The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church – Tertullian, 197 AD

 Gary & Bonnie Witherall

November 22, 2002 I was enjoying Thanksgiving vacation at my mother-in-law’s house in Oregon. Normally when I am on vacation I like to leave everything at home – phone messages, email, etc.– and just enjoy the people and surroundings around me without distractions from home. For some reason on this day however, I decided to go ahead and check my e-mail. As I scanned down the list of subject titles, one suddenly caught my eye. It read something like this: "Urgent prayer needed for family of American missionary murdered in Lebanon". Alarmed, I immediately opened it and began reading.

The e-mail was from some friends of ours who were missionaries in the Middle East. They were reporting on the death of Bonnie Witherall who, along with her husband Gary, was a missionary to Sidon, Lebanon with Operation Mobilization (OM). The information in the email was sketchy -- I didn't even have a name --  so I quickly turned on the news expecting to hear some sort of report about the incident. After watching an entire broadcast, with out any mention of the event, I decided to turn to the internet. I did several searches and came up empty-handed. I searched again the next day –still nothing.

Eventually, the events of the incident began to unfold through a good friend of ours, named Bill, who is a missionary with OM. Apparently Bonnie was ministering in a very dangerous part of Lebanon at a prenatal clinic. Most of the women whom this clinic served came from a Palestinian refugee camp down the street. This was the same camp where refugees were caught on video rejoicing after the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001. Bonnie was a medical assistant at the clinic helping the doctor provide prenatal care to the patients.

On November 21, 2002, Bonnie arrived early at the clinic, as was her normal routine, to prepare tea and biscuits for the women who would be visiting the clinic that day. She failed to notice the assassin behind her who followed her in and proceeded to put three bullets in her head at close range.

When her husband Gary was notified of this horrific event, he immediately rushed to the clinic. When he arrived, he started toward the room where the body of his martyred wife lay. To his frustration, there were soldiers blocking the door of the room who refused to let him pass. Determined, Gary tried to push his way past the soldiers. Eventually, the soldiers overtook Gary and placed him in an adjoining room.

In desperation and grief, Gary pressed himself tightly against the wall closest to Bonnie’s body. It was in this moment that he heard the still, small voice of the Lord speak to his soul. "Gary, there is a seed planted in your heart today. That seed can grow into hatred and bitterness or grow into love and forgiveness. Choose!" To which Gary responded, "I choose forgiveness." That evening, on Lebanese television, Gary had the chance to share with that nation about God’s love and forgiveness and his personal choice to forgive Bonnie’s murderer.

In an article the following day in the London Times, Gary commented further about his difficult decision to forgive: "God led us to Lebanon and we knew that we might die. … It’s a costly forgiveness. … It cost my wife"

Bonnie knew of the dangers associated with her calling. According to an article in the New York Times the clinic had received terrorist threats for sharing the gospel with patients. In a video taped interview a few weeks before, Bonnie had been asked if she was afraid of getting killed in her work. She replied by saying, "All the days that are ordained for me, God knows every single one of them. He knows every hair that’s on my head and He knows every minute that I have to live." When told by a religious leader that she "might be vulnerable to insults or even being hit," she responded that "she would consider it an honor.''

Although I never had the opportunity to meet this hero of the faith, she was obviously an incredible woman who was willing to count the cost and risk everything in order for others to come to know Jesus. Her story challenges me to seek deeper levels of commitment in my own walk with Christ.

Inspired by Bonnie’s testimony, our friend,  Bill Drake, wrote a song, Wear the Crown, in honor of her memory and memories of those around the world who have obediently given their lives for the gospel of Christ.  Voice of the Martyrs took the song and made a video out of it.

You can read more about Bonnie’s life and testimony in the book Total Abandon,  written by her husband Gary.

Gotta love Tim Hawkins -- comedian and homeschool dad.  He and Todd Wilson of Familyman Ministries help keep me from taking myself and the continual challenges of homeschooling too seriously.

Use it up, thin it out, make it last or do without.

This is a quote made popular during the Great Depression that my husband discovered a few years back. He now has it on the top of our budget sheet as inspiration to make do with what we have, and not give in to unnecessary spending or waste. Nicely said, huh? In reality its much harder to do – especially when items of necessity need to be bought or when Christmas and birthdays come around.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the need to develop a depression era mindset and find more ways to save money – especially in the area of groceries. I am continually working on our budget and am very open to any additional ideas where we might be able to save. I've made some changes already: cut out a lot of non-essentials, bought fewer prepackaged convenience foods, plan my menu around sale items or what we already have on hand, etc. I've finally managed to get our budget back to what it was before the economy started to go bad. 

Last week I came across a great resource that I'd like to pass on to those who may not know about it. It's a website called "Miserly Moms" . I heard the woman who developed this site interviewed on Focus on the Family last week (you can listen to the podcast here) . Her name is Jonni McCoy and she is an author and speaker who has great advice on helping families save more in all areas, not just groceries.

Some of the things she mentioned on the show were making your own biscuit/pancake mix, syrup ($4.00 vs. 11 cents), & granola ($1.00/lb). She mentioned that these items in particular were considerably more expensive prepackaged than if you make them yourself. You can make these items ahead of time with little effort and then store them in the pantry or freezer for quite a while. Yesterday on Facebook, one of my single friends posted a recipe for laundry detergent. I haven't tried it yet, but I am definitely planning on it. She spent 86 cents per 2 gallon batch. I'll try it and post it if my family and I don't break out in a strange rash :)

Jonni's money saving ideas can be found in her books: Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy and Healthy Tasty Meals for Less than 99 Cents Per Serving. These are available on her website and on Amazon as well. Her website is worth checking out.  In addition to money saving tips, she has recipes, testimonials and other helpful resources.  Here is a link to an article on some budget tips (they’re located at the end of the article).

