The Mom Life

Here is what I wrote one morning when we were in La Paz... This city is beautiful.  Not in the clean and perfect way like places such as Savannah, GA or Fairhope, Al but in a unique mix of old and new.  The mountains that have been here forever cholitas walking the streets in their traditional attire the old buildings in the center of town. From our window, we can see college students dancing in unison in a park below and kids playing soccer in two nearby fields.  Walking the streets yesterday in the market we saw older cholitas selling their assortment of items, and we also saw younger women dressed in modern clothing selling similarly.  These women might be studying a book for their college classes or have a baby sleeping on the floor beside them. Its just a beautiful place.  I know its not perfect and has its flaws.  Traffic for one thing.  These taxi drivers have no rules for the road...they just squeeze through slots, honk to pull out in front of people or to hurry pedes

Lima/Bolivia 2012 Some of you know this already, and to some this might be news, but Seth and I have talked about missions for a long time.  The Lord has really gifted Seth with language aquisition, especially Spanish, and he also has a gift for communicating the love and truth of God in a clear and unique way.  Growing up as a young believer, I always wanted to either be a missionary or marry a preacher.  For the first 5 years of our marriage I have been content with where the Lord had us in education and serving in our church, but in the past year, missions has really been on our hearts more and more.  So, July 16th we set out on an adventure with another couple, close friends of ours, to see South America and quite possibly where we'll live in a few years. We planned on spending most of our 7 days in La Paz, Bolivia.  (I say most because you can count day 1 and 7 as airplane/airport days)  We prayed over the trip, made an itenerary, booked a nice hotel in the middle of the

I've been seeking something lately...well behaved kids.  With my 3 kids so close in age (6,4,3) the typical day with my kiddos can be quite eventful and challenging.  Breaking up fights, figuring out if a cry is real or fake, dealing with broken toys and hurt feelings, discouraging annoying "baby talk,"  trying to teach them to use self control and good manners, and in all of that also looking for moments to remind them to not only look to honor me and their dad, but also their Father in heaven.  Seth's been out of town for a few days (well, he left yesterday morning but it seems like its been a lot longer!) and whild he's been gone, I have been reading a few parenting books.  One is from a christian perspective and one from a well-known professional.  Both have similar strategies and things that I can apply right now, but when it comes right down to it, there are moments where I just don't know what to say to my kids when they make poor choices. The books are

Last night we had dinner with the Tisbury's and the Stanleys, Dustan and Darlene.  They are a couple around our age who have traveled the world the past few years as apostolic missionaries.  Erin and Chris have been friends with them for a while, and last night Chris chose to tell them the story of how the four of us have been feeling called to go.  They were thrilled for us and had some great advice to share with us.  1.  Wherever you go, go with an exit strategy.  Whatever you are doing, the weight of it should not depend upon you, but nationals.  You never know when you might need to return to the states or be called to a different region.  Have a plan in mind for the possibility of leaving at any given time. 2.  Make sure that your kids always remember they are Americans.  It can get hard when they've been in a country for a while and have learned the language, culture, and even beliefs of that region.  Make visits to the U.S. as much as possible.  3.  Try to find a w

From the first time I saw him, I have loved that little boy more every day.  He has always loved spending time with me (doesn't every little boy love hanging out with their mom?)...playing ball in the backyard, helping with dinner, laundry, tickling, and reading. He will do anything I ask, and almost always with a good attitude.  Because he loves me so much.  Today my heart broke for him.  He made a poor choice at school and ended up in the Lead Teacher's office (assistant principal).  She wrote him up and he said she quickly threw a piece of paper in his face (the long form maybe?).  She showed him the class where IST (in school suspension basically) is, the place he will go tomorrow after he performs in the kindergarten musical.  He asked her if he'd be there for "many days or many years."  (poor baby!)   I got a phone call soon after this occured and agreed that he needed to face the consequence of his actions and go to IST. When the bus dropped him off at

Our days have been really busy lately.  Honestly, I sometimes really miss the simple seasons of my life.  I remember my first year in teaching, I didn't bring work home with me (mostly...ha) and would come home and walk my dog for a good 45 minutes through the avenues every afternoon.  But, then I didn't have a husband and kids to invest in...it was just me and Bama. I absolutely wouldn't change a thing about my life and where I am right now though. Mentioning the avenues and my first year teaching reminds me of one thing...the day I met my husband.  Back in those "simpler times" when I was struggling to survive my first year as a teacher, I was set up on several blind dates and things, but nothing ever developed from them.  I was teaching in a Hattiesburg School, young, inexperienced, and sweet...yikes!  But towards the end of the year, I got a Mexican girl in my class.  I mentioned how nice it would be if my students could learn some Spanish.  One of my student

For some reason today when I had about 3 minutes before my next class arrived, I decided to grab my copy of My Utmost for His Highest to see what Oswald had written for today, Feb. 9th.  The title is "Are You Exhausted Spiritually?"  I know about being tired.  It seems like I've had something going on every night this week, while still trying to do laundry, bathe and feed the kids, get homework done,  have family Bible study times, and finish Tim Tebow's book I checked out before its overdue.  (Too late...due back today but I am not done...can't recheck it since it has holds)  So, I have been a little tired this week. Yesterday I was reading one of my favorite blogs,  http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ , and Katie, the blogger who lives in Uganda with her 13 Ugandan daughters (read her testimony in her book, Kisses from Katie) wrote about being "bent low."  She talked about bending low to stir stew, clean up vomit, do laundry, clean the badly burned

It's been a while since I've written, and to be honest, I didn't think I had anything to write about. In the meantime, Seth has become quite a blogger, so I feel like I need to get back to writing. I have been a little busy with other responsibilities and distractions in the meantime...Christmas, Cruz and Seth's birthdays, evaluation time at work, trying to learn Spanish, reading other blogs, Pinterest, etc.  But, even still, God has been revealing some things to me over the past few months. 1. I need more deep relationships in my life. Yes, Facebooking and Pinterest are fun ways to keep up with friends and share ideas, but its not at all the same as spending time with others, investing in their lives as they invest in yours. When I think back to when I was a teenager and even in college, it was common for me to ask my friends regularly things like, "Hey, how can I be praying for you?" or "So, what is God teaching you in your life right now?" b