Big Changes For The Muddamalle Family

Joel Muddamalle — Mon, 18 May 2015 06:17:07 +0000

No. We are not having another baby.

However, there is a big change for us. My wife (Brittany) and I are excited to share that we are making a big move in the next 4 weeks. We will be moving to Chicago, more specifically, the suburbs south of Chicago where I grew up. Before anyone panics, this is NOT a job change. I’ll still be working for Faithlife as a National Conference Speaker. This move actually has a lot to do with my job. Why uproot and move my family after 3 years in Bellingham, WA? Well, it really boils down to these two reasons.

1. Travel

It’s hard to have a job where you spend most of your time in an airplane and have to fly from the pacific northwest. The time change, connections, and location all add up to days away from my family. By making a move to become more central, I will instantly cut down on travel days and be able to spend more time with my wife and kids. I’ve always been a strong believer in putting your family ahead of any ministry. I believe this is also the same for vocation. This move places my family as a priority.

2. Indian Culture

Brittany and I have always wanted to raise our kids with an immersion into Indian culture. Realistically, the best way that can happen is to be around it. While we have absolutely loved our time in California and Washington, we are excited to expose our three boys to more of the Indian side of of their heritage. I have an extensive Indian community in Chicago that I grew up in. I’m excited for my boys to be near their “uncles” and “aunties” and experience some awesome Indian weddings, prayer meetings, and parties. Even better, my immediate family will be about 2-4 hours away. We are really excited to be close to everyone!

Bonus:

Deep dish pizza. Enough said.

This is just from my perspective. Get my wife’s thoughts on this on her blog. She gives more details into the family and culture side of things.

We plan on making the move in mid June. I have lots of conferences in the summer so adding a move into the mix is a bit challenging. If you guys are thinking about our family, I would love your prayers! If you are in the Chicagoland area, shoot me an email or like my Facebook page and comment. I’d love to connect!

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Staying Dad While Traveling

Joel Muddamalle — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:59:33 +0000

Possibly one of the most significant challenges that I faced when I took the National Presenter role at Faithlife was the impact of travel on my family. As I am reviewing the past year I just hit the 150,000 air mile mark which means my office is really an airplane. As a youth pastor, I have seen the impact of absent fathers. Kids that are craving for the attention of their parent who is chronically missing events and is preoccupied with work. Now, to be fair, the issue is prevalent for both the parent that travels and is physically absent as well as the one who is obsessed with the office and is consistently emotionally and mentally absent. In my circumstance, I find myself physically absent at various times throughout the year. Seeing the affect that the absentee parent has on kids has caused me to be incredibly cautious about my travel and to intentionally pursue being “dadda” while on the road. The following are four things that I pursue to make this happen. I hope they are encouraging for those of you that travel.

1. Facetime

I love FaceTime. It is incredible and allows me to see my kids even when I was across the pond in London earlier this year for the Worship Central Conference. I love having breakfast together with my boys via FaceTime. I have my iPad up and headphones in as I’m grabbing breakfast at the hotel and Liam and Levi join in while they are eating their cereal from home. Sometimes, I can even catch up with them while they are in the car heading to church :).

2. Keeping a Journal

I keep a journal and do my best to write letters to my boys while I’m on the road. In my mind, this is an investment into their future and will hopefully leave them with dad’s thoughts even when I’m long gone. Further, I get to be apart of some incredible conferences and am learning from the best pastors, theologians, and scholars. I want my boys to have that available to them. Some of you may be surprised, but the journal is an old school written journal. My handwriting is horrible so I do my best to make it legible, but there is something about handwriting letters and journal entries that adds to the experience and character of that journal. Its almost like I am leaving a piece of myself in every journal entry.

3. Praying for my boys

This happens in conjunction with the journal and usually at night after I’m done writing but I want to always keep my boys in prayer. The reality is,

being a dad is not on pause when I step foot on an airplane and then back on play when I’m home.
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Fatherhood and being a dad is who I am in every city, airplane, hotel, and conference that I step into. So keeping my boys in prayer reminds me of who I am and why I do what I do.

4. Don’t let the road consume you

I am still early in this whole traveling business. I don’t want this to consume my life. There has to be a balance between the road and home. I work for a great company that gives us unlimited time off. As long as I meet my goals and objectives I am free to take time off as I need. So, we try to schedule extended vacations, time with family, and “stay home vacations” into the year to ensure the balance. These go on my calendar and are blocked off. I’ve learned that the things that we hold as important make it on your calendar. My family is important, so they are literally on my calendar.

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