Last week, Tony and I planned on having a relaxing date night. We couldn’t have predicted the startling event that was about to unfold. After a casual dinner, Tony suggested that we stop at a coffee shop on the way home. It was a new, family-run place, and I had been wanting to check it
I have often avoided uncomfortable conversations, but this week, I began to look at them from a different perspective. It all started with a quote that I found in my journal. I keep a gratitude journal, where I write down five things that I’m grateful for each day. Often, I’ll include a happy moment that
I enjoyed watching the movie Ray on the big screen, but I never imagined that, eight years later, I would be tracking down historic markers in Ray Charles’ childhood hometown. I still remember how I felt as I watched that movie. I went into it with low expectations, and I was caught off guard by
I really like these two quotes by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness,
It had been two and a half years since I had volunteered at the orphanage in Guatemala. When I went back for a visit earlier this year, I remembered how much I had enjoyed working with those kids. (As I mentioned in the last two blog posts, while I was volunteering at the orphanage, I
There was one adorable and very energetic three-year-old girl in the Guatemalan orphanage. As she ran over to me, her pigtails bounced and her brown eyes sparkled. In the last post, I wrote about my volunteering efforts with the toddlers in this Guatemalan orphanage. While those toddlers were napping, I would usually sit down with
As I prepared to move to Guatemala in 2009, I wondered if I was making the right decision. What would I do over there? Even though I had been raised as a missionary kid and I had gone on many short-term trips as a volunteer, this was my first time moving to a Third World
Almost every day, I miss out on an interesting cultural experience. I could have picked an adventure today: a how-to class, a walking trail, a museum. There are plenty of them within driving distance. But I never got around to it. Often, I miss out because I’m too late–which is usually my own fault. I
Sometimes, I find beauty in unexpected places. I discover sunlight on the other side of the clouds, a panorama after the climb, colors dancing through the gray, hope after months of despair. This spring, I needed a reminder of that beauty. As I walked through personal struggles, I wondered if I would find any beauty
Their smiles were contagious, and their travel stories were fascinating. I was inspired by a handful of travelers we met in Guatemala earlier this year–after I discovered that they had saved their money and were spending a year just traveling the world. Sure, I’d take a year of traveling around Africa, Europe, Asia, and South
