Fulfilling the Biblical Mandate to Care for Orphans and Widows

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Sharon Dickens
Particularly when I was thinking about my own kids think is this word to use fatherless. It’s not a phrase, turn of phrase that we use. When I was reading Psalm 68, verse five, it really struck me. He says, Father of the fatherless and protector of the widows, is God in his his holy habitation that might lay my kids were fatherless. But they weren’t like God ultimately was defined that of the fatherless, I find that immensely comforting.

Aixa De Lopez
So we are now on episode five of our Glo podcast. Good job, ladies. We are part of the gospel coalition Podcast Network. And we are so happy to be for women. Blair Lynn, from the US Sujin Park from the US but born in Korea, and our dear Sharon Dickens from Edinburg. That’s how I’m choosing to say it. And we’re just from different parts of the world, different cultures. But we’re coming together to speak on what God is doing around the world, which has been so enriching for the four of us. And we’re hoping and praying that it’s the same way for our listeners, and you guys who are actually watching. So today, we’re going to just dive into a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. And I want to start out just by sharing a little bit about how, as a family we grew to love and be a part of a movement that cares for orphans. So my name is Aisha Lopez, I’m from Guatemala, I was born there, and we lived there all our lives. Alex and I have been married almost 23 years. And we are the parents of for almost all adults, I would say, even though it feels like for teenagers, really. So they span from 20 years to 15. And my life is busy. The two oldest come from miracle of biology, and the youngest come from the miracle of adoption. And I get to say that really quickly in a sentence, but it’s been quite a process. When we’re dating, the subject came up about adoption. My husband went through to singular cancer when he was younger, and he didn’t receive any radiotherapy. But they go through chemotherapy. And I thought I should mention this while we’re dating. Like if we weren’t able to conceive biologically, how would we handle this? And this is not, this is a personal stance. For me, this is something that I believe, was right for us. I wouldn’t want 10 years to go by in us fighting for you know, fertility treatments and spending your life and your money and your emotions or your whatever on getting pregnant. So I said if in two years, we don’t conceive, naturally or biologically, biologically, then how about we adopt? And he said, okay, and that was about as deep conversations we had, when we were dating, you’d have to take into account that I really wasn’t deep into the gospel. And as you can see, it was a plan B, for me, it started out like, this is an idea that I could you know, come to accept in something useful, you know, if my plan doesn’t work out. And turns out, we actually have the two oldest and it was easy pregnancies, easy births. It was a boy and a girl, a girl and a boy. In our culture, having a you know, both genders, it’s like you won the lottery, like your mate. And so we were a complete family. But the Lord, I can’t talk about our adoption journey without talking about my gospel journey. So they’re very much parallel. And we just recently talked about the prosperity gospel. And I have to, sadly, touch that point on this episode about orphan care in church. Because a lot of the beliefs that were ingrained in me affected the way that I saw orphan care. And so by, by grace, when I started to view the Bible and see who Jesus was and the person that he is and the Savior that he is, it opened up my eyes to my own adoption, in him in in by doing that, naturally, what grew in me was this room. It reminded me of my A very naive, you know, inclination to adopt when I was younger. It’s like the Lord reminded me of it. And so I started to pray intermittently about adoption. And I grew dissatisfied with this whole world that we were surrounded by the mega church and the whole, you know, we were made, but I was dissatisfied, what you said last episode about the prosperity gospel, you go, go watch it, if you have it. It’s so true. And I felt an emptiness. And it wasn’t an emptiness that was to be filled with kids was to be filled with Jesus. And, and Jesus had been calling me to this work. So anyway, I started volunteering at an orphanage near my house. And that just became a doorway into another world. It was not statistics, it was not informative. It was transformative. Because I was getting to see little faces and stories and laughter and in tears got up close every week. And this is what opened my eyes to the possibility of adoption. And so my two kids at the time, came with me and heard the stories and heard the prayers. And one night, my then eight year old boy, asked, you know, very matter of factly. Mom, when are we gonna adopt? And I’m like, Well, God’s doing something. So I said, Well, honey, if he wants us to, he has to, you know, work in all of our hearts. And so that child prayed from that night on until his sister came, like a year later, in March 2014, we adopted the first time, Darlene was six and a half. And then a year later, we adopted again, Evelyn was nine and a half. And so we became a family of six in a matter of two years. And it’s a very long story, but it has, has opened my eyes to so many realities that, you know, in, in the natural realm, that point to the eternal reality, and how it is intertwined, the pulpits, the lack of Bible, sound, nests, whatever you call it, you know, Bible literacy, how it just affects the way we actually embody the gospel. So orphan care is not enough action. It’s something that we were mandated to, you know, go do. And it’s not only about adoption, in foster care, which we are called to, but we are actually called to all sorts of ways to care for the orphan. So as a matter of introduction, I gave I shared a little bit of my story. But the real root of everything is a word of God. And James 127, says, religion, religion that is pure and undefiled, before God, the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. So it’s powerful verse, but what other verses you see all over the Bible that point to this kind of reality, or work

