Guns are drawn and bullets fly Students awake only to sleep in death A place of learning transformed in a day To a land of sorrows Where friends lost classmates Mothers grieve for sons and daughters Brothers and sisters bury siblings in tears A bleak landscape where no light shines But a new day dawns … More Remembering Garissa
Today I’m starting the 100 day project. For me this will be “100 days of blogging”. The project is an online community of creatives wanting accountability to explore a passion by doing just a little bit every day and sharing it on social media. So I’ve chosen to write on this blog, every day for … More The 100 Day Project
The atmosphere was electric as the three men danced vigorously in front of the regal couple, sweat dripping down their bare backs and their grass skirts mimicking every rapid movement. With weapons in hand, red-leaf arm bands, and face-paint, they looked like fierce warriors in post-battle reverie. The hundreds of observers clapped to the rhythm … More I can only imagine…
I think that’s the same cluster of bananas that emerged from it’s flower’s protective covering three months ago. The baby bananas have grown in that time but their slow process makes growth almost imperceptible. In contrast, a single guava tree branch seems to yield two small harvests a week of luscious strawberry guavas. In John … More Bananas grow slowly
Some people think they don’t have a culture. They are deceived. The simplest way to discover one’s own culture is to come in contact with another culture. It’s been said that a fish doesn’t know that water exists until it’s a “fish out of water”. Water, like culture, is so pervasive and so normative that … More Water
When I was about 12 I started my international sand collection. A friend was traveling to Hawaii and wanted to bring me a souvenir. A bottle of sand seemed to be the perfect gift—afterall, no sand is like any other! I treasured that vile of tiny granules because they connected me to a place that … More My Sand Collection
In the middle of the Pacific you find a lot of people who have traveled between the coasts and islands encompassed by this vast ocean. Since I too have grown up tracing lines across the Pacific on 747’s, I feel like I fit right in. In some ways, Hawaii is like an airport arrival hall … More Missionaries of many colors
During a quiet day-retreat in May 2013, I felt God speaking to me through the metaphor of a boat on the ocean about His desire to direct my life as I yield to him. The poem seemed to flow straight from the heart of God into my journal; He the writer, and I the scribe. … More Ke Kai Wa’a
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will hold me, your right hand will hold me fast. – Psalm 139:9-10 10 years ago, I flew across the Pacific ocean, leaving behind the island that had been home, with its smells … More flight
crossing oceans bridging cultures 