When Nothing Is All You Have to Give
You can’t do this. You can’t do this. You can’t do this. The words taunt, my eyes fill, heart pounding, red creeps up my neck…… [continue reading at (in)courage} When Nothing Is All You Have to Give...
View ArticleMy Mess is the Perfect Place for His Glory
“You inspire me” she says as she hands me a bag full of baby clothes for Mercy House. ”I wish I could be like you, but I’m just a mom.” Her words sounded like an apology. I offered a feeble smile....
View ArticleHow to Heal Community Wounds
I said it out loud. “I can’t believe no one called, no one asked, no one offered to help,” I complained to my husband. My old community wounds surface at the first hint of disappointment and surprise...
View ArticleFor The New Girl In All of Us
“Are you sure you want to go?” I asked my daughter again. “You don’t have to go.” She nodded confidently but the catch in her voice told me otherwise, “Will you go with me?” It was three days before my...
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Get Real {Life}
The food kept coming, freezers full. Friends from church and school delivered desserts and veggies, roast and brisket, neighbors created a schedule of meals for my brother-in-law and teen nephews. The...
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Community Mess
The curtains hung half hazard, cups and plates piled high, throw pillows thrown. My hubby wiped the table, I put away leftovers, stepping over a misplaced toy on the kitchen floor, the kids tattled....
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We are Building a Playground in Africa
Do you want to know what the best thing about starting a maternity home in Kenya is? First Birthday Parties! Not only do we get to see young girls transform from scared, lonely, hopeless girls burdened...
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For When You Fail
I’m sharing over at incourage about a very bad, no good week, I had a while ago. Even my cat was mad at me. You can read it here. For When You Fail is a post from: We are THAT Family Get a FREE copy of...
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An Invitation to Step (in) Mercy
Three years ago today on Sept. 12, 2010, I invited you to be a part of an incredible God-story. Some of you may remember… Thirty-six hard, beautiful months ago, Mercy House was born. It has been a...
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(in)Mercy LIVE from Africa
Teen-aged laughter and baby giggles. Heartfelt worship songs and dancing feet. Red dirt and colorful laundry hanging on the line. I’m in Kenya this week with my family at Mercy House and this verse is...
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When God Made Room in the Inn {Giveaway}
There have been few times in my life when I’ve been speechless. This is one of them. [Get Lucy's Live Mercy T-Shirt here] Many of you have lived mercy, so others might know mercy. When I walked thru a...
View ArticleOur Stories Need to Be Told
I’m a storyteller. But I don’t always tell all my stories. I haven’t told you about all the broken pieces that make up my life. And you probably don’t know that some days I struggle with my yes. As in...
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The Best Kind of Investment
These girls are smiling because they made a good investment. What feels better than getting a bang for our buck? They didn’t have gold or stock options. There wasn’t extra bonus money to invest or...
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What Really Happens When We Look Fear in the Face
I walk into a room of 500 dining women waiting for someone to take the stage and my fear isn’t speaking in front of these women. It’s eating with them. I don’t know where I’m going to sit. My hands are...
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You Are Where You Are For a Reason
We sat on the lush green lawn next to the sprawling manor and let the sun warm us. July in Kenya is cold. The Mercy House babies toddled and giggled offering us flowers from the nearby bushes, while...
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How Are You? Really.
My thoughts were a million miles away and I didn’t even hear her call my name the first time. When she said it the second time, I realized I’d been lost in thought. “Hey, Kristen! How are you?” We were...
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The Question God Wants Us To Ask
“Aren’t you tired?” She asked over pizza while our kids giggled around us in the booth. “I mean, you’re a mom and you have a busy life, you write and have Mercy House and now you’ve added Fair Trade...
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Nothing Is Wasted
My little one brought me a photo album she found in the bottom of the closet. She curled up beside me and opened it. We snuggled on the couch while we slowly flipped the pages. She stopped at an old...
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Four Things We Can Do in Our Pain to Help Ourselves and Our Neighbors
My husband reached for his phone and his finger paused mid-dial. I turned to ask him who he was calling, but I stopped as a shadow of grief clouded his face and I knew . . . for just a split second, he...
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Be Brave Today
Sometimes my family sits around the TV with a big bowl of popcorn and we watch movies. Home movies. The kind we made years ago with a video recorder when my now teens were toddlers. This stroll down...
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