“Do you keep a blog anymore?” my youngest sister asked me yesterday. Yikes. Has it been that long since I’ve written?
Yes, I still keep a blog, but in the midst of a very busy and somewhat tumultuous season of life, the blog has gotten a little dusty. So now it’s time to blow off the dust {woooosh} and get back to writing, even though I don’t know exactly what to say. Continue reading “Goodbyes and Hellos”
Are we there yet? That’s the question I keep asking myself. Are we home? Will we ever be settled? When will the transitioning end?
After our wedding on June 29, Charles and I spent the next three weeks visiting with family in New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, and New York. It was quite the road trip, and we were so blessed to spend time with our loved ones. The summer seemed to go by too fast though, and before we knew it, we were boarding the plane to fly to Taiwan. Though it was bittersweet as always (crying with Mom as Dad led us all in prayer at the airport), I was happy to be traveling with Charles this time. After about 30 hours of travel, groggy and jet-lagged, we unloaded our bags at the guest apartment at Morrison and attempted to rest for the night. Continue reading “{Segue} Are We There Yet?”
When I was in 6th grade, I won a limbo contest while dressed as Cleopatra during our middle school Halloween dance. I hiked up my golden skirt, tipped back my snake-crowned head, and went as low as I could go. It would have been better only if I could have accomplished the feat in my youngest sister’s hot air balloon costume which. was. epic. (Bonus: Can you guess what the other Hatcher sis was dressed as?)
I still glory in the memory of my victory, but sadly that 6th grade dance was the peak of my limbo prowess. Continue reading “{Segue} The Limbo”
Nearly four years ago as I was preparing to come to Taiwan, I attended Pre-Field Orientation (PFO) and learned, among many things, about the importance of building my RAFT.
RAFT is a nice little acronym that’s meant to help us remember the foundational elements of a healthy transition:
Reconciliation
Affirmation
Farewell
Think Ahead.
It’s a term that’s tossed around the Morrison community a lot, probably because we’ve all been through PFO and because we say goodbye so often. When someone is leaving Taiwan to head home to Canada or the U.S. or to travel on to new exciting places, you hear a question like, “How’s that RAFT-building going?” Over time, I’d forgotten the specific components of the acronym, but the meaning remained quite clear to me: RAFT = healthy transition. Continue reading “{Segue} Building my R.A.F.T.”
Throughout history, God has chosen feeble human vessels to do His work in unlikely circumstances. Here are a few examples from the Bible: Jonah, who hightailed it out of there but eventually repented and brought a nation to repentance; David, a shepherd boy who became king of God’s chosen people; and Mary, a teenage girl who birthed and raised Jesus, God-made-flesh. Each one had a choice of whether to follow God’s leading or to disobey. They weren’t all perfect, and they didn’t all choose obedience the first time every time, but there are two patterns that I notice about these folks: 1) they had a plan, but God changed it dramatically, and 2) God’s power was “made perfect in [their] weakness” (God’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:9). Continue reading “Grace Sufficient”
Peace Along the Journey 