God’s Amazing Ways

A few days ago, we received in the mail the monthly newsletter of the Arden Road Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas. As I was looking over it, the article on the back caught my attention and was such a good reminder that I thought that someone else might benefit from it, too. Here is an excerpt:

“As some of you might remember, there were survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Many of these were from just some little thing that happened to them on their way to work.

  • The head of a company survived because his son started kindergarten that day
  • One was alive since it was his turn to bring donuts
  • One was late because her alarm failed to go off
  • One was late due to a traffic jam on N.J. Turnpike
  • One spilled food on her clothes and had to change
  • One was late because his car would not start
  • One was late because she could not get a taxi
  • One was late due to a blister from wearing new shoes and had stopped to buy a band-aid”

That really impacted me. I can’t stand to be late, and often I get frustrated and irritable when things don’t go exactly the way I think they should work. However, seeing delays and aggravations in the light of these examples helps me to keep the right attitude about what God is doing in my life. Sometimes God chooses not to reveal why we got stuck in that slow traffic or why we can’t find the specific book that we’re looking for, but other times He does disclose His reasons. One of the most significant of those times in my life happened almost exactly one year ago, on August 6, 2008, when God blessed me in an amazing way through a frustration. Actually, it started a little bit before that, when I began shopping for a laptop computer.

When I first started looking for a laptop, I had no idea what kind I wanted. Then, some friends showed me theirs, and I liked it, so I started looking more in that direction. I picked one out, but was disappointed to discover that the limited edition I wanted was already discontinued, and that I’d be getting a different one. It was actually a slight downgrade from what I’d wanted, and I felt disappointed at first. However, it was still much better than what I needed, so I gave the whole situation to God and was satisfied, knowing that "This, too, was from His hand." Then I had a few problems with my password; again, it was not something that I wanted to thank the Lord for. I called technical support, and, long story short, God prompted me to witness to the girl I was talking to. Although I was reluctant and scared at first, God moved in an incredible way, and it turned out that she was already saved, but needing some encouragement at that time in her life, as her family was unsaved and very unsupportive of her decision to follow Christ. We had a wonderful conversation, and I think I was even more blessed than she was, because I was the one who had seen God work out a hassle for good! If I had gotten the computer I wanted originally, and if hadn’t been having trouble with the one I did get, I would not have called the computer company, I would not have talked to that girl, I would not have had the opportunity to share Christ, and I would not have met a dear sister in the Lord! God works in mysterious ways!!!!

So next time you run into an obstacle in your life that seems frustrating or insurmountable, give it to the Lord, pray for His peace to fill your heart, and then watch to see how He moves!

Psalm 25:4 – “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For my thought are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

“Blue-berries and Blue-splashes”

For many summers, we have had the privilege of going with some friends of ours (the Otts) to a local blueberry patch (owned by the Ott’s neighbor) to pick blueberries and stock our freezers. 🙂 We are thankful for the generosity of the owners, who let us come and pick all we want for free!Herman & Josh Ott - happy helpers! :) Well, this week the call came that they were ready, so Mommy and all of us kids went over there to pick them. Before we went, Mommy told us that the Ott’s had invited us to go swimming when we were done! There was one catch, however: because of our schedule that day, we had to be done picking blueberries by 11:00 in order Keep on picking!!to have time to swim. And anyone who didn’t work didn’t get to swim, even if we were done by the deadline. So, when we got there, the Team jumped out of the van and set about to diligently accomplish the task at hand! Enthusiasm was prevalent,  laughter was frequently heard, and Mrs. Tammy Ott even developed our own little motto for us. It went like this: “If there isn’t a blueberry under your nose, then move your nose!!” 🙂 Though it was a smaller crop than normal, we got Victoria busy pickingaround two gallons… well, after you count the ones that we ate in the field! 🙂

Next came the reward of our labors – the pool! We quickly went to the Otts’ house (right across the road), got changed, and plunged ourselves into the blue depths… aahhhh! It felt so good! Ever  since Titus was born, we have wanted to put him in, because we have heard that if you put a baby in the pool early on, Mrs. Tammy and Titusthey will remember the swimming motions they used in the womb and it will actually be a lot easier to teach them. We got to put him in this  time, and were a little surprised by his response: he liked it! 🙂 We also got to work with Bethany and Hannah  with some of their swimming fears – things like getting water in their face, having the “big girls” let go of them, and using only one floatation device instead of Learning to like the water :)two! 🙂 Susanna and Lauren worked on things like back floating, etc. The cool water was simply refreshing, and since “the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” we all enjoyed the reward of our labors immensely!

