Mom 2 Mom

Well this last week was kinda crazy. I spoke for the first time where someone invited me to speak. The other times I have been a speaker at an event, I was on the planning committee so that doesn't really count.

I was able to share my heart for children of the developing world. The ones who die every day without the world caring. I ended my first session with this. If 58 airplanes fell out of the sky today someone would do something about. But that is what happened, an average 747 carries on average 500 people. So divide 29,000, the number of children who died today from preventable causes, by 500 and the answer is 58. 58 airplanes full of beautiful children. We, in the developing world, have the resources and the ability to save these lives but we don't. We are too comfortable on our couches. I also got to share that 80% of the poorest people as live without Jesus, in a place called the 10/40 window. It was such a confirmation of my call. God has placed these people on my heart for a reason and made it personal with Jude.

I was asked to speak in August and I had no idea that it would be a confirmation in a call that was still to come. I was able to share this new calling and reveal the reality of a passion.

I got to share that my family has been asked to join a missions organization called Heart of God/Beautiful Feet. We are going to go and help them with mobilization. To help the church see the need that the peoples of the world have for Jesus, that there are places in the world that there is no one to tell their neighbor about Jesus because the neighbor doesn't know either. We also get to help people, who feel called to go and tell these people about Jesus, start their journey to the nations.

I am so excited to be heading down this path. We need to raise support before we can head down to OKC. I am so excited to see how God is going to provide.

Christmas and New Years

I intentionally did things different this year for Christmas.

My little girl likes things to stay the same. Christmas to her is putting the tree in the same place and decorating it the same way each year. This nativity goes here and this one goes here.

We have some major changes hopefully occurring in the next six months or so. We are going to have to majorly downsize our stuff. Space is going to be an issue. We will be leaving the only house that my beautiful girl has ever lived in and moving. We will not be taking the huge tree and maybe not any tree. Most likely only one nativity will make the cut, not the three she is use to. Christmas decorations are not a high priority on the list of things to move.

So this year, we focused on things we can do together. Christmas cookies took a much higher priority and to be honest, our little tree didn't get fully decorated but sat with just lights on it for this holiday season. I wanted her to see that Christmas could be good even if it were different. We opened presents the same as always. We still had waffles Christmas morning. We spent time together. We still went out for Chinese food. Our Christmas was much like it has been only without all the decorations around the house.

We spent a lot of time with family during the last two weeks but we also made a trip to Dallas over New Years to see friends that have recently moved there. I wanted Lily to see that new places and new experiences are good. We stopped at our favorite coffee shop both there and back. I am hoping to build some familiarity into places that will be important in the future. I want all of my children to make the transition easily. I just know that it will be hardest for my little girl. I know that God is going before us. I am confident this move is in His plans. I am praying for my children's hearts. Praying that this step of faith, this act of obedience will grow them in their faith and trust in their heavenly Father.

Oh dear. Mommy is burnt out at Christmas.

I struggle this time of year. When God opens your eyes to something, it is really hard to ignore it, especially when you are trying to concentrate on Jesus.

The materialism of the season is driving me batty but I don't have the courage to do something major about it. I don't have the courage to tell my family and friends, "Oh, you probably won't like my gift anyway and even if you do, it will end up in next year's garage sale, so can I just feed a 1,000 starving children and we all will be happy." But I don't. I feel like such a bahhumbug. It is not that I care less for my family and friends than I did 5 years ago. It is just that I have seen children with no shoes, no clothes, no food and no one to care for them. How can I just spend money on gifts that no one really needs?

I know that not everyone has experienced the things that I have. I also know that most people have not held an infant in their arms who may not have lived due to malnutrition. But what do I do with this? God allowed me to experience it.

It is really not helping with the stress of the Holiday Season. I think I am burning out, I'm tired. Is it disobedience? I really hate to disappoint people but do I hate disappointing my Jesus more?

I wish we had the finances to do both. Feed the 1,000 children and give the gifts but wouldn't that be avoiding the subject. To be sacrificial, I should then feed 2,000 children. Oh, is anyone else struggling out there? I have been told that God put me in American and it is ok to live here. Ok, but maybe He has kept me in American to use what we have. Use it to "seek justice, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow." (Isaiah 1)

So hard to do the cultural things, when all I can see is faces like this.



Is there a balance?

Boy, Am I struggling to find it.

Fall changes

This fall has been extremely crazy here at my house.

Noah went to his first day of "real" school. Man, I would never had thought that letting my 12 year old go to school would be so hard.. for mom, that is.



Adding school has set all of our lives into transition. Noah has handled it really well. I was not prepared for how school would so dramatically change our lives here at home. Our days have really changed. We are trying to learn a new dance without one of our members. School at home with Lily is a lot shorter but trying to get things accomplished with a two year old has come with new challenges so most days school is accomplished during nap time. Noah does most of his homework during a study period but we are trying to figure out when to accomplish the remaining homework and get dinner made so that he can go to soccer practice. I know many families are much busier but I was keeping our lives simple on purpose and school has changed many of the aspects that I can control. Gotta love transitions.

Praying for guidance on what to rearrange so this transition can turn into the "happy" norm.

Hello New Blog

I have not been blogging for over a year, so I thought a fresh start was in order.

I am really needing a place to be honest, share what is on my heart.

I really don't want to use this as an arena to whine and complain but more as a tool I can use to bring my life into perspective.

So this blog is not for you, it is for me but you are welcome to come along.

It will hopefully be different than it was before.

So here we go.