Your kids sass you in Latin. 

(This actually happened to a friend of mine)

God is God. If He is God , He is worthy of my worship, my trust, my obedience. I am only a child, He is my Father. He will not explain everything but I may find rest in His glorious will. His will is immeasurably, ineffably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to, but I will find rest nowhere else.  Elisabeth Elliot, after the martyrdom of her husband, Jim Elliot.

Those who know of the life and ministry of Elisabeth Elliot can fully appreciate the impact of the above quote. Elisabeth was married to Jim Elliot who was one of five men killed in the jungle of Ecuador in 1956. Jim was a missionary with the Plymouth Bretheren missions board. He and four other men were trying to reach a tribe of violent indians called the Waodani ( also referred to as the Auca).

The Waodani had a fearsome reputation. At that time, they were known to be the most dangerous tribe on earth. They had a homicide rate of 60% and were on the verge of extinction. Most of the contact that had been attempted by the outside world had ended in violence. The government of Ecuador was ready to take serious action against them if the killing continued. Many employees of the oil company working in the region had been speared by this tribe.

It was with this knowledge that Jim and the other men -- Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed Mc Cully, and Pete Fleming --  decided to make contact with the Waodani in order to bring the gospel of Christ. For several weeks the men made contact with the indians though bucket drops. Nate Saint, a pilot, would circle his plane over the village with a rope attached to a bucket dangling from the plane. Inside the bucket would be various gifts. The indians in return, would place gifts for the men such as a roasted monkey tail and a live parrot. After several trips, the missionaries felt it was time for them to make face to face contact with the Woadani.

When they landed in Woadani territory, they were first greeted with a warm welcome. Two days after making friendly contact, however, all five men lost their lives at the hands of the Waodani. All the men left wives and four left young children behind. Elisabeth Elliot was one of the widows.

Undaunted, a few years later, Elisabeth returned to Waodani territory along with her 3 year old daughter, Valerie. Also in the party were Rachel Saint (the sister of Nate Saint) and a Woadani named Dayuma, whom the women had befriended. Dayuma had been very instrumental in helping to establish peaceful contact with the Waodani. To begin, she had taught the Waodani language to the women. She had also gone before them and paved the way, even securing an invitation from the tribe for the women to come live among them.

Eventually Woadani in that village came to Christ and a church was established. Coming to Christ completely changed the violent nature of the tribe. Today the name Waodani no longer strikes fear in the hearts of neighboring tribes. Instead, they now have the reputation of being "a peaceful people". Moreover, one in six have made professions of faith in Christ.

After a few years, Elisabeth returned to the states and Rachel continued her work among the Woadani until her death in 1994. Ironically, Mincaye, the very man who killed Nate Saint, became an elder in the church and had the opportunity to baptize Steve Saint, Nate’s son and nephew of Rachel.

I can only begin to fathom the love and courage it took for Elisabeth to go to the very tribe that killed her husband, with her daughter in tow, in order to bring the good news of love and forgiveness in Christ. There were some who probably thought her decision to be foolish, even reckless. However, she knew that God’s was the one who was leading her and that she would "find rest in His glorious will". Her story is a beautiful picture of redemption and forgiveness.

Elisabeth Elliot is one of my favorite heroes of the faith because of her bravery, trust, and determination. She knew the risk and she was willing to take it in order to bring the salvation of Christ to the Woadani. Because of her obedience and sacrifice, along with that of the other women who accompanied her, we will be hearing the Woadani tongue singing praises to our Lord in heaven.

Steven Curtis Chapman produced a beautiful video montage about the martyrdom of the five men that can be viewed below. Just to give you fair warning, it does contain brief clips of tribal nudity.

The story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot can be found in the books Shadow of the Almighty and  Through Gates of Splendor. You can read more about Nate, Rachel and Steve Saint in the book The End of the Spear. There was also a movie by the same title released in 2005.

My great-grandmother, Harriet

While at my aunt’s house last spring we had the opportunity to look over some family photos, letters, and notes found among some of my great aunt’s things discovered after her recent death. This was a very special time spent with my family as my grandmother reminisced over the people and memories found in the photos. One of the items my aunt discovered was a poem written by my great-grandmother, dated November 11, 1918 – Armistice Day (later to be renamed Vetran's Day).

Apparently, my great grandparents and their 5 children (with one on the way) were enroute from India to the United States for a furlough after having served for several years as missionaries in Northern India. They had taken a train from India to China, and from there traveled to Hong Kong. They then boarded the ship Korea Maru, a Japanese ocean liner which would stop in Japan on its way home to the United States.

The Korea Maru  (from the collection of Björn Larsson)

This voyage home was a frightening endeavor for this family. Not only was it to be a long trip on rough seas, but the United States was embroiled in World War I and there was imminent danger with ocean travel during this time. Ocean mines had been planted in the Atlantic by Axis forces and there was the fear that there may have been some planted in the Pacific as well. So it was with much uncertainty and apprehension that my great-grandparents made this journey home. When they arrived in the Japanese harbor, they were greeted with the best news they could receive. The war was over! There was much exuberance and celebration and sighs of relief for the passengers on board the ship. It was with this sentiment that my great-grandmother penned the following poem entitled the Korea Maru:

The Korea Maru, a Japanese liner, from the Hong Kong shore pulled away.

