On a recent evening walk, I noticed a neighbor’s teenager gearing up for a run. He tied his shoelaces then placed a strange contraption over his mouth and nose that reminded me of the frightening mask Hannibal Lecter wore in Silence of the Lambs. When the teenager rose after stretching, I couldn’t contain my curiosity. “Why’re you wearing that on your face? Is it for warming up the air?” I live in Florida, and a recent cold front (don’t laugh, northerners) dropped temperatures to the low forties at night. For those who reside in the Sunshine State, this is cold. He pulled off the mask ... Read the Post
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Finding More Margin in a Not-So-Perfect World
We watched as he carefully stacked the rocks inside the jar one-by-one until they brimmed the top. He scanned the crowd and politely asked if we thought the jar was full. In uncanny unison we all said yes. But we were wrong. Then he added pebbles, and after the pebbles, he added sand--until finally the jar was full. The pastor then went on to explain that when we take care of the big things in our lives first, the little things will fall into place, just like the rocks, the pebbles, and the sand. But my life didn’t seem to be working like that. I couldn’t help but wonder, “What if the ... Read the Post
Interacting in Truth
“I want you to wear a braid that goes across your forehead.” I was told these words few weeks after dating and completely falling for a man. Seemed like such a specific request within such a new relationship, and I was confused and hurt by it at first. I don’t wear braids and never have. Reacting to my confusion and obvious hurt, he simply said that he likes braids and wanted me to wear them, but I was free to do as I wish. It was such a small, minor request and it pleased him immensely, so I wore braids. We bend sometimes for those we love, and I enjoyed making him happy. However, a ... Read the Post
The Whisper that Changed My Life
"He said to his disciples, 'The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields'" (Matthew 9:37-38 NLT). I woke up feeling the cool breeze of the Guatemalan morning. It was refreshing as my heart had been wrecked beyond what I could imagine the days previous. Walking around the Guatemala City Dump community the day before had left me feeling overwhelmed. My mind continually thought, What are you doing here? This is too much. You cannot make a difference. One person cannot influence this much ... Read the Post
Mouse Shoulder
A few months ago, I began to feel radiating pain up the right side of my back and neck and down my right shoulder all the way to my right index finger. The pain became so unbearable that even when I sat at the dinner table, the paralyzing ache caused my right arm to go limp. I didn’t know what caused the inflammation until I tried to use my computer mousepad. Simply lifting my arm to touch the pad sent a penetrating sting across the right side of my upper body. Although I do enjoy lifting weights, I knew this injury was not caused from a bodybuilding injury. It had to be something subtler ... Read the Post
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