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Do you remember some of the most hurtful things that have been said to or about you? Even if you’ve forgiven the offender, it is really hard to completely forget the words which can seem to echo in our minds. This is why Proverbs 18:21 warns, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” We’ve all heard the mantra that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” In reality, words can hurt us deep

We did not have a lot of money when I was young. There was often not much food in the house. When I was about 4, I was wishing we had a loaf of bread. But what could I do about it? I looked through my coins and found a two-dollar bill. “Can you buy some bread with this?” I asked my mom. She nodded and quietly took the money. I was so thrilled to be able to eat the bread that I had bought! Sadly, the bread ran out and I only had coins left. A while later, as I was looking at

As I listened to my son’s wail, my own heart was breaking. I pulled him close, wishing I could somehow protect him from this pain. But I could not. “I’m sorry, buddy. Loving people hurts.” One thing I have recently done is allow myself the permission to grieve. As a child, I was bullied and learned to hide my sadness. It became a badge of honour to never allow myself to cry, especially publicly. Instead, I would bottle up my emotions, and later they would come out as anger, e

Returning to my home country briefly has been an interesting experience. I can’t tell you how many times the excitement has hit me as I realized… “I can drink the water!” “I can brush my teeth with tap water!” “Whoa! There’s hot water in the sink! What a novelty!” (At “home” we only have hot water for one of our showers, none of the sinks). And “dryers are so cool! You can get more laundry done, faster, and you don’t have to depend on the weather to cooperate!” Every time I

Have you ever experienced Hamanitus? Thankfully, the remedy is fairly simple! Recently, as I’ve been reading through Esther, I was struck once again by Haman’s attitude. It’s easy to judge him, but unfortunately, we can often adopt a similar attitude. Esther 5:13 is a key verse. “Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.” He was caught in the “if only” trap. We don’t often think of ourselves as being similar to Haman, but

Growing up, food was always a fun part of fellowship. You loaded your plate up with sweet and savory snacks and found some friends to visit with while you ate. It was normal for me to put a handful of chips on my plate. I did not take one at a time. Usually the serving table was separate from the fellowship tables anyway. Well, when I was in the Philippines, I was offered some chips. Without thinking, I took a handful. My hosts were offended. “You’re selfish!” they accused. T

One thing about seasons is that they do come to an end. Yes, even winter eventually comes to an end, although not necessarily as soon as those in northern countries might like! The other seasons definitely rush swiftly by. Life can be like this. There are some seasons which go by far too quickly, while others drag by, seeming to never end. I went through a very long, difficult season with my firstborn. I didn’t get to sleep through the night until he was about 18 months old

My sister once tried to witness to an older gentleman, who told her he was an atheist. As they continued the conversation, it turned out that he had gone to Sunday school faithfully as a child. One day, his dog had died. He asked his Sunday school teacher if dogs go to heaven. She flippantly replied, “Of course not.” He told my sister that at that moment he decided that he didn’t want to go to heaven then either. I don’t think the right response would have been for her to li

When you travel, you will inevitably experience culture shock. The first stage is dubbed the honeymoon stage. It is when everything is new and exciting. We, however, jumped straight into the frustration stage. After we landed, I had to wrangle an overtired, active toddler and juggle our 3 carry-on bags, laptop bag, diaper bag and car seat while my husband went to claim our 5 suitcases. This was after going through a couple of lines to obtain our visas. By this point, we were

Growing up, my mom always taught us Bible stories. We would often host a 5-day Bible club in our front lawn. The neighborhood kids knew to come to our house to hear Bible stories. When I was 12, our pastor’s wife joined our efforts to reach the children in our area. The kids who came were mostly from broken homes. One day, a boy shared that he didn’t have a dad. “Me neither.” Another kid agreed. Then the class clown blurted out dramatically, “I have too many dads!” He came fr

In other posts, I have shared my surrender to being a mom, and how fulfilling I have found it to be. That being said, there are times it is hard to be completely content with my role when I see my husband able to do so much more than I can. When I look at others who are past the littles stage (or at least the stage of just littles) and see how much more productive they are, I can inwardly chafe. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I accomplish what they can? While I seemed to onl

When Jesus lived among men, compassion was one of the attributes He commonly displayed. But what exactly is compassion? Webster’s 1828 gives an excellent definition. “A suffering with another; painful sympathy; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration. Compassion is a mixed passion, compounded of love and sorrow; at least some portion of love generally attends the pain or regret, or is excited by it. Extreme distress of an e

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” Acts 17:16 When we arrived in Cambodia, it was late, and we were exhausted. We had left behind the Philippines, with its cheerful populace, in exchange for grumpy agents. Our flight had been delayed (by no fault of our own) and these men clearly wanted to be done with us and go home. I noticed immediately an oppressive feeling in the air. As we travele

They say hindsight is 20/20. It is so cool to look back on your life and realize that through the spaghetti-type mazes, as they seemed at the time, that God’s Hand was there all the time. We sometimes get those “aha!” moments where a puzzle piece slips into place. A seemingly random event in our upbringing suddenly comes to light as having a purpose in bringing us to this moment. I have had many of these realizations, and each one is a gift from God. One of my annoying quirks

John Hyde, lovingly remembered as “praying Hyde,” did something controversial; something which sparked criticism from his brethren until they could no longer argue with the results. He was a missionary to India in the late 1800s to early 1900s. He loved God and longed to be effective in service. But he battled with hidden sins, which often pulled him down. During one meeting, he boldly confessed his sins to the group and shared how God had given him the victory. Several of hi

Spinning out of control is a terrible feeling. It’s like hitting black ice and just hanging on for the ride. Sometimes life can feel like this. In my head, I know that God is in control. But it’s so much easier to “trust” God when I feel like I have some level of control. I hate feeling helpless. I hate “letting go.” As I look back over my life, I can see countless ways where God’s way was so much better than my own. I can see where my faith has grown and where I surrendered

Elegant palm trees, smiling faces and crazy traffic. What do these have in common? They are all a part of my “home.” Not many months ago, I was filled with homesickness for my home country. How can you be homesick for two places at once? Perhaps only those who have lived overseas can truly understand. But now that I’m leaving, my heart is heavy. I feel so torn. The anticipation I was expecting to feel seems crowded out by the apprehension of leaving “home.” Sure, there are f

Do you have a blessings book? I can’t even remember where I first heard of the idea, but it is a good one. It doesn’t have to be a fancy notebook. In fact, my first one was on regular paper, folded over. I didn’t necessarily add to it every day, but I tried to have a mindset of thankfulness at all times. Sometimes I would make several entries in one day. On days when I felt a bit discouraged, I could read over all the blessings and remember the great things God had done in my

The first time I flew, I remember being filled with awe. How tiny everything appeared! I could see vehicles driving around, but they looked like toys. Psalm 8:4 came to mind: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" From my vantage point, I could see far more than those below could see, yet how much more can God see in the third heaven? Of course, I believe that He is omniscient (all-knowing). But from this perspective, suddenl

Rainy season is in full force and when I hear the thunderous sound of heavy rain, I feel compelled to rush to a window and watch! It is so exhilarating! It has not yet lost its novelty or appeal to me. Citizens, however, are not so inclined to run to their window. They avoid being out in the rain whenever possible and when it starts raining, their posture assumes “So what? It’s just another rain” attitude. It’s interesting what people can get used to and take for granted. Now