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Often we are asked what our biggest challenges are and what our prayer requests may be.  Well, my work here looks pretty different from Wes’.  So these are my requests.  We are so thankful for all of your prayers and know God’s hand is at work here.

I feel very strongly that my first and most important ministry is our family.  So my biggest challenge right now is trying to be the mom and wife that God wants me to be (as it is for most moms, right?).  Only it’s so very different for me right now, because I am in a foreign culture where I am still learning the language and trying to figure out how to communicate our needs and wants on a daily basis.  Here are my prayer requests:

1.  In the midst of frustrations and figuring out how to manage my home on a daily basis, I want my first priority to be steadfast–raise our boys in such a way that they feel secure in our love and in God’s love for them, and that they witness our contagious love for Christ and can’t help but want to be a part of His growing kingdom.

2.  Learning Spanish (and being committed to learning Spanish while being a Mom at the same time).  Because of my personality, I need to have conversations with others on a regular basis that have more depth than just talking about the casual things of life.  If not, then I feel the life being sucked out of me.  For real.  I’ve been told that I need to give myself at least 2 years here, before I can get to that level of communication.  Man, that’s a long time!  I know it will go fast, but it is SO hard day-to-day.

3.  Staying healthy–body, mind, and spirit.  It is miraculous how the Lord brought me out of depression to where I am now, in such a short amount of time.  At the same time, Wes and I are keenly aware of the red flags and symptoms to look out for.   We need discernment when tough times appear and we are asking the question, “Is this a sign of depression or is this normal for adjusting to a new culture?”  (We are not paranoid about this, so no worries.)

4.  Choosing a school for Jakob.  Public school here is not an option, and we feel it’s best for our kids to go to a private school.  Because of the growing population, it is very difficult to ensure enrollment into many of the schools, so to guarantee a spot your best bet is to start them into the pre-school program offered by the school.  The cost and the location of the schools is also a big challenge.  The prices typically start around $300 per month, plus the enrollment fees.  The school year here starts in March (Jake turns 4 in March) and goes to mid-December (they are on summer break here right now).