Above pictured with the whole family, hubs and I are in the middle. Wish we could be together more but we enjoy the moments God gives us.

Hi, I’m Lea and I’m glad you found A Cultural Shift.

If we’ve never met before, let me say I have lived an amazing, albeit unusual, life. I’ve spent most of my time in Africa serving as a missionary with my husband and children. Africa serves as inspiration for much of what is found here on A Cultural Shift. To this day, Africa never ceases to amaze me all other places are tame.

A Cultural as well as personal shift

My life has gone from one shift to another. Learning how to manage all of the shifting culturally and personally has been interesting. A Cultural Shift is my attempt to share those experiences with you.

Thankfully, all this shifting didn’t finish me, although it has come close a few times! I found a Helper in the Shift, Jesus, who helped (and helps) me navigate those storms. He has been my anchor and stabilizes me when everything else is falling apart.

I hope that A Cultural Shift will serve to inspire and encourage you to learn about yourself in the shift.

I also hope that you will learn about the wonderful grace God makes available to us to manage the bumps along the way.

Finally, I hope we can walk this road together and go beyond simply enduring the shift to enjoying the journey because this life we have is wonderful. It is meant to be enjoyed.

A little trivia:

  1. I love birds and have had parrots for much of my life. Yes, I have been bitten. It hurts but I still love them.
  2. I’m a first-generation American of Finnish descent.
  3. I love coffee, but not flavored coffee or flavored coffee creamers. Coffee must be hot, not cold. Don’t come after me for this.
  4. One of my favorite things to do is hike. I’m not very good at it but I love it anyway. Someday I would love to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
  5. I can speak six languages: English, Finnish, French, Swahili, Chichewa, and some Kirundi.
  6. I’m now studying a new language, “Tswana.” It is one of the major languages of South Africa.