In 2006, when Amy and I were newly married, we moved to Malawi to serve with a relief agency. Before long, we got to know some in the local expatriate community, many of whom were Christian. One of the struggles we all faced in Malawi was finding a church community. One evening we...
“How was your weekend?” “G-g-g-good, Alex! I had a g-g-gr-reat weekend! I w-went to see a movie with my staf-f-f.” “Oh really? That must have been fun.” “It was, b-b-but I’m always a-a-afraid about being alon-ne, and I was afraid of...
It’s nighttime and the kids are asleep. I troll the Internet looking for inspiration. I come across a quote by theologian Albert Schweitzer: “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude...
It’s been about half a year since a close friend of mine passed away. I cared about him dearly and the loss hit me hard. He was a special person in many ways, and his passing affected me greatly. I first met Bryant in 2005 when I was an InterVarsity student leader in college...
China is a place where things rise and fall overnight. In a country that has pulled itself up from its bootstraps in just a few decades, this pace of modernization has not been without cost. Last year I witnessed a sizable community garden rise up within twenty-four hours, as migrant...
The Western Wall in Jerusalem, also known as the Wailing Wall, is considered one of the holiest sites in Judaism. If there is ever a place to get your prayers answered, this is it. People have been praying at this ancient wall since the fourth century. They often write their prayers...
Last December, about forty people gathered in our sanctuary after services. There was no lunch, no set teaching, no guest speaker. It was a time to reflect and share thoughts about race relations following the acquittal of white police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown in...
My great-uncle Bill passed away a couple years ago. And just a few weeks ago, his wife, my great-aunt Betty, passed away. They were both well into their nineties and had lived a good life. They had no children and, like many people, we learned a lot about them after their passing...
“The biopsy of the lump we removed from your eyelid just came back from the lab. It came up positive for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. You should follow up with your primary care physician.” This was the message I received from the doctor’s office fifteen years...
My mom is amazing. I know many other people feel this way about their moms too—but really, my mom is amazing. She’s sacrificial, strong, and resilient. She’s a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. She kept our family together and alive while they trekked to Thailand...