Inky'Spot

Today’s post is by a special guest-writer: my sister-in-law, Gabriella Nagy. Enjoy!  I married a missionary and with that life came a lot of moving. When our daughter, Gabriella, was 3 years old, we moved back from overseas. We told her she can only bring a few of her most important toys, those that could fit into one […]

Today, in honor of International Women’s Day, I am re-posting the powerful testimony of a woman, one of our Bible School students in Mexico. Additionally, you’ll read how her powerful story crossed borders and changed the life of another woman thousands of miles away, with a unique twist. Both found true and lasting freedom. ~ […]

I asked a wise lady, a widowed veteran missionary, a question.  Her answer took me by surprise. We were sitting, enjoying iced tea, and catching up on each other’s lives when I asked about her kids and grandkids. What followed was an account of pain and difficulty. My heart broke as I listened to the […]

A missionary to Europe told of her first months living in an apartment in her new city and wondering why the neighbors seemed to avoid her. Finally, someone was bold enough to tell her that everyone thought she was a dirty pig. Why? It had something to do with her laundry, as you’ll see below. […]

It was desperation. Pure, unadulterated desperation. It drove us madly to scheming an international smuggling operation in which we involved our four youngsters. Neither regret nor remorse are motivating me to come clean now, years later. (Really, I needed something to blog about, and this story was as good as the next.) However, I may […]

Posting a recipe is never a bad idea, especially when there’s been “dead air” on this blog. Catching up on work set aside from the holiday break has kept me from writing anything–at least anything worth reading. This recipe is absolutely one of the best. It is as close to authentic you’ll find north of […]

Today our oldest son turns 24. This post, about him, was written and blogged several years ago, during his first year of college. (He is now into his second year of post-grad studies while serving part time on staff at Harvest Ridge Assembly of God). I felt it deserved to be shared again today, on […]

Can you pause for a few minutes today to pray for someone? And again tomorrow? Yes, I know we’re only five days from Christmas. Yes, I know you’re busy; I am too – just as we were last Friday, when again an entire nation stopped the madness of life around them and cried out in […]

Phones ringing, incoming text messages, full e-mail inbox, crammed schedules, and a hectic lifestyle in general are outward distractions to the spiritual (and contented) life. But there are worse distractions. From within. Distracted by worry, the voice that whispers “trust me” obliges the need to call repetitively. “I believe!” we say. Believe… …that He is […]

Once again, I post this fun Spanglish Christmas poem that’s been floating around for years. The author remains a mystery. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the casa Not a creature was stirring.  Caramba!  Que pasa? Los niños were all tucked away in their camas, Some in long calzones, some in pajamas. While […]

When I decided to join this advent blog-hop, I knew I would be in New York City celebrating our 25th anniversary, and therefore unable to write during the first week of Advent celebrations. So while our vagabond shoes strayed through the heart of New York and we were waking up in the city that never […]

Deck the halls, clean our hearts. Tis the season to be jolly, ready for Christ’s second coming. Today is the first Sunday of advent, the season shared for both the longing for the celebration of the birth of Messiah, and for the preparedness of Messiah’s second coming. Plans, budgets, shopping lists, decorations, parties, and numerous […]

I am not against Black Friday, in theory. I think we should all be good stewards of our money, and bargain shopping is a good way to go. What I struggle with is the fact that stuff– toys, clothes, latest technology, gourmet this n’ that– consumes too readily as it shoves basic priorities like contentedness, […]

Dear Church, I’m sending you my friend. She just met Jesus. She overflows with joy about His love for her; her conversation peppered with swear words between drags on her cigarettes. Her eyes water as she talks about her past as a lost lamb, and how God has found her. She was rejected by her […]

During this recent time of moving from one country to another, I’ve been chewing on and swallowing a multitude of words, thoughts, and emotions. Combined with these new surroundings and our temporarily erratic life, they churn together inside me. A slow mental digestion, it is something I’ve wanted badly to blog about, but haven’t. Partly […]

If we cannot be in the battle ourselves let us not seek to discourage others.  D.L. Moody Not a few times have missionaries like us heard, “We’re praying you home.” And we kindly and lovingly respond, “Don’t pray us home.” We understand your concerns, your fears. With news of earthquakes, cartel activity, violent protests, and […]

We’ve lived in this pueblo almost three years, yet it’s obvious we don’t belong. We probably never will. Pessimistic, you say? Realistic, I counter. Often the outsider can manage and succeed at belonging because it depends mainly on her attitude, and naturally, on time. However there are instances when the other party controls the social […]

  Curious that she uses me as her example. Who was I but a simple woman? Perhaps she is simple, too, this woman who invokes my story to identify the path she walks.   You may know my story. You’ve heard it said of me, “she laughed.” I did. Wouldn’t you laugh too if you […]