I have a new journey beginning ahead of me, an adventure that will shift my “home” geography to the other side of the world. Perhaps along the way, I will be blessed to share those real and raw moments as I cross oceans, uniting hearts.
The third step towards lament is the request. The part after I have complained and released all those emotions down to that pen and paper for them to be seen again, by me. After seeing them, acknowledging that pain, struggle, and weakness; then I can change the venting to requesting and asking for something to change. If you have yet to read parts one and two, I encourage you to scroll back...
If you missed the last blog, go ahead an take a look at it before reading this one because this is a continuation of my lament journey. If you are continuing to walk alongside of me in this journey of lament, I must thank you for sticking with it, because I am sure after the last post, I brought a lot of you down…possibly even made you uncomfortable when I spoke with such rawness. If you remember...
The Backstory I am embarking on a much needed journey within my own heart, thoughts, and being. It is the process of lamenting. Not just lamenting, but lamenting some far overdue things, and lamenting well. I am welcoming you on the journey with me through this series. The thing about this is that I cannot promise you when the “part 2” will release, because, like I said, this is a...
I feel like Newton’s Rocker (a.k.a. Newton’s cradle). You know, that little contraption that appears on every corporate office desk with the little wires holding a series of floating marbles suspended from a small metal pair of parallel bars, attached to a wooden plaque. When someone is bored, and sees that little contraption, it is built into our minds, to gently pull back one of the...
Yes, today is the day! The day that marks one year! 365 days Three hundred sixty-five days since I packed up three large suitcases and a backpack and moved to the other side of the world. I left my family, my friends, my students, and my church back in the US in order to pursue what I knew the Father was calling me to. I don’t think a week goes by where I do not hear the question...
Living overseas has changed me. Cliché, I know, but hear me out. I had very few expectations of living overseas as an expat and what it was going to be like. I knew language and culture learning would be difficult. I knew I would get lonely often. And I knew that my perspective on things would change due to my new lifestyle outside of my home country. All of that has come true. I didn’t...
I am finally getting a chance to actually write this, about a journey of learning that I began a couple of months ago. I went on a quest to find fun! How often do you, especially as an adult, stop and think about the last time you did something for the sole reason to relax, have leisure time, or just do something for fun? What did you do? I thought about my hobbies and whether or not I could...
I was recently asked this question: “How is your relationship with God in a foreign nation being impacted?” Let me first begin by saying that I am a believer in Jesus Christ, a Christian, living in a foreign nation, where there are few others that share my beliefs. I have no doubt that I lost some readers, already, by claiming the previous sentence. However, I also know that some of...
For the last several weeks, I went socially dark. Social media that is. Not halfway, no grey areas, but dark. Deleting all the apps with the exception of email and one that I use to speak with my family. This was not an experiment. This was not because of a trend or due to reading some of those books out there that are all about the statistics of how much time we spend glued to our devices. Nope...
If you have known me long enough, you know that my writing is often extracted moments of my daily life, and the lessons I have learned along the way. This one is no exception. In case you missed the many journal-like posts that proceeded this one, you will need to know one fact. Five months ago, as of yesterday, I picked up my comfortable life in the United States, packed three very large...
