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Africa, Oh, Africa
Leadership is Broken Because Leaders are Unbokren No continent on earth suffers as Africa suffers. Not just Africans, but Africa itself. Like Africans, Africa possesses untold resources. And like Africans, Africa is mutilated, ravaged, and raped. Corruption contaminates the continent from the Sahara to South Africa. Neo-colonization reigns supreme as outside forces establish economic control the way older nations established political supremacy a hundred-fifty years ago. Africans experience a terrible sense of loss, an awful awareness of injustice, and an utter absence of hope that drives them to take frightful risks to find opportunities they never would have otherwise. Most Africans don’t talk to non-Africans about the corruption of their…
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Don’t Let Your Hearts Be Troubled
A few weeks ago, my husband and I decided to skip the traditional fish brunch that I normally prepare for Easter and we made reservations to go eat at a restaurant instead. This past Sunday, along with many other folks, my family feasted—I mean, we ate like kings and queens—on some serious food. My favorite part of the brunch? I didn’t have to do dishes afterwards. My least favorite moment? The weeks before Easter. In the days leading up to Easter, I kind of drove my family crazy. Instead of showing enthusiasm about our new plans, I resisted. Every time someone shared their excitement, I killed it with horror.…
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This Daughter of Mine
Sometimes life brings dark, lonely moments that seem endless. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. Like a contraction during childbirth, you breathe through it, screaming every second of that moment for a glimpse of relief. I’ve had many, many moments like that but nothing comes close to what I went through in 1997. In the midst of it all, a baby’s cry—God’s gift of mercy and grace in a living song. This Daughter of Mine Seventeen years ago today, God gave me a daughter. This daughter of mine, I’m nothing like her, but in so many ways she’s just like…
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The Wait of Infertility
Guest Blog by my student and friend Julie Fuller: We in western culture tend towards impatience. In general, we do not enjoy waiting…in lines, for food, for replies. Occasionally, I even find myself urging the microwave to heat food faster. The journey of infertility is all about waiting. Waiting for a new month, waiting in medical offices, waiting on test results. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. God works in wondrous ways; what seems to be a wasteland of waiting on the journey to our “real” destination might actually lead to His intended purpose. Sometimes I am unable to see His hand at work because of my laser-focus on what I desire in…
