Me and my mama, 2016 I was out for a bike ride enjoying the cool of mid-morning, letting my mind wander as my legs pedaled.  As I was coming around a bend on the bike trail, something to the left caught the corner of my eye. “A snake!” my brain registered as my heart raced […]

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your chesed, for they have been from of old. Psalm 25:6 Recently, on two separate occasions, I’ve come across the Hebrew word, Chesed (pronounced: hess-Ed). Chesed–it is a difficult word to encapsulate. It’s big and roomy with lots of space. It’s often translated as “unfailing love, steadfast love, mercy, […]

They came to me with smiling faces, eager to share something with me. The oldest girl, Olivia, was clutching a clear glass jar filled with coins and a few bills. “This is the money we earned from our lemonade stand. And I want to give it to you for the kids in Kenya,” she said […]

Hanging out with Kenya Deaconess Sisters in 2009 A big huge thank you to all of you who take the time to read my little blog posts. My last post in April, 2020, I focused on the needs of the suffering in Kenya due to the pandemic, the flooding and the invasion of locust. And […]

Dear Friends, It’s not just the cold and stormy weather here in Northern California that makes me long for the warmth and sun of Kenya; no, it’s much more than that. I just received a letter from Pastor David Chuchu and the team at Rehema Hospice and Clinic describing the mercy work that now extends […]

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent   moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.    JOHN MILTON, 17TH-CENTURY ENGLISH POET Matongo, Kenya  We’ve rounded the corner of Thanksgiving and moved into   Advent. Advent is a season of reflection, quiet and longing—a preparation for   the One who […]

“It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance–for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into itself again, and to look at it, no one would know it had anything to […]

“To love someone means to see them as God intended.”                                                                                               Fyodor Dostoyevsky My mama about age 11 Ten years ago, I sat by my mother’s bedside as she was recovering from surgery. I don’t remember the exact context of our conversation but I was prompted to ask, “Mama, what is your greatest fear?” Her reply […]

In the still, inky hours between midnight and dawn, my father lay dying.  Unable to speak or move, struggling for breath, his vital organs shutting down, he lay there succumbing to the ravages of a severe stroke and pneumonia. It is difficult to reconcile this image with the one that is before me now. I […]

I met John several years ago while making a home visit in the rural area of Kenya. It is John who inspired the dream of opening a palliative care center/hospice house. A dream that is getting closer to becoming a reality. For John I still remember his face smooth as butter, rich and dark as […]