Jesica's Etsy Shop

Jesica has opened her own Etsy shop.  This shop has some of the handmade items that she has been working on.  So far she has some journals, shawls, baby afghan/s booties, ornaments, afghans and ponchos.  To visit her shop click HERE or the link on the side bar.  Please share the link with friends and family.

The Call to Dunkirk

EXODUS MANDATE

Thanksgiving

Our family has so much to be thankful for over the past year. From a new job, Sara being born, a new home and church family, health...the list could go on and on.  However, these events were not things that we did.  Everything comes from God's hand.  We are thankfull for all He has done for us.  1 Chronicles 16 8-36 put is so well.

8 Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

      Call upon His name; 

      Make known His deeds among the peoples!

 9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;

      Talk of all His wondrous works!

 10 Glory in His holy name;

      Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!

 11 Seek the LORD and His strength;

      Seek His face evermore!

 12 Remember His marvelous works which He has done,

      His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,

 13 O seed of Israel His servant,

      You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

 14 He is the LORD our God;

      His judgments are in all the earth.

 15 Remember His covenant forever,

      The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,

 16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,

      And His oath to Isaac,

 17 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,

      To Israel for an everlasting covenant,

 18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

      As the allotment of your inheritance,”

 19 When you were few in number,

      Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

 20 When they went from one nation to another,

      And from one kingdom to another people,

 21 He permitted no man to do them wrong;

      Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

 22 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,

      And do My prophets no harm.”

 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth;

      Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

 24 Declare His glory among the nations,

      His wonders among all peoples.

 25 For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;

      He is also to be feared above all gods.

 26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

      But the LORD made the heavens.

 27 Honor and majesty are before Him;

      Strength and gladness are in His place.

 28 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,

      Give to the LORD glory and strength.

 29 Give to the LORD the glory due His name;

      Bring an offering, and come before Him. 

      Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!

 30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.

      The world also is firmly established, 

      It shall not be moved.

 31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

      And let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”

 32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

      Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.

 33 Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the LORD,

      For He is coming to judge the earth.

 34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

      For His mercy endures forever.

 35 And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;

      Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, 

      To give thanks to Your holy name, 

      To triumph in Your praise.”

 36 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel

      From everlasting to everlasting!

   And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

Encouragment for Parents of Young Children

Earlier this week, one of our elders sent this blog post through our church email.  It was such an encouragement to me, that I thought I would share it.

Toddlers on Your Lap
Topic: Exhortation

Many years ago we made the decision to disband our children’s church and nursery, and go to a system of parents training their little ones to worship with us. We have cry room, and so on, but the intent is to have our children grow up into the worship of God. We have had many reasons to rejoice in that decision, and we don’t regret it at all.

At the same time, the point of this exhortation is to let you parents know that we know how much work you do, and to encourage you in it. It is good work, work that will bear fruit for many years, over many generations. It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the long view, especially if you have five children under the age of seven, and all of them are squirmy. It is easy to lose sight of that when you haven’t heard more than ten minutes of a sermon at a time in three years, and you wonder if you will ever be able to listen to a sermon again.

But the life of Christ is not best represented by listening to a lecture, undistracted by anything. The life of Christ is pulled in many directions, just like you are being, and you are willing for this to happen so that your children may come to worship the Lord. Laying it down for someone else this way is our glory. It is a sacrifice to bring them to the Word, to the psalms, to the wine and to the bread.

So don’t measure what you get out of these worship services with carnal balances. The weight of glory you are carrying is far beyond the weight of toddlers in your lap.

Posted by Douglas Wilson - 11/22/2008 5:18:37 PM 

You can read and print this by clicking HERE

Afford to stay home?

The other day I was at the dentist.  The tech and I sat talking while Mathias had his teeth cleaned.  This was our first time to the practice and she asked a few questions about our family.  I talked about how we had seven children and her first response was "you must home school".  Her second was "you must not work outside the home.  You couldn't afford to."

