In the past couple weeks; we have been quietly informing people of a possible move for our family to Central Illinois. We haven't told everyone and we are sorry if you fall into that group. It has been very hard for us to tell people, because we know that several, if not most, will be very disappointed and many won't understand. We have made lots of close relationships over the last 9 ½ years, and it isn't easy to tell people your family is moving away. We are confident that God's hand is in this decision and we are looking to Him to guide us through all the hurdles.
As we have started to spread the word of our possible move, we have found that many people don't really understand why we desire to make a change. They understand that we can't accomplish all of our dreams here, but why would we want to leave? We have a nice life here. Our dream and desire as a family, beyond raising godly seed for God's glory, is to own some land in the country, be totally debt free, have a few animals and a large garden, continue having children (if that is the Lord's will), have Daniel around the home more, while attending a church that supports our vision and doctrinal beliefs. Unfortunately we can't accomplish all of this where we are right now. Land here is very expensive. We have a garden, but not as large as we want. We also live in a subdivision, so animals are out of the question. Currently Daniel also has a 30 miles commute to work. On a day without any traffic or construction, he can make the drive in about 35 minutes. Otherwise it takes anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour. That, in itself, is just not conducive to quality family time. He comes home tired and struggles to put the day behind him. We are hoping that a move to Central Illinois will provide us with the opportunity to be together more as a family, accomplish our dreams, and provide a solid, biblical, reformed church that will support us as we grow as a family and individuals.
We also want to take this opportunity to post on our blog a bit of what we believe and why we believe it. The convictions we are going to share may seem foreign and contrary to what you have been taught. Some may even be offended by what is written. However, after studying scripture, reading books, and listening to sermons by men more studied than we are, we have come to the conclusion that these convictions are in line with scripture. We also hope that this will clear up some of the questions that people have asked about our family vision. Before you dismiss our views as crazy and out in left field, please listen to the powerful sermon Dr. Voddie Baucham gave to the Southern Baptist Convention on "The Centrality of the Home". It may just change the way you think.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. "
Discipling our Children
DISCIPLE, v.t. 1. To teach; to train, or bring up. 2. To make disciples of; to convert to doctrines or principles
DISCIPLE, n. [L., to learn.] 1. A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another; as the disciples of Plato. 2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another. Hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts.
Luke 6:40 "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."
This is one of the core reasons of why we do everything we do as a family. Our desire is to disciple our children in the way of the Lord, so they will become godly young men and women and for them to pass it to their children. Nothing else we can or will accomplish as parents is as important as this. 3 John 4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. "
God gave us this job. He did not give this job to the public or Christian school teacher. He did not give it to the Sunday school teacher or youth minister. He did not give it to the peers of our children. God gave the job of training and discipling Justin, Jesica, Ashly, Josiah, Cara, Mathias, Blessing #7, and any other children we may be blessed with, to Daniel and Sheri Ryken. That is an awesome responsibility that we do not take lightly. We believe that having a regular time of daily family worship, home educating our children, and being involved in a church that supports this responsibility, serves as the catalyst that enables us to the best job that we are able. This can not be accomplished on our own. We need God's hand guiding us on a daily basis.
Family size
6 children and another on the way… Better us than you, right? Doug Phillips comments on the view that society has in regards to children. He says it so well in this quote:
"The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing. But in our culture, we apply for a curse and reject blessings. Something is wrong with this picture."
Why is this? Why are Christian families rejecting the blessings that God desires to give us?
In our family, we view children as a blessing and gift from God. We desire to add to our family as many blessings as God desires to give to us. Many people don't understand how we can keep adding more and more children. The final number is not our decision. We leave that up to God and trust Him in the planning of our family. As Christians we claim to trust God to provide all our basic needs. When we are sick we trust His will to be accomplished in regards to our healing. We trust Him with our finances. We even trust Him with our salvation. If we have placed our trust in God in all these areas, why don't we trust him with something as simple as determining our family size? Our society teaches us to take control of our fertility by pushing birth control, having tubes tied, or vasectomies, after just a couple children. This is wrong. It is not Biblical. It is taking control over something that God did not give us control over.
Psalm 127:3-5 "Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate."
We also get lots of questions on how we handle so many children. We will be the first to admit that it isn't easy and there are days when we want to pull our hair out. We will also be the first to admit that we aren't the perfect family. The children bicker and tease each other; they disobey, or don't always do what they are asked the first time. They complain and whine. However, we also have more days when we just sit back and are amazed that God has blessed us so richly. Our children love to be with their parents, love to play with their siblings and miss one if they are away for the day, and desire to be blessings to their parents by helping out extra, without being asked, when a parent or sibling is sick or having a rough day.
When we look into the future, we look at the possible number of descendants we have the possibility of having. It is astounding. If each of our 7 children has 5 children (nice round number for doing math), we will have 35 grandchildren. If each of those grandchildren has 5 children, that will be 175 great-grandchildren. If that continues, we will have 875 great-great-grandchildren. If each of our children passes the vision to their children and they pass it to their children, imagine the Christian heritage that will be passed from generation to generation. What a legacy!
