Today I was outside hanging our laundry on our clothes line, and the Lord brought to my mind a blog post I had written a couple of years ago. It was about how Africa was our fourth child { obviously written before the birth of Harper Praise}. I made comparisons about being pregnant with Africa, and loving the country and the people there before I had even met them, just as a mother is with her unborn child.
This next part is so amazing {and funny} to me. I felt like He told me that I had had my first all natural delivery of one of my babies. Let me explain. With all four of my children I have been induced. They would break my water and then right away give me an epidural {gasp!}. This says two things about me, {one} I am a very inpatient person and {two} if there is a way to avoid pain, I will take it. All of my labors were very quick, easy, and pain free. But not this one. :)
The delivery of my "fifth child" was the complete opposite. It was long, painful, and at times seemed unbearable. I had a picture today of a woman in labor, screaming at her husband to please make it stop, the pain is too much she can't handle it anymore. Then I remember may times over our first few months here begging Brian to please take me home, the pain is too much, I can't handle it anymore. The pain of dying to myself, the pain of realizing how many idols I held onto, the pain of the loss of our old lives. Then I thought about a woman in labor with no pain medicine, and how the only thing that gets her through is the fact that at the end she will get to hold her precious new baby. Even through the pain of the first few months I knew {even when I didn't want to admit it} that if I stuck it out, it would all be worth it, the pain would be worth it. Woman who are preparing for an all natural delivery mentally prepare for what is coming, because they know there is no way around the pain, it is just a part of the process. For the first time in my life, I couldn't rush things, or turn to Brian to fix everything. It was just me and God, and although it was ugly at times, the birth is over and has turned into something amazingly wonderful. I love my life here. It seems crazy to me to remember how much of a struggle it used to be, because now it just feels so natural and easy.
If you are in the hard labor stages, be encouraged!! Cling to Christ! He is more than able to bring us out of any situation or trial!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
God is so amazing. I mean SO amazing. We had no clue about New Life Foundation when we picked up our lives to move to Africa, and now, New Life is the main focus of our ministry here in Tanzania. The kids at New Life have completely stolen our hearts, and I know the deep love and joy I have for them is straight from the Lord. We know full well THEY all are the reason we are in Tanzania!
The kids from grade six down to nursery are getting ready to go to their home villages for a holiday. Even though 70% of the children at New Life are considered orphans here in Tanzania, they still have some form of relative to return to during this holiday, which will last a month. We have been working a lot with the 6th grade lately, and a couple of the girls in that class have really stolen Brian and I's hearts in particular. When we found out that one of them had no where to go during the holiday, we knew right away we wanted to have her come stay with us. Well, then we found out that another girl very precious to us had nowhere to go either, so we knew right away we wanted to have her come and stay with us as well. Then we found out there was only one girl in grade six left with no where to go, so we knew there was no way we could leave her behind. So one turned into three. :) We have come to find out that all three girls are from the same village. The village is very far away {takes one full day to travel to} and very unreached. They have tried to send local African missionaries to go and minister to them, but it was even too overwhelming for them to handle living there. Their tribe kills their food daily, or they don't eat. They don't live in homes, they live in what was described to us as nest like things. If the girls ever do go home for a visit, they must have a chaperone go with them, otherwise there is a very high chance they will be married off and not able to return {remember they are 13!!!!}. We feel so beyond blessed to have this opportunity, and are excited to see our relationships with these precious girls grow. We are praying to see trust levels increase as they spend more time with us, and to have some amazing times of ministry with them in our home. They are really some of the sweetest girls in the world, we feel so blessed that this is our lives. Our kids are THRILLED, and will wear the older girls out I am sure!
The kids from grade six down to nursery are getting ready to go to their home villages for a holiday. Even though 70% of the children at New Life are considered orphans here in Tanzania, they still have some form of relative to return to during this holiday, which will last a month. We have been working a lot with the 6th grade lately, and a couple of the girls in that class have really stolen Brian and I's hearts in particular. When we found out that one of them had no where to go during the holiday, we knew right away we wanted to have her come stay with us. Well, then we found out that another girl very precious to us had nowhere to go either, so we knew right away we wanted to have her come and stay with us as well. Then we found out there was only one girl in grade six left with no where to go, so we knew there was no way we could leave her behind. So one turned into three. :) We have come to find out that all three girls are from the same village. The village is very far away {takes one full day to travel to} and very unreached. They have tried to send local African missionaries to go and minister to them, but it was even too overwhelming for them to handle living there. Their tribe kills their food daily, or they don't eat. They don't live in homes, they live in what was described to us as nest like things. If the girls ever do go home for a visit, they must have a chaperone go with them, otherwise there is a very high chance they will be married off and not able to return {remember they are 13!!!!}. We feel so beyond blessed to have this opportunity, and are excited to see our relationships with these precious girls grow. We are praying to see trust levels increase as they spend more time with us, and to have some amazing times of ministry with them in our home. They are really some of the sweetest girls in the world, we feel so blessed that this is our lives. Our kids are THRILLED, and will wear the older girls out I am sure!