One thing I really appreciated about that day was how Daddy and Mommy provided a reward at the end of the project. At the FEW conference last weekend, during a session on family harmony while working together, we were challenged to find rewards for the diligent ones at the completion of a long task. Even though it would have been Little Miss Bethany on her favorite boat :)easier to just go home after picking, and not go through having to do all of the laundry from 10 soaked people, 🙂 when the offer came up, Mom worked it out so we could do it. Thank you, Mommy!

Special thanks to the Ott family for bringing their joy and enthusiasm to the blueberry field, letting us use their pool, and for taking the pictures for this blog post when we were so smart as to forget our camera at such a memorable time!! :)   

A Rather “Corny” Day

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The crew starting out to pick the corn: Mom, Lauren, Herman, Bethany, and Hannah100_8349

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$5.00 to the first person to find Lauren…            Never mind – we found her. 🙂

 

 

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More busy members of the picking team!

 

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Bringing in the bounty: 23 dozen ears of corn and… well, we didn’t even TRY to count the tomatoes!

 

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“Peter Dutchy” is in sad shape, but he and “Bobby Lee” faithfully kept the crows where they belonged!

 

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We shucked it all in the garage.

 

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Duke enjoyed the cool, concrete garage          Herman was the much-needed 

         floor while WE were working.                            cleanup man!     

 

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Jessi and Kathryn blanched it all, and then it was stacked to drain before the creaming part of the process.

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  “In all labour there is profit…”  Prov. 14:23

Bethany enjoys the fruit of her labors 🙂

 

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Hooray!! Twenty-six more quarts in the freezer!

“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich…” Prov. 10:22

A Thought – Provoking Story

A few nights ago, around the dinner table, Daddy told us a story that, without God’s mercy and protection, would have been fatal. We all listened with dropped jaws and shocked expressions as he told us the details.

A man was driving a small pick-up truck on his way back to work after being on a sales call. Suddenly, he noticed smoke coming out from under the hood, and pulled off the road. As he climbed out of the truck, he realized that the vehicle was on fire, so he quickly found a fire extinguisher and tried to put out the flames. The fire extinguisher did little to stop the fire, however, and, realizing that the truck could explode, he got as far away from it as he could. The truck continued to burn, and even tried to start up somehow. He watched in shock as the fire burned everything off of the truck, including the tires, leaving only the metal frame as evidence of the truck’s existence.  The remains of the truck after the fire There was nothing left except bare, charred metal

The man in this story is a man by the name of Rick, a designer at Andrews Truss (where Daddy works) and a personal friend of our family. He was on his way back to the office on Tuesday, August 11th when this incident occurred which startled all of us with it’s reality and the brevity of life. We marvel at God’s goodness and compassion.

As I was pondering the situation, I realized that there are several lessons we could learn from this.

  • Occurrences like these remind us of just how short our life is and how quickly it can be changed. We never know what the next minute of our life will bring. Proverbs 27:1 – “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
  • They also remind us of our need for complete and total dependence on God in every area of life. Had Mr. Rick delayed in getting out of the truck, he probably wouldn’t have lived. But because of God’s mercy and grace, he survived without a scrape. Lamentations 3:22 – “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”
  • You could also say that our lives are like this truck: here one moment, gone the next. James 4:14 – “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
  • Sin is a lot like fire. It is deadly, spreads easily, is hard to stop, and leaves it’s scars. Proverbs 6:27-28 – “Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?”
  • Our thoughts are also a lot like fire. The longer we tolerate sinful thoughts, the farther they spread, the harder they are to stop, the more damage they do, and the more obvious and disastrous the consequences are. The thoughts we entertain will form our desires; the desires will shape our actions; the actions will become our habits; the habits will develop our character; and our character will determine our destiny. We have a choice to think on good or evil, and all that we do begins in our thought processes. Guard your mind. Philippians 4:13 – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

We are rejoicing and praising God for His unfailing love and grace, and for His ever-abiding mercy and protection over us. Take time to thank Him for the circumstances He puts in our lives to draw us closer to Him, and praise Him for the incredible ways in which He works in and through our lives!

