It's official, 6 weeks until take off!

Tickets are officially booked and paid for!  We leave Chiang Mai at 11:55pm on February 28th and arrive in Seattle at 11:00am March 1st.  What seems like just a few hours in between is actually more than 24 hours of travel time.

And so it begins, we had our 1st major yard sale today and the next one is already in the planning.  As we enter this phase of transitioning, there is a lot of making-do with what we have on hand.  As I am cleaning and purging through toys, clothes, arts & crafts, etc., etc. I am reminded again how amazing God is in providing more than our needs.  

2 1/2 years ago, we came here with just our bags (and they were mostly filled with formula for the twins),   

...and now we have a houseful.

A few months back I was hanging towels out to dry and as I looked at my kitchen towels my thought was "wow, these towels are in bad condition, but don't really have the finances to buy any right now.

...30 minutes after that conversation in my mind I received a care package from my Aunt Jill which included 2 brand new Kitchen Towels!

Just a few short weeks ago I wrote an email asking for prayer for finances for 5 airfare tickets.  The dollar amount seemed so huge, 

...but sure enough He provided all the money we needed to buy our tickets through our generous supporters.

I am so thankful for these constant reminders of how much God loves me and my family.  Whether it is something so small as kitchen towels or something huge like $5,000+ for airline tickets, we can completely trust that He sees our needs and wants.  

If you are living in the Seattle area and reading this blog, please consider these ways we are still in need

1. Housing starting on March 1st for anywhere from 1-7 months.  Ideally we would like to find a source for missionary housing, but also looking to sublet something furnished.  We are open to other options, i.e. Mother-in-law basement, or apartments / condos for rent.

2. Two carseats for Zarah & Keziah that you could give to us or sell at a low price.  They are 2 1/2 years old / 23 & 24 pounds, so something like the pictures below would work.

Please email me at jennifergakhtar@gmail.com about either of these 2 areas of need for our family during our furlough time.

So now I wait and watch God in action, it is truly A-Mazing to watch Him work in our lives and for our family.  I will keep you posted on the ... for updates on how He provides these needs for us. 

Here we go again!
This is my life as a traveling mommy!
Jennifer

Celebrations!

This is a crazy statement to make, and I think I would have not been able to understood before I was a mom, but sometimes life can seem almost boring day after day of being a stay at home mom.  Now with 3 little girls at home, you might ask "how can that get boring?".  And it does even sound weird to say that because there are so many overwhelming moments throughout the day.  But the boring-ness comes from the monotony of wake-up, have breakfast, play, have lunch, take naps, wake-up, play, have dinner, watch a show, go to bed...day after day...weekday or weekend...sick day or well day...holiday or not.

As a stay at home mom, I think it is my job to try to find ways to add some spice to each day and hope that it will be fun (when I have the energy).  One of those ways I have found is be purposeful in what we spend time celebrating, which can be challenging as we are a family on the move.  This week I want to share 1 way that I have found to make a week a little funner.  Last month on November 20th was Zarah & Keziah's 1/2 Birthday, they turned 2 1/2!  Being honest, I've never really thought about 1/2 birthday's until my older daughter Hope was old enough to know about her's.  I think the first year was when she turned 4 1/2, and I realized in February that it was her 1/2 birthday.  She was so excited, and it was fun to do a little "laid back" celebrating.  Making the day special for her made such an impact that now we have incorporated this into our family's culture.

The best part about celebrating 1/2 birthday's is that they are NOT a big production like a actual Birthday can become.  This week, I made pancakes for dinner and added cake sprinkles to them and we sang the Happy Birthday song (with the added 1/2 in the middle).

Then comes Advent starting on December 1st, and it was great to celebrate Jesus' birthday and our faith.  I grew up in a large Catholic family, and did not have my own personal relationship with Jesus as my Savior until my late 20's.  And so I find myself still finding my way in my faith, and really it wasn't until the last few years with my kids that I have come to understand Advent and fully embrace the time for what it truly means.  Advent as a time that we prepare our hearts for the arrival of our Savior Jesus, whether physically as a baby being born and/or spiritually preparing our hearts to welcome Him anew.   Each day we read scripture and had a small advent activity to do together.  The month went speeding by and and we had such an enjoyable Christmas season as a family and celebrating with our Thailand family.

