Coming Home: Heart Brimming and Head Swimming.
“How was your trip to Kenya?” is the inquiry I get most days since I arrived home from Kenya late on November 22. “Great!” I reply, leaving both ends of the conversation sparse, vague, and unsatisfying. But how carefully I gathered what I could while in Kenya, like a mother hen gathers her chicks under […]
Nov. 1, 2022 ~ All Saints’ Day 2022
The weather is finally changing here in Northern California. It’s November and the long, hot days of summer have given way to cold nights and mornings, and the rains have arrived! I’ve bundled myself up in layers– turtleneck, sweater and scarf, while my suitcase is packed with breathable lightweight clothes, sandals for the heat and […]
Sept 5, 2022 ~ If Walls Could Talk
Please be sure to watch our new video at the end! Way back in time (2006) Pamela and Deaconess Mary building a mud wall. Back in the day when I first traveled to Kenya in 2006, cell phones with the capability to make cheap calls home were not an option. The iPhone had yet to […]
April 15, 2022 ~ The Holder of Sorrows
A friend of mine recently told me that mothers hold the sorrows of their children, even, and perhaps especially, after they’ve grown up and moved away. We may not even know the particular sorrow, but we sense it and embrace it nonetheless; Perhaps we offer it up in prayer. After my mother died, I discovered […]
Jan 9, 2022 ~ Icons of Mercy
Medallions attached to my backpack for traveling to Kenya Besides the gift of all of you, I carry a few icons of hope with me to Kenya to remind me of who I am. Crucifix–the source of all mercy, always Mother Teresa–the model of humility, spiced with courage and perseverance Camino shell–points me to The […]
Oct 31, 2021 ~ Kenya 2022 or Bust
Proud owners of water filters! Mama Caren and Pamela Love and Always Mercy, Pamela
Oct. 3, 2021 ~ Longings and Hospice Hopes
For those of you who travel with me through the words on this blog, you’re probably aware of my longing to open a hospice house in rural western Kenya. Longing creates a sense of anticipation and hope. Longing also involves a sense of loss as what was once imagined morphs into something new. Longing also […]
Feb. 5, 2022 ~ Terra Firma
I’d like to say the moment I stepped off the plane in Nairobi on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at 10 P.M., I was on solid ground–normally when I land in Kenya, that’s how I feel. However, traveling internationally during the pandemic adds a layer of insecurity to each step. And the steps are many: extra […]
June 21, 2021 ~ Turning Point
Beatrice and Christine in the kitchen, Kenya, 2006 A turning point is a time at which an important change takes place which affects the future of a person or thing. (College English Dictionary). Fifteen years ago, (this very month!), I was seven days into my first mercy trip to Africa. Truthfully, since day one, I […]
May 9, 2021 ~ Indelible Memories
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 […]