The Great Adventure

Knitting, facial, and happenings

2011-01-18T19:39:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone! I am so excited that Haley and I are going to get to take a knitting class together. It is at the Knitter's Nest and we are going to learn how to make a slipper sock. It is only $5 for the class which is a great deal for personal lessons. :-) I am hoping to someday learn how to make a sweater. Knitted items are so cozy and warm. Here is a recipe for a great, homemade clay mask. If you buy premade ones, they are quite pricey, so making your own is a frugal option.

1 T Bentonite or French Green Clay
1 t raw honey
1/2 a squeezed leaf of aloe gel
1/2 t jojoba oil
enough raw milk to make a spreadable paste

Spread this paste on your face and let set for 15-20 minutes. Rinse off with a warm, wet cloth. Immediately moisturize with a healthy oil (apricot kernel, rose hip, almond, pumpkin seed, olive). Clay draws out impurities and tightens pores.

We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed all of the times with both of our families. We missed spending Christmas week with my family in North Carolina, but we hope there will be another opportunity in the next few years. This year, we hosted the annual gathering for Tim's side of the family. We had a great time and enjoyed sharing music, food, and games.

This coming month we are going to have a new experience. We are going to help Tim's brother butcher a cow. Tim and Jon are each taking a 3 day weekend so that we have plenty of time to process the whole cow. For Christmas I gave Tim a Buck hunting knife that I am sure will get used. I am hoping to render some of the beef tallow to put into soap this winter too. We are going to have a great time together making forever memories. We are so thankful for the blessing of the meat too. :-)

Haley and her cousin Julia are memorizing 1 and 2 Peter together this year. We purchased some beautiful calendars from Kings Blooming Rose that encourage young women all year long to memorize Scripture. The calendars are so sweet and beautiful. If you have a young daughter, I definitely would recommend you looking up their ministry.

I have been doing lots of cross country skiing and am getting the hang of it slowly but surely. It is great exercise and a wonderful way to get out in the beautiful snow. Maybe next winter I can try snowshoeing. :-)

Haley and Logan had an opportunity recently to play in a church orchestra and they both really, really enjoyed it. We can't wait until they can start lessons and youth orchestra again. It is so, so much fun!! I never, ever tire of watching and hearing them play. Our prayer is that they can use the gifts God has given them for His honor.

Enjoy where the Lord has you and trust Him in even the smallest details of your life. He is such a good Father!!

Warm Fragrances

2010-12-30T17:00:00.002-06:00

My husband loves it when he walks in the door and is greeted with smells that delight his senses and make him feel relaxed and cozy. Most of the time, the smell of dinner greets his arrival, but in the winter I have another thing that pleases his (and our) senses. :-) I put these things in a little pot on the stove, add water until full, and simmer all day long:

cinnamon sticks
nutmeg slivers
whole cloves
orange, lemon, or lime peels that were going to be composted
a few drops of orange oil
a sprinkling of ground cinnamon
water

As this simmers on the stove, it makes the house smell warm and delicious. An extra bonus in the dry winter months is the moisture that is added to the air. You can get creative and really add anything that you think would smell good. I love making our home clean and smelling wonderful. Enjoy making your home a delight! :-)

Proverbs 24:30-34

2010-11-09T08:29:00.003-06:00

This morning I read this passage and it hit me once again the spiritual implications of it.

"I passed by the field of the sluggard and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense. And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles and it's surface was covered with nettles. It's stone wall was broken down. When I saw, I reflected upon it. I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Then your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man." ~Proverbs 24:30-34

What hit me was how similar this physical reality is to our spiritual life. If we don't diligently tend our hearts, speak and listen to Jesus, and feed on the 'nourishing' Word of God, thistles, nettles, and broken down walls will result in our life. Spiritual poverty. How many times does the Word say to be sober, to watch, to be vigilant? I often fall into the lull of life and forget the seriousness of the battle we are in. If some of us took care of our homes and family like we do our relationship with the Lord, it would be so sad. Well, how much more of a grief it is to neglect the Lover of our souls. Father, give me the strength to be faithful in the spiritual as well as the physical. Let me seek after You above all, as first priority. Help me to deny my flesh, take up my cross, and follow You. You are worth our all!

Laundry Soap

2010-11-05T22:48:00.004-05:00

If you would like a cheap, fairly non-toxic way to make your own laundry soap, here is a simple recipe.

1 bar of natural soap
3/4 cup borax
3/4 cup washing soda (not baking)
1 teaspoon of orange or lemon oil
water

Finely grate soap into a large pot. Add 6 cups of water and put over med-low heat. Stir until soap is dissolved. Add the borax, soda, and 3 quarts of water. Stir until dissolved again. Remove from the heat and add the essential oil and 6 more cups of water. Let sit for 30 minutes or so and let thicken. After it has turned into a gel, use a wire whisk and whip the mixture to make it more uniform and smooth. Use 1/2 cup for a top loading washer and 1/4 cup for he washers. I think that you could make at least a years worth of soap for the same price as one might spend on Tide for a month. It is a very frugal and healthier way to get clean laundry. I have been told that to use this type of soap just costs a few pennies per load! Yay for another way to be a good steward. ~Blessings~

~Hunting Camp~

2010-11-05T21:56:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we traveled 2.5 hours southeast to Tim's brother's house for the Stagg Annual Deer Camp. We arrived at bedtime Friday evening full of anticipation for the hunting and time to be together with family. After visiting together for a bit, we all headed to bed. The hunters set their alarms for 5:15 a.m. and excitement from old to young was in the air. Our son Logan, who is 11, was so thrilled to be allowed to go and sit with one of the older hunters. At the last minute we had found out that Tim was not able to get a deer license since we don't have MI drivers licenses. They do sell out-of-state deer licenses, but they are outrageously expensive. So even though Tim couldn't hunt, we wanted to be a part as much as we could. The next morning, I barely heard the hunters go out through my sleep deadened ears. A couple of hours later, I got up and started fixing breakfast for the crew. When I heard the first hunter come in, I couldn't wait to find out if someone had shot a deer!! But, no, no one had even shot at a deer. Oh well, maybe this afternoon/evening. We all enjoyed a big brunch and just thoroughly enjoyed being together. My sweet sister-in-law, Tammy, and I went out grocery shopping in the afternoon and got to stop and visit an Amish family for a while. We each bought a bushel of apples and huge 50 lb. bags of potatoes. Tammy also got delicious, fresh apple cider for dinner and many jars to can. We had a great time together getting good deals on food and chatting together. That evening we all ate a warm hamburger soup but, alas, still no deer. The next morning was a replay of the previous, but our spirits were still so hopeful for the next hunting time. :-) Sunday, Tom and Heather's family arrived and that just added to the fun and excitement. Now, there were six bow hunters in the woods! While making dinner, I heard the hunters come in and Tim told me to come to the basement. Joe had shot a deer and they all wanted to know if I wanted to go track the deer with them!!!!!! How exciting!!!!! I had to work hard not to squeal and run around. :-)))) The men wanted to keep it a secret from all the children until we brought the deer to the barn. I ran upstairs, trying to be as discreet as I could, and grabbed my coat, hat, boots, and gloves. We all grabbed flashlights and started tromping through the woods. It was SOOOOO much fun looking for blood trails and then finding the deer laying dead in the woods. WHOOOHOOOO! Joe gave us the deer and so we headed back to the house. There, Tim gutted and rinsed the deer. Several of the young boys and a brother or two helped and watched as Tim did a great job! What excitement. As per tradition, Joe fried up the tenderloin close to midnight and we all ate pieces of it. It was deeee-licious!! I wish I could post the pictures on here for you. The next morning all of the hunters went out again. Our family started to prepare to process the deer. We had to wash the bone saw, sharpen knives, wash down tables, get freezer vacuum bags made and labeled, and Tim had to skin the deer. As we were working on this, the hunters came in and Tom whispered to me that he had just shot a deer!! Oh thank you Lord!!!! So, we got to replay the tracking scene of the previous night. Too fun! It was so neat to watch the men teach the younger men how to track and what to look for. It really touched me to see them taking the time to pass on something very valuable to the next generation. Once Tim got his deer skinned and brought in to the basement to cut the meat off the bones, Tom was able to start gutting his deer in the barn. We all worked all day and got our deer finished and Tom's partly finished. Late that evening, after supper, we loaded up our Suburban and drove home. The next day I canned part of the deer. In all, we froze 13.5 lbs. of ground venison and canned 14 quarts of stew meat. We are so thankful! This time we had with Tim's family was so very special to us. Each of us enjoyed it immensely and are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of treasured family memories.

