Filling Jars and Being Shipwrecked...All Part of the Plan

Last summer was the first attempt at a garden and I think we were super successful.  We ate produce from it for a long time.  This summer we had so much rain our garden was completely drowned, puddles everywhere.  I grew frogs, not vegetables!  We ate some food, but mostly beans, cucumbers, a few tomatoes, a little lettuce and peas, but that's about it.  All the herbs died, none of the carrots or beets made it (that was also partly due to an escaping bunny that we always found in our garden!). So, a little disappointing, but I also learned I can't make it as big next year.  I lost my garden crew to jobs and school this summer.  The younger ones helped, but not nearly as much as my older ones did last summer.  I may just have to cut back a bit next year.

Yesterday, I shared my "water into wine" story with my friend who is staying with us until today. One thing she and I have in common is the large number of children we both have.  She has 7 and I have 8.  However, we both have only 6 left under 18 years old.  I found that particularly interesting in light of the story from John 2.  In the story, Jesus tells the servants to fill 6 large jars with water.  These were no small jars.  They held 20-30 gallons of water each.  How did they do that?  Did they move the jars?  They would have been so heavy!  Or perhaps they went back and forth to the well to fill them up with smaller jars.  That would have taken so long and would have been so tedious!  Either way they were filled and the miracle of turning the water into wine happened.

Hmmmmm.....I started to see a parallel in my life and my friend's life.  We both have 6 jars, too - our 6 kids each.  They seem impossible to fill with godliness sometimes.  It is soooo much work!  I can hardly lift them!  I can't seem to get any "water" in them!  I told her this amazing thought that came to my mind, yet, God can take our feeble attempts at filling them and turn them into wine.  How I pray this for my remaining kids under my care.

In all the dreariness of this past year where my friend has struggled financially, emotionally, physically, we, too, have struggled alongside her.  What a long road it has been and though there is light at the end of the tunnel, we really have no idea when we will see resolve in her situation.  I sat in church this past Sunday and completely related to Paul in all the many storms he went through.  Yet God saw him through again and again.

As the pastor spoke from Acts 27, I started to see more parallels to my life and hers yet again, this time with our "storms" not just our "jars".  Paul set sail for Rome, not knowing a storm was ahead for him.  Soon into his voyage, it says he "put in Sidon...And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for..." (Acts 27:3)  Though there was a storm about to rage around him, there was respite before the wind began.  He was treated "kindly".  This has been our experience in all the storms this past year.  Even yesterday, my friend woke up with bad news.  She found out she had a surprise raise in one of her bills meaning more financial strain. Talk about a storm in your head and heart.  But we sat there and continued to talk and I explained, "This is just a small setback.  You'll find a way to pay the extra money."

Then, later on that day, she couldn't find her keys.  Her kids had taken to playing with them and lost them in the process.  Gone for good.  Still can't find them.  We turned the house upside down.  She called the person she had bought the car from asking her for a certain code she needed in order to get a new key made and to her shock and amazement, this friend said, "I'll pay for a new key to be made whatever it costs."  Sure enough, she showed up a few hours later with cash in hand and it was no small amount.  I looked at my friend and said, "Water into wine!  Don't you see?"  She was treated kindly in the middle of her storm.

As Paul went on in his journey, it says, "We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.  Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens..." (Acts:27:7,8)  The pastor pointed out that even though there was difficult sailing and that the wind was fighting them the whole time, there was again, a break in the storm and they were able to get more respite at Fair Havens.  I know of a camp called Fair Havens and now I know why it is named that...to give respite to the weary families that come there.  That same camp is exactly what my friend's camp is like.  Though she is still in her storm, she has been able to live in a type of "Fair Havens" all summer, surrounded by God's beauty in nature, on a lake, with birds, green grass, tall trees, blue sky....a little oasis in her storm.  It was even able to be enjoyed by all of us when we went up, so we, too, got a bit of a trip to "Fair Havens".  Did God know our kids would need a little respite, too?

My personal respite is coming.....!  Every year we go away on our anniversary.  Even in our cracking down on our finances, this was one area we didn't cut back on.  One night, all out, close by.  I look forward to it all year.

Even this week, we had a new friend of the kids come by for a few days.  It was a completely unplanned visit, but I looked at his stay with us as respite for our kids - A new face, tons of personality, lots of laughs, spiritually refreshing as he comes from an amazing family with a really cool story....I loved having him here and thanked God for bringing him to us.  Respite doesn't mean sitting around doing nothing all the time....it could mean just a refreshing break in the form of friendship!  He was respite to us!  But, it takes eyes to see it.  And I'm always trying to see what God is doing.  Always trying to see how He's working.

This Fall will be a new challenge for us as RM is taking on full-time work as well as part-time work. In the olden days, full-time hours meant many more than they do now.  Nowadays, full-time work is seen as 35 hours a week.  He'll be putting in 50 hours a week, but entrepreneurs know 50 hours a week is child's play, so he probably won't even bat at eye.  However, it will still be a challenge, so I'm praying there will be respite in the storm of all the new things he's taking on.

