Today's call to worship is an excerpt from a famous sermon by S.M. Lockridge. Enjoy your day, and remember that Sunday's is a coming! 🙌

Two years ago, the Ladd family was at the bottom of our barrel, in our lowest of lows. (Except for Lifa. He’s consistently wonderful.) Chris and I KNEW God directed us to build His church. Not just any church - a church that could reach the nations. We did all the faith-filled things people do. We labored for three years with nothing but failure and rejection.

Easter marks our ultimate freedom: Jesus overcame the grave! I love to display a banner in my home every year during the Easter season, “He Is Risen!”.

This year I am battling fearfulness and worry even as I sit under that banner to write this message. I feel overwhelmed by my responsibilities with home, work and ministry. I worry I am stretched too thin to nurture my teenage and toddler sons.

My husband looked at my crossed eyes today during the inevitable afternoon slump and asked how I was. We had just squeezed in a meeting with our immigration lawyer before going our separate ways for the day again. I smiled and said, “I am so good!” I was still wearing a COVID screening sticker from the hospital where I’d just been to see Benjamin’s paediatrician after another night of high fevers. (He is fine!)

Happy New Year from the Ladd family! News seems more extreme than ever on the global scale. Thanks for taking a moment to zoom in to our little corner of the world. We have much to share with you, and we can do it with pictures and bullet points! Here’s some noteworthy news from us. HINT: Hang in till the end or skip ahead: The last part is the best!

‘Tis the season for celebration! Greetings from the Ladd house! We are hanging Christmas lights and learning the names of Jesus. (Also learning what sound turkeys and elephants make.) We haven't bought a single Christmas gift, but we are marking milestones like it’s our day job over here. We are very aware of Christ in the center of our lives right now and are soaking that in.

This Thanksgiving was different because this year is different - and so are we.. Like our celebration, our relationships went deeper rather than wider this year.

The photos say it all. What you won’t find pictures of is a Thanksgiving Minute-to-Win-It competition and a toddler turkey relay (because of the sheer madness in the moment). ‘Tis the season to do the things you’ve never had time for before and to go all-in to create memories for time you won’t ever get back. And can we all take just a minute to celebrate how beautiful the toddler turkey artwork is? Great photo booth backdrop!ings you’ve never had time for before and to go all-in to create memories for time you won’t ever get back.

I’m the queen of efficiency. It’s a blessing and a curse. Everybody at my house knows if you can’t keep up with Mom, you might just get run over. (Including Benjamin’s ball..)

Days are calculated to the minute. Months are planned in advance. I rarely do one thing at a time. Lifa enters the kitchen like a soldier marching in to receive orders, and Chris stays out.

Thanksgiving was our first holiday as a married couple. At least it was to me. It is not a recognized holiday in South Africa, and Chris could easily unrecognize every holiday! He was under great stress from work when I mentioned its approach. (I still haven’t mastered the art of timing important conversations!) He was overwhelmed already, and hastily responded, “I don’t want to deal with it!” I cried over a bowl of leftover chili on the 4th Thursday of November that year. (Not our newlywed moment.)

I’m an aunt! I have a niece! My sister really put me through it this week by laboring for 30 hours on the other side of the world from me. But I am thrilled to announce the arrival of the most precious baby girl on the planet, Evangeline JoAnn Branham. Literal perfection.

I’m writing this blog from the floor while my toddler stacks rocks dangerously close to our WiFi router. I’ve calculated how long this can go on before a disaster strikes, so I’m using my time wisely. We’ve had a long series of late nights this week. Church events. Help Club meetings. All the good things we’ve prayed into for years. AND we’ve started some 18-month sleep regression shenanigans. (To be honest, this floor-rock-router situation is me resting up the next activity.)

Hi! Let’s take a Thursday deep breath, and do a quick self-inventory. How would you answer these questions about yourself? (They are today questions, but you can use yesterday if you are reading this in the morning.)

What did you talk about today? What kinds of words did you use? Did you build up or tear down? What do you look like today? How do you feel today? How are you talking about those things?

Benjamin is learning how to roar like a dinosaur. We had the greatest playtime in our front yard, roaring, exploring and breaking sticks. It was one of those blissful mom moments you want to hold on to forever. I snapped some selfies so I could savor these sweet times together.

Spring has sprung! It’s time to swim and play! None of Lifa’s clothes fit. New wardrobe time for our man-sized child! I’ve always just come home with new clothes and awed and amazed him by my amazing sense of style. Suddenly, Lifa has his own sense of style, autonomy and really cares about what he wears. I guess that’s a good thing!

Tomorrow we celebrate our 5 year anniversary! If you’re new to the Ladd Family - we are so glad you are here!!!!! Here is a fun little rendition our story I wrote right after we were married. I hope you enjoy the flashback as much as I did!

I am so thankful for these beautiful men and this beautiful life. Every day isn’t sunshine and roses… in fact, there was such an extraordinary toddler meltdown all the way home I ended the day with a migraine. BUT it’s these photos, these glistening moments in a flowery field, I will turn to on the cloudier days to remind me I am loved deeply and fully by this fantastic, flowery family of mine.

True love looks like a (very handsome) man who did the opposite of everything he would normally do for a day to make his wife’s dream come true. I love, love, love new places, exploring beauty and family outings.

Last week, I wrote a short, silly blog about hunting rainbows. We were up to our ears in laundry because the rain had been relentless. In that blog, I celebrated the end of the drought, Benjamin’s love for mud puddles, and mentioned that we don’t have a tumble dryer.

GUESS WHAT!?!…

Yesterday was Ladd Family Screenapaloouza! (It’s very weird that auto-correct just kicked in and added a “u” to that word. Is screenapaloouza a real word?!) Chris preached the message for church online, and Lifa was featured in a worship dance video for kids. I live with legends! I had been prepping all week to record a short video series for Help Club for Moms, and we decided Sunday was the best day for me to film.

Have you ever had one of those moments that, even while you were in it, you couldn’t believe this was your real life? I’m not talking about your deepest, darkest secrets. I’m talking about the everyday lows. The things you said you would never do, like giving your kid candy in the supermarket line so they wouldn’t throw a fit. One of mine was week three into having a newborn and realizing I’d already done 99% of the new mom things I said I would never do.