What is Mother's Day like for a missionary mom in South Sudan?

Special cards from my boys

 I woke up this morning to the sound of my three boys singing, "Happy Mother's Day to You" as they paraded into my bedroom, each carrying a specially made card they'd slaved over this morning. Behind them Eli carried a piping hot cup of coffee. What a way to wake up to my 12th Mother's Day. As I got dressed I started thinking about what I should make for breakfast but to my delight I found out that Isaac had already made a run to market on his bike and bought zalabia for breakfast. Zalabia are a local fried doughnut we can get here that taste very good dipped in cinnamon sugar or covered in Nutella. So far it was turning out to be a very special Mother's Day indeed. #1 Waking up to my children singing and handing me cards made with love and #2 a breakfast I didn't have to cook!~

Ironically I was the only woman in our little church in Yusif Batil camp for most of the service. But it was a special time of worshipping with the believers there and teaching them a few new songs.

A tasty Ethiopian feast with our friends

 On our way back to Doro we stopped in Bunj to eat at one of our favorite restaurants that serves Ethiopian food. We had four friends with us so we invited them to join us. The food was so good we had all broken out in a sweat by the end.

As we arrived home a cooler breeze was blowing in and the sky looked like rain was coming. We all settled down for a lovely Sunday afternoon nap.

Today, I began to reflect on what it has been like being a mother in South Sudan. Life as a mother, had we stayed in our home in South Carolina would have probably looked so much different. It too would have been sweet along with its challenges of its own but I wouldn't trade being a missionary mom for anything! Since the time I was potty training my boys, they have heard several other languages spoken, eaten foods most kids their age wouldn't touch, flown on countless types of airplanes and been treated for crazy diseases. No matter where I go in South Sudan, when people ask me, "Are these children yours?" and I answer, "Yes", I most often get the response, "Mash-Allah" meaning going with God. It's used to acknowledge when something is really good. Yes, being mom to these three amazing boys is REALLY GOOD. I am proud to be their mama. Proud to be raising them in this crazy and beautiful country of South Sudan. And today as I celebrate and thank the Lord for allowing me to be the mama of these three gifts, my prayer is that God is using their childhood growing up in this faraway place to prime them for a life of serving the Lord in faraway places where the name of Jesus has not yet been heard.