It is a hard time for me as I miss my family and the traditions that I grew up celebrating with my immediate family.  But that being said, my 3 little girls don't know those memories or understand my feelings of missing  family...because they are with their family. WE ARE what they are making memories about. And I feel as their mom it is my responsibility to not stand in my emotions, but to create those new traditions and memories with my children.  It can be a hard task to accomplish what I am talking about here, but as the saying goes...no one ever said being a mommy (& daddy) is easy.  This was my 7th Christmas (over my lifetime) away from my "home" and traditional Christmas, and it really doesn't ever get any easier...

Just downloading and looking over some of the memories that were made this Advent and Christmas season, looks like I have some work to do in the next couple of weeks to share our moments with you.  Here are some of my favorites so far...

Very proud "mommy" moment...I have officially joined the "I have 3 daughters and I made them matching outfits" group!  There is such a group out there right?...I've seen the pictures before ;-).  Earlier this year I had borrowed a friends sewing machine & thought life out a few steps ahead of time and made this dream a reality.  The best part is how much they LOVE them and when they are wearing them and look at each other they totally crack-up...Best Ever!

Earlier in the month of December we had a friend take some family pictures of us and they turned out wonderful!  Here is the finished product

Whew....this is my life as a traveling mother.  God Bless you today!
Jennifer

Back in the Blog seat

If you keep a journal, have you ever started your journal writing with "well, it's been awhile since I last wrote in here..."  I for sure have done this.  Recently in my women's small group one of my friends mentioned starting a journal entry with this sentence and we all had a good laugh, I think because we all had done it at some point.  It got me thinking...why do we start a journal entry like that?  who am I explaining too...myself?  isn't it obvious by the previous and current date that it's been awhile?  All that to say that that sentence is how this blog post should start.  Well, It has been awhile since I last wrote in here...

My post in September was about potty training my twin girls Zarah & Keziah.  It sure didn't go exactly how I was planning, but what about motherhood ever really does?  The first couple of days were pretty hard and I felt like I would never leave the house again.  The 1st week had me feeling like a failure, which is such a lie because potty training is about your child getting the idea of going to the bathroom...not about me as a mom.  But as we all know, being hard pressed causes insecurities to be magnified.  So we persevered and had some great days and even outings without accidents.

After a few weeks of working on it and the girls doing 'okay', I decided to let go.  Over all they both were just not getting the idea of telling me when they had to go so I was constantly asking throughout the day.  With 1 child that can be exhausting, but with twins it was overwhelming.  Also, after my first few days a friend loaned me her book 'Potty Training 1-2-3', which is what method I used for Hope and worked like a charm.  In the back of the book under "FAQ's" it said for twins you should choose which twin is showing more signs of being ready and start with that one and send the other twin off to Grandma's house for a couple of days...  Obviously they didn't take into consideration those of us mommy's living overseas far away from our Nano.  So, to all you mom's who are able to potty train in 2-4 days...BRAVO!...oh wait, I was one of those proud moms.  And now I know it is NOT always the case.  

There have been big changes and decisions going on in our family in the last few months, and that is probably why it is hard for me to sit down and write a post.  One of these changes is that our planned furlough back to the US in 2014 was moved up from June to February.  So after over 2 years of living in Chiang Mai, Thailand we have only 3 1/2 months left here until we "move" again.  We are currently in the process of making career path decisions about where we will settle after our 6 month furlough to the Seattle, WA area, so this means letting go of everything we have now except our bags for the plane...again.

Another reason for my lapse in posting is because I've been trying to figure out what this blog is for...why am I writing?  who am I writing to?  how much information can I share? should I make it private?  So obviously if you are reading this then I am writing for you and to you about my life, my family, and our travels.  This year God has been giving us an amazing vision about our next steps, but sometimes I will not be able to share everything on such a public forum.  At this time I will leave this blog as public, and I changed some of the search settings.  There are some small glitches/annoyances about changing a blog to private, so at this point anything we are not able to share here will be sent through email.  
A few weeks ago I sent out an update email and prayer request, if you did not get this email and would like to receive it (or hear more about our vision) please leave a comment with your email address or send me an email at jennifergakhtar@gmail.com.

Other than this big stuff, our little family is doing well and getting ready to enjoy Thanksgiving together.  Last year I did a big family meal and it was a great experience (click here).  I think I will wait until my girls are a little older and can help me with such a big task. 

Hope is doing very well in the 2nd grade, she enjoys going to school every day.  And just last week she received the Star Student award!

