all things

Just last year, I was a culture-shocked newbie stumbling through my first months living overseas. {You can read from the First Year Missionary section of the blog here.} And we came as independents {we still are}, brought three small children with us, and probably arrived before we had technically raised enough money to sustainably stay. [...]

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On Spiritual Warfare and the Demons in the Closet {And a Mary DeMuth Book Giveaway}

I must admit that when it comes to what I know of spiritual warfare {particularly on the mission field}, I’ve gathered most of my working knowledge from Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness, which I devoured in high school and then swore demons and angels fighting in every corner of the lunchroom. I’ll be honest, that [...]

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How {not} to Have a STAYcation

by Laura on April 6, 2012

How to {not} Have a STAYcation

Ever heard of declaring a last-minute staycation for your family? Especially when you all really need a holiday, but can’t necessarily afford to travel to some exotic-somewhere? I had never heard the term before last week when my friend listened to me whining about how we needed to take a break but didn’t have the [...]

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I’m not going to lie– my idea of missions has had an extreme makeover during the last several years. I pushed off shore thinking I knew so much about loving-well and Jesus-following in another culture, but I continue to learn that I probably know-wrong more than I know-right. And this can be very disheartening for [...]

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Two Year Thai-versary

by Laura on March 31, 2012

Two Year Thaiversary

Two years ago, today on April 1, our family was on an airplane moving to Thailand. I don’t remember much about the plane ride except that it was long, and that I was really thankful the kids watched the movies on the seat-back screens. I remember being so excited and so hopeful and so very nervous. [...]

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How to Be an Almost-Loser

by Laura on March 30, 2012

A month ago I literally googled, “how to train for a triathalon in two weeks.” I had seen a sign for a sprint triathalon {don’t be too impressed, it’s much shorter than a real one} posted at our nearby school, and I remembered that running a triathalon has always been a bucket-list item for me. [...]

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An Apology to All Non- “Missionaries”

by Laura on March 24, 2012

rice field

I read a lot of missionary blogs. When someone comments from Peru or Vietnam or Sudan, I click, and I read. Because the world fascinates me. It is a big, beautiful place, and God is doing amazing things on all corners of it. Absolutely. But, as I have read missionary blogs, and as I have [...]

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Meet the Missionary {Chris in South Africa}

by Laura on March 21, 2012

Chris and Lindsey Lautsbaugh live in Muizenberg, South Africa. They serve with Youth With a Mission (YWAM), teaching and training internationals to be missionaries and church leaders. As leaders on the campus, they steward and guide ministries in and around Cape Town, reaching out to under privileged communities, planting churches, and meeting needs associated with [...]

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I wrote last week about justice and shared a story I told my kids, over green tea in little cups at a local coffee shop. I wrote about how Matt and I expected our three little ones to be people who stand up for the person without power, to fight for the powerless kid who [...]

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Meet the Missionary {Angie in Bolivia}

by Laura on March 16, 2012

Today we are continuing a semi-regular section on the blog featuring interviews with missionaries on the field, and we are talking with Angie Washington who serves and blogs from Bolivia. Angie is a consistently seasoned voice on this blog’s comment thread {she’s lived overseas for 10years}, and her own site, The @nge, gives an honest [...]

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Justice: On Bikes and Bullies

by Laura on March 14, 2012

We have a special needs boy who lives in our neighborhood. His name is Jacob, and he rides his bike right in front of our house some mornings by 6:30. He’s got one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen, and friendship with him has been a gift to our entire family. And two weeks [...]

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