Go with the flow

As we prepare to go to Singapore, we are constantly on the lookout for anything which might be able to ready us for the journey ahead. Yesterday we were headed to Allen for a birthday party for one of our nephews. I thought I could try to find a new restaurant. One of the three main people groups in Singapore are the people from India. So I decided on Indian food.

I did a quick search on Google and found Akbar. The best part was it had a buffet so we could try lots of different things. We had tandoor chicken, chicken tikka makhini, aloo bhaji, saag paneri and gulab juman. My favorite by far was the chicken tikka makhini. The kids all wanted no part of any of it, but I made them try a little of each and they all decided the tandoor chicken was palatable.

We then went to our nephew/cousin’s party. It was inside a natatorium in Allen. We had a good time. The best part was half of the building was like a water playground you might find in a water park. They even had a mini lazy river. It was shaped like an 8 and in one of the loops you could go into a circular area which swirled like a whirlpool. Of course another child said she was swirling around in a toilet but her mother kept admonishing her for saying so.

While Emme (our daughter) and I were floating around in the river she said, “Hey, dad! I’m going with the flow.” I told her it should be our family motto to “Go with the flow.” Traveling overseas is a difficult and frustrating experience for Americans because most of the rest of the world doesn’t share our desire for the quick life. I wanted our family to relax and just go with flow as we travel. Less stress sometimes means more happiness.

But I am also reminded of a t-shirt which my brother had when we were in high school. It showed all these different sized fish swimming to the right (or left if you were wearing the shirt). But one solitary fish was swimming against the current. And the verse on the shirt was Romans 12:2 which says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

There are many examples of people in the Bible who went against the flow. Joseph could have succumbed to the temptations of Potiphar’s wife. Noah could have stopped building the Ark while everyone ridiculed him. Elijah could have ignored the call of the Lord and not stood up against King Ahab.

Please pray we can be the example to the world and expecially our students so we can go against the flow.

Jeremy Erwin