Family Trust Game

One morning on a day off from school the girls and daddy played a little game. He had them each stand in front of him with his back facing him and close their eyes. Then he told them to fall backwards and that he would catch them. It took a little time, but finally after a few false starts and false falls, they each caught on that daddy would be there to catch them.

One by one they each took turns falling into daddy's arms. Lots of giggles were heard and I had a great time watching and taking pictures.

I loved seeing Karis' little face all scrunched up as she first started to test out the fall. It took a few times, usually with her walking backwards into daddy, before she actually let herself fall backward.

But once she did it was such a fun game, and she, being the little daredevil she is, almost got dropped because she went at it full speed ahead and didn't give daddy enough time to get ready.

But he never dropped her and she always landed safely in his arms, the loving father he is. And I believe they developed a little better trust that day.

Something I have started talking with Eliana recently is about trusting us as her parents. If she is upset about a decision we have made, I have been asking her, "Do you trust us?" She says, "Yes." And so I proceed to explain to her why the decision was made and that it's important for her to trust us to know what is best for her, and that we only want to take care of her. I pray that she understands more and more what it means to trust mommy and daddy, so that when she grows up she will have a clearer understanding of what it means to trust God.

And, of course, a lesson like this doesn't only need to be learned by children. As an adult, I also need to learn more about what it means to trust Him. Many times after moving here to the ME I have wondered about the things the girls will learn from the people here. I have worried and sometimes doubted if this is right for them. But then after a day like this I am reminded too about my calling from Him, and that I only need to trust Him to know what is best for His children. Do I really trust Him? Am I willing to sacrifice my American ideals of a safe and perfect life in order to live fully and totally in His care?

I pray that I develop a fuller and closer relationship with my Father, so I can be an example to my daughters, and bring a message of truth to the people we live with here in the ME. May I always live my life as an example of trust in Him.

It's Her Party

We had Eliana's birthday party tonight at a fun indoor play area for kids. She wanted a Rapunzel party, so we decked the place out with lots of purple and yellow.

The cupcakes had dresses with golden, sparkly "hair" and crowns. I found some edible glitter that is yellow and it made the cupcakes shine!

We invited some friends from school and some friends from our team, and we had a good time talking together while the kids played and ate their cake and ice cream.

What I didn't know is that Eliana's candles were trick candles and they lit back up after she blew them out. We had to dowse them in water to keep them from lighting again.  :-)

The kids had fun and she's already making plans for when she turns 6!

En Vogue

Today we went to see some friends at their office to pick up something. The outside of the office is covered with mirrored windows that you can see yourself in from the outside, but inside you can still see out. After we took care of business and visited for a bit we left and went outside. Kevin needed to go one way and I needed to go another, so we talked for a minute and then left.

What we didn't realize is that while we were talking, Eliana was dancing and watching herself in the mirror. Our friends on the inside could see her a took a few pictures and sent them to us. What a cutie!

The Nap Time Dilemma

So this is what happens when we try to take away nap time at our house. She doesn't want to go to sleep at night and keeps Eliana awake in the process. So we tried to take away nap time. Didn't work.

Mandy Michelle and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

The weekend was great, I had so much to do. 

But not the last day. Well, what could I do?

I was not in my country, I was in a different place

And without my hubby, I needed some grace

But I had a friend with me and thankfully so

It was good to have someone there that I know

We had to take a test, in Arabic, no less

And the cab driver make us walk for the rest

of the way because he wasn't aware

that we really needed to go over there.

The cab driver wouldn't listen to us.

Maybe we should have taken the bus.

Once we arrived to the Arabic center

We should have to know to go home on the spur.

They were not ready for us to arrive

Even though we came in late by five

minutes, so I went on in after they called someone 

to know how to give a test, so not fun!

So glad that is over and ready to go

to a town in the north to see friends that we know.

But the taxi I called did not show up

They said, "We cannot take you, think of a backup."

So we stopped another taxi driver to ask

And he helped us take care of this task.

The drive to the north was thankfully easy

And we only had to pay a small fee.

We met up with our friends and had a nice visit

But we needed to leave before the border shut

to get back to our country, so we called back the cab

but he did not come for 45 minutes, what a drab!

But what happened next, oh please do not worry

We are all fine, but still in a hurry.

This truck hit our taxi, it was a Volvo.

Thankfully it wasn't a hard blow.

We had just stopped at a red stoplight

So cars were going slow, the wreck was just slight.

Lots of men stopped and were yelling in Arabic

And I got out of the car to take pictures, click, click!

For thirty more minutes we had to wait

for someone else to come take us to the border gate.

The taxi driver's brother came in his car

to take us on, though it wasn't too far.

And we made with plenty of time to spare.

And then we asked him the price of the fare.

He said the price is the same as 56 dollars.

We could not pay that, who does he think that we are?

So we ended up paying him 35

And said, "That's all we have, thanks for the drive."

We get through and pay for our exit fee.

And honestly at this point we are ready to be

back in our own country, but still

we had to wait for the bus another 30 minutes until

it took us over the river and then

we'd be on our way back to our men.

