Lessons Learned Lately

We’ve been in Africa for exactly two months.  It has been a time of settling, getting adjusted, acclimated, and finding our way.  I’m not going to say unfortunately because I see now that it hasn’t been unfortunate at all, but much of the past two months has been marked with sickness for us (especially me).  That’s one of the reasons there has been a long silence here.  Now I’m ready to share some of the things I’m learning through my own suffering.  I hesitate to claim I’ve suffered because all I have to do is look around to realize that what we’ve been through pales in comparison to so so so many others.  Nevertheless, it has been suffering for me and God has used it greatly in my life. 

We arrived here in Mozambique at the beginning of what is called “hot season.”  Let me tell you it has been hot, and we’re not quite halfway through the hot season yet.  It’s also rainy season.  The heat builds and builds for a few days and then we will get several days of thunderstorms and showers and it cools everything off.  It’s like you get a break in between the heat which is nice.  This is also high malaria season.  The heat and rain brings out the mosquitos.  These mosquitos are tiny and it’s often hard to tell that you’ve even been bitten.  However, they carry malaria.   You can only get malaria from being bitten by a mosquito that carries it.  So far Tyson has had it twice, Samuel once, and me three times.  I just got over it when Tyson came down with it again.  He is currently on treatment medication.  We are all four taking a prophylaxis medication to prevent us from getting it, but it seems the malaria is beginning to resist the medication.  It’s very hard to describe what malaria feels like.  It can be different for different people.  The medications used to treat it are so strong that once you’re on them it’s hard to tell what’s malaria and what’s the medicine.  For me, I feel extremely week and faint with chills, fever, and nausea.  The medicine Tyson is on makes him dizzy and have ringing in his ears.  He also has chills and some nausea.   So that’s malaria!  So many millions of people have lived facing this their whole lives.  Many who do not have access to sprays, bednets, and treatment medication like we do.  Thankfully we do have medicine and it works.  We treat ourselves quickly to reduce the severity.  

With all that being said, we in no way want malaria or sickness to be the theme of our time here.  God’s goodness in our lives, his sovereignty, and our purpose here is SO much greater.  It just happens to be what God has used for our good during this little season.  That’s really what I want to share – a little piece of my heart. 

So, this has been rough for mama!  Like really rough.  The heat, the kids with diarrhea, the culture shock, the kids with culture shock, the malaria, the distance between me and my extended family, and all the photos of pumpkin spice lattes on facebook to name a few.  I’ve had some dark days.  My darkest days so far came last week when I had malaria for the third time.  Not only was I so sick and weak but the medicine I took to treat it caused intense feelings of depression and anxiety.  Intense! I’ve never felt like that before in my life.  At one point, I cried and begged Tyson to pack us up and take us home.  He reminded me we didn’t have a home in the states.  LOL!  I didn’t care, I just wanted out of here and out of my circumstances.  I did not see how I could take another breath it was so painful.  Being so sick and so weak made me really homesick for family and comfort I think.  I could not see the forest for the trees to put it mildly, BUT today I rejoice. 

I have more joy in my heart right now than I’ve had in a very long time.  I see now that God is doing something beautiful and grand and wonderful in our lives.  Suffering is the path to beautiful and wonderful and grand.  I see that. I feel that.  In the past two months, our circumstances have removed all the things that have propped up our character and our substance to make it look way larger than in fact it really is.  I’ve seen that with those props no longer around, my faith and my character has been revealed to be quite small and very unimpressive for sure.  Times like these will bring out the ugly if you know what I mean or should I say the real raw truth.  Even in the torment and weakness I could hear that still small voice saying, “this is good, I’m doing something beautiful.”  Tyson and I on several occasions agreed that we somehow felt that way. 

Here are a few observations I’ve made and things I’ve discovered lately. 

Suffering, if endured results in unspeakable joy!  I’ve been researching as many scriptures as I can about suffering and almost all of them speak of joy or rejoicing.  I had an encounter like that the other night.  As I was up during the night feeling sick and shaky I cried out to God in desperation.  I was so desperate, I said “God, you don’t even have to heal me, just let me know you’re here with me.”  I see now, that in my weakness more than wanting Him to do something for me, I just longed for Him.  Apparently, I was on the right track because, no sooner did I pray that than a flood of joy washed over me that I can hardly describe.  It was an overwhelming all consuming joy out of nowhere and such a undeniable sense of God’s presence and peace.  

