This has definitely been a "no time to write" week. Having people stay in your house while you're away and live in every room, every drawer, every dusty nook and cranny has certainly pushed us to get our home in order inside and outside. So I'm still up early, but not writing....
Yet, God has still been at work. This summer I was forced to start in the basement and sort all through the storage bins, as I've written before, and so I did. The problem was they couldn't go back in the basement, it needs more surgery, which won't happen until either the Fall or who knows when....so where to put them in the meantime? It seemed obvious, put them in the barn, so we did! But then, they were blocking all the paths to get to the animals, so we knew that wasn't going to work long term, what then? A miracle, as usual!
On the main floor of the barn, way at the back, is this little storage room, actually two rooms. I had only been in their once in the whole 5 years we'd lived here and it was stinky and full of boxes of old jars (probably worth something). I never thought twice about it, but then it occurred to RM to clean it out and put all the bins in there.
When I found out the room was cleaned, I went in for a look. When I opened the door, I felt like I had walked into a beautiful, old farmhouse, complete with a little window for light. My boys had done a great job. Suddenly all I saw was the antique wood on the floor and the incredible beams above. I didn't want to put my bins in there! I wanted to move in! But alas, the bins went in and what is so amazing is that they will stay dry, away from cows and horses and feed bags. They might get the odd spider, but that is fine. It is spacious, organized and only a short walk away from the house. What a gift! It's neat to think that is was there all along, but I just never knew it. It took us fixing the basement to figure this out. God had a plan the whole time.
We're now only days away from leaving on our vacation. The kids are getting excited, but oddly, I was getting fearful that something would keep us from going away. Then, on Sunday, the van engine light went on. Oh no. Suddenly I pictured it, not having a way to get down there. On Monday, RM would be away, so I knew he wouldn't be able to take the van to get looked at that day, adding more delay to the fixing time. That morning, I read a verse that changed everything. Acts 27:43, 44 "He ordered those could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land."
That was it! I quickly grabbed the kids and shared with them what I had learned. The devotional I had read shared how God sometimes doesn't perform the miracles that He could. He didn't stop the storm, He didn't spare the boat, He didn't send a cruise ship to rescue. Those on the ship actually had to jump into the water and swim or grab pieces of wreckage! So I told the kids that God could send us a brand new van, but He probably wouldn't. He could send us free tickets to North Carolina, but He probably wouldn't. I joked that He might just have us walk, or bike, or swim or fly, but the point was "that all were brought safely to land." That's when I stopped worrying what was going to happen. I knew God would get us safely to NC. So we prayed that the van could get fixed and that God would work out some way to get us down there.
Sure enough, they figured out what it was pretty quickly. It got fixed and fortunately for us it happened before we left, not on the way! We'll be able to pay for it when we get back as money is coming in almost as soon as we return. All in all, I look at it as another trial we needed to go through just to see how God would work. I'm so grateful!
It's my new favourite phrase, "I'm shipwrecked!" I've shared it with more than one person already because being shipwrecked and grabbing a piece of wreckage is actually God at work even though we want the quick rescue. I'm sure Paul was crying out for a miracle, but God sent a plank. I love that. Something so ordinary. To think that God actually allows the storm is another amazing thought. Yet, all "were brought safely to land." He did rescue them, just not how they had all planned, nor how I had planned.
Like I said, the kids are counting down the days. I'll believe it when I'm in the van, driving down the road. I still can't believe it's happening. Today, as if I have time, I'm going to buy cucumbers and even try to do some canning of cucumbers before I go. Why not? I'm so "country-fied" now. I'm afraid I'll miss the harvest while I'm gone! My city friends would be proud. My new country friends would be disappointed if I didn't! So, it's going to be a busy few days before departure.....but fun. Hopefully no more shipwrecks before we leave, but I'll try to remember that God is in the storm even if it does happen.
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Thursday, 20 August 2015
Fighting Our Natural Bent
This may seem a little on the ridiculous side, but yesterday I waited for a sale on the glassware and china at the thrift store down the street. The reason that might seem ridiculous was because glasses there are only 25 cents and half price means they are 12 1/2 cents! So not necessarily a big savings. However, I waited anyway even though I had been there the day before and could have purchased all the glasses I needed then. I really had to stock up as we go through glasses very quickly - they fall into our ceramic sink and they're done for or a child drops one (or a mommy...). Everyday I hear an "Oops," it seems. So I purchased quite a few.
Then, same thing for bowls. I needed to restock as someone is either eating them or stealing them or they break and I never see it happen because I just can't explain where they are going. A genius friend gave me a great idea a while back, she only purchases white dishes, no pattern ever, because you can always get a new white dish and it always fits in. So I've been doing that ever since. I purchased one main white pattern and then anytime something breaks, I go to just a plain white bowl, plate or mug, from the thrift store and it fits in just fine.
All in all yesterday, if I had bought any of the dishes new at the store I used to buy my dishes (where I am embarrassed to say how much I used to pay......) I would have spent over $170 easily I figured. Yesterday, my grand total for all the glasses and bowls (probably 12 of each), was $9. I was so happy! My daughter was with me and observed my joy. I hope she also observed where I bought them, too, and I hope she figured out there was a method in my madness. Our cupboards are restocked with dishes and it feels like they were free!
Other good news... my daughter got her cast off yesterday. I'm so grateful for the healthcare in Ontario. Yes, I know we pay for it through our taxes, but it was amazing to walk in and walk out and get all that care from so many professionals and not open my wallet once. I saw a surgeon 3 times, several different Ortho techs, several different receptionists, several x-rays, lots of computers..... all a part of the health care here. I am able to not even think twice about going to the doctor which I know isn't the same for those in the States because each visit is a cost. Here, it seems free! I wish they could somehow make my taxes apply to the parking though. In just 3 visits, I dropped over $50 in parking because of my oversized van. I had to pay more because it wouldn't fit in the underground parking!
