Just to give you guys some background, I have had some really obnoxious stomach problems for the last three weeks, that have made eating really wearisome, and have gotten worse as of late (yay late night sleep overs in the bathroom!). Having said that, today was probably my roughest day here. I went to the hospital for a seemingly pointless trip, felt crummy, and missed ministry at the orphanage. But God, loving as he always is, finally pulled me out of my pity party and into his arms, which is where I needed to be all along. Rather than try to explain everything he reminded me of, I am...

Growing up, it was a tradition in my family to watch all of the old Christmas movies starting the first day of December. Among those I consider "classics" is the ORIGINAL (i.e. cartoon) version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I watched it so many times growing up I can now recite it almost by heart. One of my favorite lines in the movie is: "The Grinch hated Christmas – the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed...

From the time we are old enough to talk in America, we are taught that we deserve the best.  We deserve happiness.  We deserve freedom.  We deserve comfort and security and love.  And when those things are withheld from us, or delivered in a way that we do not find desirable, we become indignant, sometimes to the point that it even feels like righteous anger.  At least, that's how I always felt.   In the United States and much of the world, people have worked for generations to ensure that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of...

My dad is a snuggler; an unabashed, hug-you-hard snuggler. One of his favorite Christmas movies is “Elf” simply because Will Ferrell’s character, Buddy the Elf, makes a long list of things to do during Christmas time that ultimately ends with “… and then we’ll snuggle!” My dad has snuggling on lock, as the saying goes. And growing up, I’ve always known that I could run to him when I was afraid, or hurt, or heartbroken. One of the things I miss most being away from my family is his ability to comfort me, to make me feel safe and assured with a...

“Ministry is all around us. We don’t have to be at ministry to do ministry.” Those two sentences, spoken by my team leader in feedback last night, basically sum up what God has been teaching me these last two weeks. Not very profound you might say. Sure, I’ll give you that.  But the concept is completely life changing. Ministry isn’t meant to only be done during “set times” or at “set places”. Our entire life, every moment of every day, is meant to be an offering to God. Worship is so much more than songs we sing during...

Since being here, I have loved being able to have intersession with the whole team. I've never seen God speak to me so powerfully. I used to think that to hear God, I had to hear a loud audible voice, so I guess you can say I never "heard" God. During intersession someone usually plays guitar and we take time to worship, during that time I just pray about what the Lord wants to show me and that I would be open to whatever He is asking of me. I've come to the realization that the Lord speaks to me through His word. So I'll always open my bible and the first verse I...

There was one evening a couple of weeks ago that truly topped all of the other instances of culture shock.  It was the evening I knew I was officially a missionary. Like many nights during the week, we were headed to a church to worship and share our testimonies with the congregation.  We were told we were going to a house church and that, in this particular church, jewelry was considered sinful.  So we took out our earrings, took off our bracelets and hopped in the van.  When we arrived, we were led down a pitch black path, next to a drainage ditch, by the teensy light...