So how did your Monday go? Mine went remarkably well — which was not what I was expecting after us all being sick and completely off any routine last week and few weeks of us being mostly off school.
I am trying to get back to really early, early rising again. To the tune of 3:30 a.m. Yes, I have up and lost my mind. 
But this morning, I was so grateful that I got up early because I had a lot of computer work to catch up on and my laptop crashed yesterday, so I was working on my husband’s laptop… which was clearly invented in the time of the dinosaurs. Or at least that’s what it felt like when the thing was working at a snail’s pace. (Have I mentioned I don’t have a lot of patience when it comes to slow computers??)
Instead of being frustrated, though, I decided to focus on the positive: that I usually have a fast computer, that I an internet connection at all, that my computer is under warranty, and that I have a backup computer to work on.
After crawling through all my morning computer work, I finished up, spent some time reading my Bible and studying John 4. Then I exercised with Silas (who was the only up at the time) and then let him play an educational game on the computer while I took a shower.
When I was ready for the day, I got the girls up, we had breakfast (Purple Power smoothies — see the ingredients here), and read our devotional and some from Aesop’s Fables.
While the kids were finishing up their breakfast, I wrote out chore lists for them (their chores change a little each day depending upon what needs to be done — I’m also divvying up the Confident Mom Planner chores between us all) and they go busy on their lists.
I cleaned up the kitchen, started some laundry, cleaned up my room, made my bed, washed Kathrynne’s hair and fixed it, and helped Silas with his chores.
We then sat down for Morning Time. Oh how I think this idea is going to be such a gift to our homeschooling. It went SO well today and was so fun to have time set aside to do those things I always hope we would get to but always seem to be crowded out by math, grammar, and so on.
After we were done with Morning Time, Jesse got home and made lunch for the kids, got them started on the core subjects for the day while I worked on cleaning out the bathroom closet.
I pulled most of the items out, reorganized and consolidated, threw a few things out, and moved some of the extra bottles to the second bathroom where were have some empty storage shelves. And within around 25 minutes, the closet looked SO much better!
Believe it or not, by 12:30 p.m., I had finished my entire Morning List. I guess the getting up early thing really does work well.
I spent the afternoon working on blog projects, writing this post on my South Africa secret, and getting caught up on emails.
And then tonight we had our usual weekly Monday night gathering with friends. We all brought stuff for a Taco Bar and an Ice Cream Bar. It’s always an evening filled with a lot of laughing, ribbing, and just so much fun. We’re grateful for this group of friends that God has given us and how much they bless us each week.
How was YOUR day? Leave a comment and tell us about it and you’ll be entered to win this stack of goodies I put together — including a few brand-new books by dear friends of mine!
You know that feeling you get when you know a secret that almost no one else knows? You go through your day and you keep feeling the corner of your mouth turn up into a smile. Because you know a really, really exciting secret and you can barely hold it in.
That’s how I’ve felt the last few months. I’ve had a secret I’ve been keeping and my heart’s been about ready to burst — because I’m excited and humbled and just plain in awe of how God orchestrates things.
First, let give you a little background…
In 2013, my friend, Lisa-Jo Baker, had asked me to read a pre-release copy of her new book, Surprised By Motherhood. I loved it so very much that I wrote her and asked her how I could help promote it for her.
Well, the email she sent back just blew me away. She shared with me about this huge vision she has to impact the culture in South Africa — where she grew up, where three of her siblings are adopted from, and where her parents still live and minister.
As she shared about this massive dream she had to encourage women around the globe to come together to change a community of kids in South Africa, I knew I had to tell my readers about it.
Lisa-Jo didn’t know I was going to blog about it. We hadn’t talked ahead of time about the best strategy or post time or anything like that.
She just put her post up, I followed up with a post encouraging you all to Fall in Love With the World Next Door, and then dozens upon dozens of our readers and blog friends shared those posts with their friends.
And then we were absolutely humbled and stunned and overwhelmed by the donations and emails that came in — from all over the world. Hundreds of you gave.
It was one of the most beautiful Valentine’s Days I’ve ever celebrated. Because of your giving hearts, a community center, veggie garden, and playground was funded for the Maubane community in South Africa.
It still gives me goosebumps to think about.
But I had this nagging feeling that this wasn’t the end of the road for my involvement in South Africa. My heart kept feeling a pull that we were supposed to do something more.