Through Pacific’s Blue waters, northward

her steady directed course lay.

Round the world there had been fearful fighting

with the cannon, and bombs, and dread gun.

While out in the ocean, Atlantic

Gruesome work of hid mines had been done.

Would we reach our loved home ‘cross the waters?

Would we reach dear America’s shore?

Our great sturdy ship plowed the water

of coal and of food stuffs we had store.

At last in the Japanese harbor

our anchor was dropped in the sea.

While forebodings of unseen evil

gave place to shoutings of glee.

From the shore o'er the water came sounding

a noise as of whistle and gong

While the guns and the crackers exploding,

gave noise to all of the throng.

‘Tis the sound of rejoicing and gladness.

The people have gone wild they say.

For by cable had come the glad message

of the peace armistice signed today.

In the evening on board the great liner

small flags of the nations they place

With Japanese, the French, the Italian, the Brittish and Old Glory

the tables they grace.

‘Twas festive indeed that occasion

confetti and crackers and fun.

While mid colorful flags of the nations

they rejoiced that the dread war was done.

November eleventh’s the great day

when round the world the news ran

that Germany and other nations

had signed, had signed the peace plan.

My great-grandparents did make it safely to America’s shores. Unfortunately, they never returned to India. Shortly after arriving, my great-grandfather fell victim to the swine flu epidemic of 1918-1919 and died from double pneumonia. This left my great-grandmother a pregnant widow, with five children to raise on her own. At 93, my grandmother is the only one living now. She is the one pictured below with her mother’s hand resting on her shoulder.

HSLDA’s monthly publication The Homeschool Court Report had a great article a few months ago on the "Greenhouse" philosophy of parenting. I had only recently heard of this term, even though I have been homeschooling for 8 years now. In this article they interviewed homeschool pioneer, Gregg Harris, father of well-known authors and speakers Josh, Alex & Brett Harris . I really appreciated Gregg’s insights; So with HSLDA's permission, I have pasted a portion of the article below. Follow the link at the bottom to read the rest of the article.

 Outgrowing the Greenhouse: A Conversation With Gregg Harris by Jennifer Olmstead

Ever wished you could sit down with Gregg Harris—father of Josh, Joel, Alex, Brett, Sarah, Isaac, and James—and find out his secret to raising driven, passionate, and grown-up teenagers? Recently, we did, and we hope you’ll enjoy having a seat at the table for our conversation as Gregg discusses his thoughts on the "greenhouse model," raising kids willing to do hard things, and then learning to let them go.

COURT REPORT: Back in the early nineties, you used to talk about the "greenhouse model," which forwarded the idea that it’s in your children’s best interest to be sheltered inside the greenhouse until they reach maturity—like seedlings. But when we look at the things your kids have accomplished at young ages—Alex and Brett started TheRebelution.com at age 16, published Do Hard Things at 18, then progressed to the national Rebelution conference tour; Josh started speaking and founded New Attitude at 17, then published I Kissed Dating Goodbye at 21—frankly, it doesn’t seem like you’ve kept them in much of a greenhouse. Just the opposite, in fact! Has your opinion changed?

 HARRIS: Well, let’s look at the metaphor of the greenhouse—or the hothouse, as some have called it. You don’t transfer plants right from the greenhouse into the field. Before that transfer, plants go through an intermediate process called a "cold frame." A cold frame differs from a greenhouse in that it doesn’t have as much temperature control. There’s much more fluctuation of temperature than in the greenhouse. There, the plants get used to changing temperatures so they don’t go into shock out in the field. That’s where the plants are "hardened."

Similarly, there are transitional involvements and activities that allow our children—once they’re well-rooted morally, doctrinally, and spiritually and have a strong sense of what they believe and who they are in Christ—to progressively be exposed to different points of view.

Unfortunately, many parents make the mistake of exposing their children to conflicting points of view before they are rooted, which creates a feeling of rootlessness and a lack of identity. At that point, the children can’t interact with these new ideas from a position of strength or confidence, but instead are feeling pushed around by every wind of doctrine. The Scripture refers to this in Ephesians 4:14 when it says that we’re no longer to be like children, pushed around by every wind of doctrine and the cunningness and craftiness of men in their attempts to deceive.

Because of this tendency, the strategy we’ve adopted for our family is making our home a place where people learn to think for themselves and discover what they believe at a very young age.  You can read more here . 

For further reading on the subject, be sure to see  Transitioning Out of the Greenhouse in the same publication.

Several years ago Hannah's preschool teacher sent this poem home with her. I was so touched by it that I cut a decorative scalloped design around it and posted it on our bulletin board. It is now tattered and wrinkled and has moved to two different homes, but still serves as a reminder for me to strive for balance. While, yes, I still need to be the parent and the disciplinarian, I also need to take time to develop relationships with my kids.

If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again

by Diane Loomans

If I had my child to raise all over again,

I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.

I'd fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.

I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I'd model less about the love of power,

And more about the power of love.

