I have read a few books over the last months that have really challenged me in how I love people. “You and Me Forever” by Francis Chan was more about my relationship with the Lord and serving His people than it was about marriage. And “Tattoos on the Heart” by Greg Boyle with Homeboy Industries is a beautiful testimony of how people need Jesus but they won’t know Him without finding love first.

We all battle judgement, both in feeling judged and in judging others. I’m not sure anyone can go anywhere without knowing judgement. And judgement is equal opportunity – singles, couples, poor, rich, men, women, moms, dads, kids, outcasts, celebrities…the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, it’s part of our flawed human nature. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept it or let it handicap us. Continue reading →

I have been listening the audio book by Bob Goff ” Everybody Always”. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. It’s a really good book about loving people. And not in the “because the Bible tells me to” but the in practical everyday life reality of who we are called to be in Christ.

Early on in his book, he challenged me about being called a missionary. We are all on the mission field and we are all called to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” – Matthew 28:19-20. Continue reading →

It’s easy to get distracted and busy. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to drown out the world and my troubles by ignoring them.

But sometimes we can look at all the problems in the world and wonder how we can make a difference. I don’t know about you, but it’s daunting to think there is so much need and I don’t have enough resources, energy, money, time, sometimes love…

Continue reading →

I don’t know about you, but I would like to stay away from suffering. And I don’t mean, just look the other way, but I mean, I want to run as far away as possible. Even when we talk about it during Bible studies, I don’t like to think about it. Reading about Joseph’s patience and faithfulness during his time as a slave in Egypt, reading letters from Paul from prison about how he would like to go to be with Christ but his work isn’t done here on earth. He literally has a captive audience in prison to share Jesus and he DOES! I don’t think my attitude would be very good, nor do I look at opportunities as ways I could share the glory of Jesus. Continue reading →

Over the last 2-1/2 years, God has taught me, shaped me, and revealed more about me than I have experienced in my entire life.

When we first moved to Uganda, I wrestled with my identity. At first I learned that I had been finding my identity in my work and what I could produce. When my days were filled with a long to-do list but nothing of real substance to show for it, I discovered I felt lost and unsure of my value. After I wrestled with that, God very graciously reminded me that my ministry was serving Him however He needed me to serve Him, no matter how glamorous (or lack there of) it was. And that at first my ministry was my family as we all got adjusted and settled in our new culture. Continue reading →