Sunday, December 14, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
An Article I Wrote...
I am involved in a "Mom's group" at my church. I was asked to contribute a story last month, so following is what I wrote:
Frozen Fish and Miracle Ice
Countless qualities are required in a mother, but two key characteristics are a good attitude and flexibility. As an individual matures from a girl to a woman, many adventures along the way provide great preparation for motherhood. Some of these journeys are filled with unpredictable twists and turns, slow ascents, breathtaking descents, or unforeseen challenges.
One such adventure in Christina Ingraham’s life began with great expectations. The summer after Christina’s senior year of high school, she joined with a group of about 20 young adults from her church for an exciting journey to Quito, Ecuador. The two-week trip the group would keep busy with many things including encouraging children at an orphanage, painting a mural on a church wall, repairing a church building, getting to know other young people through soccer games—and indulging in a meal prepared by the locals. (The main course was…guinea pig!—an adventure in itself!)
The first few days were filled with the planned activities; the last half of the trip, at least for Christina, had a different spin on it! One morning the group ventured about an hour or two north of Quito to visit children at an orphanage. While playing a game of baseball with the kids, Christina reached up to catch a pop-fly. Unfortunately, her pastor had his sights set on the same ball! The two bumped into one another—no big deal—except that the collision ended up with Christina on the bottom and the “POP” of her ankle breaking was heard across the field.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a sprain. I’ll walk it off,” Christina said as others rushed around to make her comfortable and to find some ice. “We don’t have any ice,” one helper explained, “but there is a frozen fish in the freezer.” Christina pondered the absurdity of icing her ankle down with a fish, and soon another person came up from behind the building exclaiming that he had discovered a big chunk of ice just lying on the ground. (That was the mysterious miracle ice from heaven.) Christina eventually got bored of sitting in the hot van with her feet up and started to scoot around on her rear end to “play” with the kids.
Ten hours later, after the bumpy ride back to Quito, Christina sat in the hospital listening to the doctor’s prognosis. She heard a word that sounded like the Spanish word for “cut,” and after a few minutes of worrying about whether her leg had to be amputated, she left the hospital sporting a hot and heavy plaster cast. For some reason, crutches weren’t available, and the remainder of the trip took on a new look for Christina as she scooted about on the dirt or rode piggy back to get around.
Christina still participated in the planned activities as she was able. She staked out the lower three feet of a wall being painted as “hers”—that was the area she could reach with a paint brush from a sitting position. She joked with the others about her situation. She tried to do her best to help in whatever ways she could and figured out some new ways to do things. By keeping a positive attitude and having the flexibility to do things a little differently, the entire situation turned out to be both memorable and humorous!
Christina has been happily married to Jeff for five years. Her daughter, Kayla, is 17 months old and baby #2 will join the family in February 2009. She finds every day that her role as a wife and a mother requires having flexibility and a positive attitude. As she and her husband manage a small business with limited resources, she is required to learn new things (Accounting---Agggh!). She is trying to perfect the art of keeping a positive attitude when business deals don’t quite turn out or juggling the finances, time and resources to provide both for the business and home life. Christina relies on the fact that God is with her through both fun and troublesome times. Her top priority is living life in a way pleasing to God. She understands that having a positive and flexible attitude are two keys to living well as a Christian, a wife and a mother.
A word of advice: Next time you travel south of the equator; remember to pack crutches!
Frozen Fish and Miracle Ice
Countless qualities are required in a mother, but two key characteristics are a good attitude and flexibility. As an individual matures from a girl to a woman, many adventures along the way provide great preparation for motherhood. Some of these journeys are filled with unpredictable twists and turns, slow ascents, breathtaking descents, or unforeseen challenges.
One such adventure in Christina Ingraham’s life began with great expectations. The summer after Christina’s senior year of high school, she joined with a group of about 20 young adults from her church for an exciting journey to Quito, Ecuador. The two-week trip the group would keep busy with many things including encouraging children at an orphanage, painting a mural on a church wall, repairing a church building, getting to know other young people through soccer games—and indulging in a meal prepared by the locals. (The main course was…guinea pig!—an adventure in itself!)
The first few days were filled with the planned activities; the last half of the trip, at least for Christina, had a different spin on it! One morning the group ventured about an hour or two north of Quito to visit children at an orphanage. While playing a game of baseball with the kids, Christina reached up to catch a pop-fly. Unfortunately, her pastor had his sights set on the same ball! The two bumped into one another—no big deal—except that the collision ended up with Christina on the bottom and the “POP” of her ankle breaking was heard across the field.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a sprain. I’ll walk it off,” Christina said as others rushed around to make her comfortable and to find some ice. “We don’t have any ice,” one helper explained, “but there is a frozen fish in the freezer.” Christina pondered the absurdity of icing her ankle down with a fish, and soon another person came up from behind the building exclaiming that he had discovered a big chunk of ice just lying on the ground. (That was the mysterious miracle ice from heaven.) Christina eventually got bored of sitting in the hot van with her feet up and started to scoot around on her rear end to “play” with the kids.