We started school a few weeks ago, then we went on vacation for 10 days. I know, it’s not the typical way to start the school year, but I needed to do it this way for various reasons. The girls were less than enthusiastic about starting two weeks early, so I knew I needed to give them a little incentive to get their juices flowing. So I decided to start a new tradition. I had mentioned in a previous post that we love family traditions. I have never done much with back-to-school traditions, however. We usually have a tea party within the first month of school (except for last year, when my poor post-40-year-old brain totally forgot), but that's pretty much about it. This year, however, the girls got a visit from the "Education Fairy".

For several years now, we have been involved with a "back pack ministry" started by a lady from our church. This ministry collects school supplies or monetary donations from various individuals, churches, and businesses in the community. These items are then placed in backpacks according to school and grade specifications and distributed to needy families in our town. As I was in Walmart and the Dollar Store looking at all the school supplies it struck me: with the exception of Grace’s first year in at a charter school, my girls have never had back-to-school backpacks. Yes, they have backpacks but they are several years old. Furthermore, I had never given them a backpack full of their own, new supplies – we have always just made do with what we had (which I’m all for, by the way), supplementing here and there with new supplies as needed. What also struck me is that throughout the years of helping with this ministry, my girls have never complained about not getting a back pack of their own. So I decided that I was going to start a new back to school tradition: The Education Fairy. Now, the Education Fairy may not always be as generous as she was this year, but she is determined to bring something new for school each year from now on. Anyway, I know many homeschool moms already have been doing this sort of thing for years, but this is the first year we’ve done this.

On the first day of school I made the girls one of their favorite desser– . . . I mean breakfasts: chocolate chip pancakes.

It was Brian’s day off, so he helped me serve each girl breakfast in bed. One of us carried a tray while the other carried the backback. "Look what I found. It looks like the ‘Education Fairy’ came this year." To which I received a variety of responses ranging from eye rolling accompanied by a smirk from my 13 year old and frenzied jumps of glee from my 7 year old. My 10 year old just simply said "thanks Mommy & Daddy". When I reminded my 10-year-old her that these gifts were from the Education Fairy, my 7-year-old (still giddy) responded with a huge sigh, a smirk and a slight eye-roll "Yeah, right, Mommy and Daddy. You ARE the Education Fairy.

In addition to the pencils, paper, crayons, binders, etc., I found back-to-school cards at Walmart. In each card I wrote a back-to-school blessing/prayer for each girl stating how I saw God working in their lives currently and how I hoped they would allow Him to continue to work in their lives this school year. Of course I didn’t sign the card "Love, The Education Fairy" – so my cover was officially blown! My 13 year -old was on to me. "Funny how the Education Fairy signs her name 'Mommy & Daddy'"

My heart is heavy today. I just found out a few days ago that a friend of ours in another state was caught in a moral failure. What saddens me more is that this person was a pastor. What grieves me the most, however, is that this is the fourth pastor we’ve known who has fallen with in the last 9 months. Three pastor friends/acquaintances had committed adultery and two had committed suicide (one committed both). We have been in vocational ministry for 20 years now –17 with an interdenominational missions agency and the past three in church ministry. Since we began in ministry, we have witnessed the fall of many, many pastors – mostly in the area of infidelity. I stopped counting at 10 a few years back. To be honest, I have to guard my heart against disillusionment and cynicism.

I’m not writing this to bash pastors or to stand in judgement over pastors who have found themselves in similar situations. On the contrary, I am married to a pastor and I know that neither he nor I are above falling (Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12). I am also not writing to "gossip" in the name of prayer (By the way, I am not aware that anyone reading this blog would know him). I am writing this as a plea: Please pray for your pastors. Pray for their wives and kids as well.

I was actually planning on writing a post on praying for pastors as part of a series on prayer that I was preparing to post in October (Clergy Appreciation Month). Given the circumstances, this was heavy on my heart, so I decided to write on it now. Please pray for this man. We love him dearly. Please pray for his family and his congregation. Please pray for grace and wisdom for those on his restoration team. Please pray that he would fully cooperate with the restoration process. Please pray that others would not fall away because of this – that their hope would be fixed on Jesus, not the examples of men.

After having worked closely with hundreds of pastors (including my husband), I have seen the stress and pressure that can result from pastoral ministry. So, after years of observation, these are some of the ways I have come to pray for pastors:

1. Pray for brokenness, humility, meekness & authenticity before God and others. Pray also that God would guard their hearts against arrogance & pride. I once heard homeschool dad, pastor, and nationally known speaker Todd Wilson once talk on authenticity. He was making the case for those in leadership to be real and not to continue to propagate the false notion of perfection. He mentioned that he had given this talk at a conference one time and another nationally known speaker came up to him and said some thing like "Yes, but shouldn’t we put our best foot forward?" To this he responded "I don’t want to put my best foot forward, I want to put my real foot forward." Pray that they will be honest and confess their weaknesses (not just admit that they have them). Pray that they would set the example in this area.

There is tremendous pressure on pastors to maintain the image of perfection. They must always be "on", always have the answers and appear to be the expert on everything Biblical. This is what Craig Groeschel in his book, Confessions of a Pastor, calls the "Pastoral Mystique". Its as if there is a belief out there that God made man a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:6-7) and pastors a little higher than man.

I remember as a new believer being really convicted that I needed to confess my sins to someone according to scripture (James 5:16). I felt too much pride, however, for fear of appearing weak or unspiritual. It wasn’t until I began to notice those who I viewed as stronger than I in the Lord begin to confess sin and admit to weaknesses in their own lives that I finally felt the freedom to do the same. Confession leads to accountability and prayer that leads to repentance which brings revival. However, for a pastor to confess sin or to admit weakness is considered a "no-no" by some.

