Cross Cultural Marriage celebrates marriages woven together from different countries and cultures. All marriages are to some extent cross-cultural. The trick is blend these into a culture that focuses on the cross.
The Hare and the Tortoise
The Expat Tortoise Anyone who knows me well knows that I was not graced with athletic ability. I dreaded P.E. (Physical Education) because I knew that when I would run I would never see more than the backs of others. If there had been a prize for coming last in a...
Trailing Spouse
Today I stumbled across the term 'trailing spouse'. Although we have lived as expats for many years, we are in a unique situation. We both moved abroad to follow God's call and work with marriage and families. However, many expats move abroad because either the...
Boundaries in Marriage
Stray Dogs I wonder if we have put up a sign on our gate that is only visible to dogs, 'ALL stray dogs welcome'. We had a pretty severe snow storm the other day, and a lovely golden Labrador turned up in our garden. We still don't know how he managed to get in since...
Starting Off on the Wrong Foot
I am not sure whether to attribute my experience last night to overconfidence, disobedience or stupidity. The doctor sent me home from the hospital with strict instructions not to use stairs for ten days. With 77 steps up to the house and a home with two sets of...
Don’t Quit!
The Need To Keep Going Thrombosis can have a number of causes including trauma or being still for too long. When I had knee surgery, part of my recovery process is making sure I move even though it hurt. Sometimes when life hurts, we really don't want to keep going....
Putting Retainers on Our Lives
Hungary holds many joys, but I can't count early appointments as one of those. One morning I had to take Erin to the dentist at 6 a.m. We were pleased to be one of the first to arrive, but it didn't take the room long to fill up with more sleepy people. When...
Security Blanket
We Need Security When our car had to go back to the garage again, we were a little discouraged! We had to get new brake pads fitted. I know that we feel a lot more secure knowing that the brakes work well. Security is something we all want and need. As a typical expat...
Avoiding Spiritual Hypothermia
As the snow continued to fall and the temperatures here dropped even lower, we made our usual essential purchases on the way home from dropping the kids off at school. The essential purchases included bread, milk and thermals. This layer of insulation is part of our...
Slipping and Sliding Emotionally
After a pretty horrible summer weather-wise, we were relieved that the cold weather hadn't really hit us, up until now. We are usually guaranteed cold weather from the beginning of November so we had already had a month of grace. The snow started falling, showing the...
Push the Brake and Slow Down
Last weekend we travelled to Poland for a Team meeting. We had a great time and were driving home feeling really encouraged by everything that had taken place. The road home proved harder than the way there and a trip that should have taken only 6 hours turned out to...