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We see how God has always been working in our stories as we tell them. Our prayer for you is that you start finding Him in your stories too.

Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Good Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

Corrie ten Boom was born on Good Friday in 1892. Her family's home in Haarlem, Holland would become part of the underground movement for Jewish people during World War II.

The story goes that Corrie's father comforted his daughter while she cried over a broken heart before the war began. "Corrie, love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain... We can kill the love so it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel..."

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

My mom is the greatest celebrator. She flies across the world every April to be with us for Easter and family birthdays. We plan celebrations with great intentionality to accommodate our middle son's nervous system disability. He spends 364 days a year anticipating April 9th, when he gets to be the birthday boy. We want him to be able to enjoy as much of it as he can.

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

God's people entered the Promised Land through parted waters. (Joshua 3) Upon arrival, their enemies fell at the sound of their worship. (Joshua 6) It only took a few generations for those miracles to become distant stories, dimmed by the shiny veneer of man-made gods. The tribes that traversed the wilderness together turned against one another, slandering, shaming and needlessly engaging in a civil war.

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

My childhood Sunday School teachers told me Jesus loves me, and I took them at their word. I was baptized at ten-years old, never wondering if the grass was greener anywhere else.

I was barely 22 when I walked into my first graduate-level seminary class: Gospels at 8am. I imagined falling more in love with Jesus, plain and simple. My professor had another objectiveโ€ฆ

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Kacy Ladd Kacy Ladd

Mall-Walking with Wyatt

When the people wake up illegally early... Benjamin needs a down day... and Wyatt doesnโ€™t do down.

Jam stayed home with Chris while I took Wyatt mall-walking on a rainy morning. We arrived an hour before the mall opened, and the boy lived his best life. He got his first glimpse of an arcade (my nightmare) and rode every ride. (Letโ€™s never tell him you are supposed to buy tokens and actually make the rides move, ok?)

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Stories Kacy Ladd Stories Kacy Ladd

The Last First Game

Chris traveled through South Africa earlier this month, and weโ€™ve had the privilege of hosting many guests lately. Our usual, unwavering routine has been all over the place lately. But thereโ€™s nothing that can make the Ladds feel more like family than the kickoff of rugby season!

THIS IS OUR LAST RUGBY SEASON!!!

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

When my childhood home went up in flames, we spent our first "homeless" nights fed, clothed and sheltered by families from my church youth group...

When I said, "There's a boy who needs a mom in South Africa. He can't come here, so I'm moving there..." my American church said, "We'll help, and we'll come to you if you can't come to us."

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Stories Kacy Ladd Stories Kacy Ladd

City Street Takeover!

We had an EPIC time on Bree St! Thank you Young Urbanists s for the Open Streets Africa Experience. I was so moved by the power of passionate people to bring change to their city. THINK ABOUT WHAT WE COULD DO FOR GOD'S KINGDOM WHEN WE UNITE AND MOBILIZE!

The little Ladds lived their very best lives being able to move freely downtown while four blocks of a major road were shut down for cars.

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

I did a ridiculous thing. I ordered a walking pad to use for five days and return. I can explain. (A walking pad is a treadmill without handles to slide under a desk and walk while you work.)

My husband went out of town for EIGHT days. Our two youngest sons only attend school a few hours in the morning and struggled with Dad being awayโ€ฆ.

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Stories Kacy Ladd Stories Kacy Ladd

Benjamin was brave today.

Benjamin showed up at soccer practice today wearing headphones and Crocs, with no intention of getting out of the van. No, he didnโ€™t have his best practice anyway. He didnโ€™t even make it onto the field. But he showed up, and the showing up is a turning point - a bookmarker we will go back to again and again.

Sometimes you just have to get there.
To your people. To your Father. To His House..

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

My husband and I like to walk along the oceanside promenade after dinner dates. We were awe-struck one evening by luminescent waves. The ocean was glowing!

We were witnessing bioluminescence, a natural phenomenon of living things producing light through a chemical reaction. The ocean glowed as microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates shone light from within themselves, much like the fireflies of my childhood.

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Stories Kacy Ladd Stories Kacy Ladd

Whatโ€™s in a mud pieโ€ฆ

You might think mud pies are made with a bit of mud, sticks and leaves. Not our mud pie. Ours needed an additional 14 hours of co-regulation, copious screen time, a special picnic packed, and brute force to get out the door. It's even more than just that day...

It's in the daily choosing to do all the things you said you'd never do as a parent... and repenting for the earlier days when you passed judgment on others...

It's always having plans A-Z ready to action, knowing the preparation will likely get tossed aside and be unappreciated...

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

I love learning. Educated perspective often allows us to move forward. In my Marriage and Family Therapy Masters program, the brokenness within the inner-city Los Angeles families I served was harrowing. Once I learned to see the systems behind them and apply the intricacies of development and other critical layers, I could see hope. I felt honored to step into the trenches with hurting families and help them heal.

But my research-loving brain has hit overload lately. Too many tabs are open.

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Stories Kacy Ladd Stories Kacy Ladd

When the Needs Change

I joke with friends who tell me about their relaxing weekends that there's "no chill at the Ladd house". Benjamin has always required less sleep and more intense physical activity than all the parenting books said. During the extra-long days and nights, I've learned terms like "sensory seeking" and a profile of autism best understood as a nervous system disability.

But we found our rhythm: high energy, always moving, wildly caffeinated (me!), and full of connection and joyโ€ฆ

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

More than 30 countries around the world are celebrating Valentine's Day today. Much of humanity holds its breath on the 14th of February (and every other day) for our greatest pursuit: to love and be loved.

My husband pursued me ten Februaries ago in the most un-Valentine's sort of way. In fact, I call it "the business meeting" when we recount our love story.

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

We called last week "our turning point or breaking point". An autoimmune disorder building in our five-year old's system is wreaking havoc, exacerbating existing autism-related complications. We were losing sleep, and our son woke before 4am, requiring more than we had to give. The worst of us collided as we each found our end points.

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Call to Worship Kacy Ladd Call to Worship Kacy Ladd

๐Ÿ™ŒIt's the Friday Call to Worship!๐Ÿ™Œ

I was up late recently, rattled by the twists and turns of parenting a child with special needs. A teething baby demanded comfort just as I started to settle. One hour of sleep later, it was time for a new day to start! There was a redeeming moment in the nauseatingly caffeinated day that followed. All three kids were in the car, and my four-year old was practicing the Bible verse we were learning. My teenager saidโ€ฆ

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