5 Fun Things to Do With Your Kids in Nauvoo, IL.

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2009 Christmas Newsletter

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I don’t usually cry. I did once in the Dominican Republic when my husband was in the States. I had a miscarriage, and I was in so much pain for three or four days that I couldn’t get off my bed.

I cried then.

But I cried last night as I read from Vision for God, a story about the life of Dr. Margaret Brand.

While working as an opthamologist in Vellore, India, a young mother came in with a six-month old baby and a toddler.

The toddler’s eyes were swollen shut and infected, the result of a vitamin A deficiency. Dr. Brand took a look at his eyes, shook her head and said, “How long have his eyes been like this?”

“For seven days,” was the young mother’s reply.

Angrily, thinking of this mother as stupid and uncaring, Dr. Brand responded, “Well, if you had brought him in seven days ago, we could have done something. Now you have a blind child on your hands.”

The mother began to cry. Then she said softly, “I have been seven days walking to get here.”

The image of this young mother, walking, alone, carrying a six-month old baby and a toddler, for seven days, across rural India through the unbearable heat, how did she find food for herself and her little children…

Then to my mind returns the story I learned two days earlier. At the beginning of the school year, the Managing Directors of Rising Star visit the colonies in search of new enrollees. They are particularly interested in orphans, “Are there any here in this village?”

“Yes, there are two orphans here.”

Siblings age 4 and 5, a beautiful boy and girl are brought to them. “What happened to the parents?”

“The father died.”

“And the mother?”

“She was a widow. She was burned. ” The children watched it take place. They saw their beautiful mother, burned alive in front of their innocent eyes. Eyes that were now filled with sorrow.

Suddenly these images are too much for me and I burst into tears.

First, tears of gratitude- for healthy children; for the love we share as a family; for enough healthy, nutritious food to eat; for shelter and transportation; for freedom, and dignity and rights as a human being.

Then tears of despair and despondency- for a world where a young child doesn’t have enough of the right food to keep him healthy; for a world where children are orphaned because of a lack of love and kindness; for a world where women are burned, and men are blind and human beings become ‘untouchable.’

I cried for a world where we are so blind that these types of tragedies are still allowed to happen. “Do we not all belong to the human race?”

In Mountains Beyond Mountains, the author writes, “There are lots of miserable places in the world. The way to live comfortably is to not think about them.”

Perhaps we, like Scrooge, say of our children, Ignorance and Want, “Cover them. I do not wish to see them Spirit.”(Watch The Christmas Carol clip)

I don’t usually cry, because I don’t usually think about Ignorance and Want. That is how my life stays comfortable.

I may not see them, think about them, but they still live. “Beware them, for they spell the downfall of you, and all who deny their existence.”

Through my tears, I ask myself, and God, “Why aren’t our eyes open to the suffering? Why haven’t our minds created the solution? How can we be inspired to care about change instead of our own comfort?”

And then I remember. Change comes through being disturbed into action. If I’m disturbed by Ignorance and Want, then I need to be the change I would see in the world.

“Why doesn’t somebody do something?” we might ask. But then I realize that I am somebody. And I can do something.

What will you do?

Read the story of an amazing housewife and mother of ten children who asked herself the same question. The answer has changed her life and the lives of thousands of others.

Atlanta Journal Article

Ladies Home Journal Article

In the last three years, our family has lived in Utah, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Georgia. Leaving January 17, 2010 we’ll be headed to Tamil Nadu, India.

Two of those four places, (Costa Rica and the DR) we had never laid eyes on before selling all of our belongings and making journeys to these foreign lands that would forever change our lives. One location (Georgia) we decided to move to after a long layover on our way to the DR. Our move to India will follow a similar pattern, a place we’ve never been, but only heard about.

People often ask us, “How do you decide when and where to go?”

While there is a ‘technical’ side to deciding a place to live, that includes determining visa requirements (i.e. Thailand’s visa is good for 30 days, while Costa Rica is is 90 days), travel costs and internet availability, the soul of the answer runs a little more deep.

