Questions for Chrysti

Here's a little bit about Chrysti. What questions would you like to ask for her interview?

Hello! I’m Chrysti, and I’m a missionary wife and mummy living in northwest England (quite long distance from London). This part of England is absolutely gorgeous!
It’s been awhile since I’ve visited this space because my family has been on home assignment for the past several weeks. So I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself (again)!
If you were to come to our home for a visit, I would offer you a cup of tea because that’s part of British hospitality. And then we’d probably talk about the weather (which is probably rainy) before we get into more get-to-know-you type questions.
I’ve lived in England for almost 3 years with my husband who has been in England for 8 years. You could say the story of how we met redefined “missionary dating.”
I stay at home with our 1 year-old son, and I’m thoroughly enjoying this season of my life! Before our son was born, I worked with a team of ladies to write Sunday school curriculum for our organisation. Prior to getting married and moving to England, I was a teacher and a manager of a copy centre.
In my heart, I knew I’d end up as a missionary somewhere. I just never imagined it would be in England as a wife and mummy!

Please leave your questions in the comments here. Chrysti will answer them next week.

Do You Spend Too Much Time Online?

 

 

Do I spend too much time online?  This is a question I've been asking myself lately.  For missionaries (especially us women) this is our escape to all our friends and family back in America.  It allows us to not miss our nephew's first birthday, or a friend's wedding, or what so-and-so had for lunch (because, really we all gots-ta-know!)  Loneliness, homesickness, fear, these are all things that can drive us to escape in the internet world.  But how much is too much?

 

I am currently reading an e-book call The UnWired Mom by Sarah Mae.  It is very thought provoking and convicting.  I've really been watching myself the past few days to see how much time I really spend online, and let's just say, I'd be embarrassed to tell you!

 

With all media outlets: blogs, twitter, pinterest, facebook, instagram, google+, etc., there is so much time that can be wasted online.  Just minutes can easily turn into hours.  I often wonder what my children will remember about their childhood, and about me.  Will they remember our game times, mommy reading books to them?  Or will they just remember mommy always on her computer?

 

One of my New Year's Goals this year was to say 'yes' to my children more often and be more intentional in my children's lives.  My kids are growing up so fast, it's almost frightening.  God has given me this huge responsibility to raise my children for Him.  How can I possibly do that while I check my facebook notifications every half hour?

 

Please understand I'm not saying the internet is evil (although I do believe a large portion of it is), I am saying though that all things be done in moderation.  Balance.

 

Balance.

 

I just love that word.  It can be applied to so many areas of our life.  Right now I am applying it to the internet world. 

 

Sarah Mae asks in her book, "Is how you are living your days how you would live them if they were your last?"  Ouch!  I wrote out that quote and put it on my bulletin board just above my desk...which holds my laptop.  It has helped motivate me to get some things done that I've been putting off.

 

Here are some of my suggestions on limiting your time online...

 

• Pray.  Ask God to help you balance your time. 
• Keep your computer turned off.  Our mornings are consumed with homeschooling, if I turn on my computer, then my kids only get half my attention.  My goal is to keep my computer turned off until after lunch.  My kids are past the napping stage, but we still have room time.  After lunch we all go our rooms for an hour (or longer if they don't notice...shhhh!).  This is the time I allow to check my email and facebook messages.
• Use apps.  The book lists several apps and programs (for Google chrome) that limits your time on social networking sites.  I have not tried any of these yet, I'm too scared!
• Take a media fast.  This is something I plan to do, but I really want to plan it out, and not go cold turkey.  I'm thinking I may just take one day a week where I don't go online...at all.
•  

What are some ways you moderate your time online? 

Is this a struggle for you?

 

 

If you're interested in the book, The UnWired Mom by Sarah Mae, I'd encourage you to check out her website and purchase her ebook.   (This is my personal recommendation, I am not being reimbursed in any way.)

 

 

Kids on the Field : Cloth Diapers

Ok.  So first off I need to say this.  I feel a little (ok ok, a LOT) under qualified to write about kids on the mission field.  For crying out loud, we only left the US two years ago and my kids are super little.  As in 6, 4, and 1!  Aren't they cute?

 

But, I got to thinking, since this is a hang out for Missionary Moms (duh, right?), what if we started a discussion about all things kid related?   So as we go along with this series, because I am so under qualified, I am begging you all to jump in and help in the comments!  Seriously, think of this more as a discussion starter and less of a "Liz knows so much about raising kids on the field".

Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Lets kick this series off with a conversation about something I am qualified to talk about.  Cloth Diapers.

Wait...What?!?  What does that have to do with Kids on the Field?

Ok, let me explain.

I am not going to pretend that we researched this all out and thought long and hard about the benefits of cloth diapering before we had Forrest.  Truth is, one day when Forrest was about 4 months old, my sister in law emailed me and said "hey, do you want our Fuzzi Bunz?"  And I said, sure, why not.

But the more we used them, the more we realized they fit very well into this missions in the Global South life.  And they really weren't that hard.  And if I am being honest here, washing diapers is one of my favorite chores.

So here you go, Everything I Know About Cloth Diapers. 
Let's start with what type.  We have used Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius.  Why?  Because that's what we were given and what we found used for a great price.  When it came time to enlarge of stash (yes, that is the technical cloth diapering terminology for your cloth diapers) we went with what we knew.  We had the old style Fuzzi Bunz, and they are mediums and larges.  If you are only going to buy one size, get the mediums.  My boys wear them from the time they were four months old through potty training.  The Bum Genius ones we have are a one size fits all.

 

Both of these brands are what's known as a pocket diaper, meaning you don't need rubber pants on top, it's sort of an all in one sorta deal.  We use terry cloth liners.  Really, this aren't your grandmother's cloth diapers.  During nap times, I sometimes double the liner up.  

Someone asked me if I thought about making diapers, which I am sure work great, but that was just further down the road than I was willing to go.   So sorry, not much help on that front. 

As far as night time use, well, we have never had good luck with that.  I wrote about that here once.

As for care...well, we just have a trash can with a lid.  We through the dirty ones in there (after dumping off whatever can be dumped) and wash ever couple of days.  In the states, I would rise in cold water, run a hot cycle with a bit of All free and clear and occasionally some oxiclean, and then another cold rinse cycle.  I have always hung then up to dry, either inside in the winter, or outside on the porch in the summer.  The sun does wonders for the stains.

Here, we don't have hot water attached to our washing machine, so we just do cold.  I am trying to run them through two full cycles now because of that.  And yes, they get hung up on the line.  During rainy season I have thrown them in the dryer (espeically the liners because stuff can take 4 days to dry here.)

As for other bits and pieces, we have two wet bags to contain dirty or wet diapers in the diaper bag.  We tried a diaper sprayer once and well, while it worked well for about three weeks, it then exploded all over the bathroom.  But I have hear bidets help very nicely in this department.

I can't imagine the amount of money we have saved over the years.  Since Elliot is only 19 months younger than Forrest, we have had kids in diapers for 4 years and counting, and for a good chunk of that we had two kids in diapers.  And now with Quinn and being here where disposables are even more expensive...well...it's just been a big help for us.

There is a  foreign missionary cloth diaper grant from  Cotton Babies.  I have a friends in Columbia, Costa Rica and Honduras who have all been recipients of the grant!So, if you fall into that category, check it out.  Also, they have ways for people to help make those grants a reality, so if you want to help, you can check it out over at Cotton Babies.

Ok, so how about you?  Do you use cloth diapers?  Got any tips for us on how to make it work for your family on the field?

Tuesday Topic: Staying in contact on furlough

Wendy writes: While on furlough, how or how much do you keep in contact with those you have met on the mission field? This was a surprise for us when we returned to Canada. While in Mexico, it was easy for us to keep contact with our family and friends and we expected the communication to be the same with Mexico when it was time to leave. However, sadly it has not been so simple for various reasons.

(If you have a “Tuesday Topic” question, please email it to me at fylliska@gmail.com. Provide your blog address if you would like to be linked to, or specify if you would like to remain anonymous. Thanks!)

Planning time

Dear Readers,
We're planning posts for the next three months now. Do you have anything specific you'd like to hear about? Any special ideas? More or less of anything that we already have going? Be honest; I don't think that you can hurt our feelings.

Is there anyone out there who wants to write a guest post? I did try to include former guest writers in the planning email that I already sent out, but if I missed you, or if you're new, please take the initiative to write to me! (fylliska@gmail.com)

As always, any time you think of a Tuesday Topic, please go ahead and send that in, too. We have some ready to go, but I can always add more to the queue.

