What I'm Reading:
Fiction:
If there's one thing summer is NOT for me, it's relaxing. Summer is the season of mission trips... Which means life is chaotic and full. Nevertheless, I read 9 fiction books during the last two months.
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At the conclusion of my junior year in college, I studied abroad in Moscow, Russia. Despite the fact that at the time, Russia was safe, to my parents – who came of age during the Cold War – Russia was a very scary place. The idea of their daughter...
Twice over the weekend, people told me that I should see The Good Lie, a 2014 movie starring Reese Witherspoon about some of the lost boys of Sudan – children who fled Sudan as refugees without either parent.
As someone who's stood in a refugee...
Shortly after returning from a mission trip to Rwanda, one of my teens called me in tears. She’d just returned from a bookstore, where she’d noticed less than a row of books about the entire continent of Africa and none about Rwanda. “Don’t people...
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.
As I've seen news coverage leading up to this day, I've been reminded that the Holocaust isn't the only holocaust that's happened in our world.
Even though the world said, “Never Again” after the Holocaust,...
My high school youth ministry is currently in the midst of a series about “war and peace”. Thus far, we've discussed why religion seems to cause so many wars, genocide, and refugees.
As a whole, teens in my youth ministry have a pretty high...
If you walk into my house, you'll notice stacks of books everywhere - evidence that I'm an avid reader.
Much to my dismay, I read fewer books this year than last. As my husband pointed out, though, I also wrote one so I guess I can't be too...
While in Rwanda for our international missions trip, we went shopping at an artisans' market.
While there, I couldn't take my eyes off the crib mobiles.
Eventually I confessed as much to my husband. He assured me that even though we did not yet...
In a recent blog post, Andy Blanks offers 20 ways to spruce up your Bible study. His suggestions are good and well worth a read.
That said, I struggled with one of them.
“Let students teach--Adapt your lesson so students are teaching each other,...
We in the church often spend a lot of time debating (or even fighting) one another over a variety of different issues. Among them?
Whether or not short-term mission trips are worth it.
Trust me, I know short-term trips are expensive. I just...