Is Our House Busy?

Over the last little while people have commented on how busy our household must be. Well, when I started to think about this and really notice what is going on, I came to this conclusion......OUR HOUSEHOLD IS VERY BUSY! It just kind of grows on you. You get used to the busyness and it becomes a way of life. Quiet moments are very rare around here, unless we are praying, eating or something else that involves great concentration!! (Yes eating takes concentration around here, you have to plan every mouthful appropriately to be sure you get seconds!) But you know what, when I am up before everyone else gets up or I am in the house alone (which very rarely happens) then the house seems quiet, I enjoy it for awhile and then I welcome the hustle and bustle, music playing, people singing, laughing, playing, joking, babies cooing, toddlers learning to get out those really BIG sentences that are in their head and seem to come out of their mouth all wrong!, and all the other delightful things I hear in a day. Right now some are coloring, some are playing with toys, someone is playing piano, one is playing with baby Brooke, one is taking pictures, one is doing wash, one is working in the kitchen and as quickly as I write these things down, THEY CHANGE! Busy? Yes. People ask me if I ever just want peace and quiet? No, not really, yes I do admit there are times if I have a headache, talking on the phone or something, that I ask that the noise level be diminished a decibal or two, but usually it's something I enjoy. I love being a mom of many! Never a dull moment. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth." Psalm 66:1

GUESS WHO?

Self-Control

For our Growing Kids God's Way friends here is a picture for you! This is how young you can teach them to get self control! Well okay....we didn't actually teach her, she just happened to do it.

Guess who's crawling!!!

I think I can!

I did it!

Are You Hungry?

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. That's a promise from God word. (James 4:8) What an amazing promise. But take note that we make the first move. He is a gentleman. He will not push His way in where we do not want Him. What is involved in drawing near? Well this has been my experience. If I fill my life with 'good' books, 'good' videos, 'good' computer games, and the list goes on and on, I will want more of those good things. My appetite for God will not be strong. But if I feed on God's Word and spend time with Him in prayer, then I will hunger for more of Him. For those of you who are married, or engaged, do you remember the days when you had to be apart and you yearned to talk to or see your mate? Or when your spouse is gone for an extended period of time and you long to hear their voice? I remember this summer when we were helping out at CEFC, Mark and I saw each other on a come and go kind of basis. He was trying to farm and then usually came back to camp for the night. Well one night because it was getting late, I had come to the conclusion that I would not see him until the next day. So I went on with my night, and then I heard it. I heard 'his laugh'. Now I have come to love his laugh, it is such a special and important part of him. My heart literally leaped! Even though I knew it was only one night, and I knew I would have survived! I was still so happy to see him because I had so much to share with him and I love to be around him. And that's the way it should be with our relationship with God. We should always be longing for our God. Our thoughts should be centered around Him. Our hearts should leap for joy when we think of spending time with Him and actually do! So for me the struggle has always been, "How can I do that as a busy housewife and mom when there are endless things to do and you are sometimes, rephrase that, most of the time very tired." Well I have come to the realization that God just wants me to acknowledge Him all throughout the day. I can converse with Him in the middle of it all. I can memorize scripture in the middle of it all, I can be listening to His voice in the middle of it all! There is never an excuse, as much as I would often like to make one! But one thing that I do know and have experienced, if I fill my life with 'entertainment' I will not have a passionate hunger for God. My hunger will be for those things that I fill my life with.

What are you hungry for today?

For more on this topic a great resource is John Bevere's "Drawing Near to God" series.

We went to Mission Fest this past weekend and ran a booth for CEFC. Here is what others saw. We had very good response with many people saying they didn't know we existed and they were excited to find a camp like this one!

God or Medicine?