I so appreciate the ministries of internationally renown theologians, Drs. John Piper and R.C. Sproul. One of the reasons I so highly respect these pastors is that they are not beyond confessing sin and admitting weaknesses & limitations. I was blown away one time while listening to RC Sproul. He was talking about a particular topic in the Bible, and he admitted to not really knowing the answer to a listener’s question. Not that he wasn’t familiar with the Biblical passages surrounding the topic, but, after considering the text, he felt the Bible was simply not clear enough to give a definitive answer.   It was refreshing to hear  that one of the nations’s foremost Reformed theologians didn't claim to know the answer to every theological question.  Now he had his opinion, of course, but he stated it humbly & with uncertainty. 

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were in a team meeting with our senior pastor and other lay leaders in the church. I had mentioned a verse I thought would be good to include in a gospel presentation. My senior pastor asked if I happened to know the reference to that verse. I said I didn’t. Neither my husband nor anyone else in the room knew it either. While the SP was looking it up in his concordance, one of the women present said, "How nice to know you guys don’t know everything." To which my husband jokingly replied, "How scary to think you thought we did."

Pray that pastors would be willing to go before their congregations (or at least their leadership team) and ask for prayer when necessary. That they would be as specific in their prayer requests as is publically appropriate and without violating a confidence.  Pray that when someone asks how they can pray for them not simply to give an unspecific response like "Pray Ephesians 6 for me" (Not that I am against praying scripture. This is a powerful way to pray and something that I do frequently). I’m not talking about nitty-gritty dirty details or revealing something that would embarass someone else.  I'm not talking about sensationalism either.  But saying something like "Pray for my relationship with my kids. We’re going through a rough time right now." "Pray that I would love my wife as Christ loved the church." Or "Pray for my health, I’ve been feeling really under the weather." These types of statements would be specific enough to give a parishioner a better idea of what areas need the most prayer.

I hope this did not come across as too negative.  I didn't mean for it to be so.  I have been so burdened by this though.   I think humility and brokenness are essential qualities in a pastor.  I think they help to fight against arrogance and pride that lead to a fall.  These are areas that I want to cultivate in my own life as well.  I'll continue in following posts with more ways that I pray for pastors.  Please let me know how you pray for your pastors as well.

Last Sunday, we had opportunity to attend the community church service that our ministerial association hosted in one of the parks here in town. I was so blessed by the opportunity to worship alongside believers from other denominations and to find out what the Lord is doing in their lives and in their churches. Although my husband and I serve in a denominational setting, we really enjoy being able to participate in interdenominational worship.

There are times when we get together with other church leaders in our own denomination for a "rah-rah-our-denomination-rocks" session known as TLC (Team Leadership Conference). I love being part of these conferences because it is a time when we are affirmed in our ministries by our district leadership and get to see what God is doing all over the nation and around the world through our denomination. As much as I love being with my denominational family, I get the most joy, however, being with my Kingdom family. It is so easy to get caught up in our differences denominationally that we loose sight of the purpose God has for us as believers – that is to help establish His kingdom.

When Christians committed to Biblical orthodoxy (i.e. believe the Bible is the very word of God given to us) gather together in worship, I believe we are helping to fulfill Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers in John 17. In this chapter, Jesus is pleading to the Father for the protection and unity of His disciples and their followers.  In verse 21 he states why: My prayer is not for them (his disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Jesus wanted believers to demonstrate unity so that the unbelieving world would see that He was the true Son of God. When we worship together in unity, we are sending the message to unbelievers in our community that, despite doctrinal differences that have divided us and have caused us to seek different weekly worship services, we are able to come together once or twice a year to celebrate and recognize this essential truth: That we believe in Jesus, the only Son of God. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11).

I believe there is a purpose for denominations and this is the reason why we have chosen to serve under denominational authority. I even think that denominations help to promote unity in the body of Christ because there is the ability to be able to be united under a common statement of faith that may include doctrinal issues with which others may not agree. In other words, there can be less bickering because denominations allow members to worship in a body whose statement of faith all members can "sign on to." However, there is a tendency to sometimes let our love for our denomination overshadow our love for the Kingdom. This can’t be so! I need to rejoice and be just as excited about what God is doing through the Church in our city as I am in what He is doing in my church. If souls are being saved and true disciples are being made through the other churches in our city, praise God! He is using them and the ministry they provide to hasten His coming.

One of the pastor’s in this town, Paul, a humble and unassuming man whose church has a reputation in town for being the "hands and feet of Jesus", prayed "Lord please help us to be Kingdom-minded believers." To that I gave a hearty Amen!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!  Psalm 133:1

So, okay, today was one of those "phrenetic" days (The girls learned that word from Andrew Pudewa of IEW fame and now use it consistently when ever we have a hectic, crazy day). Today we had dentist and eye appointments for all three girls. We were gone all day yesterday and were home late so I failed to have Isabella lay out her glasses the night before. I should have learned by now not to schedule eye appointments in the morning. It seems like we are always looking for somebody’s glasses! I know, I know, the super organized moms out there are saying "Well, if you would only have them put their glasses in the same place every night before they go to bed, oh I don’t know, maybe the GLASSES CASE on the night stand, bookshelf, etc." Yeah, yeah, I know. We do that about half of the time — when I remember to remind them (and I know, I shouldn’t have to remind them).

