Our Family Circus

I will be honest, I am not a "holiday" person really.   If I had to pick a favorite holiday it would be St. Patrick's Day because God gifted us with a pink, loud, opinionated,  chubby cheeked little girl on that day.    We enjoy celebrating our children and making them feel special and encouraging them to make others feel special on holidays.   It just seems like a great time to show His LOVE to others.   Valentine's Day honestly is the hardest holiday for me.   It may have something to do with years working at a flower shop or the world telling me that I "needed" someone on this day as a high-schooler and not having anyone.   Perhaps I dislike it because  when I did have "somebody" to be my so called Valentine, we just hurt one another because.....well, we were kids and had no business being in that kind of relationship.   Anyway, it is just not my...

When we first moved to Indiana, My Dear had Fridays off of work.   It quickly became my favorite day of the week.   He was home or at least with us!   My love language is acts of service and his being home meant extra hands with the babies or a task accomplished at home.   It was all good and he even got to sleep in on those days! It is a 6 day work week here on the mission and the 7th day is "on call."   It is, what it is!   Much like a nurse, doctor. pastor, police officer, fireman..... if something happens, they have to be there!   For My Dear it could be issues with our water supply or transportation to and from the airport.   If someone passes away there will be a knock on the door for a coffin and he will need to take care of that.  Any range of things really! Sunday is a day that much of the mission is shut down with the exception of the playground and zoo which is managed by a guard....

A few years ago, I was challenged to choose one word for the year.   I prayed about the word and asked the Lord to reveal it to me.   He gave me the word LESS.   In LESS,  I was to purge my life.   I assumed much of that was physical stuff that cluttered our home but as the year played out God showed me oh so much more that needed to be purged.   My heart was a mess.   I was holding onto stuff that needed to go.   My year of LESS actually was 2 years long! After 2 years of LESS, God laid on my heart to LOVE.   As I think back, LESS was hard but to LOVE was just as hard.   I had healed quite a bit through the season of LESS and now God was going to teach me to LOVE.   It started with a young man that  needed a place to stay due to domestic violence.   It brought new challenges having a teenager in our home and setting boundaries to protect our younger c...

The children have been studying England and Queen Victoria.   It was suggested that we have high tea.   That sounds great but in the scheme of things, pulling off a high tea would be a lot of work for me and something I would have to study and learn more about to actually do.   BUT, God put someone very special in our lives to pull this off with class and charm. Queen Elsa, the original Elsa, sent an invite for a high tea to the ladies of our home.   Elsa is Austrian so her knowledge was far greater than mine on the topic and she has WAY more class than I do. The girls dressed up fancy for their tea with Queen Elsa.   We were quite the parade walking across the mission with Dolly clanking along in my heeled shoes.   A driver even stopped to pick them up (walk beside them.)   James is his name..........yep, can't make this stuff up Queen Elsa and James the driver.   Elsa greeted them at her "mo...

Saturday is a work day on the mission making it a 6 day work week.   My Dear drove a team to the airport but stopped at the grocery store on the way home.   I work Saturdays on the mission as well completing projects.   Today was no different.  When I got home from working in the dirty depot sorting through linens, I was a bit overwhelmed by the condition of the house where 3 unattended children had made sandwiches, opened mail,  and did whatever kids do and left the evidence!   I was a bit hungry but could not function in chaos....I hear it is a sign of a weak mind if a person has to clean up so they can work...if so my mind is WEAK y'all!   I also had exchanged only a few words with My Dear throughout the day, maybe even the past couple of days. We needed to make some decisions but being able to talk without interruptions or input was becoming difficult.   We were talking in the kitchen ...

I was surprised to see that it has been over a month since I posted.   You know what the means, our lives are becoming normal!   Things do not seem as "note worthy" as they did.   The smells and sounds are more normal.  I am no longer awaken by the 6 am service at church.   I no longer smell corn from open fires roasted or even smell cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven at the bakery at the top of the hill ( not sure if that is good or bad!)  The routine is more normal.  The children have a good idea of what their boundaries and limitations are on the mission.   Faces are becoming familiar too....which is all good!!! About a month ago, we learned that there were items to be  picked up at the docks that had came over on a ship for the mission.   It was assumed, it was the vehicle we purchased.   WAIT, let me back track.  Early October, My Dear made a quick trip t...

After 5 months......I think we are settled! We are no longer in survival mode with weekly tears of missing our church, our house, our neighborhood, our friends, our familiar.....well.... for the most part.    We pull a chair up to the sink for Miss B. to fulfill her dish-duty-day.   The water and soap were ready but Miss B. was sitting in the chair with big tears.   I talked with her about why she was crying.   She said, "I want to go home."   As I hugged her, I asked why and she said through her tears, "I want a dishwasher."   I giggled through my hug and realized......We have come a long way!   We have missed "home" but God is certainly remaking home for us.   I am thankful for the precious memories and the joy the kids have when they think of the brick home on the dead end street that we lived in...really, it was PERFECT for us just like it is perfect for the sweet family that is ther...