James 1:2

Consider it all JOY my bretheren when you encounter various trials.  Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. 

Besides joy, suffering seems to go hand in hand with endurance.  I found it interesting that James said to let endurance have its perfect result.  I’m glad we’re choosing endurance.  Last week, I wanted to jump ship.  I guess that’s where my opportunity came to let endurance have its perfect result. 

Another scripture God has continually brought to my attention is Psalm 126: 5-6

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.  He who goes to and fro weeping carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

This is perspective.  I want to endure for the joyful shouting.  I don’t want to give up with my seeds to sow.  I want to shout for joy carrying a harvest with me.  I’m so thankful for God and my husband holding me through the tears, believing in me and in us when I wanted to run away.  I’m feeling so alive to see that there’s joy on the other side of suffering and it can even come right in the midst of the pain.  It can be all mixed together! 

Another revelation I’ve had is that desperation leaves no room for doubt.  My cries to God have been desperate lately.  It dawned on me that when we see Jesus perform miracles and healings in the Bible it usually involved a desperate cry or a desperate person.  I could imagine the desperation in the woman who reached out to touch the hem of his robe in Luke 8.   Immediately she was healed.  I wonder if it was because God responds to desperation or if there was no doubt in her because of her desperation?  When I’m not so desperate, I have plenty of room to entertain doubt. 

I know there is more, much more God is doing here.  I’m just so encouraged to be in his joy and to feel Him so near and to see purpose in all of this.  I choose to endure.  It’s worth it!

Unexpected Blessings

Since July 14th, we have been moved out of our home and out on the open road traveling to see family and friends before we leave for Africa in September.  Honestly, I don't think we've had a chance to truly process it all - making that transition from Tyson's job, our home, and our community of friends.  It's like we were standing at the edge for so long, and now we've finally taken the big leap!  At times it feels surreal, a little anxiety producing, and exhausting.  However, what we've experienced the most since stepping out into the unknown and putting all of our eggs in God's basket so to speak is an undeniable sense of His presence, mercy, peace, and provision.   Picture that Dad running behind his little child who is learning to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time.  He's holding on to the back of their seat not about to let go.  They can peddle with confidence because they know Daddy's got them.

