Gifts and a New Skill

 In January Annalina started being instructed in sewing. Her teacher

wanted to start her off with hand sewing and I am so glad she did!! Annalina

does BEAUTIFUL work! She has been learning different

stitches in embroidery for some time now like the chain stitch, french knot, 

daisy stitch, outline stitch, etc. 

She embroidered these pillow cases for Grandma and Grandpa J for Mother and Father's Day.

I am so excited for them to receive them in the mail!

She wrote them a note saying this was a "Thank you for all you do for me."

Annalina has an amazing teacher. She knows she is blessed with the quality 

of instruction she receives.

Getting Ready to Work at Rock Ledge Ranch

Right next to Garden of the Gods is a living history museum open during the summer months and it is called Rock Ledge Ranch. You can go and see how people in Colorado lived in the late 1800's. There are different areas to visit . . . Native American, Homesteading, etc.

This spring Gabriel was interviewed for one of their children volunteer docent positions. They only choose the children to work half the summer for just shy of 6 hours a week. I was told a lot of kids apply and only a certain number are chosen. I told Gabriel if he didn't get chosen we'd know it wasn't what God had planned for him. I thought it would be a good experience for him to go through an interview and see what it is like no matter what the outcome.

He went into his first interview with the man that seems to be if not at the top of running the museum than near it. It was a full fledged interview asking him question after question. "If you could go back to any time in history what time would it be?" or "If a child was visiting the museum and did .  . .  what would you do?" I was in a room somewhat close but couldn't really hear the words just the tone. It sounded like they were having fun! Sure enough Gabriel came out and told me that he actually really enjoyed it and that the man was really nice!

Warning Parental Bragging Paragraph for my own memories and Gabriel's future encouragement

Feel free to skip over!!!!:

Time went by and one day a voice mail was left for me saying Gabriel had been selected and how impressed they had been with him. I later I talked to the lady she told me more about how they really were impressed by him and told me that usually kids don't score very high on the interview points and she said Gabriel got a perfect score!!! Gabriel doesn't know that he just knows he had a lot of fun talking to this man!

Gabriel started his training this week. He came home even MORE excited. I was excited about what he was learning too. Learning, of course, how to talk to the people who come through and about interpreting history to the people who come. They also had a safety chat, etc.  He was so excited.

Saturday after the tournament I took the kids to the ranch to pick up Gabriel's period costume. It was one of those beautiful only in Colorado type days. Ok, maybe not only in Colorado but it doesn't get much better than Colorado!! Not to cold not to hot just beautiful! Gabriel picked up his costume which again made him even more excited. Then the kids wanted to stay and just explore around for awhile. Gabriel said to me "I can't believe I'm going to work here!" He is excited about doing homestead WORK. He was selected to work at the homestead sight. He seems excited about whatever that entails even if it is shoveling manure.

Jedidiah exploring a trail on Rock Ledge Ranch.

This is Galloway Homestead where Gabriel will be volunteering this summer.

An outside oven at Galloway Homestead.

Homestead house.

Coming into Rock Ledge Ranch with Pikes Peak in the Background.

Homestead boy from the late 1800's. Gabriel wanted to

keep his outfit on! He likes it.

Part of the ranch.

Goose and gosling at the ranch. The kids LOVED seeing this.

They insisted a picture must be taken.

ranch

ranch

Dirt, trees, birds= FUN!

Ross at the ranch pond.

Gabriel and Jedidiah at the ranch.

Gabriel kept trying to get Jedidiah not to eat and suck on rocks!

Such a beautiful ranch. No wonder Gabriel said

"I can't believe I am going to work here!"

Jedidiah really enjoyed time in the dirt.

Just Funny!

Ross was doing his week day reading to me and as usual I was getting on him for expression. I've told him he is good about reading the words but going from a good reader to a great reader means learning how to be expressive. WELLL, Ross doesn't like goofy and to him expression = drama and he does NOT like drama. His grandma is on his side there. I really do press him in his expression in reading.

Anyway, after he read to me today Annalina was talking to Ross and I was standing there listening. She was telling him that once you learn how to read (which he knows how to read) it is really fun and that if she has a book she really loves that reading is one of her favorite hobbies. Ross always one to give me a good natured bad time said "Unless you have Mommy saying to you 'Put more expression into it!'" And continued to rib me about the hard time I give him. :-) That's my Rossers. I just love him.

January

For a number of years now I haven't really relished January. I don't think it is the whole holidays are over thing. I don't think that really bothers me. I just always feel like January DRAGS on for so long! Maybe, it is the fast paced days of December are gone and January puts on the brakes. Who knows, whatever it is I need to not dread it. I did do better this year!!