I'm thinking the pace of posting might slow down a little for the summer; many are traveling or extra busy. We'll see, though. And please do be praying for all of us, when you think of it. Personally, I want to have our month of camp--that's July--covered in prayer, and then after that we'll be working on a move to a new location and ministry. Please share your specific summer prayer requests in the comments here, along with your suggestions and answers to any of the questions I've asked above. Thank you!

Why, Yes, You ARE a Mentor!

I joined an online study group working through a neat book called Impact My Life: Biblical Mentoring Simplified and its study guide (I recommend them both, by the way.)  Something I was reminded of in the beginning is that mentoring is happening all around us.

I have, at times, longed for some Godly, wise, older woman to have a lightning-flash moment and come to me to say she'd like to formally mentor me.  We'd meet for tea and fresh-baked cookies (that she'd baked, of course) while I bore my heart, spilled my guts, and received her counsel.  She'd turn me into SuperMom, I'd be the best wife in town, and a little picture of me would be floating beside the 31st chapter of Proverbs in all the coolest translations.  

That never happened.

What did happen is that I watched the ladies of my church behind the doors of their homes when I'd join a girlfriend for Sunday dinner.  My mother took an active role in my life, even when I was sure I was smart enough not to need her butting into my teenage world.  I gained a mother-in-law on my wedding day that always knew the right scripture or when I needed her to just pray.  Women dropped tidbits of wisdom my way at precise moments, and I filed them in my memory to revisit when needed.  I even read books and listened to podcasts by gals who were brave enough to put their thoughts out there in public.

None of these ladies ever came to me with an engraved invitation--even though I probably did get my share of homemade cookies--but they collectively met my need to be guided along in this journey.  They still do.

In that way, I hope some girl could include me in the women who've shared wisdom with her.  I hope my own daughters can say that I've helped shape something positive in them.  I hope my daughters' friends can say that what they saw behind closed doors was compatible with what they saw on the pew, and that something in me caused them to look deeper into God's eyes.  

These past couple years of recovering from my femur break, passing through the surgeries, moving to be closer to the hospital, and generally pausing from what I considered ministry, I longed for the days when I sat in a circle with young ladies discussing purity and womanhood and grace and real beauty.  I missed those one-on-one chats with different girls about the specific goals we'd talked about last week or how she'd handled the relationship issue we'd prayed about.  I was frustrated by the feeling that my role as a mentor was on pause.

Reading this book reminded me that while I wasn't formally leading a small group or having intentional coaching sessions, there were people in my path that were watching and learning from what they saw.  Oh, God, I hope they learned something good!  I hope they saw someone gracefully accepting what had come her way while trusting God to heal and provide for her needs.  I hope they saw someone rolling with the punches as every part of life had to be rethought, still able to smile and thank God for something positive.  I'd love to think that they saw one of those women whose missionary biography I've read--some miraculous angelic woman of infinite wisdom and faith.  

I'm afraid that what they actually saw was someone who struggled, someone who questioned, someone who wrestled, someone who wasn't always finding the silver lining.  That's discouraging until I think of some of those role models I told you about earlier, and the imperfections I could nitpick in their lives.  But when they come to mind, it's for the good things I've gained from knowing them. I pray some girl will be able to say that about me someday.

Are you intentionally mentoring anyone, or being mentored?  How many girls can you think of who are being mentored by you without a formal weekly meeting?  Am I crazy, or is that thought just a BIT intimidating?!  ;)  

Walking Season

 It is now the time of the year that I call "walking season" here in Russia. Each year after the long winter melts away into spring, all of the mothers and their children resume their tradition to "gulyat," or "go walking," at least once, but usually twice a day. Usually this means moms hanging out on the community playgrounds for hours each day as their children play.

This time of year is always meaningful to me as it is the short season when I really have the opportunity to easily meet new people. I join the Russian moms and my kids and I "gulyat" along with everyone else. I pray each year that God would make ways for the gospel and for my kids and I to be a light in our community. He is so faithful to answer this prayer!

I've been studying Colossians lately and was so encouraged to get to chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, right at the beginning of walking season.

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. " Col. 4:5-6 (ESV)

I pray that God would give me wisdom in how to "walk" this season, that I'd use these precious few months well for His glory and the sake of the souls of my new friends. I pray that I would interact with my kids and neighbors in a way that reflects Him, and that He would give me just the right words that would draw their hearts toward Christ.

What are some of the seasons or times when you have special opportunities to connect with others and reach out to those in your community? How do you make the best use of such times?