I have to share this one story with you that has happened to us recently because it captures what I'm talking about.  Last week we set off from Tyson's family's home in North Carolina to see my family in Louisiana and Texas.  We had driven about nine hours (with small children!) before stopping in Alabama the first night.  You don't have to use your imagination much to picture how "done" we were at that point.  However, we weren't too tired to realize we wanted Mexican food for dinner. Practical I know!  By the time we left our hotel room, we'd already done the obligatory swimming in the hotel pool for Samuel, thrown our dry clothes back on, and were racing to beat the pre-dinner meltdown from Luke.  We arrived at the Mexican restaurant we had "googled" that was supposed to be great, unload, walk in to realize it was way too posh and not kid friendly by the fact they didn't have high chairs and the looks that were hitting us.  "Sorry kids, we know you've been in the car forever today, you're starving, and your coping skills are waning.  "Mom and Dad are determined to eat Mexican tonight so we're cramming you back in your car seats while we find something more suitable."  Insert some tension between Tyson and I, and you get the picture.  Thanks to modern technology we found something we thought looked  more suitable and were on our way while I casually mentioned that this was preparing us for the inconveniences of living in a third world country.  Minutes later we're in the parking lot of another MR(Mexican restaurant) that's obviously more suitable and munching on chips and salsa in no time.  Seated next to us was a woman who was eating alone.  She looked to be in her sixties and you could tell she was a local by the familiar conversation she was having with her waiter calling him by his first name and chatting casually.
Later, during the meal we see our little extrovert waving his heart out at the lady, but she didn't see him.  Looking flustered he said, "She's not saying hi to me."  I said, "She doesn't see that you're waving to her.  Wait until she sees you, and then you can say hello to her."  Samuel never took his eyes off of her.  She wasn't getting away easily!  Finally, as she was standing up to leave, she glanced his direction and he was waving at her like he was a hitch hiker trying to flag someone down.  She didn't have a choice but to speak to him.  We could tell she was a friendly person right away or we would not have let our kid keep on if we thought he was annoying her.  The conversation went something like this. "Hi, what's your name?  My name is Shirley, what's yours?  My name is Samuel. I'm a rescuer.  Oh, you are? Yes." (deep breath in) and here it went... "This is my mom and dad.  We're on a long trip.  We're staying at a hotel because we're going to Africa....."  Shirley's trying to digest more than her Mexican food at this point, and we're looking on trying to decide when to interject something.  "Wow, Samuel.  You're going to Africa?"  We then began to chat with Shirley and clarify what we were doing.  One thing led to another as she wanted to hear more of our story and we wanted to hear hers.  This turned into an hour long conversation that eventually moved to the parking lot.  Before we knew it, Shirley had grabbed our meal check and insisted on picking up the tab.  Tyson did most of the talking and listening as I kept Luke from eating things off the floor and Samuel from going home with any other customers he befriended.  Shirley was on her own faith journey as well.  She lost her husband four years ago and has been through some very difficult times.  She's recently retired after a successful business career and is writing a couple of books about her journey.  In just one hour's time we had made a heart connection with this woman, she had paid for our meal, we exchanged contact information, and teared up saying good bye as I believe we were all touched by God's unmatchable and unexpected kindness.  When we got in the car to leave we were a little speechless trying to take in the whole experience which had never before happened to us.  As I've thought about it, our crash landing at that particular restaurant seated next to Shirley and connecting with her while having our meal paid for had absolutely nothing to do with our merit.  The whole thing was quite chaotic and messy.  Our attitudes stunk on the way, our motives were selfish (MR), and our kids were dirty and fussy.  Like we really had any business traipsing all over town looking for the "right" place.  Just grab a Happy Meal and get to bed!  I can tell you we never prayed something like "Lord, just lead us to the right place as we moan and groan looking for what we want."  I don't know what Shirley's day was like leading up to that point, but I wonder if she was expecting a sweet brown eyed little boy to notice her, want to be her friend, and pursue her like she was the Dutchess of Cambridge?  I wonder.  Does anybody see what this is pointing to?  or should I say who?  He's a loving Father.  Faith pleases Him - not behavior or appearance, or effort.
As we've pulled away from the shore (as we see it) and found ourselves out in the deep end without bringing our life raft with us, we are experiencing that God loves this!  He is over and over again saying, "I am with you." "You can trust me." "I will not let you down."  I know that there will be days and there have been when I'm in that place of having to choose faith when I don't see  Him so clearly, so I pray that this will be one of those remembrance stones to look back on and know that He is who He says He is.

Luke Isaiah - You're 1!

Dear Luke Isaiah,

You are officially a one year old.  Oh, how we love you.  Your name means "carrier of light (Luke) whose salvation is from the Lord" (Isaiah).   Your heart and your smize (smile with your eyes) can light up the darkest room.  We get comments all the time that you smile with your whole face.   

 You were born on the 4th of July (Independence Day!).  I think there's something to that because you like your freedom! When you have something you want and we try to take it away, watch out! You're going to pitch a definitely let us know about it.  You're already grabbing the spoon out of our hands trying to feed yourself.  You watch your big brother closely and want to do what he does.  You're quite the little firecracker!

 Speaking of eating...You're a fan.  So far, there's not much you don't like or try to eat (that goes for non-food items!).  We're thankful you're such a good eater and so healthy.  So thankful for that!

You're hair has recently gotten really curly.  We think you've gotten that from both sides of your family.  It's really adorable.  Those chubby cheeks and that curly hair make it hard to resist you!  

Daddy and I see a really tender heart in you.  You can be quite rough and tumble already, but you have a sensitive side too.  We will be doing something and feel some little eyes on us, look up, and there you are with a grin bigger than anything.  You love to get our attention that way, just a quiet little grin letting us know you're there.  You're also quite a prankster.  Nothing thrills you more than to crawl over, bite our big toe, and get a dramatic response.  That one gets you belly laughing.  You little stinker!  

 You've had quite a first year.  We've moved three times so far, and you're about to travel the country with us before moving to another continent all before you're two!