Family-Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lYxV6be_1I
We have been practicing family worship in our home for several years now. Some of you may ask, "What is the difference between family worship and devotions after dinner?" Basically there is not much difference. In devotions after dinner, the father will typically read a passage of scripture, a short devotional, and then pray. Our family worship incorporates all those aspects, but more and on a deeper level. A typical night has us gathering in the family room, with our Bibles, around 7:45. This time of worship can easily last 30-45 minutes. Currently we are reading through Psalms and we also read the Proverb of the day. Those who can read each read 2 verses and we continue until the whole passage is read. The children then have the opportunity to talk about their favorite verse(s) and what they think the passage is saying. Daniel may also give some additional teaching he may have picked up in his own devotions or some sermon he listened to during his commute. We then go through the memory verse/passage that we are learning. Some families also sing, but we are not the best singers, so this doesn't happen on a regular basis in our home. The time is concluded with one of the children closing in prayer. We encourage our children (even our 3 year old Mathias) during meals and family worship to pray aloud. Praying in front of people, even your own family, is not an easy task. By encouraging them at a young age to participate in leading the family in prayer, we are hopefully making it easier for them to lead their own families in prayer.
So why do we gather nightly, as a family, in this manner? A lot of it goes back to the Deuteronomy 6:4-9 passage. Our desire is to disciple our children. We want our sons to be able to lead their family and teach them the things of God. Watching their father lead worship on a nightly basis will encourage them. We also have the opportunity to sit and discuss with our children what Scripture is teaching and how to apply it to their lives. Short 5 or 10 minutes devotions just can't accomplish this in the same manner. If we have somewhere to go or other activities, we do have shorter devotions. However, this is not the norm.
We have also instituted a family night on Wednesday night and bible trivia on Friday night. During our family night, Daniel reads from a variety of different books: Daughters of Destiny, God's Mighty Hand, Poems for Patriarchs, Verses of Virtue, Character Sketches, biographies, other books related character building, or books on the martyrs. Afterwards we have a time of fun and end the night with a special dessert – usually ice cream! Bible Trivia Friday is a great way to end our week. Sometimes Daniel quizzes the children and other times the children will make up questions from their Bible reading during the week. This is a great way to learn some of the lesser known facts in the Bible.
Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHAb5Eqk60Q
In the Daniel Ryken family, home education is our only option. As Dr. Baucham said, you become like your master. We want our children to be like us and have our morals and vision - not teachers or other adults - ours. We want our sons to grow up and have the desire to be Godly, family orientated men, who have the desire to be with and LEAD their families. We want our daughters to grow up to have the desire to be Proverbs 31 women who desire to be keepers at home, mothers, and helpmeets to their husbands. These goals can not be accomplished while our children are away at school – even a Christian school – for 8 hours a day. These goals can not be accomplished if our children are surrounded by their peers all day long. These goals can only be accomplished if our children are around people who will be models for them. Home educating them gives us, as parents, the opportunities to not only teach them book knowledge, but also the opportunity to model for them the roles the Lord created for them.
People ask us what our children's plans are when they finish high school. Our desire is that they will continue their education, but we are not going to push them off to college. For our sons, we are going to encourage the local community college and distance learning. If they are able to find a Christian man who will apprentice them that would be preferred. Our daughters will not necessarily be encouraged to go to college either. We do want them to be prepared to run a home, be a helpmeet to their husband, and teach their own children. Our daughters may someday have their own home-based business or their husbands may own their own business. They will need to know how to keep books and accurate records. Taking some distance learning classes could be helpful in accomplishing this. This way of thinking is against the norm of what most people desire for their children. The higher the education and the bigger the paycheck is what society views as successful. To our family, that isn't successful. Having a father and mother who are striving to live out the biblical roles (Titus 2) and can manage their households well, while passing on that vision to their children, that is success.
Family-Integrated Church
About 18 months ago, we left a church we had been attending, to help plant a family-integrated, home-discipleship church. Family and friends questioned why we would leave a Bible believing church with strong biblical preaching, to help start this church. One of the main reasons was so that we could attend a church that would support our vision for the family. Over the years we really struggled with the fact that parents would teach their children doctrine, yet there would be no evident fruit. Some of the children would act, talk, and dress no differently than those in the world. On Sunday we would have to protect our sons from the immodestly dressed young ladies and women.
Another reason we joined a family integrated church was so that we could be in a church that encouraged worshipping together as a family. Our church does not have a nursery. The children are taught from infancy to sit in church and as they get older, to participate in the service. It is hard work teaching a young child to sit in church quietly. In a family-integrated church, encouragement is given weekly, because we've all been there.
Conclusion
As you have read through some of our vision and why we do what we do, we hope you can understand bit of why we are moving. God has placed this vision and these dreams on our heart and we feel that God is using this vision and other circumstances in our lives to accomplish His will for our family. Finding employment, housing and selling our home will not be easy tasks, especially with a newborn. Please pray for us as we continue to make decisions in regards to this move.
This was our first home birth and I think that my husband was more in awe of it than I was! No more hospitals for us unless it is medically needed. In fact God's hand was evident through all this. My husband spent yesterday in Bloomington, which is 2 hours from here. He would not have made it in time for the birth. If we had to go to the hospital, we probably would not have made it, unless we left the children alone. God is good!
Our Quiver
I am part of The Patriarch's Wives email group. Today one of the dear women, Heather, that I have come to know through that group lost her husband and six beautiful children lost their father. 
The children continue to grow and be a blessing in our lives. While Sheri was hospitalized and had morning sickness, the older children also took on all the housework, including the cooking. This enabled Daniel to stay with Sheri in the hospital and Sheri to rest as needed. We continue to home educate and feel blessed to have the freedom to have our children home all day long.