Finally, Paul reached shore, but not before being shipwrecked.  This has to be my favourite part of the story.  He had been told by an angel that he would make it to shore and that no one would die.  And then, a shipwreck? To me, it is a perfect ending....God tells us, "You''ll make it!  I'm with you!"  But then, we see shipwrecks in our lives!  We get shipwrecked all the time!  How can this be God working?!  But it is. It was like the pastor said, "He'll get you where He intends you to go, but it won't always be how you think.  You might be shipwrecked in the process."  But that is actually a part of the plan sometimes. Seeing Paul get shipwrecked was actually a real encouragement to me.  Here we are on our debt-free plan and it just isn't going how I hoped!  I really thought we would make it to shore and all the crew would live.  But, we are often finding ourselves in storms and nearly shipwrecked and yes, we're all still alive, but it just isn't going how I planned!  It tells me that God is still helping us get to shore, but that sometimes a shipwreck or two is part of the plan.  Ok, fine.  I'll try to be happier in my ship, wrecked or not.

Wow.  The word of God is so alive.  Today, I'm finishing off schedule-making and school planning. Trying to get my head around the fact I have to dive in to the books in a few days.  I'm so glad snow isn't right around the corner!  Although I should watch what I say and write....maybe there's a snowstorm coming!

Living Outside the Brackets

Ok, so, we went away for what ended up being more than a week.  I really wasn't sure what to expect as, like I said, it was going to be more of a working vacation for me and there were going to be 12 of us crammed into a trailer during what turned out to be quite the warm week.  But, it was.......wait for it.....AWESOME!  I had some prayer warriors on my side and it was obvious they were praying.

I've tried to figure out why it was so great and through two sermons, I've figured it out.  It was plain and simply a miracle.  So many things could have gone wrong, kids could have got hurt, moms could have been frustrated with each other, kids could have been miserable, but truly, none of that happened.  My friend and I have tried to figure out why we don't get at each other's throats.  When two women spend that much time together, there are bound to be things that upset you, but with us, we are so incredibly opposite to one another that we compliment each other.  I think we are also really good at reading one another and sensing where the other person needs space or is starting to feel upset and then the space is given or whatever they need is observed.

The camp offered programs each morning for the kids and a chapel service for the adults.  In the past, when I've attended camps like these, the chapel services have changed my life.  I went 7 years ago with 7 kids to another camp (also without my husband and with a friend) and we were in the middle of purchasing the farm and building the house.  I had never experienced fear like that.  I was certain we were in over our heads and that we were going to lose the farm.  But I went to the chapel and the pastor was preaching on, you guessed it, fear, and the giants in our life.  I somehow met the pastor's wife, completely serendipitously, and she ended up hearing my whole story, all my fears, saw my tears, and prayed for me.  I came back infused with hope and that was the beginning of learning how to battle my fears.  All this to say, I knew I had to go and hear the preaching that was going on at least once that week.  I was so glad I did.

The guest pastor for that week was preaching on Jesus turning the water into wine.  He opened that passage in John 2 in a whole new way.  Mary says to Jesus, "They have no wine", when the wine ran out at the wedding.  Jesus says, "Woman, what does this have to do with me?"  The pastor took those two phrases and elaborated on them in such an amazing way.  Mary was pointing out to Jesus an inconvenience...no wine...Jesus pointed out that inconveniences don't bother him!  The pastor asked us, "What is an inconvenience for you right now, because whatever it is, it doesn't bother God.  If He has called you to do something, don't let any inconveniences get in the way.  He can handle them, all of them."  I thought of so many things.....I have to admit, sometimes watching all these kids, between the two families, gets a little inconvenient!  My house has definitely taken a beating this year.  Also, homeschooling is a little inconvenient!  Who has time to plan, buy the curriculum, organize their lives, plan for their futures...I need a live-in guidance counsellor, academic advisor, janitor, cook, principal......I'm not sure that I knew what I was getting into when I first decided on this!  Then, there's the Bible quizzing.....I knew this was something I wanted to do, but really?  Now, I'm forced to organize a club that I am just not that qualified to organize!  That's a little inconvenient!  And, I'm on the board of the homeschooling group....yikes.....it is a lot of work!  I HAVE NO WINE!  Ha ha....that came out funny!  But truly, I'm calling out to Jesus, like Mary, telling him, "Life is inconvenient! What are you going to do about it?!"  "Woman, why are you telling me this?  I know!"  Jesus replies to me.

