Neighboring in Your Culture + Hulk Muffins {The Grove: Love Your Neighbor}
It was Christmas time several years ago while we were in language school, hunkered down in a bitterly cold northern China city. I had just spent the afternoon baking...
Category: Community
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...
Open the Gates
I grew to love living behind a fence, barbed wire and broken glass at the top and bars on the windows keeping fear at bay. I craved safety and...
Hi! My Name Is… {The Grove: Introductions}
Hey Friends, And now, introducing... you! Yes, you, you who rarely comment or you who often comment. You who are reading this. In a week when...
The Power of That Little Heart
When it comes to social media, I’ve always been late to the game. The first time I logged on to Facebook was after moving to a new state, and...
They won’t love the attention but…
I have always been really hard to buy gifts for. I like simple things, but they are specific things. This fact means I don’t love to get things that...
Loneliness’ Friends and the Gift That Makes Them Leave
I have been trying to think of a time when I felt lonely. But I can’t think of just one. Multiple ones come to mind in less than 10...
Loneliness My Old Friend
Loneliness and I are old friends. The kind of friends that, no matter the time spent apart, when we meet again it’s as if no time has passed....
Seeking, Not Fearing, Glory {The Grove: Fear Not}
Over the past few weeks every time I bump into Christmas décor at the stores, I have to catch a sob, while my eyes well up. This is not new....
Laboring in Community {The Grove: Labor}
Recently my daughter-in-law invited me to be present during the labor and delivery of our first grandchild. Her mother, my son and I made quite a “labor team” as we...
