It’s called The Balancing Rock. An astounding natural phenomenon found in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. When I saw it a few days ago, I wanted to rename it. It looked more like a Teetering Rock. An About-to-Fall-Off Rock. A Wounded and Toppling Rock. As I photographed it a dozen times, I […]
When I was little, I’d snuggle up to my mom in the evenings and listen to her reading “Are You My Mother?” to me, attracted to the melancholy plight of the children’s book character in a way I’d never been to Snow White or Babar. In the story, the baby bird, a rather pathetic figure […]
The usual disclaimer: though what I describe here is certainly true of a majority of the MKs I’ve known, it is not necessarily true of all of them. When it comes to “money,” experiences will vary according to location, mission organization, support structure, parental example and cultural opinion. If you’re from Malaysia, money might grow […]
Taking a break, this week, from “The Lies MKs Believe.” Check back next week for another installment in the series. ********** Please feel free to shield your eyes. I’ve been polishing my halo all night, trying to get it gleaming bright (like the Prince’s teeth in romantic cartoons!) in the hope that the other-worldly sheen […]
Josh, an 18-year old senior at Black Forest Academy, was home in Italy with his 4-year old brother, Sam. (Pictured below) They were sitting on the balcony one night, looking up at the stars, and Sam was saying the cutest things. Josh listened and smiled, content to be sitting under the Italian sky, spending time […]
Hypocrisy is a topic we don’t like to address in the missionary community, mostly because of the unspoken lie that a little bit of deception can be good for ministry. Deception by omission, mind you. The harmless, distant cousin of outright hypocrisy. Where does “putting your best foot forward” end and “misrepresenting yourself” begin? Where […]
With the start of a new year comes the renewal of my passion to be an advocate for MKs and missionaries. To that end, I’d like to begin a series of posts (which may not be sequential) entitled “The Lies MKs Believe.” My hope is that it will shed some light on behaviors that can […]
Bear with me−there’s going to be a gloriously profound conclusion to this post… I’m not sure how we got on the topic. One minute, I was the teacher listening to students talking in the back seat of my car, waiting for a conversational opening that would allow me to pounce, all cheetah-like, on an innocent […]
Looking for a post about goofy Christmas memories and yuletide merriment? I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong blog this time. I’m a big fan of Christmas—always have been. Even as I write, safely tucked into the armchair in my mom’s Canadian living room, listening to classical music and the crackling logs in the fireplace […]
[NOTE: You can now subscribe to this blog by sending an email to michelesblog@gmail.com and writing “Subscribe” in the subject line.) I’m a good little MK, which means that my understanding of American football is slim. When I was in high school in Germany, before the days of home satellite TVs and the internet, my […]