When Creativity Becomes Ministry
The vast array of colored yarn surrounded me. Some skeins were scattered across the floor, while others were already strung up and waiting to be woven on large pedal looms. I watched as a masterpiece was created before my eyes. With the constant rhythm of his bare feet moving up and down on the treadles, […]
Learning to Savor
Savor the moment Enjoy the journey Stop and smell the roses Capture the fluffy moments These are simple phrases that are not always so simple to live out in our day-to-day lives. I find myself in a season of constant change, transition and growth. We are home on furlough, living stateside for only one year. […]
The Defining Power of Memory
Last summer my family met up for a vacation in Thailand. It is a rare opportunity to have all of us in the same country let alone in the same house for an entire week. Most days we just sat around the table or on the couches recalling our favorite Mongolian memories. Do you remember […]
The Space He Meets Me
We went out on bikes to visit our sick friend, after the rain, as the sun sunk. The last of the anvil clouds were mountained in the east, beaming back the last light of day. I told Sam it was a beautiful afternoon. We are a sight when we ride. We sport sunglasses and our […]
Taste Re-Born
For my birthday every year, I asked my mom to make the same meal—turkey roast, cheesy hash browns and her famous lemon JELL-O “salad.” Only in the upper Midwest of the United States are “JELL-O” and “salad” in the same sentence. When you ask someone to bring a salad to a party you better specify […]
Border Crossing
It was a hot Friday afternoon, when we arrived in Accra, Ghana. My husband and I were on an overseas service trip to West Africa, from South Africa. The traffic was thick and it was sweltering, slow moving and chaotic. We looped down busy main streets and finally out on to the main highway that […]
The Blessing in the Burning
I was twelve when my house burned down. We were playing cards in our living room, in our log cabin, in small town Outer Mongolia when we heard what sounded like kids throwing rocks on the roof. I remember my Dad running into the house yelling fire. I remember running down our street to the […]
Bird’s Nests, Eggshells and the Remedy for Our Desperate Reaching for Control
I have dirt under my fingernails constantly from scraping for control in a world where I have learned in recent weeks I maintain very little. Yes, this is a bleak sounding way to start off a post. I promise the light will crack through because it always does and often in unexpected ways. Earlier in […]
Amazing Race Moments
Back in the day before we had kids, or smart phones or 3G or travel apps, we decided to fly from our city in China to Shanghai on a whim. We had our Lonely Planet guidebook and a map. That was it. The tickets were purchased from a single-window travel agency on a street corner. […]
Absolutely Gorgeous
The guy was hot. Every night at camp, he and another guy kicked off the evening program with a skit, in which they wore ridiculously tight clothes and romance-novel wigs while bantering back and forth with fake accents until the audience roared with laughter. The hot one was named Daniel, but on stage he was […]
Love Spoke So Much Louder
She shimmied her jeans up twisting and turning to get them over hips expanded by two babies born, two babies in heaven and years of yo-yo dieting. Her sides streaked by cream colored marks against her tan skin. I sat on the bed knees pulled to my chest and I thought her beautiful. It never […]
Freckles and Fashion Fusion
“What’s that?” the lady asked, pointing at some blotchy spots, otherwise known as freckles, on my face and neck and hands, “Are you allergic to something?” “No,” I replied, “That’s just my skin.” “You know you can buy some stuff to make those spots go away,” she said helpfully. I’m covered in freckles. China hates […]