A few years back, I accompanied my twin daughters along with the rest of their grade school class on a field trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I had plans to explore and engage in hands-on experiences, so when we were immediately ushered into the auditorium to watch a 3D film about…
My husband has many way-of-life habits and practices that help him to stay focused, organized and productive. I have very few of those habits. But I do have some way-of-life practices that keep me following close and hard after Jesus. I would love to tell you these practices have been easy for me, but I’m…
I sit mulling over my to-do list for the day. Wash two loads of laundry. Hem daughter’s dress pants for her internship. Buy gift for nephew’s birthday and teleport back two days ago to get it in the mail to him on time. The usual stuff. My pen is still poised over the paper when…
Have you ever met someone and thought: this person will certainly go places! While in college, many of my fellow students impressed me with their talent. But one particular classmate made me sit up and take notice. We both majored in music and sang in the same choir, but this woman also had theatrical talent….
Hibo had no immediate family in Djibouti other than her children. Her husband gave her three kids and HIV and ran off. She had one dead baby and two living. Hibo had her first baby, the one who died, when she was 14. Malnutrition had stunted Hibo’s growth, and because of malnutrition her children’s hair…
I’m not an outdoors person. At least, that’s not how I have ever described myself. After all, I’m not fond of bugs or dirt or rocks, and the outdoors holds a plethora of each. But recently I wondered if I should stop refusing to wear that title. Because my denial might not be entirely accurate….
I never saw a heartbeat inside a chest before, until one day, I did. This wasn’t something I set out to do; I’m not a surgeon nor do I work in the medical field. In fact, unless there’s a problem, I don’t pay much attention to the beat of my own heart. I trust in…
For most of the summer, I said no to opportunities that came my way. No to the article assignment for a magazine I regularly write for. No to a friend who invited me to speak at an event she hosts. No to camping trips and vacations and even a funeral. No because I had said…
Sometimes I dream in other languages. My subconscious mind takes words or phrases I’ve learned in my travels or from my international students and incorporates them into random scenes and interactions. But I had one particular dream that was more than just a mash-up of random pieces from the language files in my brain. I…
Dear Friend, Do you believe that you are completely and wholly loved by God? Some people more readily feel it than others. Maybe those who grew up in nurturing families instinctively know that God loves them, while those who struggled with hard parental relationships have a tougher time believing that they are worthy of love….
I sat at my computer, trying desperately to come up with a few words that made sense. But nothing came. I felt empty. Overwhelmed. Beaten down. I questioned my ability to write. My power to keep going. My worth as a person. These feelings were not new. In fact, they had appeared so often that…
Sitting in the sand, I buried my 5-year-old eyes in my knees. I wasn’t hurt, but I was embarrassed that I had fallen. My trainer tried helping me up, but I wanted to wait for my mom to climb through the wooden, split-rail fence. When she got to me, she said, “You have to fall…
Almost nine months into marriage, I finally feel like I’m coming up for air. The months have swirled and surged, waves of adjustment rolling one after another, fighting the tide of learning to listen and placing my husband, Eric’s, needs in front of mine. Fresh into a new year, the first one where we are…
Is it wrong to believe that good begets good? Children are rewarded for doing the right thing and punished for doing the wrong. Right and wrong may vary in size and scope dependent upon the age of the child, culture, home, social context, and familial context. However, regardless of what the right or wrong might…