Author Archives: merckaylin

“Mom, I really miss my friends.” We’d moved to the Middle East a few months before, and my oldest – then 3. 5 years old – was really struggling with leaving our old life behind. Her downcast look made my heart sink. “Oh sweetheart, I know. I miss my friends so much too…” I wantedContinue reading “Day 16: Celebrate”

This summer we were devastated, gutted by tragic news from our host country. I could feel hopelessness starting to envelop me. For the first time I got what it must feel to believe God is truly gone, that he is absent. It seemed as if God must have disappeared. I felt lost. The ground beneathContinue reading “Day 15: Chasing Beauty”

“He doesn’t like anything about this country or the people,” I told the therapist about one of my children.⁣ I initiated a phone call with her because I had exhausted all my ideas. The mom guilt was weighing heavy on my shoulders. I couldn’t help but think of all the long-term issues I might beContinue reading “Day 14: Helping Children Find Joy When Their Life is Hard – Guest post by Alicia Vining”

“We are all homesick, but many of us don’t know we’re homesick because we are too busy giving ourselves to the impossible task of turning where we are into home, and many more of us don’t know we are homesick because we simply don’t know what home is like” (Paul David Tripp)

“One of the keys to learning how to thrive in a cross cultural setting is,” our instructor explained, “is to learn how to live in paradox.” “It is very easy,” he went on, “to live with an “either/or” mentality, instead of learning to live in the tension of “both/and.” Life away from home is aContinue reading “Day 12: Living in Paradox”

“Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.” — Leigh Hunt My friend @aliciathewriter shared this quote with me which inspired the name of the series I am working on this month, here on Insta. It captures so much of what is on my heart for my kids. Our life hasContinue reading “Day 11: Home in Motion”

I read recently that we become what we pay attention to (Curtis Thompson). In any conversation about parenting there’s the danger of paying too much attention to our parenting. To focus on and obsess over how we parent. But friend – if there is one thing you will take away from this whole series (andContinue reading “Day 10: Outsource your Parenting”

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of paying attention to our kids and being curious about them. But paying attention is not enough. We need to practice discernment about what we see in them. So I am learning to evaluate my kids’ attitudes and responses throughout the week and trying to figure out what theyContinue reading “Day 9: Practice discernment”

Our kids souls’ (like ours) have a shape. Many circumstances and people shape their soul but no other human shapes their soul and their ability to know they are always & completely loved by God than us as their parents. I am eternally grateful though that the Spirit can supernaturally reveal this reality to themContinue reading “Day 8: Practice curiosity”

We can enable our kids to abide in the love of the Father, by reflecting how he parents us: both body and soul. This has massive implications for our parenting. We can’t shepherd their hearts without paying attention to what is happening to their bodies. And nurturing their bodies impacts their souls. What happens toContinue reading “Day 7: Parenting the Whole Child”