Mom Life

It's hard to believe I haven't blogged in years. Something that was a part of my daily life a decade ago is now a distant memory (typing momentarily interrupted to go help a little guy wipe his buns and try to beat his little sister to the bathroom, who cheerfully always brings the wipes container whenever her big brother needs assistance!).

Then again, it's not so hard to believe I haven't blogged in years when you take into consideration the fact that I am a mom. Such characters as moms do not have the luxury to blog nonchalantly whenever they please. I am currently on the computer while my children play happily, yet if I were to make this a regular habit I'd probably have to do it while they sleep. I guess some moms insist on maintaining the pleasures they enjoyed in their child-free years. They do so (I assume) by sacrificing their children to the god of television or some other electronic devices. 

I choose not to do this. And so, consequently, I have less "free" time. That's okay with me though. I can invest into writing blog posts that will be bounced into the unknown and wild realm of cyberspace, read by few and likely erased for some reason as the internet chances or the websites that exist now cease to exist in the future. Or I can invest into every little trying and triumphant moment that my children experience and I am certain that my efforts will go into eternity as far as my children make an impact in the world as they grow and change and become independent people.

That's an exciting thought. My grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren being the people they are because of the choices and sacrifices I made to ensure my children had a hands-on mom. I will never see those fruits (at least not all of them) and I'm okay with that. It is enough for me to know that God promises a huge return to parents who choose to raise up their children to walk in truth.

I might blog more often now. Since blogging last my husband built us our own home. We have no internet lines where we live so for a long time I was without internet (and my phone only had a 2g data plan.... hardly enough to browse the internet for a few minutes). Recently we updated my phone plan so I can use my hotspot and so that I have enough data to actually accomplish things like paying bills online or even an occasional pleasurable moment like watching a movie, etc. So, just maybe, I'll blog more now. When my kids sleep. Or maybe it'll be another two years before I blog again... and that's okay.

EYLR Follow-Up

Hello, to the gals from the Encouraging Young Ladies Retreat!
 
It was such a privilege to share with you on Saturday morning. I was very honored to speak to you all on my "redirected relationship" experiences and I hope it was helpful information. I was very edified to spend the morning in your company and I was inspired by you all. I wish I could have gotten to know each one of you... but hey! Maybe I'll get to meet you someday at one of the Forster's retreats for married ladies.

I'd like to post the rest of the misconceptions and red flags I wasn't able to cover during my presentation on Saturday. I'm going to do a series of posts because no one wants to wade through a super long post.  So keep checking my blog through the month of February. I'm not sure when I'll stop posting but I'll let you know when I get done sharing all of the information I have for you.
Please feel free to comment to say hi or even share some of your own thoughts or experiences. I'd love to hear from you!

May God bless you and may the fellowship and wisdom you enjoyed at the retreat last with you throughout the year!

-Mary Ellen

Stop The Sex Addiction Epidemic

It's amazing how fast life can change and grow into beautiful things. God is always faithful to us in every season of life. Even the hard ones. Which reminds me of a close family member who is having a hard time being faithful to his family. It seems that Satan has a mighty plan to destroy him and his family. Yet, I pray that God finds a crack in his stony heart and that love for truth and righteousness will grow in him once more. It seems that the Devil has bound his heart in sexual addiction among other issues. The more I learn of the topic the more I've come to realize that sexual addiction is extremely prevalent in our culture. With the internet providing explicit content instantly to the curious viewer it's no wonder that more and more souls are losing their lives to the secret life of sexual issues. It makes me so sad and heavyhearted. Everyone is at risk... the young, the old, men and woman alike. The only way to break this cycle of abuse is by bringing it to light and helping people become aware of the problems and how they can find a path to recovery.
My sister-in-law had my family watch this video and it was really fascinating. Super sad in the statistics but hopeful in that there's way for people to get help. I could only find the interview in small segments when I searched for it to share on my blog  but you can watch the whole interview by clicking this link:
Dr. Patrick Carnes, Leading Sex Addiction Expert, Video Interview