Look for ways to pass on skills and traditions to your children. Enjoy those times of making memories with family, knowing that this time will never be again. Seize the moments God gives you. Blessings dear ones.

Failure

2010-10-29T11:05:00.003-05:00

Hello friends! There is something that has been on my heart much lately-failure. Sometimes I can get in a cloud of negativity over my failures/sins. As I look back over the past year, I can see failure LOOMING around so many memories. I can get myself into a dark pit of thoughts if I focus on my many sins and shortcomings. In this situation I wasn't patient with my child(ren), in this trial I wasn't filled with faith in my God, or in this conversation I said something that did not bring edification to the one(s) listening. Oh my, how heavy my heart can get. But, is that how He wants me to deal with my sins? How does He want me to respond? I am still a younger woman and have much to learn, but I want to share at least what I know of His heart and Word now. First I believe He wants us to repent fully and soberly. Sin IS serious and comes between us and our Saviour. Also, we need to repent to and ask for forgiveness from those that we hurt in our sin. But, then....THEN, we need to lift up our eyes off of ourselves and continue to run our race. We need to 'forget' what we did yesterday and rejoice in His love and grace today. My tendency is to wallow in my pit of condemnation, but is that going to get me to the finish line? I think not!! Having my eyes on myself is not going to bring His life into my life. My eyes need to be SEEING Jesus and then I will be running. So, dear ladies, if you fail/sin, and somehow I am pretty sure you do ;-), don't stay in the pit of bashing yourself over the head. Repent and then worship, obey, and love Him. Keep running rather than rolling in the dust on the side and being of no use in His kingdom. ~ Blessings, Andrea~

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand." ~Psalm 37:23 &24

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again....." ~Proverbs 24:16a

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!" ~Philippians 3:12-14

Simple Iron Remedies

2010-10-18T14:24:00.002-05:00

It seems that we ladies often have trouble with our iron levels. Low iron makes for really tired mamas and can be a risk for hemorrhaging during birth. Here are a few simple ideas for increasing our iron levels.

Saute ORGANIC chicken livers in a small amount of butter or coconut oil. I have never done this myself, but have heard that it really, really works.
Take an herbal supplement called Floradix. Many midwives recommend this.
Eat lots of greens.
Take beet root powder capsules or drink freshly made beet/carrot/celery/parsley/apple juice. This is building as well as cleansing. This is like a super shot of body building nutrition. Beets are amazing!
Drink liquid chlorophyll in water daily.
Kelp capsules
Green smoothies. I have been doing this every morning lately. I take about 1 cup of water, 1 cup of blueberries, 1 banana, 4 kale leaves, 1-2 T of orange juice concentrate, 1 T evening primrose oil or flax seed oil and liquefy all of this in a blender. You can vary the greens and the fruit to your liking. This is so nutritious and cleansing first thing in the morning. Wow!!
Chickweed/parsley/nettle/yellowdock/peppermint infusion tea sweetened with honey.

Those are a few ideas that I know of. Do you have any great ideas for building iron supplies? If so, I would love to hear them. It is so important to take care of our bodies so that we can live for Jesus with energy and enthusiasm. Blessings to you ladies and your life-giving bodies. :-)

Chai Tea

2010-10-15T08:42:00.003-05:00

While we were still in Texas, a sweet friend taught me the basics of how to make a delicious, healthy chai tea. For those of you interested, I wanted to pass on the recipe so that you can enjoy it's warm yumminess. :-) Here is our recipe that you can adjust to your liking...

8 cups water
5 bags Lipton tea or 5 bags Red Rooibos tea
approx. 20 cardamon pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 T. fennel seeds
5 c. milk
approx. 3/4 c raw sugar, maple syrup, or honey

Put the water, tea bags, cracked open cardamon pods (cracked open with the back of a spoon), cinnamon stick, and fennel seeds in a big pot. Bring it to a simmer, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add the milk and your choice of sweetener. Let warm on low for 5-8 minutes. Take off heat and let cool for 10 minutes or so. Pull out your favorite tea cups or mugs, gather some friends, your family and ENJOY!

Hi!

2010-08-31T17:06:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! We are still alive and I am going to do everything I can to get a blog post up by this weekend. In the meantime, we are busy with school, making soap, brewing tea, reading, music, being with friends, trying to escape the heat :-), and making lip balm. Our home has been kind of messy lately because of all the projects-soap, sewing skirts, cooking, laundry, school, herbs for tea and infusions, books (I forever have a stack-or two-of books, papers, and magazines that I am reading), an old beat up chair that Haley salvaged from a trash pile(she is going to refinish it), and of course sticks. :-) Silas and Logan have really been into their sticks lately. Haley is looking into learning how to make pottery with a wheel and clay. Logan is researching dogs as he hopes to get one in the next year or two. He would like to breed, train, and sell them. In all of it, my desire remains and calls to my hearts to love and serve Jesus with all my being. So many moments I lose my focus, the focus of my heart. I won't give up though! I do fail daily in a small or large way, but He is always there to forgive and walk with me. He knows we are but sheep....He sees our hearts, wanting with everything that is in us, to please Him. Be blessed my friends and love, pursue hard, the Lover of our souls. He deserves our very lives.

House Pics

2010-06-23T09:13:00.003-05:00

~Our Home~

This is our main bathroom that the children and guests use. Tim picked out the shower curtain when we first moved here and we all really like it.

This is our very small, but very functional kitchen. We have already baked and cooked lots of yummy things. Our kitchens are places of togetherness, feeding the body and soul.

You can see the three Scrabble players at the dining room table. :-) The little blue table and chair are Haley's school 'desk'. The kitchen is at the very back left of this picture.

You can see our bedroom door and part of the living room. Also in that little hallway is the bathroom and the children's room.

Here I am standing at our bedroom door and taking a picture of the living room. Our books and instruments bring us so much joy!

Here is my dear husband working on a project in the other half of the living room. You can also see the front door. I hope you enjoyed seeing most of our little home.

My Mom's Visit

2010-06-22T23:00:00.005-05:00

This is the new duplex we live in. It is a two bedroom, two bath with a big, fenced-in backyard. We are really enjoying our cozy little home and are so thankful to God for it. The trees behind it are a gift from the Lord to me. :-) Here I am with my two precious sons. I am blessed!!!

My Mom has been here for a 3.5 day visit and is has been so, so good to see her again. Haley, Logan, and Mom have played games for hours. We went to the zoo and celebrated Logan's birthday with a gift treasure hunt. It was great fun! Today my Mom took us to town for a fun outing. She gave Haley and Logan each $20 to spend at Hobby Lobby and boy did they have fun picking things out. Then she got us each a special coffee drink. I loved this picture of the four of them. We have loved having you Mom!

A Servant???

2010-06-20T23:26:00.001-05:00

I was reminded again tonight, by my sweet Lord, that our lives are to be a broken and spilled out life. I was washing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen tonight and just praying and thinking about how I want even that act to be a sacrifice of love to my Savior. With all the tasks that a mother must do every day, we have countless chances to either do with an attitude of complaining or serve with a heart filled with love for Jesus and those we are serving. I do not always have the heart of loving service, but that is my desire and His desire for me. I repent when the Lord shows me that I am being a grumbling Israelite. Our service for each other is the true gospel being lived out moment by moment in the daily mundane. Help me Father to see the eternal in the dirty toilet, the pile of laundry, the fussy toddler, another meal to be made, the seemingly endless math to grade, the back to massage, the game to play, and the pile of clothes to be ironed.

"Your God has commanded your strength..." ~Psalm 68:28a

If you have never heard the song, 'Broken and Spilled Out' I would encourage you to do so. It is excellent and full of truth. It makes me want to fall on my knees and surrender all over again.

Cleaning P.S.

