For Saying Goodbye
Used with permission from Liturgies and Laments for the Sojourner: Volume 2 Father, I need You, for today holds yet more grief, more loss, more goodbyes, and although I hope we should meet and embrace again, my heart is heavy with sorrow as I think of the days ahead without the ones I love. Jesus, […]
Adapting and Accepting + Egg and Tomato Soup
Last year, our family changed drastically with the surprise addition of our fourth baby, ten years after having our third. I wouldn’t change a thing, of course. The addition of this little one has brought another layer of joy and laughter to our home. The older three truly enjoy watching her closely each day to […]
Remembering Together and Slow Beginnings
It began as a last-minute idea as we backed out of the driveway. After a lovely evening celebrating Christmas with dear friends, my friend said, “Laurie, on your drive across country tomorrow, if each of you shares twenty memories from the year, you’ll have one hundred together.” She gave a few quick guidelines and said, […]
Journeying Together
I don’t think I’ll ever be old enough to say goodbye to my mom without crying. The first time I headed overseas, I was only twenty-two. My mom slipped a letter into my pocket to read on the plane. After a traumatic experience of almost missing my flight, I settled into my seat on the […]
This Month’s Theme: Family
Family. The word can hold warmth, longing, joy, and ache—all at once. After the swirl of the holidays, we often feel the ripple effects: the sweetness of connection or the sting of distance. For those serving far from “home,” family can take on many forms—a spouse and kids navigating rhythms of life in another culture, […]
A Gospel Family
Anyone you talk to who has done overseas work will tell you that it is the most intensely lonely work they have ever done. I don’t mean any single person—I mean anyone. Single, married, married with kids, it doesn’t matter what our relationship status is—overseas work is lonely. Most of us have never lived so […]
But What’s So Different about Being an Expat Family, Anyway?
My twins are seniors and our conversations have naturally turned toward university choices. For my family, of course, that includes conversations about America and culture, home and upbringing. We moved to Somalia when the twins were two and we’ve lived in the Horn of Africa ever since. One evening, my daughter asked, “But what’s really […]
I’m Sorry You Had to See This Mess
At random we drew a word and performed it for the class. I held the word HAPPY against my broken heart while I waited for my turn to display what happy looks like. For a few seconds I stood with a ridiculous grin before my classmates without any guesses spilling from their lips. And then some laughter […]
Confessions of a Black Sheep
If I could go back in time to the moment I arrived on the field with my first baby in tow, I would pull myself aside and give this piece of advice: you don’t have to sacrifice the needs of your family on the altar of ministry because your family is your biggest ministry. I […]
Why is Sabbath So Hard?
“I have a disease… I am addicted to measurable productivity.” –Emily P. Freeman Does anyone else get twitchy when you try to force yourself to rest? Do you feel guilty? Self-indulgent? Bored? Does your to-do list buzz incessantly in your ear when you try to take a day off? Why is Sabbath so hard for us? […]