Then, the miracle.  He tells the servants to "fill the jars with water".  They obeyed, no questions asked and served the master of the feast, which would have been risky because as far as they knew, it was still just water!  But, no, it had become wine.  Verse nine says, the master of the feast "did not know where it had come from", but then it includes in brackets "though the servants who had drawn the water knew".  The pastor said, "Those servants would never be the same."  They had seen a miracle and would no longer "live in brackets".  I loved that phrase, live in brackets.  See, before, they were a little uncertain if the wine miracle would actually happen!  They probably served it to their master with a little fear because they thought they were serving water!  But, after the miracle, "greater things than these" were going to happen in their lives because I'm sure their faith grew bigtime after that. We already live outside the brackets.  We've seen, I've seen, many miracles in my own life.  I've got the Bible.  I've read the stories.  There is no need for me to live inside brackets.  John 1:50 talks about "greater things than these"....these are the things that God will continue to show those people who dip into the jars of water and trust Him for wine, whose faith is developing with all the signs He does in their lives.

It all ties into the inconveniences of our lives.  It means we have to take more risks of faith.  More risks=more faith=more opportunities for more faith=more signs=life of adventure!  It becomes an amazing journey with God, absolutely amazing.

The week I went up to camp with my friend I went and bought all the groceries for the week.  I planned all the meals to be "trailer-y", easy to fix, kid-friendly, etc.  It was a full cart load.  I dipped into the jars of water, never knowing if wine would be there.  While I was away, a friend mailed me a cheque because she knew I was going away to help out this mutual friend of ours.  Her cheque covered the whole cost of the groceries that week....wine was made!  And, while I was at the camp, we used basically every last morsel I had brought up.  When we started to run out of things, a nice older couple came and dropped tons of snack-type food off that came from the food bank where they volunteer.  She gets regular deliveries from these kind people.  I witnessed it!  Why do we doubt God and His goodness?  He supplied what we needed and He gave the best.  "This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory.  And His disciples believed Him."

Vacation Request Confirmed and Booked

Here's a post I started nearly 3 weeks ago:  I never finished it, probably got interrupted in the middle of it and then only now was able to come back to it.  I'm going to post it as is and then write a follow-up to it right away to explain how things turned out....here goes (starts next paragraph!)

I'll just have to call it "The Summer of Not Blogging"......ah well, come Fall it'll be easier.....

So I'm sitting here in my family room listening to the sounds of ten, that's right, TEN, newborn puppies yippin' and yappin' in the little plastic pool where their mommy dog gave birth.  Actually she started giving birth outside, literally delivered one right on the driveway, before we grabbed her and the new pup and brought her inside to finish off.  It was the most umcomplicated delivery I've ever seen and makes me wish I was a dog, not a human.  They seem to have it pretty easy!

I hate to describe puppies as collateral, or as a just some "object", as opposed to a cute, cuddly little pet, but truly, these are my son's ticket to school this year!  After two ultrasounds and an x-ray, we were told she might have as many as 8, but the x-ray showed only 6.  We never guessed 10!  In order to make his investment back from the initial purchase of the dog, as well as cover all his costs for food, vet visits, etc., she had to have at least 3.  Then, we hoped for at least 3 more.  Anything above 6 was pure bonus and actually was considered profit.  When the tenth pup popped out, we started clapping!

This has been such a great veterinary experience for our son as well, who longs to get into vet school one day.  He had to help with the delivery, get the puppies on the mom (I guess it isn't as natural as cats), make sure they were breathing, resuscitate more than one, feed one of the pups all through the night for two nights in a row now, get the mother on an iv drip because she was dehydrated.....oh my goodness, it has been so draining for him!  But, through the whole experience he has been a pro and it just continues to confirm his desire to go into animal care in some form one day.  Now we just have to pray that we'll be able to sell these pups or we'll be stuck with a whole bunch of doggies!

She was bred with a gorgeous rough collie, named Dragon (great name), who was a blue merle.  That simply describes the colour pattern of his fur which is silver and blue in colour.  The pups are half sable coloured (like Lassie) and half blue merle with one black and white one (who knows where that came from, but also beautiful!)  The kids all sit in the birthing pool with the puppies around the clock (hey, I just thought about that...I had a kid in a pool, too!  Not that different from a dog!). We are heading away for a week to our friends' trailer and they will be sad to go and miss being around them.

Speaking of trailer, I did write about getting away for a "vacation" this summer.  I knew going up to my friend's trailer was an option, but I just couldn't figure out how it would work.  Last year we went up to her camp and we stayed in their second "extra" trailer.  This year the extra trailer was moldy and nothing was working electrically so it wouldn't work.  We looked into renting another trailer or staying in what they call "apartments" or "motels", even tenting, but it was all so expensive, we couldn't get our heads around it.  My friend and I committed it to prayer, but I was quite certain it wasn't going to work out.  Even though my kids were so determined to go and had a 45 minute session one morning on why they love going so much, I still told my friend who owns the trailer, "Sorry, I don't think we can come up."  She was shocked!  Why wouldn't I go?  What could she do to make sure we got up there?  I said, "I need a place to stay....for free!"  She immediately said, "Stay in our trailer, with us!"  Uh, no.  I explained to her there was NO WAY I would be doing that.  This friend is truly the best.  There is nothing I can ever do or say to offend her, so I knew she wasn't going to take that the wrong way!  I simply explained that I need to have a somewhat decent sleep and that sleeping with 12 people, 10 of whom are kids, in bunk beds, on floors, surrounded by noise and mosquitoes, was just not fun for me.  I guaranteed I would be miserable and grumpy and that it was not going to work.  I just needed a little space to myself IF POSSIBLE.  She immediately offered her "master bedroom" in the back of the trailer.  I could sleep there with my two younger ones if necessary.  There was no way I was going to take her room.  I'm not that mean.  But she insisted saying that she can sleep anywhere.  She isn't quite as selfish as I am, I suppose.  In the last year of going from house to house, she and her kids have learned to sleep on floors, couches, tables, whatever.  I have never been able to do that well and I suffer from sleeplessness all night if I get woken up or have to sleep like that.  Maybe one day I'll be able to, but for now...no way.  She convinced me to take her offer, so suddenly I found myself committed.  My kids were thrilled!  They were really going on "vacation"!

