“Be Present. Wherever you are, be all there.”

I have had more truths revealed to me in these past 2 years than I have probably had in my whole life. God has been faithful in this journey and He continues to mold me to be more like Him, or at least I hope there’s positive change.

Lately, I have been wrestling with the idea of striving. My whole life, I’ve been a striver: someone who always has to be doing something, someone who needs to excel, a perfectionist, a little OCD…in school, in work, in my marriage, and in my parenting, I strived to be good. And there’s nothing wrong with striving to be good at something. But I’ve discovered my identity was wrapped up in striving. I found myself looking to what I could be doing rather than being present in what I’m doing right now. Continue reading →

Leland and I have been keeping a “blessings book” from the time we started this journey to prepare and become missionaries. We had never imagined being missionaries, so we knew on tough days, we would need to be reminded who’s got our back.  And wow, we have been humbled by the amount of love we continue to receive from our friends and family. Sometimes out of sight, out of mind is common, and we expected that. So it’s been a blessing to still receive kind notes, encouraging words and goodies that remind us of our loved ones. Continue reading →

I finally finished reading the book 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp and I’ll tell you, it’s been a long journey off and on to read this book. The language is poetic and sometimes hard to read. But I’ve read it purposefully and intentionally because the concept is powerfully life-changing.  Continue reading →

I want to share something that’s not easy. Lately, I have let Satan whisper lies into my ear that have made me feel alone, insecure, and unloved.

It’s hard making friends in new places, and I struggle when I see others with friendships I don’t have. I long for close friendships. Between finishing a challenging book and going through a Bible study, I have been convicted that I could be a better friend and a blessing to people I interact with. This is where I let Satan influence my thoughts, by hearing a truth but then letting him use that truth to hurt me. Continue reading →

This past summer, we went to the U.S. for the first time since we moved to Uganda in January 2016. It was a wonderful experience seeing family and friends. We were blessed by our time with our partnering churches, and we couldn’t ask for a more supportive group of people who surround us. 

An interesting thing is that we also had the reality that life in the U.S. is so different than what we’ve been used to the last 1-1/2 years. Continue reading →