My son and I drove a broad, open landscape of ranches and winding highway as news headlines erupted: our capital breached by violent rioters. Sporadic cell phone and internet connection prevented us from accessing all but a skeleton of events unfolding on the other side of our nation. And then an all-too-near rumble interrupted our…Read more The America I Know and Love…
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Peace For A Weary Heart
I wonder if your heart is as weary as mine? I picture our hearts like silos. Collective stress induced by a global pandemic, natural disasters, and economic hardship fill the storage column. And then, over that basic elevated societal level, personal challenges sift. Layers, filling to the top, spilling over. In the past few monthsl,…Read more Peace For A Weary Heart
An Open Letter to the Government of Zimbabwe
Dear Government of Zimbabwe, I want you to see the faces of children whose lives you’ve destroyed. Through mismanagement and corruption, you’ve deprived them of basic human needs. I met them not so long ago - shook their hands, laughed with them. I looked into Sylvia's eyes... When Sylvia’s (named changed) parents, aunts, and uncles…Read more An Open Letter to the Government of Zimbabwe
Across the World
Across the world, we assume we are so different. Separated by geography, customs, food, governments, and economic and class status. And then the unimaginable happens, chaos encompasses the globe in a universal experience. And we realize we have so much more in common than we ever imagined. Unemployment and scarcity, vulnerability to disease, loneliness, death.…Read more Across the World
Hope in Zimbabwe
As I return home and ponder an amazing visit to Zimbabwe, I mourn the suffering of people we met even as I celebrate the strong sense of family caring for family that is intrinsic to Zimbabwe's culture. And I find great hope... (Note: names changed to protect privacy) Before I went, I knew from my…Read more Hope in Zimbabwe
Above All, Keep Your Heart Free
When Mugabe, thirty-plus-year year dictator of Zimbabwe, bulldozed neighborhoods who didn’t vote for him and committed other horrendous human rights abuses, my friends took international journalists to witness his crimes. And paid for it by ending up on the government hit list. L describes how she and her husband, a pastor, fell asleep at night…Read more Above All, Keep Your Heart Free
Wandering Home
We feel the passion and delight of God, sailing clear channels. Then suddenly storms swirl, currents drag us under. Flung far from our intended destination, we wonder: has God forgotten what He said? Negated His promise? Sucked into the darkness, we survive day to day. The hopes and dreams of the past fade to a…Read more Wandering Home
Littlest Voices
All over the world, they peer from the shadows of deconstructed realities… From the rice fields of Vietnam, laboring under a relentless sun. From the slums of Kenya, neglected and starving . From the mountains of Nepal, sold into slavery. From the countryside of Zimbabwe, oppressed by the whims of a corrupt dictator. And from…Read more Littlest Voices
