To the ends of the Earth

One month from today, I'll be sitting on the verge of an experience that will surely change my life and give me glimpses as to what our future holds.

On April 7th, I will be traveling to the the West African country of Guinea-Bissau for an 11 day journey. I will be going with a team from our church that includes my dear friend Wendi, another young mother and two seasoned gentlemen who are very well versed in foreign travel and missions. Both of the men who are going have been to Guinea-Bissau several times. But for us young mothers, it will be each of our first time to Africa.

We will be going to work with a people group who, until our church committed to reaching them approximately 2 years ago, were a completely unreached. The Badyara people now boast approximately 50-100 believers in their 5,000-15,000 person population - which is spread across 3 main (and totally remote) villages. It's unclear exactly how many people belong to this specific tribe of people (hence the wide range in numbers), but it is known that they are considered only marginally reached.

Sound familiar? Yes, this is almost exactly what our family's ministry will be in Kenya. I know the Lord will reveal great things to me on this trip and I am both excited and nervous about what those things will be.

Our amazing babysitter/nanny Amanda will be here with the kids during the day, while Luke's at work so I know the children will be well cared for by someone that knows them and they love. But still, I'm anxious about leaving them for so long.

Truthfully, this wasn't one of those cases where I felt like the Lord was excessively clear in directing me to go. I attended the 1st information meeting about this trip and truly had so much hesitation in my Spirit. Really, I couldn't put my finger on a specific reason why I felt uneasy about going. I wrestled with the uneasiness within me. I believe fully that the Lord uses His Spirit within us to lead and direct us, even when the reasons aren't clear. So until I felt the hesitation was gone, I resolved that I wouldn't go on this trip.

After about a week of wrestling, I finally told Luke that I wasn't going to go. I told him I couldn't put a specific reason as to why, but that I just felt that now wasn't the time. I asked him what he thought and he said, "Well, I don't see any reason why going would be a bad thing. Since the Lord hasn't directly told you not to go, I think you should. Do you think your hesitation is rooted in your anxiety about leaving the kids? It would be a great learning experience for you, especially with what is to come with our family. Keep praying, I don't think the Lord has definitively spoken yet." (Praise God for a husband who is also in tune with God's desires!)

So I prayed and I continued studying Scripture. I talked about it more with my friend Wendi and I told her that if I still felt uneasy by the deposit deadline, I was going to take that as the Lord's desire for me not to go. She committed to praying for me as well. (Praise God for God-focused friends!)

That night, after talking with Wendi, I prayed and studied God's word. I asked God, BOLDLY, to give me a specific direction about whether or not He wanted me to go on this trip. Without hesitation, I felt the Lord stir these words within me,

"My Word is clear, Jessica. You know what my desires are. My desires are to make my Name known among all the nations. You know that my desire for your life is to be my witness to the ends of the Earth. This is the ends of the Earth, Jessica. These people don't know me. Tell them."

I cried as I sat there, knowing that every reason within me for having hesitation was not from the Lord. The enemy was using my desire for control, safety and comfort as a way to divert me from giving the Lord glory. I was also afraid of the backlash I'd face taking a trip like this.

Over the next day a peace that I cannot explain washed over me. The hesitation was completely extracted from my Spirit and I knew that this was the Lord's answer that I should go. So here I sit, approximately one month out and though I am eager to go I can't say that I am clap-my-hands-jump-up-and-down excited.

I'm eager to see what the Lord will show me during this trip and during this season of my dependence on Him. I AM excited about putting my feet on some African soil. And something in my Spirit feels certain that being physically on the continent that God has called us to serve will put me directly at the throne of my God. THAT I am excited about!

If you feel led, I'd love to have you pray for me as I prepare for this trip. Pray that I will stay consistent in studying God's word, that my prayer time will reflect my desire to hear from the Lord and that I will be emotionally and physically ready.

Guinea-Bissau has NO POWER GRID. Which means any and all power within the country is from generators. That also means I will have relatively no communication with my family, other than maybe a quick phone call or two.

A team from our church just returned a couple weeks ago and the temperatures reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit. (Our missions pastor said he measured 122 degrees on the roof of one of the buildings.) Those numbers will be mild compared to when we are there, the month before the hottest season of the year (May).

