The Faith of her Friends

 The summer has been long and reluctant to leave, just the way I like it. But the temperatures are steadily growing cooler and the days are steadily getting shorter, so I think this will be the last of my posts for this year. Thank you for all the kind comments and responses you have sent! It means so much that you enjoy reading what I post here. There is a little chipmunk that lives under my back porch, and I've named him Squirt. He comes out each morning and perches on the edge of the deck, scoping out the yard and nibbling on bird seed that has fallen to the ground. This morning, I was watching him through the window and realized that he was looking right at me and making quite a racket, a sort of chirping-cheeping noise that rambled on like he had a lot to say. I found myself wishing I could understand him. Maybe he's getting some things off his chest before he nestles down for a cozy hibernation? A lot happened this summer - a lot of really good and beautiful things! Throu...

This week my dear friend, Abby Alexander, is sharing her perspective on caregiving... One thing that I have learned from Connie is hospitality. Not the flashy, showy hospitality but nitty-gritty hospitality. I first met Connie in 2010. 14 years ago. She was a missionary in Fort Wayne at International House , an outreach for refugees placed in Fort Wayne. I was part of a college group from Huntington University which volunteered with the youth program weekly. It was our shared ministry that forged our friendship, but it didn’t fade when we both moved away from Fort Wayne in 2014, she to North Carolina to be with her folks and I to China to teach English. Her journey back to Fort Wayne took longer than mine but nevertheless the “saggy mattress” (her description) of Fort Wayne, pulled us both back. Given this history, I would say that I have known Connie throughout many seasons, and it has always been her simple, everyday hospitality that has challenged me to grow in this area as wel...

This week, my dear, fun, strong, goofy, dancing-queen friend, Andrea Smith, shares how she joined my care team and what caregiving means to her. Caregiving . What exactly is it?  Definition: Caregiving is the activity or profession of regularly looking after a child or a sick, elderly, or disabled person. (just a quick google search, lol)  I have always LOVED helping and serving. I love children, I love being able to support other people, but there’s also a deep rooted selfishness and pride that can underlie the outward selflessness. I have been blessed with numerous caregiving positions throughout my life so far and meeting Connie has been one of the biggest blessings over the past couple years.  If I’m being honest, I was super hesitant to meet Connie and start helping her. When my dear friends Abby and Ruth brought it up, I felt like I was much too busy to add *another* thing to my plate. Especially another potentially taxing responsibility, but I was curious. So, I v...