We also received great news that could save us thousands in heating costs yesterday. We've been trying to get a natural gas line in on our road, but we could only do so if we got buy-in from our neighbours. The gas company was going to charge quite a bit as they had no plans to put one in, but we figured over the long-run it would pay for itself. Then yesterday, we got a letter in the mail from the gas company asking us if we wanted natural gas as a neighbour on the road was interested. Of course we're interested! Now, because the gas company is thinking they'll have enough customers and, I guess, because it's their initiative and not ours, they'll be putting it in for free, if all neighbours say yes. We are excited about this as we are heating with oil right now and it costs a small fortune!
This was a tremendous encouragement for RM yesterday as he had been feeling that same classic discouragement again.... so many extra costs, so many unforeseen costs...... hard to get ahead.....I had been praying all day for him, for some encouragement in some form. The letter from the gas company was definitely a good boost. He also got a small contract that he wasn't expecting yesterday, too, so that helped him as he wasn't expecting that at all. I consider it a fantastic answer to prayer as I knew how he was feeling.
It's pouring rain today. I keep hearing a new sound - the sump pump. Music to our ears. Every time it goes on we realize how much water used to go in our basement which is now directed outside. No wonder our basement was such a mess. Another blessing. I'm so grateful that my husband is so handy and that he knew just what to do.
It's good to count my blessings. It is way easier to stay in the pit of despair. It's almost unnatural to be positive. We tend to lean towards fear and discouragement as our natural bent. That's where our sin nature takes us first. We have to fight this daily, make a new habit in our thought life.
I hear another funny new sound.... Hungry, Hungry, Hippo - that obnoxious game with marbles, but my son is playing it instead of watching TV, so I'm happy! There, see, I'm trying to be positive!
Then, same thing for bowls. I needed to restock as someone is either eating them or stealing them or they break and I never see it happen because I just can't explain where they are going. A genius friend gave me a great idea a while back, she only purchases white dishes, no pattern ever, because you can always get a new white dish and it always fits in. So I've been doing that ever since. I purchased one main white pattern and then anytime something breaks, I go to just a plain white bowl, plate or mug, from the thrift store and it fits in just fine.
All in all yesterday, if I had bought any of the dishes new at the store I used to buy my dishes (where I am embarrassed to say how much I used to pay......) I would have spent over $170 easily I figured. Yesterday, my grand total for all the glasses and bowls (probably 12 of each), was $9. I was so happy! My daughter was with me and observed my joy. I hope she also observed where I bought them, too, and I hope she figured out there was a method in my madness. Our cupboards are restocked with dishes and it feels like they were free!
Other good news... my daughter got her cast off yesterday. I'm so grateful for the healthcare in Ontario. Yes, I know we pay for it through our taxes, but it was amazing to walk in and walk out and get all that care from so many professionals and not open my wallet once. I saw a surgeon 3 times, several different Ortho techs, several different receptionists, several x-rays, lots of computers..... all a part of the health care here. I am able to not even think twice about going to the doctor which I know isn't the same for those in the States because each visit is a cost. Here, it seems free! I wish they could somehow make my taxes apply to the parking though. In just 3 visits, I dropped over $50 in parking because of my oversized van. I had to pay more because it wouldn't fit in the underground parking!
We also received great news that could save us thousands in heating costs yesterday. We've been trying to get a natural gas line in on our road, but we could only do so if we got buy-in from our neighbours. The gas company was going to charge quite a bit as they had no plans to put one in, but we figured over the long-run it would pay for itself. Then yesterday, we got a letter in the mail from the gas company asking us if we wanted natural gas as a neighbour on the road was interested. Of course we're interested! Now, because the gas company is thinking they'll have enough customers and, I guess, because it's their initiative and not ours, they'll be putting it in for free, if all neighbours say yes. We are excited about this as we are heating with oil right now and it costs a small fortune!
This was a tremendous encouragement for RM yesterday as he had been feeling that same classic discouragement again.... so many extra costs, so many unforeseen costs...... hard to get ahead.....I had been praying all day for him, for some encouragement in some form. The letter from the gas company was definitely a good boost. He also got a small contract that he wasn't expecting yesterday, too, so that helped him as he wasn't expecting that at all. I consider it a fantastic answer to prayer as I knew how he was feeling.
It's pouring rain today. I keep hearing a new sound - the sump pump. Music to our ears. Every time it goes on we realize how much water used to go in our basement which is now directed outside. No wonder our basement was such a mess. Another blessing. I'm so grateful that my husband is so handy and that he knew just what to do.
It's good to count my blessings. It is way easier to stay in the pit of despair. It's almost unnatural to be positive. We tend to lean towards fear and discouragement as our natural bent. That's where our sin nature takes us first. We have to fight this daily, make a new habit in our thought life.
I hear another funny new sound.... Hungry, Hungry, Hippo - that obnoxious game with marbles, but my son is playing it instead of watching TV, so I'm happy! There, see, I'm trying to be positive!
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
(Trying to) Wait Patiently
Lately in the news all they've been talking about it seems is how much debt people are in, but yesterday, I was shocked to read about a couple of people who were seriously trying to get out of debt and were accomplishing it.
One was a young woman who found herself in a ton of credit card debt with no way to pay it off. She just decided to track everything she spent and put herself on a strict budget. Somehow she paid off $28,000 in two years. By living frugally she found she could live without all the things she thought she needed. One of the things she did was put herself on a "shopping ban" where she only bought the necessities, like toothpaste, but went without unless it wore out, like a pair of jeans. It was very inspiring.
The other case study was of a young family who had already managed to pay off their mortgage with 3 young children. Seems impossible! They did have two incomes, but they were just super frugal, too, and stuck to a budget. They even managed to get quite a bit of money in investments and savings so when the husband lost his job, they weren't in a big panic.