2010-06-02T14:47:00.001-05:00

I wanted to mention that this can be a very cheap way to clean too. That is always a big plus. :-) To make it the most cost effective here are a couple of tips. I buy a huge bag of baking soda at Walmart-I think it is 12lbs. of soda. It was a little under $7.00 which it quite a bit cheaper than the little boxes in the baking isle. I believe you can also get these big bags at Sam's or Costco. I buy the store brand vinegar in the huge gallon size. The biggest cost is the essential oils. I do not buy the expensive little bottles in the health food stores anymore. There are many online places where you can order larger quantities of an essential oil. The last time I ordered I purchased oils from New Directions. This is a much cheaper way to go and the bottles last me 1-2 years. Also, when I make our homemade bar soap I can use the oils in our soaps too. We often put a few drops of lavender oil in our baths as this oil is a very soothing, relaxing oil. Ooooo, I can smell the lovely smell now. :-)

A Clean, Chemical-Free Home

2010-06-01T17:06:00.001-05:00

For those of you who have asked about natural cleaning... Several years ago I purchased a book titled, 'The Naturally Clean Home'. This book is where I have gotten most of my ideas. I use baking soda as a natural abrasive-an alternative to Comet. When I clean bathroom or kitchen sinks I sprinkle baking soda, drip a few drops of essential oil, and spray with my vinegar cleaner. Then I scrub, scrub, scrub. :-) From what I have read, distilled vinegar kills germs as do certain essential oils. I currently use orange oil or lavender oil. In the past I have used lemon, tea tree, and oregano. Lemon and lavender are my favorite aroma wise and I only use oils to clean with that have antibacterial properties. To clean the toilet I put around 1 cup of baking soda into the toilet. Then I add 1-2 cups of vinegar and watch it fizz. I let this sit while I clean the sink and mirror. When I am ready to scrub out the bowl I add 10 or so drops of essential oil and scrub until shiny. To mop floors I put about 2 cups of vinegar into the mop bucket, a small drizzle of dish soap (optional), 10 drops of oil and fill to 2/3 with hot water. The house smells wonderful when I am finished mopping. My all-purpose vinegar spray is 1/2 a spray bottle of water and 1/2 vinegar. I add 10-15 drops of oil to the spray bottle and always shake it before I use it. I use this for counters, mirrors, windows, dusting, and anything else that needs wiping up. I also frequently make my own laundry soap that is free of all the chemicals in regular detergents. All of this gives me peace of mind as we play on the floor, wear our clothes, eat off our dishes, and just breath the air in our home. There are no worries when my children use the cleaning supplies too. I never have to worry about Silas getting into the 'scary' things under the sink either. I love creating a home that is clean, peaceful, and healthy. Blessings dear ones. :-)

Free To Love

2010-04-20T15:59:00.000-05:00

Weeks ago the Lord gave me a song after He set me free from some things. As people were surrounding me and praying for my freedom these words kept running through my mind, 'Free To Love'. I heard the Lord whisper to me that He is setting me and others free so that we can freely love others with His love. Here are the words...

Jesus I come to You, I hear You calling. I give you my chains and you've set me free, so free.
CHORUS: Free to love, free to give, and let the oppressed go free. Free to break chains of sin and release heavy burdens. Free to break every yoke and take care of the needy. Then Your light will shine forth as the morning. Hallelujah, hallelujah. We are free to love...set free to love...so free to love.
Jesus I need You, I know my weakness. You're my deliverer and my heart is free, so free.
CHORUS

I play it in the key of A but I don't think that is very helpful. Anyhow, I hope the words at least bless you and may we be totally free indeed...free to love Him and others.

His Painful Love

2010-04-20T15:39:00.000-05:00

Our short life here in Texas has been filled with so many blessings. We sense His love and His presence so much. But, sometimes His great love for us seems painful. The Lord has been calling us higher and to a deeper level of brokeness and that is painful at times. We are being pruned and we want to fully yield to His hands so that in the coming days and years, we can yield abundant, life giving, beautiful fruit. It has continually come to my thoughts about being faithful each day. Do I FAITHFULLY do all of the things He has called me to each day? Or do I flop on the couch with a huff and wonder where a good book and chocolate are? I realize more than ever how much I need Him and how I can do nothing without Him. I am hopeless without Him, but I have everything with Him. With Him I can love unconditionally, I can reach my children's hearts as I train them, I can smile at my husband no matter what is happening in our life, I can sing with a heart of worship, I can serve our home and those in it all day long with joy, I can say no to things I shouldn't eat, I can get up with the birds and exercise, and so much more. But only if I stay broken at His feet. I can do none of this without Him. Our families' heart cry is to be like a city on a hill that shines it's light so that it cannot be hidden. But, more than ever, we are realizing that to be that it takes being faithful in the teeniest details of life. And that is what we want. O Lord, please continue this painful but so needed process. As someone sang to us recently, "He who began a good work in you, He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it, will be faithful to complete it. He who started the work will be faithful to complete it in you." Thank you Father for Your undeserving love.

Recommendation

2010-03-17T15:55:00.000-05:00

I just recently found a lovely blog that I wanted to pass on to you all. I have been very encouraged and challenged as I have read Lauren's posts. Fix a cup of tea, maybe grab some kleenex, and have an open heart. Blessings! http://www.wearinghispurity.blogspot.com/

Homemade, authentic salsa!

2010-03-06T11:48:00.000-06:00

There is a dear sister here that taught me how to make real salsa. Did you ever know that salsa can be so good that you crave it?? Well, I am here to testify that it can. :-) This sister grew up as a missionaries daughter in Mexico, so her recipe is the real deal. I wanted to share it will you all so that you can enjoy it too. Here is what you do: Take several tomatoes and a couple of jalapenos and steam them in a pot with a small amount of water for a few minutes. Drain off any remaining water and put them into the blender. Add a couple of cloves of garlic and a good amount of salt (sorry for the vagueness, you will probably have to experiment). Puree. Put this into a bowl and add finely chopped onions, cilantro, and lime juice to taste. This isn't a picky recipe, so relax and just do however much garlic, tomatoes, jalapenos, limes, salt, cilantro, and onions you think your family would like. I will give you a rough estimate of what I do. About 8 medium tomatoes, 2-3 jalapenos, a fist full of chopped cilantro, one medium onion, 4-5 limes, 2 cloves of garlic, and maybe 2-3 teaspoons of salt. Oooooo, yummy!! So very healthy and deliciously good! Enjoy~

The Texans :-)

2010-03-06T11:24:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, we have moved to the BIG state of Texas. We feel overwhelmingly blessed with all the Lord has done since we arrived 7ish weeks ago. Our family moved here because we felt that the Lord put Texas on our hearts. We had no job, no house, and only knew of one family here. This past summer, Haley had started being pen-pals with their 12 year old daughter, but we didn't really know them. We had never spoken to them or met them. Even so, we just knew that we were supposed to move to Texas. Was it scary at times? Was it a big step of faith? Yes to both. But the Lord has been so very, very faithful. As we stepped out in obedience to what He told us, He has provided every step of the way. Since we have been here the Lord provided a home, a few jobs, gifts, and, most important, dear brothers and sisters in Christ to fellowship with. The people we have connected hearts with here are by far the biggest blessing from the Lord. How we already love them all. Also, the Lord is already doing some of what He brought us here for. From the day we arrived He has been digging deep into our hearts and setting all of us free from different things. One thing I can share about from my heart is the idea of being open, warm-hearted, and soft as a woman of God. I have had walls of protection around my heart, not letting myself be totally vulnerable and transparent with people. This affects how I can truly show God's love to others. I hope this makes some sense. :-) When you see these things, openness, warmness, transparency, in a woman of God, it is beautiful. More importantly, it surrounds you with the love of God. This area is a place where the Lord is setting me free and breaking down those walls. It is so wonderful to see what He is doing in our family and we pray He doesn't stop. We want to be transformed into His image, ready to show His love to anyone whom we may meet. How exciting!! The Lord is so good. ~ We love you all, Andrea

Matters of prayer...

2009-12-04T19:08:00.000-06:00

Hi...I know it has been way too long. :-) I wanted to post something that you all could be in prayer for our family for. Almost one month ago we received a call about a tiny baby girl. She is Silas' (our 2 year old adopted son) new sister. We don't even know her name but she was born on October 7th. She will also be placed up for adoption as her (and Silas') birthmother is unable to keep her. The state of Michigan is wondering if we have any interest in adopting her since we already have her brother. She will not be available for adoption though for anywhere from 5-11 months from now since she is already a ward of the state. We are interested in adopting her and sometimes our hearts just yearn to hold, rock, and sing to her. She is currently in a foster home in MI. This whole thing is completely out of our hands and we are just praying for God's best for this precious child and for our family. If He wants her to be a part of our family then He will make it so. We just bought a used Suburban yesterday so as to be ready vehicle wise. Our previous vehicle was all filled up as it only seated five. As soon as we are settled in Texas, we would have to start our home study all over again. We appreciate your prayers as we settle in a new state and possibly add another arrow to our home. :-) God bless you all during this Christmas season. Love, Andrea

"...no greater joy than to know...