Also, pray for my family. Pray for our children as I talk with them about where I'm going and what I'll be doing. Elizabeth has gotten pretty upset because she isn't going with me. She told me she wanted to go and preach to people too. Such a tender heart she has! Pray for my husband as he prepares to spend a week with little-to-no contact with his wife, work all day and also come home to parent our children.

Lastly, here is a video a previous team member (and incredibly talented friend) made when he went back at the end of 2010. It's powerful. Make sure you have your speakers on.

Thanks friends!

Parenting a Strong Willed Child

Parenting a stubborn and strong willed child is interesting to say the least. I really thought Lucas was strong willed as a 2 year old. Little did I realize that God gave me Lucas as merely preparation for Aaron.

Before I launch into all of the difficulties that I face with my sweet 2 year old boy, I want to make one thing very clear. I love this boy of mine. Love him so much that if I dwell on it my insides ache. When he wraps his skinny little arms around my neck and asks for a "tiss" and "ug" my heart almost explodes. His laugh infects my soul and his smile brightens my days. I love him so much more than I ever thought possible. Nearly 3 years ago when the social workers walked him into our home, I never could have imagined how I would love him as my own flesh and blood. And now, it rarely crosses my mind that he's adopted. I cannot imagine our family without him. He's an integral part of what makes our family feel full of joy, life and love.

Earlier this morning, he sat on my lap and cuddled with me as we watched a movie for school. As I rubbed my lips and cheeks across his hair and smelled the top of his head, I thanked God for everyday that I get the privilege to be his Mom. I don't take it lightly that the Lord specifically chose me to be his Mother.

But the truth remains that he tests me on just about every level that a two (nearly 3) year old can. I've known he was strong willed since he was about 8 or 9 months old, when the temper tantrums began if I took a forbidden object from his pudgy fingers. They weren't your ordinary temper tantrums that a typical 8 or 9 month old would display. They lingered and lasted much longer than a baby of that age's memory should allow.

Potty training him has been a constant battle. I've said time and time again that I'm done with trying to break him of diapers. But, every few days he asks to go in the potty and every, single time I think, "Maybe this is it! Maybe he's ready!" So, we strip off the diaper, sit him on the toilet and battle begins.

"Okay Buddy, push out some pee pee and poo poo," I plead.

"No. I done. I go pay," he retorts, before his bottom has even rested firmly on the seat.

"But Bud, you've not even gone potty yet. You want a piece of candy? If you put your poo poo in the potty you can have a GREAT BIG piece of candy!" I try to not let the frustration well up within me as I hear his whining begin.

"No! I go pay!" His excitement with the potty turns to a furrowed frown as he looks at me with his chin nearly touching his chest.

"If you don't potty you can't wear your Thomas undies," I remind him. "You want to wear Thomas, don't you?"

"No! Put.on.my.diaper! I poop in my pants!"

And with those words, I'm done. Because how can I make him go poop in the potty if he understands that he can just go in his (requested) diaper? I've tried candy, TV, more Thomas stuff, everything I can think of to get him to go to the potty and still, NOTTA.

Unless it's on HIS terms.

And I wish it stopped there. Meal times are a battle. EVERY.SINGLE. meal time. He's not a picky eater, per say, but a defiant eater. One night he will dog down some mac and cheese and chicken nuggests. Two days later, he refuses to even take a bite of mac and cheese and gags, spits and chokes when I demand he put some in his mouth.

One day he LOVES potatoes, the next day he shuns all of his dinner because his potatoes are touching the other food on his plate.

And then there's days like yesterday.

Aaron LOVES Mexican food. He has never rejected it when I cook it at home and when we go out to a Mexican restaurant he gets his own bowl of salsa and eats it using a chip to spoon it into his mouth. But on Monday night I made a new recipe. A super yummy, totally edible Quesadillia Casserole. (for real, click on that link and then look for those little packs in your grocery store, tasty stuff!)

It was good! Even our picky eater (Elizabeth) ate two plates of it - and she is super picky! But, since it didn't look good to Aaron, he didn't even take a bite. Instead, he shoved it across the table, frowned and said, "I no wike it!"

