SheLoves Magazine

Amahoro 2013 happened! More on that later... For now we're crowding into a plane bound for Bujumbura, Burundi. When I say we, I mean that in the fullest sense of the word! Idelette, Tina, Leigh, Claire, Carolyn, Hillary, Fiona & Rasmus, Nicole & Francesco, Claude & me all in transit together. #wow The SheLoves journey continues on to Burundi. Tomorrow we will drink from wells in Bubanza - and dance among our friends. We'll get to visit Matara, which I…

Here I go again! Barely got my feet on Burundian soil and I'm boarding another flight. Welcome to my summer. Claude and I are en route to Uganda for the seventh annual Amahoro Gathering. This is our tribe, our family of transformational leaders living the good news of Jesus across Africa. When we come together it's a reunion. As we fill the hotel the conversations begin even before those first hugs end. We've got so much to talk about, to…

Train children in the right way, and when they are old, they will not stray.  Proverbs 22:6 I grew up understanding that there’s a right way and a wrong way to train a child. You only need look around at all the wayward people to see training gone amok, lackadaisical parenting resulting in children who shun youth group or adults who steer clear of any church. So when I became a parent I knew training my children in the right…

With all the goodness last week, I neglected to mention I was over at SheLoves Magazine last Thursday sharing about good apologies. I believe we need to be practice good apologies, so we are intentional in our home about what constitutes an apology. If you're interested, read more over at SheLoves Magazine!

I’ve been doing a lot of homemaking recently. Several weeks ago I discovered that third grade boys hurled mean words at my daughter. My reaction came swift – shared tears, long hugs, soothing words, calls to the teacher and rallying a community of friends around her to mend what was broken. Now I check in often, and ask for greater detail, about what happened on the playground with other kids. And I’ve empowered both my son and daughter to advocate…

  I grew up in a middle class home, complete with two parents and a dog. Home meant safety, enough food and plenty of love. My parents held to the adage that good fences made for good neighbors, so we had high fences and polite neighbors. A single family detached home seemed to be the ideal. Everyone in the suburbs wanted one. Raised to crave space and safety I dreamed of my own home someday filled with good things –…

She burst into my room, darted for the bed and held fast to my side. Then an explosion of tears scattered across her chocolate cheeks. Through the breath-robbing sobs she said, “They’re mean to me, mom, so mean to me!” She looked me in the eyes and shouted, “I hate third grade! They’re so mean in third grade!” And then came the soft spoken confession – for weeks a group of boys taunted her on the playground at recess calling…

This was the inaugural month for the #TransitLounge book club. Together, friends from Luxembourg, UK, Canada and all across the US read Inspiration & Incarnation by Peter Enns. We read, tweeted and then posted our reflections. I loved seeing tweets throughout the weeks, reminding me of our collaborative read and sparking my own thinking about the OT issues raised by Enns. Fellow readers provoked me, made me laugh and added their expertise to my reading. I also discovered some new…

There’s a girl at the well. Any Jewish person would crack a knowing smile – because perched on the horizon is romance. Think of all the encounters at a well that resulted in betrothal – Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, Moses and Zipporah. Consider this an Old Testament meme. Around a well people meet up and marry. Wells were also an essential part of life in arid lands. People would journey to wells to water their livestock. Sojourners sought…

Lent is upon us, dawning tomorrow morning like a slow sunrise. What will come to light for many is that now's the time to let go, step back, even relinquish. Now restraint leads us, as if from behind, to a new destination. The Lenten Season begins with Ash Wednesday. A smear of oil and ash across the forehead to remind us of fragility and yet resurrected possibility, too. It's a season for holding ambiguity and contradictions; less to be more,…