Four lies the enemy tells me about conception and miscarriage

*Warning: reader discretion advised. This is a little graphic. But not more than what any woman who has ever had a period can handle. When I saw the blood, my first thought was a panicky “oh no-- I’m miscarrying again!” My mind jumped back to that day, watching the first fruits of my womb sink …

You’re cooking turkey all wrong

If you live in America and eat grocery store turkey every year for Thanksgiving, you have no idea what real turkey is like. I didn’t either, until I spent Thanksgiving overseas and got blindsided by how weird we are.  A little over ten years ago, I was living in southern Russia. I studied at a …

What happened when someone actually wanted to wash my feet

Modern insights into Biblical footwashing John 13:1-17 *Note: this is part of a series on how living in Eurasia affected my understanding of the Bible. Please head over to my post “Birthday Cake for Chickens“ to catch my explanation and disclaimer there if you haven’t yet.  In my Western life, I had only ever seen footwashing in …

How to host a whiskey tasting

My husband just had a milestone birthday. We decided to have a party for him, but didn’t want one of those morbid “over the hill” funeral themed parties. I was against having a generic gathering where people are expected to stand around making small talk, especially because we would be inviting people from multiple communities …

Who takes out your garbage?

The Bleeding Woman Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-44 *Note: this is part of a series on how living in Eurasia affected my understanding of the Bible. Please head over to my post "Birthday Cake for Chickens" to catch my explanation and disclaimer there if you haven’t yet.  Just then a woman who had …

How balloon animals are changing my life

I learned how to make balloon animals last month. Guys, this is a skill that everyone can absolutely learn. We all should have been doing this years ago. It had just never crossed my radar as something I could do. It seemed like some kind of magic trick reserved for people in weird costumes. It …

What to do when there is no toilet paper

The man with the shriveled right hand Mark 3:1-6, Matthew 12:9-14 and Luke 6:6-11 (Only Luke’s account specifically says it was his right hand.) *Note: this is part of a series on how living in Eurasia affected my understanding of the Bible. Please head over to my post on "Birthday Cake for Chickens" to catch …

What we do behind closed doors

The best part of our marriage you’ll never see I’m not going to talk about what you’re thinking. Because people have seen that. Right after our wedding, on our very first time, someone accidentally walked in on us. The door opened… and it was MY DAD. I am not kidding. It was an Awkward Moment …