Month: November 2021


I Fell in Love with American Thanksgiving While Living In Another Country 

I learned to really appreciate this American tradition in a place where it was not celebrated. Our first years we felt alone without family. We joined with fellow North Americans, friends from the same background, others who knew its tradition. Uniquely cultural, Thanksgiving Day grew to include neighbors, friends and curiously interested acquaintances.  We astounded […]

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Thanksgiving Transforms Hearts

As we enter the season of thanksgiving, I love the emphasis on remembering, being aware of the little things, the falling leaves, slivers of sunshine and raindrops of life. We talk of the blessings of family, home and provisions. The intentional pause to reflect on all we have brings us to remember the Giver.   […]

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How To Know Right from Wrong

We went to Italy back in our young days knowing my husband might have an advantage in language and culture. He grew up as a missionary kid in Ecuador. I grew up a farmer’s kid in Kansas.  He flew on airplanes. I tagged along on the combine. He picked bananas from the side of the […]

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The Purpose of Suffering

Almost three years had passed, since our daughter’s illness, but the pain hadn’t lifted. It wrapped around me like a lead blanket. Peter, Jesus’ disciple and I were buds. “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, […]

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