The Grand Finale: the FEW Conference!

As the end part of our trip last week, the Lord allowed us to attend a Family Encouragement Weekend Conference (FEW Conference) in Fairfax, Virginia. Wow! Our friends, the Wilkes Team did an outstanding job hosting it, and there

Jenny & Titus were nearly two hundred people there; somewhere around thirty-five families gathered together to encourage each other to continue to “fight the good fight  of faith”  and to be a light for Jesus Christ in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation. It was an amazing time of encouragement, inspiration, blessing, and challenge as we fellowshipped with one another, prayed together, sat under the teaching of godly men, and sought the Lord’s will as individual families. The schedule went somewhat as follows:

We arrived back at the Wilkes’ on Thursday afternoon, so we were able to help wrap up some of the things that still needed to be done. We had a lot of fun along A hive of "busy bees" setting up for the next three days :) the way, too! Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We certainly saw that to be true once again as we worked together as members of the family of God! That evening, we went to the school where the conference was to be held, and got things ready there: setting up chairs and tables, working on the sound system, preparing the registration table, and “scoping out” other things for consideration.

On Friday, we started the day with a Wisdom Search together – what a blessed time of meditation on the Word and sharing with brothers and sisters in Christ! We then hit the ground running with the remaining preparation, and it was a joy toDaniel, working on lunch - Mmmm! see the spirit of cooperation and teamwork in every person!  Finally, at noon, the last dish was finished, the final water balloons were filled, the obstacle course was set up, and the grill was going for the cookout: now things REALLY got started. 🙂 Over one hundred people attended the cookout at the Wilkes’ home, and it was a great kick-off to the rest of the weekend!

_MG_0036Immediately following lunch, everyone went outside and was assigned to different teams for the family-building obstacle course. Each team was_MG_0070 composed of several families, and each father explained the directions and led his family through the beginning of the course. Laughter was prevalent as we followed our fathers blindfolded through a rocky path, played a mini croquet_MG_0081 game while holding a cup of water in our hand, carried a cup of popcorn on _MG_0064our feet (and then dumped it, hands-free, into a bucket), tried to catch water balloons, and accomplished various other tasks. 🙂

That evening, everyone went over to the school and heard the first few of a chain of inspiring, convicting, and life-changing sessions. Our attention was brought to important truths dealing with why there is still hope for a Godly family, the heart of fatherhood, and how to protect your family in the area of medicine. AfterMr. Staddon encouraging families that and a brief clean-up, the Wilkes, Staddon, and Neely Teams headed back to the Wilkes’ house for a few more hours of fellowship before it was decided (by the adults at least :)) to “hit the hay.” 🙂

Saturday opened with another Wisdom Search with all three families; this time focusing on Proverbs 8. By the time we all loaded up, headed for Happy Hannah & Tiny Titus - great friends! :)the school again, we had been both spiritually and physically nourished (thanks to the great cooking of Daniel and other members of the Wilkes Team :)) and now possessed the stamina needed for an unbelievable day. During the bloc of time before lunch, we heard meaningful lessons on courtship, marriage oneness, and family harmony. While Man-talk (Herman & Michael) the mothers prepared lunch and the fathers met for a time of prayer, all of the young people entered wholeheartedly into Discipleship Soccer and Canadian Dodge Ball.   What an encouragement to see the older ones taking the time and energy required to invest into the lives of the younger children! We came in worn out and very warm, but filled with joy and ready to do full justice to the wonderful meal! During the rest of the afternoon, we saw an amazing chalk Josh & Jenny: "The Impact of Older Siblings on the Family"drawing, gave praise to the Lord through song, and heard more encouraging testimonies on the impact of older siblings on the family, harmony in relationships, and the blessings that come when we die to self and operate under authority. At the end of the day, those staying with the Wilkes were to be found playing volley ball, discussing how the Lord hadFun time worked, eating, and doing anything else the combined brains of 33 people could come up with! 🙂 A special memory of the  evening was when each father prayed a blessing over the 27 young people present. What a treasure to see the hearts and desires of our leaders portrayed as they prayed over us and laid vision for the future!