Reminiscent of New Years Eve 2016

We settled into my parent's home just in time for the holiday cheer this December. I realized that I've only lived away from my parents home for just under a year and a half which is a rather humorous fact. Christmas was always an exciting time of year in my parents home. We had the biggest, best tree, with perfect decorations and presents that were so plentiful that the tree skirt was nowhere to be seen. The best was plugging in the lights at night and basking in the glow of their twinkle. And then..... we stopped doing presents and Christmas trees. No more glorious smell of pine filling up the house. No more presents on Christmas morning. December just wasn't the same.
Not to mention I had strong negative emotions tied to Christmas. One of the last years we celebrated Christmas traditionally I was in a courtship with a guy who I'd been quite infatuated with for a number of years. We'd been courting for a total of three weeks starting in the beginning of December and then on Christmas Eve he wouldn't talk to me and pretty much ignored me the whole night. By Christmas morning he acted like nothing had happened and was jolly and merry with the whole family but he didn't really interact with me much. Finally by Christmas evening I asked him what was going on. He told me he wasn't going to break it to me on Christmas but since I asked he was breaking up with me. Of course that ruined Christmas for me and since I was young, "in love" and it was my first relationship ever it was heartbreaking. It amuses me now to think about but Taylor Swift came out with her version of "Last Christmas" and so that really came my melancholy heartstrings a song that resonated well with my sad spirit. Oh, the teen years! 
As it happened that was probably one of the last years that my family really celebrated Christmas in the traditional manner. We stopped doing presents as it had grown to be a financial burden and we discontinued doing a Christmas tree as well. We still got together with family and had a special meal together but it wasn't the same. At least that's how I felt.

Fast forward to 2016. I met Jeff in February at an organic farming conference. We barely spoke but we kept bumping into each and so at the end of the three day event we swapped info and later found each other on Facebook. We messaged a little on Facebook and then didn't talk again till November. Jeff messaged me asking if he could stop by for a visit and stay at our farm on his way to his family's home in Canada. Of course I said yes and we began messaging frequently after that. The more we messaged the more we discovered we had in common and things grew serious. We were sharing life stories and discussing future desires. By the time he visited it was not so much a question of did we want to be in a relationship but when. 

Two years ago today Jeff cornered my dad as he came out of the restroom during a Christmas Eve party with my mom's family. He asked my dad if he could court me and as he and my mom had already discussed the issue and knew my feelings on the matter he gave Jeff his permission. I think that's the best holiday season I've ever experienced. The excitement and thrill of getting to know Jeff through messenger during Thanksgiving, having him visit just before Christmas and then beginning a courtship with him on New Years Day. That's enough to make any woman's heart full of joy! The funny part was that my dad assumed Jeff informed me of my dad's consent for us to be in a relationship and Jeff assumed my dad had filled me in and I was clueless. When we woke up the next morning, New Years Day 2017, my parents sat us down and were talking about the seriousness of being in a relationship and marriage... etc. I thought maybe they were taking matters into their own hands since Jeff and I had been talking so seriously the past two months. Then over breakfast they said something about announcing it in church and by that point I was freaking out. I thought they were going to scare Jeff off for sure and that they were being rather forward! So I was opposing all of their suggestions and felt quite uncomfortable. My dad did announce it in church that we were courting and that was actually the first time I was informed of our courtship. Quite a surprise, though a very pleasant one. Oh, life is amusing isn't it?!
 
The rest is history. Needless to say the joy and bliss of the Christmas and New Year season has returned and is much more beautiful than I could have ever imagine. Redeemed and made wonderful by Jeff coming into my life. The hurts of past Christmas's pale and are forgot in the radiant memories of 2016 and 2017.
At last, 2018 has come to a close leaving blessings in it's wake. A new child, our first anniversary, and 20 acres of land that we can call our own till the end of our days. It has been a good year.

It's a due date...

Today I've hit 42 weeks of pregnancy. I've had so many inquiries about the baby coming.... but little to answer questions with because not much has changed from two weeks ago. I think the baby has grown some and I've acquired more stretch marks as a result. My feet get hot at night and I seem to be waking up a little more frequently. Not to mention the weird dreams. But you can't make a baby come if mom is healthy and baby has a good heartbeat, is still kicking a lot and is not ready to be out of the womb.

The most frequent question I get is, am I going to be induced? By the end of this week I'll start looking at alternative/natural ways to encourage my body to go into labor, yet even with that I don't feel a rush to get things going. It would be so nice to just naturally go into labor. In fact, I'm not sure why a lot of moms rush to have their babies be born.... it just doesn't make any sense to me. God has a way of working things out in His own time and why would we treat the 3rd trimester any different than the 1st or the 2nd? I think a lot of it has to do with the expectations that we humans put on ourselves. We have timelines and ways to try to organize life and any time something diverges from the expected path we start to worry because of our need to control every little detail. We forget that we really have very little that we can control in life besides our own actions/reactions to the events and people we come across day to day. We forget to wait on the Lord. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

One friend commented on Facebook, "It's a due date, not an expiration date." There's so much truth in that statement. I understand that there are plenty of times when it is necessary to use certain means to bring a baby into the world asap, and I am thankful for doctors and tools that we have in such situations. Yet, if these medical interventions are not necessary, why would anyone want to rush a miracle? Ecclesiastes 11:5, "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."