The "you must home school" comment didn't surprise me.  Comments like that are common place when you have a large family.  Everyone just assumes that you are Catholic, Mormon, or a homeschooler if you have a large family.  Obviously this isn't always true.  We don home school, but that isn't why we have a large family.  (You can read more about that in this previous post )

Her second comment though, got me thinking about stay-at-home moms.  I know several families that have 1 or 2 children where the mom works outside the home - either full or part time.  In my mind, they would be the ones who could more easily afford to stay home.  A family of 3 or 4 should cost a lot less money than a family of 9, 10 or more.  Food bills and clothing bills should be less.  Smaller families don't need to be driving full size or extended passenger vans.

Now if this tech was thinking that we couldn't afford to send our children to day care, she may be correct.  With most large families, there will be a wider range of children.  By the time the younger ones come around, the older ones would be in school.  So realistically, a larger family really wouldn't have any more children in day care than a family with fewer children.  So this argument really wouldn't work.

So, my question still is how can a family with 7 children afford to have a stay-at-home mom any more than a mom with 1, 2, or 3 children (assuming of course, that their income is similar)? With the way that our society thinks, they cannot.  Our culture says that each child needs to have his/her own room, this fabulous new toy, name brand clothes, play this sport, and attend this certain school.  Parents have to drive certain types of cars and own homes with so many square feet of space, and so on.

Larger families tend to be more frugal with what they spend.  Name brands don't mean as much, and many of the clothes are from a discount or second hand store, hand-me downs from older siblings or church family, or sewn by Mom.  Meals tend to be simpler and made from scratch.  Vehicles tend to be large vans that aren't traded in after 100,000 miles.  Large families also tend to home educate.  This is what leads to the first comment the tech made.

I would like to clarify that the above paragraph does not hold just to large families.  I know several smaller families that also are very frugal.  I have a friend who has a few children and her husband only works odd jobs when they are available.  She does some online selling and what they bring home is all their income.  She could go out into the work force and probably find a good job, but she has chosen to be frugal and live on what they can to be home all day with her children.  What a testimony she has.

So the comment that the tech made should really be applicable to most moms, not just us with large families.  Most moms, should they choose, should be able to stay home, and logically those this fewer children should have an easier time of doing so than those moms with more children.  

Of course there are always variables.  Income, cost of living, and our family's resistance to cultural demands are just a few.  Despite those, I do encourage working mothers to examine for yourself  why you are working and is there really a way to live on one income.  

For those mothers who do stay home with your children, do you grumble and wish for more money and things?  Being frugal isn't easy and takes work.  Or do you have a heart of thankfulness that you are able to stay home and be a keeper at home? 

Recently two of my favorite blogs, A Holy Experience and Generation Cedar, had excellent posts.  "A Strange Disappearance" and "A Time for Truth".  I encourage all moms to read them and evaluate themselves in light of it.  I did and wept, because my attitude of staying at home is not always where it should be.  It is all put into perspective.  

 I am not a stay at home Mom.  

I am a God’s worker. 

I have a full-time 24/7 career, working for the King of the Universe. 

I have work orders. 

I am sent. 

I am on assignment.

Some Evening Rambings

Posts have been very sporadic lately, and for that I am sorry.  Many of you use this blog to keep up on what is going on in our lives.

Lately a lot has been going on that has disrupted our usual schedule.  Driver's Ed is the big culprit.  It takes place 2 days a week over dinner time.  So that means that 2 nights a week we do not eat dinner as a family and I have to have a dinner prepared that can be eaten at 4:00 and 6:00 without going bad.  So far I have been successful!  Even though the class time takes a lot away from the family, it is only for a couple more weeks.  Justin's driving ability has really improved and I actually was able to sit back and nap while he was driving the other day.  I'm really looking forward to next summer when he can get his license.

Other things that have disrupted our usual schedule are church activities, starting music lessons, chiropractor, dentist, orthodontist, eye Dr....you can see what I mean.  At lot of different things that are calling us out of the home.  Some of them, like music lessons and church activities are going to have to be worked into the schedule and become the norm.  Dr appointments are just for this season as we meet new doctors and get established here in our new home.

