Last week, I traveled to Dodoma with Marc Driesenga (HOPAC’s Bible teacher) and 17 eleventh and twelfth graders from HOPAC for the annual SEW (Service Emphasis Week). Just outside Dodoma, Allen Conrad and his wife Jennifer have started developing a plot of land with the dream of starting an orphanage, Aljeco Home Organization. Their vision…
8 Months in Tanzania…
I’ve officially lived in Tanzania for 8 months. Thought I would celebrate the occasion with a few lists of ‘8’ for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! 8 LOVES: 1. The HOPAC students–they are excited to learn and great fun! 2. Living so close to the ocean / beach 3. Learning a new culture and language 4….
The Joy of the Lord
“You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy!” (Psalm 65:8b) I love watching the sunrise and sunset. When I read this verse, I nearly danced around my room. The sunrise and sunset are exclamations of joy! For those of you who have followed my activities via Facebook and…
Check!
To-do lists, packing lists, bucket lists….whatever kind of list it is, when I check off an item, I get a sweet sense of satisfaction. Well, almost. Apparently, hidden deep within the annals of missionary-dom, there is a list of things you must experience to achieve true “missionary” status. Among the items on that list are…
Happy Days
Its somewhat ironic that by the time I found time to write this blog post, I’ve shed more tears in a single day than I thought possible. After saying goodbye to my siblings this morning, I held it together until assembly at school. When we sang “Song of Hope” (Heaven Come Down), I lost it….
Say What?
As my two youngest siblings are making the trek from the U.S. to Tanzania (please envision me bouncing up and down right now…because even if I am really sitting at my desk at school, on the inside I am bouncing around like an over-excited puppy), my other brother and I catch up via Facebook messenger….
Living Like You Are Dying
This article by Ann Voskamp fits so well with my theme for 2014 of “Life,” I could not NOT re-post at least portions of it (the second half is scheduled to be published on A Holy Experience tomorrow). Some key thoughts (but you should really go read the whole thing HERE): If you knew how…
Living LIFE 2014: January
Already, January is almost over. What is that about? But I’m not complaining, because my two youngest siblings are coming to visit me at the end of this month! This afternoon, I was reflecting on my word for 2014: life. At that exact moment, I just happened to be sitting on the edge of a…
Real Life
Real life isn’t just a hashtag on a silly twitter post. It isn’t just fun and games and yolo all day long. Real life is smiles and tears. It is laughter and weeping. Real life is cool breezes and power outages. It is warm sunshine and freezing rain. Real life is hello and goodbye. It…
A Day in the Life…
In case anyone wondered what a “normal” day looks like for me here in Tanzania…here is a play-by-play from earlier this week. Wednesday, January 22, 2014 4:45 a.m. deee, duum, du… Just dance… deee, duum, du… Just dance… As Lady Gaga blares from my cell phone, I groggily roll over and double-check to make sure my second…
Ride Fierce Racing 