The Mom Life

Today I went to a birthday brunch with some expat friends, mostly missionary wives.  I laughed until my face hurt from spreading in such a wide grin.  We played the "lap game" where we had to move seats (even if its occupied) when the statement applied to ourselves (ex. I made my bed today...that would not be me, ha!).  Anyways, as we sat around a table, the 10 of us shared stories of our wild experiences the past few years as missionaries, as well as frustrations and encouragement that come with parenting.  As the women shared their wisdom, I realized what a gift it is to know these women who serve behind the scenes as incredible missionary wives.   One friend shared how she often gets asked, "So what is a typical day like for you there?"  We sometimes think, "Well, its not all that different than your day in the US." We do laundry, although the majority of us hang dry our clothes.   We cook, although usually its all fresh foods, requiring a lot of pr...

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 rocked my world a few weeks ago when I heard a pastor reading it.  It says,  If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the  Lord  your God is giving you,  you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,     but  you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.     Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your  eye look grudgingly [ a ]  on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he  cry to the  Lord  against you, and  you be guilty of sin.   You shall give to him freely, and  your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because  for this the  Lord  your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.   For ...

1 Chronicles 16: 23-25, "Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise." A few things I'm praising God for today... 1. The Meat for Missions fundraiser my parents did this past weekend in Mobile. Fundraisers like this are SO helpful to cover the things throughout the year that don't fit our normal budget! Let us know if you'd like to plan and execute a fundraiser for missions in Bolivia. A Newks Night, Yard Sale, 5K, etc. are just a few ideas. 2. A new church location! (I know we've posted about this already on our ministry page, but its very exciting!) We are renting a space that is welcoming, safe, and all ours! We will have the youth room open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for kids to play games, hang out, and bring friends to ask questions, hear the gospel, and connect with our church...

(I just found this draft I wrote back in January and decided to post it late) We are nearing the end of our first furlough/home assignment.  Its been a wonderful 2 months in the states.  Here are a few highlights from this trip. 1. The holidays-We got to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Mobile.  This was great, a much needed time to catch up with people we don't talk to nearly enough. We made great Christmas memories as well.  We had get-togethers with the grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and the kids got a bunch of high-quality American toys, yea! As long as they all fit in our luggage and get through security in the airport.... 2. Church visits-We've been able to visit our supporting churches, IBC of Hattiesburg, The Korean Church of Hattiesburg, Grand Cane in Louisiana, and Luke 4:18 in Mobile.  These four bodies of believers continue to be such a blessing and encouragement to us.  We've connected with people in ways only the Holy Spirit...

If someone asked you the question, "How's your prayer life?"  how would you answer it? Today I finally got the opportunity to watch the movie, War Room.  I really like the value the movie placed on creating a quiet place, with no distractions, for focused prayer time.   As a teen I was disciplined in writing my prayers in journals or keeping lists on notebook paper.  I had a column for prayer requests, the date I began praying about it, and a column to check when God answered my prayers.  During that season, prayer was such a natural part of life as I grew close to God and increased in faith and trust in Him.   Fast forward 15 years and the Lord placed us in Bolivia as missionaries.  God had just carried my husband and I through a trying season financially, and our trust in His provision and hope were deepened and we felt a great peace about the great adventure we were starting out on.  We got an apartment, I started language school, Seth lea...

I realized today I have so many good memories of the past few months, but some deserve the respect of not being plastered on Facebook for all to see, ya know?  Some things are just good memories I don't want to forget.  So, I'll write about a few things I was reminded of while scrolling through the photo album on Seth's phone tonight.  Here is a shopping trip we took a few weeks ago to a market not far from where we live.  This is how we buy all essentials, from pasta, rice (they scoop these from a big bag like the ones in the photo in front of Lola), toilet paper, butter, eggs, cookies, crackers, tomato paste, etc.  We buy our meat now from a lady down the street, and bread from various stores in walking distance from our house.  We bring big bags like the one you see us using below and fill them up with what we get (no shopping buggies here.)  Do we have normal grocery stores?  Yes, there are a few larger grocery stores that have everything fo...

*warning: This post is extremely honest.  Please love me :-) I don't know when it started, but I became angry mom at some point in this motherhood journey.  Walking too slowly to put you dishes away, "Hurry up, kid!"  Not getting multiplication, "Come on, think!"  Its time to go to school and you aren't ready, "Put your shoes on in the car, and you can just go to school with bad breath.  We gotta go!"  All those examples I just thought of point to another sin problem, perhaps the root of "angry mom," and  that is impatience. It would be easy to blame it on our stressful life.  The stress of coming home after working with students on their English all day, to have to spend hours with my 3 kids doing homework in spanish.   The stress of practically raising several teen boys who don't have active parents in their lives to tell them, "You don't need to go to that party," and "Are you fleeing from temptation?"...