People tell me they are surprised that I am so patient... yet not once have I considered that I had any other alternative but to be patient. I have learned to be patient through other circumstances like waiting for my husband to come along. That only took 25 years. What then is 9 months? Of course I am excited to meet this little being that's been kicking around in my womb for weeks. Of course I wonder, wish and wait. But I have faith that it won't be long before all of my curiosities and questions will be answered and that day will be delightful.

Psalm 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

With Great Anticipation

Only two days until my due date.... the big 40 week mark! Not that that means much. Babies come when they will and no gestational predictor or assigned date will urge them to come any sooner or later than they choose. My friends are already asking daily how I'm doing hoping to hear some news. Yet, I've been telling everyone all along that I don't think this baby is going to come early. In fact I suspect it will come "late". This may horrify you, but a lot of babies go over due and actually setting a due day by using a cow's gestational time table is much more accurate. Not always... but sometimes. When my sister had her first baby my dad used the "cow calendar" to suggest the baby would be born on June 30th. Baby came at 11pm that very day... and supposedly over due by human gestational standards. So my "cow due date" is the 23rd. I guess we'll see what happens. My husband doesn't think it's possible for my belly to grow any bigger so every day he says he thinks baby will come tomorrow. That's a fairly safe guess as eventually he'll be right!

Who knows if I'll be prepared enough. This past week was so busy and I really felt worn out by the end of it all. Not surprisingly, I've started to experience swollen ankles and feet. Not by a lot but enough swelling to necessitate sitting down and propping my feet up more often. Baby hasn't dropped yet and is still spending a good deal of time nestled under my ribs. Not very comfortable, especially after a meal!

Jeff and I are really looking forward to our little one's arrival. After nine months I can still barely grasp that we're going to have our very own child. I don't think the reality of it all will set in until I'm holding our little squirmy baby in my arms. No doubt once I've changed more diapers than I've seen in years, or can't pass it off to it's mom when it starts crying it'll really set in. I'm looking forward to it all though and am excited about this new stage of motherhood. I almost feel more like an on-looker watching as I'm swept away by the tides of life into this new experience. That's probably why they tell you not to blink in life because it all goes by too quickly. This first pregnancy has really breezed by and I can only imagine how fast the first year of my child's life will zip past. I'll try my best to savour every little moment.

All Things New

It's January. It's a new year. And I'm a new mom. Well... the kid isn't hatched yet; we're still in the brewing stage.

 With (most of) my family on Christmas Day

 Jeff and I laughed at how different things were last New Years holiday. Back when he first asked my Dad for permission to court me on New Year's Eve. The humorous part was that my dad gave Jeff the green light and the next day my parents had a conversation with the two of us, as well as announcing to our church that Jeff and I were in a relationship... and all this time I had no clue that Jeff had talked to my dad or that my dad gave him permission. Of course, I assumed my parents were okay with Jeff because of their actions. Rather, I was worried that they were just assuming things without Jeff actually wanting things to progress in such a manner! I was worried Jeff thought it was all too much or too fast. It wasn't until after church on New Years Day on our drive home that Jeff told me of his conversation with my dad. What a relief!

  Jeff and I, last year on my birthday.
I'm still wearing that coat but it's extra snug across my belly!

Now here we are a year later, just about to hit the 6 month mark of our marriage and expecting a baby into our home, due sometime in April. I've gotten to know more about Jeff each day and am delighted at what a strong leader he is. He prays with me before our meals, he spends time in the Word of God and is always working at learning or reading something new. He's not the kind of guy to sit around and waste his time, and the few occasions that he does take it easy it's always well deserved. He makes me want to follow in his shoes and continue learning new things each day. It's enjoyable to know that on top of having a team mate to help pull through all of the daily chores and responsibilities I also have a friend.

This picture was also taken Christmas Day.

My brother Channing and his wife, Rachel are expecting in February. 

Rachel and I are only 9 weeks apart!

As for growing a baby, it's a curious and exciting process. To watch as my body changes in fascinating and sometimes not so glamorous ways, knowing that in all of this a new little life is maturing in my womb. It's weird at the same time. I look down at this large lump of a belly at times and feel like an egg. A giant woman, human egg. The baby has been growing stronger each week. Ever since week 19 I've been able to feel it kick and lately it's kicks are so strong you can see it jumping around rather than just feel it. My belly looks like one of those energizer bunny commercials where the bunny is bouncing inside of the battery! It's quite startling at times, really, but I love it! And baby gets especially active when there's music or when daddy talks or sings. It makes my heart full with joy. We don't intend to find out the gender so it'll be the best surprise Jeff and I have ever experienced.  We do have names picked out though... which we formed partially from long time family name traditions.

