Mom Mamma Mama'

It is a funny thing, time. How it can seem so slow and so fast all in the same moment. As I sit here right now I can hardly comprehend that we have been in Bolivia since June (four months having passed), it seems like we have lived here for years and for days. I cannot seem to wrap my mind around the fact that in 48hrs my husband whom I have not seen in 4 months will be arriving and we will be a family reunited. So much has taken place since we were together and the idea of being together again the 3 of us while exciting and happy is also overwhelming. Sure it will be fantastic to have our family back together, no one would deny that, but these four months apart have been packed full of change, adjustment, growth and transitions and so adding yet another big change is, well, challenging. I say all this because I myself am still processing, and I process best when I write. I am also trying to help Miss. K prepare for yet another big change, and so I feel as though I have been slowly wo...

There has been a lot of discussion in my group of friends about the need for space. Space for self, space for family, space for God, space for X,Y, and Z. I know we are not alone in our struggle for space. And I was reminded today of a great visual lesson that I saw at a Young Life Leader training ages ago, maybe you have seen this annalogy before but I think today it bears repeating. The presenter had a large glass container and filled the containers with large stones until they reached the lip of the jar and asked us if it was full. Of course we nodded along. But she then pulled out a bag of smaller pebbles and poured them into the space surrounding the rocks. amazingly they fit.  Once again we were asked if the jar was full. Not wanting to be tricked again we hesitantly said, yeah it's full. But, then out came a bag of sand which was added to the glass container. Okay, now there was clearly no more room in the jar for anything else, or so we thought until she poured a pitcher ...

I think of myself as pretty non-confrontational. I even attended a Quaker university, but I am in a war with the pesky little tiny miniscule ants that seem to come out of nowhere. They are not like the ants we had in our bathroom in California, they are nothing like the ants that you find on your garden path. These ants are magic. One min you look and your apartment is an ant free peaceful place, next second they are everywhere. These small as a ground of coffee but white not black little buggers. (wait, just a sec they are back) Okay, I am seriously in need of a new plan of attack. I have done everything that I can think of short of set the place on fire. I have smashed them to smithereens, taken out the trash at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 times a day. I keep all my food in Ziplock bags in a drawer or in the fridge. I have wiped the counter with bug repellent, don't worry that did nothing I wiped it down again before food prep. (of which there is really very little), I have...

We have been here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia for just 2 days and though not everything is how I expected our transition from one home to the next has been smoother than one would have imagined. I have gone many places and have even lived abroad before, but never have I introduced my child to a new home, let alone life in a country not her own.   I have to say I am very proud of our little family and our ability to go with the flow. The past few months have been all about downsizing and saying goodbyes to everyone and almost everything she has ever known.   Now that I have the time to reflect I can say my kid has handled all of this with more grace and calmness than most adults I know.   Nothing against us adults but we tend to get attached to our things and our way of doing life, where as my kiddo has been able to hold on to her sense of excitement and adventure through it all. I was fearful at times of starting fresh in a new country with a 3-year-old, especially wit...