Shelter is Not a Thing, It’s a Person
Over the course of my childhood, my family moved three times. My dad grew up as a military brat and always thought he’d settle in one spot, but that’s not...
Category: Re-Entry
Because He Strengthens Me
Our flight only had about 20 minutes left after traveling for over 24 grueling hours from West Africa to Michigan. We were in a small express plane...
The Happy/Sad Truth About Returning {The Grove: Return}
In her intensely thought provoking book, The Poisonwood Bible, one of Barbara Kingsolver’s fictional characters has just landed back in America after living in a jungle in Africa. She puts...
Who Said Returning Would be Easy
If I could write a letter to my weary self in the spring of 2015, as I was surrounded by 20 years of our China life, packed in semi-sturdy fruit...
Losing Identity In The Return
I bit down on my tongue to stop the words I was thinking from flying out of my mouth. Staring across the table at my coffee date, I wondered how...
A Letter to the One Returning Home
Seven years ago, with all my earthly belongings bundled into two 50 pound suitcases, I flagged my last taxi to the airport. I dozed on the 13 hour flight arcing...
Waiting as Long as He Says
“God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him. […] My help and glory are in God—granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—So trust him...
Just Get Over It Already {The Grove: Forgive }
I thought I was over it. At a women’s retreat with our organization, I shared some of my most recent struggles with a member care counselor....
Goodness Gracious Stinks Alive
Go to your kitchen, grab a cheese grater and rub it on your face. That’s how China and my expat existence felt during my last year in-country. Before 2016, the...
5 Lessons I’ve Learned From Connection Groups
When I returned to my passport country after 16 years overseas, I knew it probably wouldn’t be plain sailing. I thought I was prepared for that. After all, I’d read...