I always need to read good stories like that. It is so easy to get off track. I think I live frugally, but reading their stories reminded me I could still do better. I asked a friend of mine to ask me at the end of the month if I kept track of our finances. My husband usually manages our finances and still will, but I'm definitely the one in charge of the grocery side of things and all things kid-related, clothes, etc. I am supposed to go through what we spent this month and where to keep finding the holes in our spending. I'm actually looking forward to it. I had been very careful for several months in a row and wrote down every single expense, but it was so hard to keep up, so I ended up just kind of "doing it in my head" thinking that I was still on top of it, but, truth be known, I don't think you can really have it all in your head and be accurate.
So once again, I have to be more on top of it! I'm starting to see some spending habits in my children that make me think that we are all prone to self-indulgence. However, my son did learn an interesting lesson this week. He has saved his money this summer and definitely wanted to put it towards a pocket knife. But my husband had no idea how much money he wanted to spend on it. He discouraged the high end knife and instead encouraged him to give it a waiting period to cool off and think about it. He was so disappointed at first, but then a couple of days later he realized he was so glad he hadn't spent his money when he did as it really wasn't wise to blow all that money on a knife when he could get another perfectly fine knife for a much lower price somewhere else. He actually admitted that he was glad he had waited.
That is something the other couple did, too. Anything over $20 had to be discussed and waited on. They couldn't blow their money on just anything at anytime. That saved them a lot of expensive decisions.
It is still hard to imagine that kind of freedom where there is no bank manager in your life, but I still long for it and pray for it. I read a verse in Psalm 40 the other day and it said, "I waited patiently for the Lord....". So I must remain patient and that is the hardest thing I've ever done.
One was a young woman who found herself in a ton of credit card debt with no way to pay it off. She just decided to track everything she spent and put herself on a strict budget. Somehow she paid off $28,000 in two years. By living frugally she found she could live without all the things she thought she needed. One of the things she did was put herself on a "shopping ban" where she only bought the necessities, like toothpaste, but went without unless it wore out, like a pair of jeans. It was very inspiring.
The other case study was of a young family who had already managed to pay off their mortgage with 3 young children. Seems impossible! They did have two incomes, but they were just super frugal, too, and stuck to a budget. They even managed to get quite a bit of money in investments and savings so when the husband lost his job, they weren't in a big panic.
I always need to read good stories like that. It is so easy to get off track. I think I live frugally, but reading their stories reminded me I could still do better. I asked a friend of mine to ask me at the end of the month if I kept track of our finances. My husband usually manages our finances and still will, but I'm definitely the one in charge of the grocery side of things and all things kid-related, clothes, etc. I am supposed to go through what we spent this month and where to keep finding the holes in our spending. I'm actually looking forward to it. I had been very careful for several months in a row and wrote down every single expense, but it was so hard to keep up, so I ended up just kind of "doing it in my head" thinking that I was still on top of it, but, truth be known, I don't think you can really have it all in your head and be accurate.
So once again, I have to be more on top of it! I'm starting to see some spending habits in my children that make me think that we are all prone to self-indulgence. However, my son did learn an interesting lesson this week. He has saved his money this summer and definitely wanted to put it towards a pocket knife. But my husband had no idea how much money he wanted to spend on it. He discouraged the high end knife and instead encouraged him to give it a waiting period to cool off and think about it. He was so disappointed at first, but then a couple of days later he realized he was so glad he hadn't spent his money when he did as it really wasn't wise to blow all that money on a knife when he could get another perfectly fine knife for a much lower price somewhere else. He actually admitted that he was glad he had waited.
That is something the other couple did, too. Anything over $20 had to be discussed and waited on. They couldn't blow their money on just anything at anytime. That saved them a lot of expensive decisions.
It is still hard to imagine that kind of freedom where there is no bank manager in your life, but I still long for it and pray for it. I read a verse in Psalm 40 the other day and it said, "I waited patiently for the Lord....". So I must remain patient and that is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Thursday, 13 August 2015
Work Camp, Dishes, and Bugs
When it comes to my husband's work, summer is the best. The engineering work slows down, farming picks up and he's able to be around more and available to get some work done on the house. Now that most of the haying is done, at least first cut, he's finally been able to get to the basement.
We had to do some exploratory surgery down there to see how bad it was and we got bad news. We have "foundation cancer". But the prognosis is good! We can do a temporary fix now and go at the serious fix perhaps in the fall or even next summer. So that's what we did. Last week we rented the jack hammer, dug a very serious hole, put in a sump pump (thus the flooding, no pump prior to this, all done manually this whole spring and summer....), laid down some more plumbing, dealt with a pile of rubble that was HUGE, re-cemented the whole thing, cleaned it all up and voilà! It looks like there was never a problem!
My role in the process was getting every single bin out and relocated that I had been storing down there, which included everything from Christmas stuff to children's clothes. It was a very long and arduous process and required me going through every single bin as many had been damaged in the flooding. But it was so good to purge and get rid of stuff that we didn't need anymore. Now it is in the basement of the barn until the basement is in good enough shape to put it all back!
We figure this whole process would have cost us $10,000 if we had hired it out. We know because another friend of ours did a very similar fix on his basement and that's what he paid, so we are grateful that we could do it on our own, though it was very hard on RM physically and even the boys, but everyone just gets more muscles out of it, so it can't hurt that bad! I think it was also great for our children to once again observe what their Dad does, how he fixes things, how he problem solves. The irony is he learned about sump pumps in our first house nearly 20 years ago. We never knew that knowledge would one day come in handy! It was also a great opportunity for our boys to work alongside their Dad. He's trying very hard to make sure that he doesn't make them do anything that he wouldn't do himself and by being near them during the awful, hard work, I think it makes it more bearable for them.
Meanwhile my kitchen is in much better shape today thanks to a visit from Jen this week and a generous donation of a working dishwasher from my folks! I understand that people have dishwashing philosophies and that some are against dishwashers as it keeps families from working together, etc., but that is not our philosophy....WE LOVE DISHWASHERS!!!! It's all about being practical. It saves me HOURS of standing in front of my sink as I go through a lot of dishes every day. I had been without one for months. I tried to thank the Lord for the time to look out my window and watch my children in the sandbox, but inside all I could think of was, "I wish my dishwasher worked....." We installed it right away and it took us minutes to clean up the kitchen. Time is precious around here, so I am SO grateful!!!!!
