Our spectacular summer vacation of 2012 came into be with this one question: "How can we take advantage of our layover on the way back to the USA, and turn it into a vacation?" Most of the flights with layovers were through London. We didn't really want to spend this vacation with millions of our … Continue reading How to fly to Ireland for $100
Month: August 2018
Wrinkle in time
My favorite moments...honestly, the ones that keep me going...are when we see glimpses of God's glory in creation. It's like seeing a wrinkle in the space between us & heaven. For a moment, we can see straight through the haze of our broken world, noisy lives, the things we worship with our time and money, … Continue reading Wrinkle in time
Femininity
I find this word so frustrating because the expectations are so varied and absurd. I'm a woman. And the word "feminine" means so much and so little. Why must we hold back from talking about our bodies? Why are periods a secret? Every human on the planet is here because some woman was having periods … Continue reading Femininity
2 become 1
I've been married 10 years. I'm starting to realize that the longer I'm married, the less I know about marriage. I thought I would arrive at year 10 all knowing, wise, and coast the rest of the way. But the longer we are here, the more we know each other, the less I have it … Continue reading 2 become 1
But I’m still patriotic
Let's just get this out of the way: I don't think singing patriotic songs as part of a Christian worship service pleases God. We Americans have a hard time seeing it unless we've been outside the US context and watched the damage done by mixing the fallible US government, past actions, & current culture with … Continue reading But I’m still patriotic
*shrug* America
America. I love you like the childhood home we return to as adults. Only to find she's smaller than we remember, and need a lot of repairs. After living overseas, I see that America is a box. A box I created because this is where I learned to follow the rules. Follow the rules to … Continue reading *shrug* America
Where will we land?
This one is from the archives: written in 2011 when we had our first baby and had just moved overseas for the first time. We were living in a hotel waiting to find out where our employer would assign and house us. For some time now, my mind has been swirling. Undoing a life without … Continue reading Where will we land?
How to downsize, like really.
I promised a few friends I would explain how we went about getting rid of just about all our belongings when we left the United States. The first time, we only had about two and a half months to do so: trying to strike a balance between efficiency and getting some cash. Post all our … Continue reading How to downsize, like really.
What it’s like to downsize to a few suitcases
Twice in the last 7 years I've consolidated all our belongings to a few suitcases. One time we were a family of four. The first time, we had a baby (and so much baby stuff). At one point we were living as a family out of 2 hotel rooms (no kitchen) for 70 days. Another … Continue reading What it’s like to downsize to a few suitcases