-
New Year: Looking Back and Forward Through the Lens of Struggle
It’s easy to look back at the previous year through the lens of struggle—to look only at the difficulties, the disappointments, the dark places—and then jump to inappropriate conclusions. My husband and I have had more than our fair share of “hard” the over the last year with tough ministry decisions, medical treatments for our son, and the loss of loved ones. Friends have faced equal if not greater challenges as well. The list of those struggling is endless. Thus I’ve been pondering on the struggle and the hard lately, but not in the way you might think. For churchgoers who think the Christian ideal is “health, wealth, and happiness,”…
-
The Gift of “God With Us”
A wailing scream pierces the air. The new mother cries tears of sheer exhaustion and joy. The father stands speechless, astounded, holding a wriggly bundle in his arms. Mom and dad lock eyes and they silently ask each other, “What should we name him?” (Para español, lea abajo.) A name means something. Depending on the culture, a name implies family respect, honor, and tradition. In the Latino culture, for example, parents typically name their firstborn child after the father or mother. If the father is Luis, the baby boy is Luis. If the mother is Elizabeth, the baby girl is Elizabeth. In doing so, the parents preserve their family legacy.…
-
Adoption: Dispelling Four Common Myths
November is National Adoption Month—a month for focusing on how ministries and organizations can best seek to care for waiting and vulnerable children locally and around the world. It’s also a month for focusing on how we can best support families who have answered the call of adoption or foster care. But in order to understand how to best serve these families, we need to dispel a few common myths so that we can to gain greater comprehension and awareness. Myth #1: Agencies find children for families. Truth: Agencies find families for children. When we view adoption as finding families for children, we create a major mindset shift—a shift…
-
The One Who Hears and Sees
It’s not often that I feel seen—understood, valued, heard—as a medical mama. But two conversations occurred recently that gave me pause. The first was with my son’s pediatrician. While I reviewed the updates to the long list of supplements and over-the-counter medicines that help keep my son’s body functioning in a normal way—rattling off names and dosages from memory— the pediatrician paused our conversation and said, “It’s a good thing you’re his mom. This is a lot.” She acknowledged my burden and my giftings in it. I felt understood. I felt valued. I felt heard. I felt seen. The second was with a nursing care manager with our health insurance…
-
Leadership and Friendship—Are They Mutually Exclusive?
With whom can you be yourself—totally raw and without filters—without expectations? Someone recently asked me this question. Several names came to mind, but I realized my list was short. This person advised, “You need these types of people in your life, people who will listen to you without expectations or judgment, with whom you can climb down off the mentorship and ministry pedestal.” Regardless of the world in which you work or serve—corporate, construction, education, marketing, medical, ministry, research, restaurant, the arts, or the home—being a leader can make finding raw-and-without-filters friendships difficult. Why is that? First, leaders are visionaries. They lead the charge. They think outside the box.…
-
What Parents of Special Needs Kids Wish You Knew
Hard is hard, period. “We are not competing in the ‘Suffering Olympics,’” seminary professor, author, and mother to a special needs child, Dr. Sandra Glahn, often remarks. What she means is that in terms of trials, hardship, and heartache, we are not in a competition attempting to win the medal of “Life’s Worst Circumstance.” But life as a parent of a special needs child is unique. It contains daily nuances, challenges, and worries that are far from normal. My husband and I recently adopted our son from China. He has both medical and emotional special needs. I often find it hard to explain why my son needs this or that…
-
He is Bigger Still
The pediatric dentist had delivered bad news. Our son needed oral surgery on not just one or two teeth, but on multiple teeth. And given the extent of the dental work anticipated and our son’s medical history, the procedures would need to be done in a hospital and under anesthesia. I began reviewing the cost estimates the dentist’s office manager had given to me as my husband drove us home. Hospital operating room + anesthesiologist + dental work = big bills. And it wasn’t just about the additional medical and dental expenses. (Though those were sufficient stress alone.) It was also that, due our son’s other medical needs, he’d already…
-
Mother’s Day: A Day to Honor Non-Traditional Mothers, Too
There’s more than one way to become a mother, but often that fact is neither touted nor commemorated, and that leaves many women feeling rather uncomfortable—and forgotten—on Mother’s Day. (Para español, lea abajo.)
-
What is it like to be “Unseen”?
Do you live your life wanting to be seen or unseen? Whether seated in an office maze of cubicles, standing behind a podium before a grand audience, or mopping up spilled milk and cereal for the third time today, we want to be acknowledged, understood, and liked. Our current world of social media has not helped our helpless and desperate desire to be noticed. These days if we do not post a photo of our dinner out, our vacation, our birthday, our promotion, or our child’s new accomplishment, it’s as though it never happened. Additionally, we want our online friends to see, like, or love our posts. Only if the…
-
Journey with Me to Israel
This month I take you on a photographic tour of the Holy Land. One year ago my husband and I traveled to Israel with Insight for Living ministries. And like many of you, we never expected the world to shut down for the next year (and counting). Thus in this season of Lent, as we prepare our hearts for Easter, I thought it only appropriate to virtually return to the land of our Savior. May you enjoy this journey.
