In case you haven't noticed, my website and social media took on a whole new name! Well, it's not mine anymore, it's ours! David and I were noticing that our followers were desiring more of a couples presence. We were receiving emails that were encouraging this idea and well it just made sense to us. Without thinking too much about it the name Cactus and Curry came to me, we had a new logo designed and now we are launching what we are sure will be an encouragement and help to mixed and blended families. Let me give you a little background about who we are and why we believe that we are being called to help in what would be considered complicated or complex families... As you know, we are husband and wife. But we're also travelers, explorers, motivators and best friends. We love God and family over everything. And love to goof around and laugh hard. We're far from perfect but are living proof that true love does exist and that love IS thicker than blood! Everyone said that it would never work. That's there were too many obstacles, too many differences. But they were so wrong! We've accomplished what everyone said was impossible. In our lives, some refer to as crazy, we've built an indestructible, loving, close-knit family that is a wild blend of culture, personality and fervor. We are two people from very different worlds, literally! David (Curry) is of Indian descent and grew up in Malaysia. He is the son of a missionary family and relocated frequently throughout his childhood. Life was challenging due to the more than strict upbringing and constant changes that occurred over the years. He is no stranger to the feeling of rejection and not belonging. He settled in Germany, his mother's homeland, at the age of 17 and finished up his education in the German school system. He continued on shortly after he graduated, to fulfill his dream of becoming an Airline Pilot. On his own means, which was little to nothing, he began his adventure of testing and training and was sent over to Phoenix, Arizona where soon thereafter, met the girl of his dreams, Robin. This is where his healing began. I, Robin (Cactus) come from the desert of Goodyear, Arizona. My childhood was more stable in the sense that I grew up in one town, in one house. However, life for me also had it's challenges. I was adopted as a baby to middle-aged parents. Even though adoption is a great thing, it can cause rejection and abandonment issues in children that often have long lasting affects. This was the case for me as I developed self-esteem problems that led into a course of bad decisions which also included bad relationships. I experienced and overcame addiction issues and divorce. And began a career in finance. It wasn't until I came face-to-face with the love of my life that I began to experience healing. Together, we moved to Germany in 2002, home to neither, along with 2 from 3 of my daughters. It's a been a rough road to say the least, but through those hardships we created a indestructible bond of compassion, patience, gratitude, hope and most of all love, with our now five children that we share together...along with one granddaughter! God is the center of our marriage and our family. And in our house, there is no such things as step, half or adopted children. We are one family bound together by pure love! Having said all that, I must also add that over the past six years, we have received numerous prophetic words from different people that we would one day be involved in ministering to families! Funny thing is, looking back, the people that gave us these words did not even really know us! Here's what I gathered from my journal: In July 2010, Anthony gave a word that our family would be used to change the lives of others. February 2011, a Co-Pastor named Michael said that we would be used to help families using the experiences of the trials we had been through. August 2011, God TV, cameraman Devin said that this family will be used to do great things. March 2012, Pastor from Florida, Joe said we will build a ministry based on family. September 2013, Several Pastors at a conference said that our family would be used greatly. So, there you have it! The purpose and reason behind our new name! We will continue to blog, coach and minister as Cactus and Curry. We want more than anything, for people to realize and KNOW that there is such a thing as true love, love is thicker than blood and that love conquers ALL! And with God, ALL things are possible! With Love and Blessings! If you're not already following us, feel free to do so! And join in on our wild adventures of culture, personality and fervor! P.S. There's some great things happening in our lives that you won't want to miss! Just the other day, our daughter was expecting guests. It was in actuality, her 14th birthday party. It wasn't as though we hadn't planned it or knew that our house would soon be filled with 14 year old girls. But the weeks beforehand, we had so much going on with different life events and such that we hadn't cleaned up our front garden and caught up on household chores. We wanted to make our daughter happy by offering a somewhat presentable home that she would not be embarrassed of, as her group of teen bees entered into what we were certain would be a night of giggles, junk food and extreme Snapchatting! As I straightened up the inside of the house and scurried to get the laundry taken care of, my husband David grabbed his garden gloves, rake and sack and headed to the front of the house. On his way, he caught our son Caleb that was nearby with friends and summoned him to come and join in so that the work would be finished in half the time. It isn't unusual for our kids to give us a helping hand when asked, in addition to their weekly assigned chores. But this particular request was not well-accepted by our son which was of no surprise because of the previous weeks that our entire family was busy and on the go, preventing him from hanging with his buds. Nevertheless, Caleb obeyed his dad but with tears in his eyes and obvious defiance in his face. David, in that moment, was