{"product_id":"every-day-a-miracle-9798868522000","title":"Every Day a Miracle","description":"\u003cp\u003eMy pale, Wisconsin skin glistens under the African sun. A stabbing itch on my back hip distracts me from the heat as I walk to our volunteer house. The needle-piercing pain won't subside, so I ask my friend to look at the bug bite. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"It's alive!\" she gasps and squeezes a tiny worm out of my skin. What I thought was a strange mosquito bite is something far worse. Skin maggots burrowed in my flesh! I cry. I'm mortified, angry, exhausted, and I'm tempted to go back home. I clearly don't belong here. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut a greater resolve returns that night as I try to sleep. Africa - it gets under your skin, a phrase Pastor Reggie told me before I left. It's not just Africa; it's her. It's her cries and her prayers burrowed far beneath the surface. She calls to Him, and He calls to me. And it runs deeper than skin. In this moment I realize there is no backing out-not now, not ever. Africa is under my skin, and it's soul-deep. Whatever it takes, I am coming for you, my promise to Sarah echoes in the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Mary-Kate Martin is a teacher by profession and missionary by calling. Her childhood dream was to be the first female NFL player and achieve stardom as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. She settled for being a small-town teacher with God-sized dreams instead. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the Midwest, she later left her fulfilling career as a teacher to follow her calling as a missionary in eSwatini, Africa. She co-founded Hosea's Heart, a safe home ministry, where she currently lives, managing the ministry, teaching, writing, coaching basketball, and being a mother to many. As the author of Never Been Kissed, a poignant memoir of discovering self-worth amidst rejection, she has a passion for restoring purity and inspiring hope, defining messages in her life's work through writing, speaking, and nonprofit leadership. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Xulon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51807161418002,"sku":"9798868522000","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_79ac7201-5351-4875-910a-3a0724c23b0a.jpg?v=1766044584","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/every-day-a-miracle-9798868522000","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}