2009-09-19T20:44:00.000-05:00

...that my children walk in truth." We are humbled and so very thankful that in the last few months both Haley and Logan have given themselves to the Lord. It is an incredible experience to see your children grow, change, and live. Nothing has been more important to Tim and I (I am sure it is the same for you all) than for our children to love and follow the Lord. Haley is going to be baptized next weekend. We are praying that it will be a special and sacred time for her. May we all walk in a worthy manner. ~Blessings~

Glacier National Park

2009-08-29T13:19:00.000-05:00

Beauty beyond beauty! Glacier is magnificent! We arrived home late Thursday evening having been gone for 8 days. God was so good to give our family that time of refreshment. I am going to do a few blog posts about our trip, so here is part one. We set up camp about 1 hour inside of Glacier at a place called Bowman Lake. You could probably find a picture of it online. It is a remote lake that is surrounded by mountains. It was like a dream. I kept saying to Tim, " I can't believe we are actually here in this amazing beauty!" I have dreamed of going to Western Montana for at least a decade. We spent Friday enjoying our site and getting all set up for the coming week. We cooked dinner over the fire in cast iron and then went to bed. We were pretty tired as we were all still recovering from a week of a nasty flu cold. Saturday we got up and decided to go on a hike...a 14 mile hike! ;-0 By the time we got dressed and washed hair, cooked breakfast, heated up water for dishes, did the dishes, tidied up camp, and packed all of our backpacks with a picnic and lots of water, it was just after one o'clock. Tim put Silas on his back in the Ergo (I really don't know what we would do without our dear Ergo) while Haley, Logan, and I each strapped on a backpack. The hike was along one side of Bowman Lake. We started walking...and we walked and walked and walked. By the time we were near the end of the trail it was starting to get late. We were wondering if we would get home before it got dark. So we headed back double time. At this point we had already walked about 7 miles. Tim took the lead and had us alternating between walking and running. Haley and I were in the back and we started getting giddy with tiredness. Both of us started laughing at any and every little thing. A few times Haley fell down on the ground she was laughing so hard. We weren't really helping each other as we both kept thinking of funny things. :-) After another 90 minutes of running/walking Haley and I began to make plans of spending the next day sitting in chairs around the campfire with our feet up and wrapped in ice. Of course this was funnier than either of us could handle and we were laughing and gasping for breath. We still had one hour of brisk walking left. About a half mile from our tent my leg muscles started to cramp up and I could barely walk. You see, we had been pushing so hard because the grizzles move at dusk and we were the only ones out there on that trail. Thankfully we made it to our tent just as it became totally dark and the Lord kept us safe from the cougars and grizzles. I do think though that the 14 mile hike is one of our best memories from our week. Thank you Lord for such a fun, crazy experience.

Thank you Jesus!!

2009-08-05T16:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took Silas to the surgeon for his umbilical hernia. We had been told by a pediatrition that Silas would have to have surgery soon after age one. Well, the surgeon said to wait until he is four as it could still close up on it's own. Yeah!!! We are so thankful and relieved. We will continue to pray that the Lord will close up the hole. We are in town today for cello and violin lessons. It is very hot here and little Silas is a bit grumpy. I am planning on starting Tim's and my quilt tonight...so exciting!! Also, we will be moving soon. God is so good and life is full of peace and rest when our eyes are on Him. Have a blessed day!

A Few Favorites

2009-07-07T16:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was thinking about a few of my favorite books. I love books and would love to know about some of your favorite books. The books in my list are the ones that have impacted and challenged my life the most. They are the ones that I find myself reading again and again or thinking about years after I read it. So other than the Bible, these are my current favorite books.

Streams In The Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman
Jeanne Guyon Autobiography by Jeanne or Madame Guyon
Never Alone by Violet Miller
The Family Meal Table and Hospitality by Nancy Campbell
Calvary Road by Roy Hession
So Much More by Anna and Sophia Botkin
The Naturally Clean Home
Rees Howell: Intercessor by Norman Grubb
The Power of Motherhood by Nancy Campbell
Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl (one of my most life-changing/inspiring books)

What are your favorites?

Quilts

2009-06-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

How I wish I could post a few pictures, but hopefully soon! :-) Now that I have Haley, Logan, and Silas' quilts all finished, I am ready to start ours. We have changed our minds a few times about what colors we want to make our quilt. For the past 8 years or so we have had a comforter on our bed that is tan, burgandy, and navy. We are going to go with something much brighter and cheerful this time. Our new quilt is going to be made out of different patterns and shades of green with white. I made a girl's baby quilt that was green and white and we just loved it. So, last week I bought my first of four fabrics. Fun!! We have the pattern picked out and once I collect the other three fabrics I am ready to start. Can't wait! ;-)

Fake names...

2009-06-27T19:28:00.000-05:00

I just wanted you all to know that from here on I will be using our real first names on our blog. Sunshine is Haley, Vision is Logan, and Beloved is Silas. It has just been too confusing for me as I type. :-)

Thoughts...

2009-06-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had something really heavy on my heart. It was the subject of children from godly homes, growing up and turning away. Oh how that breaks my heart and makes me want to despair. Quite honestly, I just about can't think of anything worse than our children rejecting the Lord. But yesterday I think the Lord wanted me to learn something and that is that I can't control any other person, not even our children. Our children have to choose the Lord for themselves. My job (with the Spirit's power) is to show them the Lord on a daily basis, teach them about the Lord, and pray, pray, pray. The Lord loves them and wants them to follow Him even more than we do. So, to a great extent, I must leave it in His hands. After wrestling through this yesterday, with my dear husband encouraging me with truth, I came to a rest and peace in Him. I CAN'T make my children godly so I don't have to be all stressed out trying. Anyhow, I don't know if any of this makes sense to anyone else, but those are my thoughts. :-) God bless you all today as you love the Lord, your husbands, children, and keep your home.

Amazing...

2009-05-20T23:35:00.000-05:00

Here is a short movie on YouTube that is really something to watch. One more huge reason why I believe in having big families if possible. Children are such a gift from God. The muslims are taking over the world with their own children. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

Homemade Tortilla's

2009-05-18T20:47:00.000-05:00

Tonight for dinner we had fried zucchini sandwiches with tortilla's as the bread part. They are delicious and mostly healthy. I make a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and put that in a cake tin. Then I slice zucchinis into fairly thin discs. I put the sliced zucchini in a bowl of water and melt some butter in a frying pan. Then I put some zucchini in the flour mixture and coat. Lay these in the melted butter and fry on both sides until golden brown. Then put mayo and cheese on a piece of bread or in a tortilla, fill with fried zucchini and roll up or put a top piece of bread on. There you have it! We really enjoy these sandwiches. Some people like a slice of raw tomato on these too. Now for the tortilla recipe... 4 cups of whole spelt flour 1 heaping teaspoon of salt 1 to 2 cups of water (add as needed) 1/4 cup oil Sift together flour and salt. Add oil and some water and start to mix. Add enough water to make a nice, soft, supple dough. Not too dry (no extra flour in the bottom of the bowl) and not so wet that it is very sticky. Cover with plasic wrap and let sit on the counter for at least 6 hours. Then heat up a skillet and put a bit of oil in the bottom. The skillet should be on medium to medium high heat. We have just had to learn the right temp. by trial and error. Dust the counter with flour and roll large golf ball size pieces of dough into thin, round circles with a rolling pin. Cook on each side for a couple of minutes and there you have wonderful, healthy, homemade tortilla's. If they are totally stiff and unrollable then they were probably cooked too long. ENJOY!!!!

Our Week

2009-04-11T17:08:00.000-05:00

I wanted to give you all a bit of an update on our life. We are all settled into our new home and are enjoying it so much. Yesterday afternoon Sunshine and Vision had the most wonderful time working on building their own little fort. They didn't even want to come in for dinner they were enjoying themselves so much. A few days ago they packed a special little picnic and went a hiking/exploring. When they found a good spot they sat down and ate their special little picnic and then continued on their adventure. We had walkie-talkies to communicate with. Every once in a while we would talk to each other, mostly for Mama's sake to make sure they were okay. They are just having a grand time on this beautiful mountain. We are so thankful to the Lord for putting us here for this time. We don't know exactly how long we will live here but we want to enjoy it while we are here. Dh was gone to another state this whole week for his new job training. He loved it and can't wait to get doing it. It is with a decorative concrete business. We never knew that there was even such a thing as decorative concrete, but it is just amazing what they can do with this type of high-tech concrete. While at training they made a wall that looked just like a brick wall, colors and all. Paints and stains are used to make the colors. They do floors that can look like a marble floor, shower walls, counter-tops, and sinks. One of the really neat things about this to me is that dh will be able to use his artistic abilities. The owner is a Christian and we are so glad! The owner and hubby had a wonderful time together all week and are looking forward to working together. Sunshine and Vision have their first big concert coming up with their young orchestra. They are so excited and hopefully Mama won't blubber too much. ;-) Beloved is running all over and is just soooo smart. He loves for me to hold him...that is his favorite place to be. If we could just get the excema on his face all gone. We just recently celebrated the one year anniversary of the day we got him and how thankful we are for him. Sunshine told me that she doesn't know what she would do without him. Sunshine finished her last math lesson this week and Vision has two more lessons to go. I love the math that we are using. Sunshine is already doing algebra and she just finished 5th grade. We also just started a new science program and I think it is going to be wonderful. This was our first week. It is Apologia science and we are going to go through the Botany book. I must admit that I still have not found a satisfactory grammar program. We are thinking of trying Easy Grammar. Does anyone have any suggestions? Tomorrow we are having a special Easter breakfast at our church and then we are having people over after church for lunch. On Thursday evening our church got together and had communion together along with washing each other's feet. We also spent a long time singing to the Lord together. It was a special time thinking about all that Christ has done for us. May you all be blessed with more of Him as you remember His death and resurrection this weekend.

