Salutations Eartherners! Sorry for not writing for a while! But I have come back with a vengeance, for it’s GUEST POST TIME! With my mom!
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:18)
Hi, I’m Stephenie Weber, Lexie’s mom. I wanted to write a little bit about Lexie’s background, contributing to her desire to become a missionary and the Lord’s amazing ways to shape our paths.
I can trace Lexie’s international interests all the way through her great grandparents. It’s fascinating to see how my father’s grandfather, a German Lutheran missionary, was sent from his Swiss seminary to the US.
My father and his brother were sent to this grandfather to be taken care of during the Depression. While my father was turned off of religion by his older, traditional ways, he still got a taste of Germany.
During World War II, Dad was stationed in Japan and fell in love with the gardens and culture. When he met my mother, she had always been interested in other countries and cultures. Of my 6 sisters and I, I’m the only one that really caught the international bug.
My parents had had a Japanese plant nursery and went to Japan to buy trees at that time. When they came back, my mother who has always been a teacher at heart, showed me origami and pictures, shared candy and stories. I fell in love! I became a Japanophile at the tender age of 5.
Lexie’s father, Andy, grew up in Switzerland, about 30 minutes from the borders of France and Germany. It seems Europeans are so much more international than the average American. When you can drive to so many countries so quickly, it’s a lot easier to become culturally aware. Andy has always had the travel bug, having been in many countries for both business and pleasure, before we met.
When he and I met, I’d been in Japan for the summer. I was back in the USA for a year to finish my undergraduate degree, and planned to move to Japan for the rest of my life.
I was not a Christian. I attended Catholic school, which hadn’t done anything for my faith. I’d attended some church, got baptized and confirmed; but I wasn’t a believer, more of a doubting Thomas. I figured I might become a Buddhist in Japan; church wasn’t on my mind or a part of my life.
Andy moved from Switzerland to the US for work in the mid-90’s. While finishing my degree in Intercultural Communication and Japanese, I met him at my university, where he was taking classes for fun. Soon after I realized he was a good guy and began dating, I found out I’d gotten a scholarship to Japan for a year.
I say that Andy led me to Christ but he says he just took me to church. The first weekend we began dating, he invited me to his Evangelical Christian church and I found something new and different.
While I was familiar with the Bible through my church and school experiences, it was different. Suddenly, the Bible was being explained and given historical significance – then related to the truth it taught. I realized quickly that I’d been looking at men and their interpretations of the Bible. Now I was listening to God and His ways. I had to put up or shut up and I came to Christ.
Having kids is a miracle. I truly saw the Lord through the process of pregnancy and birth. We raised Lexie in the church – she heard about the truth from a young age. When she was 4 and 7 years old, we took her to Japan to pick up her adopted brothers. Our family was rounded out by her sister, born when Lexie was 10.
Our whole family has been fortunate to go to Switzerland multiple times to visit with Andy’s huge family. Also having been to Haiti and Nicaragua on short term missions trips, Lexie’s international travel portfolio is quite large for someone so young.
When I traveled in Japan and fell in love with the people and culture, I never expected it to lead me to adopting children there and raising a missionary. If you had told me God’s plans for me the first time I was there, I would have been on the floor laughing. Me – a Christian – proud and excited to send my daughter into the mission field? Uh, I don’t think so!
I’m so glad that He makes the plans, not me. I’m so excited to see what Lexie does in the mission field and how the Lord will shape and mature her. I close with my life verse:
All things work together for the good of those who love Him, according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