You see, I’m not a super organized mom. I’m an ADD mom. All though I’ve never been formally diagnosed, other members of my immediate family have, and so I think I probably have it too to some degree. I have many of the symptoms: I struggle with time management, having a good awareness of time, am forgetful, somewhat disorganized, don’t pay attention to details, etc. Oh I have good intentions in all these areas and, over the years, I have developed systems of organizations that work well to help me compensate and keep me on task (Lists, calendars, organizers, planners, sticky notes, charts, etc). These only go so far though, and I still have to remember to look at them. But I digress . . .

Back to our morning. So after looking for an hour for Isabella’s glasses, we concluded that she probably left them at my mom’s. "Oh well, there is nothing we can do about it now, if we don’t leave now (9:35) we’ll be late for the dental appointment at 9:45." We were planning on going to the appointment, then going to lunch with a friend and then from there go to our eye appointment. As we were driving in the car, and after apologizing for my ungodly behaviour in losing my temper at the girls that morning while we were searching for the glasses, I said to Grace: "I sure hope that it is the dental appointment and not the eye appointment that we have this morning." "Uh - oh, that wouldn’t be good," she replied.

Well, we arrived at the dentist’s office at 9:43. I was pretty proud of myself that we were 2 minutes early. As we were signing in, however, the receptionist said "Hmmm, I don’t see your daughter’s names here." I shot a look at Grace and she was smirking! "Try 2:00" I said rather sheepishly. "Oh, there you are!" She said. Go figure. I called my eye doctor and explained what had happened. Luckily he’s only 5 minutes away, so we were not too late. As we got in to the car and began to pull away, Grace looked at me, chuckled, shook her head and said "I love my ADD mom". I never had that title before, but it was sort of endearing (kinda like when someone says something negative about somebody and then adds "bless their heart" ) and today it certainly fit.

After the appointment, Brian and I went to have lunch with a friend. Since we are members of  HSLDA  and we abide by their policy that we won’t leave the girls alone during school hours, we ended up taking them with us. We were going to bring lunch to our friend's place of business, so we stopped by a sandwich shop on the way to pick up some food. When we got to his work, we discovered that the shop had forgotten my soup. "Rats, I forgot to check the order. Well its too late now, we’ll go back and get it after lunch." We had a nice lunch and did actually remember to get the soup on the way to the dentist’s office.

So we got to the dentists office (AGAIN) and sat down for a breather, finally a moment of quiet, and the girls began to work on their school work. As they were working, we started to hear a really vulgar song with lots of graphic details play on the radio. All three girls looked at me shocked with their mouths agape (you know, those sheltered homeschoolers). What!? In the dentist’s office? Anyway, the rest of the appointment went pretty well.

When we got home we decided to call a friend and RSVP for her son’s (also a friend of ours) surprise birthday party that night. We had just got the invitation the day before and hadn’t seen it earlier because we were out of town. Well, all day I kept thinking "I think we can go, but it seems like there was something we were suppose to do tonight." I checked my trusty calendar. "No, nothing tonight." It kept nagging me, though, and I thought I would eventually think of what that thing was. However, since the party was tonight I really thought we should go ahead and RSVP. Well, about an hour later, Brian remembered what it was: The rodeo.

We have a rodeo every night of the week during the summer in our town. We had promised Grace (a HUGE rodeo fan) that we would go to the local rodeo before the summer was up, and a few days ago we realized that if we didn’t go soon we would lose the chance until next year. My mother in law was in town during the weekend and is less than enthusiastic about the rodeo, so the only night that was going to work was tonight. So, we called our friend back,  thanked her for the invite, gave our regrets and Happy Birthdays to pass on to her son and headed out to the rodeo. Luckily there were no ADD moments there. We had a great time! One of the things I love most about it is that they pray for protection for the participants in Jesus’ name. That’s so awesome! It was a perfect end to my "phrenetic" day.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  

II Corinthians 12:9

One very special memory I have was of an event that occurred when I was a young adult, just 18 years old. Ironically, it happened when I was suffering from Hepatitis A (the non-chronic form of Hepatitis) that I had contracted while working in a day care center. After about 3 days of puking my guts out, my dad entered my room with a book and began to read to me. The sound of his voice reading aloud to me was so soothing -- like oil to my soul. I honestly have no idea even what book it was; I was so out of it. What mattered most to me and what created the special memory was the gesture.

 Dad

It had been several years since my dad had read aloud to me, but this had been a regular nighttime routine throughout most of my childhood and even into my teen years. I remember either he or my mom would come into my room or my brother’s room and we would read a portion of a book together as a family. When we were young, of course, we read picture books, story books, poems, and nursery rhymes: The Pokey Little Puppy, The Little Engine That Could, and other Golden books, Child Craft Poems, How Can We Get to the Zoo?, Yuri & the Moonie Goats, Grimm's Fairy Tales and my favorite – Mexicali Soup. As we got older, chapter books replaced story books. Some of the more memorable titles we read together were The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Prince & the Pauper, & Swiss Family Robinson.