I have been very challenged lately in my faith. A few years ago I found the amazing effects of garlic and how it helps fight colds, flues ect. So it became a regular on our list and was used very frequently in our household. But as the years went by I became more and more "trusting" in garlic. You see, one of the kids would come up to me and tell me they had a sore throat, or didn't feel well and I would say "Take a garlic!" But after awhile my conscience was not letting me forget something. THAT GOD IS OUR HEALER! I realized when I was automaticallly turning to garlic, I was teaching our kid's to trust in garlic instead of the healing power of God. Now I am not saying those things are wrong, I am saying that my first reaction to go to the garlic was wrong. Over the years I had learned instead of running directly to the medicine cabinet when our kids were sick, I needed to pray for them. But somehow in my mind I "rationalized" that garlic was not a medicine, it was natural. And as true as it is, God has been making me aware that, "Some may trust in horses, some may trust in chariots, but I was trusting in garlic, instead of in the name of our God. So now our family has been going through a cold thing. And I have been realizing that many times I have been just too lazy to pray! When you have a husband and nine children that can be a lot of praying time! So I have been learning how to trust. And I have been realizing over the last few days how taking this into my own hands (instead of praying) that our kids have missed the opportunity to experience God's healing power. For example, Zachary was sick a couple nights ago. He came upstairs saying he had a sore throat, then an ear ache. So we prayed for him and he went back to bed. The next day Joshua told us that Zachary was laying in bed pleading with God, "Please heal me, please heal me, by your stripes, I am healed!" and he was healed! We have had many of these experiences in the last couple of weeks. Our younger boys have been listening to the New Testament on audio and they have been taking notice of the many times that Jesus healed. The other day when I asked Zachary to pray for me he prayed that I would be healed "like the people You healed in the Bible"! There is a reason that God says to become like a little child. Their faith is so refreshing and real! So in this I am not saying that there is never a place for medicine or doctors, but I am saying that as Christians our first response to sickness or pain should be going to our heavenly Father and asking for His healing.

"And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."

Matt. 21:22

GUESS WHO?

By the way, the last guess who......was Caleb

FISHER OF MEN

by Joshua Pauls (based on Wilfred Grenfell's biography) Wilfred Grenfell was once a little English boy; He was always exploring and for some reason that gave him much joy. When he grew up he loved to work on ships; He even became a doctor and could now operate on people's hips. He decided to become a missionary, and a very strange one to; Because he would ride on ships and help people that should see a doctor with injuries overdue. Wilfred would also be a missionary in Labrador doctoring Eskimos free of charge; Handing out clothing to people who needed help from Wilfred and his barge. Once or twice he got stranded with sled dogs on the ice; He almost died out there for people who needed something to suffice. He helped many needy people who might not have made it thorught the night; He gave his life towards them and did it with all his might. He died knowing that he had helped people who might not have come to know Jesus otherwise; He reached out to any need he found, be it any size.

Train up a Child

Someone quoted the verse to me today, the one in Proverbs where it says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Prov. 22:6 It was in reference to a guy who had became a Christian as a teen and then fell away from the Lord and now has recently come back to the Lord. I am excited for this guy. I think that is great! But my question is this: Why does everyone assume from this verse that it means the child will fall away and then come back to the Lord? It doesn't say he ever fell away, it says he will not depart from it. So to me this verse means train up a child in the way he should go and he will never depart from it. Hmmmmmmm.....................

Guess Who?

TRIBUTE TO GRANDMA

Mark's grandma Justina Zacharias (Brandt) passed away on Jan. 6th, 2006.

She would have been 93 years old today.

She was the last living grandparent on Mark's side of the family.

This has made us realize that the stories, life accounts that were never told from her will never be told again.

How important it is for us, while we are living to pass on those stories and life experiences to our children and grandchildren.

God talks a lot in the Bible about telling of His wonderous works from generation to generation.

I have been challenged once again to pass those memorials of God's goodness on to our children. Whether by word of mouth or by journaling. Because the stories of your life that you don't share while you are living will probably never be told (unless someone writes a book about you:) A few years ago we started a family diary and put in there the stories that you think you will never forget, but you do! We have a lot of fun reading over those memories.

So if you are a great-grandparent, grandparent or parent keep the memorials of God's goodness alive by writing them down so they can be passed on from generation to generation! It takes only a few minutes but the impact could be for generations to come!

InPsalm 45:17 David said " I will make Thy name to be remembered in all generations, therefore shall the people praise Thee for ever and ever.

Guess Who?

Mark & Nathan

Happy Birthday!

It was my Mark's birthday yesterday! As I was thinking about his birthday I was thinking how different my life would be if he hadn't been born! Where would I be, would I be married, would I have children? What a strange thought, yet what a thought of thankfulness in truly appreciating the day that he was born. Thank you God for my husband. We are done birthdays now until February. We've had many celebrations within the last month. Christmas, Mark's mom's birthday, Joshua's birthday, New Year's, Mark's birthday! Almost as busy as October when we have 4 birthdays. A new year for us all, a time to look forward to the growth and change in our lives. A time to grow in the wisdom of God and learn daily to live by His Spirit. Every day is special, every day counts, every day matters. And every day is one day closer to seeing our Saviour face to face! I wonder what this year will bring? What the changes in our life will be. What the events in our life will be. I do know one thing that is certain, and that is that God is in control. I can rest and have my peace in that. Hallelujah!

