About Me

   Hi! My name is Vicki! Welcome to Average Momma! This is a blog that I started a few months after my daughter was born. I wanted to be able to use this space as a place to keep track of our very busy and crazy life. The saying that "time flies when you are having fun" definitely applies to our happy life. I love being a Momma!

Myself and our newest addition - Big C!

Some things about me! I am a 20-something young woman living out her dream. From a young age I played "house" (or "orphanage") with my dolls. I knew that I wanted a family and I knew that I wanted to spend  my time with children. I was blessed to be able to spend 4.5 month of my life after highschool living in Nicaragua volunteering at an orphange. That experience shaped me so much! 7 years later and I still think about Jinotega and Children of Destiny daily! My dream is to one day once again be able to use my gifts to help bring love and Christ to children that are hurting. In the meantime I get to live life with my handsome hubby (highschool sweetheart) and our two kiddos - Pj and Big C. I love my family. We aren't perfect but we are committed to loving each other and growing in Christ. My kids are the greatest gift I have ever received and I am so grateful that God has allowed me to be a part of their lives. 

I love being a stay-at-home Momma but I also love working at a local bank (in any capacity - really, I've done it all: financial planning, customer service, and supervising!). I love my work family and the community I get to work in. I hope to return to work on a part-time basis in the new year but until then am soaking up the days with my kids and loving the chance to set up our new house and partake in some DIY projects. 

I deal with depression. This is not something that I have made public (until now!). I have dealt with depression most of my life but have tried to hide this from everyone (even, until recently, my husband and family). Its not until I finally reached out for help that there was light and my situation finally seemed doable. I am still dealing with shame in this area of my life. Shame that I have so much and can still find myself stuck in a cloud of sadness and feelings of being lost. Shame that I might be making a big deal out of something when so many people have it way worse than me. I gave into the lie that to ask for help and admit being depressed meant I wasn't a good Momma, wife or Christian. I honestly thought that asking for help would mean that I was weak and ungrateful. I am slowly learning that asking for help doesn't mean I am being selfish, seeking attention, admitting myself a failure, or being pathetic. It means that I have a struggle and that I recognize that God has blessed us with community in order to support and love each other. No one is perfect, everyone has something. Only through being real with each other can we learn to help and love one another, as God created the community to do! With my Savior at my side I am learning to take one day at a time and am learning how to live with my depression as opposed to letting it control my life. I am learning to let God control my life and there is so much freedom in this! We have an amazing and loving God. He is waiting to take us in His arms...we just need to let our guard down and fall into them! Trusting that He "works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) I am holding onto Him each and every day. Maybe through sharing this I can help someone else out there who is secretly dealing with depression. Please, if you are struggling reach out to someone! You can send me an email (markandvicki.lodder@gmail.com) - I am willing to help in any way possible: lend a listening ear, pray with you, let you know that you are not alone!
Anyways, that's just a bit about me. I guess this blog could be labelled a "lifestyle" blog because its just me telling my story - one post at a time!

My beautiful family - Big C, Me, Hubby, and Pj