My children aren't so sure they like Dad being available more around the house, however. When he's around more, he notices more things to do and he makes sure they get done. It has been awesome as far as I'm concerned. He has enforced a "No child sits still and does nothing" policy, ok, not officially, but he's been cracking the whip around here and I love it! I'm noticing they listen to him a lot quicker than they listen to me....hmmmmmm....
The TV is out of bounds, even music, to some degree, as they spend so much time figuring out which song to listen to and it ends up becoming a dance party! I'm serious. My husband means business. It's like our war on debt, we have declared war on spare time, yet again. When he gets in this mode, I take advantage of it and show him all kinds of things that need to get done around the house that I've been waiting and waiting for him to look at. I'm hoping this means he'll get those things done.
So, it's a little bit like a work camp over here, my poor kids, but oh well! They'll have character at the end of it all, right?
Ending on a "why I love where I live" note, yesterday was fantastic. While we were out for a bit in the afternoon, we left my big boys in charge of my littler boys. The challenge, "Go find all the bugs you can." How fun! When we lived in town, there was no tall grass to look in, we always had to take a long walk to find good bugs. Here on the farm, around the old dilapidated buildings, there is tall, tall grass everywhere - a bug's paradise. I never knew certain bugs existed outside of a museum until my oldest son came along. He introduced me to praying mantises and zipper spiders and many more.
Yesterday, while we were gone, they spent hours in the fields looking for bugs, finding them, then relocating them to a huge empty fish tank in their room. More fun! They fed grasshoppers to the praying mantises and watched them get ripped apart. Ewww, but great for the boys. They threw flies to the zipper spider and watched it roll it up in it's webbing just like in a nature movie. They were telling us all about this last night after we got home. I pulled out a "Charlotte Mason" move and for family worship last night, we read from one of the "living books" we have on insects about the praying mantis. It was so amazing to read all about it, but more than that, to see how God was in the design and how incredible He designed it. That was what Charlotte Mason wanted her students to see, the relationship between God and Nature. After reading a short segment, I had the kids "narrarate" back what they had heard, another Mason move, to help them learn to listen and to see what they know and understood. It was fantastic how much they heard and grasped. Then we prayed and thanked God for the praying mantis, for nature, for living on the farm.... what a good day.
We had to do some exploratory surgery down there to see how bad it was and we got bad news. We have "foundation cancer". But the prognosis is good! We can do a temporary fix now and go at the serious fix perhaps in the fall or even next summer. So that's what we did. Last week we rented the jack hammer, dug a very serious hole, put in a sump pump (thus the flooding, no pump prior to this, all done manually this whole spring and summer....), laid down some more plumbing, dealt with a pile of rubble that was HUGE, re-cemented the whole thing, cleaned it all up and voilà! It looks like there was never a problem!
My role in the process was getting every single bin out and relocated that I had been storing down there, which included everything from Christmas stuff to children's clothes. It was a very long and arduous process and required me going through every single bin as many had been damaged in the flooding. But it was so good to purge and get rid of stuff that we didn't need anymore. Now it is in the basement of the barn until the basement is in good enough shape to put it all back!
We figure this whole process would have cost us $10,000 if we had hired it out. We know because another friend of ours did a very similar fix on his basement and that's what he paid, so we are grateful that we could do it on our own, though it was very hard on RM physically and even the boys, but everyone just gets more muscles out of it, so it can't hurt that bad! I think it was also great for our children to once again observe what their Dad does, how he fixes things, how he problem solves. The irony is he learned about sump pumps in our first house nearly 20 years ago. We never knew that knowledge would one day come in handy! It was also a great opportunity for our boys to work alongside their Dad. He's trying very hard to make sure that he doesn't make them do anything that he wouldn't do himself and by being near them during the awful, hard work, I think it makes it more bearable for them.
Meanwhile my kitchen is in much better shape today thanks to a visit from Jen this week and a generous donation of a working dishwasher from my folks! I understand that people have dishwashing philosophies and that some are against dishwashers as it keeps families from working together, etc., but that is not our philosophy....WE LOVE DISHWASHERS!!!! It's all about being practical. It saves me HOURS of standing in front of my sink as I go through a lot of dishes every day. I had been without one for months. I tried to thank the Lord for the time to look out my window and watch my children in the sandbox, but inside all I could think of was, "I wish my dishwasher worked....." We installed it right away and it took us minutes to clean up the kitchen. Time is precious around here, so I am SO grateful!!!!!
My children aren't so sure they like Dad being available more around the house, however. When he's around more, he notices more things to do and he makes sure they get done. It has been awesome as far as I'm concerned. He has enforced a "No child sits still and does nothing" policy, ok, not officially, but he's been cracking the whip around here and I love it! I'm noticing they listen to him a lot quicker than they listen to me....hmmmmmm....
The TV is out of bounds, even music, to some degree, as they spend so much time figuring out which song to listen to and it ends up becoming a dance party! I'm serious. My husband means business. It's like our war on debt, we have declared war on spare time, yet again. When he gets in this mode, I take advantage of it and show him all kinds of things that need to get done around the house that I've been waiting and waiting for him to look at. I'm hoping this means he'll get those things done.
So, it's a little bit like a work camp over here, my poor kids, but oh well! They'll have character at the end of it all, right?
Ending on a "why I love where I live" note, yesterday was fantastic. While we were out for a bit in the afternoon, we left my big boys in charge of my littler boys. The challenge, "Go find all the bugs you can." How fun! When we lived in town, there was no tall grass to look in, we always had to take a long walk to find good bugs. Here on the farm, around the old dilapidated buildings, there is tall, tall grass everywhere - a bug's paradise. I never knew certain bugs existed outside of a museum until my oldest son came along. He introduced me to praying mantises and zipper spiders and many more.