This was one of those days where I was running late going to Hope's school for chapel time.  And my thought was, "is it really worth it to drive there to be there for 15 minutes?"  As the girls and & I opened the door her teacher, Mrs. Cross, was just standing to talk about the star student, and her name was Hope!  Yes, it is always worth it!

Here is a recent picture of my favorite spunky lunch dates and the reason my days stay so busy....

My next project is getting some new pictures posted from this year on our Family Pictures tab, so check in again soon!

God Bless you and your family!
This is my life as a traveling mother,
Jennifer

1-2-3 Here we go...Potty Training for Twins

There are 2 things I have had on my "To-Do" list for weeks now.  One is a new blog post and the second is potty training twins.  The first item I really do enjoy... updating my blog, but when I get a week or more behind it becomes hard to get back on track.  The latter of the two I have been avoiding by using the summer and a birthday party to put it off...more than understandable, RIGHT?!

So, here I am on the eve of finally having potty training on my calendar.  We have blocked off 1-4 days, have the chair, purchased treats, stuffed animals are dressed in underwear ready to go, and even sequestered my helpful husband!  How do I feel?  Well, that would be the reason I am finally getting a blog post done...I am asking for you to pray for us these next few days.  Potty training Hope was one of the "mom" duties that terrified me, and now here we are ready for the twins turn.  To give you some perspective on how much I dread potty training, even when I was pregnant with twins I thought about having to potty train them in 2 years!  Even just posting this before I start is a step of faith that I can DO this, instead of waiting until after it's done.  

If you have any encouragement, please post it in the comments below, especially if you have potty trained twins!  I appreciate you caring and praying for us as we encounter life's terrifying moments.  Also, there are a couple of posts to update you on how we are doing that I have been working on and I will try to get them done very soon.

I will update you next weekend on how it all goes.  Here we go...

This is my potty-terrifying life as a traveling mom,
Jennifer

Impact-Full

YEA! So happy to say that the weeks of my husbands traveling, that I dreaded months ago, have come to an end!  

Plus, this week I had lunch with a friend returning from the US, and it dawned on me that she is the first friend of the many traveling this summer to return to town.  Definitely makes me feel that we are on the home stretch of summer furlough season here.  As I have learned after 2 summer school breaks living in Chiang Mai is there is a mass exodus in the 1st 2 weeks of June, and then a mass entrance in the end of July and beginning of August.  

Still going strong doing the summer bible study with Good Morning Girls.  If you are looking for a good book to read or looking for a bible study to start in the fall, I would definitely recommend the book we are reading.  It is titled "Anything" by the author Jennie Allen.  God is doing a great work in my heart and stirring up a fire in me this summer. 

I just want to share some highlights from my chapters this week that are challenging and impact-full.

"I don't want to make decisions based on my adequacy and capacity.  I don't want to miss what God has for us because I am afraid.  Just because we are willing didn't mean it was easy.  I still wanted God to be more clear, so we could be more sure." (Chapter 15)

"In parenting...you have two or maybe three babies who turn into toddlers. At some point you either live perpetually anxious or give in and embrace the fact that your life is now completely out of control.  Once you embrace that, parenting shifts from an agenda to an experience." (Chapter 16)

"Our reality is a cross, a heaven, and a God who sees us and gives us his Spirit so we can do something while we are here.  And that's not building a cute, easy life for ourselves where the pros outweigh the cons."  (Chapter 16)

"We doubt because of the risk, the cost, the abandonment of rights and comforts, the disapproval of people you really love, and then on top of it all, because you have now officially picked a fight with the devil.
The devil is real, and nothing ticks him off more than people waking up from the numb stupor he has crafted to keep us harmless."
(Chapter 17)

"To accept that life is supposed to be hard is the beginning of joy.  There is freedom in understanding that heaven is coming and we are not there yet.  We're called to live, instead, aware that we are at war with a ruthless enemy who is trying to destroy us if we are living surrendered to Jesus." (Chapter 17)

"God has bigger purposes in allowing us to suffer, bigger than just winning.  He allows us to suffer because we change through suffering.  We hurt with others better.  We become humble.  We want him more." (Chapter 17)

Even as I read them out of context of the book here, they challenge and inspire me to know God more.  This really is a great book to read, and study scripture along with it.  (She has lots of scripture references that go along the way with the above quotes).  

Today I will end with God's Word:

"Now I am coming to You, 

and I speak these things in the world

so that they may have My joy completed in them.

I have given them Your word.  

The world hated them because they are not of the world, 

as I am not of the world.

I am not praying that You take them out of the world 

but that You protect them from the evil one.  

