You swore to yourself this would be the year you would step outside of comfortable and do something radical — something that would change you, something that could change the world. Not the new year’s resolution kind of change, but the kind of change that conquers fear, inspires others, and answers a calling. How did you do stepping outside of …
How I Changed My Legacy
“Camille, I’m going to teach you everything I know about Christmas tree illumination”. The instant those words came out of my mouth I cringed, knowing I had just accidentally paraphrased Chevy Chase from Christmas Vacation. And as silly as the moment was, I realized I was picking up where my parents left off, recreating the Christmas legacy they had created …
Distant Stare
It’s been two months but it’s felt like 25 years as my mind has loosened it’s grip on my memories. Moments have been relived in motion pictures of times with Dad back before such an insidious disease as alzheimer’s took him from me. Last summer, God intersected my personal loss with the mission field when I met a man whose …
Close to Home
Working in a ministry means the line between work and personal life is often blurred. You’re responding to a calling that happens to have turned into a job, and you’re working with close friends whose hearts and imaginations have been captured by glorious things God is doing. It’s almost impossible to draw the line in the sand that separates the …
Looking for Monsters
Just two months ago I told a friend this summer was either going to give the ministry new life, or it was going to kill it off for good. And the same thing could be said for me. It was time to take a risk. The big kind of risk, where you’re not sure you’re going to make it to …
Let Them Love You
Today is my anniversary. Yesterday my father died. Next week, a total of five of us will gather to celebrate the life of the most important man I’ve ever known. And any day now, my sister will bring her first child into the world; eclipsed by piercing family loss. Yesterday was my sister’s birthday, a few days before was my …
First of its Kind
People ask me all the time how I possibly travel the way I do, run a ministry, and care for my three young children. The answer lies in a beautiful and finely orchestrated dance my husband and I have committed to doing together. We purposefully don’t have a nanny or outside help because we know when God calls a family …
Blessings in the Bruises
This fall, in Moldova, I sat back and watched God work brilliantly through my friends during Sweet Sleep’s adoptive parent training conference. Social workers, special ed teachers, a photographer, ministry partners, and staff all worked to provide their expertise, and they had wise things to say. As the ceremony concluded, they asked that the president speak. I was quite certain …
Protecting Lydia
My son is in a school for children with learning differences, carefully protected by the support and therapies the school provides. I watch everything I say, to make sure my daughter grows up with a healthy understanding of herself and her image. I’m vigilant that my youngest child isn’t exposed to nuances that will encourage him to grow up too …
Happy 2015
I’m quite positive the year 2014 is one for the books. And as I reflect on the days and months that have passed this year, the words “thank you” hold a place of purity and beauty in my heart that I want to share with so many of you; because YOU have journeyed through this remarkable year with me. And …