Sharon Dickens
for me, I found, particularly when I was thinking about my own kids. Think is this word to use fatherless? It canines? No, it’s not a phrase, turn of phrase that we reduce. But when we were when I was reading Psalm 68, verse five, it really struck me. He says, Father of the fatherless and protector of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. That that made my kids were fatherless. But they weren’t. Like God ultimately was defined that of the fatherless I find that immensely comforting. So yeah, Psalm 6068. For me, verse five.

Blair Linne
Yeah, that I mean, that past both of those passages have resonated with me, you know, having written on fatherlessness and, and kind of expanding the view of what it means to be an orphan because off often we do think of only those who are waiting for adoption or waiting to be fostered. But there are so many single parent homes that are here in the United States. A lot of a lot of children who don’t have their father in their home and they’re right here in our pew. And I think like me being one of those, you know, being raised with about my father in the home, I really did have to turn to the Lord as my father and learn what it means to have a heavenly father in God. And, you know, you talked about it, I Isha about our spiritual adoption. And you know, the impact that that has upon all of us that, you know, here’s this beautiful doctrine that you have God the Father, who says, I am going to take sinful humanity, who really in one sense is without a father, right, because they are filled with sin, far from God, have made them we made ourselves an enemy of God. And God says, I’m going to love you. And not only am I going to love you, and forgive you of your sin through sending my son, you know, to absorb my wrath, to take on your sin, and to make you righteous, and in view of you trusting in Jesus, I’m gonna love you, you know, I’m gonna love you, and you’re gonna be my child. You know, Ephesians one, it says, you know, in love, He predestined us for adoption. And that passage, I mean, I think, really can be used to give all of us a heart of compassion, of understanding that this is us. Why does God tell us to have a heart for the fatherless? Because we, at one time, were fatherless. We didn’t have our heavenly father. And he came to us. And so how can we extend love loving our neighbor, you know, as as ourselves loving, because we’ve been loved by our God. And so? Yeah, those are a few passages that have encouraged me.

Aixa De Lopez
Yeah, I think it’s so important to make, to not assume people understand how we stand before the holy God. We take it, we take it for granted our title, sons and daughters, and we accepted widely, like very few people will fight you over that title. We love the title. But we don’t sit and consider how it happened. We did not belong at all, in in by the sacrifice of our oldest brother. Now we have a title that wasn’t ours. We by adoption. I remember years ago, I wrote a Facebook, you know, status. And it read something like Christmas is when our fathers sent our brother to sign our adoption papers. In when I hit Enter, and I posted, I knew it was going to be controversial in Latin America. And the comments were, you know, how dare you? We are not adopted, we are real sons and daughters, which points to, again, the lack of us our time in the Bible, because it’s, it’s explicitly said, I mean, time and time again, that we we have a God who has the spirit of adoption. It’s not a made up word. It’s not something that we translated into our languages. It’s there. It’s in his DNA. So the church should reflect that spirit. And something that needs to be addressed in. Actually, we can talk about it here, because there’s so many angles is, what are your thoughts on cross cultural adoptions? what’s your what’s been your experience? And what are your thoughts on that?

