In Pockets of Purpose, Book #2 in The Pocket Quilt Series, an Amish auctioneer has surgery to remove a cyst from his vocal cords. Complications from the procedure interfere with his healing, leaving him searching for his passions and purpose. Continue reading to learn more about the inspiration behind the story. Mt. Hope Auction I’ve attended …
Get Involved
Get Inspired, Get Involved: Project Shine
Want to Make a Difference? Cumulus Media has teamed up with VolunteerMatch to bring us Project Shine in an effort to encourage people to make a positive impact in communities across the nation for the greater good. According to the website, “There are 3.2 million volunteers needed by the non-profits…Over 700,000 of those openings are …
United Through Reading
With Memorial Day memories fresh in my mind, I look ahead and begin preparations for our family’s 4th of July festivities. In addition to cookouts, parades, and sparklers, we will make our annual Independence Day donation to the United Service Organizations (USO). We receive USO mailings on a regular basis, and through one of these packets, I learned …
Angel Tree
When we started attending our church (a large, multi-site church in Cincinnati), I volunteered for Angel Tree, hoping to meet people and make the place feel smaller. I’ve continued to serve with this ministry for the past 11 years because I want to be part of the overwhelming generosity of others in our community. According …
Go Nicaragua 2016: The Author of the Story
I’m excited to write this fourth and final post about our November trip to Nicaragua. I’ve had people ask me, “Why Nicaragua? Why now?” These questions can best be answered by my previous posts, but here’s the short answer: In November 2015, we agreed to sponsor a child through a partnership between our church and …
Go Nicaragua 2016: Every Story Matters
I originally planned three blog posts to highlight our November trip to Nicaragua. (The first two posts can be viewed here). As I began writing this third post about some of our favorite memories, I realized there was too much to tell. Instead, I decided to write about the final day of our Central American …
Go Nicaragua 2016: Break Me
In my last post, I described how and why I invited God to break me as we climbed Cerro Negro on our first day in Nicaragua. Fast forward to the next morning… During devotionals, we learned we would be working on a project in La Chuscada. Up until three years ago, the people in this …
Go Nicaragua 2016: Juntos on Cerro Negro
After a long day of travel, including a four-hour layover in Houston and a lengthy bus ride from Managua to Chinandega, we arrived at Amigos for Christ around 1:30am local time (2:30am at home). We rose four hours later and joined the rest of our group for a delicious breakfast of pancakes, pineapple, rice, and …
Final Preparations: GO Nicaragua 2016
As we finalize preparations for our trip to Nicaragua, I’m experiencing a broad range of emotions–mostly excitement, but if I’m being honest, I should mention anxiety, fear, and anger as well. Yes, anger. This week, Travis has battled a nasty eye infection, and Brooke has been fighting a virus that resulted in an ear infection. …
Child Sponsorship
After traveling with a mission group to serve others in Mexico, I was moved to inquire about child sponsorship. When I learned the children I had connected with during my visit were either not yet eligible for sponsorship or already had sponsors, I decided to hold off on taking any action. During a worship service …