For me, it will be more of a working vacation.  My friend won't even be around much.  I'm actually going as her mother's helper.  She'll be working while I watch her kids.  Normally her teenage daughters watch their siblings while she works, but that has been hard on them, so I'm giving them a bit of a break by coming up, cooking, cleaning, etc.  It will be a nice change of pace though for everyone.  I still feel in a strange way that it is an answer to prayer.  We get to getaway (though I'm only taking 5 kids and no husband).  It is for "free".  I didn't have to rent a cabin.  It's a bit of a surprise to me that we were able to make it work.  Will I feel rested once I come back?  I doubt it...12 people, most of whom are kids under 16 years old, in one small trailer?  That will hardly be restful, but who needs rest when there's coffee?!  But for my kids, it is an all-out miracle.  They never expected it to work.  They started packing immediately.  My one son has been carrying his backpack around for days and days.  They are so excited.  So I do thank the Lord for His goodness to my kids and how He is blessing them this summer in this way.

It is a strange blessing to my husband as well.  He has to prep for the Fall at the college and having us away will help him focus on that.  The older kids will be able to help with puppies and just have a nice quiet week without crazy kids everywhere.  Our house has had 17 people in it for over a week so they'll enjoy the break.

I had written that God is our vacation planner.  He really is.  I never expected this to work.  I had tried and tried, but knew it was really impossible.  I had looked at every possible angle, never once considering staying in her trailer with them.  But it all worked out and off we go.....!  Vacation request confirmed and booked!

Married to Macgyver

This is funny.  I wrote that whole post on being content about being home and happy about the way vacations look for our family.  Then, out of the blue, on the same day, we got a letter in the mail from the beach house in Outer Banks!  The letter said, and I paraphrase, "Hey, you should really book with us soon!  We've got a good deal for you!"  It included all these great pictures of the house on the beach, the ocean, the pool, the sand.....I couldn't believe it!  I took it as a sign!  I immediately texted my husband and said, "I think we're supposed to go away!"  He laughed.  The truth is, it was probably just a test of my resolve.  We haven't heard from the owners of the house for two years!  Why now!? I'm pretty sure it was just to try and knock me off my feet.  It worked...for a couple seconds anyway. Anyway, I just thought it was very interesting timing.....It doesn't look like we're booking any time soon.....sigh!

We continue to marvel at God's provision for us though.  This past couple of weeks has seen every single hay machine break down, leaving us with some hay uncut, waiting and waiting for the machines to get fixed.  We knew we would have to spend money to fix them, but how to do it for the lowest price.  It is always easier and faster to order new parts, but RM got super creative and went around the property taking old parts off of other broken down machines and used them to "Macgyver" a solution to fix the haybine.  To my amazement, he was able to do this, saving us hundreds of dollars.  I'm always in awe of his mechanical abilities.  When I asked him how he was able to do this and what made him think of it, he said, "God just puts these thoughts into my head!" He doesn't even know himself how he comes up with the solutions.  He's never fixed these types of machines before.  He's never had to deal with these types of problems.  It's incredible.

The other parts he was able to get new part off of ebay for less or he was able to get used parts. Everytime he uses the credit card to order off the internet he's paid it off immediately so we aren't carrying any debt month to month.  All that to say, we should be back up and running soon.

Recently, his contract with the college came to an end, but funding came in to be hired again for an 18 month period.  Ironically, however, his salary will be significantly lower because they allow for benefits.  This, of course, is good and bad.  Good because we will definitely use the benefits for orthodontics, teething cleanings, eye wear, etc., but not so good because you can't buy groceries with benefits.  But we're grateful for the job.  He'll be able to make up the difference by teaching at the college in the fall as well.   All I know is this time last year we didn't have work and now we do.  I will never complain about that.

