“Regulation is the nervous system’s ability to navigate the highs and lows of activation (triggering) and return to calm. ” -Patti Elledge (Trauma Therapist) Right now the world feels like it’s in chaos. With the coronavirus pandemic, and travel bans in place, the stock market plummeting, toilet paper shortages, and our jobs and economic futures uncertain, there …
Chasing after a nine month old has kept me quiet on this blog for a while. I took a break from writing to focus solely on my son and on this transition into motherhood (And a move! What are we crazy?) I have been savoring my time with Atlas because I know it goes so quickly. But …
Struggling with Re-Entry? This Retreat Might Be For You Read More »
If you’d asked me a few years ago, this wouldn’t have been the hill I staked my flag on. Hell, I’m not even sure I want to now….aren’t Millennials kinda (pardon my French)…assholes? But every day I see beautiful, passionate, world changers torn to bits by the machine that is missions, limping home disillusioned, cynical, …
The Surprising Ways the Church is Failing Millennial Missionaries Read More »
I was born in 1981 so I think that technically makes me a Millennial missionary. (Maybe I should duck and run for cover now?) Let’s face it, a lot of people crap on Millennials. Fairly or unfairly they’ve gotten a bad rap. We’ve all seen the John Crist spoofs about the entitlement of the Millennial generation. They’re …
It was July of 2006 in Mbale, Uganda. I was 25, single, and about to free fall down the side of a 320 ft waterfall. In the beginning abseiling sounded like a good idea, a way to prove to myself that I could get over any of my fears. But once I realized there was just a skinny, African …
“Often the real trauma is feeling mistreated, bullied, or discriminated against by our own fellow humanitarians, those who should be there to share the same values and ideals.” –Alessandra Pigni- In general, conflict in relationships is one of the most difficult things to manage. This is especially true when serving overseas. Team conflict with other …
I still remember crying on my way home as I drove my gray Toyota Hilux truck through the red dirt streets of Gulu, Uganda dodging cows, and children, and potholes. I sobbed my way through the whole story on the truck bed of our grassy compound while my husband listened. The sunflowers wilting in the late …
Christianity Today recently posted a groundbreaking article by Amy Peterson called Farewell to the Missionary Hero, and there are a few reasons why I feel it is extremely timely and essential to the movement I’m trying to build around a new missions paradigm. I’ve been noticing a trend lately in modern missions that excites me, a trend rising …
I lived my life in emergency mode for so long I almost forgot what it felt like to have some peace. There was always a problem to solve, a sick kid who needed taking to the hospital, a government office who didn’t understand our heart, a mama who needed a hand held while she took …
Tragedy happens. I don’t believe anyone who woke up the morning of the Boston Marathon believed that they would lose limbs, or worse, loved ones. And yet deeper than the scars on their bodies, the scars they will live with from that day, are the ones on their hearts. And yet many will get up …
When the mommy brigade takes over Panera with their newborns I want to run. In fact I do run, right out the front door. Tiny heads with tiny hats on them. Little animal-eared sweaters. Most days it doesn’t affect me. Most days I don’t feel like the air has been squeezed out of my chest. …
“By changing nothing, nothing changes.” -Tony Robbins Five years is a long time. It’s a lot of sweaty bus-rides. It’s a lot of roach killing, and mouse killing, and eating posho and beans. It’s a lot of swatting mosquitos on your legs, and running out of water just as you soaped up your body. It’s …
