May 28, 2011 | Stories, The Parenthood
I occasionally freak out. I recently discovered that I can get so weighed down under stress I feel like I might be sick. I crack my fingers (the way other people crack their knuckles) when I’m thinking, I comfort eat too often, and I am probably addicted to q-tips. (Not Q-Tip, the rapper, but the things you use to clean your ears. Just to clarify.)
And these days, every once in a while, though I’m doing a decent job of playing it cool, the mountains looming in front of us feel big. I sit across from Hero Hubs at Wimpy, where we drink a coffee and share a donut, and I stare at him with big, bewildered eyes, and he holds me steady with a phrase he’s been saying since our dating days:
God’s got us.
But I realise if I don’t tell you that this walk of faith doesn’t always look like me sitting on a sunny patch of grass somewhere pondering a proverb while both my boys are peacefully napping and fresh-baked cookies are cooling on a rack, you just won’t know. And the whisper might come your way that everyone else can handle stress, financial hardship, motherhood, or whatever life throws them without freaking out, except you.
And that’s a lie from the pit.
I had a deep conversation with a good friend recently where I shared a bit about some of the mountains we’re facing and trusting God to scale. When I told her that financially we weren’t really sure how this upcoming move was going to come together (though we trust that it will) and that we were in a hard place, she responded in a way I didn’t expect. She said “I’d be mad if I found out you were in a difficult situation and there was something I could’ve done to help but you didn’t tell me.”
It struck me as a completely logical statement, though I’d never thought of it that way before.
You see, the Hubs and I have raised our own support to do the ministry we’ve been doing here in South Africa, and before that in Scotland. Though a part of our support will come from Global Impact when he transitions to the new job in the US, we’ll still be raising support in order to reach a reasonable salary for his work. And after six years on the mission field, it sometimes gets harder to ask, rather than easier.
Even though it’s a calling, and developing a partnership team to help make your ministry possible is a part of the calling, it’s also a challenge, and sometimes it’s just plain hard. My emotions are as mixed up as the Bear’s toss-it-all-in toy box sometimes, when I’m just preparing to write a newsletter or make a phone call.
But it seems to me that this is a part of the process the Lord has been taking me on for a while. He says something, or does something, or somehow helps me through something. I share it with you, and it seems like the Lord is using it in both our lives, and that’s encouraging. I share because I think if I’m there, or I’ve been there, someone else probably is or has been, too. And then you’re kind enough to confirm my suspicions, and that sure is nice.
So there are two things I want to tell you today, because I’ve been reminded that if I don’t tell you, you won’t know. And I don’t want to make you mad because I didn’t tell you.
1. I freak out, too. Wherever you are and whatever you’re struggling through right now, know that you’re not alone. Be encouraged that life isn’t about always getting everything just right, and Motherhood isn’t graded on a curve. Everybody occasionally walks through circumstances that bring out a big, scared, stare-at-the-ceiling-how-the-heck-am-I-gonna-survive-this cry. And if you’re anything like me, and you like to “put your best face forward” please, please remember that you’ve gotta let your guard down sometimes. Be honest when it’s hard. Share. Bare that big beautiful soul.
And now, I shall follow my own advice.
2. We’re about to make a transcontinental move. Some doors are closing. Other doors are opening. The ones that are opening are on the other side of an ocean. It’s going to cost money we don’t have yet, but we are confident that God is going to provide. If you want to be a part of helping this missionary head to a new field, right at home, and bring her Legal Alien and little ones with her, it would be a blessing, indeed. You can find out the details for how to do so right here.
3. If you’re the praying kind, can I ask for your prayers? This transition sometimes feels like a fight on every front. It’s a spiritual battle. It’s an emotional struggle. It’s a financial challenge. We want to love and honour our parents, bless our children, and above all follow the Lord. Pray however you feel directed. We trust that as our prayers meet God’s power, God will make a way.
Whew. Glad I got that off my chest. So. Wanna go bake some cookies?
xCC
May 27, 2011 | The Good Word
Sometimes the road ahead looms long in front of me…and though I am celebrating the good that has come my way, I still feel like a marathon runner, on mile 23, facing an uphill I’m not sure I’m ready for.
Are you ever painfully aware of your weakness?
There are times when I look at the road ahead, and I recognise it’s the kind of road that can only be travelled one step at a time, one day at a time. Whether it’s the long road of parenthood, or the short uphill of a big move, being, by nature more of a sprinter, I struggle, wanting to hurry up and cross the finish line. But keeping a healthy pace is the only way to make it. When I think about it, I’m more aware than ever, only by the grace of God can I make it through.
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. {2 Cor. 2:9}
That is, the mystery which has been hidden from the {past} ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. {Col. 1:26-27}
Be encouraged if you’re not “feeling strong” today. To walk this road, you don’t have to be.
xCC
May 26, 2011 | An Expat, South Africa
Hi guys and gals! Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement! I heard from the Hubs this afternoon and his interview went swimmingly. He said they only asked about five questions and he was in and out in no time!
