Taking a Break Until Life Slows Down

I’m not sure how I get so busy when I live in what’s supposed to be a slower paced culture, but life is happening a bit too fast in my little Aegean corner of the world, so I’m taking a break from blogging until March 7^th.

I’m hoping to heed Jesus’ call to his disciples in Mark 6:31:

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

May the Lord give you grace and moments of rest, even during your busiest days.

Five Ways to Help Kids Growing Up Overseas

My kids with their Turkish abla, 2010

I still remember the circumcision party of my neighbor’s boy. My son followed all his buddies into the boy’s bedroom, and suddenly the door shut.  I realized the circumcision was about to happen behind that closed door, and without making a scene in front of our whole neighborhood, there was no way to get my son out!  I thought that was a pretty big step of independence for a 5 year old.  Just the other day my 13 year old daughter rode the bus downtown by herself for the first time.  Growing up always involves bigger and bigger steps to independence, but somehow that journey seems a bit more perilous when you’re overseas.

When It's Hard to Trust God with Your Kids

When I saw my minutes-old son kicking and screaming in the delivery room 15 years ago, I had no idea how much joy and heartbreak being a mother would involve. I had no idea that he’d go from speaking Spanish to English before learning Turkish and that he’d learn to navigate anywhere alone by bus, metro or ferry in our Middle Eastern city.  I had no idea that my biggest challenge living overseas would be agonizing over whether we’re messing up our kids by raising them here.