I had the opportunity to study the book of Jude with a sweet friend this morning. Sipping coffee at our regular spot in Starbucks, we dared to approach verses on condemnation and destruction and perversion of the Gospel. We discussed these topics with a sort of frustrated idealism and, eventually, felt guilty for holding the world to such a standard. For the past couple of hours, the verses I read have been chewing at me, forcing me to search my heart and the heart of the church. Jude 1:19 says “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this...

The semester has reached its end and I am home. While these past three months have fostered beautiful celebration and journey, they have stretched me in ways unthinkable. In this stretching, my heart has become quite aware of the utter darkness in this world but also of the glorious light that is The Kingdom. I have built friendships with women my age in juvenile detention centers, shared the Gospel in Thai government schools, established sisterhood with orphans in Cambodia, and taught English to Karen refugees on the Myanmar border. While, yes, each of these settings were not incredibly...

I’m home.  Last Wednesday, I arrived in Atlanta, GA for debrief after twenty-four hours of flying.  Last Friday, I drove to Monroe with my mom after a sleepless night and saying goodbye to the women who had become my family.   I’m home.  That’s what I keep telling people.  I’m home. But that’s not the whole truth–not anymore.  I used to think the word “home” was a word for where I lived.  A word for where my family was, a word for where my room and my bed waited for me at the end of a long day (or at the...

I’m home.  Last Wednesday, I arrived in Atlanta, GA for debrief after twenty-four hours of flying.  Last Friday, I drove to Monroe with my mom after a sleepless night and saying goodbye to the women who had become my family.   I’m home.  That’s what I keep telling people.  I’m home. But that’s not the whole truth–not anymore.  I used to think the word “home” was a word for where I lived.  A word for where my family was, a word for where my room and my bed waited for me at the end of a long day (or at the...

I’ve been on the mission field for nearly three months now.  Sometimes it seems like a long time, but, in actuality, ninety days is nothing.  It’s a blink of an eye, a moment in time.  Despite the fleeting reality of three months, I have learned lessons that will last me a lifetime.  I have learned what it means to go into seasons of life with my hands wide open.  I have learned what it is to love deeply and to love well, even when it breaks my heart.  I have learned more about studying God’s Word and appreciating the tangible gift of life...

I’ve been on the mission field for nearly three months now.  Sometimes it seems like a long time, but, in actuality, ninety days is nothing.  It’s a blink of an eye, a moment in time.  Despite the fleeting reality of three months, I have learned lessons that will last me a lifetime.  I have learned what it means to go into seasons of life with my hands wide open.  I have learned what it is to love deeply and to love well, even when it breaks my heart.  I have learned more about studying God’s Word and appreciating the tangible gift of life...