Blogger Interview: Christin Slade

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I'm so excited about a new series that is starting today on The Wonder Years, where I will have the opportunity to interview other bloggers and hear their stories.  Come back on the 15th of each month where I'll highlight and ask questions of a new blogger, and it could even be you!  Be sure to click "follow" on the left side of the screen as I'll be choosing many of these interviews from followers who have blogs.

I first heard about Christin Slade through many of the different blogs that I follow.  It turned out that she was the virtual assistant for a few people I respect, and her name kept popping up all over the place!   Christin is not only a popular blogger herself, but she is also the author of the new e-book Blog at Home Mom, and one of the planners for the Allume Conference.  Christin works from home as a virtual assistant, and she is also a wife and mother of seven children!  Oh wait - and she homeschools, too. (So you can imagine that the first question I wanted to ask her was "How do you do it all?")

After I heard that she was in the process of adopting two children from Ghana, I knew that she was the first blogger I wanted to interview for my new series.

Adoption has a very special place in my heart. Although my husband and I are not in the process right now, we feel led to support other adopters in any way that we can.  As you read Christin's interview, I pray that you will consider supporting her and her husband in some way.  They still need to raise about $3000 to bring their girl's home, and every dollar makes a difference.

Let's get to know Christin!

Please tell us a bit about your family.

My husband and I have been married about 12 1/2 years and we have 5 children.  My family as it stands right now, is not all together just yet. We have five (biological) children living with us, and 2 in Africa waiting to come home.

My children at home include Gabriella (10), Benjamin (7), Jeremiah (nearly 6), Elizabeth (4), and David (2).  Our two girls in Africa are M (9) and C (8) and should be home this summer. 

We also homeschool, which certainly keeps things extra exciting. :)

Can you describe your two blogs for us, as well as how you got into blogging?

My blog, Joyful Mothering, was created to help me as a mother. The more I wrote, the more I realized how many moms out there related to me and some of the things I struggled with. I decided to start taking action on the things I struggled with and shared them on my blog and moms really liked that. They needed practical help as much as me! 

Over the course of 2 1/2 years, I've built a community of moms this way and continue to do so. I definitely don't have all the answers! But when I find myself struggling, I write about it. Then I pray for direction and often share what I learn. I also share resources I come across that help me with discipling my children, as that is my number one goal aside from being discipled myself. 

Finally, as a homeschool mom, I share resources to help other homeschooling moms. I know for myself, I prefer to purchase a curriculum based on a recommendation of someone I trust rather than blindly buying something. 

As I grew as a blogger, I found people emailing me lots of questions on how to blog and grow their blog. As I became a team member on Allume because Sarah Mae and I had formed an ongoing friendship, I realized I wanted to pay it forward by helping other women make their blogs successful.

So I began my writing and consulting blog, ChristinSlade.com, last summer. I am actually still getting it off the ground, as I have about 100 subscribers, and I'm still working on a solid writing schedule. But my goal is to help mom bloggers learn to blog, spread their influence, and balance blogging with mothering. 

How do you balance 5 kids with all that you do?  

This is a loaded question! :) It definitely took some trial-and-error and being open to flexibility. But I think the first thing it comes down to is having support from my husband. If my husband didn't support my blogging, I couldn't do what I do.

He allows me to go out of the house to write whenever I need to. Which, right now, is about once a week. We don't have a lot of outside activities nor are we regular tv watchers. We have a DVD player for family movies but never watch network television. This frees up my evenings to pursue reading, writing, and conversing with the online community through social media. 

It also requires some planning and a schedule. In order for me to get everything done, I need to have it written down with a time to do it. If I'm intentional about how I spend my time, it's amazing what I can accomplish!

Lots of moms ask me this question, so that's why I wrote an eBook on the topic. It really digs into the "hows" on the side of blogging AND mothering. 

What advice would you give a mom who desires to work from home, but doesn't know where to start? 

Don't wait for opportunity to come knocking. You must go out and find it. If you're a writer, start submitting articles to magazines and large blogs or websites. Don't wait for someone to ask you. It may never happen.

If you are good at administrative work or website design/graphic design or a techy who's good with html code or CSS code, become a virtual assistant! Ask bloggers if they are in need or look for bloggers asking for help. Offer yourself to them as a virtual assistant. 

Please share with us a bit about your adoption story- how you and your husband decided to adopt, if you have connected with any children yet, and where you are in the process.  How can we support you?

My husband and I knew when we first married that we would eventually adopt. However, we thought it would be domestically.  We first got the call to adopt internationally in January 2012. For some reason, we really felt compelled to Africa. So, we researched for about 6 months before signing on with an agency, (which we later fired). To read a more in depth account, you can go here. 

