Fascinated by pottery. That's one of many facts about me. I don't remember when it started...
Christmas Day in the Alley
It was safe this time, but I felt a little nervous taking the road again. For a few weeks I had been walking on a new path through the monastery instead of using the public alley to get to the outdoor market. A few of our friends who were monks said I should feel free …
Third Dates & Three Words
“Can we rest a bit before we head back to the car?” “Sure” I sighed, wiping sweat from my forehead. The climb down from the waterfall back to the trail we had taken earlier wasn’t challenging, but it was long. And it had been a humid day in Tennessee so we needed water. A few …
DeepFrying, Trekking, & Re-Learning Life
Tiny pink discs resembling poker chips blossomed into jumbo, puffy prawn crackers after I dropped them in hot oil. The taste? Somewhere between Funyuns and prawn. If you were a kid in the 1980's like me, you may have pressed Funyuns to your tongue to feel the bubbles pop. Same thing happens with prawn crackers. …
Men & Miscarriage
“I didn’t watch you go through it. I also went through it” Daniel and I don’t talk about the miscarriages often, but last week we did and I learned something. From now on I will refer to them as our miscarriages instead of just mine. I’ve encouraged people to think of men during miscarriage for …
Snakes in Bags & Baskets
“Snakes!” A small man covered in white powder, wearing a bright orange turban and robe, sauntered down the sidewalk in our community, a canvas sling bag full of snakes draped across his shoulder. There was a reason for yelling about the snakes. He was intimidating people in order to get a little money. It worked …
A Pink Onesie
“So you’re hoping for a girl?” Daniel bought a little pink onesie the same day he found out I was expecting our second baby. He was so happy. We were in Southeast Asia for a week of rest in the northern mountains and then a few days at the beach down South. The places we …
First Dates & Mud
“I like you. I like spending time with you” Daniel’s words at the end of our first date. We were walking toward the Hunter Art Museum in Chattanooga. It was closed in the evenings, but the downtown area is a great place to explore. With bridges, sculpture gardens, coffee shops, small paths by the river, …
A Monkey Stole my Latte
“Put the chips on the ground Eva. Now your Coke. Good. Let’s just slowly back away. Nice… It’s working. Wait! They want my latte, too…Ok we’re good. They’re gone.” Evil people weren't holding us up to take our snacks. Monkeys were. Only they weren’t evil. They were wild and had invaded the waiting area at …
When gods are Silent
“Many of us have stopped going to the temple. The gods weren’t answering.” Not what my husband and Aakash expected to hear on this particular trek into the mountains. Nor did they expect to be in a new village. The norm for these trips was to visit pastors working in geographically isolated and spiritually unreached …
