Early Morning Wakings

Has anyone else experienced these early morning waking with their preschoolers or toddlers?  My beautiful 4 year old daughter is waking up sometimes at 3 am, 4 am or 5 am turning on her and brother's light and playing.  She says that she wants to play and is ready for the day.  She doesn't say that she has had bad dreams.  So I am not really sure what is causing these night/early morning wakings.  All I do know is that this is not working for us.  Ha.  She and her brother share a room.  She wakes her brother up and gives him stuff to play with while she plays with her princesses.  She also gives him the wipes, which he then proceeds to take all of the wipes out of the package and play with them in his crib.  It is a mess, sort of funny, but after a pattern of many nights/mornings of this it is no longer funny.  Anyone have any ideas what causes this and what we should do for the future?  I actually think it is all our beautiful daughter and that she is waking her brother up.  I do not think he is waking up on his own.  What do we do about this?!!  HELP!!!  ;)

The Violence of Christmas

The Violence of Christmas

Loved this reminder especially after reading through Daniel Chapter 10 with some friends.  This ties in great with what we read.

Meditating on the Mundane

"If God doesn't rule your mundane, then he doesn't rule you.  Because that's where you live."  Paul Tripp

Often times I think that I need to get through the mundane tasks in my daily life to really meet with my Father and commune with him.  What a lie!  God is teaching me in the mundane tasks.  That is where he is sanctifying me and molding me more into the image of his Son.  My motivation for the mundane should be God's love for me and Jesus' love for me by his death on the cross to pay for my sins.  I don't always have the right attitude in my service to my family and those around me, but my Father is teaching me that by focusing my thoughts and intentions on who He is and what He has already accomplished for me, then I can experience great joy in the mundane.  Because of His love.  He is interceding for me and pleading my case.  I have no guilt in life and no fear in death.  Praise His Name.  

Life Updates

1.  It has been a REALLY long time since I have updated this blog.

2.  Our life has been very crazy since the last time I updated this blog.

3.  We found out that we were pregnant since the last time I updated this blog, SURPRISE!!

4.  I have had the flu, either a bacterial infection or parasites, and a bad head cold/sinus infection in the last 2 months.  Craziness.  Weakened immune system?!

5.  We moved/relocated since that last time I updated this blog.

6.  We have settled into our new apartment and celebrated Thanksgiving with some great people on a retreat outside of the city.  A very encouraging and needed time.

7.  We are excited about Christmas, decorated the house, reading John Piper's Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent.  It is encouraging stuff.

8.  We are looking forward to our Christmas break and are hoping to get out, meet people, and explore the city.

9.  The sun doesn't shine here and it doesn't become light outside until 9:30 or 10 ish.  It is definitely dark by 5 pm, maybe earlier.

10.  I am a very tired momma these days.  Growing a baby and having two little kids is very tiring, add to that the fact that it is VERY cold and dark outside, makes this momma never want to get out of bed in the morning.

11.  The other night I feel asleep from 7 pm to 9pm.  That just shows what living in an urban setting can do to you with travel time, language learning and growing a baby.


Ok those are the high points of the last 6 months.  Now here's to trying to keep up better with the blog.   Oh, and we have a reliable internet.  YAY!!!  That is of utmost importance to staying connected with you all!  So sing and clap with me!!!  WAHOOO!!!  Until next time.  

We Moved, again!

Most of you know that we have moved, again, for the third time in less than two years.  It is a little hard to believe at times that we have only been living overseas for two years.  After all we have seen and experienced, it feels like we have been living overseas for at least 5 years, maybe more.  Haha.  It seems pretty surreal that we have actually moved to a new city to live here for the next year and a half.  We are living in the capital of our country.  It is a HUGE city of about 12 to 15 million.  This is also where we came when Elias was born.  We were here for three months and maybe that is why this all still seems very surreal and temporary.  I keep feeling like we are going to go back to our old city after a couple of months, but we will be here until we go back to the States for 6 months.  This is a huge adjustment for us.  We are having to learn to live in a very large city, take public transportation with two small kids, and have an urban, fast-paced lifestyle.  In January, Matt will start teaching English to a company here.  We are still trying to figure out our schedule, our lives, and how everything is going to fit together.  We will get there though.  We have been very encouraged since our relocation.  Being surrounded by people who are encouraging and spur you on is invaluable.  We stay very busy here, but I love the people we work with and what we are doing.  Father is teaching us a lot, and he is with us.  If there is one thing that we have learned since living overseas, it is that he is so faithful, and he will never leave us nor forsake us.  He is carrying us through this journey.  