As it stands now, we are the legal guardians (parents) of two beautiful girls (sisters) ages 8 and 9, from Ghana, who are waiting to come home. There are still some things we need to get through before they can come home. Our hope is that they are home by the summer.

As it currently stands, we are still in need of finances to travel back to Ghana to bring them home. We're looking at about $3,000. If you'd like to help, you can find out how here. Nothing is too small. 

Can you tell us more about your book? 

My first eBook was released in February, called Blog at Home Mom: Balancing Blogging and Motherhood. It was written to help moms struggling with in this area, but also to shed light for moms who want to blog but don't see how they can do both motherhood and blogging. 

When I became a mother, I put my writing on a shelf. It wasn't until just a couple of years ago that I learned it's okay to write AND mother. I just needed to learn my rhythm.

http://joyfulmothering.net/my-ebook/

Thank you, Christin!!

As you can see, Christin is an amazing woman of God who is seeking to honor Him through everything she does.  I have been so encouraged by her openness and her willingness to help others.  I would again really encourage you to consider how you might be able to help Christin and her family bring their two girls home.

Christin also offers blog consultations, critiques, social media consultations, as well as virtual assistant services.  She has a lot of wisdom on these topics, and is a great resource if you are looking to expand your blogging or social media influence.

Thank you again, Christin - and stay tuned for another blogger interview on April 15th!

Unexpected Obstacles

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Last week I wrote about unexpected joys we experienced last year, in response to Simple Mom's annual "20 Questions for a New Year's Eve Reflection."  Another one of the questions she asked was "what was an unexpected obstacle you faced?" and I wanted to share a little bit about my answer to that question.

Last year started out hard, as we were entering the 2nd half of Micah's kindergarten year.  He was doing fine in school, but I was struggling with certain aspects of it that affected my health and my emotions in a big way.  Some days I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around that situation and why God would have allowed it.  I did learn that life is not all about me, but about Him.  He put people (adults) in my life through that situation that I feel were divine appointments from Him - these were people who needed to see Jesus in someone's life, and our relationships continue to this day.  That year was also fun for Micah.  True, he did not learn a lot. But if he started out his education having fun and looking forward to each day, I can be happy about that.

We are now in a new classroom with a new teacher, and we love her.  She has been amazing for Micah and I wish we could have her every year!  Through that whole experience I also learned that many hard situations are just seasons, and things will change.

Another obstacle we faced last year was from January through March.  For two months, our family was extremely sick - we dealt with 2 bouts of pneumonia and I had strep throat twice.  For almost 6 weeks I could not talk above a whisper and was laid up in bed.  I remember just crying asking God, "Why is this happening?"  Those two months held a lot of silence for me, and a lot of listening.  They were painful, but God and I had a lot of conversations that I still hold deep in my heart.

In June of 2011, I got the devastating news that my best friend's adoption had fallen through. She and her family had driven from California to Oklahoma, held their adopted newborn baby in their arms for 11 days, and then the birth mother changed her mind and took the baby back.  This was one of the biggest shocks she had ever experienced, and I felt helpless from thousands of miles away.  My heart ached for her in the deepest way, and every thought was consumed with how she was doing.  As they made the long trek home, they were welcomed home by a group of their closest friends.  During the time they were gone, we came together and redid the baby's room, putting up a "yarn tree" with colorful leaves that had Scripture promises written for them by their family and friends.  We sat in the baby's room and cried together.  It was a precious moment that I will never forget.  Another unexpected obstacle, but rich with love and mercy.

Also in June, a young single mother came into our life and into our home.  We took care of her and her son for a little while, and I worked tirelessly to find her a job and a place to live. The situation felt completely hopeless and got worse every day.  One morning I received a phone call that a family at church wanted to take her and her baby in, and she has been living there ever since. She has an amazing full-time job now and is doing well.  During those few months that we were helping her, I truly could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once again I was challenged to trust God, and He did not fail us.

All of these obstacles seemed like impossible mountains to climb.  None of them felt like they were ever going to end.  But again, looking back I see that everything is a season, and God is faithful to carry us through! Why do we doubt Him when He proves Himself over and over again?  Even if we feel nothing good came out of a painful situation, we know that God is always working everything together for His good, even if it is a deep, dark corner of our soul that needs healing and repair.

I don't know what obstacles 2012 will hold for us. Yet looking back at last year proves to me again that even if we face trials, they are just for a season, and God is faithful.   What is an obstacle you faced last year that taught you about God's faithfulness?