Running an organization alongside your spouse is beautiful but also messy...

Light Gives Heat was birthed out of a 6-month trip to Uganda to complete the adoption of our daughter in 2007 - out of personal story an organization was born. We saw a need and responded - sort of a jump first and figure the details out as you go type of thing. Once back in America we hit the ground running - figuring out the logistics, selling necklaces, getting our website/store up, selling necklaces, fundraising, and oh yeah, did I say selling necklaces?

We have experienced some tremendous growth in the past year - the Spread campaign in particular has allowed us to partner with people from all over the US and Canada (thanks neighbors up North)! With the growth has come the demand for more time. Rachel joined the LGH team a year ago - an incredible asset and a woman with a tremendous heart for our projects. We've gotten so used to her being around the past year - giving her heart, her time, her tears, and her skills. But she and her husband left for Uganda almost 3 weeks ago to develop the Africa infrastructure. So once again we are figuring out how to restructure things and when everything is also so personal, it gets complicated at times.

Dave and I both work full-time for LGH, but we're also the parents of a 4 year-old and a 2 year-old (and can I say that as rewarding as parenting is, it is also so dang hard at times - taking so much selflessness and patience), so we split our work time between the LGH office and home in order that one of us is always home with the kids. So even though we work together - we actually never work together! Emailing, Gmail chat/voice chat and frequent cell phone calls or texts have become our main mode of communicating. It's just complicated, but we're doing it!

At 27 & 28 (and 8 years into marriage) our lives just look so much different than any other couple we know. We often wish we knew a couple who was in our same boat (and further along) - a model, somebody we could talk to and relate with (if you know of someone - please put us in contact!). There have been times when we've wondered if the stress, the blurry work/home lines, and constant fluctuation are worth it (and it seems that everyone else who is doing humanitarian work is leading glamorous lives!). But over and over we come to the conclusion that yes, it's totally worth it...and we're not in this alone - it's not just our story, but the story of everyone who has ever partnered in anyway with LGH.

So in weeks like this - when we've had website issues/problems, 12 Spread sign-ups that have gone into Spam for the past 2 weeks, a daughter who pooped on the ground by accident (yeah I know), and $450 mechanic bill - a high-pressure hose that went out in our power steering yesterday, it just feels like we're trying to hold it together...but at least I know we aren't alone! Thanks for being on this journey with us!

-Morgan