I told someone, "God knows if we need more money and if He thinks that is enough money for us, than it is."  Simple as that.  We are grateful for the work, grateful for the benefits which we haven't had in many many years, and grateful for God's provision in so many ways.  Interestingly, he will get paid vacation which we also haven't had in years.  Will that mean that we go away?  I don't know. Anytime that we've gone away before has meant unpaid leave.  This will be the first time in a very long time that we'll actually get paid while on "vacation"!  That just seems unheard of to me!  I suppose it is normal for other families who are used to getting that, but I can hardly get my head around it!  So who knows, maybe we will do something next summer....More likely we'll finally get the work done on the house that has been taking a very long time to do.  Either way, it's exciting to think about.

God - The Vacation Planner

This year our 3 older children are gone to the worldview camp that our oldest went to 3 years ago. She's now a mentor for the second year in a row and loving her role.  She was so inspired by it that our next children wait anxiously to go each year.  I can still hardly believe how they embrace sitting in lectures for a whole week, but who am I to question it.  I think it is the fact they are around like-minded youth that don't have horns that keeps them coming back!  Knowing they aren't the only kids out there with a Christian worldview is such an encouragement to them, and to us, as parents.

The woman who started this camp is a mom, just like me.  She has 5 children (most of whom are now married and having children) and there was nothing in Canada like this for her kids to attend.  And, just like with the junior quizzing, she acted on the need and put things into place....voila!  A Christian worldview camp was created!  I guess that is how most things come about...necessity is the mother of invention?

It is still a full house though with ten kids, 3 borrowed from our "other" family!  I don't mind, the kids that are left behind feel like it's camp, too, just at home!  This is actually the wonderful part of how God works in my life.  He knows what all of us long for and somehow He always creatively gives us just what we need, not necessarily what we want all the time, but what we need.

RM and I continue to debate, and will probably always debate, the "need" I have for a vacation.  I grew up with vacations and I just assumed we would also regularly go on vacations.  This has not been the case and for a long time it was a real sore spot for me, especially when everyone and their dog was planning a vacation (I'm sure I've written about this before, but it's summer again, so it has come up again!)  But that was just not how he grew up and, for him, he sees vacations as an alright thing to do once in a while, but as a very expensive thing to do.  For most people it is a time to get away and be with their kids, but for us, we are with our children all the time, so we don't have the same need.  What to do then?

I decided I would no longer be a nagging wife.  I simply brought my "need" (are vacations really a need?) to the Lord and left it there.  Amazing things started to happen.  Over the last few summers, we have had the most amazing experiences - all here at home - on our property or nearby in this area. We've had people contact us out of the blue, sometimes people we don't even know, and they'll come and visit anywhere from a day to two weeks.  They'll be friends I haven't seen in years or missionaries from overseas or simply neighbours.  Every week of the summer holds a different experience and I never know what's coming.  That is the fun part.  It appears like I have a blank schedule on my calendar.  It appears like it is going to be the most boring summer every year, and yet, it never is.  My summer gets so full that I never accomplish all I had planned because of all the fun things that happen.  What people love about vacations is the change of pace, the change of location, etc.  For me, it's as if that all comes to me, here.  It's a change of pace, with new faces, new schedules, new conversations.  God somehow brings the "vacation feel" to me!

This summer it has been the summer of the pool.  Not our pool, as we don't have one, but of pools near us.  All sorts of friends have beautiful pools, amazing backyards, and they are bored!  They find that they have a pool, but they don't use it!  So they invite us!  We go!  No problem!  Our kids absolutely love visiting friends with pools, so that is a super fun way to stay cool, beat the heat and not spend money.

I've learned in this surrendering of my rights to a vacation that yes, vacations are awesome, but they aren't the be all and end all of life.  I've learned that there is a cost to having a vacation, both a literal one, (they always cost more than you think they will) as well as an emotional one (so much to think about and organize), and then a physical cost (getting the car ready, packing, getting animals cared for....).  With so many young children, it was never easy to get away when we did get away.  It turns out they never really knew that they were "supposed" to have a vacation, it was always me pushing for one. Now that the youngest is 5, perhaps we'll be able to consider a vacation in the future, but it hasn't been really necessary when there were so many babies for so long.

Now there is another month ahead with no real plans.  In the past that would have made me worried. Will my children have a good summer?  How will I keep them busy?  Will it be fun?  I don't worry anymore.  I now wake up with a sense of anticipation....what will happen today?  Who will call? Where will we go?  Who will we see?  On days where we are just home, I embrace it and try to accomplish as much as possible.  I've also discovered that as farmers, we really need to be home in the summer to do the hay, make sure the garden gets cared for, get projects done.  If we are going to go somewhere, summer isn't the time to do it.  Farmers generally vacation in the winter.  Now I get why.