Now that the holidays are upon us, changes in the schedule are inevitable.  This week we will only be focusing on school work 2 days.  Wednesday my sister, Kathi, her 3 children, my brother Mike, his wife Steph, and their little boy will be coming over for lunch.  Neither of the families live near here and it has been 9+ months since we have seen either of them.  

Thursday we are getting together with my dad's extended family for Thanksgiving dinner.  There will be around 65 of us.  Should be an interesting day!

Friday and Saturday will bring some work around the house.  No, we do not hit the stores for the "Black Friday" deals.  In fact, I am pretty much finished with my holiday shopping.  Farm and Fleet is my last stop, and Daniel has 1 stop left to make.  Then we are finished.  

Sunday is going to be our Thanksgiving Feast at church.  What a blessing it is going to be sharing one of my favorite holidays with those who have become so dear to us.  We have so much to be thankful for over the last year, especially for the Lord bringing us home to Peking and for providing as church family at Providence.

So that is what has been and will be happening in our home.  We pray that each of you will have a blessed season of Thanksgiving with those you love.

15 things I'm not Afraid to Admit

It has been a very busy week and some of my faithful readers have been calling the house to see if everything is alright.  I guess I really am missed when I don't post!  Life has been insane lately with driver's ed, Dr appointments, chiropractor, and just the everyday things that need to be taken care of.  A slow down is in the future and I can't wait!

My dear daughter, Jesica, has tagged me and wants me to share the top 15 things I am not afraid to admit.   Hmmm....that is a lot of thinking for the morning, but here I go......

1.  Everyone else has used this as their number one.  It is true, so I will use it also.  As the Heidelberg Catechism states, "I am not my own, but belong body and soul to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ".

2.  In high school, when my guidance counselor told me I was wasting my intelligence by not going to college, I just told him that all I really wanted to be was a wife and mother.  To this day it is still my highest calling.

3. There are days that I get frustrated with Daniel and the children.  Really, we are not the perfect family and don't have it all together all the time.  Really.

4. I am not a morning person.  I really dislike mornings.  Coffee does not help.  

5. One of my favorite parts of the morning is having Sara waking up next to me and be so excited to see me awake that she plants a big wet kiss on me and giggles.  I could just lay in bed with her all day long.

6.  On the other hand I love falling asleep with my dearest holding me tight.  My favorite hours of the day are sandwiched between #5 and #6.  That is as long as Sara sleeps!

7.  I am a very organized person.  Clutter bothers me.  Unfiled papers bother me.  *hint, hint honey*.

8.  One of my favorite comfort foods is frozen pizza.  Particularly Tombstone.  Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips from the freezer with a Cherry Coke is #1.

9.  I love body sprays from Bath and Body.  Moonlight Path is my favorite.

10.  I love to quilt.  Machine piece and then handquilt the top.  What better way to enjoy a fall or winter evening than to curl up with a good handmade quilt.....my favorite designer is Lynette Jensen and her Thimbleberries line.  Need to get working on my runner...

11. I love southern gospel and country music.  Hymns are still my favorite though.

12.  This may shock some of you, but I am not a people person.  I don't like being in crowds and find it difficult to initiate conversations.  I prefer the written word if I need to communicate with people.  

13.  Along the lines of #12, I am very content to sit a room full of people and not speak to anyone. So don't think that I am rude or unfriendly, as some do, I just am quiet.  Really.

14.  Along those same lines again, I love to just sit and watch people.  It is enjoyable to sit along the side lines and watch how people interact with each other.  You can learn so much from body language without hearing a word.

15. And last but definitely not the least...I LOVE my husband and my family.  They are so precious to me and I love watching the children grow.  My husband is a gift and I will "ALWAYS" love him

Elections and the education system

Food for thought in regards to the election results and its relationship to our country's education system.

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14571

We voted...

After hearing about the long lines, we decided we'd try and beat the crowds this morning.  So we got up early and were at the polls by 6:10 am.  We ended being voters #11  & #12.  We did our part and are now watching the returns via MSNBC on the computer while we paint....

A Visit with the Grandparents

Yesterday Daniel, Justin, and Josiah headed out for a Father/Son camp out.  This is their second year going and they were looking forward to it the whole year!  I'm anxious to hear all about the canoeing, shooting, speakers, and other activities.  We have several friends who also attend, so it will be fun to see who they met up with also.

