Posts
Happy Mother’s Day! (or, A Week of Reflections Honoring Ate Pat)
The love of a mother is a powerful force. Indeed, it is a force that can change the course of a life. We are in awe of mothers, especially our House Mothers, every day at My Refuge House!
Ate Pat (pictured here) has been a House Mother…
How I spent my Valentine’s Day
I arrived in Cebu four days ago for a two week visit with our girls and staff. The floodgates of emotion and joy opened with my first step onto campus.
Can you say banana grove?!
Here's the deal. When I was here just six months ago, we didn't…
Have you ever had a life lesson moment?
As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd placing money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts. Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius. Jesus…
Connecting through Storytelling: In the presence of Eileen Rodriguez
With the Women’s Conference just around the corner, I was asked to write an article about the woman behind this brainchild: Eileen Rodriguez. I had heard of her quite often while working at My Refuge House (MRH), but I never had a face to…
Connecting Through Storytelling: Lorinda’s Letter
When we began our Connecting Through Storytelling series, we could only imagine how deep and wide the stories would go. Please keep them coming! They are inspiring. They prove that our stories are indeed all woven together in the great tapestry…
Mika’s Story
As part of our "Connecting Through Storytelling" series that began last month, we are excited to introduce you to Mika Pham. Mika is a second generation stakeholder with My Refuge House, and she had the opportunity to meet some of our girls…
Life Lessons: aka Practicing What I Preach
"Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love."
~Brené Brown
I like to think I’m good at “preaching” about the power and strength of empathy and vulnerability in building a healthy world. I even talk about how empathy…
Alleluia is our song
We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song. ~ St. Augustine of Hippo
These words can seem so simple, but a second glance begs us to dig a little deeper into the paradox that Easter can represent. Before I met the girls of My…
PANCAKES FOR SALE: aka Lessons from a six-year-old
This is the story of how I recently learned a lesson in bravery, fundraising, and storytelling from my six year old.
For those of you who may not know, when asked what I “do”, my first answer is usually, “I’m a family therapist.”…
