I've undergone a lot of changes this past year: from leaving my position as a marketing director, to serving as the interim leader of a new ministry startup, to finally settling into my current position as the Communications Director of Adventures in Missions.

On the personal side of things, I started a new blog, got a book deal, and found out I was going to be a dad (Ashley is due in late June). We also bought a house and celebrated the one-year as doggie parents.

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I just received this email from my coworker Seth, Jr.:

I went to the dump in Granada, Nicaragua for the first time in two years today. As my team and I exited the vehicle, flies, stench, heat and smoke accosted us in ways they'd never experienced.

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Want to get better at blogging, but not sure where to start? You should sign up for my free email course, called Intentional Blogging. It's twelve of the most important lessons on blogging that I've put together into an easy-to-read format, delivered to your inbox once a week.

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We moved into a new house in July. There are still boxes to be unpacked and Christmas decorations to be hung. But we have a home. Our dog Lyric has a yard in which to play, and we have a place to live out the life God has blessed us with.

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Want a free copy of my new eBook? All you have to do is support my mission work, and I'll send you one.

The book is called Dirty Redemption: Stories of Unexpected Grace Found in Unlikely Places. It’s a collection of 10, short stories about faith, brokenness, and hope.

The book is 10,000 words of my favorite tales I've experienced on the streets of Nashville and abroad. (If you've been reading this blog for the past four years, you may recognize some of them.)

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Every week, I get to hear incredible stories of how God is moving in the world. Too many to share, actually.

They remind me that as smart as I am, I only see in part.

They tell me that there is still a lot of mystery left in this world.

Most of all, they help me remember that healing is possible and rescue is coming.

As an example, take this story from Stephanie May, who recently got to pray for a deaf man in Nepal. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous.

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We American Christians need to be honest about prayer.

We're not very good at it.

We doubt and question its effectiveness, wondering if it does any good at all, all the while putting in little effort on our part. And as a result, many of us live lives devoid of the power of God's Spirit. Our faith becomes anemic, and our belief in God is little more than a formality or nicety.

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We need more power in Christian short-term missions.

What I mean by that is this: we need less of us, and more of God the Holy Spirit. We need to stop thinking that we have all the answers for the developing world (or "third world" as we sometimes pejoratively say), and ask God.

We need to humble ourselves.

We need to seek the Lord's face.

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I was walking down the street, absorbing the smells of a new culture. Mexico. I had read about it, seen pictures of it, and even tasted it in local authentic restaurants.

But being here was something completely different — it was more joy and more sadness than I had expected.

I saw a man crouched in the corner of a building, hidden behind a three-foot-tall concrete wall. He watched the passersby but did not beg anything from them.

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