It’s too expensive. It takes too long to get there. You have to use translators. The money would be better spent on helping orphans than sending you to travel there for a week. You name it, I’ve heard it regarding the reasons NOT to travel to Russia, and spend time with our kids over the … Continue reading reasons
russia
home
Home. I struggle with this. Home is technically just a place I sleep if you prefer the 'normal' definition of the place you live. But home is also halfway across the world every time I step into an orphanage in Kirov region. Home is at a friends house every Thursday night when my little buddy … Continue reading home
leave
There is one place on this earth that rips my soul in two to leave. It is a palpable sound to God's ears because after all, he is the one that sends me. The echo of that rip haunts me when I leave. A good haunt though, a reminder that things are not right in … Continue reading leave
love
‘Love is patient, love is kind…’ Blah. Blah Blah. Yah, it’s absolutely true…but do the people that quote it at every wedding really buy in to the actually gritty truth of love? Love is hard. Love is pain. Love is loss. Love is your heart being taken out of your chest, stomped on and put … Continue reading love
family
‘Подруга, you are my friend,’ is what I kept hearing in broken English from the kids. They don’t know a lot of English, but they know some basic they have learned from their English teachers. Then I started hearing… ‘Семья.’ Family. You are my family. This year, one of our team members who had been … Continue reading family
community on mission
I saw a quote on Twitter, ‘Community is the byproduct of mission.’ I wonder how many would agree or disagree with that statement? Honestly…we’ve seen it both ways around Woods Chapel. There are groups of friends, small groups or even large groups that choose to do mission together. They are all from different backgrounds...doing Bible … Continue reading community on mission
tables
I love Chinese food. There, I said it, the world knows! I have a bit of an obsession with it…in college one year for my birthday a friend brought me my favorite Chinese for lunch between classes, and then another for dinner took me to the same place to celebrate one more year of my … Continue reading tables
known
How many people know you? I’m not talking Facebook friends, or Twitter followers…I’m talking about being known by others. What you favorite food is…how you take your coffee…the true passion of your heart…your dreams…not a lot of people, right? We like to hide. A lot, actually. Walls are thrown on a regular basis, and we … Continue reading known
give me your eyes
At this point, it’s not news that one of the ways I feel God lead is through music. The lyrics get me every time. But what you don’t know is the story behind a certain artist whose music keeps taking journeys with me. I bought Brandon Heath’s ‘Give Me Your Eyes’ about a month before … Continue reading give me your eyes
the heart of God
I love snow. I just cannot help it...there is something incredibly peaceful about how silently it falls. How pure and white it is...how perfect, yet individually unique. I am literally giddy when I see perfect snowflakes and all of their points. And the world is so quiet when snow falls, especially when it falls at … Continue reading the heart of God
sojourner4jesus 