Joshua, Sweet at 16!

Just me and my dad!

Reading to his brothers

Can you find Zachary?

HOW TIME FLIES!

I remember when our first four children were little (ages 5 yrs. and under) and how older moms and grandmothers would come up to me and say, "Enjoy them when they are young, because they grow up real fast!" At that point I remember selfishly thinking, "When will they ever grow up and get their own drink of water, dress themselves, feed themselves and help out with house cleaning!" Well now as our oldest son Joshua just turned 16 on Jan. 1st I am realizing (and have realized over the past few years) that those ladies were very right, they do grow up real fast. You know..... when you come to the conclusion that the age you used to think was old isn't old anymore, because you are that age! Obviously when you have a 16 year old son, you are getting older. Now, moms younger than me come up to me and ask me for advice and I realize that I am becoming one of the older women that the Bible talks about in Titus 2. Which seems weird to me, because we still have young children as well, but we also have a 16 year old which puts us in the "older" category! So yes, time does fly. So to you young moms, cuddle them lots now, because they won't always fit on your lap! But on the flip side, I have enjoyed every stage of our childrens life and am now enjoying having 2 teenagers in our home. When everyone would tell us the horrible stories of having teenagers, we would go against all odds and say that we would enjoy our teenagers, that teenagers didn't have to rebel! But people would look at us with that "well you just wait and see" look! Well we have waited and seen and can now say with experience that "HAVING A TEENAGER IN OUR HOME IS GREAT!" Am I saying there are never any struggles. No, of course not, but I am saying, "we enjoy having teenagers in our home!" It is so neat to watch Joshua grow into a young man and grow in his faith, learn more and more responsibility. I love watching him with his four younger brothers and realize what an influence he has on them (and all his siblings)! They love to be around him. I think it is so neat the way God designed family. So all this to say, "teenage years are not something you need to dread!" If your children are trained up in the way they should go, their teenage years will be a great experience for you and them! To God be the glory!

AFRAID OF THE DARK?

A child's faith is so simple. Here's a story to prove it! A little boy was helping his mom clean up the supper table. When they were finished his mom asked him to get the broom out on the porch. The little boy turning to his mom said, "But mom, it's dark out there." Knowing that her son had been struggling with the fear of being afraid of the dark she turned to her son and said, "Son, you don't need to be afraid of the dark because Jesus loves you and He will take care of you." Her son replied, "So you mean Jesus is on the porch?" His mom replied with confidence, "Yes son, Jesus is everywhere." So the little boy walked to the door, opened it and reached out his arm and said, "Jesus, if you are out there could you please hand me the broom?"

WHY OBEY YOUR PARENTS

Our children write quite a few book reports and research papers.

I thought over time to share some of these with you.

Here is one from Kerri.

In the Bible there is a verse that says "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right." Ephesians 6:1. I think this verse is saying even when it is not fun, we need to obey our parents because it is right and we need to obey God. We need to have a happy heart when we obey, not just a happy heart, but a joyful heart. Even when it's hard, if you just ask God He will help you, but you still need to try no matter what. I think if we learn to honor and respect our parents we would understand obeying more because I think obeying your parents is practically honoring and respecting our parents. In Romans 5:19 it says, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." So this verse is saying that we need to be a good example to others, so that when they watch us, they see how we obey our parents, but it is not supposed to be a show, just be yourself. When our parents make rules, it is not to be mean, it's the opposite. It's because they love us and care about us. Another reason they make some rules is because God told them to, so they obey God. We obey our parents, so through obeying our parents, we are obeying God. Obeying your parents is in the ten comandments too. Except for it says, "Honor your father and mother" which is kind of the same.

ITS CHRISTMAS SEASON

Tonight the girls begged for the 4th night if we could decorate the house for Christmas. I finally gave in. I was waiting until I had enough energy but realized that it was not going to happen anytime soon if I waited for that! So we put up lights and garland and candles.... And now the Christmas music is playing and it feels like... CHRISTMAS SEASON! I was watching the kids as they were pulling out the decorations from the boxes, untangling the lights, and hanging up things. They were so excited. It reminded me of when I was younger and I realized in the last few years I have gotten tired of the commercialism of Christmas and so really have not been that excited about it. But when you see the excitement in their eyes and hear it in their voices it is catchy. And it wasn't long before I got into it! And then I realized, that's how it should be in our walk as Christians. We should be so excited that it is catchy! What a great God we serve, what an amazing concept that God sent His son for us, what a great opportunity we have to share Him with others. I feel like going Christmas Caroling!!!! Maybe another day.