After copying a gabillion documents and stressing to get everything together, we are very pleased with this outcome! He can now legally live and work in the US, and I rather think that’s a good thing. And I’m so excited the Bear and I have already baked oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies to celebrate!
As you do.
I will now insert some delightfully happy photos of our now three month old to say thank you to you for your prayers and encouragement. We took some special three month ones to follow the series but they aren’t ready yet. So here are some others.
I don’t mean to brag but, did you know the Bumbo is a South African invention?
And did you know that this little South African-American boy is mine? tehe.
So Hero Hubs will be picking up visa at the consulate tomorrow, and then flying back to the Cape late tomorrow night. Good thing Goo-Goo and Gammy are here to help hold down the fort, hey? Now we just have to get ready for this big ol’ transcontinental move.
As you do.
Thanks for your prayers!
xCC
May 25, 2011 | An Expat
You think I’m joking, but I’m not. Despite all his wonderful qualities, in the eyes of the government of my homeland, the Hubs is my alien relative.
We’ve been in the process of sorting out that alien relative status for a couple of years now. I suppose it’s to be expected, really. Our family feels like a geography lesson. I’m from the USA, he’s from South Africa, we met in Scotland, he asked me to marry him in South Africa, our first born arrived on the scene in Edinburgh, and our second right here in SA {in 90 minutes or less!}. The Bear’s passport collection reminds me of Jason Bourne’s. Somebody was gonna have to get some government papers to get all this sorted out.
Tomorrow is a very important day for our little international family. Hero Hubs will be on his way to the Consulate in Johannesburg to get a spousal visa for the US. You know, in preparation for that transcontinental move I told you about. It would be nice if we returned to the US and he was able to stay legally for more than 90 days, and allowed to work, ya know, because we like to eat. And bake.
So I’d like to ask for your prayers for my alien relative of a Hero Hubs, if you’re the praying kind. {And even if you’re not and you want to try.} Please pray that everything will go smoothly with his flights and getting to the consulate, that he’ll have all the documents he needs and be granted the visa without a run-around, and that he’ll be able to pick up his visa the next day and head back down to Cape Town.
This is a reasonably trying time as our lives feel a bit like a balancing act at the moment. But God is meeting us around every corner, and I look forward to sharing more of that with you soon.
I’ll give you an update when I hear what happens! His interview is at noon tomorrow! Spanx for your encouragement, friends!
xCC
May 24, 2011 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays
Happy Tuesday and howzit? I want to share one of my favourite parts of South Africa with you this Travelling Tuesday (hence me inserting a bit of South African brogue right there). While there are a lot of favourite parts for me, today you can travel with me to enjoy some of this impressive country’s magnificent flowers! You won’t believe the incredible wild flowers you’ll see on a walk ’round these parts. (And… I’m back to Southern English.)
I explained once before ages ago, that the world is divided into six floral kingdoms, (geographic regions with relative uniformity of plant species) most of them stretching thousands of miles, covering countries and continents. But there’s just one very special tiny (in comparison) floral kingdom here, just on the southern tip of South Africa, called the Cape Floristic Kingdom. This tiny corner of our beautiful planet is packed full of over 8,700 plant species, and 68% of them are found here and nowhere else!
Nanny-nanny-boo-boo!
Want to see?
This lovely wild flower is stretching skyward atop Table Mountain!
What’s the story, Morning Glory? (On a Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal)
Another pretty wild one in KZN…
This birdie {a sunbird} is enjoying the Tecoma outside our place in Gordon’s Bay! Gorgeous hey? {You can buy his sweet mugshot here.}
I don’t know these names, but don’t they look like butter? Yummy.
I’m gonna call this one Mrs. Pineapple.
South Africa’s national flowers (and her national cricket team) are the proteas (of which there are several varieties.) Here are some on a nature reserve in Somerset West. (They’re three on the left–look familiar?)
Caution! There are wild orchids running rampant in KZN!
Other wild flowers on the roadside… I think you can find them near Cape Town.
May I introduce you to Mesembryanthemum? {Now say that three times fast.} Near East London.
This one reminds me of the fox gloves in Scotland. (But it’s in the Helderberg region.)
Remember this one from Elgin?
The (little) Bear is examining an Abelia. {It’s a shrub.}
And my favourites…
Mrs. Strelitzia in Gordon’s Bay (Bird of Paradise in the US)
Isn’t she just an amazing flower? Like, who could come up with this but an incredible Creator?
And this is another type of protea…want to guess the name?
Wait for it to open…Now guess!
It’s a pincushion! {See the ant inside?}
I hope you enjoyed this bouquet of a Travelling Tuesday! Blessings as you enjoy your adventure, wherever the road may take you!
xCC
{Many thanks to Gammy, visiting with Goo-Goo, who helped with the names of some of the flowers. Mwah! I don’t know all the names, so if you do and want to fill in some gaps, feel free to comment!}
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