only thinking about getting the work done fast and didn't realize the strife that his not so unusual appeal would create. It wasn't long until a quarrel broke between the two. But instead of continuing in disagreement and allowing what seemed like a simple request to get completely out of hand, David caught a glimpse of Caleb's friends that waited patiently and respectfully on the street side for their friend to complete his task at hand and got a brilliant idea! He called the boys over and in his motivational voice filled with excitement asked the boys if they would like to earn a little money! He explained that Caleb's sister Simona was expecting guests and needed some help with pulling the weeds and raking before the guests arrived. And that because he was in a bind, time-wise, he could really use a few more hands. The boys quickly agreed to joining in to the not so glamorous activity, grabbed a pair of garden gloves, and dove in! Faster that expected, the job was done within minutes! What could have ended up a big fight and a bad day was turned around in a way so that everyone involved benefited. David got the garden cleaned up in a hurry. What was a dirty and annoying job to Caleb became a fun team effort involving his friends. And not only did Caleb and his friends earn a bit a money, but his friends were also given the opportunity to help out their friend in need, something that is not a common practice here in Germany. Everyone was happy! The house and garden got cleaned up in no time and we were indulged with cupcakes, games, loud music and laughter throughout the evening! I LOVE it when there is peace and harmony within the family. Parenting is not an easy job. Especially nowadays where life is so fast paced and both parents are forced to work. Not to mention the distractions with technology, cell phones and social media. Keeping a family in balance and close-knit has become a difficult task for many. Sharing ideas and daily experiences with one another as an encouragement and motivation is a small way to keep the momentum of having a strong family going!
Do you have any ideas or experiences that you would like to share about what keeps your family strong? I'd love to hear from you! With Love and blessings! P.S. If you liked this post, I invite you to subscribe to my blog by email. That way, you will NEVER miss another post! Just CLICK HERE to sign up! What a great last two weeks! If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram then you probably already figured it out that we had visitors at our German residence. After years of no visits from family, from either of our homelands, some of my family came from the states and were with us for a couple of weeks. After their special request of being able to see some of the sites, we wanted to make their trip worthwhile and packed the two weeks that they were here, full of different destinations in and around North Germany! As we began our adventures, there were several places that we ourselves have never been to, and it dawned on us that we have been missing out on so many great places that are not so far from our home in Northern Germany! We have lived in the same city of Bremen, Germany for the last 14 years and have seen very little of Germany or even Europe for that matter! Yes, we do travel a lot, I have to admit that. However, the places that we visit are usually our homelands of Malaysia, where David grew up and the Western part of the U.S. where I grew up. In fact, we even took up a partial residence in Arizona for a portion of the year. But there has been the occasional short trips that we have made to Spain, Holland, England and the different states of the U.S. But somehow we seemed to neglect that possibilities that are right in front of us, here in Germany and the rest of Europe! I must confess, I do realize that I am the main cause as to why we haven't explored Europe. We've spent most of our vacation time throughout the years, traveling back to the states and to Malaysia primarily due to loneliness. It has been a rough road, living so far away from home in a country that hasn't always been so merciful on us. I have had my struggles, for many different reasons, it's true. And also for David, living in a country where he didn't grow up has also had it's challenges. However, being half German and a missionary kid gave him that edge necessary for a little more tolerance than I was able to conjure up. But after so many years of fighting to overcome the difficulties and frustration, I feel that we have come to the point in our lives, we have realized that our home is not a place, but instead, our home is our family and God! Our God, our kids, grand kids, cousins, aunts, uncles, and siblings that love us, accept us, are there for us through thick and thin, good and bad, rain or sunshine, that is home, that is happiness! I know that Germany will not always be our “home” and possibly not even the states, as hard as that is to say.... But I do know that we have learned so much about what it means to have a FAMILY and a HOME despite and because all of the hardships that we have encountered and defeated. It's time that we start living and enjoying the opportunities right under our noses! Here's a few great places we were able to see while our wonderful family were visiting! There's so many more pics of our trips during the family's visit. But instead of inundating you, I tried to choose the best to give you a feel of what we were able to experience! In the end, the BEST part of our time together was just the simple fact that we were together and of course the beautiful moments that were shared! With Love and Blessings, Robin
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HOWDY!
We're Robin & David, husband & wife, entrepreneurs, explorers & adventurers. We each sprung out of separate parts of the world (Malaysia & Arizona), disembarked together & formed an unbreakable marriage & family out of what once was a complex blend of jumble, whilst living as foreigners in Europe. FOLLOW US
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