(I was excited and thankful that Pastor Dale gave me the opportunity to share about my enlightening trip to Haiti with our wonderful congregation at New Life Church.)
Thank you to so many of you who were praying for our trip and especially to Luke who kept the kids alive while I was gone. 😉 The first question PD asked was
Eric Eacker, a local Santa Barbara Firefighter and homeschool dad, is bravely battling prostate cancer. The bills, medical procedures, unexpected complications, and emotional stress are overwhelming. When I asked his wife, Carrie, what they could use right now, she said a family vacation to get away from it all. I would love for their communities to help give that to them! (And I know new financial needs have come up since, so we bless them to spend the money however they need it.) Thank you in advance for your generosity!
Please donate to my personal Paypal account (https://www.paypal.me/melsunuk) through the friends and family option, otherwise the they will take a percentage away. And I will send it directly to the Eackers.
I have had multiple conversations with my fellow parenting friends over the years about how to maintain balance with our kids’ screen usage. My wiring has a difficult time micromanaging (especially four kids) with timers, charts, daily check-ins, etc. It’s very difficult for my personality to do the same thing every day – except breathe and that’s involuntary. I’m more of an “ideas” gal, so I came up with a little saying that I’ve generally stuck to. In the spirit of raising balanced humans, I typed, printed, and hung a little diddy that says:
“Read, work, and clean before you play or screen.”
It’s important to research any new endeavor that we are considering. I love to research, so I’ve done a lot of the work for you. I’m going to share FIVE THINGS about Trades of Hope that I didn’t know until I get involved in hopes that it helps you make a more informed decision.
When I heard of Trades of Hope from a friend over 2 1/2 years ago, I was initially intrigued by the genius idea of creating jobs in America that directly partnered with artisans around the world to break the cycle of poverty. And to do it not just practically, but through creating and marketing beautiful products was quite a bonus. I watched every youtube video I could find (which wasn’t very many at the time) and scoured the website for more details. I was hesitant about the Direct Sales and home party business model, because I had some negative experiences in the past. Continue reading
I woke up earlier than expected this morning, so I decided to be better about taking advantage of living in this beautiful coastal town. I took our dog Sadie for a walk on the beach (I forget that it means an automatic bath for my furry friend) and found the ocean to be very generous with its gift of sea glass today. Continue reading
I feel ya, Blair.
My kids think I’m a little off because I’m regularly brought to tears by any number of things like: children’s books, empowered overcomers, and (obviously) American Ninja Warrior. (One of my pet peeves, though, is when people apologize when they cry as if it’s wrong or weird, so I have made a commitment to never apologize for my Leaky Gene.) Over the years my heart has been tenderized into a pulpy, beautiful mess of compassion and empathy. (And apparently peri-menopause is now an ingredient in my soul cocktail. So that’s fun…)
But recently I’ve experienced tears of a different kind. There are tears of joy, rage, sadness, and even gratitude, but lately, I have shed tears that come from a place of appreciating PASSION. Continue reading
