Looking for real, lasting, life changing methods and solutions?

Are you looking for things that will drastically impact your daily life?

For me, this happens when I’m reading the Bible and a certain phrase stands out from the rest.

A verse that jabs my heart and tugs at my conscience.

I quickly grab my journal and a pen and write the verse down. Maybe taking a highlighter and marking it in my Bible. Maybe I write it on a small white card so I can memorize it while I do the dishes.

Maybe you find yourself doing those same things when God’s word speaks to you in life changing ways.

However we choose to mark the moment, it is a precious thing when God speaks. His voice lovingly brings peace, correction, conviction, hope, direction and if we let Him, purification.

I’ve come to realize a beautiful pattern to the purification process.

I can sit and write in my journal all day long about how God is speaking to me. I can stand at my sink and memorize the time away.

Continue reading 10 Life Changing Phrases that Purify at Our Goodwin Journey.

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Third Culture Kids are incredibly special, unique and amazing.

They have their own world built from the beautiful cultures they’ve lived in, the experiences they’ve had and the people they’ve met.

Their lives are a blend of home and abroad in ways that we can’t fully understand.

By definition from Wikipedia, Third culture kids (TCKs) or third culture individuals (TCIs) are terms used to refer to children raised in a culture other than their parents’ (or the culture of the country given on the child’s passport, where they are legally considered native) for a significant part of their early development years. They are exposed to a greater variety of cultural influences.

As parents of Third Culture Kids, we have the unbelievable opportunity of seeing their precious lives unfold before us.

But with that opportunity comes the great responsibility of guiding, helping, raising and nurturing them as they grow up.

Unfortunately, the very fact that we are raising third culture kids means there is no specific parenting guide book or tool for our specific children.

We can read about TCKs, learn about their unique challenges and go to conferences across the globe.

Continue reading Third Culture Kids – Resources for Parenting TCKs at Our Goodwin Journey.

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“Well, how about this. How about you go ahead and start the medicine. Let’s see how you do on it. Then, we can make a decision from there. Who knows? It might not agree with you and all this worry will be for nothing. We won’t know until you start. We can figure out the next step after that.” said the nurse calmly over the phone.

Still absorbing a diagnosis of MS, this was the kick in the pants, er, advice I needed to hear in that moment.

I was facing a life-changing obstacle and I didn’t know what to do next.

For all of us, when new things come our way, it can be very difficult to see the path forward.

Medical diagnosis

Transition

New season of life or ministry or parenting

Family trials

Financial burdens

These things can throw us off course and tilt our world a bit.

We know we must keep going. Everyday life moves on as though our lives are unchanged.

The dishes still pile up and bills still need paid and food needs to make it to the table.

Continue reading The Next Beautiful Thing at Our Goodwin Journey.

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Dear mom on furlough,

You did it. You packed up your life overseas for a short season to head back home for a few months or a year or more.

Whether you call it home assignment or furlough or itineration, you landed in your passport country. You are back where you started your missions journey.

Back with family, friends, supporters and flavored coffee creamers.

The fast food is faster, the bathrooms are cleaner and the grass looks greener than what you remembered in your “almost to furlough” dreams.

You survived a term in another land and only you really know how hard you had to work to get to where you sit right now.

You are stronger, more aware and so much deeper than you were before you left.

You are bruised, weaker and more fragile than you ever thought you’d be or know how to express.

You walk a tightrope between worlds for you, your husband and your kids.

I know. I understand the pressure you feel and the breaking points you hit each day.

The first time in the American carpool line and thinking you aren’t like these other moms.

Continue reading Dear Mom on Furlough at Our Goodwin Journey.

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“So what brings you to Springfield?” I asked the woman in the seat next to me.

She had been playing Solitaire the entire flight and I was quite busy reading on my kindle.

We’d landed in Chicago and had a few minutes to chat while the plane made it’s way to the terminal.

“Oh, just a few days of continuing education classes. And you?” she asked.

“I was helping plan a retreat.”

Just keep it simple is my motto lately.

“A retreat?” she perked up. “I love retreats. What kind of retreat? Where will it be??”

Oh, dear. Not simple anymore.

“We were planning an online retreat.” I said.

“Online retreat? That doesn’t sound like it could be very retreat-ish.” she smiled, nodding her head as if I should completely agree with her assessment.

“Well, it actually can be quite retreat-ish,” I explained, trying to use her word.

“I don’t see how online could be a retreat. Who are you planning it for?” she pushed honestly.

Smiling back at her I decided to fully explain, “My husband and I live in West Africa.

Continue reading Overseas Life is Definitely NOT Boring at Our Goodwin Journey.

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