The Move...New Mercies

2009-03-11T22:39:00.000-05:00

Here we are, just a few days before our move to the mountain. It is so beautiful up there. We will be living on 49 acres that are mostly wooded. The children and I are looking forward to going on our daily walks surrounded by God's amazing creation! For now we will be living in the walk-out basement of the log home. It is much larger than our apartment and has two glass sliders looking down the mountain. I know we will very much enjoy living in the basement and on the mountain. Sunshine and Vision are daily enjoying playing their cello and violin together. What a blessing to us! We all played together in church last week, Dh on the piano, me on the guitar, Sunshine on the violin, and Vision on the cello. How sweet it is to be able to all play and sing together!! We LOVE it!! We sang a song that we learned from dear friends in our home state, 'There's A Mighty River'. It is such a special song to us. Whoever wrote the song was given a gift by the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful for new mercies and new days from God. Last Saturday I felt unable to continue on...I was seemingly surrounded by dark clouds with no hope of sunshine in sight. I spent most of my day crying. To put it plainly, I was a mess. I missed our families and friends terribly. No matter how much I tried to look to the Lord, I could only cry and wonder if He really was hearing our prayers. Since dh has barely worked for almost 4 months with no work in sight, I felt like a hopeless, wrung-out dish rag. Anyhow, by the end of the day I was seeing a bit of sunshine thanks to my dear husband, a neighbor from Nepal, and some friends we had over for dinner. By the next morning I was feeling almost entirely renewed and thankful that it was a NEW day. Unbeknownst to me, my loving dh had asked the Lord to please ;-) send some encouragement for me. Well, He did. That day we were given a refridgerator to use in our new living place, some meat, possibly some work at our church, and a brother in Christ stopped by with a gift for us. How undeserving I was, but how loving and merciful He is. O me of little faith. I am sure we all have days where there seems to be no hope for whatever situation we are in. God will never push us beyond what we are able. He is a good Father and only does what is good for His children. Many times it is hard to hold on to that when difficult situations come, but He will never desert us. He is trying us by fire so that we can come forth as gold. The Lord wants us to be able to totally trust no matter what is going on around us. Thank you Father for your tenderness.

Down Computer

2009-02-10T18:16:00.000-06:00

I just wanted you all to know why I haven't been able to put up any new blog posts...our computer is not working right now (hasn't been since the day that I put up the last post). I am typing this from the library right now and I do not have any way of posting any pictures. When I can I will resume putting up posts. God bless you all!

Cheese and Jammies :-)

2009-01-19T21:42:00.000-06:00

We love making cheese...and eating it too! Here is the beginning of making mozzerella cheese. There are four gallons of milk in the pot. I am slowly heating the milk up to 98 degrees. Here I am stirring the curds. Exciting!!

Now for the really fun part, stretching and shaping the cheese. I have to dip the cheese in 200 degree salt water so that I can stretch it. This cheese in my hands is very hot. If I did not stretch the cheese it would not have the right texture. It is at this point that we all eat a big, warm chunk of it. It is sooooo good!

Below are the finished shapes. That is how much cheese comes from four gallons of milk. A couple of days later we made homemade individual pizzas with our homemade cheese on top. Yummmm!! :-)

For Christmas, Sunshine (dd) and I made matching flannel jammie pants for our three men. It was really fun to keep it a secret and work on it while Papa and Vision were gone together. Sunshine is becoming quite the sewer. She entirely made Papa's and Vision's after I cut them out for her.

Christmas with friends...

2009-01-19T20:56:00.000-06:00

I know that this is a little late, but I wanted to put up a few pictures of our Christmas day with friends. Here are all of the adults, minus me, at the big table. We had turkey, fruit salad, crackers with a cheeseball, rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and sparkling cider. This is the medium aged children's table.

Here we are getting in line to fill up our plates.

This is the little children's table.

Three dear friends of mine.

Thanks so much for having us all over for a Christmas meal! It meant even more since we live so far from our home state with so many family members and friends.

Celebrate!!

2009-01-12T17:13:00.000-06:00

How much we love you our precious Beloved son!

He loves splashing in the water. Hello everyone near and far! :-) How is your new year going so far? Our family is doing well and has a big reason to celebrate today. We received something very special in the mail today...Beloved's finalized adoption papers! He is legally our son now even though he has been our son in our hearts since the day we received him. Wow!! What amazing things God has done in our life this past year. How WONDERFUL to have three blessings...we can't wait to have more! The way has, at times, been the most rugged we have ever had to climb, but He is faithful. I am not just saying that either as a nice little spiritual cliche'...we have watched our God provide for us time and time again during this journey of adoption. No He didn't make it all easy and soft, but He never left us. It is good that God doesn't show us in advance what we will have to walk through. I am afraid I would have quaked in my boots. But, He lovingly gives us strength and provision for each day as we need it. I can look back over this past year and see how God was always gently teaching us more and more to live by faith in Him alone.

When nothing whereon to lean remains,

When strongholds crumble to dust;

When nothing is sure but that God still reigns,

That is just the time to trust.

'Tis better to walk by faith than sight,

In this path of yours and mine;

And the pitch black night, where there's no outer light,

Is the time for faith to shine.

Last week we had another exciting event...Vision's first cello lesson! What a beautiful instrument. How I have loved hearing him run his bow across the low, mellow strings. :-) I am so often proud and in awe of Sunshine and Vision's musical abilities. They both have more talent than I so I just love getting to watch and hear them. They both sing harmony and play to some degree or another 5 different instruments. Anyhow, our whole hearts are to honor our Father with our music and worship. May we never do any of it for the applause of men.

This year I am reading the devotional 'Streams In The Desert' by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman. It is sooooo good! Each day I read one little section along with my Bible reading. I am also reading a book called 'The Children's Storm'. It is a true book that relays the historical happening of the major blizzards in the Dakotas that Laura Ingalls Wilder based her book 'The Long Winter' on. So far it is very interesting though I only get to read a few pages a day. ;-) I am also, very slowly, reading a biography on Adoniram Judson. Christian biographies are my very favorite.

I am soon going to post about making mozzerella cheese, and the most yummy dinner rolls I have come across.

May God bless you all as you live for Him who died, gave His all, for you. We have SO much to be thankful for.

Cooking Together

2008-12-26T22:18:00.001-06:00

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a bit of a health foodie. :-) I love to read about healthy cooking and how to make things homemade that are healthier and more economical for us. I am also quite an old fashioned lady. These are a few of my favorite things ( can you hear Maria singing??) ...a homemade quilt, cast iron pots and pans, a marbled, rustic bar of homemade soap, a batch of freshly baked bread, candlelight, woodstoves, knitted wool mittens/socks/sweaters/hats, little rustic log cabins, campfires, washing dishes by hand, shelves filled with home canned goods, freshly made cheese, milking goats, a walk in the thick woods, carrying babies in slings or packs, homebirth, freshly churned (or shaken) butter, cooking over an open fire, homemade skirts and dresses, homemade corn brooms, and gardens bursting with health giving life. Mmmmm what wonderful things God made! He also created work and how good it feels to create good and beautiful things with our hands. One Sunday morning, before church, the children and I made a big pot (this is my cast iron dutch oven) of beef stew. Here are the onions and stew beef browning. My two faithful potato washers, peelers and choppers. They help me in the kitchen so much. Sunshine was trying to make her hair curly by doing the 'rag curl' method. :-) I think they did this in 'Little House and The Prairie'.

Above is a picture of all the carrots that Sunshine sliced for the stew. They are waiting to go in. The pot on the front left is our breakfast of steel cut oats. They had been soaking on the stove overnight and we are just starting to cook them here. We really enjoy them...even more so than oatmeal.

And the delicious, finished stew. I have always loved stew. One of my most sentimental memories of growing up involves beef stew. It was a snowy, beautiful Michigan winter day. The snow was falling beautifully and we were outside shoveling the driveway. Meanwhile my mother was inside making homemade buns and beef stew. The house smelled heavenly and we couldn't wait to enjoy her efforts. After we finished the shoveling we all went in and ate and ate of Mom's wonderful meal. Yummm! I love that memory.