It was about three years ago that Greg and I listened to an audio program entitled How to Be a No Limit Person. The speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer, posed an interesting question that has changed our life ever since.

“Where would you choose to live, if you had no awareness of where you had lived up to now? I’m saying that you don’t know where you’ve lived until now, and you look at that big globe we call our home and you say, Where would I like to be?…no history of where I’ve been.

And then ask yourself, What is it that keeps me from being there? Is it the fear, the thought that I won’t make it? Then remind yourself that most fears or only that, they are only mental. And why not choose where you want to be?“

We sincerely asked ourselves these questions, and found the answers. We knew we wanted to live abroad, some where more exotic and foreign. Then more importantly, we acted on that answer, despite fear, uncertainty, opposition and obstacles. We followed our heart and did, as Thoreau says, “go confidently in the direction of our dreams, live the life you have imagined.”

Dr. Dyer says about Thoreau’s statement, “When you take the risks to do something that means something to YOU, not just to pay your bills, or to be the ‘good’ person, but advancing confidently, living your life your way, that success, ironically, follows you in ways that you never dreamt were possible before.”

Wow, have we certainly discovered that this has been true for us. We made a conscious decision over three years ago to live our life our way. It led us to Costa Rica, which led us to the Dominican Republic, which led us to Georgia, and now we wouldn’t be moving to India to do work we were born to do if we hadn’t decided to follow our hearts, however crazy, and however much opposition we might have received trying to do it.

It hasn’t always been easy, we have encountered major hardship, trials and come close to giving up. We never did, because we knew we couldn’t live just an ‘okay’ life. For us, there’s nothing worse.

So how do we decide where to go? We follow our heart. If we have a desire to live in a place, we find a way to make it happen.

Which leads to another often asked question…How do you finance it? My next post.

Moving is second nature for us

Make sure to read my previous post, Incredible India! Making the Move.

My husband is thousands of miles away, I’m alone in the Dominican Republic with my four children and packing up all the contents in our ‘home’, preparing for a move to Georgia where my hubby will be meeting me.

I’ve been here for five long, difficult weeks without him. He went ahead to get our belongings in Utah and a car and to take them to Atlanta. In the DR I have no car, more stuff than I do suitcases, and I am definitely tired of packing. It’s our third move this year, and our 14th move in eight years of marriage.

It’s a miracle (literally) that I’m able to get my four children and our twelve suitcases to the airport, onto the plane, through customs, onto another plane and to Atlanta.

It’s late, my children are all sleeping as the plane lands. I wait for the other passengers to exit. I look behind me and see only the stewardesses are left. They look at me with impatient anticipation, wondering if I’m going to get off the plane so they can go home.

I rise and begin to gather my slumbering kids, my husband’s guitar, and five other carry-on bags. I’m not managing it very well, three of the four children are crying and all the while the stewardesses give my dirty looks that say “What, are you crazy lady? Why are you traveling alone with all these kids and all this stuff?” Then they ask me, “How are you going to get all this?”

“I don’t know,” is all I can reply.

Finally I ask, “Can I come back for some of this stuff? I can’t get it all right now.”

“I guess I can help you with that, but only to the gate.”

I lumber down the airplane walkway, with Aaliyah on one hip, dragging behind me with my other hand three overweight bags. Kyah amazingly carries three carry-ons plus blankets and other paraphernalia. When I finally exit the hallway, there is a light shining down on my gift from heaven…a wheelchair!

I load up my belongings and perch Aaliyah on top as the stewardesses eagerly slink away, grateful to be done with this clearly insane women. I carefully steer to an elevator then out toward the baggage claim area. As we approach the revolving doors, I spot him, tall, handsome and refreshing.

Tears spill down my cheeks as he gathers me in his arms. I’m home, because home is wherever we are together. I’m ready to unpack my bags and leave them unpacked for a long time…

Another question…

How Do You Decide When and Where to Go? to which I respond, Why Not Choose Where You Want to Be?