The one bite I forced him to put into his mouth (because a few times in the past when he's rejected food he's not even tasted, I've made him take a bite and he's realized he likes it and then eats) he spit into his hand.

So, we began our multi-time a day mealtime routine of excusing Aaron from the table to his room. We do not allow disrespectfulness at our dinner table and he was certainly being disrespectful. We have a rule that everything on your plate MUST be tasted. And, if it's something you've eaten previously and enjoyed then you must finish it before you can get seconds of another item. (Does that make sense?)

Since Aaron refused to taste his dinner and began scowling at everyone in sight he was excused. Then began Aaron's screaming, crying, stomping and fits that are now also a mealtime routine in our house. Once he settled down, we again offered for him to come eat dinner but he refused.

This isn't the first time he's refused to eat something I've cooked so, like the other times, he went to bed without dinner. Man! That is a hard to do! But, I REFUSE to be a short order cook. Everyone else in the house has likes and dislikes too, and I try to make something at every meal that I know will please all of our eaters.

The other rule that we have had to implement for Aaron is that if he rejects a meal all together, we wrap up his plate and he receives it at the next meal. We've done this a couple of times and each time he's initially acted as though he wouldn't eat the reheated leftovers. But, after realizing we were not budging, he ate.

Yesterday was a different story completely. At breakfast I reheated his plate of Quesadillia Casserole. After 30 minutes of him screaming, kicking and whining at the breakfast table, I excused him and told him he would not be offered breakfast any longer and since he'd still chosen to not eat his food, he would be offered it for snack. I rewrapped his plate and put it back in the refrigerator.

At snack time, the same fit followed. While everyone else at their snack he was offered his plate of untouched, reheated food. Again fits, screaming and generally nasty behavior. But this time it was not only fueled by his hatred of the food on his plate, but his food deprived body's hunger. A hungry 2.5 year old is a MEAN 2.5 year old. Anybody picking up what I'm putting down?

I reminded Aaron that he'd need to eat his food if he wanted a snack. He refused. I then told him that if he chose not to eat it now, it would be his lunch.

Repeat the food rejection for lunch and afternoon snack. By the time Aaron woke up from his nap he was fit to be tied. The only thing he'd consumed since afternoon snack the day before was WATER.

Man o mighty he was a jerk. I mean a REAL LIVE JERK. His hunger was overtaking his body and he began flinging his body on the floor or against any hard surface he could find to prove the point that HE WAS PISSED.

Luke and I joked that he was fasting for something and just forgot to tell us. Dude, we would have prayed for him. (Actually, I did.)

Dinner time rolls around. By now, I bet you can guess what happened, can't you? Everyone else gets potatoes, pork chops and carrots. Guess what Aaron was served?

Yep. Reheated Quesadillia Casserole. By this point I'm questioning whether or not it's even healthy for him to consume food that's been reheated so many times. But I knew if we caved at this point all of my efforts all day would have been in vain.

After much crying, screaming, being excused from the table multiple times and allowed to return, Luke basically force fed him the now crusty, dried and totally gross casserole. He ate it while rubbing his tummy and saying, "Yummy, yummy" and slightly gagging. (I'm not even kidding.)

After he ate the (get this) FOUR BITES that it took clean his plate of the wretched Quesadillia Casserole he was offered the same dinner the rest of us ate. He gobbled up the carrots because those are his favorite and then REFUSED TO EVEN TASTE THE REST.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!?!

So guess what Aaron was offered for breakfast this morning? Delightfully reheated pork chops and potatoes.

And, after I sat him down and talked to him, saying, "Buddy. You can have some cereal but you must eat your dinner from last night first. Please eat it Bud. Please don't go all day without eating like you did yesterday."

And after leaving him at the table for 40 MINUTES with a frown on his face, he ate it. Followed by 2 bowls of cereal.

Sweet mercy. I've got Dr. James Dobson's book on order at the library and I hope to have it picked up tonight.

But while I wait to glean some of Dr. Dobson's knowledge, do any of you have any words of wisdom for parenting a strong willed child? I'm all ears. I'd love to talk to you about this in the comments section, so if you comment, check back for replies.