Yesterday, while we were gone, they spent hours in the fields looking for bugs, finding them, then relocating them to a huge empty fish tank in their room. More fun! They fed grasshoppers to the praying mantises and watched them get ripped apart. Ewww, but great for the boys. They threw flies to the zipper spider and watched it roll it up in it's webbing just like in a nature movie. They were telling us all about this last night after we got home. I pulled out a "Charlotte Mason" move and for family worship last night, we read from one of the "living books" we have on insects about the praying mantis. It was so amazing to read all about it, but more than that, to see how God was in the design and how incredible He designed it. That was what Charlotte Mason wanted her students to see, the relationship between God and Nature. After reading a short segment, I had the kids "narrarate" back what they had heard, another Mason move, to help them learn to listen and to see what they know and understood. It was fantastic how much they heard and grasped. Then we prayed and thanked God for the praying mantis, for nature, for living on the farm.... what a good day.
Wednesday, 12 August 2015
Throughout All Their Journeys.....
I woke up with a feeling of anxiety yesterday.... who knows why, perhaps lots of things on my list to do, perhaps not feeling like we would have enough time or money to get things done. Of course we hoped to go down south with a little extra spending money, but we'll definitely be sticking to a tighter budget. I was a little anxious about that, but then I stopped and really tried to take my thoughts captive. It was as if Satan was determined to ruin my day. I picked up my Bible and went to Exodus where I was still reading and I came to the final two chapters. They were perfect and the exact encouragement I needed:
"Thus all the work of the tabernacle was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did." (Ex. 39:32). Then the next series of verses goes through the incredible list of things they had to finish, "Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins and the veil of the screen; the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; the lampstand..........." The list goes on and on and on...... all of these things were made one at a time by Oholiab, Bezalel and their team of workers. I could just picture Oholiab and Bezalel sitting down like I do with RM sometimes and saying, "Ok, how many things are left on the tabernacle list? It seems like we'll never get this tabernacle built!" We've made many lists like that and allotted time for each item to get done just so we could see how much time we figured it would take to get things done, especially when we built the house. It seemed like forever, but eventually it all got done and the house sold.
Then, the final two verses of 39 say it again, "According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them." All the work had gotten done! "Behold," he wrote, "they had done it"!!!! Why, "behold"? Perhaps they were just as shocked as I was when we finished the house that everything had actually gotten done! And the most amazing thing is, Home Depot didn't exist! They were able to finish all the construction work just because people willingly contributed, "And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, 'The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do. So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, 'Let no man or woman do anything more for the contributions for the sanctuary.' So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more." (36:3-7)
What encouragement - the work gets all done, they had sufficient material to the work, and more. Then, chapter 40 - putting it all together. They moved in! Well, sort of, God moved in actually. "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." But it didn't end there, "Throughout all their journeys......" God was with them in a cloud by day and a fire by night. They didn't go until He directed them and when He did tell them to move it says again, He was with them "throughout all their journeys." Twice that expression is used.
So, the encouragement is definitely clear - God will help us get everything done. He'll provide sufficient material (and more) to get what He wants us to get done (not necessarily what we think we should get done....) and the ultimate blessing is that He'll be with us "throughout all our journeys". Amen!
"Thus all the work of the tabernacle was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did." (Ex. 39:32). Then the next series of verses goes through the incredible list of things they had to finish, "Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins and the veil of the screen; the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; the lampstand..........." The list goes on and on and on...... all of these things were made one at a time by Oholiab, Bezalel and their team of workers. I could just picture Oholiab and Bezalel sitting down like I do with RM sometimes and saying, "Ok, how many things are left on the tabernacle list? It seems like we'll never get this tabernacle built!" We've made many lists like that and allotted time for each item to get done just so we could see how much time we figured it would take to get things done, especially when we built the house. It seemed like forever, but eventually it all got done and the house sold.
Then, the final two verses of 39 say it again, "According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them." All the work had gotten done! "Behold," he wrote, "they had done it"!!!! Why, "behold"? Perhaps they were just as shocked as I was when we finished the house that everything had actually gotten done! And the most amazing thing is, Home Depot didn't exist! They were able to finish all the construction work just because people willingly contributed, "And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, 'The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do. So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, 'Let no man or woman do anything more for the contributions for the sanctuary.' So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more." (36:3-7)
What encouragement - the work gets all done, they had sufficient material to the work, and more. Then, chapter 40 - putting it all together. They moved in! Well, sort of, God moved in actually. "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." But it didn't end there, "Throughout all their journeys......" God was with them in a cloud by day and a fire by night. They didn't go until He directed them and when He did tell them to move it says again, He was with them "throughout all their journeys." Twice that expression is used.
So, the encouragement is definitely clear - God will help us get everything done. He'll provide sufficient material (and more) to get what He wants us to get done (not necessarily what we think we should get done....) and the ultimate blessing is that He'll be with us "throughout all our journeys". Amen!
Monday, 10 August 2015
Still a Slave, Charlotte Mason, and the Niagara Challenge
Last week we had to go sign some papers at the bank. At first, we thought it was a little ridiculous to be signing more papers, haven't we signed enough? Head office had overlooked something in our file and just needed our signature. It was no big deal to them, but to us we just hated going back to the bank and signing more documents. It was a painful reminder that we were still in bondage to them. We even tried to get out of signing them, but no, they required our signature. When we got to the branch office, the lady at the bank asked, "So what are your apprehensions?" We explained and then my husband said, "I'll sign, I guess as long as we are borrowing, we are slave to the lenders....." She responded by saying, "That's pretty much it." Even she knew. The bank can pretty much say how high to jump and we have to jump as long as they are in the driver's seat. It was a great reminder to stay on track and get out of this pit as soon as possible.
On Saturday I attended a full day "Charlotte Mason" seminar. She was a famous educator that changed the culture of England back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Since then her ideas and books are now all in books and periodicals, as she was a prolific writer, and many of us home schoolers follow them today. If you hear home schoolers talking nowadays, you might hear, "So, are you doing Charlotte Mason?" It simply means, "Are you following her techniques of educating?" I have been using her style, without even really knowing it, from the beginning. She highly encouraged the reading of great literature and I've always bought a literature-based curriculum. She encourages a lot of dictation, copywork, narrating and writing what you've learned. I've also done a lot of that throughout the years which I think has helped to make my children good writers and communicators.
