Sidewalk Conversations
"Let the one who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall..." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Standing strong and remaining true to your calling is no easy task. No one sets out to crash and burn. In fact, it's actually the opposite, most people want to stand strong, remain effective, and be true to their values all the way through to the end. But, it is really hard to do.
In these interviews, Piet Van Waarde (a 40 year veteran of pastoral ministry) has heart-to-heart conversations with ordinary people about what it takes to stay faithful and effective in the things that matter most.
Sidewalk Conversations
**SPECIAL** Beyond Fireworks: What July 4th Means to a Naturalized American
On this special July 4th episode, Carol and I reflect on the meaning of American citizenship through my personal journey, immigrating from the Netherlands and eventually becoming a naturalized US citizen. We explore what it means to embrace American values even while acknowledging the nation's imperfections.
• Coming to America on a green card from the Netherlands with Dutch citizenship
• Making the decision to become an American citizen after falling in love with American values
• Experiencing the emotional citizenship ceremony alongside other hopeful immigrants
• The significance of swearing off previous allegiances and fully committing to American citizenship
• The importance of assimilation and embracing the values of your new country
• The special meaning of voting for the first time as a new citizen
• Finding ways to celebrate America's goodness while praying for healing of divisions
We encourage you to take time this Independence Day to both celebrate the goodness of America's founding values and to pray for our country and leaders during these challenging times.
So we are here for one last broadcast before we redo the studio and we thought it might be a nice time for us to express our appreciation for our wonderful country. July 4th obviously is a time that we celebrate the birth of our nation and there's a lot of celebration with family and fireworks and all of the things. And it's always been a uniquely special celebration for me because I am a naturalized citizen. So I came to this country when I was a young man. My father was transferred with a Dutch company to New York City and so we all came and immigrated to this country as Dutch citizens. We came under a green card system which some of you are probably familiar with, and for most of my life, in fact up until about 15 years ago, I remained a Dutch citizen.
Piet Van Waarde:I always kind of wondered would I go back to the Netherlands to perhaps make some contribution there as a pastor and kind of live out the love for the homeland? But one of the things that happened in my own heart over the years that I lived here was that I began to see that this country and the values of it although we don't always live it out perfectly and that's obvious even in our day. The values of this country are the ones that most reflect the values that are most important to me, and so I became a citizen. Reflect the values that are most important to me, and so I became a citizen. And I remember that day like it was yesterday. We had a wonderful experience in the courthouse, we became citizens with a group of other immigrants that all had the same kind of story, where they came to this country, fell in love with the values and Carol was with me, actually.
Carol Van Waarde:I was. Yeah, that was a very memorable day, yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:And so we even remember the stories of people from various countries that shared their love for this country and their desire to be citizens, and I think we should probably say that this is a day, even with the imperfections of our country, where we seeds of not appreciating the United States of America and people speaking out against it.
Carol Van Waarde:The ceremony was incredible because all of these people were. They wanted to come here from the other countries. They saw a hope and a future for themselves here. It was just absolutely remarkable. It was a tear-jerking day and I'll never forget it because of so much hope in the room that people were finding.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, and one of the things I remember and it was kind of a big transition for me too was it wasn't just about escaping where they were, it was embracing where they were coming to.
Carol Van Waarde:Exactly.
Piet Van Waarde:So one of the things that you do in the citizenship process is that you have to swear off all other allegiances. And because of my love of the Dutch culture and the Dutch language and, you know, having such fond memories of my younger years in Holland, it was no small thing to say you know, I'm swearing off all those allegiances and I'm going to commit myself to the United States of America as a citizen, to be a good citizen. And yet that was one of the most tearful moments too is to make, especially in the conversation that's happening today among immigrants you know illegal versus legal, and I think it's the piece that's often missing is that assimilation and an embracing of the values of this country is really at the core of citizenship. It's not like I just want to get out of a bad situation and this a little nicer. It's about saying no, I love what America stands for.
Piet Van Waarde:And I am going to commit myself to fulfilling my responsibility to those values and to continue to say, yes, this is what we need to be about.
Carol Van Waarde:You were never able to vote before that time. I know things are a little different right now with the feelings about voting, but you were always a little envious that I could go cast my vote for this person or that person or the issues that were being faced in our community, in our state, and the first time you got to vote was pretty remarkable.
Piet Van Waarde:Oh, I'll never forget. It was just such a great experience, yeah. And so I just want to say, you know, in some way, you know, on this July 4th, I would advise, encourage, challenge, maybe even to do at least two things. One is to, in spite of the challenges of our country, to celebrate the goodness of the values that created such a wonderful land of opportunity. So find a way somehow in the midst of your day to creatively give thanks for what you have in this amazing country that so many people would love to be here, but then also pray for our country.
Piet Van Waarde:We are in a place where a lot of turmoil, a lot of division, a lot of people see things differently than what's happening and wishes things were different, and so on, and I think that we are, as good citizens, challenged and inspired to pray for our country, for our leaders. Scripture reminds us to pray for our leaders, and so somewhere alongside of your thanksgiving, also give some attention and prayer for our nation, and, in fact, maybe that's what we should do to close today. Love it, just pray for our country.
Carol Van Waarde:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:So, lord, we do thank you for this amazing land and we are grateful for the opportunity that we have to live here, and we've had it good. Not everybody does, and so we're mindful of those who are hurting, suffering, who are in a difficult place, and I pray that you would meet them and that you would give them hope and inspire them. And I pray that you would meet them and that you would give them hope and inspire them, and I pray for our leaders, lord, that you would give them wisdom to govern well. I pray that you would bring us together as a country, even if we don't see things the same way, that we would be in unity and that the values and the aspirations that launched this country would be fulfilled. And we ask this in the powerful name of Jesus.
Carol Van Waarde:Amen.
Piet Van Waarde:Amen, thanks for joining us and we'll see you next week with Shana, and then live in our new auditorium, our new auditorium, new studio.
Carol Van Waarde:This is not an auditorium new. Studio Studio this is not an auditorium New studio in August.