A misc. picture of my daughter and I playing music together. Thank you Lord for music and the chance to worship you with our voices and instruments.

Hodge Podge...:-)

2008-12-26T21:44:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I so enjoy putting up pictures and posts for you all...I hope you enjoy the peek into our life too. :-) Here is the local concert hall. We went to a string quartet concert here. It was quite amazing. There were 4 male players, all professionals from New York. I wish I could have taken a picture of them playing but it was forbidden. We sat right in the center front row so we got to see them playing up close. With two violins, one violia, and one cello, the music was just beautiful. This was the first time we had ever heard a violia being played. This was also our first classical concert that we have ever been to and we enjoyed the experience. Here is the outside of the music building. This picture does not do the real sight justice.

Here is our beautiful Sunshine playing with her little brother. How they all enjoy each other.

Here I am holding my sleepy baby. He is such a snuggler when it is time for sleep. Snuggling sleeping babies has always been one of my favorite things.

Here we are all ready for the day. Beloved is such a GIFT from the Lord to our family. How my arms love to hold him...my arms do get tired at times though since he weighs 24 lbs! That is one reason why I LOVE my Ergo!! I carry him in it almost daily at some time or another.

Newspaper Route

2008-12-04T16:39:00.001-06:00

About 3.5 weeks ago our family started a new job...all 5 of us! We are doing a paper route here in our small town. When we first started our alarm was going off at 2:30 a.m. and we did not get back home until 7:00 a.m. . We were soooo slow at it. Finding all of the house numbers in the dark and looking at a map doesn't make for quick progress. :-) We are now getting up at 4:00 and getting back home by 6:00 a.m. . Much better!! Six days a week we deliver around 125 papers. On Sunday we deliver 160. Most of these are delivered by us running up to a person's porch and tossing it by their door. Some people have us put them in newspaper tubes by their mailbox. We have had so many, many laughs doing this all together. Imagine with me for a moment...it is 4:15 in the morning, quite cold, everyone has froggy voices and puffy eyes that make you not want to smile since you know you look like a big puff, we are all munching away on a small snack for energy to do the route, and we are as stiff as can be. After a few minutes have passed we are pulling up to our first houses. As we each in turn get out to run up to the house, our bodies protest and we look like hobbling elderly people trying to run as fast as we can but our bodies just do not obey our commands to 'RUN FAST'. It is hilarious!! Almost every day we have to laugh at ourselves and at/with each other. Papa likes to make squeaky noises as we all run and that of course just makes us laugh harder. Thankfully our joints and muscles do warm up after a bit and we are moving like normal people. We also have spent quite a bit of time singing in the car as we are trying to soothe Beloved. He loves singing and almost always goes back to sleep if we will just sing to him. Here is Papa this morning picking up our 125 papers. This is the drop location and where we pick up our papers each day.

Here are the troops ready to go in the car. Vision is munching on a snack of nuts and fruit.

Each paper has to be rolled and rubberbanded. That is what Papa is doing here. We all do parts of the rolling and dh and I take turns driving. On days that there is rain in the forcast we have to put all of the papers in plastic bags too.

Here is Vision sprinting back from putting the paper on someone's porch. He does such a great job and wears a headlamp around his head so that he can see in the dark. Sunshine uses our flashlight. We are so proud of our children and their hard work to help get the job done. We are really glad that we are doing this as we can see the benefit of teaching us all responsibility and hard work. Thank you children for such diligence and for being so cheerful while doing the job. We are making memories as a family that we will be able to talk and laugh about for years to come.

Newspaper Route continued...

2008-12-04T16:19:00.000-06:00

Here is our dd running up to an older woman's porch and putting it in the little gray tote that the lady would like her newspaper in. The tote lid has a square cut out of it. Here is Papa running up a slippery deck this morning to toss the paper by the door.

Here I am doing 'my house' in a group of four houses. We each take one of the houses and run as fast as we can to see who can get back to our vehicle first.

Here is our little crew (minus the photographer ;-) ) just having gotten back from the route. We are all ready for a little nap...after our little snack of course.

Thanksgiving Joy

2008-12-01T20:32:00.000-06:00

We had the most wonderful gift for Thanksgiving...dear friends from our home state!!! Wow!! When you live so far away from all that is near and dear, a visit from friends is like precious gold. :-) Our friends, with their five children, were on their way home from Alaska and swung 700-800 miles out of their way to visit us. They arrived the day before Thanksgiving and we were excitedly waiting for them on the corner of the street. :-) We could barely contain our excitement....I had to refrain from jumping up and down and squealing like a five year old. We ate dinner together and sang a couple of songs together before we all headed to bed. We had to get up early so we forced ourselves to all go to bed before it got any later. Here are T & A eating dinner on Saturday. Thank you so much for all of your help A with the many dishes and all of the cooking. You helped to make all of the kitchen work so much fun. Thank you for being such a sweet, encouraging friend.

Here are all of the children eating at our table. They all had so much fun together and did just wonderful in a small house. We are so glad that our children had some time with others their age for a few days. Vision got so much exercise playing outside with them all and he loved it!

This picture was taken on Saturday evening...all of the children were drawing and it was just so sweet. They were having such a great time of it too.

This picture was taken Thanksgiving morning. The daddy's were making homemade butter from fresh farm cream. Us ladies were busy cooking up a feast in the kitchen. We had 20 people here for Thanksgiving, 12 of which were 11 years and under. We had a wonderful feast, lots of visiting, a 2.5 mile walk (just us ladies and the youngest babies) midday, and a lovely time of singing in the evening. T & A are very blessed with singing and piano playing talent and we were all blessed by it. They sang a song for us that is called 'Refiners Fire' sung by Steve Green many years ago. I had never heard it and it was a message straight from God to me. The gist of it is that we should actually long for trials and the refiners fire because it is what makes us into the image of God. Well, I didn't realize how much I dread and do not desire hard times. I am always so thankful for the growth that comes from those times, but I am almost always praying that we NEVER have to go through that again!! Maybe none of you are like that, but God really put the spotlight on my heart and I just repented and realized that I want to be willing to go through anything that will make me more like Jesus, no matter how hard and painful. Wow! Thank you so much for singing that song for me and others three times while you were here. I would recommend that all of you listen to the song online at least once. It is beautiful and the words are amazing.

On Friday we went and played volleyball after lunch and that was great to move around and get some blood flowing. :-) Then, Friday evening we all went over to some friends house and had dinner together. After cleaning up and visiting for a bit we ended the evening with rolling the piano to the living room and singing for a long while all together.

Saturday morning we all went to church together and then stayed for potluck. They left on Sunday after a pancake and peaches breakfast. We are so, so thankful that they were able to visit and felt so blessed by their stay in our home. I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving too!!

Reformation Day and Games

2008-11-09T20:52:00.000-06:00

This year, on October 31, some friends invited us over for dinner, a bonfire, singing around the fire, and observing Reformation Day. Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. Six of us studied different heroes of the Reformation and gave short oral presentations on those people. We also spent time learning about the devilish origins of Halloween. Did you know that the term bonfire comes from the Druids making sacrificial fires on October 31 with lots of animals in them...hence the term bone-fire. We had such a nice evening with our friends-lots of good food, discussion about the Lord and our faith, and precious singing. Not until the wee hours of the morning did we actually get home. Here is a trivia question for you all. True or False--Martin Luther laid the foundations for the Holocaust 400 years prior and Hitler thought Martin Luther to be a great man. History is something so fascinatining to study and learn from. Sunshine did her presentation on a man named John Frith. He was born in 1503 in Westerham, England. He became so learned that people believed that no one existed who was smarter than he. Because he preached many of the Reformation beliefs with a passion, he went to jail for a time. After this, he left England because of the persecution. While away he helped William Tyndale translate the Old Testament. Tyndale loved John Frith so much that he said there was no one alive who gave Tyndale such hope and trust. In 1533 Frith was put on trial for heresy. He was chained up in prison in such a way that he could neither lay down or stand up. At the age of 30, on July 4, 1533, John Frith was burned at the stake for our Lord. He prayed that the king's eyes would be opened to the truth by his death. Vision did his presentation on Miles Coverdale. Miles was born in 1488 in Yorkshire, England. He translated and edited the first complete Bible to be printed in the English language. He was an Augustinian monk. In 1526 he left the monastery and began to preach the reformed doctrines. In 1540 he fled the country and remained in hiding for 8 years under the fake name of Michael Anglus. Miles married a godly woman. By doing this, he made it known that he was against the doctrine of priests remaining unmarried. He died on February 19, 1568. Between his different translations of the Bible and his many translations of spiritual writings he encouraged believers much through the power of his pen.