Soojin Park
I think this is a hard topic, right? It’s a weighty topic. And I don’t know if there’s a clear yes or no, right, wrong. And maybe it’s circumstantial, but I think one thing that we did talk about a little bit before preparing for this episode is the idea or the reality that in all of our contexts in America, Scotland, Guatemala, our foster care systems are filled to the brim. And a lot of our children are not being adopted domestically, but they’re being adopted internationally. And so where’s kind of the balance of, you know, where do we take accountability and responsibility for caring for the children in our own midst versus will if someone else is willing to take care of them should be encouraged that right, I think there’s a lot of lot of things you can consider. You know, one of the things that I shared with you guys is, I looked it up and in Korea, the out of all adoptions only 4% happened domestically. And I think that really saddens me. I think culturally, there’s a lot of pushback in the Korean culture, I think East Asian culture in general against adoption. I think there’s a strong belief and passing down your blood, your genetics, right that’s really strong and I see that even in Korean American culture, sadly, even amongst Christians, I don’t see a lot of adoption happening. I don’t actually hear a lot of people talking about adoption. And so in a place like Korea, you know, when so many kids are being adopted internationally, should you discourage that? Or, you know, how do you go about that? Right? I feel like there’s no right or wrong answer.

Blair Linne
Yeah, I would say, I wouldn’t want to discourage it at all. Because it is a good thing. You have children who need homes, they need families, and you have families who are willing to love them and take them in. I would just say, and is there a way to expand your view of what it looks like to adopt that there are people right here, you know, who are close in close proximity to you, many children who don’t have a home also. So is there a way to consider them as well. And, you know, I think one of the things when it comes specifically to cross cultural adoption is, I think it’s important to realize that the child that is coming into your home does come with a culture. And it’s important not to snuff that culture out or just, you know, say that that child must assimilate. I know. And I’ve had friends who have been adopted, I remember a sister I went to college with and she said, I asked her, you know, what’s your heritage, you know, she reminded me of another friend of mine, who was from Jamaica, and she said, You know, I don’t know, I’m adopted, and she says, I don’t want to know, I have no desire to know. And then I know that there could be another person who very much wants to know, you know, and very much wants to have a sense of culture or, you know, kind of identity as it relates to the flesh, you know, and, and so what does it look like to celebrate the fact that there’s diversity in your house, I know, for example, a big issue that has come up, when either African American children are adopted, or African children are adopted is just making sure that you keep them rooted in, you know, their ethnicity, making sure if we can be really frank, their hair is combed? Well, you know, though, these are things that you have to learn, you have to humble yourself to go outside or step outside of what’s, quote, unquote, normal for you and realize, no, there’s a different way, you know, and so one way is not quote unquote, normal. We’re just different. We’re all made in the image of God, we have different hair types. And so that’s going to require some learning. And so I think, yeah, what does it look like to learn in the process, not just come in is like, here, I am just going to rescue this child. But I think the Lord is wanting to teach in the midst of that. Yeah, I don’t know, what do you guys think?

Aixa De Lopez
Amen to so much. Amen. To all of what you just said, first of all, to acknowledge that you do not own the child. And that’s just motherhood general. But in adoption, it needs to be said more often. The fact that the child is now part of your family does not erase the family of origin. And we have to be open to walk in their grief. Because it’s, it’s absolutely there, even if they come an hour old into your arms, that child is being, you know, taken or given and not, you know, staying with their family of origin. And that is going to carry grief. And you have to be open to that and be able to be a safe spot for them to process all that. And that comes with a lot of, you know, messiness, and that’s part of the adoption journey. Also, I would love for the church to look at orphan care in a broader way. And maybe we are not only called to adopt domestically in what Amala international adoption closed about 12 years ago, due to so many acts of corruption in human trafficking and horrible stories. We have young adults now looking for the roots in so many horrific stories of kidnapping and in abuse that went on. So it had to be shut down. And that in a way encouraged local national adoption to be more prevalent. We still have a long way to go. But I would love to see Christians preventing the breakup of families. I would love for the church in Korea to come alongside and see okay, why is this? Is this rupture happening? Why are so many kids in the foster care to begin with? In the US? I see So much good movement, I see Christian moms and dads, you know, getting trauma informed, which is wonderful. But we need the church to be more proactive in praying for the family of origin, in wanting the reunification, and in, you know, evaluating our motives to want to help a child in need. And again, it comes back to, are you humble enough to recognize that you yourself, were an orphan? It’s not here I am. I’m the Savior, I’m coming. Now. It’s how can I be a vessel in this family life, ultimately, the child is not isolated. He’s belongs to a circle, to a community to somebody. And the church needs to be aware of that. You know, and I would love for you, Sharon, to share a little bit about the kids that you have welcomed into your home and not in a formal way, because it’s not an adoption, where you sign any papers. But I would love for you to speak on that. Because sometimes we get we get blindsided by the formality of what is supposed to look like. And I would love for you to share. I

