There’s a metaphor in cross-cultural training that goes something like this: your home culture is a yellow culture and has yellow ways to...

My Chinese class just finished reading an essay about emperor Kangxi, one of China’s greatest emperors.  Somehow in our discussion,...

On my last trip to the Great Wall, about five minutes after I arrived at the top of the wall, a kid (maybe about 12) mustered up the...

This post is a reflection on what living in China is teaching me about Lent—the six weeks when the church remembers the suffering and...

A year ago, encouraged by Velvet Ashes, I picked a word for 2015.  I honestly wasn’t completely sold on picking one word, so I didn’t...

When you rent an apartment in China, you can never be totally sure of what might not work properly, what problems might crop up, and what...

The theme at Velvet Ashes (one of my favorite websites) this week is a fun one—top ten lists.  I I decided to stick with something...

My fall walk around the neighborhood is my second most popular post ever, so I decided to take a Spring Festival walk.  This is a time of...

During Advent, I spent time with two of my favorite Biblical characters: Zechariah and Elizabeth.  This was an ordinary Israelite couple...

I had visitors this week, and I took them to the Great Wall Wednesday.  There are several portions north of Beijing, and the one we went...

“Reverence may take all kinds of forms, depending on what it is that awakens awe in you by reminding you of your true size.” —An Altar in...

When I was preparing to move, people kept telling me I’m really brave.  I don’t think of myself as brave.  I don’t feel brave.  When I...