May your light always shine brightly.  May you be filled with the knowledge of God at an early age know Him deeply.  May you know how much you are loved by your Heavenly Father and your earthly family.  May you grow to be all you were designed to be.   I pray that even though things are changing around you that you would feel secure, covered, and loved.   I look at you everyday, and find it hard to come up with the words to express my thankfulness for getting to be your mom.  We love you little guy, and look forward to watching you grow and thrive.   Oh yeah, we call you "Lukie" most of the time.     Love,  Mommy

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   L U K E   I S A I A H  !

Look Out Russell Crowe...

There's a new gladiator in town!


I haven't brushed up on my child development reading lately, but from the looks of things I have a hunch that three and a half to four is when imaginative play gets ramped up a bit.   It's alive and well at our house.  By the way,  I'm laughing that Tyson looks like he's nursing Luke in the photo below.  How's that going, Honey?  Just kidding.

The uses I've seen for pots and pot lids lately opens up a whole new world.  Just in case you were wondering  (as seen in these photos) they can be used as full body armor, cymbals for a drum set, controls in the cockpit of your spaceship, and for just plain cooking.  

Dad

Well, typical - I didn't get your card in the mail on time.  Are you surprised?  Since A. Your card is late (it is a good one though) and B. Your gift -well, it's in the mail too; I thought I'd let you know how much I love you through this little note and few pictures.


Dad, I'm so blessed to call you my father.  You have loved me so well.  You are such a good man and someone I admire more than you'll ever know.   You are loyal (understatement), wise, a servant, generous, hard working, funny, and a little crazy to top it off.

I know many besides your own children have looked to you like a father figure.  I can remember you picking up kids for sports practices who didn't have rides otherwise, coaching our teams, helping friends and neighbors, and being a listening ear for some.  People are just drawn to you.


Thank you for always being there for me.  You've loved your family so sacrificially in many ways.  I always know you're in my corner, and I'm so proud of you.  It goes without saying what a great Poppa you are.  You're a grandkid magnet!

Today, on Father's Day 2013, I honor you!!  "May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you and give you peace."    I love you dearly!!!!!!

   

HAPPY FATHER's DAY!!!!!!!

Sometimes....

Love Hurts!!

We just love each other so much...

I think I'll squeeze his face to let him know...

 

I bet he would really love me to jam my fingers in his mouth. 

 

 

 

 

Ouch!!!

I'm outta here!!















No! Don't even think about it! Talk to the hand!













Oh, come on Luke!  I can't resist.  Let me just squeeze you a little.
Mom, seriuosly.  Can you do something?












Okay, let's just wrestle and make up.  I'm sure I'll bite you back shortly.

Speaking From the Heart

Have any of you read the book Kisses From Katie?  It’s one I had been meaning to read for several months and picked it up off the shelf at the bookstore the other day.  It’s an amazing story (still unfolding) about Katie Davis, a young girl from Nashville who has moved full time to Uganda, adopted 13 young girls, and started a non profit organization that serves hundreds of other children. She left for Uganda right out of high school.  As I sat down and opened this book, I didn’t get as far as the dedication page before my eyes were welling up with tears.  For Jesus. Every word, every breath is for you.   Those words hit me right between the eyes and like an arrow in my heart.  Yes Jesus, you ARE worth it!  You are.  I’ve gotten so lost in all the details.  I’ve gotten lost in the lies being offered on a daily basis by the enemy of my soul.   Those nine words were exactly what my heart needed right then.  They filled a dry and weary soul with a burst of living water, and I am thankful for God’s faithfulness in meeting me at the right place at the right time.   The lover of my soul captured my heart.  Once I got past the dedication page and dove in, the rest of the story was really powerful and encouraging to read as well.  It’s an amazing testimony of choosing to let God be the author of our destiny and trusting in His goodness.

 A few months back Tyson and I had a conversation about the significance of us going to Mozambique.  As I was thinking out loud my question went something like, “What does it matter that our little family is packing up to go serve on a tiny blip on the map in a remote area to a few people on the other side of the world?  What difference does it make?”  In my spirit, I heard the words, “It makes all the difference.  It makes a difference because I care, and because I am writing a story that is far greater than you.  Greater than just your family alone. “  My heart filled with joy as I was reminded that we have the opportunity to be a part of His story and be His hands and feet to the people of Mozambique that He crosses our path with.  We matter. They matter.  It matters!

