Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

What gives us clues that some things in life impacted us more than others?  How do you know some things mattered more than others?  Do you see how those impacts affected and shaped who you are? Have you ever gone on a missions trip or been in the field to do compassion work, whether it be with a Christian organization or charity? Have you ever wondered what was noticed ?  What really mattered to the people you came into contact with? What do they remember most? I have some very curious missional memories .  I grew up on the receiving end.  I grew up meeting people who had told us their homes were in Hong Kong, Canada and the United States.  I grew up meeting "foreigners".  We call them now MISSIONARIES or INTERNATIONAL WORKERS, but to me, they were just known by name. I grew up with LESS to offer and MORE to receive, and that allowed me to LEARN some valuable things about how to LIVE OUT LOUD for JESUS. At the time, I was only 8 or 10 and I spent p

I started teaching English as a Second Language in May of 2014.  That was a mere 5 years ago.  I had become a stay-at-home mother for 10 years before that but prior to that I was in the ESL field for almost 10 years.  Back then, I had never seen how God could use my profession as a mission field.  I knew God could use it.  I knew I was constantly in touch with people from around the world and people who didn't know the hope that comes from Jesus.  But looking back, it wasn't something that I 'registered'.  Then, God took all I knew away to teach me much about myself, life and His world when I became a mother.  So by the time I returned to the field, I had a very different worldview. I had a yearning that this was somehow a mission field.  But whereas my brain kept looking for 'opportunities' and saw missions as purely a series of 'projects', 'lesson plans with Bible message or content' and 'spiritually driven conversations', God ke

With all the pictures I share online about our camping adventures, one could easily go into the erroneous conclusion that I love camping.  Well, if I had to count all the ways I love camping, the list would be very very short. I don't like camping. Not really. Someone asked me this year and I started thinking about why I would continue planning these family camping trips when I naturally dislike the trips.  Believe me.  I did not get a straightforward answer but let me share what I've concluded. Let me count what I DISLIKE about camping: 1/  It requires a lot of planning, packing and cleaning 2/  It is not comfortable, no matter how much I try to make it so 3/  There are bugs! 4/  The washrooms do not smell great 5/  I am scared of going to the washroom in the middle of the night 6/  I am scared of the dark 7/  I am at the mercy of mother nature - heat waves, fire bans, thunderstorms, etc. 8/  There is a lot to clean up afterwards

PS: Someone told me they didn't realize what the title meant --The letters in  "CAMRY"  spell MY-CAR too. You've been with us for 14 years.  You have been our blessing and have served us so well.  You can never be replaced because there is no car like you. But the time has come for us to bid adieu.  We were in denial for almost 2 years...but it was time to let you go. It felt wrong.  It felt like we were abandoning you.  It felt like giving up on you. There was a bit of guilt But then I realized that the feelings were a sign of having had had a wonderful journey.  It is because we have shared so many memories, that the parting is hard.  It is because you have seen us grow as people, and as family, that acknowledging also the present moment was hard. You are family. You were always there for us in the summer My daughter and I decided it might be a good idea to write down our memories of you and so here I find myself reflecting on wha