Ten hours later, after the bumpy ride back to Quito, Christina sat in the hospital listening to the doctor’s prognosis. She heard a word that sounded like the Spanish word for “cut,” and after a few minutes of worrying about whether her leg had to be amputated, she left the hospital sporting a hot and heavy plaster cast. For some reason, crutches weren’t available, and the remainder of the trip took on a new look for Christina as she scooted about on the dirt or rode piggy back to get around.
Christina still participated in the planned activities as she was able. She staked out the lower three feet of a wall being painted as “hers”—that was the area she could reach with a paint brush from a sitting position. She joked with the others about her situation. She tried to do her best to help in whatever ways she could and figured out some new ways to do things. By keeping a positive attitude and having the flexibility to do things a little differently, the entire situation turned out to be both memorable and humorous!
Christina has been happily married to Jeff for five years. Her daughter, Kayla, is 17 months old and baby #2 will join the family in February 2009. She finds every day that her role as a wife and a mother requires having flexibility and a positive attitude. As she and her husband manage a small business with limited resources, she is required to learn new things (Accounting---Agggh!). She is trying to perfect the art of keeping a positive attitude when business deals don’t quite turn out or juggling the finances, time and resources to provide both for the business and home life. Christina relies on the fact that God is with her through both fun and troublesome times. Her top priority is living life in a way pleasing to God. She understands that having a positive and flexible attitude are two keys to living well as a Christian, a wife and a mother.
A word of advice: Next time you travel south of the equator; remember to pack crutches!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Saltines: The Newest Trend in Hair Accessories!
If Kayla could talk (or if I could understand her language!): "But Mom, it's much more fun to crumble the saltines over my head rather than eat them!"
Monday, November 24, 2008
To China and Back
Jeff arrived home safely from China two weeks ago. He learned that the Chinese culture is vastly different than anything he has experienced! From religious freedom and "civil rights" to food and dress to interpersonal styles, he found surprising differences in every area.
The kids LOVED singing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."
One very sweet girl was named "Iris" (English translation). She is pictured in the back row, 4th from the left. Sadly, she has a severe spinal deformity and is not expected to live for more than two more years. She will eventually not be able to breathe. She was so happy and helpful and certainly won a very special place in the heart of each team member. Uncer China's "one child" policy, second children, girls, or disabled children are often left abandoned. If orphans are not adopted and do not have money for higher education by the age of 14, the government will require them to work in a factory job.
Jeff's team also led seminars for 19 pastors. The pastors declined to have photos taken due to potential danger if they are identified.
The team on the Great Wall. Jeff was very impressed! What an amazing feat it was to build a gigantic wall stretching over 4,000 miles. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China
(This link tells more about the Great Wall)
Below: One of the many buldings in the Forbidden City
Below: Enjoying some authentic Chinese Cuisine; Jeff was very happy to find a Starbucks located near the hotel!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Books and "IN"
Each day it seems Kayla figures out something new! It is so fun to see her develop. The other night I quoted a line from one of the books we read to Kayla somewhat often, and she went right over to her book box, picked out that particular book, and brought it to her dad! I thought it might be a coincidence, so we repeated the routine with about 5 or 6 other books (I couldn't remember lines out of any more!) Kayla went over all by herself and chose the correct book without hesitation every time!
Little did we know she actually has been listening when we read the books!
Kayla also really enjoys putting things "IN." So, when I am missing something I know where to look - she has "favorites" including the china cabinet, an empty wipes box, the drawer at the bottom of the oven, or the trash can... Kayla's favorite part of a diaper change is when she gets to put the diaper "IN" the trash.
Recently, I found Kayla in the Kitchen playing in an "off-limits" cupboard. She had discovered some straws and an old baby bottle and decided it was a lot of fun to stick the straws "IN" the bottle one by one!
This morning we were singing "head and shoulders... eyes and ears and mouth and nose." She lingered on the "nose" part, picked a surprise out of hers, then she walked over to the trash to put it "IN!" What a "little booger!"
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Pumpkins, Goodbyes, and Elephants
Kayla Grace enjoyed her Halloween. Jeff and I celebrated our fifth anniversary last Saturday on October 25th. A fun part of the day involved choosing a pumpkin at a pumpkin patch with Kayla. We carved it later in the week, and Kayla thought it was so funny how the seeds would stick to her! Once we discovered that our pumpkin rind was about two inches thick, we opted to forego the knife and the candle and just draw a face with a marker!
The morning of the 31st, Kayla and I said goodbye to Jeff as he left to go to China for 8 days. He and a group of five others from Christ Community Church will be in Beijing until November 7. They miscalculated when purchasing tickets and missed the Olympics by a couple of months! :) No, actually they are headed to the other side of the globe for a short-term missions trip. They will be providing education for pastors of small house churches as well as working in Miss Choy's orphanage.
Kayla and Mommy spent the day visting Grandpa Stratman at work as well as Grandma Great, Grandpa Great, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Buddy and Grandma. We enjoyed the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Stratman and with Kayla's friend Lexi and her mom, Cassie.
Stay tuned for some photos of the cutest Elephant in Omaha!
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Cutest Elephant
Kayla was an elephant for Halloween this year. She had fun playing in the leaves and playing with her friend, Lexi the Ladybug. (The photo is "post-costume" for Lexi.)
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