The girls, Mathias and I decided not to hang around the house, so we headed out yesterday to see Grandpa and Grandma.  Since it is a 3 hour drive, we decided to spend the night and come back today.  

When I was planning the trip I had forgotten that I was heading toward the city.  As we got closer to our destination I remembered why we moved to the country.  Traffic.  I really don't like city traffic.  Unfortunately, if was even worse heading home.  It took us almost 4 hours to get home. 

In between the times of sitting in traffic, we did have fun.  Last night Grandpa took us all to Cabelas.  Well, actually, I drove our 15 passenger van while everyone sat in the back!  I looked like a chauffeur.  The worst part was that Sara screamed the whole way there!  Grandpa was sitting next to her - he ended up driving home while I sat next to her!

While we were there we found the cutest little dress for Sara.  What do you think Daddy?

When we got back to the house Cara opened a late birthday gift and we had some ice cream and yogurt pie....YUMMY!

This morning Grandma made pancakes and the girls even talked her into making them with chocolate chips!  Then we headed to the park.  The weather was beautiful and we has such a nice time with the children running around and climbing.

Then we headed over to Walt's for my absolute favorite food on the face of the earth - Holland Creme filled coffee cake.  Grandma bought us 2 and I can't wait for Sunday to get a nice Holland Creme sugar high......MMMmmmmmmm  The Dutch sure know how to make their pastries...

Now that we are home we are getting ready for a big project tomorrow.  Jesi is calling it a party.  I'm not sure if that will be the case, but it will be the first big step we are taking to make this house look more like us.  Stay tuned for pictures next week!

Sara is growing

Last night about midnight, Sara starts screaming.  It took about 45 minutes to get her calm and back to sleep.  Having her wake up in the night is nothing new, but we could tell something was really bothering her.  This morning we found out ... 2 more teeth!  So at 8 months old, Sara has 6 teeth.  Right on schedule like a good Ryken baby.  At this rate she will have a mouth full by the time she is 1 year old.

We have been taking Sara to a new chiropractor in Peoria.  She did so well seeing Dr Nate when we lived in Sugar Grove, that we decided it would be beneficial to continue her care.  She has been doing wonderfully.  Dr Church is so gentle.  We have seen nothing but improvement.

Last week Sara started crawling and in the last few days has been able to get from lying on her tummy to sitting up.  In the past she used to just flail her arms and legs and cry. Now she just gets up on her hands and toes, slides her legs under, and she's sitting. Now if we could just get her sleeping ALL night long!

 

 

I can't be old enough.....

Tonight my oldest is enbarking on a new adventure - driver's ed.  Can I really be old enough to have a son old enough to be learning to drive?  

Actually he knows how to drive already and has been for a while now.  Just not legally.  Tonight the "legally" part begins. 

Thankfully I still have Sara to keep me feeling young.  A baby does that you know.  

Especially a cute one like Sara.

Reformation Day Faire 2008

Here is the photo gallery from our Reformation Day Faire!

Pastor McDonald speaking on why the Reformation is relevant to today.

Nathan Clark George with his children.  He travels with his family ministering with his music.  The hear a sampling click here.

Here are our costumes.  Yes, we made them all.

Josiah and Gabriel playing Checkers

Ashly and Adriana playing checkers

Sara sleeping

Josiah with his boffer before the boffer war

Elder Price sketching from photos he had taken.

A real Scottish man adding atmosphere with his bagpipes.

Daniel and John Creath preparing for battle.....or are they dead???

The boffer war - men in action!

Josiah throwing a rock during the Highland games

Daniel throwing the caper....

Justin out-throwing all the men of the church.  Way to go!

Preparing the spaghetti supper

Now for the part the children were looking forward to the most - the historical ball! 

Here are more photos - Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here

Children in Church

"Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.' And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them." (Mark 10:13-16)

Children in church...this can be a hot topic among Christians.  Many adults want to have the service free from any disruptions, especially talking babies, so they can worship.  Then there are parents, like Daniel and I, who see that having children in the worship service is a blessing.  From the very first time that they are brought into the church building, they are exposed to singing and praying are a corporate body, and the preaching of God's Word.  