January this year was an extremely interesting and eventful month. On the lighter side . . . Annalina and Ross started new classes (More on Ross's class later). Aside from morning family devotions Annalina and I started Mommy/Daughter devotions at night before bed with a one year mommy/daughter devotional that has already touched Annalina's and I's life. Babe started Father/Son Devotions at night with Gabers and Ross. It is written military style and they all enjoy it. Funny the devotional book was written by people out of Colorado Springs! Jedidiah cut 2 teeth. We had friends over for lefse making and eating! They wanted Babe to tutor their family in the art of lefse making! Very fun! Get memories and laughter.

The heavier events of the months are not for writing but needless to say so much joy and tears of sadness. Our Lord works in so many ways and more often then not contrary to the way we'd work things out because His ways are so much better. As my friend M. N. said it is like the disciples getting scared when they saw something coming towards them on the water and then in their fear they realized it was Christ and he spoke to them! Oh, now it is all better Christ is in this and then peace comes! I love that picture. A book (Guns of Thunder-Douglas Bond) I am reading the kids right now said it so well. The grandfather was speaking to his grandson and said "Ay, no ye cannot, and so ye must learn to wait upon the Lord, lad. Ye'll find it easier to put fear aside and wait upon God the more ye come to love God's sovereignty, to know his goodness, to hope in his gracious power to save."

February will continue in fun. My sister-in-law and her two daughters are coming to spend some time hanging out and then our BIG plans are to go to a castle (Glen Eerie) for a tour and then all of us girls are going to a REAL tea party at the castle!  The castle is run by a Christian organization. I really look forward to this! We've been wanting to do this for awhile! We are also going to our friends home this month where they are going to teach us how to make fried ice cream (funny story as to why). That will be so fun. Babe will be winding down in his current job and in March starting to train to go on watch which is shift work with 6 days on, so many days off, etc. Our schedule for family life will really be changing.  We've got some big decisions to make too this month. Also, I've been reading a book about Bonhoeffer and have been challenged to start memorizing the Sermon on the Mount with the kids. A bit intimidating, but slow and easy wins the race. I have no idea how long it will take. As Christians, my family and I need the attributes preached about in those 3 chapters and what better way to learn to live them then by memorizing and meditating on them. Wait, how can I forget it's my BIRTHDAY this month too!!

I love how God is continually teaching me to rest in His sovereignty. I don't always enjoy the journey but the destination is worth it.

Excellent Thoughts For Beginning the New Year

     I got the following from the Vision Forum email and thought it was GREAT!! I am going to print this out and keep it. We met as a family last night and talked over our blessings from the year and the things we need to work on both individually and as a family. I want to start a notebook that we keep year after year.

This year really has been an especially unusual year for Babe and I with the conclusions of some things yet to be made. I am excited for what the New Year holds. God the Father is in the future and what a peace that is!


Dear Friends:

Life moves fast. If we don’t take the time to chronicle the providences of God, we forget them. If we don’t take the time to say “Thank you” to those who have invested in our lives, we actually cultivate a spirit of ingratitude in our own hearts. If we don’t stop and make sure that we have a spirit of forgiveness toward others, we grow bitter, we lose the capacity to move victoriously into the future, and our prayers are hindered.

Here is a little practice that I was taught and would like to share with you. Each year, during the last week of December, I encourage you to do the following things.

I. Outline and Chronicle the
Many Providences of God

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (Hab. 2:2)
First, using simple bullet points, outline the key events for every week of every month of the year. Take the time to do the research which will help jog your memory and allow you to make an accurate record. I find that reviewing bills, blogs, journals, newspaper headlines, letters, and even organizing my photographs chronologically are enormously helpful tools. Those individuals who were faithful to journal or keep a diary will have little problem reconstructing key events. Give yourself a good week to reconstruct your own outline of the year. Also, by making this a family project, you will not only build your list with greater speed and precision, but (in the hands of a loving patriarch) the very act of chronicling the providences of God in your life is a blessed tool for family discipleship.

Every family will have a different set of priorities directing what they should record. In addition to recording the key events and providences of the year chronologically, I try to take the time with my family to record some of the following information on separate bullet lists:

Where did I/we travel?
What were the most important sermons I heard this year?
What books/articles did I write?
What significant household projects did we accomplish in 2012?
What were the most important meetings of the year?
What special friendships were made this year?
Which children lost teeth, and how many?
Who grew in physical stature, and how much did they grow?
Who learned to read this year?
What diet and physical exercise regimen did I maintain to honor "my temple"?
What books did I read? Did we read as a family? Did my children read?
What Scriptures did my family memorize?
What loved ones died this year?
What were the great personal/ministry/national tragedies and losses of the year?
What were the great personal/ministry/national blessings of the year?
What were my most significant failures/sins for the year 2012?
What commitments have I made to overcome sin in 2013?
What significant spiritual and practical victories did I experience?
In what tangible ways did I communicate gratitude to those who have blessed me and invested in my life?
What were the top ten themes of 2012 for my family?
II. Say ‘Thank You’ to
Those Who Have Invested in Your Life

[I] cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. (Eph. 1:16)
Whatever happened to the man who first opened to you the words of life from the Scripture? Where is the comrade, coach, or instructor who believed in you and helped you to accomplish a great goal? What about the Bible teacher whose careful handling of the Word opened up new vistas of understanding? Where is the friend who stood with you through thick and thin? Most importantly, what have you communicated to the mother who carried you in her womb, loved and nurtured you, or the father who labored to provide for and shepherd you?