Once I asked my husband, "Can we go to a cottage this summer?"  His answer, "Why?!  I bought you a farm!"  Not the answer I hoped for, but you know what....it's true!  I live on a vacation property in so many ways, I just forget.  In the summer, it is so beautiful here.  Everything is in bloom, the grass is green, the views are spectacular, the trees are full of leaves offering wonderful shade from the heat, the animals are out and about, the kids are everywhere, the garden is alive and well....The Lord regularly opens my eyes to show me the beauty that is around me.  I don't need to leave to be happy. That is the lie that Satan tried to tell me for years, "You'd be happier if you went on vacation like everyone else.  You poor thing, you don't get to go away."  This only bred a spirit of discontentment as well as well as resentment towards others who always went away.  Learning to be content is the key to warding off the enemy's attacks.  The blessings immediately follow.  When I'm a nagging, discontent wife, my husband is sad, depressed and feels inadequate..... because his wife (the one who is supposed to be his greatest support) makes him feel that way.  He's frustrated because he's feels he's never enough, never providing enough...his family is always wanting more....that is a bad place to be as a husband.

Now, if someone were to approach me and say, "I would like to offer you an all-expenses paid vacation in Hawaii!"  I would still take it, don't get me wrong!  I do love vacations! When we went away a couple of years ago to the Outer Banks, it was super fun!  Our kids were a little disappointed when we didn't go the next year.  But this is the other thing I've learned...vacations are great, but they don't have to be every year, all the time.  When they do go, it sure makes kids appreciate what they had and where they went, knowing it isn't an every year experience.  The memories of the vacation linger and they reflect fondly on them often.  If we did this every year, I think it would create a sense of entitlement, which is also something we are wary of.  I always think...what will my children's marriages be like?  What appetites am I building in them that their future spouses will not be very happy about?  Knowing we didn't have a lot of vacations will actually be a positive thing for their future spouses because my kids won't go in demanding they get regular vacations.  I think that is a good thing.

My attitude has slowly changed over the years.  This might be a little out there, but it helps me to think, "Did Jesus have a vacation?"  No.  He went away for relaxation and respite for sure, but not to an all-inclusive resort.  He went away to the mountains to pray and spend time with God.  I can do that here.  I'm pretty sure Abraham didn't get away too much either.  I'm guessing, if I did "vacation research", that is is a relatively new thing.  Our culture tells us we have to get away, why? From what?  I love my life here.  I would love to see other places just to appreciate God's creation for sure, and maybe one day I will, but for now, I don't have the same pressing need.  I think it is really important to evaluate why and how vacations have come about.  There are really good reasons to get away, but some really bad ones, too.  I just don't want to fall into the trap of planning one just because the world tells me I have to.  It always comes back to contentment in my life.  It always comes back to watching where conflict comes up in my marriage.  It's usually the same issues over and over.  RM knows what is important to me and tries his best to be all things to both me and the kids, but he also is really good and drawing the line and not spending just for the sake of making the kids and I stop whining about vacations.

My children will go into their future marriages with a good view of vacations I think.  Not expecting them necessarily, but happy if they work out.  I think that is the better way to be.

A New League is Born

Last night was exciting, and I knew it would be, as families gathered in our home to talk about the idea of junior Bible quizzing.  This idea has brewed in my head since we first started quizzing nearly 6 years ago, and apparently it has been done in the past somewhere, maybe in a different league.  But I knew, if I mentioned the idea, it would have to be run by me or I would have to organize it.  With all the little ones around my ankles I knew it was impossible, so I just prayed and hoped someone else would do it.

A few years later, my little ones are now growing up.  The youngest is five, so no more little little kids.  I actively started my research again.  I found out that there was a league, but they used a different version of the Bible then we did, so we wouldn't be able to quiz against them without changing versions.  That wouldn't work either, though, now, I was getting excited that this was a real possibility.  I even got in contact with the other league and spoke with someone about how they ran their junior quizzing.  Maybe we could do it?

Then, I simply wrote an email to a few families and said, "Would this interest you?" and outlined what I was thinking.  I got immediate response from people saying, "Yes!"  A few weeks later a meeting was planned, league board members were invited, interested families contacted and the next thing you know....junior quizzing has been born!  

There was just one small problem.....did that mean I was taking that all on?  Was I the organizer? That was definitely not my skill set.  I am a recruiter, a cheerleader, an enthusiastic supporter of all things Bible Quizzing, but don't make me organize it.  My husband, however, is very good at putting those kinds of things together, but he was too busy....who then?  Suddenly, as I was thinking and talking all of this out loud, I looked over and saw my innocent daughter just standing there, unaware of my schemes.....I knew I had my victim...I mean, volunteer.

I quickly explained how she would be the perfect person for this position.  I explained how this could be a way she could give back after all these years of others building into her.  I went on and on.  To my amazement, she said, "Ok!"  That was easy!  So now, we have a point person, a new league, and all the kids you can imagine, ready to to start quizzing as young as 8 years old.  I'm so excited.  My younger kids are so excited!  They had been memorizing for a long time, but they never had a venue to compete, so they would stop memorizing.  Now we have a place for them.

