Happy Friday! I’m writing today’s story 11 hours earlier than I usually write just in case we don’t have electricity tonight. A big, wintry storm is expected to blow through the cape today and the nationwide electric company has already warned their systems may not be able to endure the weather. I don’t have anything deep or meaningful to share with you, but you just might find our Friday morning comical.

I LOVE Cape Town! I love South Africa! I love living here with my family. And I haven’t seen my mom or sis in almost five years. Many people who have played intricate roles in shaping me have never met my children. With a global pandemic in full throttle, 4th of July snuck by me this year and social isolation is kicking homesickness into high gear.

I shared a parenting revelation at dinner last night. My husband’s response was, “I could have told you that.” It’s true, but we cannot all be as wise as Chris Ladd. This mere mortal needed to experience it to really get it.

Sometimes finding a way to win is being really strong, disciplined, and overcoming obstacles. And sometimes it’s abandoning all the plans and expectations you had and operating within your capacity for today. This is a weird time, and it’s ok to not be ok. Just don’t be “not ok” alone!

Hello from Day 5 of the SAME LOAD OF LAUNDRY. Three loads to be exact. I’m just going to tell you up front: The Ladds are not awesome at managing laundry on a clothes line. One of these days we will own a dryer, but, for now, we are clothes line people. It’s winter and rainy season in Cape Town, and the drought has officially ended. This completely changes our (already weak) laundry game.

Chris and I pray together every night before we go to sleep. A few nights ago, he started praying for our boys to have abounding peace and joy in their lives - freedom to live fully and abundantly without fear. This is a big and powerful prayer for a man who looks depression and anxiety in the eye daily and engages them in battle.

Image from Passion 2020 YouTube Channel

We’ve been living slow and steady Corona-speed for months. We settled into it and started to love it. But yesterday, life hit the pedal to the metal! Chris left at 6:30am for a 10-mile run. By the time he came home, I had Lifa in school and was simultaneously brewing coffee, setting up for a video, prepping dinner and getting Benjamin ready for a nap. We had computers set up on opposite ends of the house, and Chris has a Zoom staff meeting while I recorded a live teaching for Help Club for Moms. By the time I was done, Chris was already gone to the next meeting and then went straight to church….

Yesterday I took Benjamin to the forest for the first time. It took just a few breaths of crisp mountain air and a couple crunchy steps to decide: Yes, he was going be the king of this forest. And, just like that, the world got one more Ladd man to chase down mountain trails. Benjamin wanted to run through waterfalls and giggled as gravity pulled him down the mountain path, no matter how much my glutes were screaming, “We just pushed a stroller and a small human UP this path. It is NOT time to go down yet!”

I’m putting everyone to bed at 8pm tonight. That’s in 25 minutes! Yay! Benjamin has been asleep since 7 because sleep training WORKED. He also had a very busy afternoon of playing rugby and Russian kick dancing in the front yard with Lifa. Super weird. I laughed uncontrollably.

Last week I announced we were going offline for a week to update our website, but our website guy (Chris Ladd) is busy this week recording two sermons for online church. He’s SO GOOD! So we’re still here, bringing you fresh Ladd family news and hopefully some moments of encouragement along the way. Today I’m just going to give you a few updates. Tomorrow I’ll try to inspire you.

Lockdown Level 3

Today South Africa’s lockdown conditions have shifted from Level 4 to Level 3. That means more businesses are able to open, WE GET TO EXERCISE ANYTIME WE WANT (from 6am - 6pm instead of 6am - 9am), and schools... Guys... schools.

We started yesterday with devastation. Today is the day Lifa was supposed to return to school.

Today is a day that calls for giggles and chocolate! My mom spent approximately 12 people’s life savings’ to ship a package to South Africa during a global pandemic. Chris and I ordered dorky stationary stuff, I needed a chili powder restock, and Mom put the GoGo love in for the kids. That package also included the gift NaNa bought for Benjmain’s 1st Christmas and enough NaNa love to leave me cry-voiced and speechless for the whole day.

Ironic - and pitiful - truth: This weekend, I spent two full nights wide awake because I was worried about Lifa. (Broken elbow story here!) The ironic part about that is I was up hoping and praying we could keep him comfortable, meet his needs, and give him an extra boost of love and care while he recovers. But during the day, when the rest of the humans were awake, I was so exhausted that I didn’t want to prepare meals because I couldn’t bear the sound of any of them chewing. I’m not proud of this. I’m just being honest.

Wet bicycle tires. Cycling with dogs on a leash. Oncoming car. Moment of panic. Squeezes front brakes by mistake.... Lifa went flying. Poor Lifa took a big, hard hit yesterday when he flew over his bicycle handlebars and fractured BOTH elbows.

Ladd men, secure your headphones. Mom’s going in. Pray for me!

I’ve been thinking a lot about blessings and choosing what kind of legacy to write into your family and the generations ahead of you. I don’t want to react to my life and see what people say about it at the end. I want to write the blessings I want to impart on my children and grandchildren in advance. I think it will help me stick to the script as life happens.

Or is it just my family?

Our sleep routine is nuts. Our baby is getting weirder by the moment. I’m turning all of our produce into brownies. And we are laughing so much because... what else are you going to do!?!

NaNa love was the very best kind of love. It wrote a legacy through generations by doing exactly what love is supposed to do: it taught us how to love and be loved. NaNa love made it safe to screw up and never question your worth. It laughed and celebrated. It was a busy love that never stopped thinking about you and had a constant Dollar Store collection in the closet with your name on it. NaNa love insisted on feeding you- whether the food has expired or not. It never had to look for a silver lining because it could only reflect back the shining gold you didn’t even know was in you.

Tonight, my cranky, cross-eyed, chocolate-eating self is blown away that, a year ago, in a much harder season of life, I had at least one fleeting moment where God heard my prayer for wisdom and perspective. That is such a hope-filled reminder to me tonight that He sees us, He hears us, and He does give us the wisdom we ask for when we need it. Sometimes we don’t get it right for a moment, a night, or even a whole season of life, but we are loved by a God who is outside of time and space. He can help us to remember right now that our days are numbered and interpret our lives correctly. He sets wisdom deeply in our hearts and corrects our paths.

Our kids aren’t keeping score. They are learning to live by the ways we live. So, today, live loved. And tomorrow, live loved. You can write a legacy of love through your bests and your worsts.