It was a very inspiring day as she highly encouraged nature study, painting it, drawing it, keeping a journal of it. We've done the journals since our first year, too, and it is neat to look back on the things they drew or observed on nature walks years ago. I have found it hard to keep up with the younger ones, but this seminar reminded me how wonderful it can be.
It is a very rigorous curriculum and expects a lot of the children in terms of the level of reading, but at the same time, encourages the mom to not assume it'll be too much as she believed children were more capable than we give them credit for.
One of Charlotte Mason's students was Amy Carmichael, the famous missionary to India. She was trained to be a teacher in one of Mason's schools. She then took the methods she had learned and taught them to the young girls in India. I thought that was kind of interesting as I really love Amy Carmichael.
The highlight of the day was just being with other like-minded women. We were unbelievably chatty! Every moment we got was another opportunity to meet someone or catch up with someone else. Perhaps it was so refreshing because we weren't being constantly interrupted by all the little ones back at home! My husband had to watch my younger 5 because my older 3 were still on the mission trip to Niagara - so he had his hands full! It was such a blessing and I came away so refreshed. I even got a silver maple in a pot as a door prize!
My older children came home that same night and we all sat around for a long time catching up on each other's weeks. It was strange not having all 3 for the whole week. But they had a wonderful time. We got to hear them speak a little on Sunday about their week at the host church. A few of the people on the mission trip spoke including an older man who admitted to not getting involved year after year. He and his wife decided to go this year and it seemed like it really changed him. What was extremely special was how he spoke of the young people on the trip and how inspiring they were to him. That meant a lot to me. I admired him, too, though, for admitting he'd been sitting there "comfortable" for all those years, but then finally doing something to get him out of his comfort zone. Very cool.
Now, more clean up, more organizing, more re-visiting of the Charlotte Mason approach, more kids home, more help coming...... it'll be a another busy week I'm sure..... The children's mission trip was called the "Niagara Challenge". I would say that sums up my week here, too, or just about every week!
On Saturday I attended a full day "Charlotte Mason" seminar. She was a famous educator that changed the culture of England back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Since then her ideas and books are now all in books and periodicals, as she was a prolific writer, and many of us home schoolers follow them today. If you hear home schoolers talking nowadays, you might hear, "So, are you doing Charlotte Mason?" It simply means, "Are you following her techniques of educating?" I have been using her style, without even really knowing it, from the beginning. She highly encouraged the reading of great literature and I've always bought a literature-based curriculum. She encourages a lot of dictation, copywork, narrating and writing what you've learned. I've also done a lot of that throughout the years which I think has helped to make my children good writers and communicators.
It was a very inspiring day as she highly encouraged nature study, painting it, drawing it, keeping a journal of it. We've done the journals since our first year, too, and it is neat to look back on the things they drew or observed on nature walks years ago. I have found it hard to keep up with the younger ones, but this seminar reminded me how wonderful it can be.
It is a very rigorous curriculum and expects a lot of the children in terms of the level of reading, but at the same time, encourages the mom to not assume it'll be too much as she believed children were more capable than we give them credit for.
One of Charlotte Mason's students was Amy Carmichael, the famous missionary to India. She was trained to be a teacher in one of Mason's schools. She then took the methods she had learned and taught them to the young girls in India. I thought that was kind of interesting as I really love Amy Carmichael.
The highlight of the day was just being with other like-minded women. We were unbelievably chatty! Every moment we got was another opportunity to meet someone or catch up with someone else. Perhaps it was so refreshing because we weren't being constantly interrupted by all the little ones back at home! My husband had to watch my younger 5 because my older 3 were still on the mission trip to Niagara - so he had his hands full! It was such a blessing and I came away so refreshed. I even got a silver maple in a pot as a door prize!
My older children came home that same night and we all sat around for a long time catching up on each other's weeks. It was strange not having all 3 for the whole week. But they had a wonderful time. We got to hear them speak a little on Sunday about their week at the host church. A few of the people on the mission trip spoke including an older man who admitted to not getting involved year after year. He and his wife decided to go this year and it seemed like it really changed him. What was extremely special was how he spoke of the young people on the trip and how inspiring they were to him. That meant a lot to me. I admired him, too, though, for admitting he'd been sitting there "comfortable" for all those years, but then finally doing something to get him out of his comfort zone. Very cool.
Now, more clean up, more organizing, more re-visiting of the Charlotte Mason approach, more kids home, more help coming...... it'll be a another busy week I'm sure..... The children's mission trip was called the "Niagara Challenge". I would say that sums up my week here, too, or just about every week!
Friday, 7 August 2015
Continued Blessings....
Getting ready to go away has been an unusual amount of work and extra costs that we should have thought about but so many of them were unforeseen! One of the costs has been getting the van ready for a long drive full of children and gear. We got it tuned up which was the first miracle - the mechanic told us nothing was wrong! We made sure the a/c was working and, again, shockingly, it was a very cheap fix. Yesterday we got another shocker.
Our windshield needed to be replaced as it had a huge crack in it and, I'm not sure if it was related, but the rear-view mirror came off, too, so we definitely needed to do something about that. We've recently connected with a young couple whose husband is in the windshield repair business. Much to our shock, he generously did the repair without charging us just as a gesture of friendship. We were stunned, overwhelmed and in awe. We prayed as a few of us headed out later that afternoon that the Lord would bless them for their kindness as it was such a blessing to us (thank you, dear friends!)
My husband started work on the basement. He had been dreading it as it was going to be a boatload of hard work. The very day he was going to start I was reading in Exodus and came across the perfect verse to encourage him. "e.g...the Lord has called by name Bezalel....and he has filled him will skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft." (Exodus 35:30-35). It was the exact encouragement he needed, especially the stone cutting part, as he was going to be doing a lot of stone cutting (concrete!). I prayed that exact verse for him as he felt he had no plan on how to start. But I know God has gifted him with the exact skill and intelligence that he will need.
