I knew something was wrong. I mean, everything was wrong but this was even wronger. It was wrong our family was fragmented, the kids taken care of by someone else, David and I living between hotel and hospital, our baby separated from us all by a double set of sterile white doors. But the fact…
Home is
Not where the heart is. It’s not where I think I belong, nor where I want to be, nor where my deceptive heart tells me I should or could be. Home is where God’s heart is. Home is found in the center of God’s indefectible will. I don’t even know where my heart is anymore.…
Yet Not I
...I labor on in weakness and rejoicing, for in my need His power is displayedCity Alight, Yet not I but through Christ in me We were on our way to distribute and invite the other day when this song came up on David's shuffle. It encouraged me in the moment but I didn't realize that…
In Which the Campechanos Decide to Build a Fire
For some reason, my brain writes blog posts in the horizontal, in the dark, before I fall asleep at night. It's like my way of processing life. The problem is, I'm usually too out of it to actually record any of those 11 pm bursts of brilliancy. So, while I'm still semi cognizant, here's a…
Magdalena Apasco
Before I begin storytelling, I’d like this post to be preluded by a doxology of sorts. I want every single person reading this to stop for a moment and just realize how wonderful, big, infinite our God is. There is no god like our God. He is majestic and full of mercy. He pours out…
Between Two Journeys
Today is the final day of a week long hiatal home-bound break between two journeys. In many ways, the week has seemed far too short. Just enough time to throw in a few loads of wash and get the house sufficiently dirty to require another fly through before locking the door behind us again tomorrow…
Thanksgiving
The greatest cryings of ThanksgivingCome not from chairs of ease;But rather, broken hearts exclaiming:“Master, do as you please!” Those valleys dark, my soul He’s seeingThe grief behind that smile;His presence, will, and grace me bright’ning:“Master, ‘tis just awhile!” Soon, then, caught up to glory flying,Knees in Thy presence fall. Our lips with thanks ne’er stop…
Keep Your Gold
They step off their ships onto the sandy shore, swords glinting in the hot Yucatán sunshine. Unit after unit of men squint down the beach to the hundreds of coconut trees swaying in the tropical breeze, like so many maidens sashaying down the main avenue of Medellín. Peering into the dense jungle, Hernán Cortés and his…
This Month
Towards the end of her fascinating autobiography An Ordinary Woman´s Extraordinary Faith, Patricia St. John mentions, “one cannot easily write about the present. Those involved are very much alive and close at hand….” In addition to sensitivity to privacy and the dignity of mankind, the present can seem cloudy. There are untied strings, buds are still…
Mr. Thoreau’s Advice
Sometimes one would love to speak. To pour out from the deepest depths of the heart grief inducing observances, to shake the world’s numb conscience, to pour fire into veins of lethargy. But sometimes, the words just won’t come. The subject seems too harsh, too awful to actually put into words. Henry David Thoreau commented,…
penelope alves 