Author Kate Bowler, who has lived in a lot of uncertianty since her cancer diagnosis in 2015, does not approve of bucket lists. When she thought she was dying in 3 months and people asked what she wanted to do before she died, she didn't make one. Now, over 5 years later, she still speaks against them. She's not against having amazing experiences, but she thinks that endlessly pursuing the extraordinary can make us feel like we can be enough and have enough. That really anyth

We were late for church on Sunday morning. And as we bumped over the potholes, past a man in a black suit riding a bicycle, past the dry dusty sugarcane fields of Route Barbancourt, we talked of ordinary things. How we were in fact late once again. How the noise under the car seemed to be getting worse. When we arrived, they were singing the last opening song in French, one of my favorites and I sang the chorus by memory as I searched for an envelope with my name on it to giv

Disclaimer: This is long, and I sincerely hope it doesn't read like Great Aunt Agnes' family trip report where she includes every fast food and bathroom stop and what Great Uncle Frankie said when they had a flat tire. I want to share with you a yearly event for Mennonites in Haiti - retreat. It's a 3 day conference held during Carnaval, or Mardi Gras week, originally meant to keep the youth from getting into trouble during that time. Last year it was called off due to insecu

Ukraine is suffering. The streets are full of gangsters. The house is dirty. My little yard seems so small. The people around me need help. And I have nothing to offer. All these things and thousands more loop through my mind on fast-forward - like an annoying pop-up ad and I can't seem to find the little x hidden in the corner to turn the crazy thing off. It's been happening a lot lately, this mental chaos where my brain seems intent on replaying everything negative about my