, my next paycheck, my incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom, my outstanding people skills, even when I finally resort to prayer I still give the Most High ideas of how He can fix the problem at hand.

I'll bet you think all this was triggered by the news droning on in the background, nope it was  by a little verse tucked into my Bible reading this morning, Psalm 34:8:

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in the Lord."  

Check it out and see, He says. #Blessed is the man who runs to the Lord when he finds himself in over his head, in distress, in a bind, depleted physically, emotionally, relationally, even financially. #Blessed is the guy who reaches his hands upward to His savior when he's at a loss, scared, in trouble.

Where do you take refuge? While I'm a fan of doctors, counselors, friends, savings accounts, retirement plans, a huge fan of Benedryl, Google, hard work, Merica,  tornado shelters, and Travelers insurance, all the good looking men who come when I dial 911, and good government; I challenge you to make a different first call.  When I find a refugee staring back at me in the mirror, I'm trying to make my first call, my first point of service, where I run, where I seek safety, guidance, help, and security, FIRST to be in Him. Psalm 34:8 says I'll be #BLESSED if I do. Plus, all of those other things might one day not work, might not be available, might not be able to help me so my security should be found in something that the storm can't touch, that the fire can't destroy, in something that can't be taken, squandered, or lost.

Oh and since this post was titled refugees, if my refuge is in the Lord, I don't have to be scared any fellow refugees I may encounter along the way.

Trust in Him at all times oh people; pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. (even during election season!) :)
Ps. 62:8

1995

Took this off a friend's FB wall, but wanted to put it here for the nostalgia!

The year was 1995.
1. Did you know your spouse then? Um well, I guess not, if I did he sure has waited a LOONG time to show himself.
2. Did you carpool? Yep, rode with my friend Lyndsay in her red plymouth laser.
3. What kind of car did you have? 1989 Nissan Sentra, it was popular, Jessie and Thomas had the exact same car, same color and all.
4. It's Friday night .... we're going cruising, we'll drive from the loop of the McDonald's parking lot, thru the movies, up to the pool hall and back around again and again, unless we're just standing in the movies parking lot or out in a big field somewhere around a fire and likely all end up sleeping in my living room floor.
5. What kind of job did you have? Shady Brook Cinema, unfortunately on Vince's shift and not Darryl's & Sno Biz too all the cool kids worked here!
6. Were you a party animal? Well... I wasn't exactly Missionary Mary Beth just yet.
7. Were you a jock? I donned both the soccer and softball jersey, but it's fairly safe to still answer No to this question.
8. Were you in band? Yep.
9. Were you a nerd? See the answer to question 8.
10. Did you get suspended or expelled? Nope just the reason they instituted the attendance policy.
11. Can you sing the fight song? No.
12. Where did you eat lunch? Cafeteria as it was the only place we were allowed to eat.
13. What was your school's full name? Columbia Central High School
14. What was your school mascot? Lion
15. If you could go back and do it again would you? Yeah, sure it's a rite of passage, we survived and even had a little fun along the way.
16. Planning on going to your next reunion? Yes, although FB kind of ruins the suspense.
17. Are you still in contact with people from high school? Yep! We've Christmased every year since the 7th grade. Love them!
18. What were your class colors? Purple and White

19. Senior Trip:  PCB baby! Car hopping. Hurricane party. Club La Villa. Spinikers. The Beach. Montel Jordan. Total Eclipse of the Heart. 

20. Number you graduated in your class?  90 something, but I knew a National Merit Scholar and Coca Cola Scholarship recipient. :)