The great sadness

Well, it is almost that time again...after an amazing few months in the states, it is time for goodbyes. One month left and I can feel it in every conversation, every moment spent with others, every time I eat...my mind reminds me that it may be the last time for a while. I believe that feeling has a noun...the great sadness...I find myself holding back tears as I have conversations with others,trying to avoid the great sadness that is hanging in the reminder that we will soon be apart again and all hearts will be broken. When alone, I find myself in tears as I imagine the lives of Wyatt and Tate away from the places we call home. Today, as I was wrestling with this incredible sadness these sweet lyrics came to mind; "greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city". Whew! So I fell before the lord... Wyatt has a small a vocabulary but one word he has learned rather quickly is "ouch". It doesn't take much more than that one simple word for me to find the hurt and do my best to help. Well, today in my brokenness, all I could say is "ouch". And then I felt him gently remind me that obedience is better than sacrifice and that he is enough...He was, He is, and He will forever be. blessed be the name. So we have about four more weeks and people keep asking me how they can pray. I can't tell them without crying so I just give generic answers, but the truth is to pray for strength to survive and find His joy and peace during this time of incredible sadness. Perhaps many of you reading this see it as dramatic and think...Lindsey, no one has died...good grief. But I do feel as if something is dying...it is time. The mourning is for years that will pass and the memories that will be missed and the death of dreams that our families will be able to enjoy the sweet toddlers that we will be raising for the next few years. Is it worth it? No doubt. Is it hard? More than words. So please prAy for this time of mourning as our families and close friends wade through the great sadness that surrounds us all as we face goodbye once again.

Been a while

Whew! what a whirlwind our life has been! Here is a quick highlight of our life:
Early Dec.- moved out of our home and in with Linda Sue for a few days while we get ready to head home
Dec. 14- fly home for Levi's cousin's wedding and Lindsey's birthday
Christmas- awesome time going back and forth with family and friends
January 19- sweet Tate was born and w stayed in the hospital for 4 days because Lindsey had a c-sect. and then had a spinal headache and had to get a blood patch (pretty rough)
-A few more weeks with Lindsey's family while Tate grew stronger and when he was 4 weeks old we headed to Levi's house for 5-6 weeks. Then we spent the rest of the time traveling back and forth between houses and speaking at churches.


What I won't forget about this trip home:
*It took Wyatt a full month to get used to riding in a carseat. He would cry so hard he threw up for that whole first month. I thought we would never get past that!
*We have been staying with our families and it has been wonderful and hard. A great bonding time, but I definitely feel like we are still in India and it makes me appreciate what joint families go through all the more.
* Tate spent many nights screaming with gas. I feel that everything the family missed with Wyatt, they have experienced with Tate. His newborn stage was exactly like Wyatt's was so it has been neat and hard to relive it!
*We have been sick since arriving in America! Craziness!
*I was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in America and I still am. I somehow feel like I "need" everything in Wal-Mart and don't get me started on Target! America, the land of materialism, can really get my focus off of the main thing
*I had to leave big stores after about 10 minutes for the first few weeks. I would get overwhelmed so easily!
*On the way home from India, Wyatt would not sleep and Levi and I were exhausted so the airline stewardesses took Wyatt for a couple of hours so we could sleep. The fed him yogurt, the played with him, and walked him around. It was awesome.


I'm sure there are so many other things to write about. We have a couple of months left here in America and I will try to keep a better update on our life.

Blessings

Sometimes we don't know what we need until we really receive it. Lately, we feel that God is overwhelming us with blessings from him. Here are just a few:
* We get to go home to have baby #2. How sweet it will be to share that time with our family and friends. Wyatt came out healthy and awesome, but I'm sure that having this next one will be just amazing.
* Everything is in the clear for us to return to India. We are so excited to go home, but also looking forward to the moment we will return with a new addition to our family.
*Wyatt is just an amazing kid. He blesses so many that he sees. So many Indian families love him like he is their own and he loves them the same. Everywhere we go, Wyatt becomes the center of attention and he loves that.
*This pregnancy has been a little tougher than the last one, but overall not bad and I'm so thankful for that!
*I get to go home to celebrate my 30th birthday! Hooray! I love birthdays, and feel so blessed each year I am able to celebrate with those I love. The past couple of years, my birthday has been a blur and kinda pitiful. I can't wait to sit at my nanny's house with my favorite food in the world and just enjoy this special day with them.
*We get to be home for Christmas! This is the biggest blessing of all for us. Well, Levi would say that it is being able to hunt, but I do believe overall this is it. Where we are can be quite sad around Christmas time. No lights, no music, very few movies on t.v., no western church services, ect. The true meaning of Christmas is still celebrated...It is simple, beautiful and real...but I must say the shallow part of me longs for an all out, full-blown American Christmas....and we will not take the simple things for granted this year...no doubt about that!

Home for a day!

Yes, we have been out of touch for quite a while! The past month has been spent in language school and now we are home for a day and off again tomorrow for a week to meet some friends from MS and search into areas where we haven't been very often. Poor Wyatt is doing pretty well with the crazy travel and this new baby is making it. The rough roads still get me car sick, and I must say hiking these hills can get the best of me some days but we are thankful for open doors to learn how to communicate better and to go into the villages. We will be home for 5 or 6 days after this trip and then head to Delhi for a conference so hopefully I can catch up on blogging.  As for today, I am trying to get all the mold off of our clothes and Wyatt's toys and Wyatt is catching up with his long lost toys and the neighbors!

6 month old Wyatt!

 Wyatt has a little friend who was also 5 months old in this picture. She is so precious and Wyatt and I are giants next to her and her mama! But we do love to see them and play a little

 This is a great friend of ours. We love him so much and Wyatt loves it when he comes to visit!

 Kira came to visit and was so great with Wyatt! She was so gentle and kind and Wyatt had a great time with her

 Ezra isn't really into babies just yet but he had to get a picture holding Wyatt too

 Yes, Wyatt loves to bite his toes these days and I think it is so funny! The bad thing is that his teeth are sharp so once he bites hard enough, he realizes it isn't a very good idea to eat his feet.

Wow! So many things are changing with Wyatt these days! He shakes his head no all the time and thinks it is so funny. He still scoots around the house on his back but is now working on moving on his belly...crawling is on the way! He is picky and will gag on plain liquid rice so I have to put some bananas in it. He still LOVES people and if he has to take a nap or go to bed when others are here, he gets so mad! He has teeth coming and is constantly gnawing on his fingers.


We sure do love this boy and can't wait to see the new things he learns every day!

Mission of Motherhood

There is an article going around on facebook that encourages stay at home moms to see their work as a "field". This is not a bad thing, for in all things we are to abide in Christ and make disciples...our children should be our main disciples! But, I must step in and say that I believe as an act of abiding our hearts are geared to invest into the lives of the outside world. How will we teach our children unless we model for them what the love of our Father looks like? I believe even as moms we can change the world. Is it easy, no. It takes lots of planning, patience, and passion to get out of "mom world" and invest into the lives outside our family...but it is possible! We live overseas and two days a week I make myself step out and do something to change the world around me. Most of the time, Wyatt is right beside me. I am a firm believer that in order for him to learn to love others in a tangible way or to share the best story ever, he must be taught by his parents. Ok, there is my soap box! haha

The Burden-Lest we forget to pray