2020

Flying from Ohio to California is like flying from home to home. Ohio was relaxed and quiet. Ohio was dandelions. Ohio was walks down the lane with the dog and coffee in the morning with the parents. Ohio was home. California is busy and loud. California is traffic and warm skies and orange poppies. California is coffee in the morning with the kids and then running off to meet up with friends. California is home too. It’s funny, to feel so at home in such different worlds. But it reveals a truth that I spent my entire 20s searching for: home is not a place. (I was sitting at an outdoor Starbucks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when I wrote that last paragraph. A small group of people were chatting, waiting for their drinks, and as they said goodbye I overheard the woman say: “I’m not seeking any more. I’ve found it.” I don’t know to what she was referring to—a job, a spouse, a home, a higher power—but I understood immediately that deep sense of contentment.) ...

I'm so excited that my brother and sister-in-law, Roy & Suzanne, are heading to Ecuador in April! I spent an incredible 10 days in Ecuador when I was in college and absolutely fell in love with the people, the scenery, standing on the equator and strolling through the neighborhood markets. I know they will have an even more rewarding experience, because they are getting to meet Emilia, the child they sponsor through Compassion International. Randy and I spent time in Oregon with Roy & Sue right before we moved to Mexico. During that time they loaned me their copy of "Too Small To Ignore," by Wess Strafford, founder of Compassion International. It wasn't the easiest book to read, because Strafford went through many challenges during his boyhood in Africa that were painful to recount, but it was an honest telling that showed why he felt such a conviction to start this organization. Compassion International has been endorsed by many organizations and...