2020

Randy and I got up early one morning, leaving Van in bed at Robert and Suzanne's house, and went into the city of Boise. We met up with some former employee's of Randy's and delighted in catching up with them over breakfast. It was exciting to see them making Boise their home -- finding a sense of place where they could become who they were created to be. When they had to head in to work, Randy and I walked downtown Boise, checking out the courthouse, the Basque district, local coffee shops and more. It was fun to be a tourist again and was the momentum we needed for the next leg of our adventure. Since we'd picked him up, Van regularly asked if we were going to see Niagra Falls. And each time we reminded him that Niagra Falls was on the complete other side of the United States, and that while we were going pretty far east, we weren't going that far. We'd been together for 3 weeks by now, and Van wasn't giving up. Randy and I were starting to wish we...

Our last stop in Oregon was to see the Hell's Canyon overlook. We anticipated stunning views of the Snake River. However, the most exciting part of this detour was getting stuck in a cattle drive. We couldn't see anything from the overlook -- not a drop of water in sight. But since we'd had a recent attitude change, we didn't want to give up on Hell's Canyon. So we crossed the border into Idaho and decided to check out the Snake River from the other side. And we were not disappointed! We drove for miles along the water's edge to the dam, admiring the river and the canyon walls. We'd heard that one of the U.S. President's thought this canyon more beautiful than the Grand Canyon. Perhaps we would have agreed if we'd taken the time to hike or whitewater raft in the area. I certainly think that exploring a place deeper than from your car window helps in your appreciation of it. But we'll have to save that for another trip! The last time Ran...

You may have noticed that I was a little grumpy during our last 2 legs. I certainly did. And Rand seemed a little grumpy too. When I approached him about it he said, "I'm thinking about what we are going to do when we land... where we'll live, what I'll do for work..." We hadn't been having nearly as much fun as we'd had in the beginning, and the biggest reason for that was because we were so much in our heads. Randy was thinking about how he was going to take care of us once we got to Ohio. And I was thinking about the kids we'd left behind in Mexico. We received an email in May letting us know that Mari, one of the dorm moms in Mexico and the daughter of the administrators who we worked closely with, had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She'd lost her vision and was preparing to start chemotherapy. Our hearts broke, and mine was still broken a month later. I felt so helpless, unable to do anything for my friends, unable to ...

If you’ve never taken a road trip with a 10-year-old boy, here is my depiction: Rand : “Hey Van, look, a volcano!” Van : “Cool.” Rand : “Hey Van, look, a buffalo!” Van : “Cool.” Rand : “Hey Van, look…” Van : “What’s for dinner?” It has taken me a few states to get used to this. Rand and I imagined Van being mesmorized by literally everything that passed our windows. Lassen volcano, a Bengal tiger, the ocean... but we can’t even get him to look out the window! The couple of times we’ve tried to force him to he’s simply fallen asleep (this kid can nap for hours!). To be honest, I was pretty disappointed at first. I had the expectation that experiencing this trip through his eyes would be a new way of seeing the world, with child-like wonder. But he’d rather read a zombie book for the third time than marvel at the random waterfalls along the highway. Disappointment was my attitude going into our trip north to Mt. Rainier in Washington state. It was recommended to us ...

Way back in February -- Valentine's Day and the first day of Lent, to be exact, I took on the challenge of giving $40 to 40 different organizations over the course of the 40 days of Lent. 40-40-40 . Shortly after starting that challenge, my grandmother died unexpectedly, knocking me off course for a few weeks. Committed to seeing the challenge through, however, I decided to keep my eyes and ears and heart open while undertaking the Great American Road Trip with my husband as we transition from Mexico to Ohio. What I discovered on that journey was a great big world that is both beautiful and in need, and it is full of beautiful people who want to help. The problem is, sometimes our helping hurts . While getting to know my high school friend Jim's wife over dinner one night in Sherwood, Oregon, Mel shared with me about an organization called "Days for Girls." Days for Girls was started when a woman named Celeste inquired about what girls in India do when they ar...

Because we were having so much fun hiking the Redwoods, we left California late on Saturday afternoon and rolled in to Portland, Oregon, around midnight. While there was much to see in between, we rushed to get to Portland so we could go to church with Randy's brother and sister-in-law the next morning. Roy and Suzanne were enjoying a neighborhood progressive dinner while waiting up for us, so we all mutually agreed to go to the late (11:30 a.m.) service the next morning. I was so glad we were able to make it to church. Many of you know that I’ve been claiming a “ word of the year ” for the past 5 years. This year’s word is “fierce.” While I no longer dislike the word like I did in the beginning, I haven’t exactly owned it either. So I was thrilled when the band started playing a song I’d never heard of – one called “ Fierce ” – that was all about the fierce nature of God’s love for us. (Apparently I've been living under a rock – or in Mexico – because this song came ou...