How Surrender Learns to Run
I stop at a red light. A hand taps on my window; another is stretched open in silent plea. I turn the corner and see a woman and her baby asleep on the pavement, their bodies folded into one another for comfort. As I choose produce, a barefoot boy with searching eyes holds out a […]
A Priceless Privilege
Elisabeth Elliot defined suffering as “having what you don’t want or wanting what you don’t have.” All who are familiar with her story know that being a widow twice over was part of the suffering God entrusted to her—a suffering most of us can hardly imagine. While that may not be the suffering you […]
Shadow of the Almighty
We never fully recovered from our host-country bank account being hacked. We replaced the stolen phone that was used to gain access. We opened new accounts. But the money was gone. The thieves were never caught. It was a particular hardship that it came when our organization was struggling with funding for the third year […]
Kaleidoscope of Suffering
It amazes me that it took this long. In my forty-seven years, there have been seasons of sudden staggering losses, seasons of protracted suffering, and seasons of one thousand paper cuts. Sometimes unmentionable suffering. In each of them, I have known in my head that I was not alone. In many instances, the Father had […]
Sometimes You Have to Cancel the Plane Tickets
“Adventures are never fun while you’re having them,” writes C. S. Lewis in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Something similar could be said of suffering. Suffering can produce profound moments of growth, but I don’t know anyone who would choose it. I remember lying on the couch in our living room. I guess you […]
This Month’s Theme: Suffering
Suffering is part of the human story—and it comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s sharp and overwhelming: loss, trauma, illness, injustice. Other times it’s quieter, the kind of ache that builds over time—loneliness, daily frustration, small disappointments that pile up like paper cuts. Those living cross-culturally often experience both kinds. There are moments of intense […]
Finding Hope in Homesickness
Once you leave home it doesn’t take long to realize that homesickness can literally make you ill. Some days I walk around with a small level of homesickness that clings to my heart but there are other days where the weight of grief is heavier and I feel it in my chest, constricting my breath, […]
Jacaranda (Is It, Then, Enough?)
They call the jacaranda the Christmas tree, the flowers cascading from her branches, Christmas flowers. She bursts into flame as Christmas draws near: a purple canopy of blinding extravagance. Her generosity carpets the ground, a brilliant blanket of purple flowers. what if the question is the answer and the longing is the praise what if […]