When was the last time you responded to their investment in your life with gratitude, blessings, and even money? Jesus reminds us of those ungrateful recipients of blessing who simply went their way without demonstrating gratitude (Luke 17).

Before the year ends, make a list of two types of people: The first list are the names of people whose life, ministry, or personal investment in you have deeply touched you and changed your life. (In my case, the list includes parents, pastors, and even some teachers from the early years of my Christian walk that I did not meet until much later in my life, but whose books and tapes were crucial to my personal discipleship as a young Christian.) The second list should include those people who played the most significant role in your life in 2012.

Write a brief, meaningful letter to each of them. Be specific in your gratitude. Explain what they did for you and why it was important to you. Show them how they were God’s instrument of blessing in your own life. Pray over each letter, asking God to grant you rich insights on the character qualities of each individual and on the way those qualities changed your own life. Where appropriate, include a check or special token of appreciation that reflects your desire to show them, tangibly, that you recognize that you are in their debt. You cannot imagine the joy this will give to someone from your past who may think you have forgotten them. Give generously and without concern for getting a tax deduction. I strongly recommend sending money to your parents. Keep in mind that you will never be able to return their personal and financial investment in your life, except through your testimony of faithfulness, covenant keeping, and honor to the Lord.

Also, your children need to know the people who have blessed their parents. They need to see that Mom and Dad are grateful and generous. Share your letters with them. In our household, we ask our children to write to some of the people who have blessed Mommy and Daddy, because our children are the indirect recipients of these blessings on their parents.

This will take a day or two to complete. You may have twenty letters to write, but you will never regret saying “Thank you.”

One last thought: One reason why Christians are often limited in vision, energy, and blessings is that, contrary to the Lord’s command, we are ungrateful, unforgiving, and bitter. Far too many who profess the name of Christ spend more time obsessing on those who have wronged them than rejoicing in those who have blessed them. Letters and tangible expressions of gratitude are not only pleasing to Christ, but an antidote to heart-sickness.

III. Forgive Those Who Have Wronged You

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)
In the course of a year, it is possible to build up many offenses and personal grievances at others. Left unaddressed, these grievances fester and grow. They turn the heart black and the body weak. They foster a spirit of vengeance and misguided self-righteousness. The short of it is this: Unforgiveness leads to bitterness. Bitterness curdles the mind and the spirit.

Fresh starts and new years should begin with forgiveness for others. Having a genuine spirit of forgiveness towards those who have wronged us is a mark of biblical Christianity. It is an evidence that we have been redeemed, and that we are praying lawfully: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

Successful Christians are men and women who are free from bitterness. They have learned the principle modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ who, while suffering death at the hands of people he had never wronged, was able to say, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24).

I have a dear preacher friend with a sterling reputation who was once grievously slandered. When asked about the wicked actions of the slanderers, he replied something to this effect:

Oh you don’t understand — I am far, far worse than my detractors realize. They may have gotten a lot of the specific facts wrong, but I am just thankful they don't know how bad my heart truly is. God have mercy on me a sinner
This man had victory over bitterness.

My father is another man who always appeared to have victory over bitterness. In fact, from my earliest days to the present, I have watched lesser men “twist the truths [he’s] spoken to make a trap for fools.” [i]

Early in my life when I was still in government schools, I would listen to my own teachers criticize before my class the work my father was doing for the President to dismantle a government agency which was at war with the family. I read untruthful articles and saw derogatory comics on the pages of the Washington Post picturing him as a caveman for his “prehistoric” views. When my father was a leader in the Republican Party in Massachusetts, a gangster repeatedly threatened the life of his family. I remember being a boy and having my father shield me from homosexual picketers and protesters that would follow him and our family around at public locations.

Most painful and difficult for many to forgive is betrayal and dishonor. But that is a mistake. Betrayal and dishonor probably exist in the lives of most men. And why should any Christian be denied in their lives what past generations of Christians — and our Lord and Savior Himself — patiently endured? To our shame, most of us have been on both sides of that coin. From a son’s perspective, however, it is highly instructive to watch a father act honorably in the midst of such conflict. It has been a great blessing in my own life to observe my father nobly respond even in the face of barbs from former allies and friends, once loved and nurtured by him.

