Living Wisely

Intelligent people are always open to new ideas.

In fact, they look for them.

Proverbs 18:15

In 2002, Cheryl, our two boys and I packed up twelve years of life in Korea, prepared two bags each and moved to a creative access country. On the way from the airport to downtown in our new country, we saw local restaurants where dying animals were hanging upside down by the front door. Blood was dripping from their mouths. Needless to say, we didn’t have much of an appetite that day. By the next day we were hungry, but we were not yet brave enough to go out to eat. We wanted to go buy groceries, but on the way from the airport we had been traumatized by glimpses of the open market. Chickens were running around everywhere on a dirt floor where raw meat and vegetables were piled high.

I just wasn’t ready to go to the market. So being a smart father, I sent our two boys Joshua and Jonathan! They were sixteen and twelve years old at the time. I told them “Please go buy some eggs. Remember, we saw chickens running around at the market, so surely they have eggs.” So, as boys do, off they went on their big adventure. When they got to the market, they felt like they had dropped in from another planet. Everyone began staring at those two big, tall white boys.

Joshua and Jonathan looked in vain for the eggs. The grandmas selling live chickens were trying to figure out what those guys wanted. To communicate, those two smart young men began giving a visual display. Twelve years of cross-cultural living had taught them many survival skills. Joshua and Jonathan began acting like chickens. They flapped their wings, squatted up and down, and squawked like chickens. “Bak bak bak BAAAK!” Not getting the results they wanted, a further step was added. When they squatted down, they pretended to lay eggs, grabbed the dropping eggs with their hands as they ‘laid’ them, and proudly ‘showed’ the eggs to the grandmas! Calling all their friends over to watch these two crazy foreigners, all the Grandmas started doing the chicken dance!

The boys came home.

“Did you get some eggs?”

“No, but we danced with Grandma!”

Through living each moment as an opportunity to learn and change, within a few months Joshua and Jonathan were ordering meals at restaurants, chatting with the locals in their language, and navigating around the city as if they had lived there all their lives. And it was all because they danced with Grandma. Life was teaching them skills not only to survive, but to thrive and enjoy. That is the way of practical wisdom. Being teachable quickly changes us into competent achievers.

When it comes to practical life skills, do you want to move from novice to expert? Here’s how: dance with Grandma. She will teach you wisdom. When life doesn’t hand you the egg you are hoping for, be creative. Try something different. Do a little dance. Even if you go home without an egg in your hand, you’ll have a great story to tell. You’ll go home wiser, and more experienced. Want to be more intelligent? Be open to new ideas and new habits. Look for those chances to dance with Grandma.