It’s Time to Retreat!
I wish there was a way to visually capture what is happening right now. This weekend, literally all across the globe, women are leaving. We are leaving our responsibilities, our busyness, our to-do lists. We are leaving the people and the needs we pour ourselves into so that we can receive, so that we can […]
Invitation to a Prodigal
I have been in Cambodia for four years, and what do I have to show for it? A whole lot of pain and struggle, a few words I can speak in this foreign language, and some great sandal tan lines on my dirty feet. I long for more. Far too often I am just like […]
The Blind Will Receive Sight
And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” […]
No Strings Attached + Cheesy Biscuits Recipe
It was Christmas time a few years ago while we were in language school, hunkered down in a bitterly cold East Asian city. I had just spent the afternoon baking and decorating cookies with the boys in preparation to hand them out to friends and attend a cookie exchange party. I had been utilizing the […]
When the Formula Fails
The pressure is off. I was on vacation last week with my family. Before we left, a couple that I don’t know yet from our church brought us a gift. They had heard that we were going to the beach, so the box was stuffed with treasures like new sand toys, a Frisbee, a nautically-themed […]
Why Help Pains a Proud Heart
“I can’t do this.” I let my pregnant body collapse back into the sofa. Immediately, my two toddlers darted for me and tackled their little sister, still in utero. This wasn’t what overwhelmed me though–their activity; rather, I had just heard that we would soon be hosting visitors from the States. Because it takes a […]
Stay Salty, My Friends
If we are writing as a ministry to you gals, we should probably have our junk together. Probably. But the blasted reality of being human is that we keep finding more junk that we just can’t keep together. May I be honest for one moment? I researched expat mental health for two years prior to […]
The Big Steps, I Can Do. The Little Ones, Not So Much.
I didn’t walk into the library for five months. I didn’t turn in our membership application for the local fitness gym because I couldn’t walk through the front door. Appointments for myself will not be called in because I fear talking to what is on the other side of the line–that I will embarrassingly stumble […]