Let’s Talk About Stress, Baby
When I think about stress I think about an evening in Mongolia when I was sixteen. A summer team was visiting and it was my responsibility to flag down...
Author: Joy Smalley
Hospitality as Sacred Space {The Grove: Sacred Spaces}
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve moved around a lot. In fact, I’ve lived in transitional church housing longer than I have lived in any other location,...
A Pilgrim’s Regression {The Grove: Pilgrimage}
I expected a lot out of 2019. I expected that God was going to make some declarations and give some vision and direction for my future. I expected healing....
When I Would Rather Hit You Than Love You
I really loved the people of my host country before we went. I mean, I prayed for them, I sacrificed for them, I fought for them and advocated for them,...
Struggling with Guilt in the Face of Poverty
I was in Wal-Mart shortly after getting married, shopping for household necessities. I’d bypassed the paper goods section, as I never buy napkins or paper towels, but found myself...
Stop It!
When we sold our house before leaving for Indonesia, my husband had to patch up holes in the walls. Holes that I had made with my fist, a Sippy...
God Is Not Boring
I have learned that God is not boring. Instead He is full of surprises. Some of these surprises I like and some of them I detest, but they all come...
Soul Writing
I didn’t hear about Velvet Ashes until about my sixth month in Southeast Asia. It came by way of my mom, who shot me off an email and said,...
The Burden of Baggage {The Grove: Baggage}
I imagine we all have an unhealthy knowledge of baggage limits. I bet many of you can feel when a bag has reached its fifty-pound limit without having to...
Surviving College Re-entry
I was eighteen when I returned home to California. It was an intense summer before college began. I learned to drive, pump gas, get a bank account and found...