Sharon Dickens
don’t think I would mean we do I do call them my fake kids. To actually treat them

Aixa De Lopez
real.

Sharon Dickens
I did not give birth to them. And I think it’s part of feel that when we’re having these podcasts, they’re all one conversation. And they all inner, lay, interject and teach each other and I think is part of how we show hospitality through discipleship. And so for some of the, the, the young Christians who I mean, they’re beyond I mean, they’re 18 Plus, they, they don’t need a doctor and and they have parents, but actually for whatever reason. And sometimes that there’s a PAP better if they just came in live with you. And so there’s been a couple of kiddos that, that I have had lived with me. And one that kind of became part of my family in the early days. Sometimes I would come home and home, my daughter would gang up on me and like look at their watch and go where have you been? And I’d be like, Wait, well, I’m the mom. How did this happen. And then like later, when when I moved out and my my kids are adults, an independent man, I still I still do that I have had girls, ladies 18 plus some children of 20s come and live with me. And actually at the time when we had this idea of kitten and orphans. As a script, I was thinking, I don’t know if I have anything to say about this I have not adopted, I’ve seen it done because we have people in our church. I mean, we have a project in Scotland that coats the families that gets alongside families and helps them keep their kids. But then when we were talking last night, I was thinking actually, so much of this is just having someone in your house and I can’t remember who it was, I think it was was up there it was talking about this older lady that used to bring home older ladies and disciple them. And I think it was a template and that’s what it’s like. And I think what I’ve learned more is I mean we talked about this outside this chat is more about who my simple self is like Kevin and other adults and having other Christians in your house only brings to the surface things that are within me that need to change I’m it’s been a such a privilege to be able to be part of young Christians lives and be part of their growing into maturity, and even the way that you teach them so we instinctively teach our kids how to be independent adults. But the same needs to be the same over are like our young Christians. And so some of these young ladies who came in live with me they would have been less mature in the faith new believers but whereas now they’ve grown up in the faith and our relationship dynamics changed when you’ve gone through the baby stages and then the teenage stage and and even as adults, you’re teaching them as equals with one another and each other now, how are we talking to each other’s lives. And so it’s been really encouraging but it’s not like you see without your difficulties in having people that are inside your house, with sometimes complex backgrounds brings with it things that you need to think through. But also think through for yourself. None of us come without baggage, right.

Blair Linne
One of the things it’s, it’s interesting I write about this too, just how the Lord has used the church. So you know, when there’s brokenness in the family structure. The Lord blesses us oftentimes with spiritual fathers spiritual mothers rites, spiritual sisters, spiritual brothers. And, you know, I think sometimes we wrestle with how do we care for, you know, those when we’re not officially, as you said, adopting or fostering. And it, I think it can look like yes, opening up the Scripture with those, you know, who needed more formal discipleship. But I think even what you’re saying, just having someone in your home and, you know, that’s kind of my story, I was able to be invited into someone’s home and to observe them doing family worship for the first time, like, well, we didn’t do that coming up, you know, to sit down and have a meal around the table. My mom, we, you know, worked as a single mom, and we were latchkey kids. So we often didn’t do that coming up, you know, to be able to have someone you can call when your tire goes flat, or when you need, like, an oil change, or whatever, like, you know, to say, I’m thinking through college, I just need somebody to process this through me to do the things that maybe if you had a father in your life, what would that look like? You know, if you had a mother in your life, you know, how did they walk through life with you? And just knowing that there’s so many people who just have that absence? And you know, to know, I remember when I went to college, I didn’t have my family there. I didn’t know I needed to bring, like Taos, do you know what I mean? Like, there was no one there. I went to college by myself. And I brought my clothes like I was showing up to a hotel, you know what I mean? Like? And so I had to go back home, like, oh, I need more things. You know, so to just have someone to walk you through the basics. How do you do your taxes? How do you do you know, like, I think that those are the ways that we can that kind of informal discipleship life on life, that so often is missing, we have people who they may be able to break down the Scripture and expository text, but their life is in shambles. And no one’s like, actually, like digging in to say, let me get to know you. Share your story with me, like what’s it been like not having a mother or father in your life. And thinking

