FIREPROOF

Last night Matthew and I went out on a double date with Jared and Sarah Berg (we're still friends =) We found some great babysitters in Uncle Kendrick, Uncle Chad, Brett Kunarri and Drew Lim - a bunch of 20-something guys that were willing to take on the eight kids we had between us! So off we went, foot loose and fancy free, to Rapid City. After our meal we went to see the newly released movie, Fireproof. It was produced by the same people as Facing the Giants and stars Kirk Cameron, a famous actor known for his Christian beliefs. It was a great movie! I highly reccommend it to all married couples as it does contain some elements that might not be best shared with children. But it presents the gospel and honors the sanctity of marriage the way you WILL NOT find in any of the other newly released Hollywood films - or any others for that matter! So check it out and support this wholesome movie and maybe there'll be more to come!

Find out more about it or watch the trailor at the link below!
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Praying for my friends

Job 1:21
The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

As I go through the day with a heavy heart I am thankful for a God who is in control. I am also thankful to Him for the godly example of friends as they go through an unexpected loss. In the middle of their grief they see a reason for rejoicing in God's love and peace. They are not without hope!

I'm praying for you, my friend!

Just a thought

Last Sunday during the beginning of the morning service we were singing several choruses and hymns. As usual my preference in church is to sing the traditional songs that I grew up with and that have a truth and meaning to them, more than so many newer 7/11 songs...you know, seven words sung 11 times?! Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked and you don't want to get me started on that topic!

Well, one of the songs was 'Christ Liveth in Me' and I was struck by some of the words I've been singing my whole life! I hate being caught singing the words without knowing what I'm really saying and paying attention, but it happens often....Here is the chorus and the second verse that really got me -

Christ liveth in me,
Christ liveth in me,
Oh! What a salvation this,
That Christ liveth in me.

As rays of light from yonder sun,
The flowers of earth set free,
So life and light and love came forth,
From Christ living in me.

Those lines in bold really struck me - is that really what comes forth? If I look over the past month, the past week, the past 24 hours of my life did life and light and love come forth? Not hardly! I failed more than I can tell you - I makes mistakes more often than I get things right - I choose the wrong way so many times - I'm weak so much more of the time than I'm strong! What to do....?

So, yet again, I ask the Lord for more of His unending forgiveness and patience. I ask that I'd be like a little teapot when it boils over, that it would be apparent that Christ lives in me and His live and love and light would come forth.

Meanwhile back in Oshoto....

And now for the kids....Since we weren't there I borrowed some pictures from Monica to include with this post about the kid's time at the Bergs. She's quite experimental with her pictures so keep that in mind=)
Each evening I would call to check in and talk to the kids - then I'd talk to Sarah to get a more accurate picture of how the day went! It seemed like every time I called someone was holding either a snake or a spider. The first thing Logan would tell me was an update on the 'critter count' of the day - quite impressive! Most of the time their behaviour was pretty good, I was glad to hear that more than anything else.
The older two were a big help with all the younger ones. On one of the days Jared and Sarah had a previously scheduled meeting so they asked one of their teenage church girls to come over and help Monica babysit for the day. How would you like it if your babysitter looked like this?Jared and Sarah were, of course, great with each and everyone. They made the older two feel grown up with special privileges including staying up late, playing games, going hunting or fishing - doing things to help them stay busy and enjoy themselves. And they took care of the younger three with patience and kindness even in the middle of the crying-for-Mommy spells. Of course the older three had school to work on while they were there as well. Here's Sarah in the middle of a Dutch Blitz game with Monica.... Then there's the kitten who got more 'attention' than she probably wanted! Monica caught her with her face in a cup of water!
And a lovely picture of Jesse...the one who was up in the night with a cough and wouldn't settle down until big sister Monica took him outside and they looked at the moon and stars together.
Then there's the two cuties who (most of the time) play together like best buddies. On the morning we left they walked around holding hands and hugging goodbye like they were being separated forever.
Despite the fact that I was half eaten up with guilt the whole time we were gone I knew the kids were being taken care of incredibly well and that they would survive....I just was hoping the Bergs would still be friends with us when it was all over. Thankfully they are....I think!

FOM Conference

A week ago Friday we packed up our family and headed up to Oshoto, WY to the Bergs house. A couple months ago they insanely agreed to watch all of our kids for us while we went Ohio for a Fellowship of Missions Conference (FOM). Saturday morning early we left and headed to the Rapid City airport and flew out to Cleveland - via MSP. After a sickening flight (!) we arrived safely with our luggage, as well as my stomach contents, intact.

FOM is an organization made up of many mission boards, colleges, and a few other Christian organizations that are considered fundamental Bible believers. It seeks to be an aide to mission organizations in many areas including accountability, advice to new missions, encouragement to its members, etc. Last year they voted to accept NTI and this year was our first one as an official part of FOM. The conference was 2-fold - Saturday and Sunday night was the CEO retreat that was completely paid for by an anonymous donor. It was a more relaxed, personal time and very encouraging for us a younger couple and a young mission. For Monday and Tuesday night we switched gears and had a more formal time of seminars and evening services with a focus on leadership and other topics helpful to keeping an organization up and running. There were a couple split sessions with topics geared specifically for women and I have to say there were very beneficial for me!

