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The Heart of Worship and Neil Diamond: The Most Glorious Day
On Tuesdays, instead of chapel, there is an optional praise chapel run by the kids. I try never to miss it; nothing is better for what ails you than singing to the Lord with a bunch of enthusiastic...
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The Gift of Tears
Ugali is a Kenyan dish that consists of boiled cornmeal. If it sounds appetizing, you need to read it again. We had a luncheon for all the computer teachers, and many remarked that I didn’t eat the...
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Your Jokes Are Not So Funny; Evidence of Change
So I am grilling chicken breasts, and the pan that was full of chicken breasts was not empty but full of juice and guts, so I think it will be smart for me to take that to the outside trash and dump it...
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I’m Used to Being Hungry
One of the most fun things I do on campus is providing music for the K-6th grade Skate Night every term. Although it seems like they would be content for three hours of Taylor Swift, it is an enjoyable...
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The Attack: The Death of Big Whitey
They came after midnight. There were seven of them, and they attacked two of our guards. They snuck up behind the first guard and hit him so hard that he was knocked unconscious and was treated for a...
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To Not Live for My Own Comfort: The 2012 RVA Graduation
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field that a man found and hid. In his excitement he went and sold everything he had and bought that field.” I don’t write a lot about Rift Valley...
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Bacterial Dysentery Is Just as Fun as It Sounds: Adventures in Africa
Nancy went to the States to help celebrate her father’s 90th birthday in July, and so it was the twins and I together for three weeks. There were no serious injuries, and while we missed her a lot, it...
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Correcting a GRAVE Misconception
There is this unjust, grave misconception about me that MUST be cleared up. Some people are under the impression that I can’t dance. I believe that this started when I was in college, and I accepted an...
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Cat Barfed ON Christmas Tree: Our Holiday Prayer Letter
Nancy is out with a friend, and our cat throws up ON the Christmas tree. I immediately grab my phone and text her, because I know it will make her laugh. Later, I ponder something: the enemy meant...
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There Are People in America Who Love Your Daughter
Occasionally, people will ask me about working at Rift Valley Academy. How does someone who has never taken an education class manage to contribute anything? Is it hard to work in a small community...
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I’m More Excited than Afraid; Newest Computer Center and Publication Day
We had pizza the other night, and I got to slice one of them. I was rather rudely mocked by my children because my slices weren’t equal in size. On another day, we were invited to a friend’s home for...
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Don’t Ask for Cuts in the Starbucks Line at 5am in the Indianapolis Airport:...
The last few years, oh gosh, the last fifteen years have been different, and in many ways, a book tour is the most different thing that has ever happened to me. The book happened in the same way that...
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Meet the Daubenmiers: The Torch Gets Passed
Mark and Sheri are new at RVA this year, but they made an impression immediately. Mark teaches math, and so impressed his students that they decided one day to all dress like him. Mark is the only...
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It Will Be Better For Them: The End of the Chapter
A student comes into my office and asks, “What is the secret of getting into college?” My response is that there are no secrets, but an important part of the process is showing your passion for the...
View ArticleUnsinkable.
The whole school has turned out to see us, kicking up dust as they dance and wave us in. We climb from the car into a river of children with smiles bleached white in the three o’clock sun. It’s...
View ArticleValentine’s Day.
The road twisting down from campus to the valley floor cracks me up every time. We braved that bumpy guy again last Friday, a small crew of us riding out with Mark to visit a couple schools, and as...
View ArticleInfinitely sweet.
Last week Kenya Kids Can was invited to attend an academic celebration, and PEOPLE. That thing was so much fun. They sat us front and center, guests of honor at this first-ever Longonot awards...
View ArticleShine.
It was a side trip tacked to the tail of a long, blistering day. We’d been out visiting KKC schools, and I’m sure we looked a fright, sporting grime and sunburn, our hair blown tumbleweed-stiff. But...
View ArticleServant Leaders.
It was a Wednesday, and the sun was cutting its trail across a limpid Kenyan sky. We met up with our KKC teachers on a snatch of dirt just off the highway, where everyone packed into a couple of cars...
View ArticleAmbassadors.
It happens at nearly every school. We step from the car with skin veneered in dust, and half the students constellate around us. The brave among them press in as close as breath to hold my hand and...
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