Sharing our good things.
Tell us something about your life in international development, faith, missions, cross-culturally…anything. Tell us something you have seen, heard about, done that is:
Good
Kind
Beautiful
Generous
Lovely
Praise-worthy
Honorable
You get the idea. Tell us something good.
Here’s my good thing: Last weekend we went camping in the mouth of the Ghoubet, which is the inmost part of the Gulf of Tadjourah. It was lovely. We slept in little huts and feasted on goat and rice. We swam in the crater of an underwater volcano where we’ve never snorkeled before. This is not a large country and we are often looking for new adventures so it was fun to snorkel in a new spot and to jump off rocks and generally soak up the water and sun.
Best Article about the Chauvin Guilty Verdict
How I’m Talking to My Kids, by Esau McCaulley
Esau is the author of Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. This is such an important case for our nation. I want to let others speak to it and I’m sure you’ve already read or seen a lot, so will just link to this article. I am so thankful for Esau’s work.
Best Game: Chess
My nephew just finished three months with us in Djibouti. He spent a lot of time helping students with math and English and also spent time after class teaching kids how to play chess. Every day he had multiple games going as he taught kids the rules and strategy. What a great game to teach the kids at the International School of Djibouti!
Best Biker
A Girl Bike Racing in Afghanistan
“A girl on a bike is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Best Delicious Podcast
The Storied Recipe. Full disclosure, I did an interview with Becky Hadeed last week and it will air soon. But - why is this a fun podcast? She has the most soothing podcaster voice ever. It was amazing. Also, she talks about food and culture and recipes and then she makes a recipe from the guest and talks about her experience doing that. Super cool. Also, she has gorgeous photos on Instagram. Also, she covers places and people around the world, not just in the West.
Best Book Talk
Can Muslims and Christians Work Together?
Again some shameless self-promotion! I had a great time on this book event, the UK launch of Pillars. The people on this panel are incredible - they are the kind of people we need in this world. Have a listen.
What’s your good thing this week?
What a stunning photo of your daughter in the Ghoubet! I love that you and your family are still finding new places to adventure in Djibouti even after so many years of living here. Speaking of your family, I am immensely grateful to your nephew for his skilled and patient chess instruction at our school! I got an incredible amount of very positive and grateful feedback on this from students and parents. Also, I love the great courage of the Iraqi cyclist. I've got the podcast episode and YouTube video queued up - so excited to listen to/watch them both :) My good thing for today is seeing up close and personal here on holiday in Turkey the many people feeding street cats and so clearly delighting in tending to them. I had learned about this part of life in Turkey through watching the excellent documentary Kedi (https://www.kedifilm.com/), but as with most things in life, nothing beats witnessing it in person :)
Thank you for sharing Esau McCaulley's article. I've felt at a loss for what to say, pray, or share about the trial and the ongoing trials. I'm grateful for his wisdom.
My good thing is that I get to take my nephew out for ice cream for his 5th birthday! I've lived overseas for most of his life, so it is extra special to get to celebrate in person with him today. I also realized that as a middle child with a missionary aunt, this will be the first time we are together just the two of us. Sometimes I struggle with being back in the U.S., but in moments like these, I am thankful!