Sharon Dickens
back on some of the things that we’ve said in previous podcasts, where we’re talking about how we influence people, I mean, that sport Tate is talking about, we influenced by the way that we do life on life with people teaching them how to, in the hardest, most difficult moments to deliver out as a godly woman are.

Soojin Park
Yeah, and I think like when we think about topics like adoption, or caring for the fatherless or orphans, people get overwhelmed. Like, I can’t do that. But I think just hearing you guys speak, it’s just a matter of being aware of the needs in your community and being willing and able to fill those needs it just start small, right. And I think that should be an encouragement to all of us. And also a challenge, right? I think we talked about yesterday at our side conversations, how we’ve become so selfish with our time, and we are so unwilling to give that. But if we are to do all these things, it’s not, you don’t start with the huge overwhelming tasks, you start small and you identify who are the people in my own vicinity, who have these gaping needs that I could easily fill right now.

Aixa De Lopez
And I just want to encourage everyone listening, we’re not making a call for you all to adopt and foster. But you can embrace a family that has like I couldn’t do what I’m doing. If I didn’t have the love and support of the Body of Christ. Like maybe you are not called to adopt. Not everyone is more people are supposed to be doing it. I’m certain, but not all of us. But all of us can do something. That’s a quote by Jason Johnson. He says all the time, look him up. He’s amazing. And maybe you are not meant to but you can pay for the dentist bill that’s expensive. And when you decide to adapt, kids come with all kinds of needs. Maybe that you need a tutor for math, and you can do that. Just think of ways to get close and be observant and be humble enough to ask how can I help? Or don’t even ask, bring the meal, bring the meal, get it over and say this is dinner. You know? That’s it. So maybe it’s not even the big thing that you think God has laying upon you. Maybe it is but start with one thing like you said, that’s so important. And it’s an it’s meaningful.

Sharon Dickens
May have been we’ve been thinking about this a lot, my friends and I because there’s some people in our congregation that are social workers, and some who we talk about adoption quite a lot. Usually around whether a single woman should adopt that she’d been quite challenged recently about the fact that even though I am not called to adopt, like, my lifestyle does just not can’t cope. But the reality is that actually I can do something slightly like you were saying. And it’s that thinking through so even thinking through being on lakes, we would have something like a social work panel, where social workers would be involved in a family’s life, and then they have advocates. And so actually Christians can be involved in those volunteer roles, such an effective way to have like to be a voice for a child that needs it, without actually, so there’s lots of ways to be involved with those that need cared for. And we just need to think about it intentionally.

Aixa De Lopez
Absolutely. And you talk about singles and adoption, and that deserves an episode in itself. But since you mentioned it, I think it’s worth our while to spend a minute on that. And that is one of the most frequent questions that we get we I work with Christian lives for orphans, in Latin America. And it’s a question that arises quite a bit. So what are your thoughts on that?

Blair Linne
Yeah, there was a sister who I attended church with who she was a older single sister and desire to be married, but the Lord has their single. And she just used her singleness so well, and one of the ways that she did that was through fostering, and she fostered older, young women. So maybe around from 18 to 21, which is kind of a transition years from when they go out on their own, she would be there for them. And I know she has fostered at least two women. And it’s been an encouragement to see these women attend church with her and, you know, get to know some of these young women, and for her to create for them a forever family, as she would say, and, you know, it’s a beautiful thing. You know, when you think through legacy, and the responsibility that we’re called to, and how the Lord can use us may not have biological children, but you can still be a mother, a spiritual mother. And yeah, it’s been beautiful to observe her life. Not waiting, you know, I think some people say, Well, I’ll wait until I’m married, you know, to take this on. It’s been really sweet to see you’re taking on trust the Lord.