We made it through passport control with no problem 

And the next man we met thought us dumb.

He was another taxi driver, oh gracious!

And we found out he wanted to charge us

the same as $150, but what could we do

we may have been to late for the bus crew.

So we had him take us to the next town.

And called our husbands to tell them the lowdown

on what has happened to us this day

and to figure out what was reasonable to pay.

We asked a nice soldier waiting for the bus.

But I think he was an angel sent to help us.

He told us exactly what we should do.

We actually were not late for the bus crew.

He checked on the schedule on his handy iPhone.

I think I need one of those now, can you give me a loan?

We made it on the bus to a place we could wait

for my friend's husband to come get us so very late.

By the time I got home the girls were asleep.

But I wanted to kiss them, so I had to creep

in their room very quietly and after that

I went to my room and on my bed I sat.

I'm just glad the day didn't give me trauma.

But next time I think I'll go to Australia.

Happy New Year! What's Your Goal?

I'm throwing New Year's Resolutions out the window. Gone! Sure, I've done it before (I'm gonna lose weight, I'm gonna do this and that) and I've hardly been able to make it through January with the new "way of life". Now, I do like the idea of each year starting fresh and new and inspired. When I start seeing Target's ads for exercise equipment and cute gym shorts, I always want to get fit (mostly so I can wear the cute gym shorts!) So how do I make inspiration into a reality?

What I have come to learn in all my years of experience is that I'm a person that needs to challenge myself. This past fall I challenged myself to get more fit by following the Insanity workout series and was able to do pretty good. I got so much more fit and lost weight and just really felt great about myself. So I'm gonna take that same motivation and put it into action throughout 2014. But how?

One failure I think most people make in New Year's Resolutions in planning. I know my past resolutions have not been planned out. So this year I have thought ahead, asked some good friends for ideas for goals, and even thought them through. One thing I know is they need to be achievable. I need to know my limits, along with my family and work responsibilities, to be able to make goals I can effectively achieve. Also, they need to be measurable. Saying "I want to start running" isn't exactly measurable. At the end of the year, I want to be able to sit down with my list and say "yes I did that"! Now, one of my goals may be harder to measure, but it's something I know I want to do for the benefit of my girls.

So here is my list of goals for 2014:

1.  Read 4 books. I used to read a lot when I was younger. I read the whole Left Behind series pretty quick. But I guess constantly reading text books in college kinda ruined me and I had to desire to read after that. But I want to kick that mindset and get back at it once again. 

I chose to read 4 books for the year as an achievable goal.  I don't have lots of time on my hands to sit around reading. I have two little girls, a husband, a house to clean, Arabic to learn and friends to visit.  So I knew I would just need one book for every quarter. Which is better than the zero books I read now. The first book I'm going to read it called In The Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord.  The next two I have chosen are Effective Parenting in a Defective World by Chip Ingram, and Forgotten God by Frances Chan. I'm still trying to decide on a fiction book, but that will be my 4th book on the list.

2.  Run a 5K. This is something I have wanted to do for a while, but just never stuck with it. There are 5K runs here in our country, so before the end of 2014 I want to train and be able to run one. I've never been a long-distance runner. I've only been able to run about 1.5 miles at a time. So if I can just double that, it would be a great accomplishment.

3.  Create a monthly family budget and stick with it! I started to make a family budget this last fall, but it fell through. I didn't plan well enough. So I want to stick with it so we can save and finally pay-off my students loans. It will be a challenge to stick to a budget and not waver, but with communication between me and Kevin, and a handy envelope system, we should be able to make it happen. And I also want to start saving up for vacations too!

4.  Read books to the girls everyday for 20 minutes. We read books, but not near enough. When I stayed home with Eliana, I used to read to her all the time. She had a fabric box full of books and she would take one out at a time and we'd read it, and then move on to the next one. Reading is one of the best things you can do for kids and I want them to have a love for reading. I'd like to also maybe do some fun learning activities to go along with the books. But the main goal will be reading. Also, I'm allowing myself a little room for flexibility on this one because there will be days when I won't see the girls much at all. For instance, tomorrow I leave town for a few days and won't be back until Sunday, so those days I will not be able to read to them at all. But when I am home with them, I will read!

5.  Follow a "Read-the-Bible-in-a-Year" plan. This one was suggested to me by a friend and I hadn't really thought about making it into a goal before. But it is true that I have set out to read the Bible in a year before, and I usually get stuck around the genealogies (imagine that!) So Kevin suggested to me the daily reading plan by the Gospel Coalition that follows a daily reading plan that isn't just Genesis-Revelation, but mixes it up day-by-day (taking sections from different parts of the Bible and not just one), and adds a short devotional thought about the scriptures read. I'm excited about this challenge to actually say I read the Bible in a year. For some this may be a normal occurrence, but I need to challenge myself and make it a goal.

I also wanted to call them goals instead of resolutions because it makes them seem more missional and purposeful. And sure, I have Arabic goals too, but those will be highlighted in my work-related goals I will set for myself. So these are more personal in nature, in helping myself become a enlivened person. And I hope these can challenge you to make goals for yourself too.