Scavenging for Yes

I have good news, but I’m reluctant to share. I’m reluctant because I don’t want anyone to understand the takeaway to be that the Lord has finally been faithful. He’s been— in every moment, through all the sadness and disappointment and every detour—unceasingly faithful. This news, though good, is not the promised land. I’m wary …

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I Was Supposed to Get Married This Weekend

The date was marked in my Google calendar. A friend had sent the invite. I was supposed to get married this weekend. If you’re wondering where your invitation is, well, it’s not happening. In 2008, I moved back to the US from China. My goals were grad school and going back abroad. I had this …

No Longer Strangers: A Biblical Framework for Loving our Immigrant Neighbor Well

This morning I’ll be speaking with you briefly about the framework the Bible provides for how to love the immigrant. I also want to let you know up front what this talk isn’t about: immigration policy. I’m not even really going to talk about how we as Americans should think about immigrants, but about how …

Spot, Sprinkler, Stealth: On Discipling Others

Having just extolled the benefits of being mentored, you’d think I would consider anything shy of one-on-one, regular, intentional, growth-centered discipleship a sham. But, as is often the case, we tend to cut ourselves more slack than we do others. Perhaps I need to be the mentor I wish to see in the world. Or …

Who Wants a Mentor?

“WHO WANTS A MENTOR FOR THE NEW YEAR” read the title of a post on a museum blogger’s website that I followed. Intrigued that someone would just put themselves out there to mentor someone coming up in the field, I clicked on the link. Linda had recognized the value of someone further along in their …

The Shunammite Woman (2 Kings 4 & 8)

At my age, I'd already grown used to not having a child. Never would I have guessed that an invitation I extended one day to a man of God to have dinner with my husband and me would change that. My husband and I had moved on. We had been sad of course, but focused …

Fit, Fitter, Fittest: Fence-sitter No More

Probably no one is more surprised about my recent spike in physical activity than I am or maybe perhaps my trainer since he was privy to my falling out on the floor every time he asked me to lift a weight in our early days training together. It all started with an email. Last September, …