I allow myself to be consumed too often. Oh, sometimes it’s homeschooling my four treasures—reading, coaching the grueling revision process, praying while some labor over math. Sometimes it’s writing—revising my first novel, finishing my second, researching future ventures. This month, it’s more often been menu-planning and cooking. It’s the word consumed that is the glaring […]
Missionaries move a lot. Our three-year-old Giant tagged along as we traveled from place to place. To place. From his home in smalltown Poland to a missionary-house in smalltown South Carolina where his tiny sister (Bean) joined us. Then we were off to Lithuania, merely dropping nine out of ten suitcases off at our new […]
People. Working with them can be tiresome. And you know what I’m talking about. Right now, you’re picturing someone who has made your life difficult—maybe because she can’t find anything pleasant to say. Maybe because his sarcasm grates on your nerves. Perhaps because she seems to willfully misunderstand everything you say, seeing awful intentions where […]
Once upon a time, I had only three goals. (1) Become a teacher. (2) Become a wife and mother. (3) Become a missionary. I never bothered to prioritize. Any order in which the Lord allowed me to succeed was acceptable. Not succeeding? Not an option. And it never occurred to me that those two little […]
Depsite what many people think, missionaries are not the Navy SEALs of the Church. We’re really no better than anyone else. But when we arrive to speak to congregations about how the Lord blesses us, we often talk up our successes, tally our converts, and wax eloquent about innovative programs and church-starts. By those standards, […]
See what I’m up to out there…