“I could never do what you do!” This is a refrain that my husband and I heard many times as we shared with ministry partners back in the United States while on furlough last year. I am guessing that what most people were referring to was the sacrifice involved in being a missionary—leaving home […]
I’m at the computer, reminiscing and looking through old digital photos. I marvel at the sweet faces of my kids a few years ago—chubbier, messier, softer. I notice my own face—fewer wrinkles, hair that isn’t sprouting a well-worn gray at the temples. And then it pops up: our very first prayer card photo. Our little […]
I live on a small island where there are no long-stemmed roses, none of my favorite dark chocolate, and no romantic Italian restaurants.
And this Valentine’s Day, my own Valentine wasn’t even here. He’s been shivering in America for some training. I’ve been sweating through another tropical February here in Indonesia.
Though we we’re apart this year, […]
A funeral procession passing by the Holsten’s house.
It happens almost every day. Dozens of blaring motorcycle horns signal that another funeral procession is making its way up our hill on its way to the local cemetery.
My house helper E shakes her head as she watches the procession and declares, “Orang Papua […]
There it was in bright red letters across my forehead…FAILURE. It was written in the same bright red ink that the teachers use each day to correct my attempts at writing in my new language.
Of course, no one else could see the letters written there, but I felt the weight of them on me each […]
I know what is probably going through your mind when you read that title: visions of ice princesses casting ice to the all too familiar Disney tune. Sorry if it’s in your head the rest of the day, but this post is about how Indonesia has taught me to let go of some things—to be […]