WE'RE BACK!!!!

Surprisingly and shockingly we made it back into our host country.  We are now in our city and back in our apartment.  The kids are loving being home.  They love seeing their friends, toys that were left here, and their room.  We still need to get registered, so nothing is 100%.  We are taking it one day at a time and counting each day as a blessing.  We are so thankful that our Father answered many requests to get us here, and even if it is not long lived we are still thankful that we all were allowed in together and will be together in whatever comes our way.  We had a great vacation, and I can't wait to post some pictures from our trip and from Elias's first birthday party.  We loved visiting with family and friends.  We are so thankful that we had the opportunity to go "home" for a few weeks and attend my brother's wedding.  We are feeling rejuvenated and refreshed and ready to begin life here again.  I am feeling more motivated and excited about getting back into a fresh and new routine.  I am excited about becoming more disciplined in my use of time and getting out more.  I am also happy to announce that I have weaned Elias.  This will free up some more of my time throughout the day.  But, for now we must get over jet lag.  Today we ALL slept in until 11 am.  Elias is teething and has an awful diaper rash.  He is also very fussy and cranky and is not sleeping very well.  He is waking up in the middle of the night for hours, maybe another reason why we all slept until 11 am.  Please lift us up during this time! Pictures are sure to come soon!  

The time it takes just to live life

I could write a book on that one.  If you are wondering where I have been lately, and I know that some of you are, I have honestly just been living life making it through one day at a time.  My normal everyday routine is busy and takes a lot of time.  It takes more time to run errands since most of it is done on foot with two beautiful little kids, more time to cook, more time to do laundry and hang everything up because we don't have a dryer, cleaning is done more often from living in a place where you need the windows open all the time and dust and dirt often fills the house more quickly, more time and effort to talk, study, meet people, etc.  Not to mention that I still have a baby who is nursing.   It can get overwhelming at times.  There is never enough time in the day to meet all the demands placed on me either from myself, family, or others.  I could go through my days feeling like a failure before they even begin, living in tyranny of the clock, or I could focus my efforts on the praise of my King and what is accomplished or done that day is done for Him.  My, how I need this shift in my attitude on most days!  That is why I am so thankful for the Word to remind me and point me back again to my need of the gospel and it's power in my everyday life.  I have been encouraged lately in the gospel and asking God to break me again and again, to humble me and remind me that I cannot prove myself to others or to him.  I don't need to earn approval because Jesus has already earned the favor of the King for me.  I need to live in His power and strength everyday and I want to live a life that His praise is always on my lips and in my actions and then that would naturally flow out from me to others.  Ministry is not something that has hours set to it.  It is a lifestyle.  It is everyday situations.  It cannot be compartmentalized.  It is an overflow of our hearts.  I am letting the gospel rain down afresh over me, and I hope that it will flow out from me to others I am around and come into contact with.

"The gospel is a word; so the church must be word-centered. The gospel is a missionary word; so the church must be mission-centered. The gospel is good news. It is a word to be proclaimed. It is a message. You cannot be committed to the gospel without being committed to proclaiming that gospel.

The church exists both through the gospel and for the gospel.

The problem is the gap between our rhetoric and the reality of our practice. The continual challenge for us is to apply this principle to church life and ministry without compromise." Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

I don't want there to be a gap in my life.  I want to put to action what is already true in my own life.  I want to put feet, and hands, and lips, breath, and voice to it.  Please pray this over me and our family.

Here is a song by Sara Groves that has also encouraged me lately as well, it is called Finite:  It is a great reminder that I am finite and I will come to an end.  It helps me to keep the most important things in the forefront of my mind.

I'm not every woman
It's not all in me
I’m proud and guarded
When it comes to my needs
Try to keep the whole thing rolling
Try to keep an on time train
This frenetic fascination's
Really driving me insane
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?

What God meant by woman
I’m hard pressed to find
I'm chasing paper dreams
And a guilt undefined
Fighting to stay younger
Trying to stay thin and in control
Searching for a magic formula
A thing to soothe our souls
Wonderin' where the peace went
Wonderin' where the peace went
Wonderin' where the peace went

I'm finite I come to an end
I'm finite I come to an end

Try to keep the whole thing rollin'
Try to keep an on time train
This frenetic fascination's
Really drivin' me insane
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?

I'm finite, I come to an end
I’m finite, I cannot pretend
I'm finite, I come to an end
I’m finite, I cannot pretend