Eternally optimistic, Dad would always say: “Never be bitter. Life is too short. Thank God for your blessings. Press on!”

Bitterness comes from being unwilling to forgive. Bitter people are small people. They are unsuccessful people. They are people who cannot move forward. They are people who believe that the personal wrongs against them are so great that they — the offended — are entitled to do to their offenders what they pray the Lord Jesus Christ will never do to them: refuse to forgive.

Here is my recommendation: Think through every grief, minor and major, caused by others to you in the year 2012. Now add to the list any other personal offenses that continue to linger from past years. Write these down as bullets on a sheet of paper.

The first thing you will likely realize is just how many offenses are polluting your thought life and, probably, your spirit. This is a sign of latent bitterness. Bitterness will kill you. It renders you completely ineffective.

Now prayerfully walk through the list — bullet by bullet. With each offense, remind yourself that the most despicable action taken against you by another utterly (and infinitely) pales in comparison to the least of your offenses against the Lord Jesus Christ.

And yet He has forgiven you.

Before 2013 begins, adopt a spirit of forgiveness towards your insensitive friends as well as your hateful enemies. Forgive your imperfect father for whatever it is you need to forgive him for (and pray to the Lord that your own children someday forgive you for your failures). Quit devoting untold precious hours to commiseration, mental replay of the wrongs done, and thoughts about just how badly you were wronged. Stop blaming everybody but yourself for your problems. Look to yourself. Once you start chronicling your own sinful attitudes and crimes against God and man, you simply won’t have time to worry about the wrongs done to you. You will stop being bitter, and you will start being thankful.

Wipe the slate clean. “Press on.” Forgive.

Conclusion

As 2012 comes to a close, take time to remember and to say “thank you.” Take time to examine yourself for bitterness. Forgive others. Finally, as you love God with all your heart, soul and might, trust Him, too. Really trust him. Trust God with all your heart, your soul and might. You and I cannot solve every problem. What we can do is be kind, forgiving, and patient before the Lord. We can not “fix” everything that is broken. Only God can do that. In His time and His way, the Lord cannot only bring peace, but He can give you the very desires of your heart as you seek Him with integrity. He can redeem the years the locusts have eaten, and He delights in blessing His faithful children. “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).

It is appropriate that we stop and thank God at the birth of a new year. Remember that God gave man the stars on Day Four in part so that he could order and structure his life based on a clock/calendar system of days, seasons, and years (Genesis 1). He tells us to “remember” acts and to “number” our days. In Scripture, the formal act of remembering providences of God in our life is linked to hope, honor, and generational success (e.g., Psalms 44, 78, etc.). By February 2013, the year 2012 will be a distant memory. Strike now while the iron is hot. The opportunity to remember and to say “thank you” may never come again. And can you afford even one more day in which your prayers are hindered — because you were refusing to forgive? Trust the Lord. He is in charge: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5).

With love and gratitude,

    
    
Douglas Phillips,
President, Vision Forum Ministries

Learning Patience, Stewardship & Gabriel's cute response

This summer we have been learning about stewardship with two different Christian curriculums I purchased. One was super basic but very good when you have a 3 year old and another a bit more in depth. The kids also memorized some Scripture along with the one. We have finally completed the books and I plan to repeat them next summer. The more in depth book did not just talk about money but stewardship of time, etc.

Anyway, Gabriel has been saving and saving money to buy a wood castle at a toy store. He reads books for $ which is a good deal for him since he loves reading. He just finished an over 500 page book today that he did not spend more than a week reading. He told me he wished it would never end! Besides that book he has ready MANY, MANY, MANY books while saving for this castle. Well, we have stopped in to check to see if the castle was there (it is not like a Toys-R-Us with huge stock) and the owner or manager knew Gabriel was saving up for it. Gabriel was learning in the process to put 10% to tithe and 20% to savings. Well, today he reached his goal and he and the others were SOOOOOOOO excited to go get the castle. We got to the store with less than 10 minutes to closing. When we got the castle the lady threw in an $8 dollar figurine with a canon as a congratulations on his hard work! He had wanted that toy too and talked of saving up for it on the way to buy the castle! That was so neat that lady rewarded his diligence and hard work!

I am so thankful he is learning to be patient with his money.

As we were leaving the store the owner/ manager said to Gabriel "Have a fun evening!" I got such a kick out of Gabriel's response . . . "There are 3 more kids at home. I have 2 brothers and a sister so I will!" What a blessing to hear that response.

Side note for my Mommy mind to remember: The other day the dishes were stacked up in the sink and Gabriel saw them and he called Ross over and they happily did the dishes. Gabriel has his own jobs but that is not one of them. We do sometimes ask him to do the the dishes but this time he saw a job that needed to be done and he did it without being asked. What a blessing when they reach that stage!