Sometimes You Need a Break

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Sometimes You Need a Break

I took an unintended two-week writing hiatus this month. Life has been full of a lot of good moments lately. And parenting a two-year-old has its days of exhausted joy that doesn't leave much time or energy for typing out words on a screen. My quiet moments alone, normally spent writing, have been given over to napping or over-due housework.

Life happens. And I'm ok with that.

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Invite Them Into The Mess

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Invite Them Into The Mess

It was one of those hilarious miscommunications that can happen in marriage. My husband and I had agreed to invite a couple over for dinner sometime during the week. He asked me what time would be good, and, thinking he meant in a general sense, I replied that around 6 pm would be fine. 

Later that evening, as I was getting our baby ready for bed, my husband said casually, “So they should be here in about thirty minutes; should I start dinner?” I looked at him, mouth agape, saying, “You didn’t say they were coming today!” And I proceeded to hurriedly dress and feed the baby and jump into the kitchen to start cooking.

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Being a Woman in Light of the Gospel

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Being a Woman in Light of the Gospel

The past few weeks, I've done a few things a bit uncharacteristic for me. I started a study of Proverbs 31, the infamous "perfect woman" of the Bible. And I went to a Christian women's retreat.

On the surface, these may not seem very radical to you. If you're a female conservative evangelical Christian, you may even think it odd that these things are unusual for me. But for a long time, I shied away from anything that puts me in a box as a woman. I even heard myself telling a friend recently, "I don't like anyone to tell me what kind of woman I should be."

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When Your Work Is Taken Away From You

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Last week, my family and I took a vacation out to Colorado (which made it quiet around the blog). We survived the worst road trip in America (icy roads, freezing rain, a one-hour delay on the interstate, and a very unhappy toddler) and spent a week at Pagosa Springs, my childhood vacation spot. It was refreshing and low-key, with lots of time lying on the couch watching Food Network and reading books - just my type of holiday.

But I'm ready to dive back into real life - work, laundry, friends, and dreaming up what 2016 might hold. 

In the meantime, here's a guest post just published today over on A Life Overseas, a blog for cross-cultural workers that was a lifeline during our years in Cambodia. It's the same post published on the Redeemer blog last month, but I wanted to share it in case you missed it the first time around. 

“My husband and I moved to rural Cambodia in March 2011, and through the summer of 2012, I volunteered in a missionary clinic as a registered nurse. I helped set up the clinic, registered patients, assisted with procedures, and visited patients in their homes— a volunteer job that was meaningful and fulfilling. I was also finishing my bachelor’s degree in nursing online.

But in June 2012, the missionary doctor closed the doors of the clinic and went home for a year’s furlough. I continued studying online and volunteering with small projects, but my world of work and influence shrank. After I finished my online studies in December, I found myself a very reluctant housewife with a blank calendar and few commitments.”

Read the rest here, and as always, please leave a comment with your thoughts. I love hearing back from you.

When Change Becomes Your Norm

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When Change Becomes Your Norm

Earlier this year, I became an expert in our neighborhood real estate - a complete MLS listing addict. I could tell you how much a house was listed for, how many bedrooms and bathrooms, the square footage, and how long it had been on the market. I kept an eye out all the time for houses for sale in the surrounding streets, calculating how much we could afford, and badgering Andrew to look up potential buys.

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