This is the shocker.  My place should have been filled to overflowing last night and it was, but that's just because we have a small house!  I'm amazed at how many didn't come out.  We talked about it with everyone last night and why more people don't "Quiz".  It came down to this.....people assume it isn't fun.  People assume it is too much work.  It isn't "cool".  Yet, the kids who are in it, love it. Why? Because it is fun!  The competitions are extremely, well, competitive!  It is high stress (in a good way) to those who are in it and to those who watch it.  It is a lot of work, but not as much work as people think. Children's brains are sponges and they can memorize large volumes of whatever they want to.  We would just prefer that it be Scripture!  Not cool?  Who cares!?  The kids who choose to quiz could absolutely be doing something more "cool" by worldly standards, but we always try to look at the eternal picture....what's going to get them "home"?  

We want our kids to be "normal" (whatever that means) and be comfortable in all sorts of settings, and we actually think Bible Quizzing is a great way to do this.  It teaches confidence in large groups as they have to speak loudly and clearly in front of all sorts of people, coaches, the audience, other quizzers, etc.  I told everyone that I would like to do brain scans of quizzers before and after they start memorizing.  I'm convinced (and I'm going to make a stat up on the spot with no proof) that 100% of all quizzers' brains increase their synapses which leads to improvement in all their other subjects.  I'm going to suggest their chances of brain degeneration decrease!  As well, it gives them plenty of chance to "socialize" (everyone's concern with homeschoolers) with all the other quizzers and coaches.  You would think I got paid to say all this, but I'm just such a huge supporter of Bible Quizzing.

Last night my 10 year walked around with buddies on his new "team".  He and his friend now belonged to something...together.  "Hey Mom, we're on the same team, right?"  There was a connection made.  But what is different is that the Bible is the thing they have in common!  I love that kind of team connection.  And now, because of the junior quizzing league, my ten year old doesn't have to wait 2 more years to quiz and start memorizing.  He can, and he will, start now.  I am so excited, as you can tell.

Years ago we read a book that revolutionized our life.  It was called Ten Peas in a Pod by Arnold Pent III.  After the Dad in the book (Arnold Pent Sr.) got saved, everything changed in their family.  They took their life on the road (they also had 8 children) and went around sharing the gospel all over the U.S. and Canada.  But what struck us was how much time the Dad had his kids spend time in the Word.  He required anyone from 6-11 years read a half hour every morning.  Those who were 11-21 were required to read an hour. Pent added up all the hours this meant of Bible reading over the years (up to 21 years):  for the younger kids 913 hours, for the older kids 3,650 hours.  Adding up the 30 minutes of family devotions after each meal (1-21 years), that meant 11, 497 hours.  As well as miscellaneous times of Bible study, prayer time and church attendance, 6000 hours.  The grand total was 22, 060 hours of Bible study!  Incredible!  As a result of this much time in the Word, some of their kids had memorized the entire New Testament while the younger ones knew large portions of other parts of Scripture.  It was amazing!  We aren't necessarily trying to get them to memorize the whole New Testament, but it's not a bad goal!  Needless to say, it was an inspiring story and they didn't even have Bible Quizzing to aid them in all their memorizing, they just did it on their own.  We first read this when we only had the older four.  We reordered the book and have started rereading it to the younger four to inspire them and to re-inspire the older ones.  One of the Pent kids was being quizzed on how it was possible to know all that Scripture.  His answer was great, "You see, the only reason we can do this is because we spend time with it."  That's all we want for our kids, too.  We want them to spend time with God's Word and they will naturally commit it to memory much more easily.  The great thing about having God's Word in your heart is that it can't help but change you once it's there.  That is the goal, not just Scripture memory for it's own sake, but for the fact it will transform our lives.

This week coming up I will write another email, but this time it will go to all the teams in Ontario. All the families that currently quiz with the senior league will now have the chance to add junior teams.  I'm so excited to see how big this could grow!

The Making of a Champion

I was able to listen to a sermon in the car the other night and it was perfect timing.  It was on David and Goliath, by David Jeremiah.  It must be hard to preach on such a well-known story, to try and give new insights, but he did such a good job.  He titled it, "When Two Giants Meet".    Everyone thinks Goliath was the giant, but David was a giant, too.  Everyone thinks David was only a champion after he took down the giant, but he was a giant way before that.  That was what I found so encouraging.

He looked back at David's life and wondered, "How is this possible that this young man became a champion?  What was he doing in his life before this to make him like that?"  The answer was so great.  He was faithful in the small things before God put him before the giant.  He had to watch sheep.  Every day.  When his brothers were off to war, he had to stay home.  When everyone else was doing something exciting, he was with animals.

When he was finally given the responsibility to go bring food to his brothers at war, he showed he was responsible as well.  The Bible includes the fact that he made sure he had a keeper to watch his sheep because he'd be away.  That can only be included to show how he was so faithful and didn't just take off.

When he got to the battle and heard Goliath's challenges to the Israelites, he didn't back down or cower in fear, he ran towards the impossible and embraced the challenge.  Saul was the one who really should have been leading his men, but he was just as much a coward as the men he was leading and made sure he didn't go out.  Most of us just don't do this.  We see the impossible and say, "Yup, that's impossible.  Can't do it."

