We are so glad you’re here. And we deeply hope that the community and content here at A Life Overseas has encouraged you and blessed you over the years. Would you take a moment to prayerfully consider a one-time gift to help A Life Overseas continue providing high-quality resources to global workers? You can give a … Continue reading An important note from Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Marilyn
by Megan C. Norton A little more belonging is what the world needs right now. Whether on the news or in our own neighborhoods, we see and experience divisiveness, misunderstandings, and corruption all around us. But those of us who have crossed cultures and lived outside our passport countries are uniquely suited to cultivate belonging … Continue reading Belonging Beyond Borders: How to Cultivate a Sense of Togetherness
We are so glad you’re here. And we deeply hope that the community and content here at A Life Overseas has encouraged you and blessed you over the years. Would you take a moment to prayerfully consider a one-time gift to help A Life Overseas continue providing high-quality resources to global workers? You can give … Continue reading An important note from Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Marilyn
by Lauren Wells A wise man who looks a lot like Indiana Jones (and also happens to be my father) once said that in moments of deep grief you’re faced with a decision: either cling to God and let him be your source of comfort, or run from him and wade through the grief on … Continue reading Where is God in My Grief Tower?
by Hannah Flatman Rice and beans: the perfect combination! Where we live in NE Brazil, beans are often served first, with rice on top. That seemed strange to our family at first, coming from the UK where most people put their rice on the base and ladle the beans on top. One of my TCKs … Continue reading Rice and Beans and the TCK Hybrid Identity
by Lauren Wells We have all heard stories of Adult TCKs who struggle. We have also seen the triumphant stories of TCKs who seem to exude the positive qualities third culture kids are known for. But what influences which end of this spectrum a TCK migrates toward? Is it the number of moves? Parenting styles? … Continue reading It’s Time for Research-Based MK Care
Editor’s Note: The following piece is an excerpt from Lisa McKay’s memoir, Love at the Speed of Email. She first shared it on A Life Overseas many years ago, back in March of 2013. But many of our readers weren’t around then, and I love this story so much that I asked her if we … Continue reading Searching for Home After a Global Upbringing
Some talked about the deaths of dearly loved grandparents they hadn’t been able to properly grieve due to the distance separating them. It was a poignant conversation and a powerful experience. More than anything, it instilled in me the difference that presence makes during times of grief, and especially when losing loved ones through death. But being far from family when death occurs is a common experience among the globally mobile.
by Michèle Phoenix When I was little, I’d snuggle up to my mom in the evenings and listen to her reading Are You My Mother?, attracted to the plight of the children’s book’s melancholy protagonist in a way I couldn’t fully comprehend. In the story, the baby bird falls out of her nest and wanders … Continue reading Mostly Belonging: Hope for the MK
With one plane ride the whole world as TCKs have known it can die. Every important place they’ve been, every tree climbed, pet owned, and virtually every close friend they’ve made are gone with the closing of the airplane door.—David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken, Third Culture Kids This closing door doesn’t just happen to Third … Continue reading Regrets and Remembrances: A Prayer for Those Who Leave Home
by Julie Jean Francis Editor’s Note: Last year I had the privilege of reading Julie’s new book, Bowing Low: Rejecting the Idols Around Us to Worship the Living God. She consistently made me think about cultural issues through a biblical lens. I thought I had already begun that process, but Julie took my hand and … Continue reading I am a Foreign Weirdo
by Abigail Follows “Here we go again, God,” I prayed. “Please guide us!” I took a deep breath and pulled my children towards the security check. After seven years in India and a one-year break stateside, God had successfully changed my desires—again. We would be in North Africa in just a few hours. I only … Continue reading Missionaries 2.0: How to Thrive in a Second Mission Post
