Being an alien and stranger is no fun. Ask me about it. Everywhere we go, people stare at us. They grab at us to touch our skin and hair. They unashamedly point and stare at us in public. They sometimes treat us like royalty, bestowing on us white privilege...
My husband Mike and I were enjoying a quiet evening at our home in Papua New Guinea. We’d finished our post-dinner clean up and were relaxing in our favorite chairs reading books we’d just received in a care package from his mom. Suddenly the quiet was shattered by...
One time I pierced my nose with a thorn. Actually someone else did — I just sat there as the thorn pushed steadily through my nose, my eyes closed peacefully, measuring my breaths, water seeping out of my eyes. It was blissful. There is a pain deep in the bodies of my...
When I met Jesus, I recognized him right away. I sat there staring into the campfire as we sang, “Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.” Suddenly my heart leapt in recognition. Me! He loves me! I stared up at the stars...
Moving to a new country and new culture is full of surprises. One surprise for me when I moved to Southeast Asia was that every single temple is filled with idols. There is not just one idol per temple. We once visited a temple which, when literally translated, is...
Since 2020, our family has moved all of our belongings five times to five different houses, stayed in too many hotels to count, and slept on the couches, beds, and floors of all our closest relatives. We’ve been looking for “home” in one way or another for the last...