Skip to content

Jana Kelley Posts

The Last Mile

The distance from Texas to where I live in Southeast Asia is ten thousand miles. Like many other cross-cultural workers, we sold everything, quit our jobs, withdrew our kids from school, and waved goodbye to our family.  “We won’t be coming home for Christmas this year, Mom and Dad. We’ll be in our new home.” TEN. THOUSAND. MILES. AWAY. It’s…

Valentine Mouse

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend! This makes me think of all the countries where Kris and I have been on dates. We love to travel and feel blessed to have seen 19 countries together. As you might imagine, some countries are more romantic than others. But even in romantically-challenged countries, we gave it a valiant effort! Here’s one of my favorite…

Sun and Rain

I drive to the hospital…again. And as I do, I ponder the question: Have I crossed a line?  “Enough, Jana. Enough drama with this family.” But something compels me. Is it You, Lord? Am I doing this for the right reasons? Or do I get some sort of twisted joy from continuing my relationship with this problem-riddled family? I don’t…

I Quit Writing…

It’s 2021 and I’m sneaking in here to my blog to take a look around. My blog voice echoes against the edges of the website. This place has been empty for awhile. I kind of quit writing. Oh, I guess I can’t say that. Not really. I’m always writing—whether in my journal or in my trusty writing program on my…

Ignoring Noah

Bang! Thump! Bang! Thump! Noah hammers the last of the nails to finish the ark. God told him to build the ark and in spite of the people mocking him (for until now it had never rained, so why build a boat?) he finished the work. Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives, all entered the ark,…

Two Prayers

I sit in a hospital room in Asia. The elderly Indonesian man has just been transferred there from ICU. I try to move a chair next to the bed so his wife can sit next to him. It is hard for him to move his foot over to make space for her. But he does it anyway and tells me…

Beach Prayers

I sit on large stones overlooking the sea. I came to the beach to pray, but I’m not the only one praying, and God is not the only one being worshiped here. A South Asian Hindu couple beat me here and they are in the middle of a ritual, so I sit on the rocks and wait before walking along…