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 [...]
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Whether you are feeling overwhelmed as a mother to young children or tired from the constant motion or weary from the same battle, I hope this post will be an encouragement. I took a bit of a risk in reading the post aloud, after I wrote it. Sometimes flesh-and-blood trumps black-and-white, and hopefully you won’t [...]
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This post about grieving the loss of a father, is dedicated to my mother, who clung-anyway, my secondfather, who truly stepped-in, and my three siblings, who are cut-from-the-same-cloth. My daughter is seven-years-old. She’s dramatic and beautiful and sensitive. She thinks about kittens and is saving money to buy a horse. She loves to dance. She’s [...]
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Oh, the beauty {and comedy} of a child’s imagination. It truly is a gift to watch from front row. Or, in this case, to be invited onto the stage with. The following is a verbatim account of a pool conversation I had recently with my creative {and dramatic} seven-year-old . . . The Mermaid {Setting: [...]
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If you’ve followed here for any amount of time, you’ve probably gathered that my son has an aversion to Thai food. It’s not that he just prefers french fries over the local cuisine; it’s that he literally has the gag reflex when he so-much-as smells green curry. Believe it or not, we’ve even had at-the-table [...]
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Tuesday afternoon, I watched him lug the suitcase behind him down the stairs. The zippers were stretched from items crammed within and a blue light saber was tucked into the outside pocket. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach, and I knew the answer before I asked it. “Where ya going, buddy?” And [...]
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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 [...]
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“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, [...]
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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 [...]
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In between the pictures, there are dirty feet I have to scrub and mosquito bites I need to tend. There are complaints on the long car ride and on the rice, again, for dinner. In between the photos, there are lonely days at home, with a quiet telephone and a noisy heart. There is boredom [...]
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It happens to every new mother, every young married, and every “missionary.” The luster fades, the honeymoon is over, and the grit of daily life sets in. The glowing romance fades into dull reality. The baby cries too much at night. The new husband has bad breath in the morning. Shopping at markets becomes a hassle and [...]
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ALifeOverseas.com / LauraParkerBlog.com.
My family is living overseas in Thailand, where my husband is directing a Christian Humanitarian Foundation. This blog is the honest recording of our journey– squatty potties and all. 
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Destined Traveler.
Mentoring Young Adults, Hosting Teams, Educating about Human Trafficking.