 

 Jeff and I visited his family just this past week!
This picture was taken after an exciting escape room adventure.

It's an exciting new year full of new adventures. I can barely imagine having a little baby to care for each and every day. It still seems unreal to me. This will be a big, challenging and wonderful time for Jeff and I. 2018 is already full of so much wonder and it's only just begun.

One Week

In one week I will marry my love. It seems so natural and right. You hear of 'cold feet', hesitation and doubts and it is all mystifying to me. All I feel is warmth and readiness.
My single years have been full... almost too full. I don't know if I could stuff in any more satisfaction or contentment into the singleness I've experienced. The joy in my life has overflowed... and I suppose that is why it is time to start filling a new cup. Open a new chapter. Stitching the threads of one cloth to another.

Last night one of the other employees where I work told me a story of one of the residents. Apparently this resident, who is a sweet, kissable old woman, was engaged once. In her bedroom there's a picture of herself and her husband when they were first married. She was only 18 or 19.... and he wasn't much older. She'd always smile when she talked about that picture. But what this employee told me surprised me! This elderly woman, in her youth, was engaged to be married when a fellow asked her on a date. He must have been quite the fellow because this gal told him to come back in week and ask her again. She went home and broke things off with her fiance... and married this other guy. It's almost an amusing tale.... seems like something from a movie!

Yesterday, Jeff and I went to the courthouse. We filed for our marriage license. We had to raise our right hands and repeat some words. An oath or vow of some sort. I honestly don't even remember what we said, but it was some sort of official agreement that we were definitely getting married.

It's interesting how each life unfolds and what unexpected events await us. I couldn't have ever guessed that in beautiful July of 2017, I'd be marrying a handsome, intelligent and kind man from Canada. O, life. It is a wonderful, mystic thing.

CNA

Last Thursday I woke up bright and early to go take the CNA state exam. It was nice to wake up and watch the sun rise on my drive. My body is still used to waking up in the early morning, so even though I've been getting up at 8:30 most mornings, 6:30 felt strangely refreshing. I was fortunate enough to take the test with most of my classmates, and to make it more amusing my friend Tony was my partner during the skills test. It was funny as we'd spent our lunches together in the facility cafeteria during our month of class, when all the other classmates went out for lunch. We had some great conversations during those 30 minute lunch breaks. He was a nice guy and I always encouraged him in his life endeavors. We were able to talk about God and Christianity. He was open to the topic. He was also just out of an 8 year relationship and wanted to be with somebody who was committed. He'd tell me stories during the month of going to the bar with friends and meeting a really nice girl only for her to not want to reconnect later. I told him to be patient and a really nice girl would come along without him having to go to the bar to find her. Well sure enough while we were all waiting for our turn this past Thursday he was telling us excitedly about this really nice girl who'd come in to the gym he worked at. They hit it off right away and they're in a relationship now. She's a Christian and he's changing his work schedule so he can go to church with her. It was wonderful to hear him happily talk about this wonderful gal he'd met. Patience pays off.

I did pass both the written exam and the skills test! Quite exciting. I went in expecting not to pass. I didn't feel I had prepared and studied enough, and the test is so picky where if you do one thing wrong you could be failed. You have to perfectly perform 5 out of 5 skills. I had to do Hand Washing, Dressing a Client with an Affected Right Arm, Denture Care, Recording Urinary Output, and Female Peri-care (on a manikin). I almost botched the whole test on the 2nd skill. I started dressing the resident (a.k.a Tony) with the wrong arm first. The examiner loudly hinted, "You're dressing the client with the affected RIGHT arm." ...and I didn't get the hint so she suggested again, "...the affected RIGHT arm!" *whew*!!! Then I realized!!! Yikes. During the skills test you're allowed to correct an error as long as you state what the correction should be and when you should have done it BEFORE the skill is complete. I lucked out.... and completed all of my other skills appropriately. Only one of my classmates didn't pass and that was because she had to count and record someone's pulse. That's one of the hardest skills of all, and she new she'd gotten off count but didn't specify a restart. What a bummer! We all felt her pain because not one of us desired to get that skills.

Anyways, I was also out of there and done with the exam by 12:30pm..... and they'd said it could last till 5pm. So it was like having a day off. Celebration!!
Now I'm an official Certified Nursing Assistant. I still have a long way to go in learning how to work in the LTC environment and be the most efficient and supportive employee I can be. It's a challenge and occupation that I'm enjoying so far. My time is spent helping people that can't get by without assistance. I feel like it's a ministry of sorts and caring for the disabled, needy and elderly is something God expects of all of us in some capacity or another. 

