My mom was a simple cook. I don’t have any ingredient-smudged recipe cards of famous homemade dishes she passed down. But I have sweet memories of talk radio shows or baseball games blaring while she made chocolate chip cookies from the recipe off the back of the chocolate chip...

Over the years, our home has become quite the revolving door. From new faces, to familiar, people grace our doorstep for all kinds of reasons. Between visiting family members for holidays, neighbor kids snagging a snack in the middle of their game of streetball, or collegiate sports players coming...

Serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13 NIV There they were. Nestled on small hand-patted corn tortillas along with crema and a few strands of raw cabbage. At first, I was unsure of their true origin, until I asked our culturally minded friend and fellow missionary. Once informed, I...

“Should we just invite the Haws over? Start up the Taco Tournament?” The sky had opened up and, with it, our evening; soggy fields were postponing our sons’ baseball game again. Everything in me ached to say no.  The last time my floors had been mopped skinny jeans were...

It’s Springtime as I am writing this, but today I’m thinking of Fall and Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. It’s a day for family to be together and to enjoy all the festive food. For my American Southern family, that has meant preparing and eating mounds of roasted turkey,...

“Scars are memory. Like sutures. They stitch the past to me.” China Mieville It’s been more than 22 years since my ex-mother-in-law sewed together the cushions for her four dining room table chairs. She used a plastic tablecloth with little teapots all over it. Burgundy and green, golden rod...

I remember the first time we peeked into the Vietnamese restaurant a couple blocks from the main campus of Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. I was with my son Zack and we were looking for an inviting place for lunch. The narrow yet bright eatery looked clean and welcoming. There...