The Ramblings of A Missionary Wife

I have been seeing all these blogs of women sharing the "word" God gave them for this year. Abandon. Hope. Simple. Good words. Well, I wanted a God word. So I started praying for one. Didn't quite get what I expected. I go through phases or seasons in my life when I start to question things. I start asking "why" questions. I start doubting. "Am I missing something? Is this really what God called me to?" When nothing that I do seems to matter & I get sucked up in what seems like a never ending race. A race to get ahead. Ahead of what's coming next. I want to be prepared. I want to know what's coming. I don't like surprises. I want to be on top of things. No laundry backed up, no school projects left undone. I strive & strive, but at the end of the day, as I climb into bed, I wonder what in the world I did that day. I am exhausted by the thoughts of being & doing all I think I am "called" to. Being the attractive...

We were so blessed to be a part of the relief efforts during Typhoon Haiyan. We are so thankful to all of you who made it possible for these people to receive food, shelter, & the love of Christ!

Please visit our ministry website to read about all the ways God has provided to enable us & others to help in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan! Five Loaves & Two Fish

And the answers to last week's food pictures are- Dinuguan Dinuguan is a Filipino savory stew of meat and/or offal simmered in a rich, spicy dark gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili, and vinegar. The term dinuguan comes from the Filipino word dugo meaning "blood". Not one of my favorites...I've only got up the nerve to eat it once. Rambutan A tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia. The name  rambutan  is derived from the Malay/Indonesian  word  rambutan , meaning "hairy."  The fruit flesh is translucent, whitish or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavor very reminiscent of grapes. My kids especially love this fruit & will eat as much as I let them. We quickly learned within the first few days of moving to the Philippines that the main staple is rice. Rice for breakfast, lunch, & dinner. Like many countries in Asia, the livelihood of the Philippines is on growing & eating rice. There are actually several words ...

So with the new year comes new posts & thoughts & I am finally getting around to starting my series on "What It's Like." The last two and half months have been non-stop craziness with the typhoon relief & though we are still involved some with relief efforts, it has slowed down enough for us to get a breath & return to some "normalcy" in our lives. The first thing I thought I would tell you about is where we live- our town & house. There are many things that are very similar to living in America & many things that are not. We live in the town of Puerto Princesa City on the island of Palawan. We have a commercial airport, a very recently built, small mall, with a beautiful grocery store that I am SUPER thankful for, a few restaurants, shops, & things that you would see in any town. But, we also have public, open air markets, sari-sari stores (teeny convenience store hut), ukay-ukays & wagwagans (2nd hand clothing store). ...

One of my favorite things about having a blog & journaling is looking back at what the Lord has taught me & brought me through. As I was looking back this week, my eyes fell on a post from 2 years ago,  Honest Holiday Feelings . I was really struggling. Nothing felt like Christmas. Hot, drippy, sweaty just doesn't feel Christmasy. I'm not sure what has changed, but this year is different. Granted, I'm still struggling. We always are struggling with something. We wouldn't be human nor would we long for our REAL home if struggling ceased. It's still super hot & I still dripped sweat while decorating my tree this year. I still miss being with my family for the holidays, Starbucks Christmas drinks, boots & scarves. But I can honestly say that, there is no where I'd rather be than here on my little island home right now. I still can't pinpoint exactly what is different, but I'm pretty sure the key is purposeful thankfulness. The last nine ...

As pictures and reports started pouring in from the internet & from co-workers, we sat stunned & felt completely overwhelmed. In a few short hours, “just another typhoon” had gone to a very close-to-home, massive tragedy. We had been preparing for this typhoon just like we had others, getting the word out, making sure people had what they needed to weather through. We’d all made it through many storms. This was just another one. Little did we know. As the storm began to move across the central Philippines, we began losing contact with our fellow missionaries as communications & electricity went down. After the storm passed, we were swamped trying to coordinate help for our own missionaries.  Praise the Lord, they were all safe and accounted for, so we have turned our attention to what we can do to help those who were most affected by the typhoon. On Sunday morning this week we were approached by a team with the Philippine Red Cross about the possibility of ...