He is our adorable Beloved getting ready to go out to the fire. We LOVE his hat!!

How could we resist this smile??

This little one is busily watching his brother, sister, and some neigbors play an informal game of football.

Here they are in their big football game. It was fun to hear the squealing fun from the kitchen where I was busy working. I made sure there wasn't going to be any tackling. :-)

The Joy of Worship

2008-10-22T18:58:00.000-05:00

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing."

Our family so loves to sing and play instruments together and with brothers and sisters in Christ. Whenever we have people over to sing, it is sooooo refreshing to worship the Lord as a group. During the week we sing as a family in the evenings 2-3 times a week. Whenever we do, we almost always have to make ourselves stop at 10:00 p.m.. :-) Dh, Sunshine, and Vision all sing harmony while I sing the melody and it almost makes me cry at times. I love the verse that says God inhabits the praises of His people. Last week, during one of our sing times we were talking about how we can't wait to sing with the angels in heaven to our Holy God! Can you even imagine?????!!!! It will be the most amazing beautiful thing ever...to be in God's presence and to praise Him all together in perfect harmony. I can't wait to be able to sing harmony in heaven since I can't sing a hoot of harmony here. ;-) Here we are singing together during our Bible time in school. The little neighbor boy loves to join in and often plays the marraca.

It is so beautiful when Vision plays his harmonica. He is very much a beginner, but I still really enjoy it.

Bible/sing time is one of my favorite parts of the day. We also have been doing Scripture memorization during this time.

Are we ready?? That is a question that the Lord has really laid on our family's heart. Are we ready for hard times, for persecution, for maybe even the end times. As a result of this heart burden we have started to spend most of our school time at home studying the Bible, memorizing Scripture, copying the Bible, praying, singing, and reading very inspiring biographies of Christians who have utterly lived their lives for the Lord. I was recently reading the parable about the 10 virgins and my heart just cried out that I want to be ready for my bridegroom. I think Jesus desires us to live every day being ready and waiting...for Him!! My husband and I want ourselves and our dear, dear children to be ready for whatever the future holds. We don't know how long we will be doing this new school plan, but at least for a season. The children and I are already so blessed by it. It has opened up some really precious times before the Lord as a family that I don't know if it would have happened otherwise.

The biography we are reading together is 'I Dared To Call Him Father'. It is a very inspiring story about a Muslim woman who came to the Lord. We are all copying in the book of Matthew at various spots.

Well, God bless you all so wonderfully. May God strengthen each of you in the things you have to do this week. May we all be more than conquerers.

Help us Lord to not let our love grow cold and to be longing for your appearing.

More Curls, Bike Ride, & Middle Eastern Dinner

2008-10-09T11:39:00.000-05:00

Hello family and friends! I hope you are all having a blessed week. I just had to post these two pictures of Beloved's curls when wet. This is what his hair looks like when freshly washed. We all think it is the cutest thing ever and cannot not stop ooooing and aaaaing over his adorableness. :-) It is so fun to have some hair in our family that is other than stick straight! LOL In August we went on a family bike ride that was really fun. We borrowed a neighbor's bike trailer for Silas to ride in...he did great! We packed a meal and took off into the 105 degree heat. After riding for about 8 miles we stopped by the wayside for our meal. We were all soaked in sweat. :-< Now 8 miles out here is a bit more challenging than where we used to live. The hills here are almost constant which makes for wonderful excerise. After our meal we turned around and headed back home. On the way back we all got cold since the sun had gone down and the temp had dropped about 30 degrees. Since we live at a higher elevation, it is almost always cool to cold at night. We really like that about where we live. Sunshine and Vision did great to bike for 16 miles up and down hills. It was a beautiful ride and Beloved fell asleep on the way home.

The other night we made middle eastern food for supper. We had salad, bread, dates, and hummus. I made the hummus in our blender with garbanzo beans. It was all simple yet delicious! Our family loves to try food from other countries! So far, my personal favorite is probably Thai food. We have made food from Mexico, Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East, and Russia. It is really fun to make food from some of the countries that we study in our Geography.

A close-up of the hummus. We just spread the hummus on the bread to eat it. This bowl is one of my favorites and is extra special since it was 99 cents from Goodwill! :-) It is so fun to see what treasures can be found at resale shops.

Curls & Cheddar Corn Chowder

2008-09-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

I happen to love the art of cooking and serving food. Oh yes, and eating it! :-) So you will probably notice that I am often including something about food in my posts. For my birthday I got two soup cookbooks from one of my sisters and her husband. We are having so much fun trying out these soups as a family. We have only made three soups so far, but are looking forward to making many more. One of the books is titled "The New England Soup Factory" and the other one is "The Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups". Wonderful cookbooks to own!! So here we are having a new soup from the Soup Factory book. It is Cheddar Corn Chowder. Delicious!! This was a wonderful soup! Dh so loves coming home to a warm kitchen with yummy, healthy food being prepared. It warms his heart. Along with the soup we are having salad and bread. Vision did the garnishing of the soup with fresh chopped chives. Nancy Campbell has really inspired me in the area of cooking with love and gusto for my family and others. She has a book/Bible study that I have really been encouraged and challenged by. It is called, "The Family Meal Table and Hospitality". We also have a DVD of her speaking about this subject called "The Family Meal Table". Both of these are just wonderfully inspiring! Here is our precious Beloved who is getting the MOST adorable curls! We can't believe that God has blessed us with such a beautiful, special baby. I am sorry that this picture is flipped wrong. Can you believe those huge, chocolate eyes?? They make my heart melt.

Pancakes & Park

2008-09-16T10:15:00.001-05:00

There is a beautiful walking park near where we live. There are all kinds of trees and bushes planted there with wonderful, winding paths all throughout. We took the children there to walk and read God's Smuggler together. What a beautiful day! Someone walking by kindly took a family picture for us. Our three blessings! I love this picture and am sooooo thankful for how much Sunshine and Vision adore Beloved! If you were a mouse in our house you might get a bit nauseated from listening to us all coo and oogle over Beloved! :-) Remember Dad how I used to talk to our dog? Well, I am afraid things are even worse now with three of us all talking to Beloved that way. Beloved found this box of fruit that was left on our doorstep. Here is our precious son making pancakes for us. Someone gave us some buckwheat flour so this was our first attempt at making buckwheat pancakes. They were delicious! Vision loves to cook and at times says that he would like to be a chef like his uncle.

How Fun!!!

2008-09-16T10:15:00.000-05:00

Last week the children and I got together with one of our neighbors to learn how to make chappatis. We invited another neighbor lady that is from Nepal to teach us. We had a wonderful time! She taught us a few things about the type of food they eat in Nepal and how they spice their food. I find things like this utterly fascinating. It is so good for our children to be around people of other cultures. Our town is really great for that-there are lots and lots of people of all different races here. To make the chappatis you just mix flour, salt, and water together until you have a soft, but not wet, dough. Then you roll them out into circles and fry them. We ate them warm with hummus on them. Yum!! The people from her country eat them with beans, rice, and/or vegetables. After we were done making a few dozen chappatis, we made fresh, homemade french fries. These were so yummy. She seasoned the hot fries with salt, chili powder, tumeric, and garam masala. I would have never thought to put those seasonings on fries, but it was wonderful. On Sunday our family made chappatis and french fries again for our lunch. Dh had not been able to try all of this wonderful food last week since he was at work, so we had a great time making it all for him. He thought is was all delicious as well. Another night we had Vawanee over to just sing and talk with our family. She is Hindu and told us in lots of detail what she believes. We had served her hot tea when she first came. As she was talking to us, she said, "Why do you care about me? Why do you serve me hot tea and sing beautiful music to me? You don't know me. Who am I to you? No one ever invites me into their home and gives me tea." We told her that we care about her because the Jesus that we love and serve cares about her. We are just praying and praying that she will see Jesus' love for her through us and that she will know that eternity is real. It has been such a blessing to be able to be so closely involved with our neighbors here. Apartment living is very good for that. :-) Here is the chappati frying. We also made some non-fried ones...sort of like a tortilla. Here I am rolling them out. She was very specific in her technic for rolling them out. She knows just how to do it so that they are very round. Vawanee talked and talked to us while she cooked. I am so glad that she felt free to tell us what she believes and thinks about things.