Friday, August 2, 2013
Prayers
Would you please pray for our family? This season of parenting our four young children is proving to be a way greater challenge than I ever expected. They are such good kids. With that being said, when you take four young kids away from everything they have ever known, and throw them into a new culture that is crazy different than their old lives, there are bound to be challenges. After six months on the field, emotions are starting to come up.
One of daughters will become very emotional and cry for an hour at a time. She misses her friends and family at home. She is only six, and doesn't fully know how to express what she if feeling, so it bottles up until something sets her off and then has an emotional melt down. Unfortunately, I totally understand how she feels, I do the exact same thing. :) She will cry and cry because she just wants a baby doll, and how do you explain to a six and five year old, there is no Target here to go and get one? You can't really. There have been many tears over the last four weeks from all four kids.
Harper Praise is now two and a half. We have never really experienced the terrible twos until now. I know I have let her get away with way more than I should since being here, but mommy guilt is a very hard thing to deal with sometimes. Harper gets an unreal amount of attention here. Obviously, we stick out very easily because of our white skin. Throw in Harper's beautiful red & curly hair, mix in a little of her Swahili, and that girl is literally mobbed every where we go. Culture here is very different. It is very common for people to just grab Harper out of my hands and try to walk off. Harper will have none of that though, and she screams and screams. People have even taken her out of our car through her window a couple of times. Not being rude, again just culture here. She is constantly {like every minute} being poked, prodded, hair stroked, etc. People laugh here all the time, so now she thinks they are always laughing at her. She gets upset often, saying, "Mommy, they laughing at me again." Try explaining to your two year old they aren't laughing at you, it is just culture honey. She cries a lot, mostly it seems out of anger and frustration.
We had lots of help at home. My parents lived right across the street from us, and were a part of our daily lives, every day. Now I am lucky if I talk to them a totally of 45 minutes total every week, and that is really hard. Going from being a financially self-sufficient family, to completely living off of support is proving to be quiet the transition as well.
Do I say all of this to complain and grumble? Absolutely not. It is never easy to expose our weaknesses to others, but honestly we covet your prayers!! We love what we are doing here, and are thankful for this calling on our lives. That doesn't mean there aren't hard times though. :)
I guess from all of that you can pray for us in the following areas,
*Supernatural love, supernatural peace, supernatural patience for Brian and I as we parent our kids during this harder season in our lives
*Our kids emotions to stabilize, that they would find words to express how they feel to us before emotional break downs occur
*Wisdom for Bri and I, and for our marriage to stay strong and unmoved by everything going on around us
One of daughters will become very emotional and cry for an hour at a time. She misses her friends and family at home. She is only six, and doesn't fully know how to express what she if feeling, so it bottles up until something sets her off and then has an emotional melt down. Unfortunately, I totally understand how she feels, I do the exact same thing. :) She will cry and cry because she just wants a baby doll, and how do you explain to a six and five year old, there is no Target here to go and get one? You can't really. There have been many tears over the last four weeks from all four kids.
Harper Praise is now two and a half. We have never really experienced the terrible twos until now. I know I have let her get away with way more than I should since being here, but mommy guilt is a very hard thing to deal with sometimes. Harper gets an unreal amount of attention here. Obviously, we stick out very easily because of our white skin. Throw in Harper's beautiful red & curly hair, mix in a little of her Swahili, and that girl is literally mobbed every where we go. Culture here is very different. It is very common for people to just grab Harper out of my hands and try to walk off. Harper will have none of that though, and she screams and screams. People have even taken her out of our car through her window a couple of times. Not being rude, again just culture here. She is constantly {like every minute} being poked, prodded, hair stroked, etc. People laugh here all the time, so now she thinks they are always laughing at her. She gets upset often, saying, "Mommy, they laughing at me again." Try explaining to your two year old they aren't laughing at you, it is just culture honey. She cries a lot, mostly it seems out of anger and frustration.
We had lots of help at home. My parents lived right across the street from us, and were a part of our daily lives, every day. Now I am lucky if I talk to them a totally of 45 minutes total every week, and that is really hard. Going from being a financially self-sufficient family, to completely living off of support is proving to be quiet the transition as well.
Do I say all of this to complain and grumble? Absolutely not. It is never easy to expose our weaknesses to others, but honestly we covet your prayers!! We love what we are doing here, and are thankful for this calling on our lives. That doesn't mean there aren't hard times though. :)
I guess from all of that you can pray for us in the following areas,
*Supernatural love, supernatural peace, supernatural patience for Brian and I as we parent our kids during this harder season in our lives
*Our kids emotions to stabilize, that they would find words to express how they feel to us before emotional break downs occur
*Wisdom for Bri and I, and for our marriage to stay strong and unmoved by everything going on around us
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