It’s Not Supposed to Be Like This
A year ago, I had to give up breastfeeding my five-month old baby. No matter what I removed from my diet, he was still sick with food allergy symptoms and amoebas he couldn’t shake. When I bought that first can of formula and gave him a bottle, I felt like a failure. My body was […]
Marriage in the Redemptive Shadow of the Cross
I was never a fan of parallel parking. I actually failed my first driver’s test because I hit the curb while trying to parallel park. Don’t ask me what I hit on the second try. That’s a story for another day. Of course, the day my then fiancé and I were going to the county […]
The Dark Side of Green
There is a dark side to singleness. An ugly, evil, green dark side. Four years ago, I was preparing to move to my host country. I packed up my house, held a yard sale, boxed up what I wanted to keep, and made all of my own arrangements for what to do with my earthly […]
Hidden Fault Lines
The questions Just. Never. Stop. From my home culture: You have a woman who cooks and cleans for you? Lucky! So, what do you do all day? Any converts yet? Why don’t you take more pictures over there? Have you learned the language yet? Why are you still over there? Don’t you know people need […]
How to Welcome Her Back
Your loved one is coming back! After time in a place you couldn’t pinpoint on a map before she fell in love with it, she’s coming home. You will pick her up at the airport, feed her good home cookin’, take her shopping to update that…ummm…wardrobe. Man, is it going to be great to have […]
6 Reminders for Our TCKs
As a mom of three third culture kids, I find myself saying many of the same things over and over. In our home, these conversations are lovingly called “mom talks”. Since our move overseas, we’ve spent time on three continents. My girls have friendships with kids from all over the world. They speak pieces of […]
Just Know He Remembers Too
There are times that I get tired of trying to remember. Remember to pack this. Remember to bring that. Remember to call so and so. Remember to email this church or that supporter. Remember to fill the water filter. Remember to pull in the laundry. Remember. Remember. Remember. Even in our faith, we find so […]
Keeping Track of Sorrows
Let’s acknowledge that it hurts. At times it is a searing, sharp pain and other times it’s an underlying throb. Either way, something is missing. There was a Sunday before we headed back to Cambodia, that I was standing right next to my dad during worship. I had to sit down, as I was suddenly […]
The Cost of Yes
I remember watching them when I was small. Watching them tease one another at 30, 40, 50. Watching them point to the hair at their scalp and laugh together that the color was fading from it. Watching my grandmother pull at her skin in the mirror, marveling at how it had crushed into itself like […]
Dreams on the Altar
Twenty six. I read it in a Laura Ingalls Wilder book as a girl. The whispers behind gloved hands, the looks of pity for the woman who reached this age without finding a husband. An “old maid” they would call her. I feared this title. When I celebrated my 26th birthday I wrestled with God. […]
When You Don’t Feel Called and He Does
I’ve heard the story more than once. Man and woman fall in love. He loves Jesus. She loves Jesus. It seems meant to be. He cracks open a bit of his soul to share a dream. The dream is not exactly what she envisioned, but the rest of the story is so perfect she nods, […]
To Moms of TCKs and Those Who Love Them
Oh, I’ve had my doubts. Not just moments of “I wonder if…” kind of doubts, but the wrestling-with-God “what am I doing to my children” kind of doubts. In our first year in this country, a teammate quoted Lottie Moon, “If I had a thousand lives, I’d give them all for China.” I wanted to […]