But if I'm completely honest I must confess that, after alone time with my hubby, my favorite thing was spending time with my Mom. My parents were there representing their mission and we got to spend a lot of time together. Not only that but also Uncle Terry and Aunt Carol were there! The Thompsons are my best friends parents and I grew up with them on the missionfield - they are just as much a real part of my family as any other relative.

So, we had a great time and thank the Lord for the opportunity to go and the points to purchase our 2 plane tickets for free! It was refreshing and motivating in many ways. We were encouraged in our endeavor with Nehemiah Teams International like never before by people who had once been in our shoes. And I did not take one single picture....my Mom took this one 5 minutes before we pulled out of the driveway=) We arrived Wednesday evening into Rapid and then drove up to Oshoto where the kids had been allowed to stay up late in anticipation of Mommy and Daddy getting back. The next day Jared and Sarah asked us to stay (they must still like us) so we recouperated from our trip and spent some enjoyable time together and came home Friday morning. I think I'm finally ready for Monday!

First things first

I will explain more in future posts about where Matthew and I were and what we were doing on our trip but first of all we have some people to thank! For five days Jared and Sarah Berg watched our five children....add to that their three, not to mention the fourth on the way, and you have a full house - as in packed! From last Saturday morning until Wednesday night they had our kids in their care and we are soooo very grateful. The Lord has given us some incredible friends in Jared and Sarah and we thank God that we were able to entrust our children to their care and have no worries. Ok, so I wasn't exactly worry free - but the concern was more for the Bergs=)

To shed a little more light on the story there were 3 nights out of the 4 when Monica and Sarah were both up numerous times with either Jesse or Alana. From throwing up to having trouble breathing because of a 'croupy' cough - the kids hadn't been sick for months but seemed to unload all at once while we were away! Also, they disciplined in love and showed our kids that not just Mom and Dad expect certain behaviour=)

Well, saying thank you is like using a thimble to bail out the Titanic but it's all we can do for now - praising the Lord for like-minded friends and hoping to someday be able to return the favor!

PS- I have lots of pictures of the kids but can't seem to find any of the parents....=(

Blogging Absence

Sorry for the amount of time that has passed since my last post! We've actually been gone, our whole family, for a week and the trip snuck up on me before I got a chance to even write about it. So I plan on doing quite a bit of catching up over the next few days! Especially since in 4 weeks from today we are leaving on another trip - TO CHILE!!!!!!! Last week we purchased tickets for our whole family to go to Chile for a month and a half! We could not be more excited!!! At this point we are trusting the Lord to provide the remaining funds needed but as of now it's a done deal - ready or not, here we go! Details will follow as to when, where, who, etc. but for now we are going to recuperate and then begin the downhill road to October 17th....when we leave for Chile, Chile lindo!

Eggciting Evening

As a homeschooling Mom I've had to work a little harder at being creative ~ it is not my natural gift. So, if I do happen to brainstorm across an idea that sounds even remotely fun I try to follow up on it. That's what happened Monday night.

Zachery had a Science project in which he had to use a coffee container, fill it with at least 2 different materials, place and egg in it and drop it off the highest spot we could find to see if the egg would survive. We decided to make it into a contest and he challenged some other people with the same task. All said we had coffee cans submitted by Daddy, Monica, Chad, Kendrick, and our neighbor, James. After supper we had some zucchini cake and headed outside!

(Yes, our fence is down....another project!)

Certain people lost on the first drop.....From the soft ground by the house we moved to the cement slab in front of the garage.

This is where others lost the battle.

After that we headed out into the middle of the 'intersection' by our house and threw the cans up into the air...Kendrick was the designated throw upper=)

The rest of us watched, sitting there like true Buffalo Gap natives! FYI - not one car came through during the proceedings!

After some fierce competition Chad was declared the winner, his egg was cracked (!) but the most intact after the 3 rounds.

Then we had an impromptu egg toss and Matthew and I won that=) Since we were all competing no one took pictures except this one of George when everything was over - he had fun, too!

Welcome to the world, Elijah!

On Wednesday of this past week our family welcomed another member! My brother, Lincoln, and his wife, Sheena, had their second child - a little boy named Elijah Lincoln! He and Mommy are both doing well. Here are some pictures of Elijah, Daddy, and big sister Layla (who will turn 2 later this month). Sorry I'm a few days late with the announcement....I had some 'troubles' with the pictures. For those who want to know he was 8 lbs. 9 oz. and about 22 inches long....takes after Daddy, I think!