I didn’t know what that more looked like, but I just felt like we weren’t done there yet. Lisa-Jo felt the same way.
So the past six months or so, Lisa-Jo and I have been emailing about what this looks like. We’ve been praying. And we’ve been talking with the folks from Help One Now about how we can partner with Take Action (the ministry on the ground in South Africa) to impact this beautiful community and country.
And that leads me to the secret I’ve been keep for oh-so-many weeks now. Y’all: In 10 days from now, I’m GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA with Lisa-Jo!!!!
Yes, me. The girl who lived in Kansas all her life until this past year. The girl who is afraid of meeting new people. The girl who doesn’t like to go outside her comfort zone. The girl who doesn’t like unknowns. The girl who has never been on an airplane for longer than 5 hours.
I’ll readily admit that there are many things about this trip that are scary to me. I have no idea what it will be like to be on a plane for 18 hours. I have no idea how my body will react to jet lag. And I’ve been told that our agenda once we get there will be packed from sun up to sun down every day so that we can learn and soak up as much as possible.
There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of things I could (and do!) feel anxious about. But I have this deep down peace in my heart that this is the next step in my journey. That I’m not just supposed to send money or encouragement from far away. That I’m supposed to step outside my comfort zone and GO.
To meet the local leaders and hear from them personally. To see the needs with my own eyes. To experience what life is like in South Africa. To better understand the struggles of this community. To bring encouragement and hope to those who are working tirelessly to make an impact.
And so I’m going. And I’m going to be bringing you all along with me through my blog.
As Lisa-Jo wrote so beautifully in her post:
So we’re going. And we’re paying our own way. And we just want to take you in our virtual suitcases and let you see for yourselves what happens when between the loads of laundry and dishes and commuting and deadlines a community takes the time to love on their sisters who are also juggling laundry and homework and kids and dishes.
It won’t be a fundraising trip, it will be a FALL IN LOVE TRIP so you can see in person all that your love and prayers and donations and enthusiasm and encouragement have built.
It won’t be a fundraising trip, it will be a COME AND CELEBRATE WHAT WE DID TOGETHER trip as we enter this New Year reminding each other again that there is absolutely no such thing as “just” a mom – because “just” a mom couldn’t possibly have raised over $50,000 together for vulnerable kids in South Africa. And YOU GUYS DID THAT!
It won’t be a fundraising trip, it will be a MEET THE MOMS AND KIDS THAT ARE JUST LIKE YOU trip as we share photos and video of the community you are now connected to – virtual next door neighbors.
We want you to come along with us as we share pictures, stories, and details on life in South Africa. We hope that you’ll not only be encouraged to see what your generosity has done for this community, but it’s our heart’s desire that you’ll prayerfully consider standing with us long-term to make a difference in this community (after we get back home and have time to unpack and process, we’ll be sharing more about what that looks like).
For now, won’t you come along and join us? To follow along:
I can’t WAIT to share this adventure with you all! {And if you have any advice for a newbie international traveller, I’m all ears. Please, no horror stories, though! But I welcome any and all tips for how to survive long plane rides and jet lag. And if you’re a reader in South Africa, I’d especially love to hear any tips or suggestions you have for me!}
photos used with permission from Ty Clark and Scott Wade
Just a reminder — this webcast is tomorrow evening. Be sure to sign up, if you haven’t already!
I’m honored and excited to be joining Sally Clarkson, Angela Perritt, and Sarah Mae for a free online webcast to celebrate the launch of Sally’s new book, Own Your Life.
This online Girl’s Night will be Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 9:00 pm ET/8 CT/7 MT/6 PT
If you need some encouragement from other women to live your life on purpose and not just barely survive each day, be sure to tune in. It’s going to be so much fun!
We’re going to be discussing some great topics, including:
- Learning to love who God has made you, leaving guilt and inadequacy behind
- Finding contentment right where you are, single, married or somewhere in between
- Building a home environment that gives life to all who come there
- Becoming the friend and lover of all, that God created you to be
- Embracing your ministry of parenting and learning how to do it with grace
- Building a long term story of faithfulness in your marriage
- Leaving a legacy of a strong faith, generous love, an intentional life
Plus, you can be sure that there will be a lot of honesty from each of us imperfect women as we talk about our own struggles in this area, things that have helped us, and what we’re still learning.