More expense though. However, more blessings! When my husband went to return the jack hammer he had rented to start taking apart our basement, he realized he was a couple hours over the time limit, but was prepared to pay the extra money. Yet, they ended up charging him more than he expected. He questioned them at first and then just said, "Fine, I'll pay....". The guy at the desk stopped and said, "Was this for your personal use?" "Yes." "I'll see what I can do....". Hmmm...... my husband wondered what he was up to. He ended up giving him a fantastic deal, charging him basically half-price for the use of the machine. He couldn't believe it. The guy at the desk said, "There's a lot of people that come in and try to rip us off. When an honest guy comes in, we try to give 'em a break." Another miracle. To top it off, he now does have a plan and he knows he can do it. By doing the work himself he'll saves us thousands of dollars.
I ended up spending the evening with some long lost second cousins who are in Toronto for a vacation. It was a wonderful reunion as we'd never met each other's children and hadn't seen each other in 18 years. Other cousins came over for a visit, too, and we were able to catch up a little on each other's lives. What I was so glad for was the common bond of Christ I sensed as we all seemed to open up a bit. I realized upon driving home how unusual that must be and how grateful I need to be for this. Each cousin, though perhaps in a different spiritual place in their walk, was raised to have faith in God and it was clear based on all the trials each of us have been through, that the only hope that we all have is that God is in control. What a legacy for all the grandparents represented there last night and even great-grandparents as I know they all came from a strong faith background as well. Such a neat night of encouragement.
Today, a young mom who is exploring homeschooling is coming over. My yard is a mess, as my lawn mowing boy is still on this missions trip, but I won't let that stop me from having her come. My older children are having quite the experience at this world religions training week. They've had a chance to interview a Muslim leader as well as a Hindu leader and they've all come back wondering how people follow these religions at all as they just don't make sense in my children's eyes. It's given them a greater sense of urgency to share their faith. Today they'll be handing out the Jesus Film in Niagara Falls.
Yesterday I was quite convinced I lived in a Bugs Bunny cartoon though. One of our cats found out we have baby chicks. It just so happens that this cat looks just like Sylvester and the chicks, of course, are yellow, like Tweety Bird. Sure enough, the cat somehow found his way into the chick's box when the lid was slightly ajar and grabbed one. We were chasing this cat all over the yard while "Tweety Chick" was peeping the whole time. Finally, we got the chick out of his mouth, just like Sylvester, with cat saliva all over the silly chick. That same cat then snuck into our van without me knowing. About half-way to my mom's house we found out we had a stowaway. "Mom! Moo's in the car!" Sure enough, he ended up joining us for the evening, but staying in the van as I knew if he got out he'd be a goner. I'm pretty sure he was carsick the whole way home as his meowing kind of gave that away.
That was just one day! God continues to amaze me in His big and small mercies.
Our windshield needed to be replaced as it had a huge crack in it and, I'm not sure if it was related, but the rear-view mirror came off, too, so we definitely needed to do something about that. We've recently connected with a young couple whose husband is in the windshield repair business. Much to our shock, he generously did the repair without charging us just as a gesture of friendship. We were stunned, overwhelmed and in awe. We prayed as a few of us headed out later that afternoon that the Lord would bless them for their kindness as it was such a blessing to us (thank you, dear friends!)
My husband started work on the basement. He had been dreading it as it was going to be a boatload of hard work. The very day he was going to start I was reading in Exodus and came across the perfect verse to encourage him. "e.g...the Lord has called by name Bezalel....and he has filled him will skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft." (Exodus 35:30-35). It was the exact encouragement he needed, especially the stone cutting part, as he was going to be doing a lot of stone cutting (concrete!). I prayed that exact verse for him as he felt he had no plan on how to start. But I know God has gifted him with the exact skill and intelligence that he will need.
More expense though. However, more blessings! When my husband went to return the jack hammer he had rented to start taking apart our basement, he realized he was a couple hours over the time limit, but was prepared to pay the extra money. Yet, they ended up charging him more than he expected. He questioned them at first and then just said, "Fine, I'll pay....". The guy at the desk stopped and said, "Was this for your personal use?" "Yes." "I'll see what I can do....". Hmmm...... my husband wondered what he was up to. He ended up giving him a fantastic deal, charging him basically half-price for the use of the machine. He couldn't believe it. The guy at the desk said, "There's a lot of people that come in and try to rip us off. When an honest guy comes in, we try to give 'em a break." Another miracle. To top it off, he now does have a plan and he knows he can do it. By doing the work himself he'll saves us thousands of dollars.
I ended up spending the evening with some long lost second cousins who are in Toronto for a vacation. It was a wonderful reunion as we'd never met each other's children and hadn't seen each other in 18 years. Other cousins came over for a visit, too, and we were able to catch up a little on each other's lives. What I was so glad for was the common bond of Christ I sensed as we all seemed to open up a bit. I realized upon driving home how unusual that must be and how grateful I need to be for this. Each cousin, though perhaps in a different spiritual place in their walk, was raised to have faith in God and it was clear based on all the trials each of us have been through, that the only hope that we all have is that God is in control. What a legacy for all the grandparents represented there last night and even great-grandparents as I know they all came from a strong faith background as well. Such a neat night of encouragement.
Today, a young mom who is exploring homeschooling is coming over. My yard is a mess, as my lawn mowing boy is still on this missions trip, but I won't let that stop me from having her come. My older children are having quite the experience at this world religions training week. They've had a chance to interview a Muslim leader as well as a Hindu leader and they've all come back wondering how people follow these religions at all as they just don't make sense in my children's eyes. It's given them a greater sense of urgency to share their faith. Today they'll be handing out the Jesus Film in Niagara Falls.