In the forward in Kisses from Katie, Betty Clark wrote:
 “I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters.  They get excited over one smile.  They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound.  They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes.  Over time, though, the small changes add up.  Sometimes they even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world.” 

 As I have had the temptation to lose heart on this journey and give in to my doubts, fears, and discouragements, I have been reawakened to the beautiful fact that,  better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere (Psalm 84:10), that Jesus is my all in all, and that He’s called us for such a time as this!

And Hurry!

I've been teaching Samuel the scripture in Galations 5 about the fruit of the spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control...We've been talking about it, doing little activities to learn them, and I've been trying to point out when I see him demonstrating one of the qualities like joy, patience, or self-control.

Soooooo,  this morning he and Luke were both playing at my feet in the kitchen floor with spoons, an empty oatmeal box, and tupperware.

We're getting to a new phase where Luke wants what Samuel has and tries to grab it.  Therefore, some jerking away and scuffling began to ensue.  Samuel is saying things like, "That's mine Luke. Get away!"  I took the opportunity to pipe up and say, "You know, Samuel it sounds like you need to ask God to give you kindness right now."  Without, hesitation he says, "God, give me kindness."  I quickly affirmed him that he did a great job of asking God for what he needed right then.



 Not that anything changed, but I was just impressed that he seemed to agree that he needed help right then.  I continued to do whatever I was doing with the two of them still playing in the floor.  Of course I promptly hear more scuffling, grabbing, and protesting behind me.

 Then I hear Samuel say, "God, give me kindness.  And hurry!"  Oh my goodness!  I cracked up!!  I guess for Luke's sake, God needed to hurry up with the kindness.

Pumpkin Granola Bars

 One of the things I've been doing lately is trying to learn and get in the habit of making things myself that I normally buy at the grocery store.  I have several motivations for this.  First, I'm simply trying to get creative in living a more frugal lifestyle.  I think there are other ways to save besides just clipping coupons.  I mainly clip coupons for non food items like hygiene products and paper goods.  My second motivator is that I'm trying to help our family become healthier by eating more whole foods and less foods with chemicals and additives.  For example, we love granola and granola bars for snacks but when I got to reading the ingredients on the box they all contain high fructose corn syrup and ten other things I can't pronounce.  Now, before you start feeling inferior let me just say I'm not on any kind of an "all organic" high horse.  Trust me!  We do the best we can, but I'm not out to change the world in this department.  Just trying to make small changes here and there that will make a difference.  My third motivator is that when we get to Africa, I want to be able to make things we enjoy that we won't necessarily be able to access there.  Plus, I just LOVE being able to be at home and bless my family with my domestic creativity.  Okay, so there you have it.

..................................

I thought I'd share this Pumpkin Granola Bar recipe we've all quickly come to love.  

 Here are the ingredients.  These basically came from me combining a few recipes I found online then adding or substituting with items I had on hand.

3 cups Whole Rolled Oats

2 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice or cinnamon

1/2 Tsp. Salt

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup Pumpkin

1/4 cup Applesauce

1/4 cup Honey

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

1/2 cup of nuts (walnuts, almond slivers, whatever!)

handful of ground flaxseed

 My right hand man was up close and ready to help!

Combine Oats, Salt, Spices, and Flax in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, and honey

Then combine it all together (with your hands or your toddler's hands!).

After that, add in the dried fruit and nuts.

Cover a large baking sheet with foil and lightly spray it with cooking spray.  Place all the ingredients in a large ball on the sheet.  Then press it down into a big rectangle to the thickness you prefer. 

Bake it in the oven on 350 for around 35 minutes.  Watch the edges, so you don't get them too dark.  I've found the bars will harden even more once they're out of the oven.  

You can use a pizza cutter to cut the granola into bars and let them cool on a wire rack.  

With this recipe, I can get up to eleven good sized bars.  It's been great to throw them in Tyson's lunch or grab a few for the car for snacks when we're out running errands.  

Can you tell he liked them??

