Hey there!
I'm Whitney - the girl behind the blog.

If you've wandered onto this page, congratulations - you're about to find out all the things you (didn't) want to know about me.

My Story

I grew up in a small town of 9,000 people for the first nineteen years of life, then spent a year working in North Africa after graduating from nursing school.

In 2007, I moved to Kansas City, where I met and married the love of my life - Andrew, a musical genius, snowboarding expert, and engineering hero who uses his skills to help people find water in developing countries. We've been married since 2009 and can't imagine a different life!

I'm a small-town girl with a big-city heart. I love spicy food, British comedy series, exploring new cities, and lying around on Saturday mornings reading mystery novels. I have a lifelong case of wanderlust, and I'm a book nerd to the core.

I started blogging in 2011 when we moved to Cambodia to work for an international charity organization. We have lived in Cambodia three years and jumped into another adventure when our little boy Declan was born in Bangkok, Thailand in February, 2014. That following fall, we returned to Kansas City, and I became a recovering expat. We miss living overseas but are finding plenty of adventures to keep us busy.

Why Journey Mercies?

I believe our biggest problem in the world today is our broken relationship with God, and that Jesus is the only solution to that problem.

I love seeing big, dreamy ideas become reality.

Friendships make me come alive.

I am passionate about helping others see how their lives can make a difference, whether to their next door neighbor or to a child in rural Cambodia.

And I know I'm not the only one, am I right? If you're reading these words, I suspect you also crave something in your life bigger and better than what you have right now: a deeper passion and meaning in your life that flows out of a strong relationship with your Creator.

I write because I can't help describing how I see God moving in my life and my world. And I want to share stories, ideas, and resources that will point you to Jesus as your only hope and encourage you in your journey to live the life you were born to live.

And I find a lot of my motivation to live like that through three things: books, travel, and following Jesus. If those get you excited too, we're both in the right place.

Favorite Posts

If you're new to me and my blog, why don't you start out reading some favorite posts? These are posts readers keep coming back to and also some that are on my favorite topics. They will tell you more about my story and what I'm passionate about.

• My Faith Story
• When Today's Calling Is Not Your Passion
• Travel Tips for Rookies - How to Survive An International Flight

10 facts about me...

1. I have eaten sheep intestines in Sudan and cow intestines in Cambodia - and recommend neither.
2. I failed my driver's license test the first time because I thought I didn't need to study (yup, I'm a know-it-all).
3. My husband learned to salsa dance to impress me while we were dating. After we were married, I learned to snowboard to impress him. Let's just say he is far more impressive dancing than I am boarding.
4. I was homeschooled sixth through tenth grade, at which time my parents said, "So, we've taught you everything we know. Why don't you go to college?" Which I did - and graduated from nursing school at age nineteen.
5. In high school and college, I volunteered as a radio DJ at a Christian rock station, interviewing musicians like Michael Tait, Kutless, and Petra. And now, I almost never listen to mainstream CCM (Christian Contemporary Music).
6. I paid for nursing school with a choir scholarship and used to sing solos in French, German, and Italian (but not all in the same song!).
7. In KC, I worked in the emergency department of a children's hospital and LOVED it. I have also never had such a stressful job in my life.
8. I could probably eat Thai and/or Indian food every day of my life - bring on the som tam...
9. I got my first smartphone in 2013 - several years after both my parents had their smartphones...
10. I am the oldest of five children, and I was actually present for my last two siblings' births - the last one when I was sixteen years old.