A blog about travel, culture and finding joy in the journey!

One of the most effective ways to learn a language is to speak it. You can learn in theory all you want, but practicing speaking and getting feedback is one of the most valuable ways to make it your own. However, this requires a certain amount of bravery and humility. You have to learn to be able to laugh at yourself, while being painfully aware that to the native speaker you sound just like a toddler. When I was in the Philippines, I was enthusiastic about learning Tagalog.

As hard as besetting sin is to purge from our lives, at least it is often obviously recognized as just that: sin! The weights are a lot more subtle. They’re sometimes not even sin or wrong per se at all. Sometimes our friends can do the exact same things and not be affected in the least. But for us, it’s a stumbling block; a weight. In itself, it might not be bad and one could even find positive aspects of it. But that’s not where our perspective needs to be. Instead of focus

Anyone who moves overseas can tell you that it’s a stressful event. It is not the same as a short-term trip or vacation. You’re overwhelmed with doing life completely differently, while being homesick and lonely. It’s rough. What can make it harder is if you start a job overseas. As in our case, we arrived in the country in the afternoon and my husband was at work by 8 am the next morning. (He was only supposed to begin the following week, but one thing you learn quickly, is