Saturday night, a few of the more adventurous ones stayed up until after 2:30 a.m. working on… can you guess?? Answer: THIS BLOG!! 🙂 Anyway, somehow we all got enough rest in the remaining 4 hours of the night to sustain the activities Just three families!! :)of the next day – Sunday. Again at the school for the morning worship service, we were challenged by a message from the life of Joseph. Though this day marked the end of our journey, and shortly afterward we were on our way home, we carried with us new inspiration and excitement for how the Lord wants to use our family for His divine purposes. Though the hard part of what we heard and learned was still to come – the APPLICATION of it all – God is faithful and we can accomplish anything through His power alone. We praise God for all that He taught us throughout the week, and we look forward to seeing how He will use what we heard in our lives in the coming days.

To God be the glory – GREAT things HE hath done!

ZooAmerica

We took a day to go to the zoo on Wednesday of last week. This is a resulting interview between Amanda and Susanna, Lauren, Herman and Bethany:A one-year-old bobcat kitten

Amanda: What was your favorite part of the zoo?

Susanna:  I liked the bobcats!

A: What did you learn about the bobcats?

S: The mother is lighter-colored than the kittens, and when the kittens are first born, they’re black. They like to sleep high off the ground, and they like to play and wrestle with each other.

A: It sounds like they have fun being together as a family! Lauren, what was your favorite animal?100_8159

Lauren: I liked to see all the snakes!

A: Really? I liked the snakes, too! What did you think was so interesting about them?

L: They can shed their skin!

A: That IS neat. How do they do that?

L: They just basically crawl backwards and the skin turns wrong-side out as it comes off of them.

A: God sure designed the snake in an amazing way! Herman, what did you like about the zoo?Herman's and Daddy's favorite animal! :)

Herman:  The elk!

A: Oh yes, that WAS neat! What does the elk like to eat?

H: They like to eat leaves off of trees and grass, and his favorite fruit is pears.

A: They were about to feed him some pears when we got there, weren’t they?  What else did you like about seeing the elk?

H: We saw him wake up from a nap and scratch his back with his antlers.

A: He had big antlers, and he was only six or seven years old! Belle, what did you like about the zoo?A rosate spoonbill

Bethany: The pink things and the prairie dogs!

A: You liked the rosate spoonbills. They were pretty interesting! What did you like about them?

B: They drink and eat out of the river!

A: Yes, they eat small fish and crustaceans. They use their bills to sift the food out of the water. Their food is what makes them pink, but they don’t have any feathers on their heads, so they’re bald! And what did you like about the prairie dogs?

B: They dug lots of holes and made piles of dirt!These were so fun to watch!

A: What else did you see?

B: They were eating!

A: It was fun to watch them eat! And something that I liked to see was that they showed attentiveness to their leader. When the leader made a certain noise, they all stopped what they were doing, ran over to their tunnels, and got ready to hide if the leader told them to. That was also showing obedience!

Thank you for sharing, Susanna, Lauren, Herman, and Bethany! I hope we all learn lessons from the animals that God has placed around us!

Majesty MusiCollege

The next  part of our exciting journey was to the Majesty Music MusiCollege, held this year in Collegeville, PA. We arrived there just in time for church Sunday night, and then afterwards had the opportunity to work with “Uncle” Gary and “Aunt” Christiane Emory, setting up for the conference. With hymnbooks, book bags, registration material, music, and many people all flying around in a thousand different directions, 🙂 we all enjoyed the wonderful service opportunity immensely.  Monday started bright and early, and over the next 2 days, we were challenged, encouraged, and inspired to continue serving and glorifying the Lord with the musical abilities He has given. During chapel sessions we were reminded of meaningful truths like the lasting consequences of bitterness, the sovereignty of our God, the importance of giving everything over to the Lord’s control, and how we, in our own strength, cannot possibly fulfill our “role” in the ministry that He has called us to. A picnic supper with Josh and Jenny Wilkes and Lisa and Rachel Butler - FUN!During the different workshops throughout the conference, we learned many different skills and ideas on a variety of topics, from conducting to singing to teaching violin to piano techniques, etc. etc. The Lord especially used the conference to remind me that I must turn every talent, idea, desire, or ministry that I have over to Him and then allow Him to work out His will through me. We were blessed for those two days to have Joshua and Jenny Wilkes and Lisa and Rachel Butler attending MusiCollege with us. The like-minded fellowship that took place was an encouragement, and we greatly enjoyed our time together. 🙂

"Ahoy mates!" On deck with Patch the Pirate (Ron Hamilton)One of the highlights for the younger ones was the chance to dress up as club members of “Patch the Pirate Club” for a special demonstration on Tuesday morning.