Aixa De Lopez
Yeah, I think it’s a high calling. And I do see lots of single godly women doing this work in a very wonderful way. I would just a word of caution, say, check your motives. And this is true for anything that we do in the Christian walk, right? Check your motives, and see that you’re not looking for validation, or that your identity is in doing and fulfill a role, but in Jesus, and secondly, you need a support system, a really like, strong support system, that is it with it, with you in it for the long haul. Because this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. So you’re gonna need all the support that you can for you and the children that will come to your home. It’s not easy. It’s intense as all mothering is but you know, all adoption tales, trauma. And, and trauma brings trauma. So it’s, you need a lot of support, always. So as a single woman, that’s what I would say is, like, so fundamentally important for you to take care of,

Sharon Dickens
I think this is probably one of the things that I have. I’ve spent days thinking about only because some of this conversation that we’ve had earlier. So I would have been a single mom, knowing how hard it is, knowing that that’s not the idealistic picture that God would want. My pushback, and it has always been that I would personally feel that if a single woman wanted to adopt, I would challenge like you say, but but from my perspective, and I’ve always felt it’s it’s not something that a single woman that we should be doing. And then we were talking yesterday, and you started into my head, I’m thinking single mom with babies. I remember how hard that was. Why would like if you’ve not like all those things you’ve just cautioned us with or you share the fact that there’s there’s there’s no support, that you’re doing it all on your own that you’ve every responsibility is yours. And so all those thoughts is what’s fueling my thinking and then we were talking yesterday, please You mentioned this lady. And so my head I’m thinking adopting two year olds. And then suddenly you’re talking 18 year olds. And I’m thinking that’s not a thought that I’ve had before. Which is actually when you think about it, we were having the same conversation, but from a different perspective. And so there’s, there’s all those elements that in my head, if you’d asked me this question, three days ago, I’d have been far more assertive in my assumptions of what I don’t think is helpful. I’m sure I’m not, I’m not moving from them. But actually, I’m rethinking how I view that from a different perspective. And pay, I can’t imagine why, in having been a single mom of two kids, and every responsibilities on your own, you’ve got nothing to share, and no one to share it with the and I know that the church family can come along. And so the pushback I usually get from people is, Well, surely that would be a better home for kids to be brought up in than an A and a foster care home. And there’s no in my head, there’s nowhere to go with that. Because you know, the reality of whatever it is life must be the same for your mum everyday life of what it was like. But then also, there’s this biblical principle of what a godly home looks like, and headship and how can you bring that when there’s, there’s no meal there. And so I wrestle with that, in that conversation. And so you’re right, it’s a whole episode, that what I’m trying to say is my thinking is started to start to reevaluate what my thoughts were before it started.

Blair Linne
And it’s interesting how, you know, the Lord gives grace, even as you were saying, you know, earlier, you know, it’s not to put the pressure on everyone to say you need to go out and adopt, I think there’s grace for each individual. And for the call that the Lord has given them, I was just thinking about, like Amy Carmichael, who, you know, like, you know, her taking on an orphanage, you know, and caring for children. I I’m sure it’s hard. I’m like, caring for my three children is hard right now, with a husband, you know, like, how much more difficult as a single mom, you know, or as you think of Amy Carmichael, who had multiple children that she was caring for at the same time. But I trust that the Lord will give grace if he’s called you to it, and he will provide the community that you need the support that you need. And if not, then maybe that’s not your call, right now. You know?