Psalm 71:9, "Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth."

Leviticus 19:32, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD."

Galatians 5:14, " For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Channing & Rachel's Wedding

As it happens, this past Saturday my little brother (though not so little anymore) was married to the sweetest gal he could have possibly found. The weather had been sunny and 60 degrees for days and then the day before their wedding we had a big blizzard. Go figure. It did make travel a bit trickier, especially since the bride and her family are 3 hours away and so was the wedding. Nevertheless, this weather didn't prevent the wedding.

It was a beautiful, joyous, God-centered occasion. Here are a few pictures.... if you click on them I promise they'll look more normal.

A Very Extraordinary New Year

It's a brand new year! Although it's an ordinary year in that there have been many years before it and there will be many years that follow it, it is unique because of the events that occur within it. 

For myself it is an extraordinary year because on the very first day of the very first month of this new calendar a wonderful man changed my relationship status from 'single' to 'in a courtship'. His name is Jeff and it's been quite a blessing getting to know him.

We changed our Facebook statuses. It now says that we're "In a relationship", but Facebook doesn't have a courtship option. The only other option that would even come close other than "In a relationship" would be "It's complicated". Perhaps, "It's complicated" would be the most accurate of them all, but it sounds too negative and therefore doesn't fit. Because there's nothing negative about this relationship. 

 *isn't his smile contagious?!*

There ARE a lot of challenges... but none that are the worrisome kind. Mostly challenges that have to do with him being from Canada and how far apart we are from each other. Oh, a long distance relationship is quite interesting. Dating a foreigner comes with a few road blocks... like visas, passports, immigration, paperwork, and enough laws and regulations to make your head spin. No just hanging out in our time off, meeting up on the weekends or taking things casually. Yet, these are merely challenges for us to work through that will only make us grow stronger together. 100,000 miles of distance wouldn't make me change my mind about this guy. 

  *you'll have to forgive our chill phone camera photos,
but we're both pretty chill kids so I guess it fits*

To be honest, I'd given up hope that there were any guys left in this world that would be willing to go the extra mile and go through the courtship process. I certainly didn't think that when I sat down at a table next to two Canadian fellows at an organic conference last February I'd be in a relationship with one almost a year later. And I was quite prepared to be one of those 40-and-still-single gals, clinging to her ideals and faith. I wouldn't have made a very good 40-and-single lady though, haha! I think God works these things out in His perfect timing. I feel very blessed that Jeff not only met my expectations but has exceeded them in so many ways! I could dedictate a whole blog post (or a ton) to the many ways he's not only fulfilled my dreams but continues to soar above my wildest wishes. And no, I am not exaggerating (yes, I can read your mind. haha!).

Anyway, without sounding too cliche, he really does inspire me to be a better woman. I can't wait to see where this journey leads.... but I think it's going to be a really, really long journey. This is our hope at least. You know, the "until death..." kind of journey. 

Happy 2017, Everyone! May we grow more each day in our understanding of God's goodness and grace.

Feliz Navidad

Christmas day, and it's rainy and windy outside. Very odd for a WI Christmas. I do remember a number of years ago when we had a thunder & lightning storm in December. I guess Mother Nature just likes to keep us on our toes.

In spite of the dreary weather, we had a warm and cozy day inside. The twinkly Christmas lights glowing throughout the house and seasonal tunes streaming through the speakers.

There's a really pretty song I just discovered this season. It's so soothing, and almost haunting... but I can't find it on YouTube to share it with you. However if you can find it elsewhere I'd suggest you give it a listen. It's called, "In Winter's Cold", by Brittin Lane.

I hope your holiday was cheery and festive, full of all the seasonal blessings.

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours! 

 ...and here's a cute picture of my parents. Aww!

......AND... *drumroll*

Channing proposed to Rachel! She said, yes!

God has truly blessed our family this Christmas. We have so much to be thankful for and can't wait to see what the future brings. ...most especially a wedding this next year!

Roots

The other day I was talking with a friend when the subject turned to our ancestry. It reminded me of the very first article I wrote for the local newspaper. For whatever reason I never shared it here on my blog, so I thought I'd do so now. 

 

Roots

The other day I was looking over some of my family's ancestral and genealogical records. On my mother's side I can trace my bloodline back to William Bradford, one of the pilgrims who sailed to the new world on the Mayflower. He's my 13^th Great-Grandfather. Then there's some connection to Samuel Huntington, who was a prominent political figure during the American Revolution, and John Perkins, who's daughter, Mary Bradbury, was falsely accused of being a witch. On my father's side people like Max Detweiler (“Uncle Max” from Sound of Music) and William Jennings Bryan have their place in the family tree. There's even a Row family crest and a castle in England somewhere. The intriguing findings never cease. My family history is not unique. Most everyone can find some famous or infamous person in their history.

