It is a truth that should not be.
Too many cross-cultural workers are spiritually depleted. But when your “job” is “God,” the lines between your own spiritual well-being and what you need to do to for your calling can get blurry.
Here at Global Trellis, we are—and want to continue to be—cross-cultural workers who grow and change while staying rooted in Christ. With this in mind, today, we will add our final rung to the trellis of “specialists” who build into you. Every quarter they will write about their specialty, so that your soul is tended and your skill set expands over time. The goal is to develop you so that you live out God’s call. So far the rungs of this trellis involve: Tim Austin (life coach/transitions), Lauren Wells (TCK), Katie Brown (grief), Jenilee Goodwin (life hacks), Daniel Whitt (financial), Mark Hedinger (culture), Lori Ferrell (spiritual director) and Karen Hedinger (language acquisition).
Today, I am delighted for you to meet Lane Arnold. Lane is a spiritual director who has known about Global Trellis before Global Trellis even was and has prayed for this space more than you know. You are going to love her!
Lane, thank you for being here and building into this community. Could you please share a bit about your or your family’s experience overseas.
I wish I could sit across the table and visit with you. In lieu of that, here’s a bit of who I am.
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Born and raised in Georgia, I grew up where every word had sixteen-and-a-half very slow syllables.
Those Golden Isles, salted with ocean air, have ever been whispering, “Come on home, y’all.”
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We’ve recently returned to Georgia’s coastal clime invitation, after decades in the vast beauty of Colorado.
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Now we live again where the honeysuckle wafts across cicada-symphony summer evenings, under skies full of herons, wood storks, and osprey.
We are thankful for the slow ways of the south, near dear ones and our roots.
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On the best days, I’m walking on nearby Tybee Island’s beach, wandering through historic downtown Savannah, and wondrous to be ever listening to or telling stories of Jesus.
Evenings find me curled up with a good book, my journal nearby, capturing ideas for my mighty slow-to grow novel-in-progress.
As often as I can, I’m creating some prose, prayers, or poetry, praising God for the wonders I get to ponder each day.
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God’s wildness now allows me to be the unexpected beloved to my once-high-school and college-sweetheart.
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After thirty-four years apart, God put us back together, two shattered shimmering ones.
Both of us lamented unwanted divorces and long seasons of singleness.
For me, that included single parenting three teenagers, watching God’s care of me while I cared for them.
Now this old-new love of mine and I are wandering forth with Jesus, Father, and Spirit, a dozen years into our later-in-life marriage with a new hard diagnosis for him.
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As quirky as my curly hair, as full of hope as laughter, I delight in being wife, Mama, Gran, friend.
I’m Mama to three grown children; Gran to the absolutely most delightful and crazy grandkids; and Lane to my friends scattered here, there, and yonder.
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As a spiritual director, I walk barefoot in the holy. I have the honor of listening to the heart of women who long to go deeper with Jesus.
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As a life and writing coach, I encourage folks to move forward to the soaring possibility of their dreams.
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As a word creative, I consume words as a reader, play with words as an author and writer, and encourage writers as I edit and coach their words.
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I savor colors through quilting and painting.
I marinate in beauty often.
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I love the color turquoise.
I’m a joy collector.
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My life is richly full of communion, creativity, and curiosity.
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I’m the beloved bride of Jesus our Bridegroom.
I’m the winsome daughter of my kind and wise Father.
I’m the whimsical one who waltzes with the Wild Holy Spirit.
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I adore discovering more of the heart of the Trinity in fresh ways.
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Jesus wooed my broken heart and soul into the greatest of love stories. It’s still my favorite.
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His sacred romance of my heart has held me in deep valleys of too-long suffering.
Together we’ve found joy in the journey of healing streams with the Spirit.
Always with the Father, He keeps inviting me to stay wide awake at heart.
Thank you, Lane! What draws you to helping cross-cultural workers?
Story and language are my places of creativity and playfulness. Several encounters with international language learners intrigued me over the course of my life.
In the late 1970s, a one-year cross-cultural experience ended before it began.
In the late 1980s, an overflow of international students surprised our very-suburban school district. Imagine my delight to be on the ground level of creating an ESOL curriculum designed to teach students from over 40 different countries. These elementary students brought wonder and beauty to our landscape.
In the late 1990s, my graduate work fostered more interest as I explored literacy for students from a variety of language backgrounds.
In the mid-2000s, a short-term cross-cultural experience opened my eyes in fresh ways.
What is your hope for people of faith, who are called to a life of service, when it comes to their spiritual life?
My hope is for you to dance often with invitations that take you to the deep heart of God.
He absolutely adores you! May you grow ever more intimacy with Father, Son, and Spirit. May you always know you are seen, loved, desired, and claimed as Christ’s own beloved.
May deep interior landscapes be transformed as you press into spiritual habits that bring forth new wonders in your understanding, at a heart level, of who God is, and of who you are to God.
You know that’s part of what it means to “flourish” on the field. It doesn’t mean that life is easy, but that people are rooted in the Triune God and growing as a person. Just for fun, do you like to eat spicy food? What’s your favorite spicy dish?
My favorite spicy dish is the one that someone else eats! Horseradish added to tomato sauce with a hint of lemon juice for dipping shrimp and crab in is about the limit of my spicy taste!
Ha! Okay, so maybe we couldn’t go out to eat at just any restaurant if we’re ever in the same place! Lane it is so good to have you here!
Dear reader, Lane’s first post will be on Thursday, and you will have a chance to win a one hour session with her (or for you to gift to your wife or female coworker). She also did the workshop Spiritual Direction for Advent.
Not sure how to handle those conversations where you feel out of your depth? Now you can. Get Counseling 101 for Lay People today.
I love your comment “waltz with the wild Holy Spirit”…..what a beautiful image! Lane you sound like someone it would be a true pleasure to meet and share an iced tea with. 🙂