Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

Yes, you didn’t misread the title.  Personally, one of the biggest things God spoke into my life while in Trujillo was the fact that I had gotten lazy about discipling and showing spiritual discipline to my own kids. What I saw in Peru As I saw how kids were able to, through the IncaLink ministries, learn to not just love God, and respect God, but to also develop ‘spiritual muscles’ in the form of Bible verse memorization, relays on finding Bible Passages, Reading the Word out loud, with pride, and with conviction and talking about things that come from God, I felt God was giving me a glimpse at my own life. Flashbacks I felt I went through time…and one of those girls was me.  I remembered how more matured Christians had invested in my life to show me about what being a disciple was all about.  I remembered how God used these people to show me vulnerability, community, but most of all, discipline, hard work, and focus.  They pushed me to study God’s word...

God is always at work.  The issue is whether we are developing an ability to see what He is doing. I’ve been asking God if He might use me in a cross cultural setting again after all these years being a stay at home mom and learning what missional living is and isn’t locally.  But for a few years now, the answer seemed to be “stay put” Then this year, as I started asking the same question again, looking forward to summer plans, our church’s missions team contacted me and asked me if I would consider leading a team to Latin America. As I thought about it, and prayed about it, the time seemed right and after a few weeks of thinking, praying and discussions with my husband, we decided to say yes.  Even though I could see how He had been preparing the way – my eyes have seen so much more about what living on mission for God here locally is in the last few years – my faith didn’t seem strong enough to just go.  After all, this happened right before I had foot surge...

This short term missions trip is more than learning from God.  It is more than learning about team building.  It is more than just growing spiritual and it is definitely more than just doing some ‘good work’ so that we can report our trip was ‘worth it’ One of the things we continue to feel called to is to partner and share.  Sharing and partnering is humbling.  It reveals in us our desires to control, our pride, and our impatience Sharing and partnering with others has been challenging to me.  I’ll be honest.  There has been many moments where I let frustration and my sinful desire to ‘do great things for God’ take over me.  But over and over again the Spirit prompts me to fall down on my knees and to surrender it all to Him.  All of it. And then, one night, as I got home late, I saw a piece of paper and some stickers beside my bed.  The kids had gone to bed and I didn’t get to say good night, but my daughter had managed to say good-n...

I started this post on Day 1 of our STM but never got a chance to finish  it…. ************** It has been a crazy 24 hours.  Last night our team met one last time before our trip and we spent some time just praying.  I was reminded of the book of James and the admonition to pray with the right motives, to submit to God,  and to the promise that Satan will flee from us if we resist him.  We prayed that God would use us, and that if it meant for God to put us in uncomfortable situations, so be it. Little did I know that in following 24 hours my faith would be stretched beyond expectations and that I will see a glimpse at the Lord anew, in new light, in more depth Our son had been increasingly complaining of stomachaches in the last couple of days.  Although at first we thought it was his normal ‘tummy aches’ I noticed that they seemed to be getting worse.  By Thursday noon (I was supposed to be on the flight to Peru Friday afternoon), a d...

I just thought this was an interesting essay my son just submitted for school...perhaps we could learn a thing or two about sharing with others! How to Give a Successful Fundraiser Have you ever felt sorry for the people on the streets, or wanted to help a person in need?  Do you have a family member who is sick but doesn’t have enough money to  pay for a doctor?  Good morning/afternoon honorable judges, teachers, and fellow students.  My name is S...L.... and I would like to share with you my speech on how to have a successful fundraiser.  The above examples are sometimes reasons that cause us to want to raise money.  Some tips I will be highlighting today are on how to clarify your reasons and goals, how to setup a fundraiser and how to handle your money.    The first tip when preparing for a fundraiser is to know your reasons and goals.  Without a reason a fundraiser would be pointless.  First, you must set a goal f...

Last week was  Chin Ming  or Tomb Sweeping Day.  For years I'd wondered what a Christian response to this Chinese tradition ought to be.  When I was younger, this was not an issue. Growing up overseas, and being mostly among Christians, it seemed my parents had decided to completely bury this festival.  As a result, I grew up with mythological ideas of what it was, but with very few facts. As I grew up and met more friends of Chinese origin, I started learning about their traditions and the very real challenges they faced in venerating the dead and complying with family expectations versus church expectations.  I also started noticing a lack of conversation about the topic.  Instead, it felt more like an either or choice. In fact, what ended up happening was that every individual struggled through the decision and went through it behind closed doors.   I believe there was/is a stigma in our church culture - mentioning your struggle over th...

Everyone wants to feel they matter. Right? I've been feeling quite down in the last month.  Up and down, up and down. And I was getting tired of sharing with people.  I got tired of feeling like I'm the only one who struggles.  I know that is not true, and people even share with me how much they are encouraged when they hear people like me (cause I'm not the only one) share because it reminds us all that we are never alone. But after a while...it can very easily feel like you are always the one who "doesn't have it all together" And soon after, you begin to feel like people care out of sympathy rather than love.                    Would they care if you didn't say anything?                 Would they care even when you don't really have a crisis? So, I stopped sharing; or I tried to.  I stopped not because I had it together, but because I was tired of being the on...

My kids are growing...and growing very fast.  All of a sudden, a decade has passed and whereas I began this journey counting, quite literally, the hours and days, now I'm finding myself wishing the clock would just slow down. I just tucked my daughter to bed and I couldn't help it.  I snuggled with her.  I hugged her.  I wrapped myself around her and she around me.  And I whispered in her ear:  "you are growing so fast" as if saying it more will slow down the clock. I smell her and try to glue it into my memory, part of me fearing I'll forget this some day.  I am taking note of how her features are changing.  I notice I am no longer needing to kneel down to speak to her eye to eye. And I thank God we are still in the cuddly stage.  She hugs me back.  She runs to me when I come home.  She tells me "I miss you" and she says "I don't want to grow up either".  We can count how many nights we have spent away from the kids in...