Spring Smiley Faces

Jennifer and cousin Isaiah Caleb and Brooke enjoying the view Finally got Josh on camera Nathan & Jesse Cuddling It's not hard to catch Brooke smiling! Nathan enjoying the morning sunshine

Nate turned 2!

It was Nathan's birthday on April 4. He is the only one that I can remember easily what year he was born. 04/04/04 Nathan is a very fun kid! He makes sure he's heard and usually has lots to say. He has his little sayings, like 'hello' kind of said with a grunt (hard to explain), he calls Joshua 'fafua" and says he's going to ride on a chicken! He is such a blessing to our family and we have many laughs because of what he does. He is very strong in what he knows he wants and we look forward to how God is going to use this someday. He likes animals, but only from a distance. If they make any kind of noise he is out of there! Thank you God for Nathan.

Being Content

Yesterday I was reading a story to the boys about a little boy who wanted a new coat. His mom was poor and so she couldn't buy him one, but she mended his old one. That wasn't good enough for the little boy, and he went to bed sulking. While he was sleeping he had a dream that a policeman came and took him out of his warm home, into a cold stormy night and showed him two little boys who had no home to sleep in and no warm coat. The moral of the story was to be content with what you have. So a little while after reading this story to the boys, the girls and I were in the kitchen, baking and making supper. Well it didn't take long before we ran out of counter space. And the first thing that came out of my mouth was "We need more counterspace". Realizing that my little boys were listening to my discontentment, I talked with them about what my response should have been. It should have been 'thank you God that we have so much food to eat that we do run out of counter space, and that we have a house to live in.' It was a great lesson for all of us!

"For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content." Phil. 4:11b

BABIES

Babies are such nice ways to start people!

It's Zachary!

Those of you who know Zachary, know how this happens. In his life so far he has cracked his elbow, had 5 stiches and knocked out 3 teeth. He has LOTS of energy and I could never keep up with him all day even if I tried. The good in all this? I am learning to trust AGAIN! When it happened the first thing we heard was 'I can't walk.' We have learned from experience that when Zachary says he is hurting, He is hurting! So we prayed for him first thing, waited about an hour, asked him to stand, and he still couldn't walk, so off we went to ER at Boundary Trails. He was a little trooper. Yesterday we went in to get xrays done to see if it is healing properly and it is. So he will have to have the cast for 3 more weeks. Another good thing out of this is Zachary is learning at a young age the consequences of his whims. As soon as he had his cast he asked if we had a really big boot so he could play outside. We told him he could sit outside but wouldn't be able to play. At that point you could see it all sinking in! And then the other day he told his almost 2 year old brother Nathan (who reminds us a lot like Zachary) not to jump off of things because he might end up with this~and pointed to his cast:) It was neat to see the compassion Zachary's brothers all had toward him when he had to sit still for the first couple of days. They would always bring what they were playing with and sit beside him. It's times like this when you see how close their bond is! So that's the update on Zachary!

The Last Guess Who Was...

Nathan!!!

Guess Who Has a Cast??

For Our Home Schooled Friends

TO BE EDUCATED

(by Carolyn Caines)

If I learn my ABC's, can read 600 words per minute, and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language. I have not been educated.

If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God's wisdom, I have not been educated.

If I have read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insight, but have not read the greatest of all books-the Bible-and have no knowledge of it's personal importance, I have not been educated.

If I have memorized addition facts, multiplicaion tables and chemical formulas, but have never bee disciplined to hide God's Word in my heart, I have not been educated.

If I can explain the law of gravity and Einsten's theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe, I have not been educated.

If I can classify animals by their family, genus and species, and can write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award, but have not been introduced to the Maker's purpose for all creation, I have not been educated.

If I can play the piano,, the violin, six other instruments, and can write music that moves men to tears, but have not been taught to listen to the Director of the universe and worship Him, I have not been educated.

If I can run cross-country races, star in basketball and do 100 push-ups without stoppping, but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God's will, I have not been educated.

If I can identify a Picasso, describe the style of da Vinci, and even paint a portrait that earns an A+, but have not been guided into a career of God's choosing for me, I have not been educated.

However, if one day I see the world as God sees it, and come to know Him, Whom to know is life eternal, and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me, I have been educated.

TO BE EDUCATED

GOD GIVE ME WISDOM

God, give me wisdom to see that today is my day with my children, That there is no unimportant moment in their lives. May I know no other career is as precious, No other work so rewarding, No other task so urgent. May I not defer it nor neglect it, But by Thy Spirit accept it gladly, joyously, and by Thy grace realize: That the time is short and my time is now– For children don’t wait. Written by Helen Young

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.....................