Lessons Learned from The Book of Mormon

One of the best Christmas presents I received in 2013 was a ticket to see The Book of Mormon. A night out on the town with John + free babysitting from the grandparents + a little bubbly - I didn't really care what we were seeing, it was already a great night in my book. But, y'all, this musical was pretty awesome.
I was a little nervous that it would be a little too vulgar for my liking after my brother-in-law told us the title of one of the songs, but it was only slightly above my comfort level when it came to vulgarity. 

Pleasantly surprised, I walked away with a few life lessons. The main lesson being, believe what you want to believe and don't worry about what others think about it. Sure, mormonism sounds crazy to me, but it is a religion that makes lots of people happy. And that's really all that matters, right?

I mean, the beginnings of Christianity are just as absurd. And who am I to say that it isn't completely laughable to you. If you look at it from the view of an outsider, you can pick each religion apart and make any follower appear to be insane for believing. I'm not trying to start a religious discussion or offend anyone here. I'm just stating that I walked away from this musical with a feeling that we should all respect each others choice to worship the way they choose + laugh at ourselves every once and a while.

Happy Friday!

An Advent Calendar + An Auction

I few weeks ago I was contacted by Ekubo Ministries to donate an item for their holiday auction from my Etsy shop. I knew exactly what I wanted to donate! 

You see, some moms in my area have been working hard at making felt Jesse tree ornaments for a holiday advent calendar. My creative juices started flowing and I stayed up way too late for a few nights creating some printables to go along with the ornaments for these lovely mommas. I am not selling them in my Etsy shop, but you can get one theough the Ekubo Ministries Holiday Auction - here!

Hurry! The auction ends on Sunday!

Weekly Wishes | Faith List

Paper Bead Jewelry sold by Ekubo Ministries here.

I love the idea of a faith list. Christie and George from Ekubo ministries have created a faith list of all of their needs and wants for their sweet community in Uganda. I am especially in love with the fact that Christie would love to have this list fulfilled each year by the Ugandan community that she serves. 
My wish this week is to help Christie and George obtain that goal of a self-sustaining community. I'm not sure how yet, I just know that something is moving my heart to help figure this all out and support Ekubo Ministries.
Linking up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes.

Ekubo Ministries Prints

After reading yesterday's post, I hope you ran over to Christie's blog and got started reading through her posts. What a fantastic love story she has!  

Well, the creative bug bit me after I read through her blog and I got busy making these two print for my Etsy shop. If you are interested in purchasing either one, please know that all profits will be going straight to Ekubo Ministries to help these great people. :)  Happy Thursday y'all!

My Struggles are Nothing

Yesterday was a difficult and stressful day in mommyland. I normally write my posts the night before they are to go up - after the kids are asleep and I have a little time just to myself. But yesterday, well, yesterday I just didn't have it in me to turn the gears in my brain. Instead, I warmed up my coffee from the afternoon (for the fourth time) and decided to read a few posts from this blog starting from the beginning.   

Three hours later, my coffee was gone, and I was halfway through Christie's posts written over the last 3 years. I found myself unable to stop reading, but Winsley was due for another feeding, so I dragged myself off to bed. Like reading a good novel or watching a favorite TV drama, I couldn't get Christie's story out of my head and I had to know what happened next. I pulled out my iPhone and read her posts in bed until my eyes would no longer stay open.

This morning, I finished reading through every blog post that Christie had written about her incredible journey. And what a truly inspiring journey it is. Unlike a novel or television show, Christie's stories are about real people. This is her real life and her journey is nowhere near complete. If you have the time, I encourage you to read through her blog, starting from the beginning, and keep updated with the progress Ekubo Ministries is making through their Facebook page and website. 

My struggles of motherhood in the US are nothing compared to what the mothers and children are facing in Uganda. Reading through all of the struggles that Christie and her family have witnessed and experienced makes me want to hug every child in their care, but I am far away from Africa and a hug wouldn't help to fill their bellies with nutritious food nor treat their illnesses. 

There is hope. You can help by donating to Ekubo Ministries on their website and, of course, pray. This is such an incredible couple and they are doing amazing work on their faith in God alone, surviving and moving forward with their big dreams for Uganda solely through donations. Incredible. 

  Ekubo Ministries Vision from BB Media on Vimeo. UPDATE: You can also help support Ekubo Ministries and the community in Uganda that they serve by purchasing these beautiful products that the people in the village make by hand (Jewelry + Crafts)!