I don’t think I really appreciated this small, yet significant sacrifice that my parents made until I was older and had kids of my own. My dad worked hard when I was growing up. He was an Engineering Geologist for City of LA. Every day he commuted two hours, round trip, into the City and back, braving the traffic on the Southern California Freeways. I’m sure he must have been exhausted by the time he got home and ready to just veg for a while in front of the TV or indulge in some other form of escape rather than read aloud to us. I so appreciate however the consistency of my parents in making reading aloud a priority.

Now that I have kids of my own, this is a nightly routine that we have incorporated into our own family as well. At night, we gather in one of the rooms of the house, either a bedroom, the family room or living room (we like to mix it up a bit :0) and read a chapter book for the older two girls and a story book, poems, or nursery rhymes for our youngest daughter.

I cannot even begin to list all the benefits of reading aloud. Aside from the obvious academic advantages of literacy and vocabulary development, are countless others. Some of the reasons I value this routine so much are because it is a powerful way to develop family connectedness/bonding, create memories and establish a family identity (i.e. "This is what our family does"). Many times we will be living life together and something will happen or someone will say something, or we will be observing something and one of the kids will say "Hey that reminds me of the time in ___ book when the ___ character did ___ ". We also find that some of our best discussions as a family come while reading aloud. We will often stop and ask the girls why they thought a character did something or what they think will happen next or what could be the result of a decision or action of a character or how the actions of the characters compare to a Biblical world view.

I am grateful for the memories I have of being read aloud to by my parents. Thanks mom & dad for setting an example of a routine that was so special and memorable.

Our family places a high value on family traditions.  It seems, in fact, that we are always adding another tradition to our list. For some, family traditions serve only to burden and bog down an already hectic schedule. I do understand that; I have been there too. However, I believe establishing family traditions, even just a few simple ones, can be a key element in providing a secure and nurturing environment for children.

Why establish these rituals? Well for one, they provide a sense of family connectedness and predictability. They bring the family together for a common activity and the consistency helps to ensure that the event actually takes place. If my husband or I happen to neglect one of these traditions, our kids usually say "wait, aren’t we going to do ___?" Or "Hey, we didn’t do ___ this year."

Second, they create wonderful memories. I love it when we are participating in an activity together and one of the kids will say "remember that time when we were doing ______ and then ______ happened?" For example, one of the traditions we have for Christmas Eve is that we perform a "Miracle Play" .  This was a practice which dates back over a thousand years wherein villagers of a certain area would act out the story of creation during Christmas time. The purpose of this was to emphasize the reason for the coming of Christ– to redeem fallen man. The way we choose parts is to write the characters names on slips of paper, put them in a hat and then have everyone choose a part. There is a narrator and then Adam, Eve, God, the serpent, and the cherub. One year, my dad chose Eve and my husband’s 80 year old grandmother chose Adam. This was quite a sight and still provides a lot of humour in reminiscing how they handled the parts. Despite the rolling on the floor laughter that sometimes results, we do actually emphasize and "bring home" the gravity of the story – man’s fall resulted in death. Not just our physical and spiritual death, but also the death of Christ as payment for our sins.

Finally, family traditions help give a sense of family identity ("This is what we do in our family") which I hope will serve as an anchor for my girls as they gain independence in the future. I pray that when my kids are older and are taken away from the home because of school, work or friendships, that they will want to come back to participate in these traditions because they have something to come back  to and couldn't imagine missing out on.

Its Saturday and I’ve been cleaning for most of the morning (while listening to my podcasts, of course :)). We just got back the day before yesterday from a week long camping trip and I’m hustling about trying to get all my after-vacation tasks completed. There is laundry and dishes to be done, bathrooms to be cleaned, groceries to be bought and weekly lesson plans to be written, a blog post to write ;), etc.  I approached my sliding glass door with window cleaner in hand and began cleaning the indoor side of it, wiping off all the smudges that are the result of three or four weeks of neglect. "This feels so good" I thought as I worked my way around the colorful stained glass fish (made in VBS a few weeks ago) that adorn the window.

As I finished the inside and began to start work on the outside, I stopped in my tracks. There on the window were six perfectly placed muddy hand prints.

 Handprints (you have to look carefully to see them) with the "VBS fish" 

Although I have three children, and the poetic side of me would like to attribute a separate set of prints to each of them, in reality, given the size of the prints, the true culprit was probably my youngest daughter, Isabella (age 7). She loves to "garden" and dig in the dirt. She is flighty and wistful, lives in the moment and is sometimes somewhat oblivious to her surroundings. No one would ever accuse her of being a neat freak. Like most children (and adults), there are parts of her personality that absolutely delight me and other aspects that make me want to pull my hair out and scream "Calgon! Take me away!" (usually when she is trying to negotiate her way out of a punishment). I try to have more chuckling-and-smiling-while-shaking-my-head-responses, however. I am so thankful the Lord made her the way she is.

I decided to leave the hand prints on the glass. They make a fine decoration alongside the VBS fish. They are works of art that remind me not to take myself and the tasks at hand so seriously. There will come a day all too soon when I won’t have to clean up hand smudges off the sliding glass door and the only VBS fish I’ll be able to display will be those from years past. In less than 5 years I will have an adult child. Yes, I will eventually clean those handprints off the window but for now and for the next week they will stay. And I’ll smile, chuckle and think of my whimsical, little imp every time I look at them.

Several years ago, my husband and I made the decision for me to transition from working full- time as a speech-language pathologist to working a part-time contract, in order for me to stay home with our kids. This was a huge decision for us. It caused many questions to begin swirling around in our heads: Will we be able to make it on only one full-time income? Will we be able to save for retirement? Will we be able to give? Will we get ourselves back into debt? Will we live on Rice and Beans?