Aixa De Lopez
Yes, absolutely. We have so much more to talk about in another episode could be caring for the adult add up T. Because because you’re right. When you think adoption, you think babies, but they grow up, and they grow up without processing so much. And I just encourage you to pray for the whole array of people that are involved in the adoption story, which is supposed to be all of us, especially adoptees, we have a support group, we opened during the pandemic via zoom for adult adoptees, and I’ve learned so much from just hearing them, and the relief that they get from having a safe space to process their experiences. And it’s a humbling experience. So so it’s been a great conversation. I loved going into everything that we talked about, and especially James 127, where we revise what true religion looks like, and feels like. And of course, we didn’t cover all grounds. So if you’re interested in knowing more, check out the notes for the episode, we’re going to post some links there to help you deepen the your knowledge. And of course, we didn’t even touch on the subject of widows. So we look forward to speaking on that. And look for the links. Anyway, stay tuned, because we are God willing gonna keep on talking about all of this. I love this discussion. I thank God for this space and for everything that he has been doing in our own hearts as we share for the sake of the ladies that are listening to us. And now it’s time to shine a light on our differences. What is the most are the best place that you went to as a child? Like, what is one of the most memorable places that you have in your mind as a child?

Blair Linne
Well, speaking of, you know, being raised by a single mother, my mother didn’t have a whole lot as she cared for my sister and I. But one day we were getting ready for school. I was in the first grade. So I don’t know what eight seven or eight and she got us ready for school and rather than and walk us to school, she actually got us on a bus, the city bus and drove the bus took us to Disneyland for the day. So I’ll never forget ditching school, the first time I did school to go to Disneyland. So that was one of my most memorable moments as a child in Cuba.

Soojin Park
I was also going to say Disneyland, though at one time we visited the states, but I thought more about it last night. And actually, this image of visiting my grandmother’s house, Grandma grandfather at the time in Korea, and my great grandmother was alive. And I just have this really distinct memory of her in a particular area of the kitchen, just making food. And there’s something about that memory that lingers with me. And I just remember, my great grandmother’s smile, and every time I would go, she would be there cooking. And it just stuck with me. And I think it’s just amazing that these kind of really simple memories are what sticking with you over time.

Sharon Dickens
I’m a bit like Suja. And I had this image in my head of like, my favorite beach when I was a kid. But then I started to think a bit more on the topic. And I remember as a child, every Saturday morning, my dad would take me and my brother out to a special place. And so every single week, it was a different special place. And we never knew where the special place was. And then I remember and it was amazing. I mean, we’ve just started hanging out with those. But I remember when I was both 17 Walking past this bridge thinking, Oh, this is this is a special place it no I know what it’s called. And so we should normal average places. But he would never tell us were there. So there’s all these places all over Edinburgh. I don’t know the actual name of the in my head or just oh, that’s one of that special places. Sweet.

Aixa De Lopez
That is fantastic. Now that everyone’s changing their minds, is it because we’re just talking about stuff and that we our mind keeps going apparently, I will say my grandfather’s like space work like it was the wagon the car that had a station wagon or station wagon? Yes. My father worked for the banana Fruit Company in in in coasting in my country. And we would go visit on holidays. And it’s so hot there. In the seat. Is this fake? It’s not it’s that skin. It’s it’s an animal skin. It’s like leather, maybe? Yeah, some but it’s fake. So it sticks to you. And I remember it sticking to me. But the smell it was always like the mixture of banana and, and the smell this synthetic fibers inside the car. And it was just so fantastic to go over to the general store and he would get a little cone. It’s a plastic cone filled with ice cream. And then there’s a gumball at the end. It was just fantastic. is the best, it was the best and in the screen doors on the house. I mean, that kind of you’re you’re making me remember that. And the smell is just so distinct. And it just stuck with me. So it’s not maybe the grandeur of the of the place, although I loved it, but it’s just I guess the presence and it all goes all goes goes back to relationship, right? All goes back to relationships. So

Blair Linne
NetSuite. Yeah, so I have Disneyland you guys. I have all the deep relationships.

Aixa De Lopez
But you have your grandmother’s cooking in

Sharon Dickens
Disneyland was relational. It was I mean, yeah, it

Aixa De Lopez
was Yes. Fantastic.

Blair Linne
I’ll never forget that. Well, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of glow. Remember that you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill shall not be hidden. Neither do man light a candle and put it under a basket but on a light stand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. In the same way. Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. We hope we’ll see you guys next week on Glo.