Learning
Growth
Unity
Explore, Experience, Share
Steve and I were off again on another legendary adventure. We arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m. for a 5:20 flight. We were headed to a tennis club, but we didn’t have any tennis racquets. We did not bring paper boarding passes because we had the American Airlines App newly installed on our smartphones. We hoped we were smart enough to use them.
Dealing with Enemies
I remember my first enemy. We moved from Austin to a small country town, and I joined a second grade classroom midway through the school year. Bubba didn’t take kindly to strangers, and he enjoyed tormenting me daily, calling me “Shrimp”, presumably because of my size, not because of my tough exterior. I can still almost see his plaid shirt, blue jeans, acne and mustache.
Things to Love About Something You Don’t Like
Dan and I stepped off a flight that originated in Maui onto a tarmac covered with snow. One day we were wearing flip-flops. The next day, Dan was shoveling the fluffy white stuff.
I love Central Oregon in the winter.
Wali
It was 1985, in the heat of the summer in Peshawar. The previous summer we had spent a week in the cool mountains of Chitral among the Kalash people. There Lois had helped a Muslim lady take care of her little girl who was very sick.
Five Reasons to Have an Expiration Date
My first husband, Gary, lived with an expiration date. He was diagnosed with late-stage disease that had metastasized. The experts gave him two years because he was relatively young and in good shape and because prostate cancer is slow growing. But he blew way past two years.
What I’d Say to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce If They Wanted Me to Marry Them
Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard of female entertainer Taylor Swift. According to Billboard magazine, she and fellow female entertainer Beyoncé are the two greatest stadium fillers for 2023.
Seeing the Wind
Once upon a time, on a peaceful, calm day, I was asked what my favorite Jesus story was. I replied, “The story of Jesus walking on the water.” It’s a wonderful story, demonstrating the undeniable deity of Jesus while also showing a relatable follower’s failure in Peter’s attempt to join him on the waves.
Come Boldly
My father wasn’t a believer. It was my mother who faithfully took my brothers and me to Sunday School and church, who encouraged us to memorize scripture, who registered us for summer Bible camps and youth activities.
Treasures
Right after September 11, 2001, I found myself packing again—this time to leave Pakistan for possibly four weeks, four months, four years, or forever. We were evacuating to Europe, so I needed to weigh my “treasures”.
The Measure of Success
Our friend, Diks, was here recently for a visit from Latvia. My husband, Steve, and I picked him up in Seattle and made our way back to Bend where Diks was due to preach. Diks is the Director of a youth camp in Eastern Europe. We have known him for just over twenty years.
If Given the Choice
If Dan had asked me beforehand, “Do you want to hike 5.8 miles in the rain … or would you rather stay here and read while I make a Chai latte for you?” guess what I would have chosen.
The Son of God
In a previous post I tried to explain some difficulties in relating the Gospel to Muslims. In this post I would like to shed light on the one huge stumbling block that Muslims face. They are confused and very offended when we call Jesus the Son of God.
Stuff: Declutter or Repurpose?
Dan and I enjoy a ‘dump date’ from time to time. We load up the small trailer hitched to the back of the Jeep, make Chai lattes, and sail away to the dump. It’s partly the idea of having the full attention of the one I love—seat-belted in, hollering over the noise of the ‘97 Wrangler with its top down, sipping Chai from thermoses.
Resolved: Find a Counselor and a Friend in 2024
I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps like you, I have a hard time keeping them. Things like losing weight, getting in better shape, reading the Bible more all have good intentions. But my pet peeve centers on the fact that if these resolutions are good for a new year why not practice them the rest of the year? But that’s the subject of another article.
Tiny Bubbles
Days after Christmas my husband, Steve, and I were walking a trail that follows the Deschutes River. Most of the trail is single file, but some stretches are open fields and we can walk side by side and talk. Our conversation was spirited and covered unfamiliar terrain.
It’s Hebrew to Me
Did you ever have that dream where you showed up to school and you were the only one who forgot to put on clothes? Please forgive me if I’m evoking childhood trauma, but the nightmare analogy helps me make my point in this attempt at a persuasive essay.
This Year…
The other day I was drifting around on the interweb as the snow piled up outside, and came across a posting of a whiteboard sign where someone scrawled the following:
This year I want to be more like Jesus...
What If You Could Be Vulnerable?
Dan and I planted a little weeping blue spruce in our front yard two years ago. Some might say she looks a bit Dr. Seuss-ish, but I think she’s beautiful.
Christianity and Islam
The war in the Middle East has again thrust us into the Arab-Israeli conflict. We are seeing both raging anti-Semitism and hatred of Muslims in our cities and on university campuses. Unfortunately, we are also witnessing the persecution, even murder, of Palestinians in this country. This is abhorrent. How should we, as Christians, respond to these situations? How can we interact with Muslims we may come in contact with?
Exhausted and Overmatched
It's fun to listen to Jesus and his way of cutting through all the religious junk that gets in the way of a person from experiencing the God-life people were designed to have. He challenged the accepted order of things, whether from preachers or profiteers, and reached into the heart of any of his beloved with the offer of relief and pardon and purpose and rest.