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When You Become an Awful Person
“What happens when trying to follow Jesus turns you into an awful person?” This was the honest question Matt and I talked about last night on our downstairs couch, in the 15 minute-window we had where the kids were asleep and we had the energy to talk about the important. It was a question born [...]
Continue reading...Confessions of Today
3. September 2010
Today I expected too much of my children. I swore in my head when my toddler dripped spaghetti, and then I swore out loud when I dropped the keys in the dirt. Today I rolled my eyes when a Thai woman asked to photo our {sweaty, tired} blonde family. And then I smiled-plastic, and I [...]
Continue reading...Two Men and a Swimming Pool
25. August 2010
I’ve watched two men struggle to keep afloat. My little man, Cade, is barely a whole handful of years. Last week, we logged countless pool hours during our vacation to Pattaya in Southern Thailand. And Cade was determined to swim. In the deep end. He desperately wanted the freedom to be a contender in the [...]
Continue reading...Practically Speaking {Coffee Table Toy}
23. August 2010
Boredom in the midst of plethora. That’s the story around these parts all too often. Somehow the equation goes a little like this: 3 small children + 8 hrs. at home + infinite toys = “Mom, we don’t have anything to do.” Somehow when the matchbox cars and Connect Four game are hidden in the [...]
Continue reading...Post-Vacay
19. August 2010
“Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?” “So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.” – selected verses from psalm 126, 127 {the Message} I unpack the suitcases and shake out the sand. I run to the store and stock up on veggies, [...]
Continue reading...Destined to Move, Again.
24. July 2010
A Later Note: After I wrote this, I got to thinking that a post like this may communicate that you have it “easy” if you are called to stay in the same place, to develop roots and routines. Please know that I believe the planting is just as challenging (in different ways) as the moving. [...]
Continue reading...30-Day Flirt Challenge {Wanna Try?}
12. July 2010
Do you have thirty days of flirt hiding somewhere in your marriage? Would you rather view your spouse as a romantic love instead of a comfortable roommate? Consider committing together to the 30-Day Flirt Challenge. It may not be as exciting as the 30 Days of Sex challenge, but {personally} I think it is much more attainable. Pop over [...]
Continue reading...Snapshots of a Mom
5. July 2010
I have snapshots of my mother stored away in the photo album of my 30-something-year-old memory. There’s the picture of her singing resolutely “It is Well With My Soul” at a funeral- my dad’s, a 35 year-old father to four. Then there’s the picture of a gaunt face and a bald head- hers this time, as [...]
Continue reading...On Parenting and the Line-up
25. June 2010
We all make millions of choices in life. We choose where we live and what job we take. We choose the spouse we marry, for better or for worse, and we choose what movie we watch on a Friday night, again, for better or for worse. We humans take great pleasure and comfort in being [...]
Continue reading...Vows from Another Decade
30. May 2010
Eleven years ago today, I wore white and held flowers and cried as I promised these words, I, Laura, take you, Matt, to be my treasured husband. By the grace of God, I promise to respect your spiritual leadership in our home. I desire to encourage you in your dreams and to support you in whatever [...]
Continue reading...A Letter to My Children
1. May 2010
I am sitting outside of a coffeeshop while Matt takes the kids swimming. It’s my first true “time away” by myself with a computer, my music, and a few books. And I’m sitting here wandering what I’m needing to hear whispered, what I’m needing to process about the last few months of chaos, what I’m [...]
Continue reading...Top Seven Ways to Survive an Insanely Long Plane Trip with Small Children
13. April 2010
I’m not saying I am any kind of expert, but if you have a long plane ride in your future with small children, here are a few things I’ve learned . . . 1. Three Words: Ben. A. Dryl. 2. Take Walks. Really. Up and down the aisles and trips to the bathroom [...]
Continue reading...Costly
8. April 2010
I won’t lie, this has been the hardest thing our family has ever done. Hands down. The hardest thing we’ve ever done. And maybe that proves that we’ve lived a bit of a cake-walk life thus far, but this past week has been much tougher than we imagined while viewing it from the mountains of [...]
Continue reading...Where Your Story Begins
23. March 2010
“Home is where your story begins.” It’s a sign that’s been hanging over my kitchen sink since I can remember. It’s been a reminder to me of the power of story and the power of the home I am helping to create for my kids. And today it randomly got taken down and placed on [...]
Continue reading...Wallowing
7. March 2010
I had a hard day today. Disappointment. Miscommunication. Delays. Other than a super-cute new haircut (thanks, MB), things were a disaster. The chaos of moving overseas mixed with the weariness of parenting sick children left me feeling like I began the day, behind. The list seemed overwhelming and the plan for the morning became quickly skewed by errands [...]
Continue reading...LOVE
14. February 2010
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I am reposting this lesson learned in February last year. Here’s to hoping I am learning to love a little better now than I was then . . . The Lesson for My Kids. As often happens in “teaching” my kids, I seem to learn more than I impart. This week [...]
Continue reading...Jesus in a Photo Album
1. February 2010
“My stomach hurts,” she mumbled. For the second day in a row, my six-year-old was complaining of stomach aches–but only when my attention was needed someplace other than her direction. My gut instinct as a mom was that she was making herself feel physically sick, as a way of dealing with the increased stress in [...]
Continue reading...Some Days
28. January 2010
Some days are not about accomplishing anything extraordinary. They are simply about trying to endure the ordinary. Some days as a mother are not about instilling quality character traits or creating memories full of laughter for your children. Some are just about making it to bedtimes without totally losing it on them. Some days are not about exceptional [...]
Continue reading...On Being Enough
5. January 2010
When I think of the needs that will be before me as our family moves to Thailand . . . the college girls who will be away from home and needing a motherly mentor the young girls who will need lots of hugs and smiles and English lessons my own children’s hearts and minds as [...]
Continue reading...Catastrophe on the Escalator
3. January 2010
(click to enlarge) Highlights of our expedition to the fancy-shmancy Broadmoor Hotel to gawk at the gingerbread houses and Christmas decorations . . . 1. Having Ava and Cade get soaked at the Wishing Pool Fountain in one of the lounges (See picture above. And, yes, that is our two-year-old’s entire arm submerged in the water as [...]
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WELCOME
My family is currently living overseas in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where my husband is directing a Christian Orphanage for girls. This blog is the honest recording of our journey. Spiritual. Authentic. Funny. Global. Welcome to a Life Overseas.
Video from the Field
THREE MONTHS in THIRTY SECONDS
Click here to view a powerful snapshot of our life and work in Thailand, thus far.
Places I'm Involved
Breanna's House of Joy and Joy to the World Outreach.
Loving Orphans and Equipping Leaders in Southeast Asia.
Destined Traveler.
Our Work in Thailand, Loving Orphans and Mentoring Students.
Tattered Couch.
Jesus-Spirituality. Outside Church Walls.
- Destined to Move, Again.
- Angry
- When You Become an Awful Person
- Beauty: Lessons From a Skinnier Woman
- Crappy Missionary
- Kelly @ Love Well: Man, I get this. I get it way down in my gut. ...
- Heather: Self pity is my greatest challenge. Having two sic...
- Laura: Wow--you definitely have a load, my friend. There...
- Tamara: OH! Love this post (yes, there is awfullness RIGH...
- Brenda Ragan: Dearest, When the awful in us is revealed, we see...
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6. September 2010
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