Yet, what amazes me the most is how we all managed to wind up in the Eau Claire area by some means or another. It is incredible to think of the seas crossed, the journeys embarked upon, trials faced and the roads taken that brought each of us here to this peaceful country.

I have a friend who was born in Central America and moved to the United States to study at UWEC. Now a successful businessman and world-traveler, he once told me that the Midwest, specifically this region, is inhabited by the kindest, most easy-going people he's come across.

Malcom Gladwell wrote of the people who settled in the Appalachian region in his book Outliers, “...when they immigrated to North America, they moved into the American interior, to remote, lawless, rocky, and marginally fertile places like Harlan that allowed them to reproduce in the New World the culture of honor they had created in the Old World.”

Here in the Eau Claire area there's been a lot of expansion and growth since it was founded. Even in the last decade we have larger communities, bigger buildings, greater technological advances... an over all growth of the commonwealth. It is a sort of boom in relations and communication similar to when one switches from dial-up to high-speed internet... or from a land-line to smart phone. The kind of boom that produces instant development in so many areas of life.

Still, the people remain essentially the same as the people groups and regions they came from.

This is no coincidence or miracle. Often it is the deliberate decision of passing on our values to the next generation. What our grandparents passed on to our parents who passed it on to us... who in turn pass it on to our children... and so-on. Then again, it is also a sort of inherited code of conduct, patterns of speech, general temperament that we receive unwittingly from our relations and our community that haven't changed in hundreds of years.

Malcolm Gladwell determined that, “Cultural legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and long lives. They persist, generation after generation, virtually intact, even as the economic and social and demographic conditions that spawned them have vanished, and they play such a role in directing attitudes and behavior that we cannot make sense of our world without them.”

Many of our ancestors moved to an unfamiliar land to defend their rights and keep their freedoms. We live in a place where we can carry on the same values that our predecessors fought to maintain.

In this community we share a strong moral standard; a great sense of goodwill toward our neighbors. We wave and smile at the strangers we pass by and though most of us probably don't have a family crest each of us have the right to a 'castle' and the freedom to defend our homes, ideals and the people and things we hold dear.

In the course of a lifetime it may not be life-changing to know who our ancestors were and one might surmise that looking to the past renders little good. Yet, evidence shows that looking back we can see where we came from to better understand where and who we are now. Though here in the Chippewa Valley area we may not have the heritage of a Southern town or the revolutionary roots of the Eastern states, we live in a quiet, kind land... and it takes a kind people to inhabit a kind land.

All In A Week

This coming week is going to bring quite a few challenges. We have election day, which means a good portion of the country will be severely disappointed. On top of which we have the time change which brings darkness an hour earlier, as if the shortening hours of daylight weren't enough to deal with. Then to bring things to the climax it could snow any day and the temperatures are bound to turn chilly and arctic soon. Yikes!

One the bright side, we have Thanksgiving to look forward to. My favorite holiday. We go all out for Thanksgiving. Family filling up every inch of the house, food covering every inch of counter space. I'm trying to be patient so that I don't rush the days by, but it's so exciting!

November has brought some joys as well as some disappointments. I was invited to a special event in Connecticut and would have been traveling with some of my favorite people, but as it would happen I couldn't get the time off work. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to my friend Hannah's baby being born and getting to meet the new little life. Then there are friendships that I know are growing daily and my own life and character that continue to be shaped and sharpened into a better instrument to serve the people around me and  to serve the Lord. It seems that God knows our needs before we do and so of course has trials and treasures waiting around each corner to be dispensed as needed in our walk.

Well, it's time for the end of the day. I hope your November is warm and delightful, and that the trials of this next week don't bring you down. If you can't find a silver lining, be sure to sew one in. ;)

Philippians 1:9-11
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Song for the Summer

Every year has a different feel, a new variation of the same theme. This Summer is going to be a good one... full of adventure, discovery and new lessons to learn. Interesting things to add to the pages of the past. I can just tell.

But this song... this one fits perfectly. I love the mood and rhythm; calm, yet energized. The key element is found right in the first verse:

"'Cause a little bit of summer's what the whole year's all about"

Looking Forward, Looking Back

March has almost whisked itself away and in a few days it will be April already. I'd thought the long wintery months were behind us but a blizzard brought over a foot of snow. I should have known because March usually brings one last heavy snowfall.
I've been thinking about Colorado a lot these past few days. It was this time last year that my bros and I were enjoying the excitements of that gorgeous state and the company of my Aunt and Uncle. We did so many memorable things that I believe it may have changed me in some ways. I'm not sure how but I suppose magical things happen on vacations like that, in ways that cannot be reversed. Change and growth in this case is good.
This year has been quite different and promises big excitements. Like new babies, new business ventures and I feel that it will not be a disappointing year. ...but I suppose I won't know 'till next year when it's all done and over with. I'm sure next year is only a few days away since time flies faster the older I get. Which is exactly why each day must be taken advantage of, to be used to it's full purpose. 

