These posts about our attack are in some ways way more personal than any others. For me it’s not that they are more private, or intimate… (although – of course they are) but personal in that I write them for myself more than probably anything else I write. The attack that happened in our house…

The week before Christmas we had the chance to return to Kibuye, for the first time since we moved in August 2021. We went back for me to teach the Hospital management class that all the medical students take, so I also got the chance to remember if I could still speak any French. to…

I just realized some of you who follow this blog aren’t aware of my other writing work. So I thought I’d give some background – and explain what I’ve been doing when not writing on this blog the last year or so. I Wrote a Book I wrote a book on Peter – the apostle.…

but he’s (apparently) feeling 22. So as of today we have a kid who’s twenty-two years old. I’m not sure who feels older about that – him, or me. Strange when your kids become what feels like closer to your age. Like now we’re both adults. But it has been amazing to see everything he…

So today marks our ninth Christmas here in East Africa. (!) Christmas of 2015 we had just evacuated Bujumbura and spent the holidays in what was – at the time, the home of strangers in Kibuye – who turned out to be long-time teammates and lifelong friends. Christmases 2016, through 2020 were all spent in…

To be honest part of the reason (I think) I’ve hesitated posting on the blog this last while, is that there are several hard things that I wasn’t ready to deal with. One of them was our departure from Rwanda. I realized just a few months ago that I never let myself grieve for the…

Well, hello there again. No, it’s not you – this blog has been on pause for {checks notes} well over a year! That’s – by a long shot – the longest break since we started back when our family first moved to France in 2010. Just writing that down is shocking to me: If you…

Today is the most in-between-est of days. Between the sadness of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter Sunday. Between the disappointment and the surprise. Between execution and resurrection. Between crushed dreams and hope beyond hope. Between death and life. Liminal spaces are those places of transition. Where something has been left, but the new…

April 7 starts the period of national mourning and remembrance for the people of Rwanda. 28 years ago the horrors of the Genocide against the Tutsi were unleashed, resulting in one of the worst atrocities in human history. I hesitate to even say anything since I wasn’t here, I didn’t lose family members, and I…

{{HUH – guess I wrote this back in December – but never hit publish…so here it is}}} So if you saw our family picture yesterday – you’ll probably have noticed our tree had a certain bald-10-year-old-from-1965 vibe to it In Kibuye, our Tree-Hunting tradition was: who is away for Christmas so we can steal the…

well – our daughter is now technically an “adult” (?!) What can be said about Matea? Last night she called us and said to Susan “well, this is the last time you’ll talk to your child” (which is way more funny to say the night before you turn 18 than saying “see you next year”…

Alma has wanted a goat for a long time. A really long time. This summer seemed like the perfect combination of: A) Alma’s best friend of 5 years just moved away B) the compound was pretty empty due to some people leaving, and others not yet returned C) our move to Rwanda made a natural…

One of the strange things about having this blog chronicle our lives for as long as it has – is there’s a post from when Alma was born! This one has been kind of a strange birthday – because we’ve entered a new stage of our family life. Starting this fall, we only have one…

{ooops…wrote this our last week in Kibuye – and didn’t get around to posting it.} One of the strange things about this team is that although we are in the least medically served country in the world (Canada & USA have a physician for every ~340 people, rural Burundi has 1 physician for ~40,000 people),…

{NOTE: instead of trying to summarize all the things we’ll miss about this place – I’m just highlighting an almost random smattering of them} Some of the reasons why riding a motorbike (or Piki in East Africa) around here are the same as why running is so enjoyable. Endless trails through the lush countryside with…

I’ve learned so much living here for the past 6.5 years, that it’s hard to even recall it all. So I won’t try, instead, I’ll highlight just a few things that have become more clear to me through my experiences here. People Are Complicated. This is one of those “of course we know it” things…

There are so many things that I’m going to miss about living here in Kibuye, that I’ve decided to merely highlight a few of them. Burundi Trail Running The part of rural Burundi where we live is incredibly rural. Our little village (which really is only a handful of houses) is the main ‘town’ for…

For those of you who don’t get our family newsletter – just wanted to share the news that we are moving in less than a month. If you don’t get the newsletters, and you’d like to, then….. ahem There are so many feelings, and thoughts, and everything surrounding a move like this. It’s way too…

To many of you, I’m sure today is the day you commemorate Vincent Van Gogh shooting himself (a few days before he would finally die) or you’re busy today reflecting on the Isolation of Insulin for the first time by Fredrick Banting at the University of Toronto 100 years ago today, or the arrest of…

The fact that Susan’s birthday falls merely two days after mine has been interesting. We often get ‘combined’ birthday parties. The fact that she is an amazing cook, and fantastic baker means that her birthday cake is almost every single year – the second half of the cake that she made for me two days…

This day last year I realized I actually made it to 46, I was alive for my birthday, which for the first time in my life was something I accepted was not a given, and almost didn’t happen. Today instead of celebrating that I have (merely) survived the attack of last year, I am thankful…

The grammar may be horrific, but the sentiment is true – having 3 of our 4 kids home again feels pretty good. Yesterday I drove down to Bujumbura to pick up Matea and Micah from the airport. They finished up the year at RVA in Kenya and are now home for the summer break. Considering…

A year ago when George Floyd was murdered, I reflected on how he and I had but a few things in common, and how that is such a problem. Now there is yet another example of people made in the image of God, being murdered by those who hate difference so much they are willing…