He also said David was ridiculed for daring to take on Goliath.  Not by just anyone, his brother and Saul, whom he respected.  Jeremiah mentioned that anytime you take on the impossible, you can expect people to attack you because you make them feel bad for not doing it themselves!  They need you to feel just as inadequate as they do.

The timing of the sermon was great because the next morning we had such a strange morning.  It felt like not just one giant, but many giants, came out of nowhere, for all of us.  It began with both our cats going into labour on the same day and both cats losing all their kittens except for one!  One cat was pregnant with only two kittens, but they were so large she couldn't deliver them and so we had to help her, but they'd gone through so much in labour, I guess, that they both came out stillborn.  Tragic for her, tragic for us!  The other cat delivered outside somewhere.  I tried to find out where and could only find two, both alive, shockingly, but one was clearly dying as I'd found it far away from its mom.  So sad for all the kids!  A small giant, for me, but....

Then, a virus that had started over a week ago, continued its way through the family and took down two more kids yesterday.  Normally sick kids don't bother me, but yesterday....seemed hard to take care of them because I was still out looking for kittens!

Then, as I was outside, I noticed the laundry still on the line.....argh...left out all night.  My daughter had kindly put it up, but had forgotten it.  I came in to find piles and piles of laundry unfolded, but clean, everywhere.  I walked in the kitchen and piles of dishes everywhere......

Then, cow out.  Chickens out. Dogs barking.  Suddenly I hated all our animals so much!  I was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Then, my son, who had been doing so great in math, came down and on such a hot, humid day, needed to go to the library.....everyone suddenly was so needy in our family!  All at the same time!

Then, I looked at the garden.  I didn't see vegetables.  I only saw weeds.  Really high weeds.  And all my help was gone.  My husband was at work, the oldest kids were gone.  My helpers were all under 10 and were sick!

Now, I was no different than Saul or the Israelites.  I wanted to stay far away from my giants that seemed to be everywhere.  Each giant on its own was manageable, but when you added them all up, they seemed to be one giant Goliath!  Didn't even know where to begin....

But then, flashback to sermon.  Be faithful in the small things, even if it means one load of laundry at a time.  One sink of dishes at a time.  One row of weeds at a time.  It also occurred to me, maybe this is just some strange spiritual attack?  Why else would everything appear like a giant today when normally it doesn't feel that way?  I looked back over my week and realized, I had taken Satan on, without even knowing it.  I had been meeting with a friend about her marriage struggles and had been making a plan with her on how to make this marriage work.  Ah...I had taken on the impossible.  I had run towards it.  Satan must have hated that because I had been praying hard for her and for the ideal of marriage.  I had made plans that week to get other women together who were in difficult situations and instead of despairng about their situations, I was going to try get them together to encourage, pray, and fast together, on behalf of their marriages. Satan must have hated that, too.  I feel like God opened my eyes to the attack going on.  I was no different than David.  Maybe I wasn't taking on a physical giant (though in some ways it felt like that), but I was certainly taking on a giants.  Seeing the attack for what it was helped me realize I need to not be overwhelmed, I just need to take one task or giant on at a time.  I had also taken on the task of raising 8 kids.  That's a big enough task, but trying to raise godly kids?  That's a whole other matter and so I should expect to be attacked when I attempt that kind of impossible task.  We're still on our debt-reduction plan.  Talk about impossible goals.  All Satan has to do is tell you a little lie in your ear that says, "It'll never happen.  None of these things you want to do will ever happen."  Armour of God.  Man, I need to wear it everyday, all day.

Even though so many were sick, I grabbed one ones who weren't and shared my David pep talk.  We needed to be champions like David, I told them, and be faithful in the many small tasks ahead of us. They were on board.  I gave out the tasks so that it wasn't on just me.  And off we went.  First, dishes. Check.  Then laundry.  Not so quick of a job, but eventually all caught up.  Then garden.  I made great progress and realized it wasn't the end of the world if it didn't all happen in one day.  As for the sick kids, they all rested and relaxed, while the non-sick kids, played happily for what seemed like hours!  The animals seemed to start behaving and quieted down.  My spirit was calming down, too. I knew I was being prayed for.

I felt like a champion.  I had taken Satan on and had won.  I attempted to do all the little things that surrounded me, taking care of my little "sheep", just like David.  I had changed my course which had been to run away from what was ahead of me, my looming giants, and had decided to run towards my impossible list of things to accomplish.  For a mom, the attacks have to be "mommy-ish", kids, meals, laundry, dishes.....Satan isn't that creative!  Thankfully as the attacks came one after another, God opened my eyes to them thanks to that wonderful sermon I had heard the day before.  Giants are not always HUGE things.  Sometimes they can be a bunch of small things added up all together.  Feeling overwhelmed is never a good feeling.  I'm grateful for praying family, God's Word, and the ability to choose to not be overwhelmed.  I feel very badly for those who do not have a spiritual side to them, who are unaware of the spiritual realm.  It can only lead to hopelessness and despair.  Thanks be to God for the awareness that a believer has and for the hope that is available to us.