It was a busy, fun 4th of July picnic at our house with our team and a few other worker friends. I was not thinking about health issues or medical needs. It was a holiday after all!

I was doing some last minute prep for Jeremy who was grilling outside when Annalise came in the kitchen.

“Mom? My arm is burning.” I turned to look and she had a red mark on her upper arm. Like any other mom, I said, “It’s fine. We’ll check it tonight.” She shrugged and went back to play with her friends.

By that evening, it was burning, blistering, oozing and spreading. She had no idea what she’d touched or done to cause it. It didn’t look like any allergic reaction that I’d ever seen so I started googling plants and bugs, assuming she’d brushed against something that burned her.

Sure enough, in talking with friends and consulting the internet, we realized there’s a blister beetle that probably landed on her arm. Anywhere the blisters leaked caused a new burn to begin. By the time we realized this, she had a burn on her face, neck, arm and stomach.

Continue reading Tips for Handling Health Issues and Medical Needs Overseas at Our Goodwin Journey.

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We are going to tackle a huge topic and talk about how to stay connected in all of these crazy seasons of life.

Connecting is a big subject because it incorporates connecting with other workers, staying connected with family at home, starting new connections with national friends, remaining in constant connection with Jesus and learning to connect yourself to all of those people around you.

In this season of quarantine, stay-at-home and social distancing, learning how to stay connected with others has become very important for us all.

Whether in real life or online, using technology or having a face-to-face sit down at your kitchen table, connecting takes a bit of creativity, purpose and intentionality.

It also takes a bit of courage to step outside your circumstances or struggles and put yourself out there again and again.

I had a long time friend recently ask me if I had good friends on the field. My answer was a quick, “YES!”

But, they are baby friendships. They are new relationships and the connections are fresh. Each new friendship starts at the basics of our lives and it takes a bit of work and valuable time to grow a friendship past that point.

Continue reading 8 Ways to Make Real Connections With Others at Our Goodwin Journey.

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When it comes to sleeping, the go-to verse to go to sleep in our house is Psalm 4:8.

Hands down. Wherever we are in the world, wherever we are sleeping, we cling to this verse.

Be it a new town, new hotel or new country, this verse helps us all sleep well.

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Psalm 4:8 has been a capstone in how we end our day as a family. A part of the prayers we pray at bedtime. A normal phrase to settle minds, calm fears and drift into peaceful sleep.

Yet in the difficult days of our world today, the stress, anxiety and intensity can keep us from being able to go to sleep and stay asleep. We’re all battling for peace and calm and rest, especially at night.

Having a process for bedtime can be incredibly helpful to us in the sleep battle.

To start, we know that Psalm 4:8 alone is powerful. But when you include the entire chapter, you have an extremely valuable tool that is greatly applicable to us as we go to sleep each night.

Continue reading How to Go to Sleep in Peace During Difficult Times at Our Goodwin Journey.

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“What on earth has happened to 2020?” I thought as I hung laundry on our balcony.

At the end of December, after a particularly intense year full of travel, sickness, family crisis and grief, I’d told Jeremy that I was praying and hoping for an awesomely NORMAL year in 2020.

#ohdearbetsy, that has NOT happened.

From the first coronavirus rumblings in January which have now become a pandemic that is slowly taking over the world, this year has been consuming, overwhelming, stressful, sad and completely unexpected.

I’m a 6 on the enneagram and even for me, this is bigger and far outside any of my worst case scenario ponderings. I did not expect, plan for or even imagine a pandemic hitting the world. And, honestly, if I had thought of it, I wouldn’t have ever expected to be riding it out in the developing world.

For those of us living overseas, a pandemic has brought unbelievably hard decisions, choosing to stay or go, weighing the repercussions of each decision. It’s meant families being separated in different countries, worry about our family back home, closed borders and airports, shaky governments trying to mandate impossible guidelines, economies crumbling, plans changing, ministry looking different and schools closing.

Continue reading A Guide for Overseas Workers During a Pandemic at Our Goodwin Journey.

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I wrote about stepping outside your comfort zone a few years ago and it was originally published on Grit & Virtue for International Women’s Day. This year, I thought I’d republish here for you.

Learning to keep a soft strength while also learning to step outside your comfort zone, do big things for God and let Him use you in ways you didn’t know were possible.

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Princess. That has been my nickname for as long as I can remember. My sister coined the nickname at some point in our childhood.

Sadly, the princess part really was (and is) somewhat true. I do tend to be soft, enjoying the easier things of life with hobbies of coffee drinking, blog writing, beach sitting and book reading.

It’s almost embarrassing to admit that part of myself but I can’t help but acknowledge my more “princess” like qualities. Nor can I help but acknowledge that God created me that way.

He put an innate softness in my soul. He formed me to feel, to sense, to breathe the things happening around me. This softness longs for Hallmark moments rather than Lord of the Rings battles.

Continue reading A Soft Strength – Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone at Our Goodwin Journey.

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