Moving Forward (Part 2)

I wrote Moving Forward (Part I) to share where we were in the process of getting back to Africa, and am continuing to share our journey as we go along.  We finished up our stay with friends and realized we would be in the states several more months as we raise more funds and continue preparations.  Once again, we have seen God's hand move on our behalf.  We found a nice comfortable place to lease in a great location.  We're very close to Tyson's job, and just around the corner from great friends.  The owner has been very gracious to us and is giving us super flexible lease terms in support of what we're
trying to do.  Since unpacking again, it has allowed us to do even more sorting and downsizing of things we don't need.  I'm convinced now, one must go through their things several times to keep clearing out the clutter.  It's just amazing how quickly we accumulate STUFF isn't it?  Therefore, we've been doing a lot of craigslisting and Goodwill drop offs.  Feels good for sure!  Having our own space again has been good for us as a family.  Samuel really likes it here.  I'm trying to do "Preschool" time with him on a regular basis because he just soaks it up and loves to be challenged with new activities.  Luke is growing and changing faster than we can keep up.  He's finally gotten a tooth and is beginning
to crawl.  Best of all, he gives kisses now!!! :)  

We are finally feeling settled in at the moment and turning our focus back to establishing our support team for moving full time to Africa.  This process has been good for us on many fronts and will continue to be I'm sure.  We're learning to live a more interconnected, interdependent life with those God has put around us.  We are learning to be more vulnerable and transparent.  Everything in me screams for independence at times.  Just ask my husband!!  I'm naturally a very independent person, so I need God to infuse me with His nature on a daily basis.  I'm reminded as I reflect that we were all created for relationship.  We were meant to live reciprically giving and receiving to experience the fullness of what He has for us.  It's just so darn contrary to my nature, but when I surrender and humble myself and TRUST, then peace and joy follow.

Practically speaking...We're wrapping up a newsletter that we are sending out sharing details about what we'll be doing and inviting folks to invest in us and the work being done in Mozambique. Side note: If you don't think you're on our mailing list but would like to be, please email us or PM me on facebook(our email is at the bottom of this blog) and we'd be excited to ad you.  

If you feel drawn to do so, we'd greatly appreciate your prayers for us.   The opportunity to get discouraged or doubtful seems to come knocking frequently.  The day we left Mozambique to come home almost two years ago, the team gathered around and prayed for us for a safe return and for the Lord's help to get back in His timing.  As they were praying, I kept hearing the phrase "faces like flint" in my mind over and over.  This has since become one of our theme verses on this journey,

"Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.  ~Isaiah 50:7

So, onward we walk looking for the beauty that today holds right here where we are desiring to be vessels of His love and grace as we set our faces like flint towards moving our family to serve in Africa.  Step by step....  

Blessings over you!!!

Gina

Rainy Day Expeditions

Mommy, Pee Pee...

I thought I'd bring you along on our trip to the pediatric opthamologist.  This has nothing to do with a concern for Samuel's eyes.  He's just fine.  Apparently, he didn't give it his best shot on the muscle balance portion of the screening at his three year check up, so off we went to make sure everything was okay.  Thankfully, his eyes are okay, but by the time we left my reputation was taking a beating.  ;)  We walk in and the place is bustling.  In the front they have a waiting room with all the bells and whistles for kids - germs galore, I mean puzzles, cartoons, play kitchen, race cars all with about five years worth of grime caked on.  Around the corner was another wait area that was more "blah" - magazines, low lighting, GMA on the the TV.... I sign us in and quickly choose the "blah" room before Samuel can look over his shoulder to see the germ infested circus room behind us.  Try to imagine, the "blah" room is also full but quiet except for the morning news up on the televesion until Samuel pipes up and says, "Mommy, is that an "adult movie" there on the TV?" "No, I mean yes, I mean no, I mean yes,  honey that's a show that grown ups watch."    Great.   After a few minutes I can now see that I'm going to have to face the germ laiden circus room b/c he's crawling all over this room hiding under the chairs anyway, not to mention all these parents think I watch adult films.  Sure, lets go touch everything play in the other room down the hall.  We're now in the happy room and Samuel's in the playhouse having the time of his life with another kid when I hear, "Mommy, pee pee," look over, and he's drenched in a puddle of his own pee.  Wow, this is going great.  I let the ladies know up front and they acted like it was a crime scene!  The woman clears everyone out of the entire room, for one little puddle over in the corner.  I don't know what happened after that because we're now in the restroom changing into dry clothes.  I walk out, and now everyone is piled high in the "blah" room since the kid's play area has been evacuated.  Right when we start to squeeze ourselves in there as I do my best not to make eye contact with anyone, the lady gives the "all clear" for kiddie land up at the front.  Wonderful.  Samuel's now begging me to take us back to the "playroom."  Thanks to my kid peeing on the floor it's probably cleaner now than it has been in months.  Anyway, that about summarizes the experience.  We play some more, see the doctor, do a few vision exercises, and he checked out fine.  Just another humbling day in toddlerville... :)