          "We want to encourage you to shop for gifts that GIVE and not only bless the one receiving it but also blesses a family in Uganda, East Africa. Ekubo Ministries exists to provide sustainable jobs to the men and women we serve so that they can generate income to provide for their families. The worst thing you can do to someone trapped in poverty is something they can do for themselves. AID creates dependence while teaching and giving them a TRADE restores their dignity. We are inviting you to shop for gifts from us that GIVE. GIVE life. GIVE love. GIVE hope." - Ekubo Ministries

Thank You God for Milk + A Prayer for Boston

The things that go through kids minds are amazing and complex and funny and sometimes just make you go 'huh?'. Well this little where-did-that-come-from moment has continued to be apart of our daily lives. During the month of January, when John was in Africa, Ellington and I would pray for his safe travels before eating our meals together. I don't remember exactly when it happened, but I started asking Ellington what she wanted to pray about at some point. Her answer: milk. Milk? I was a little perplexed, but I went along with it and we prayed for milk. Not just 'Thank you God for milk'. No, we had to go through everybody in our family and thank God for giving them milk… sometimes twice before Ellington was satisfied and ready to eat.

Not wanting to discourage prayer, I let this little scene play out and repeat for the next few months. Eventually, I grew tired of the back and forth and pushed Ellington to choose to pray about something else. Nope. Wasn't going to happen. So we continue to pray for milk daily and I guess maybe the world needs a little prayer for milk. Who doesn't need more calcium in their life?

NOTE: This is where this particular post was going to end. In fact, I was still editing this and was planning to put up something else today. Then, I found out about the tragedy in Boston and a super sweet moment happened.

We had just had an incredibly fantastic morning and headed to our neighborhood playground to get out a little more energy before we called it a day. On our walk to the playground, I casually checked Facebook on my phone while repeatedly answering Ellington's favorite question of the moment 'Why?'. That's when I read numerous things about something happening in Boston.

The playground was still wet from the early morning rain, so I asked Ellington if we could go home real quick to check the news. Surprisingly, she obliged and followed me back to the house. The images on our TV screen brought me to tears and Ellington quickly noticed. Soon I felt her little body leaning against my knees and her tiny voice asking 'Mommy Otay? What happen Mommy?'. I explained to her that some people got hurt & doctors were now trying to make them feel better. After a few more questions she said 'I pray' and folded her hands / put her head down. It made my heart melt. I immediately turned off the TV and we prayed for all the people in Boston. I don't know where she came up with this because we only pray at meals - and usually for milk (as you read above). As soon as we finished praying, Ellington hopped off my lap and started making me dinner in her play kitchen because she said it would make me feel better. In her world, a chef can heal people just like a doctor.

I hope that her kind heart never changes.

Faith & Fear

Politics, mommyhood, personal issues?  I'll talk about those things all day to a total stranger, but mention my feelings about God and my faith in front of an acquaintance and my heart skips a beat.

Outside of the safety of church or my Bible study, God has become a four letter word in my vocabulary.  I often feel my cheeks turning red and my palms start to sweat if 'God' slips out in a conversation.  Did they just hear me say that word?  Are they judging me right now?

Over the past several weeks my Bible study has been looking into our own insecurities and I realized that this is a major insecurity of mine.  I am always afraid that I will somehow offend someone over my faith or come off as judgmental of those who don't think the way that I do.  I shouldn't have this fear of hurting others by simply expressing my feelings about the G word.  Really, what is there to lose?  If someone disagrees with me, it should lead to insightful discussion and not end in unspoken judgement.  People have a right to have their own beliefs and follow whichever religion they choose.  I have a right to have my own beliefs.

I have been going through this struggle of going to church and reading the Bible because that's just what you are supposed to do.  Kind of like studying for a test.  Bible study homework on Saturday after putting Ellington to bed. Church on Sunday.  Bible study with some loving women on Sunday night.  Then, it's back to reality and God gets pushed to the back of my to-do list until Saturday night again.  I suddenly realized that, though I call myself a Christian, I was only letting God into my life for brief moments when it was convenient for me.  In other words, I was only a 'hearer' of God's word and really I was only hearing God on Sunday.  

After discussing this struggle and fear with a friend, she gave me some very good advice.  These are her words:

     I have to admit that I struggle with the same thing most days. I worry about what other people think of me...
that they will think I'm a "fruitcake" or just a zealot. But, I have to remember that it only matters what God 
thinks of me. I have also thought about it in this context. Think about something that you love. For guys, 
a lot of times it's sports. For women, I could see it being our children. Or even while we were dating, perhaps all
 we could think about was our boyfriend (now husbands:). If I was talking to a friend or acquaintance about 
life and catching up, I would have no problem talking about my child. I would talk about things that my child
 and I do together, new things they're learning, and how I'm connecting with my child as a parent. Through my 
conversation with my friend or acquaintance, it would be absolutely obvious how much I love my child. 

Translate that to our faith. If God is a god that we love, shouldn't that be apparent to others If we didn't want to 

talk about Him all the time or never mentioned His name, wouldn't you (and others) wonder if you really loved Him? 

That is a very difficult thing for me to tell myself. I am trying to remember the last conversation I had with someone

 that I didn't mention my child...those are few and far between. Now, if I try to remember the last time I mentioned 

God in a conversation...certainly not enough.

When was the last time you mentioned your god or your faith in a conversation?  I am determined to do this more because 'It only matters what God thinks of me' after all and more discussion about faith is never a bad thing, right?