wendy writes

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

wendywrites — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:25:30 +0000

Do your kids love baseball? So do mine.

Click here for a look at Little League Baseball, Jordan Style, as published in the April 2007 issue of Family Flavours magazine.

Are All (Arab) Men Jerks?

wendywrites — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:08:46 +0000

This blunt question is the title of an article I wrote for August issue “i” Celebrating Jordan magazine. The idea came to me after literally dozens of conversations with young Jordanian women.

click here for my take on the answer

What We Love About Jordan

wendywrites — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:02:24 +0000

This was a very fun article to do interviews for and to write. It is easy to get caught up in what’s wrong with Jordan, but hearing a cross-section of the ex-pat population sing Jordan’s praises counteracts some of the negative. I wish I could show you the photos, they were lovely!

Click here to read the piece

Response to Porn article in JO magazine

wendywrites — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:07:58 +0000

Imagine my surprise when I opened JO magazine and found an article about pornography written by a colleague/friend! I was even further surprised that she had some fairly positive things to say about the use of porn in marriage. I wrote this up fairly quickly, then emailed it to her asking her opinion, and if she would mind if I sent it to JO. She was open to that, and very professional in her response; and my fears of losing the friendship over it were unwarranted. She later told me that a woman she had interviewed for her piece read the letter and her thoughts on the subject were influenced.

This, plus a VIVA reject of a piece I wanted to write, was the impetus to start submitting articles to JO. So far JO hasn’t printed anything I’ve written, but I am in the middle of one they have OK’d and starting another. It makes me glad I decided to speak my mind!

Click here to read the letter

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Incest in Jordan

wendywrites — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:32:12 +0000

Even though I work in the field of counseling abuse victims, this was an extremely difficult piece to write. After nearly every interview, I just wanted to stop, it was just too hard to hear. Jordan is where the US was maybe thirty years ago in terms of abuse-awareness, and it is a completely taboo topic. The story I wrote last year of a victim’s account of her abuse was the first time such a thing had ever been in print.

Then VIVA had a controversial issue pulled off the shelves by the publisher, and they told me they needed to wait awhile before presenting another hot topic. I was fine with that, but in October they asked if I was ready to finish it and I knew it was time. I actually planned to write this under my pen-name, as I was afraid of the repercussions of exposing this level of depravity, but my editors encouraged me to stand with it. This is the unedited version, but it doesn’t even contain the very worst stories told to me, which I need to keep in confidence. Those stories I bring to the Lord Jesus Christ, crying for mercy for the girls and boys who don’t yet know Him as Saviour and Wounded Healer.

Pray first, then get out the Kleenex and click here for the complete story.

What Happened to These Christmas Carols?

wendywrites — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:32:25 +0000

Merry Christmas, all! No article this time, but I wanted to send you a fun addition for your holiday game-playing pleasure:

Each of these carol titles has been made into the opposite of the real title. Try and return it to it’s original form. Feel free to comment the answers.

1. Clamorous Day

2. O Profane Time of Light

3. You were Blind to the Non-Triad of Land-locked Vessels

4. The Final Expiration Event

5. Devils None of us Listened To From Below

6. Summer Uninspiring Place

7. Depart None of Ye Unbelieving

8. I Know This Man!

9. Satan troubled Us Depressed Rude Ladies

10. Evil Heathen Women Weep

11. Do Not Depart and Speak of It In The Valley

12. It Did Not Arrive On An Overcast Noontime

13. Demons Going To The Place of Disgrace

14. Misery To The Uncreated Chaos

15. Pay No Attention: The Non-Speaking Demons Make Disharmonious Sounds

Have fun! This game makes me all the more thankful for the light, the glory, the holy goodness Jesus Christ brought this dark world. Have a lovely ChristMAS celebration!

Another Look at Mary, the Mother of Jesus

wendywrites — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:38:55 +0000

Merry ChristMAS! To stay in the spirit of the advent season leading up to Christmas, I’m going to share with you a story I wrote about Mary, the mother of Jesus, for the December issue of VIVA magazine.

For those who don’t know, VIVA is a Dubai-based womens magazine targeting ex-pat British women, hence the celebrity covers and interviews, and focus on fashion. It is much like “Glamour” in the US, and really not something I would buy myself if it wasn’t for the 100+ pages inside the Jordanian version that highlight issues and people pertinent to my world in Amman. Our primary audience in Jordan is different: upper middle class professional Muslim women, and it reaches about 3,000 of them every month.

Someday I’ll get really proficient and be able to upload a photo of the cover, or the scanned in version of the story from the magazine.

A Different Look At Mary

Welcome to wendywrites!

wendywrites — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:15:57 +0000

Dear family and friends around the world,

Finally, a blog to post family news and articles I have written for you to taste a slice of our lives and learn about more Jordan and the Middle East.

I will be approving comments before they appear on the screen. I hope there will we people from many nations and faiths commenting, and at times we may disagree, so I ask you follow the teachings of the Apostle Paul “Let your conversations be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:9. Yup, the goal is grace-filled, tasty dialogue.

I’m thanking God for each of you as I send the email out. I hope to have the first post up tomorrow!

In His gracious grip,

Wendy