Never to old to grow up

by Lisa-Jo | Jul 12, 2011 | Family, South Africa, Travel

She’s the last patient of the day at my father’s medical practice and she’s pregnant with her first child. She’s polite. She nods in our direction. And she’s about to leave when my dad says, “you have to meet my daughter, Lisa-Jo.” She stops on a dime and her...

How to hard wire a memory into your six-year-old

by Lisa-Jo | Jul 11, 2011 | Inbetween, Kids, South Africa, Travel

My dad bounces along with Jackson on the back of an open Land rover. We’ve spent the day with elephants, meerkats, cheetahs and an assortment of snakes. The wind blows our chapped cheeks in this dry winter sunshine and our hair will be hard to untangle tonight. We are...

Five Minute Friday: Grateful

by Lisa-Jo | Jul 8, 2011 | Five Minute Friday, South Africa, Travel

I’m in South Africa. And sometimes I can barely catch my breath at the ache and the wonder of it. Sometimes it feels like I can barely capture it in words. But I keep trying, with every spare minute. Want to take five minutes with me and just write without...

When you wonder what’s holding you back from making a difference in the world

by Lisa-Jo | Jul 7, 2011 | Callings, Faith, South Africa, Travel

My nearly six-year-old has felt the strong tug of his South African roots these last three years. If my heart is buried beneath the purple bower of a Jacaranda tree in Pretoria, his must be blooming in the back yard of my father’s house where he first crawled, walked,...

What you can see when the power’s out & the light’s just right

by Lisa-Jo | Jul 6, 2011 | Family, Motherhood, Raising Boys

{The power’s been out most of today. But this post has been on my mind. I wrote it a year ago. And this boy will turn six soon and we’re planning a special coming-of-age milestone this weekend for him. You boy mamas, how do you bear it? Having arms that...