MOPS-Mothers of Preschoolers! The Motherhood Adventure With Friends

My interview with Gayle Wright of MOPS International here!!  Don't let isolation keep you from being the best mom you can be!  Go to MOPS.org to find a MOPS group near you!

Madisonville, Tennessee MOPS group on Facebook HERE!

Jaci Velasquez is on the show!

Listen to Jaci's interview here!

Jaci's voice is unforgettable!  If you're meeting her here for the first time, you're in for a treat!  She's got some pipes and she's not afraid to use them!  

Jaci visited beautiful East Tennessee and updated me on her life.  She was a teen-pop icon in Christian music in the late 90s, reached the Latino-charts is back singing about how God can take a rough stone (i.e. any human) and turn it into a polished, gem...A diamond!  Which, by the way, is her latest yet-to-be-released recording.  If you were at her concert here in Athens, you heard it and ....  It is a hit!

But that's not all Jaci's up to!  She's set to release two films before the year's end, and a book about the realities of motherhood titled, "Coffee and Concealer."  (Both are in my mothering tool-box!) And I can't wait to pick up the book!

Check out Jaci's Facebook page for the latest updates!  http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/95364/jaci-velasquez-signs-with-inpop-records

Much love,

 ~K. De La Cruz

Encouragement For The Adoption Journey

I've wanted to adopt since I knew there were orphans!  So this idea goes way back.  But with varying routines of life this summer, I've fallen off the wagon, you could say...  Or could you?  I have been a bit demotivated by circumstances.  In effort to restart the ole' adoption train, (which is the initial paperwork,) I borrowed a book called Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman.  I don't usually read books by people married to somewhat famous people or about famous people unless it's a historical figure.  (She's married to singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman.) But I identify so much with this particular author-and the story, oh, the story...

Summary:  perfectionist mom (like me) comes to terms with the world-wide orphan crisis, (yes, keep going) adopts three girls from China.  In circumstances that could happen anywhere, her teenage-son, while driving in the family's driveway, doesn't see the five-year-old sister (oh, no!) as she runs up to the moving car (no, don't say it!) and parishes.  (Silence.) AND God's healing grace invades the family history over and over again, showcasing God's unimaginable ability to bring beauty from ashes.  (WOW!)

I know, right?  Makes you want to read it, doesn't it?!

I'm always looking for a redemptive thread to carry on the vision of The Katie De La Cruz Show...  Maybe Mary Beth will come talk to me on my show about adoptive families...  It's worth hoping for!
If you have an adoption or other redemption story, I'd be honored if you would share it with me!  Leave your comments below! Thank you!

Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz

Christian Regretting Motherhood? My Response to This Motherhood Post: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank#.Tiht6q53jzs.facebook

I didn’t have to read the entire article to clarify something for myself and… just in case anyone is looking, for them, too.

I am a mom.  It is the hardest thing I’ve ever accepted.  The cross my husband and I carry is that we are called to parent our children.  One must be present to parent…  So, I don’t have a career.  I have an itty-bitty radio show that I excel at the on-air stuff but drop behind-the-scenes stuff.  A lot.  Just ask my station owners...  And I wish I didn’t.  I hate not being perfect-especially in front of others.  But my priorities dictate that a few balls can drop.  Just not my husband, son #1 or son #2.  Not the family.  I've been doing this "christian motherhood, wife gig" for 11.5 years and I'm beginning, BABY STEPS  to understand what and who and how.  I heard this excellent thought last night,  "You can't be about the Big Picture when you are consumed with the needs in front of you."  So, who is our faith really in?  Christ has already promised to take care of our needs.  That reality should free us up to raise our kids with "big picture" perspective!  I pray that it does!

We drive old cars, borrowed cars and any car that will go, because our ministry tithe to our family is very, very high!   I'm not bragging about that.  We live in a once-upon-a-time cute house that-is-no-more.  (Use your imagination, lol.)   Because you may be struggling with your calling, I share this reality to encourage you,  really!

I have a radio show and for the summer, while the kids are with Dad, I get to put more than 10 hours a week into it; because motherhood is my first cross, my first act of obedience each day.  I couldn't do the show as much as I am without my husband.  My husband is called to teach, coach and preach and has the summer off from teaching.  But his first calling is as my husband.  And I am called to motherhood.  So he teaches and delivers pizza and is the kids' teacher for the summer.    Because I’m called to motherhood, because we're called to parenthood.

Sure, I hope my radio show will be a commercial-success.  It would be great to have money left at the end of the month.  But if it isn’t, I have pleased the One who matters most, the one who obeyed His Father and died for me.

Soli Deo Gloria! ~K. De La Cruz