The Welcome Mat
Whenever I walk up to a house, my eyes always focus in on the presence or lack of the welcome mat. There is something inviting and comforting about a...
Category: Culture Shock
Forging Team Traditions
Some of my favorite traditions while living overseas started in the darkness, a desperate clinging to hope when things were hard. They were started because I needed a way...
Seasonal Disorientation {The Grove: Regional Traditions}
In the northeastern United States where I grew up, the holidays of the church moved with the rhythm of the seasons. In November, the days grew shorter as our...
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Last week a neighbor popped over to give my children the toys she had earned through her grocery store purchases. That gesture, entirely mundane and unremarkable...
The Opportunity of Opposites
My pasty white skin and blonde hair stand out wherever I go. People constantly tell me my blue eyes remind them of a cat’s. I have five kids, which...
Yellow Shirts and Wobbly Knees {The Grove: Welcome to Culture Shock}
I always thought choosing what color I’d wear was an individual right of sorts. I could choose according to my mood, my preferences, my style. But...
Laughing in the Face of Culture Shock (and a giveaway!)
“Culture shock is rarely terminal." Seven years ago we pasted this Paul Hiebert quote on our concrete wall in Cambodia, right next to silly photos of...
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Then and Now: Lessons Learned With Culture Shock + Little Lemonies
We just re-entered our host country a few weeks ago after a year-long home assignment (our longest one in almost 9 years). I knew there would be some culture...
Stewarding Yourself During Change
I feel like a farce. I am attempting to write an article on stewarding ourselves well. But as I write, my life is nothing close to an acrobat gracefully...
12 Days of Expat Life
The first week of January, I gave my kids the option of putting the Christmas tree away with me or leaving it up 2 more days, then I would put...