We used to send our children to the nursery, until Josiah.  He absolutely hated the nursery.  So we started taking him into the service with us.  Can you believe that he actually sat still?  So then we started bringing Cara into the service with us.  She too sat still and quiet.  Then Mathias came along.  He did not like to be quiet and we really struggled with him.  For 2 years we struggled.  Now he sits well. Sara is in training right now during our family worship. Mostly she sleeps, but even then she is in the arms of her mother, and not some stranger in the nursery. God began to work on our hearts and convicted us that having the children in the service with us blesses the whole family. We were all hearing the same teaching and were able to have discussions because we were all learning the same thing.

We now attend a church where there is no nursery.  Yes, you read correctly, no nursery.  We are a family-integrated church.  The desire of the parents in our fellowship is to remain in worship together and worshipping as a family.  Our church is also a liturgical church.  Most of the liturgy changes from week to week, but there is a bit that remains the same.  When we come to those parts, if brings such joy to our hearts to hear even the youngest members of the church participating. We are also learning the great hymns and Psalms together.

While doing some reading on the subject of family-integrated churches and having children in the worship service, I came across some great articles.  The first one is from Raising Godly Tomatoes.  I highly recommend this site for child training. If you scroll down 1/4 of the way down the page, there will be a question and answer in training your babies to sit in church.

Scott Brown, the director of the
National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC)
has also written some great articles on the history of having children in the worship and the importance of worshipping as families. There are also many other wonderful articles to read and I encourage you to do so.

Children in the Meeting of the Ephesian Church

By Scott T. Brown

Ephesians 6:1-4 is the flagship New Testament passage on child rearing and fatherhood. It is an extremely simple and steadying message in light of the dizzying array of advice the world gives to parents...

 

Children Destroy Worshipful Atmospheres

By Scott T. Brown
"A couple of years ago I asked a pastor what he felt was the purpose of the Sunday School. He responded immediately, "to keep the children out of our hair so we can worship." For those of us who were raised on multiple choice exams, we know that the first impression is usually the right answer. So, I expect that his answer was sincere, though I don't think he would like to see it in print. In the same spirit, a dear friend of mine said to me the other day: "no one wants a four year old distracting him in church."

So, I ask you, If you do not bring your children into church with you, why don't you?  Does your church hold to the premise that children are a nuisance?  If you feel that it is Biblical that families should worship together, then I challenge you do bring them with you.  Show those in your congregation that children are a blessing and should be included in corporate worship.

If you disagree with children being in the worship service I would love to hear from you also.  

Happy Birthday, Dear Cara

Today our 3rd daughter, Cara Grace, turned 7 years old.  We were very busy today with worship  and fellowship, so we celebrated yesterday.  A new tradition we started this year is having milkshakes with the birthday meal.   Cara loves chocolate as much as her mother, so chocolate milkshakes it was.  We also have her favorites: grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed carrots, homemade biscuits, and deviled eggs.

After dinner Cara opened gifts.  She received some new books, dresses, dishes for her kitchen, and a coffee pot to make coffee after she cooks us dinner.

Mathias and Cara discussing the fine art of coffee making

Sara eating the wrapping paper

Then Cara's favorite time came - CAKE!  Together her and I made a chocolate cake.  When it was finished baking we poked holes in it and poured caramel over the top.  Then we put on cool whip and topped it with either chopped Heath bars or Butterfingers.  YUMMY!

YUMMY candy bar cake!

Sara waiting for some cake....

Even though Cara is 7 years old she has a love for Jesus that is evident to all.  Just this past week she drew a picture of a cross with flowers all around it.  She explained to me that since she loved flowers so much she wanted to put them on Jesus' cross to show Him how much she loved Him. 

She also loves her family very much - especially her baby sister, Sara.  In fact we call them the rhyming sisters. Cara loves to smile and sing when ever she can, and is sensitive to others around her.  What a tender heart she has.  

Happy Birthday, Cara!  We love you very much!