Conferences, Conflictedness, & Contentedness....

So here I am again... I am remembering my new season's resolution being the good little blogger girl that I am! (ha)

The past 2 weeks have been filled with LOTS of travel & many opportunities to share with others about missions.  We always enjoy sharing about what we do, where we live, & even the crazy stories we have from our adventures.  Our travels so far this month have taken us to Smithfield & Gastonia, NC for the eastern & western Ladies' Conferences for the Women's Ministries of NC.  What a fabulous time we had with some amazing woman.  We are always so blessed to be a part of this event when we are home.  The ladies of NC are wonderful supporters of missions both locally & overseas. We are so thankful to them for all that they do to support our missionaries.  I was privileged to have the chance to share at both conferences about the importance of praying for missionaries while they are living abroad.  Our family knows first hand how powerful prayer is & what a necessity it is to have faithful people interceding on our behalf.  Thank you Mary Ritter & the woman of NC for your faithful support, constant prayer, & welcoming smiles.

Now, we are preparing for round 2 of our October travels.  Our boys will be cared for by loving grandparents, Aunts, & Uncles but it is strange being away from them so much! They are taking it all with great strides but as a Mommie, I will be glad to get our life & school routine back on track.  Sometimes I find myself feeling quite conflicted.  On one hand, we want a crazy busy schedule because that means we return to Venezuela faster.

More services + lots of phone calls= faster return.  It makes perfect since. just like A=LxWxH or π., the formulas we know & love from our school days.

I mean, we are a missionary family & we should all make sacrifices together!!! (at least that sounds good & spiritual!) Yet it is so easy to get caught up thinking like Mathematicians that we forget the importance of our role of being a parent & of our children's role of being children.  Even though parenthood really has no formula or handbook, being a parent has to come from the heart.  Moments of slowing down just to read stories or playing video games to beat a new level may seem unproductive & unnecessary.  But I have concluded that God gave us children first.  I want to help shape them into amazing men of God.  When our boys are grown, will it really have mattered if we returned to the field in June or July? Probably NOT.  What will have mattered is the time that we stayed up late playing video games, or the time we ran away for the day without stressing over phone calls.

I know there has to be a balance here... my daily prayer since Chris's accident has been that God would allow us to have peace, understanding, & balance in our home regardless of the country we find ourselves living in.  I will say that some days I have to pray harder than others, but I believe that God is faithful.  I know that He is doing great things in our family, even through the crazy times.  I am trying to trust God so that I can give Him my feelings of "conflictedness" & replace them with "contentedness."

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Phil. 4:12-13