The grand finale of MusiCollege was the “Graduation Concert” on Tuesday evening. It started with a special orchestra performance, and then  "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow"continued with many songs of praise sung by the choir of over four  hundred people! What an opportunity to declare the glory of our wonderful Creator and Lord!

“I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.” (Ps. 13:6)

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him.” (Ps. 28:7)

The youngest six enjoying the playground while the oldest four are in college :)

Wilkes-ward bound!!

It all started on Friday night, July 31, 2009, when we finally got the last suitcase in the trailer and headed out the driveway. Actually, it started several days, and even weeks before that, as we planned, prepared, and finally packed for this long-awaited and much-anticipated road trip. So, with much excitement and many smiles, we left home around 7:15 pm.  The rig all ready to go!

We stopped at a hotel along the way that night, and early the next morning, we got on our way again, with a very exciting destination in view: the home of the Wilkes Team!! After a rather uneventful trip, we arrived in high spirits in northern Virginia. The Wilkes had arranged for our two Teams to minister at an assisted living complex near their land in Culpepper, VA, so that was our first stop. We were well-received, and God blessed us with a fabulous time of singing, testimony, and talking with the people there.

The next thing on the agenda was a new experience with old friends: in the ten years that we have been blessed to know the Wilkes, we had never been to their land in Culpepper! So we loaded up our vans and headed down the road to the property. The evening there was wonderful, and it included supper Some of the supper prep crew. L-R: Adam, Kathryn, Victoria, Sarah, Daniel, Jessi and a tour by pick-up truck all around the land! That was very interesting! Imagine a pick-up truck with a good-sized-but-not-huge bed. Then, imagine that the two dads climb into the cab, to be the chauffeurs on the tour. Okay, now that you have that down, picture two lawn chairs in the bed of the truckMom and Mrs. Wilkes in the queens chairs (for Mom and Mrs. Wilkes), and then pile nineteen other people (ranging from age 24 years to 5 months old) in the remaining space. Put beaming smiles on every face, and lots of talk and laughter on every tongue, and your image is complete. 🙂

The tour was wonderful, and lots of fun! We did have a slight adventure, right at the end of it, when the left, rear wheel started making a strange noise. We stopped the truck and unloaded, only toHmmm... what do we do now? discover that we had run over something sharp and now had a flat tire! Okay! So that put an interesting twist on things, but God is merciful, and the spare tire worked fine… once it was out from UNDER the truck and put ON the axle. 🙂 Dad, Mr. Wilkes, Josh, Matthew, and Daniel worked hard and had it in good running order in a short time, although some people thought it was interesting that the flat had occurred on the GIRLS’ side of the truck… Hmmmm…

Joshua getting out the spare tire (grunt) "Let's get this tightened down the last bit!"

Sunday was very spiritually refreshing, and we thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful fellowship of the people who attend the church services at the Wilkes’ house. Sadly, we had to leave right after lunch, but happily,we would see them later in the week… 🙂 Herman and Mark: pretty good pals :)

After years of waiting…

It’s FINALLY HAPPENING!! For those of you who have been patiently waiting for… as long as it’s been… we appreciate your constant encouragement and your patience with our extreme non-technicality. For a while, it looked as if we would never get it done, BUT… thanks to Robert Staddon, and a few other friends, we have finally begun to move along.

The Web Design Team :-)

So… here we were… 10:00 at night… sitting around in our dear friends the Wilkes’ house… working, thinking, laughing, thinking, talking, thinking, and FINALLY… DESIGNING!!! (And did we mention that we were, um thinking?) Snapping photos, choosing fonts, laughing, thinking, and talking some more. 🙂

Anyway, with the expert ability of Robert and James Staddon, and the gracious hospitality of the Wilkes, we stayed up past 2:00 in the morning and got it under way. We praise the Lord for allowing this vision to finally become a reality, and look forward to recording how God is working. Praise the Lord for all He has done.

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