They are not of the world, as I am not of the world.  

Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.  

As You sent Me into the world, 

I also have sent them into the world."

John 17 v.13-18

WE ARE THEM.

This is my blessed & non-traveling life,

Jennifer

Taking back our living room

I'm definitely a "a place for everything, and everything in it's place" kinda girl.  When we lived in our last home in the US I was pretty strict to keep all my daughters toys in her room...that was their place after all.  Our living room was a family space with pictures and candles and just a few knick-knacks. 

Fast forward to living in a new country and adding 2 more little girls to the family picture...
Since living in Thailand, we started out with a very minimum of toys for all 3 girls and so they were in a box and stayed in our living room area.  With time (almost 2 years actually) of living here, our toy collection has grown way beyond a box and still overwhelming the living room area.  So, a couple of weeks ago I took back our living room from the toy over-growth by moving ALL their toys into their bedroom as I had done with Hope when she was young.  I think one of the reasons I hadn't done this before is because here we are in a 2-story house, where as before we were in a single story house. A little leary about the twins going up & down the stairs, but they are doing really well! 

It has really been great to have their room for them to play & I am actually enjoying the fruits of having twins.  They are playing together in there!  I can put them in their room and even get a quick shower in while they play with each other.  

In an earlier post, I mentioned another twin mom saying that after 2 years old it got a little easier...and I'm happy to report that She Was So Right!  

As I talked about in my last post, I am involved with a summer bible study through the Good Morning Girls blog.  This has been an AMAZING way to thrive this summer and not just survive.  We are reading the book "Anything" by Jennie Allen and there are daily scripture to read and apply to our everyday life with the help of this book.  

A couple of exciting points that I want to share are that first, I have been memorizing a weekly scripture verse for the past 4 weeks of the study!  This is exciting for me because I have done a few studies and they usually encourage memorizing scripture, but I always said "oh, that's so hard" or "I can't do that, my brain doesn't work like that".  Now I know those were complete lies from enemy, because it is possible to memorize scripture for anyone!  I just had to believe that I can memorize the Word of God and put the effort in.  

Secondly, is another point about putting in the effort...with my daughter Hope.  This study also give a great day by day plan to do with your kids, no matter their age.  Up until today, we were doing part of it...but not the whole.  Today I had to make an aware decision to sit down and do the craft and spend time with Hope, and it was really great!  This week we will be learning about prayer, and today she made her very own prayer book!

I really love being aware during my day!  

And it is a decision we have to make...

And this is life as a traveling mother...well, maybe not this summer ;-)

Jennifer

Summer Break is Upon Us...AND I'M SO EXCITED!

This time last year I was overcome with anxiety about having my daughter home everyday after being in school full-time for 7 months.  So the title of this post may surprise you that I am actually excited to be looking forward at the next 9 weeks of having 3 very active little girls around me all day.  

As I think about this change, I think there are 2 reasons.  

First, I have come to realize that each summer the girls are at a certain age to enjoy.  There will NEVER be another summer that I will have a 5 year old and two 2 year olds other than this summer.  If I stop all the nonsense that keeps me busy or preoccupied (i.e. TV, games, straightening every item, etc.) I might actually appreciate the fun that being 2 and 5 really is. 

Also, while "blog browsing" I found an online bible study group called "Good Morning Girls" (GMG).  Since signing up for their summer study, they have put together a "For Kids" version study guide using the same scriptures as my study guide.  I have often thought about starting a bible study time with Hope and the twins, but have never put that good intention into action.  Their study guide is great with all kinds of resource links for each scripture, including a craft and songs.  The idea of doing this WITH my girls is so exciting to me!  If you are interested to use their materials this summer click here.

If you are familiar with GMG, please let me know how your experience went in the comments below.  And for others who might be interested, I look forward to sharing my experience in about 8-10 weeks!

About a month ago I started to really stress about the months of June and July because my husband is traveling out of town for weeks at a time.  Let's just be honest, having all three girls at home without him is hard work.  But then I heard myself dreading days, weeks, and months that hadn't even happened yet.  It dawned on me, "how can I enjoy today or the days to come if I am dreading them?"  I can't...but I want to enjoy them...I want to find joy in each day.  

I believe that it is up to me to change my mind from dread to joy.

And just being able to write this blog about my excitement for the summer months to come proves that as we choose what to focus on, God can change my heart for the better.

This is my enjoyable life as a traveling mother!
Jennifer