Sweet Words

2008-09-10T18:14:00.000-05:00

"That I may make the voice of thanksgiving heard and may tell of all Your wondrous

works. Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells....My foot stands on an even place; In the congregation will I bless the Lord!" ~Psalms 26:7, 8, & 12

I hesitated to post this post (so as not to draw attention to our situation), but I am hoping that this will encourage you all to really, REALLY trust the Lord...especially when hard times come. He cares so much for us and says that we are graven on the palm of His hands. Things have been a bit slim at our home due to the cost of Beloved's adoption and because dh wasn't able to work full time for about 3 months due to an injury and lack of work. Have you ever been in a place where you are counting your spare pennies, nickles, and dimes so that you can put $7.00 of gas in the tank? Or how about bread and peaches for supper? Have you ever gone weeks without even having $1? What about not being able to do laundry for a week due to a lack of quarters for the laundry mat? Handwashing in the tub anyone?? LOL Did you ever wonder if you will have food to eat tomorrow?

This is where are family is right now, but our Abba Father has been SOOOO loving and kind. We have not gone without one thing that we have truly needed. And, it has been so good for us and our children, not only to learn contentment, but to see God work on our behalf. We are so undeserving of all of the things God has blessed us with through brothers and sisters in Christ, but we are deeply, deeply thankful. "Seek first the kingdom of and ALL these things will be added unto you." "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself." And like the apostle Paul, we want to be content whether we abound or whether we are abased.

The first picture is a picture of what our fridge looked like a week and a half ago. :-) I don't believe we have ever had a fridge like that in our 12 years of marriage. The rest of the pictures are a praise to our Father. All of the food you see was lovingly given to us by the Body of Christ. Almost daily the Lord sends some big or small gift our way. Sometimes a gallon of milk, sometimes a $100 bill. O, how thankful we are. God overwhelmingly bless all of you that have so generously given. So, if your family ever goes through times like these, know that you have a Jehovah Jireh that will provide for all of your needs. "O how He loves you and me!"

A couple of days ago our beautiful Sunshine came to me and said, "Mama this is our mess of blessings!" She had a big smile on her face and was referring to the food that was covering our counters and the bulging fridge. I right away told her how true and lovely her words were. She knows how much I love a spic and span kitchen, but who couldn't enjoy a 'mess of blessings' ? Thank you for those sweet words dear daughter!

Father, I thank You for your lovingly, generous provision. Father, I want to be as faithful to You as You are to us. Help me to be truly grateful for all of the big and small blessing you have given us. Lord, we just want to love you with passionate hearts that are filled with contentment. I just praise you Lord and give you glory for all of the amazing things you are teaching us. I love You my Abba Father.

"Give us a passion that cannot be denied,

A vision that cannot be dimmed,

And an obession that cannot be quenched."

Hmmmm....

2008-09-04T10:34:00.001-05:00

Try as I might, I cannot seem to get blogger to allow me to add any more than five images to a single post. So, here are some pictures of us grilling pizza. Enjoy!!

Also, here is a sweet picture of our dd with her finished rag doll. She had so much fun making it! A friend gave the kit to Sunshine as a gift--thank you!

Pizza, Bread, and Huckleberries

2008-09-04T10:34:00.000-05:00

My husband and I have found a really fun way of making pizza...we grill it! I read about it in the book 'American Pie' and was very intrigued by the idea of grilling pizza. It takes awhile since we can only grill one pizza at a time, but it is fun to casually eat for an hour and a half while chatting. Another love of mine is baking bread. I absolutely LOVE dough! I usually make bread once a week and pizza dough once a week. I have a goal though to someday be able to successfully make naturally leavened (sourdough) bread. That is my favorite kind of bread. I have made it many times, but not so successfully. LOL Some of it took a heroic effort to cut (bricks), but since I made it, we just had to eat it. Making bread for my family is something I love to do. Nourishing our families with healthy, home cooked food is so rewarding and fulfilling! :-) Monday was labor day and we had a wonderful family day. Our family and another family here, that we recently just met, went wild huckleberry picking. It was wonderful! We drove for an hour up into the mountains and then foraged all over the mountain side for wild huckleberries. For about 3 hours our two families picked. It was so beautiful and peacefull up on the mountain and the air was crisp and cool. I felt a bit like Heidi. :-) Both families got about 5 cups each of little berries. They were delicious! I made a Huckleberry Crisp with our berries and that was Yummy. After we were done picking, we drove a little ways down the mountain and had a picnic together. All of the boys then played baseball games together while we ladies watched the little ones and chatted. We got back home around 4:30 in the late afternoon and dh fired up the grill. By the time we had finished grilling, eating, and cleaning up the kitchen, it was time for family reading and then bed. We are currently reading the book 'God's Smuggler' as a family. We all love it! It is a book that really encourages our faith and to live radically for God, trusting Him to do the miraculous. Thank you Lord for wonderful family days out in your creation and for books that point us to a life of faith in You.

Waiting on the Lord....bedroom

2008-08-26T22:43:00.004-05:00

Our bed and desk. This is where I am right now...at the desk. Beloved's bed and our dresser.

Well, this morning was one of those mornings where I wished I could go back to bed and start all over. I was tired, my back hurt, and I had what seemed like a million things to do. Then I called my husband and poured out my troubles and frustrations. He encouraged me to let the Lord take all of it. I went to the Lord-not because I particularly felt like it-but I went in obedience. I know that we do not have to live with hormone troubles, grumpiness, and frustration. That is what Jesus died for...to set us FREE! If we walk in the Spirit we will be filled with the fruits of the Spirit, not the fruits/junk of the flesh. But, I have to choose to abide in His victory and love. I can't wait for my feelings to come first either. After yielding my heart to the Lord, I went out to the kitchen and repented to my children and was blessed with their forgiveness. Then we were able to go on through the rest of the day with a song in our hearts. God is always ready to deliver us from our flesh. I was also meditating on the verse, 'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and NOT be weary, they shall walk and not faint.' Someone once shared with us that one of the Hebrew meanings for wait is 'to be intertwined with'. I thought that was beautiful. If we are utterly wrapped up in God, intertwined with Him, we shall not grow weary nor faint. Instead we will soar as eagles and have renewed strength. Thank you Father!

On another note...since we can't have most of you over for dinner because of living so far away, I thought I would post some pictures of our apartment for you. That way you can picture where we live. :-) We are currently in a 800 sq. foot apartment. We have lived here for 14 months and have really enjoyed our time here. There have been some hard things, but I think trials are a part of life no matter where we live. God uses all of these things to teach us to be more like Him. So far I only have pictures of our bedroom to post. I will get the other rooms in the next couple of weeks.

Keep seeking Him with a passionate heart.

Too many pictures ;-)

2008-08-26T22:43:00.003-05:00

Well, I am guessing that only 5 images can accompany a post. So I am going to put the last two images on this post!

Work is good!

2008-08-26T22:43:00.002-05:00

Every morning we have chore time after breakfast. We each have different chores that we do six days a week. Sundays we don't have any offical chores, but we usually have plenty of dishes and cooking to do as we often have one to several families over. It is a blessing to have your home filled with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Here are a few pictures of us doing our chores this morning. Vision is our flour grinder. He keeps us supplied with freshly ground flour for bread, muffins, pizza dough, biscuits, pie crust, scones, pancakes, and popovers. It is hard work for him and I always tell him it is going to help him to develop strong muscles. :-) Our children work hard every day and I am really proud of them.

Sunshine finished her rag doll today. She absolutely loved working on it. She has dh's love for artsy, crafty things and his diligence. I really admire both of them for those traits. The other picture is of our little Beloved clapping to Sunshine singing a Bible song. So sweet! O, I am also going to post a picture of a first for our precious baby. He pulled himself up on our little love seat all by himself. This is the first time he has completely stood on his own. I so enjoy all of those little 'firsts'.

Recent Photos

2008-08-26T22:43:00.001-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of our precious children. Sunshine is almost 11, Vision is 9, and Beloved is 8 months. Today Sunshine worked on making a rag doll, Vision went to work for a little bit with dh, and Beloved played, ate, and slept. :-) We also did school today. This evening I received a sweet blessing from my daughter when she made a delicious casserole for dinner. Vision and I snapped fresh green beans to eat along with the casserole. After the children did the dinner dishes, Vision and I went for a bike ride to the store to get a gallon of milk. I love riding bikes and feeling the wind blow through my hair! How fun!! While we were gone, Sunshine worked on her rag doll for a bit again. They are now all in bed and I need to go hang up the freshly washed laundry before I head there too! Sleep well everyone.

Testing 1, 2, 3 :-)

2008-08-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

Hello friends and family! I was encouraged by an old friend to start a blog. I thought I would give it a try since I really enjoy reading hers. :-) I love keeping in contact with all of our family and friends...especially now that we live way out in the Northwest. I pray you will be blessed by the updates and feel a little bit more a part of our lives. We love you all.