Category: Travel
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Calculated risk
We’ve accepted the possibility of judgement and turned up eyebrows in exchange for a bit of extra freedom at the conference. Not irresponsible though. We know our kids. And we’ve poured everything we have in them, purposefully and rationally. We built resilience and mutual trust. And as they grow we grow, and we take risks,…
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Three women in their thirties discussing burnout
It is not an exhaustive presentation. We all shared from what we learned as we traveled through the valley of burnout, camping there for a while, reaching the valley from different directions. Some having started the climb up a while ago. Awareness of where we are is a great starting point. And you don’t have…
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Integrity in the story of Joseph
At ROM, Marko Stupar shared about Integrity in the context of the story of Joseph. He posed a few questions that we had to sit with. Two are still stuck in my mind. Who are you when nobody is looking? Who are you when you have power? Indeed, the question of integrity applies to all…
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Social context matters
When I traveled to California with “work and travel” the first summer, my friends there tried their best to help me. My host drove me to apply for jobs. Another friends put a good word with some of his old employers. None of them pan out. I remember now how overwhelmed and frozen I felt.…
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A moment of desperation
I’m going to be irreverent when it comes to family life. I’m going to compare it to a day job. As we jumped into parenting when our kids were age 3, and took on big responsibilities and learned as we went along, the rewards were great but the mental load was also great. The longest…
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Don’t quit. Just take a break
Marriage is not martyrdom Parenting is not martyrdom Life for Christ is But it is also meant to be lived with gusto Balance Wisdom Boundaries Tasting and savoring the sweetness of life Laying it down at the foot of the cross. It’s not a paradox It is wholehearted living. Taking time to rest. To be…
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The familiar adoption world
“You love adoption, right mommy?” Asks ivy holding a bunch of pages she has drawn on. “I drew a book about adoption. Will you help me staple the pages?” She proceeds to walk me through the five beautiful drawings. She is 6 years old and she will be an architect. She practices every day. She…
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Ivy’s encouragement
I took the kids on a spa trip. Sure enough they complained here and there. Or maybe they expressed their discomfort, confusion, tiredness. We still work on better expressing our emotions without burdening others. Unnecessarily. On our way back, as we ordered some food from a restaurant we like to stop by every time we…
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Travel disappointments
It’s increasingly difficult to make travel plans. Booking, Airbnb and other sleeping arrangements have changed their cancellation flexibility. In the last year I had three trips canceled last minute. First of them, we were already passed through security. The flight got all together cancelled. Due to understaffing. Due to strike. Due to technical issues. That…
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Smoking in the airport
In line to board the plane. A young woman starts smoking an e-cigarette. First impulse is to move away to not smell it. There isn’t much room to move. So Conrad asks her to stop smoking. She replies childishly: no. Conrad’s got dad reaction kicked in. He yanked the e-cigarette out of her hand and…
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The purpose of traveling
If you leave home to go spend money, to feel rich, then more power to you. I have never traveled without a tight budget limit. It’s in my blood to pinch pennies even when we have money in the bank account. We buy our airline tickets then we find a hotel in easy distance with…
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The effort
Livia shows up. I see her. She sees me. It has been a year of brokenness and exhaustion. Sometimes we can’t articulate with all the words the darkness we felt. But in it, there was a light. Steady. Bright. Why did you come? Why are you going? What’s here to do? What’s there to do?…