Stories - Blue Thread Life

From Scratch | An Exercise in Creativity

Feb 10, 2018 | Recipes

Good granola is like a party in a bowl. Bad granola? It's closer to cardboard. In Thailand, I learned to make my own granola—the type that qualifies for the "party in a bowl" description. Not that granola is a Thai thing. I just happened to have some missionary...

The Sacrament of Digging Out Egg Sacks

Jan 24, 2018 | Archives, Healing, Kenya

There was a time when I spent three years in a village in rural Kenya, where I lived and worked at an agricultural training center and orphanage. My season in Kenya had a huge impact on my worldview, on how I now see God, suffering, and poverty. On how I see the...

Pros, Cons, and Solutions for Working Remotely

Feb 12, 2017 | Serious Play, Work

When I walked into my office—a streetside coffee shop called Brewed Awakenings—I thought something was on fire. Smoke billowed from a little toaster oven in the corner. But none of the staff looked concerned, and guests sipped their morning brew in peace. Turns out,...

Abandon Ship!

Sep 17, 2016 | Adventure, Indonesia

Today was our last day of diving off Bunaken. The weather was questionable when we left, but the skipper assured us it's changing for the better, that the weather forecast for the day was only light rain. Connie—my friend visiting from the US—decided not to go diving...

A Change in Perspective

Sep 16, 2016 | Adventure, Archives, Community, Indonesia

I felt, the other day, what it’s like to fly. I ran off the edge of a mountain and soared, feeling the cold mountain wind directly on my face. After about five minutes, I landed in a tea plantation. Crash-landed, actually. But it didn’t hurt. I just laughed and...