Anyways, enough vague rambling about time. Granted, I love blogging because it is the one places where I am allowed to be vague, ramble and not be responsible for my bad grammar or random thoughts. Programmers haven't updated the blogging world by adding like-buttons or heart-buttons or videos that play when you scroll past and overwhelming business like they've done to Facebook. I suppose Facebook has always been a bit silly, but as much as it has become necessary to have lately in order to keep in contact with people, it's become a circus of nothingness. People spend more time sharing video clips and memes than they do updating their "status". I used to think updating your "status" was a bit much but I'd gladly take that any day than the constant entertainment and information that has nothing to do with the people are who sharing and posting this stuff.

Or maybe I'm just getting old. Next year it'll be a decade since I joined Facebook. I've been weighing the pros and cons of deleting my account lately. Maybe the real fix would be to not log into my account so often. Delete the app off my phone so I don't have easy and constant access. Deleting Facebook itself is like burning your address book full of names, addresses. It's like choosing to live in a world where you unsubscribe to the local prayer chain and newspaper, saying, "I don't need to know if your baby died, if you're moving to Texas, if you were married yesterday or if you have photographs of your life events to share."
It's these things that I do want to know. The important stuff. Without that social media connection it seems I find out about the relevant information months later. I cannot convince myself which extreme is better.... not just yet.


Lately I've been drawing and painting a good deal more than I have in the past. I'm really enjoying it.. especially the painting part as it's something I haven't done more of and each time I dabble in it my paintings improve. It's exciting to see the evolution of my understanding of the art. I also was given an easel... which is a new experience. I'm currently working on a painting of a New York City street scene in the morning. I'll share it when I'm finished.

The Day of the Lord

I read the book of Amos this morning. It's been a while since I sat down and really read some scripture so it was good to be in the Word. A verse in particular sticks in my mind:

Amos 5:18 says,
Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

It was an interesting verse to me because I have known so many people who were constantly watching the world news and dwelling on every dark event to make the claim that the day of the Lord is going to happen soon. I doubt you could count the number of times theories have been made for which exact day the "world as we know it" would come to an end, but turned out false.

Now, it's not that we aren't living in the last days. Every day that passes brings us closer to the prophesied catching up of the Church and the days of tribulation.

I simply do not understand how people could consider the times we live in now to be much worse than any of the ages of old. Throughout history there has been horrific events, dark times and ungodliness and evil men. As Solomon said, " Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us."

Events like the WWII, the Holocaust and Holomodor, the medieval crusades, nuclear bombs, communist regimes, genocide, apartheid, slavery, plunder, rape, terrorist attacks, ethnic cleansing, martyrs ... it's been happening since before God flooded the earth in the days of Noah.
 
I'm not saying those last days won't come. I'm not even saying that we aren't living in them. I just think that it's sad to dwell on the evil when every hour that the Lord has not come back is one more that we have to share His goodness and grace with those who've not yet trusted in Christ. 
 
Amos 5:20 says,
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

It'll be a sad, though very righteous day, when God returns to bring judgement to the earth. It is something we believers can look forward to as it will be the end of our mortal sufferings and we use the knowledge of Christs return as a comfort (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Titus 2: 13
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Philippians 3:20-21
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

The day of the Lord isn't going to come at any predictable time. Matthew 24:36 says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."
It will come like a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
² For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
⁴ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
⁵ Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
⁷ For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
⁸ But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
⁹ For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
¹⁰ Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
¹¹ Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

We serve an amazing God. As the scripture says we don't need to worry about the coming end because we are children of the day. We don't need to flee to the hills, stock up on food and ammunition supplies. We can rest in the eternal blessings we have in Christ and live by the faith of God. We live in an age of grace... it's a time to walk in joy and peace and show the love of our savior to an world that is in desperate need of what we have.

My simple point is this: The material things in this life are fleeting. Let's focus on the eternal.

Amos 4:13
For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.

