[This article is available in audio format on the Pondering Purple podcast.] I wish my parents had read an article like this one before I was born into the world of missions. But there was little awareness about mental health—especially juvenile mental health—in the Christian world of the 60s, 70s and even 80s. In some cases, there […]

[NOTE: I’ve written on the topic of singleness several times before, addressing the differences among us (here), recognizing that singles are still sexual beings (here), and encouraging us to consider five basic practices that might foster flourishing and wholeness (here).]   I am a single woman. It’s not an affliction and it certainly isn’t a […]

[This article is available in audio format on the Pondering Purple podcast.] With so much written about the challenges that come from growing up between worlds, it’s important to highlight TCK strengths too. One of the most powerful of them is “Cross-Cluster Influence.” Cluster Analysis is a social science theory that essentially supports the fact […]

[This article is available in audio form on the Pondering Purple podcast. Search for it by name on your preferred pod platform or follow this link.]   Just a word of caution about this article. It is not explicit, but it delves into a hard topic and I want you to know that in advance. […]

[This article also exists in podcast form. You can listen to it on Pondering Purple, HERE.] Someone asked me, recently, why there is such an emphasis on grief and loss in my speaking on MK topics. Muki, one of the participants in a reentry retreat this summer, said it best: “I feel like grief has […]

  [Note: many of my articles are now available in audio form on the Pondering Purple podcast.]   I remember the phone call. I have no recollection of who was on the other end of the line. But even eighteen years lately, the words are still a paralyzing wound. “Riley killed himself.” He was a […]

Being a kid isn’t easy. Under the best of circumstances, life throws challenges and risks at us that can increase our anxiety. Add to that the high-pressure context of ministry and the chances of some level of anxiety rise. Then COVID-19 strikes. I’ve received calls and messages from so many families lately whose children are […]

  [This article also exists in podcast form, on Pondering Purple. Click HERE to listen or find it on your usual podcast platform.] This article is the third is a series on Transition. The others are – Part I: Leaving Well and Part II: Entering Well. We like Top Ten lists, don’t we? Bite-sized bits of information […]

[This article also exists in podcast form, on Pondering Purple. Click HERE to listen or find it on your usual podcast platform.] Many eons ago, I walked onto the Wheaton College campus for the first time. Everything felt hugely new. New culture, new way of life, new educational system, new homework load, new roommate… New everything. […]

[This article also exists in podcast form, on Pondering Purple. Click HERE to listen or find it on your usual podcast app.] This is the first in a series of three articles about transition. In this one, we’ll cover “Preparing to End Well.” The next one will be about Entering Well. And the third one […]