Yesterday I was quite convinced I lived in a Bugs Bunny cartoon though. One of our cats found out we have baby chicks. It just so happens that this cat looks just like Sylvester and the chicks, of course, are yellow, like Tweety Bird. Sure enough, the cat somehow found his way into the chick's box when the lid was slightly ajar and grabbed one. We were chasing this cat all over the yard while "Tweety Chick" was peeping the whole time. Finally, we got the chick out of his mouth, just like Sylvester, with cat saliva all over the silly chick. That same cat then snuck into our van without me knowing. About half-way to my mom's house we found out we had a stowaway. "Mom! Moo's in the car!" Sure enough, he ended up joining us for the evening, but staying in the van as I knew if he got out he'd be a goner. I'm pretty sure he was carsick the whole way home as his meowing kind of gave that away.
That was just one day! God continues to amaze me in His big and small mercies.
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Lord Willing!
Yesterday was a holiday Monday, but we had no intentions of taking it off, too much to do getting ready for going away....but....one should always say, "Lord willing......" whenever you make plans! I got a phone call mid-morning from a long, lost friend from the town we used to live in and he wanted to know if we were free! Our names had been on his mind constantly apparently and he felt he just had to come that day! How could we say no?! I didn't even ask my husband. I knew he would agree, so I said, "Sure!"
This man is in his mid 70s and lost his wife to a brain tumour 2 years ago. As a couple, they were very influential in our lives when we were first married. He was the man who convinced my husband that tithing 10% was the bare minimum we should consider. He was the man who constantly encouraged us that we should be reading our Bible through at least once a year. He and his wife modelled how to pray in a more organized fashion so that we could pray for more people including those around the world.
His wife also became a good friend to my mom and it was a real loss for her, too, when she passed away. All 3 of us moms were school teachers at one time and so shared a common interest in teaching little children, especially about the Lord.
They were such a godly influence in our lives, I knew we would have been remiss to say "No, too busy...". It was the perfect example of what we had heard on Sunday. The pastor had been speaking on Proverbs on the topic of friendship. He described that we need to surround ourselves with "life-enhancing" friends that point us to Christ as opposed to "life-sucking" friends that take us away from Christ. This man is definitely one of those life-enhancing friends. We almost entirely spoke of theological things yesterday. Scripture was tossed around all afternoon. It was so wonderful. Even when the topics got a little touchy or controversial, none of us strayed away from our friendship, we quite enjoyed the banter. I was so glad he came.
I sure wish people had watched me kick into high gear, though, when I found out I was going to have a visitor in an hour! My oldest 3 weren't around (and won't be for the whole week which I'll explain in a bit). I can usually rely on them for all the clean up help. My next child is still in a cast, so not a lot of help! My younger ones were there, so I gave a quick pep talk on what needed to be done and I'm happy to say, they rose to the task! I had thought I would be home all day cleaning and sorting, so I had pulled out all sorts of things to do.... had to put it all away. We went into running/cleaning mode! It was quite a marvel to see and I was sweating when all was said and done.
What to feed him? I hadn't thought of anything even for ourselves that day! Then I remembered I had some pork chops and zucchini in the fridge. I even brought out some frozen fish to thaw (surf and turf!) I quickly threw on some rice and then spiced up the pork chops and zucchini for the BBQ, but then I thought, "This guy is Jamaican, he'll love something with coconut or a curry sauce", so I quickly whipped up a coconut/curry sauce for the pork. He ended up bringing some fresh corn which I boiled. It ended up being a delicious gourmet lunch! Barbequed pork, fish, zucchini with rice, corn, and a yummy sauce on the side or all over. Fantastic! No dessert made, so I quickly scooped ice-cream and poured a chocolate sauce on it - very easy and everyone was happy. It was a great visit and he stayed probably 5 hours. We did not accomplish all that we had hoped, but I felt like God stopped our plans that day and gave us something of eternal value instead, a wonderful Godly friendship.
Our older children will be gone again today and for the rest of the week. They, too, had a change of plans. They were expecting to go to the same Christian Worldview Camp again like last year, but it got cancelled due to lack of interest sadly. We should have also said, "Lord willing!" So at first, when it got cancelled, there was a tremendous sense of loss, but we quickly got our heads around it and tried to see that God was working instead. We ended up finding a wonderful replacement located at a local church that was being put on by Operation Mobilization, a mission organization that trains people on different religions and then sends you out to evangelize. Because it wasn't an overnight camp, it was much cheaper, so all 3 of the older ones can go, not just two. I have to admit, I'm a little shocked that my kids wanted to go as that is just not what I would have wanted to do when I was their age, but I thank the street preachers that came and visited us last summer and the tremendous influence they left on our children, so great.
Today they go off to a mosque where they will receive a tour of the temple and then learn all about Islam and how to speak to a Muslim. Then they go and "street preach" for a few hours in Niagara, looking to specifically talk to Muslims. Yikes! Each day they'll learn about a different religion, go to their place of worship and then they'll go evangelizing. It's an exhausting day, nearly 12 hours of training, driving, touring and evangelizing, but they are so excited and learning so much themselves. They are seeing lots of people turn away with no interest in hearing anything about God or the Bible and then others seem somewhat receptive, but no sense of eternity. It's a big wake-up call for them to see how disinterested people are.
Another change of plans in my life - only one full day of school planning kid-free. It's "chicken day", so all the little ones are going to go with my husband to pick up the 100 chickens and 10 turkeys that we've ordered. The older ones are gone till late evening, so I have to take advantage of this rare "no kid" day and get all my school stuff organized and planned - not going to be easy. Usually this takes me days, but I'm up for the challenge as I've been thinking about what I'll do for awhile.
So, I think the moral of the story is the message from James, we must say, "Lord willing" whenever we make plans. God allows us to make our plans, but He determines our steps. Learning to be flexible reduces my stress level as I can view the changes in plans as God is intervening and that He has a better plan for my life and for my children's lives. Otherwise I'll just find myself all upset or disappointed that things didn't go the way I hoped. Today, I'll give my day up to Him again, thinking I will be planning for school, but at the same time, I'm leaving it open if He wants to do something else with my day!
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