Goodbye 2015

365 days already over. Well.... almost. There's only 4 hours left of the 365th. Good old December 31st, always bringing about a nostalgic, bittersweet end of a year.
I suppose some people will stay up to watch the clock change from 11:59pm to 12:00am, thereby heralding the beginning of a new calendar. But really, isn't that all this is? The celebration of removing a filled up and used old calendar for a new one with new pictures and altered numeric arrangements? I can't understand all the hype over such a simple and mundane ordinance.
Yet, maybe it is a big deal. After all, if we're here to put up a new calendar, we've just lived through 365 more days of living on this earth. That's 8,765 hours we've just survived. 525,948 minutes we've managed to encounter. That's 31,556,926 seconds that passed while our hearts ticked on.

Yes, I supposed it is something to celebrate, the closing of a chapter in the time table. We've made it this far... so here's to the next 366 days... Yeah we have to make it through that extra day thanks to Leap Year landing in 2016. 

Here's to the rest of 2015. May this next year bring us closer to God, closer to our families and closer to our goals. Happy New Year's Eve! Cheers!

4 Reasons to Get Married Fast

I posted a little teaser picture of my most recent article in the EC Journal newspaper and lot of my Facebook friends have been asking to read this article in full. One interesting fact that I didn't include in the article is that, according to this cool website, 74% of engaged couples talk about eloping... probably for any family reasons for some but also I suspect that wedding planning is just plain old stressful and elopement makes a lot of sense. Just an interesting side note. 

4 Reasons to Get Married Fast

This is not a suggestion to run out and marry the first person you come across but, if you've met that special person whom you plan to spend the rest of your life with in marital bliss, this is the case for a short engagement. According to the Huffington Post, 40% of couples are engaged for 13-18 months before marriage, 27% for 7-12 months, 23% for 19-24 months and 6% for 24+ months. Only 4% are engaged for 0-6 months before saying, “I do”. Engagement is like making payments on a house that you can't live in. It's an inconvenient state of limbo, it's frustrating and it drains your resources. You've in essence settled for a monogamous relationship, so why the big delay?

1. Less money spent. More satisfaction.
According to costofwedding.com, “The average wedding cost in the United States is $26,444. ... most couples spend less than $10,000.” Longer engagements often amount to more wedding expenses. Put a chunk of money into savings instead of a ceremony and avoid gaining financial debt right from the start. I can hear your future selves and your bank account thanking you already.

2. Proper etiquette.
Six months really is a decent, if not long, engagement period. According to The Knot 6 to 8 weeks prior to the wedding is an appropriate time to send out invitations. Since guests will have recent notice of your nuptials you don't need to send out save-the-date cards as the invitation will suffice. I recently attended a wedding that was organized within 48 hours as the groom was heading overseas with the Army. The details fell into place surprisingly well. Understandably, most people can't and won't want to get married with only 48 hours to prepare but most wedding essentials can be tackled in 6 months or less.

3. Room for temptation. Douglas Wilson wrote that, in essence, you can't preheat the oven without cooking the roast. If you have any moral or religious motivation for saving anything for wedlock then a prolonged engagement is your worst enemy. Many times couples cross boundaries with the intention that they're getting married anyway. This often ends up destroying their relationship altogether or adding guilt, hardship and conflict that could have been avoided had they simply shortened their engagement. Resisting temptation has never been a strong-suit for humans. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2

4. Keeping up with the Joneses.
After a year of planning, and many couples plan for much longer than that, every little detail that doesn't go as planned is cause for great stress in the weeks leading up to the wedding and especially on the day of. Since social media has allowed us to be a part of others lives we often feel the need to maintain a certain socioeconomic status. Sights like Pinterest give us great DIY ideas, but we often expect our weddings to turn out exactly like those picture-perfect images we see online. It's not about having low expectations for your big day... it's about having realistic expectations. The vows between two people are the important part... not the decorations.

An engagement is simply an agreement that two people will be married as soon as wedding arrangements can be made. Stop watching Say Yes to the Dress, Four Weddings and other fairytale distortions of reality and get married. Our grandparents' generation got married in their living-rooms with a few family members present. Weddings should not cause newlyweds to be exhausted, disappointed and already in debt. Rather they should be about true love, real vows and life-long commitment.

It's About Time...

Richard Matt, who'd been sentenced to prison for life for the 1997 kidnapping, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss, escaped a supermax prison. We bent our ears to the news for information on the manhunt knowing that such a sadistic murderer should not be at large.

Yet, if baby is created, and then tortured and dismembered in the womb, and the offending party walks away without a prison sentence, why aren't people losing any sleep over this crime against the unborn?

It's about time they legalized gay marriage in all 50 states. We have opposite sex couples avoiding the commitment of marriage, opting for shacking up and homosexuals who want to be together but feel the need to get a license to do so??? Good grief, what is wrong with mankind? ...let them have their license. It doesn't change the facts that sex and marriage is intended for a one man/one woman relationship... and now we can get on to something more substantial, like stopping the murder of babies in our country.