As always, this is Wednesday, and so my friend and co-facilitator, Jason Stasyszen and I – and several of our friends – are having a book discussion on the book Kisses from Katie. You don’t have to read the book to join in the discussion! But if you did read and have a response post, [...]

I just had my thirty-fourth birthday. Now, some people, for their birthdays, throw parties or go out to their favorite restaurant, but last year, I instituted a new tradition of spending my birthday with a group of my good friends in the Pacific Northwest. In my opinion, there’s just no better way to spend your [...]

When I was in my early twenties, I worked in a daycare center. It was one of the most stressful jobs I ever had. As much as the State of North Carolina says that one adult can care for five infants or six one-year-olds or 10 two-year-olds, single-handedly, it is surely a challenge of epic [...]

Saturday night, I was at about the last place in the world I wanted to be. This aged spinster had gotten roped into attending a Valentine Banquet at my parents’ church. And while that might seem like a pretty fun thing, the last time I went, I ended up doing a really horrible waltz with [...]

It had been a grueling week in Kinshasa. Heat pressed down on each of us, taking our breaths away and causing sweat to drip off the end of my nose and onto the pill counting tray in front of me. The prescriptions stacked up next to me and there was no way that I could [...]

I’m single. In fact, I’m becoming more and more convinced that my particular case is terminal. The evidence weighs it out. I haven’t been in a serious relationship in over ten years and haven’t had a date in right around five years. Yeah. Poke me with a fork, people. I’d say I’m pretty much done. [...]

From great pain, comes our life’s greatest joys. Life is full of contradictions and juxtapositions, if you think about it. And I did, on Monday, walking through The Grotto (The National Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother) in Portland, Oregon, with friends. As you walk through their gardens, all of the art there—the statues and carvings—all [...]