A Purposeful Peek

I hope you've had a wonderful Thanksgiving week!  It's easy to be thankful when everything seems to be going smoothly and exactly as you have planned, when life is going your way.  But what about the unexpected, the times when nothing goes as planned? I have a friend who is pregnant with her third child.  With all of the expected excitement that comes along with this good news, she also received some unexpected bad news. She has cancer. My friend started her Thanksgiving week in the hospital for the first stage of treatment: surgery.  I wish more than anything that she could have been at home with her kids and husband, preparing to host a big Thanksgiving celebration.  I wish she never had to go through this, and I will never understand why this had to happen.  But as JJ and I prayed with her and her family on Monday morning just prior to surgery, I was thankful for the unexpected opportunity to see God work even through her illness. She has already inspi...

There's something so gratifying about finding the perfect gift for a certain person. There's something even more special about knowing that you are blessing not only the recipient, but also the seller/crafter/vendor.  Throughout my world travels, I have been privileged to meet many incredibly talented and hard-working individuals whose craft is truly their livelihood...  Amazon women in Peru who create unique hand-painted pottery.  Turkish women who labor over carpet looms. African women who sew vibrant batik cloths into elaborate dresses.  These women (and men, too) paint, dye, spin, sew, and craft products that can not be recreated, as each item is one of a kind.  I make it a point to purchase some of these quality souvenirs to remind me of each country I visit.  Of all the decor in my home, my international items consistently draw the most compliments from house guests! While I am excited to present many of my family members with unique, handmade Chr...

I mentioned Poli and Antonnyo, "our African kids" in my first post about Africa .  What I knew was that I couldn't wait to meet them and that I hoped to spend at least one day with them while staying in their home village. What I didn't know was the incredible way in which God would honor that desire. It was Wednesday morning under the hot Togo sun, and my gaze constantly drifted to the lone clock on the wall of the pavilion that served as the church/school/makeshift dental office.  I was not wishing away my time with the 60 patients who eagerly awaited their turn in a dental chair, meanwhile congregating outside under the woven straw canopy. Nor was I counting down the time until I could rinse the sweat that was pooling underneath my scrubs or guzzle my next bottled water. I was simply counting the hours, minutes, and seconds until 12:00 noon, when I would finally get to meet our beloved kids. Bruno, our gracious host and principal of the school, had arranged for u...

We began as a team of thirteen. Four dentists, two dental assistants, two pharmacists, a pharmacy tech, a pastor, a pastor's wife, and two other adventurous women.  Just ordinary people blessed with an extraordinary opportunity to travel to Sub-Saharan Western Africa. Some of us knew each other long before Africa, but most of us met in the few months leading up to the trip. Others literally met at the airport for the first time. We went to serve, love, and pull a LOT of teeth. Five days of dental clinic. Over three hundred patients and somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand tooth extractions. But the real story is not about who we are or what we did... She left before sunrise and walked from the border of Benin, a neighboring country. She heard something on the radio that gave her hope. Hope that she might find relief from pain that she had been suffering from for far too long. She arrived only to find that her infection was too severe for immediate treatment and that ...

Before I share details from our latest adventure, I have to start at the beginning... As far back as I can remember, I have always, always had a desire in my heart to go to Africa. Not to go on a glamorous safari with the lions, tigers, and bears, (oh my!) - although that would be amazing - but because I've always been so fascinated by African culture and the passionate people and beautiful children who call it home.  Back in 2005, I was one of many, many college students at my church who wanted to go to Africa for the summer and so I applied and prayed like crazy that God would send me.  But, He sent me to Albania instead. Wait, Albania? Isn't that somewhere in Africa? Exactly. I had no earthly idea where that was until I was practically on an airplane flying to this 3rd world European country for the summer. A summer that turned out to shape my life more than I could have ever imagined. But that's another story for another day... Albania 2005 Suffice it to say that...

"Heads, Carolina. Tails, California  Oklahoma. Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
 Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
 Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'
 Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.
 Heads, Carolina. Tails, California  Oklahoma" (Jo Dee Messina) The chorus to this 1996 hit country song has always resonated with me in regards to my desire to just pick up and go, hit the road, travel, see the world with my best friend and soulmate!  Born and raised in Oklahoma, JJ and I both have a special place in our hearts for the Sooner State...the big, open sky, breathtaking sunsets over golden wheat fields, hot summers at the lake, Sooner football, and the friendliest people on earth. However, when God opened the door for us to pack up and move east, we jumped at the chance to live in beautiful North Carolina...where the Carolina blue skies meet the ocean, the splendor of fall colors spill over the mountains, al f...