"Oh, you must be terribly busy!"

Sometimes people make me feel more stressed than I am. Have you ever heard the following?

"Oh, you must be terribly busy!"

"I know everything is crazy right now..."

"You're probably stressed/overwhelmed/tired."

Don't get me wrong, transition is difficult for anyone. It seems that anything in life could cause stress... moving, packing, going to school, going to work, having babies, having children or grandchildren of any age, pretty much anything one does in life. Does everything have to be "overwhelming" or "too difficult"?

My sister Mary &
my baby E at 3.5wks

My sister is moving to a new home. She is a hard-working pastor's wife, has four children, and has lived in 6 states in the 10 years they've been married. This time it's winter in Iowa, but she's not pregnant like most other times. Rather than saying, "How on earth do you do it?!" I want to say, "How exciting to have a new home! What are you working on? What are you looking forward to? How can I help/pray for you?" Because, I know, in the midst of the long to do list, she's thrilled to be moving!

As I was packing for our 3-month trip to Ghana  (and for our 3-year term in Sierra Leone), I questioned and doubted myself much more when I heard something negative. Sure, it's good to be honest with difficult tasks. But if you're like me, your attitude about those tasks is greatly affected by what people say. I loved hearing something like...

"You must be so excited to go on this adventure."

"Be sure to have fun while you're at it!"

"What an exciting change."

Up next... packing to do list to reduce stress. Learning to wife!

Taking a taxi to the airport in Accra to fly to Northern Ghana.
(Taken by Joshua Wagner)

Mastering Mommy

I was 18yrs old when I took my first class in linguistics. I didn't even know what linguistics was. I just wanted to work with Bible translation. That was 2005. Yesterday, my sister-in-law sent me these pictures of what came in the mail.

M.A. in Applied Linguistics
with a concentration in Bible Translation

Thanks to my husband's support and encouragement, I finished classes when Elijah was 7wks old and my comprehensive exams a few months later. When I heard that I passed and would receive my M.A. I said, "Now, I can be Mom!" 

I look forward to seeing how God uses this training for his glory alongside serving in my primary role of wife and mommy. My desire is the same now as when I started -- that I would have the honor of participating in the efforts of getting Scripture into the heart languages of the people.

Blog silence for the past year. Explained.

Hello. It is enough for today.

Antere. N Dagban yuli Wunpini. 

M bohindi la Dagbanli. Di sagiya zungo.

"Hello. My Dagbanli name is Wunpini. 

I'm learning Dagbanli. It is enough for today."

This is Elijah's babysitter, Rafia.
She named me Wunpini, meaning "God's gift,"
a local name people enjoy and can pronounce.
(Taken by Joshua Wagner)

I love that this is not only okay to say, but it's recommended in my training right now.* We all have limits, right?

Language learning is a very important part of being a missionary, whether you're learning a new language or simply learning how to communicate effectively cross-culturally in a common language (e.g. English and Ghanaian English).

My big takeaway is that it's okay to acknowledge where I'm at in the process. AND, it's good to say it aloud. "It is enough for today," or "This is all I know." People here are very patient and friendly and continually say that little by little we will learn. Biela biela - "small small" or "little by little."

This is an even bigger lesson for me. I'm a missionary wife and mother, planning to work and live in Africa for several years. Pretty much everything will take time and will come biela biela. That's okay.

Each of us takes a day at a time, uncertain of what each holds.

*Here in Ghana, my little family is getting ready for life in Sierra Leone. Josh and I are sitting through classes on cross-cultural living/working, particularly in West Africa. We are also learning some of the local language to learn a method taught here and tackle common barriers with language learning.

When it's 106, sometimes you just need to ask

The palace of Ghanaian female chief
Taken by Joshua Wagner

My hubs, 7.5month-old, and I moved to Ghana for three months. I'm super excited to write about some of the experiences that I'm having here. Some days absolutely everything seems different from my wonderful and frozen Minnesota, and other days, I feel like this could be home.

When we moved into our room here in Ghana, we were so impressed with the accommodations, we thought little of the fact we couldn't get the A/C to turn on. We adjusted quickly to the 102-106 degrees F. Or, should I say 39-41 C? Our neighbor was talking about her A/C last night, so I thought I might as well ask the receptionist about ours. In a beautiful way, she walked down the porch, stood on a chair, and flipped a switch. 

A week and a half into our stay, we turned on our A/C.

Between the extreme desert dryness and the blast of heat when I walk outside, I'm not sure using the A/C is the best idea. But that decision isn't for tonight since we're enjoying it sooo much.

The Sun of Tamale, Northern Ghana
Taken by Joshua Wagner

Won't Boil Over

I've heard about this. 

I didn't believe it until I tried it myself. 

Seriously.

It didn't boil over.

Life just got easier.

You're welcome.

Mind Maps & Doodles (processing through differences)

I have two images to show you a difference between Josh and me:

I bet you can guess which represents Josh and which me.

That very large piece of vinyl (sold by the yard at JoAnn Fabrics) pictured above is mounted on the wall above my husband's desk. It's a stress relieving, prioritizing, clarifying, decision-making tool... for him. He loves it and writes on it everyday with Vis-a-Vis markers. Sometimes I think he's nuts. But mostly, I'm so thankful that God made him like this.

The second picture is my trying to decide on a baby name. That's all.

When I want to process through ideas and emotions, there's nothing like...

• a post-it note and a ballpoint pen
• a piano
• cooking curry or some other deliciousness
• writing a blog post or journal entry

We're different.

For over two years, Josh and I have been blending our lives together. As part of learning to wife I've spent a lot of time trying to be the super-systems-using-and-understanding-strategist-wife. He loves when I listen to what the mind map means to him. This is affirming, and yes, even flirtatious. It values him.

But, Josh is encouraging me to embrace the way God has created me and to invest time in activities and subjects I enjoy. This is freeing for me. I'm learning how to rediscover my strengths and develop them through various outlets. 

How have you developed your strengths through life's changes?

Feeling the Pregnancy

Grateful for so many things, especially these things:

1. I can feel our little baby kick now.
2. My Josh regularly checks to see if he can feel the baby yet.
3. Our midwife loves babies, natural births, and the Lord.
4. I'm warm all the time and this allows me to wear sandals whenever I want.
5. I have no food aversions. I love meat. I love spice. I love milk.
6. People are starting to notice I'm pregnant. 
7. I love having a mommy glow and a baby bump.
8. Josh and I love being parents, and we love being parents together.

Taken by Joshua Wagner