He Knows

Matthew 6:8 “…For your father knows your need before you ask him.”

I have not been encouraged like this in a long time.  We talk about God knowing our needs and being able to meet them, but then at least for me - my actions most of the time reveal something different.  I usually take the “just in case you missed this one God, I’m going to take care of it myself” approach.  However, this time He clearly had me stumped!  As we’ve shared along the way, we’ve been on this path to moving our family full time to Mozambique.  We were invited to come check it out, we went about 18 months ago, and strongly felt the Lord wanted us to return.  One big encouragement when we were there was watching Samuel and how much he loved it.  He loved everyone on the team, loved the atmosphere, loved the Africans, loved it all!  Albeit, he was only 21 months old, he was still remarkably adaptable and happy.  As a parent, this was a huge relief.   If God was calling us there full time, my heart’s desire would be for it to be a good place for our child (and now children).  One of the strongest confirmations we had about going back was how naturally we all clicked with everyone.  The team is diverse with folks from several countries (England, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, America) some single, some married with children.  Which by the way I love the mixture.  I’ve never been a fan of huddling with people my exact same age or in the exact same stage of life. Boring!  There was just one gaping hole I felt…Another similar aged pal for our kid.  All of the other children were wonderful, but they were significantly older.  Considering the fact that if Samuel were to take a personality test for three year olds he would score 100% extrovert and 0% introvert. This has been weighing heavy on my heart which brought me to some even bigger questions that have rolled around in my head: “Do I only obey you, Lord when what you ask me to do meets all my so called “needs/desires?”  How do we move our child extreme extrovert across the world and plop him down with no peers?  Is he going to resent us for this later?  I know he will make friends with the African children.  It’s not that. I’m just talking about someone who shares his home culture, heart language, etc.   How far do we take this whole obedience thing??  As far as I can tell there’s no other family on the radar who’s considering coming.  I don’t understand you, God.  Really don’t.  I’m a bottom line person, and the bottom line came to either I trust you, Lord or I don’t.  Either you can meet our needs how you choose, or you can’t.  I don’t have to know how you choose to do that.   Thank you, Hebrews 11 for clarifying this. :)

DRUM ROLL....................

Right after Thanksgiving, we called our friend Tracy who is the founder of iReachAfrica (the organization we’re teaming up with) to ask her a medical question since she is a PA.  After she answered our question, she says “Hey, I’ve got some good news.”  “There’s another family who has decided to join us in Moz.”  “I think their kids are the same age as yours.”  What?!?!!!   Then she proceeds to tell me about them and later gets us connected through email.  To make matters more exciting, yes this couple has decided to come.  Yes, they have two little kids, and yes their oldest is a boy who is just one month younger than Samuel.  Their baby girl is slightly older than Luke.  Since then, we’ve connected with video chat and email.  We’ve already hit it off.   We’re all encouraged that we’ll have another family there in the same stage of life and our little ones will have each other to play with.   You might be bored to tears reading this by now (if you’ve made it this far), but I can hardly describe the clouds I was walking on for days since hearing this news.  It wasn’t while I was struggling with this, but later after we found out about this family that I came across the verse Matthew 6:8 that says …”For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”   Basically, it’s totally within God’s character to lead us forward without answering all of our questions first.  He will ask us to leave it up to Him to decide how He’ll meet our needs.  He’ll ask us to let go of what we’re holding onto before we can fully grasp what’s ahead.  Just so you know, He’ll also gladly surprise the HECK out of us with His goodness far beyond what we can come up with ourselves.  Just so you know.