Rattins living Coram Deo

Of course, I'm doing a lot of thinking about motherhood these days... well, most days for the last 7 years... And there are some truly God-honoring things already written about motherhood, so I won't try to create my own phenomenal writing when others have gone before me.  But a few thoughts... As I struggle to keep my eyes open, stiffle the "I've got an infant" yawns, and find time to go to the bathroom, moms of teens tell me that the "worst is yet to come." As if this period of life with "littles" shouldn't be stressful or challenging, after all, it's nothing compared to the teen years! Well, every season is unique.  I won't deny that I look forward to going to the bathroom alone whenever I please.  But, I also won't deny that there's such a joy to having a baby whose needs I can readily and instantly meet and having young ones who like to snuggle (sometimes).  I also physically don't look forward to my nearly 9 ...

"My mother's mother is my grandmother." "My mo-der and mo-der eee have goder." "Nope - say my mother's mother is my grandmother." "My mo-der and mo-der eee have goder." "Not quite.  Listen closely, Moses: My mother's mother is my grandmother." ... (half hour later)... "My mo-der's mo-der is my grandmo-der." "YES! You got it, buddy!! Now, look at my mouth "th - th - th"... mo"th"er - you say it." "Th-my th-moTHer and th-moTHer..." 'sigh' ... Teaching Moses is a whole different ballgame.  He struggles to actually engage his mind to what he is learning. We're taking a kid who has managed to not learn and not be engaged with the world around him beyond having fun and doing what he wants to do and stretching his mind to all kinds of new exercises.  Listen closely enough to a sentence to be able to comprehend it and answer a question about it.  Manipul...

I've been working on writing up Micah's birth story - I'm not usually one to post such things publicly, but I thought I'd make an exception this time.  If you don't like birth stories, don't read! But I know that Micah's home birth in northern Uganda is of great interest to many, so here it is.   Micah’s birth story  Micah’s story is one of a kind… something I never imagined that I would experience… and so grateful that we got to experience! We found out we were pregnant with Micah just about 3 months after moving to Northern Uganda – surprise! Fortunately for us, a missionary friend (Emilie) was already about 4 months into her pregnancy and had done significant research about the options for safe deliveries in our area. The hospitals are very unsafe and unreliable; maternal and infant mortality rates are incredibly high. So hospitals in our region were NOT an option. Waiting around to go into labor in Kampala sounded miserable with a family of four...