The Hidden Side of Loneliness
We’d only been stateside for a few months of our first furlough when I attended a large women’s event that I’d attended many times as a pastor’s wife prior to our work overseas. I loved this event. In the past, I’d brought large groups of women with me. I’d taught breakout sessions. I’d even spent […]
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 seconds. I think of the first time I left my home in the Dominican Republic to study in the US. I didn’t live on campus and […]
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. I grew up in areas of Mongolia that were very isolated. There were years I spent in cities without other expat children and friendships were hard for […]
One by One
Whoever wrote “The Ants Go Marching One by One” did not live in the tropics. Lately, in my kitchen, it seems more like they go marching ten-by-ten, or twenty-by-twenty, or fifty-by-fifty. They join ranks and divide and conquer, leaving me feeling helpless against such a tribe. The other day as I was doing ant-battle once […]
This Week’s Theme: Loneliness
The ache can press in hard while you are standing in a crowd of people, but no one understands your heart. Or speaks your language. Or knows your name. It can well up as you video chat with family on the other side of the ocean, or in the empty house you come home to […]
Letting Go of Being Okay
Our conversation started as I saw you try to pull yourself together, try to make believe that if you say you’re okay, that you really are. I saw the pressure and the weight that sits on your shoulders. The tired eyes. The tears that threaten. And you say what has become a familiar tune: “I’m […]