Chile Trip Update

This morning we had our first of six meetings with those that are preparing to be part of the NTI team heading to Lican Ray, Chile this fall. Nothing like meeting together, knowing that we are now on a countdown, to get you wound up and excited to go! I was responsible for part of the meeting that had to do with flight details, arrival information, what to bring, etc. I can't talk, even type, about it without getting goosebumps I's sooo excited! I love Chile, I love missions, I love my family, I love going on trips, I love taking other people back to my childhood home and seeing it for the firstime through their eyes - roll those things all into one and I'm one happy camper=)

But I feel like I've ridden the roller coaster ride of emotions as far as this trip goes! I've gone from being excited to go, to depressed that I can't, back to having faith that I will go, then to resignation and acceptance that I won't, then recently getting excited about cheaper tickets making it possible for us to all consider going only to find out those prices don't apply to the dates we need to be there for - ahhh! In my head (which is a scary place BTW) I've accepted and acknowledged that God knows best and He can provide above and beyond what we need and He decides if we go or stay. And I'm fine with that...in my head. The other more emotional part of me is having a harder time trying to decide how I really should feel about it. On one hand I have faith that the Lord can supply the amount we need, so I want to go about knowing that He will and start getting ready to make the trip. On the other hand, if it's not His will, I don't want to get my hopes up so I sometimes go around assuming it won't work out and begin to plan for the time that Matthew and the older 2 kids will be gone for 6-7 weeks and I'll be here alone...with 3 small children!

Sometimes I just want to know - either way - I just want to know so my little brain can try and wrap itself around the millions of things I'll need to do to get our family of seven ready to go and be there for a month and a half OR if I need to start planning how I'm going to crawl to my parents door step begging for some moral support and adult interaction for this extended period of time with half my family missing!?!?

So, does the Lord know yet if we should go or not? Of course He does, but He has chosen to keep us relying and trusting in Him until the time comes when the decision is made. And then, a week or so from now when the money is either here or it is not, we will know. After that the next step of faith will come, trusting Him to help Matthew and I orchestrate all the details of taking a bunch of people overseas for several weeks or trusting Him to help us individually deal with things apart from each other for a loooong time.

In my own mind the best thing for our family would be to stay together, working side by side to accomplish the goals of NTI, being together as a couple so that throughout the 'busy-ness' of Matthew's day I can be there to support and encourage him, spending time with the missionaries there who are eager for Christian fellowship in this remote area of Chile, helping the team members open their eyes to the fields white unto harvest, to end the day tucking all five of our children into bed as we teach them the value of a servants heart and a love for missions. But maybe the Lord has different lessons to teach us, after all....

Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Watchin' the boys....

Earlier this week I headed to Rapid City with Alana to do some shopping. The beginning of the month had arrived and it was time, once again, to stock up at Sam's Club and Wal-mart. Zach headed to work with Matthew so that left Monica home with Logan and Jesse (taking 1 out of 3 with me helps on both ends). Jesse laid down as usual and Logan, in a VERY rare moment, also took a nap! So Monica finished her schoolwork and then took the boys out to play once they were awake. She loves to take pictures of the "little people" (as I call the 3 youngest) and so she snapped till her heart was content - here's the proof.

PS -It may change with time but Logan is still her favorite subject.

A "Logan and the tire swing" collage:

Jesse had fun too, he just doesn't like to look at the camera!

And some pretty sky shots....

And then my favorite picture of the day!

I'm so glad for Monica's babysitting abilities, not to mention everything else she does to help out - thanks again, Sally!

George

I've been meaning to write a little update about George - for those of you

who found the last "George story" a little gross this will not be the same thing=) It's actually a bit sad....

We've been noticing, over the last several weeks, that George's hips/legs have started to bother him quite a bit. In the past he'd have problems here and there, limp for a few days, and then seem totally back to normal. But, the first big clue that something was more seriously wrong this time, was a few weeks ago when I headed out the door in the morning for my walk. George is always eager, annoyingly so for that matter, to go with me or anyone taking a walk. But as I left the yard and headed down the road he just looked at me....I told him to stay and he looked like he wanted to go but just wasn't up for it. It was soooo sad! My poor puppy!

Well, when we went on our camping trip a couple weekends ago we realized he'd gotten to the point of needing to go to the vet's. He had to be helped into the truck and up some rock cliffs on a hike that Matthew and the oldest 2 kids went on. So, once we got back we made an appointment, which led to X-rays, which led to some bad news. (Thankfully it was all at a reasonable cost!) During the X-ray they extended his back legs fully, which they had a hard time doing even under anesthesia because they are so bad, that way they are able to get a clear look at his hips. One side is worse than the other but they both show degenerative arthritis. The more affected hip showed the head of the femur slipping out of the socket - meaning that with every step it's grinding bone against bone and making it pretty painful. The other side has been trying to compensate and now has a muscle mass while the bad side has atrophied.

The ideal course of treatment for George is a total hip replacement. He's not a really old dog, 7 years, so the rest of his body should last for a while yet, however that is a very expensive procedure and therefore not an option. What will probably happen is that we will try to manage the pain and keep him around as long as he seems to be comfortable. I know he's just a pet but we got George as a puppy and are pretty used to having him as part of the family. He's been far from the perfect dog but he loves us=) Anyway, all this means that in the future - near or far, we're not sure - we're going to have to make some decisions as to what to do with him....Since I was in high school I have wanted to get a German Shepherd and, thankfully, my husband let me=) Before long we'll be writing the final chapter of George's story but in the meantime I think we'll spoil him!