We had been waiting for two days for ‘the call.’ Every time the phone rang my heart would skip a beat- maybe this is it. Now it had finally come, and my husband, Greg, is talking out on the porch (where there is better reception and less ‘kid’ noise), while I await eagerly inside to hear the news of our possible new adventure.

In truth, I’ll be happy with either path. Offered on a platter before us are two options- 1) a fabulously paying job with all kinds of benefits, car, gas allowance, clothing allowance, insurance and retirement plan; 2) a position that pays less but follows our passion for travel and contribution, that would take us a to a place we’ve wanted to go, meeting amazing people and doing work that we love to do.

I try to concentrate on the quesadillas, but my mind continues to wander and wonder. I can’t wait any longer, so I peek out the porch window. I can tell by his tone that the news is good and that we’re going, but I go back to my quesadillas and play innocent.

Greg returns a few moments later, and celebrates with a cheer. “We’re in! We’re moving to India!” He envelops me in his arms and lifts me into the air. I’m almost stunned, I can’t believe it’s for real. Then the excitement wells up inside and overflows in an ear to ear grin.

Stay tuned for more about our move to India…

15 Paying Travel Magazines

See The Project for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21

Well, it’s been a busy week and I’ve gotten far behind on reporting for The Project, so I decided to update all in one post, and save myself the trouble of multiple posts. Maybe I’ll start doing it as a weekly thing.

Here’s what we ready this week with the running total: (R = repeat)

82. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

A Native American story about a girl who becomes a member of a wild herd of horses. Kyah (7) was interested in it, and liked it overall.

83. A Lesson for Martin Luther King, Jr. by Denise Lewis Patrick

We read this story after we visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site in Atlanta, GA. Kyah (7) is adopted, and African American, and she’s had quite an interest in MLK. She was very interested in the Historic Site, and then this story as well, which tells about Martin as a boy, and how his best friend was no longer able to play with him because of skin color.

Parker (5), also takes an interest, and listened intently to the story.

84. A Friend is Someone Who Likes You by Joan Walsh Anglund

Kyah picked this out at the library. It’s a cute little book about all the ways and places you can find friends, even in the trees and brooks and wind. It was very ‘warm and fuzzy’. Kyah really liked it, and so did I.

85. Bouncy Mouse by Barbara deRebertis

One of those books that seem to have no point except to try and rhyme while still making some sense. Kyah and Parker listened through the whole thing though.

86. Pegasus told by Marianna Mayer

A beautiful book with gorgeous illustrations. I loved it, Kyah enjoyed it as well. I’ve always liked Pegasus since I was a kid, wouldn’t it be great to have a beautiful pure white flying horse?

R. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Illustrated by Roberto Innocenti

I’ve never read the full version of Pinocchio, and I find it very fascinating. Kyah also really enjoys it, and likes me to read it to her often. We are about half way through it now.

R. Dragons Illustrated by Peter Scott

87. Hungry, Hungry Sharks by Joanna Cole

Parker (5) loves this book, he’s had it for a couple of years, and still loves to read it. It is very informative, I’ve learned a lot about sharks from reading it, but the text is simple and easy to read.

88. Under the Sea by Usborne Books

We went to the Largest Aquarium in the World, the Georgia Aquarium yesterday, so reading this book today it was fun for the kids to see pictures of fish they saw at the aquarium.

89. Thank You, Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedelia is at it again, messing everything up, but ending up making everyone feel good in the end. Kyah (7) is really liking these books.

90. Marsha is Only a Flower by Barbara Bottner

A little girl is excited to do a solo in the ballet. She knows she’s better than everyone else, especially her baby sister, but her baby sister helps make the show a success. Kyah liked it.

91. Princess Polly and the Pony

One of Kyah’s favorites from Usborne, she likes us to read it again and again.