I’m not sure people knew that there were still countries that were covid free – but Samoa was one of them, up until last week. Well, actually, the case was caught only bc this person was traveling & needed a negative covid test to board a plane. Imagine the shock when it returned positive. Clearly it’s been in the community here, and they’ve been faring well, but since it was discovered of course covid regulation stuff started. Honestly I’m not gonna write all about my feelings towards that – I don’t run the country or the emergency response & I don’t want to, so I’ll save my rants for Kopo 😂

Anyway, it’s pretty wild to be 2yrs behind everyone with lockdowns and all that starting. We are on lockdown until tomorrow & then I’m not sure what’s going to happen after that. But we continue to enjoy life at home. Yesterday I did 2 loads of laundry and hung it all up to dry. It is soooo humid here (90%+ most days) so clothes get musty & can get moldy veryyy fast. Once you wear something you have to wash it right away or it’s a goner 😔 I learned this the hard way. I still have about 5 loads that are clean and need to be folded 🥴🤣🤣 I’ll work on that today.

Kopo & I got to play Rummikub yesterday afternoon which was so fun – it’s one of our favorite pastime ❤️ I won all 3 rounds so we will probably have a rematch today.

Aaand that’s the latest here ☺️ I want to remember these seemingly uneventful days bc ultimately that’s what makes up a great life, days spent with loved ones making memories. It’s not about all these big huge moments of pizzazz, but tiny moments all strung together to make the best of all we have ❤️

Have a wonderful day! Enjoy the day to day cleaning or cooking, a laugh with your kids, a kiss with your spouse, a walk by yourself (that sounds dreamy 🤩) – drink it all in 💗💗

I know some are wondering about the name, or may ask in the future, so I’ll fill you in. Many years ago, in one of the darkest & hardest times of our marriage, we went to marriage counseling. During a session, our therapist asked us to think of a time when we were at our best, not perfection but healthy. To name it and remember that “time” so that when we were at odds or in the thick of a bad cycle, that that is the place we wanted to get back to. It was a place in our marriage that would remind us of a very real/tangible goal and that not all hope was lost. I suppose it could be said we weren’t ever super healthy even though we didn’t realize it, but maybe I’ll tell that story another time. So, in thinking of a time when we were as healthy as we could be, we decided to name that time or future time “Tapelutopia.” It was not a Utopia of perfection but a healthy version of us, at our best, in who we are and what we knew our marriage was to reflect. It was to be for us our “goal” of what we wanted and what we knew we could be.

So Tapelutopia has come and gone in our nearly 10 years of marriage, but it’s always been there. When we have submitted ourselves first to God, then to one another, we have enjoyed the beautiful gift that is marriage. It’s our “sweet spot” where we fight fair, give grace more than judgement, love without conditions and don’t keep score cards.

*Story time that correlates to Tapelutopia*

I was out with a friend a few weeks ago and while I was sharing about our family and life I started talking about Kopo and began crying. I was hit with how unbelievably blessed I was that the Lord had given Him to me as my forever partner in life, a true best friend. That this last 8mo together I have gotten to know him in ways I never had before & had gotten to see his leadership as a husband and father grow. The way he leads with such grace and compassion, how he hears from the Lord, encourages & gently convicts me through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He pushes me to be better, a better mum, a better wife, a better friend – He challenges me to not sell myself short & sees and calls out the gifting in me when all I see is failure. I am grateful to be married to him and get to know him in a different way. All day every day together and there’s no one else I’d rather spend all my time with. I told him when I got home about crying in the cafe & thanked him for all he is to me and our family.

A few weeks later we were driving & Kopo began sharing what God had put on his heart regarding us being here and this special season we are in. How we thought it was to come get baby (of course) and have time together as a family, but also it was a time of healing for us. A time of healing and restoration for our marriage and areas we didn’t even realize still needed mending. What a gracious God we serve, to give us time together to heal, to love, to refresh, to just rest in Him ❤️🙌🏾

We have truly experienced God to the fullest that we’ve ever known Him & my prayer is that we continue to enjoy this season and not take any of these precious moments for granted. It is FAR from perfection, but that’s not what I want anyway, I’d rather a healthy, healing and whole relationship that keeps me focused on Christ & clinging to Him always. Tapelutopia is ultimately when we reflect the goodness of God & His redemption in our marriage, it is living out repentance, forgiveness, grace & mercy every single day.

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us,

But to Your name give glory

Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

Psalm 115:1 NASB1995

I’ve been talking forever about writing about our family in a blog & I just keep putting it off. I’m either too exhausted, too embarrassed on bad days to even think about writing anything “good” or overwhelmed by trying to make it perfect that years have gone by and not one post. So here it is, jumping in and just doing it.

I recently rediscovered an old “blog” of sorts (xanga for any of you 👵🏽 out there) I wrote so often and I LOVE that I just wrote about my day or week and honestly, there was some really good stuff in there and random stuff – things I enjoyed reading bc I had forgotten the details. I don’t want to forget the details. There has been so much that has happened that sometimes I don’t even know where to begin bc I feel it all has to have a back story 😅

Well, procrastination stops today. It also helps that there’s an app & I can just do this on my phone instead of firing up the laptop. So I start with today, a Tuesday here in Samoa, March 15 at 10am. I’m sitting on the couch while Tishy is watching Netflix. I’m debating going to the store for toilet paper or moving our laundry to our porch bc it’s been raining so much but actually I’ll probably re-wash it so it doesn’t stink while air drying for the millionth time in between rain showers 🌧 This is the day to day life here in Samoa, nothing exotic or super adventurous – not laying out on the white sand watching the turquoise waters flow in and out of the shore, although i would love a beach day soon. I do the same day to day stuff as anywhere: cooking, cleaning, laundry, homeschool (some days 😆), spending time with Jesus, raising two girls – except for I’ve had my husband home to do this with me for nearly 8 months now. It really is such a blessing that I still cannot wrap my mind around most days.

We had a sort of “plan” when moving here. I mean it was loose but it was there. We knew we were being obedient to the Lord by moving here, but the details of money and work seemed a little vague. I had plans to work from home almost immediately after “settling in” and well those plans got scrapped the week we were leaving to Samoa (last week of July 2021) and we really felt God leading us to trust Him to provide & that we would need a time of rest and bonding after such a long time of waiting to be reunited. We chose to trust God and enjoy the time together. We budgeted through the end of the year as we sensed I’d be off work through the end of 2021 & pick back up in the New Year. Well, January came & went and plans to work fell through, we were back at square one 😳 what would we do?! What is this?! And God so graciously led us to continue to trust in Him and His will & His intention for our family for this time. He has provided for us in amazing ways & family & friends have supported us generously. God has shown us that we need this time as a family, that this season is appointed by Him and He will carry us through, regardless of what our bank account says. I can’t be moved by what others might think (“gosh MUST BE NICE, not working and living in paradise”) or what I put on myself, but to be completely surrendered to Him, the one who holds all things together 🙌🏾😭 He is unbelievably kind and gracious, good & faithful – He has lavished His love and favor on us in ways we do not deserve. And I choose to rest in Him. In His providence. In His Word. In His promises. He has shown us clearly that this season is for us to rest in Him and bonding as a family is what is necessary and needed. It’s not selfish. It’s not lazy. It’s obedience to Him.