Latest Posts

Mary’s Honor Burden

The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!” Luke 1:28 In honor-shame cultures throughout history, women have been honor-burden bearers for their families, tribes, and nations. Men have served as honor guards. Honor-bearers and honor guards have learned their roles from childhood. Avoid shame at all costs. Preserve the honor of the group by doing your part. This is the essence of the honor-shame worldview.  Mary knew her… Read More

Grateful I Don’t Know It All

But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13 Somewhere along the line, I absorbed an untruth: We must be experts in whatever we are expert in. I still remember the paralysis I experienced during my Clinical Fellowship Year when a patient asked a question for which I didn’t know the answer. I thought to be a good clinician I should know the answers to all my patients’… Read More

Upside-Down Gratitude

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night. Psalm 92:1-2 Who knew upside-down cake could be made just about anywhere in the world? The old Wycliffe cookbook on my shelf is ragged and worn. The cover long gone, its pages are stained with olive oil, gritty bits of sugar, and smears of… Read More

In a Land of No Thanksgiving

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 Pumpkin Pie Squares are my absolute favorite Thanksgiving dessert. I’ve made my mom’s recipe in every country I’ve ever lived, and they always remind me of family gatherings in warm sweaters, cozy cups of coffee, and full-to-bursting afternoons watching football even though I don’t understand it. That’s just what we do back home. This year I find… Read More

Driven Away

God seeks what has been driven away. Ecclesiastes 3:15 Hagar was driven away from her home (see Genesis 16). Her name, Hagar, carries the root in both Hebrew and Arabic that means to flee. For Christians, Muslims, and Jews, she has become a symbol of fleeing. Some might call her the mother of refugees. The God Who Seeks Those Driven Away pursued Hagar in the desert. Alone with her child, destitute, she believed death was… Read More

The Accuser of Our Brothers and Sisters

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." Revelation 12:10 What’s happening in Afghanistan right now has everything to do with the church. [bctt tweet="As the second-fastest-growing church in the world, Afghan followers… Read More

When You Don’t Know What to Do, Lament

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 2 Chronicles 20:12 Jesus sends us out to help people we feel helpless to help. I had this text exchange with a dear friend from Afghanistan a few days ago. How is your family in Kabul? We are praying for you… Read More

A Letter to my Muslim Friend at Lent

  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him (John 13:5). niptō: (Greek) to wash; to cleanse; to perform ablution.   Dear Fatima, I can’t stop thinking about our conversation yesterday. The question you asked me.  Why don’t you Christians have to make yourselves clean before you pray?  We are women. We are told we cannot approach God… Read More

Shame Nation

You have made us a byword among the nations;     the peoples shake their heads at us. I live in disgrace all day long,     and my face is covered with shame… Rise up and help us;     rescue us because of your unfailing love. Psalm 44: 14, 15, 26 Shame is not a foreign concept limited to countries where women are hidden behind the hijab, men commit honor-killings, or children with disabilities are forced to leave the… Read More

A Pruning Christmas

[caption id="attachment_3700" align="aligncenter" width="596"] For my mother-in-love, a Master Gardener who taught me the fruitful practice of hard pruning.[/caption] I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful (John 15:1-2). Well, it seems we are all going to have a holly, jolly, pruning Christmas. The… Read More