Although I felt a strong calling on my life to be home with my children, these concerns continued to gnaw at me. Fortunately, the Lord brought me encouragement through His word and through the admonishment of a faithful friend. At the time, I was reading in the book of Joshua and came across the passage in Joshua 3: 14 - 17 where the Levitical priests were carrying the Ark of the Covenant into the promised land. When they got to the Jordan River, they were told by God to cross it. Unlike the parting of the Red Sea, God did not part the Jordan before the priests began to cross. Instead, He asked them to step into a raging river, carrying a heavy wooden and golden box on their shoulders. Only after they set foot in the Jordan did God part it. What convicted me was their lack of hesitation. They didn’t stand there and whine "God aren’t you going to do something about this?!" like I would have done. No, they just crossed it. I knew in my heart that God wanted me home and I believe this verse was the encouragement I needed to begin the process of taking that Levitical step of faith and trusting God in this area of my life.

A few weeks later, I was sharing my hesitations, with a friend of mine. She looked at me square in the eye and gently said, "If God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, What makes you think that He can’t provide for your needs? Why not trust Him in this?" That was the proverbial straw for me – I was going to be home, no matter what it took. After that decision, all the arrangements began to fall into place. God provided a wonderful job-share partner who agreed to work 75% of the contract while I worked 25%. Moreover, she graciously donated her insurance to me, since she already had alternative coverage. God had also provided, in advance, a generous and flexible boss who was willing to say "yes" to an arrangement that was out of the norm. Finally, when the budget numbers wouldn’t work out on paper, He began to show us ways that we could cut our expenses and live more simply.

That was 9 years ago. Since then, we have moved twice, my husband has changed jobs, I started homeschooling, we had a third baby, and I stopped working outside the home altogether. I am so amazed, however, at how God has provided for our needs. We are in a better financial position now than we were when I was working full-time. This is not because we make more money, but simply because living on a budget has made us become more aware of where our money is going.

Not everyone has chosen or will choose to take this route. For some it truly may not be financially feasible. But I want to encourage those who want to be home either full or part time, it can be done in many or most circumstances – even if your husband doesn’t make the booko bucks. When we made the decision for me to work 1/4 time, I was amazed at the comments of some of my co-workers. One told me that there is absolutely no way financially they could do what I was doing (even though her husband made quite a bit more money than mine did). Another called my husband independently wealthy. Nothing could have been further from the truth! While we certainly were not living anywhere close to poverty, we were living on a missionary’s salary in addition to my 1/4 time check – hardly rolling in the dough. We really had to cut back our style of living to make it work, though.

Was it worth it? Yes, ten times over, yes! Looking back, I have absolutely no regrets coming home. I cherish this time with my children, knowing that I will most likely be able to have my career (and my salary) back after they are grown. I love seeing them learning and growing day in and day out. I can’t imagine what it would be like to miss out on this precious, limited time with them.

I am back after a long hiatus.  I've had a busy summer with vacation, company, VBS, household organization, curriculum research and purchasing and just plain enjoying my kids as "mom" and not teacher (although is a homeschool mom ever not a teacher?).  I didn't realize how much blogging, facebook, etc. could take away from interacting with family & friends and keep me from my duties around the house.  So I am trying to figure out how to strike a balance.  I still don't know if I've figured it out yet.  I really enjoy writing and blogging has been cathartic for me.  Before I even began to blog, I had prayed for six months about whether or not God would have me do it.  I tend to let things like this become what my friend Pam calls a "time suck".  But I felt God nudging me toward this so here I am.  And, after spending so much of my and other's time getting this blog set up (I am not a techie -- thanks Zach and HSB Amy, for helping in this area), its here I think I'll stay.  Please pray for me that if God wants me to continue, I'll be able to manage this along with home, relationships and ministry. 

The Nicene Creed was developed during the First and Second Ecumenical Councils of Nicea in the years 325 and 381, respectively. The purpose of these councils was to try and unite the Christian Church doctrinally in areas essential to our faith such as the Trinity, the divine and human nature of Christ, etc. The original Nicene Council was called by the Emperor Constantine in order to affirm the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and to come against the Arian heresy that denied this doctrine. The second council was convened to revise the creed in order to combat the Macedonian heresy that denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.

I think the Nicene Creed nicely summarizes most of the important doctrines of our faith. It is also a beautiful piece of literature. Like the Apostles Creed, if read and recited by those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, it can be a meaningful confession of belief. If read as part of a rote requirement, however, it’s meaning can be eclipsed. I have found this to be a useful tool with my children, especially my oldest daughter. It is her favorite creed to recite. She relishes the language and cherishes the truths the words confess.  The creed is as follows (See notes below for clarification on some of the language contained in this creed):

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic* and apostolic Church*. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins*. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

*Catholic here means "universal" and refers to the body of all believers in general.

* Apostolic means "built on the teaching of the apostles"

* The term "baptism for the forgiveness of sins" can be confusing because it could lead someone to believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. This phrase is based on two scripture verses: 1 Corinthians 12:13 ("by one spirit we are all baptized into one body") & Acts 2:38 (Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins . . ."). The ESV Study Bible note on Acts 2:38 states "The willingness to submit to baptism is an outward expression of inward faith in Christ." (Also see 1 Peter 3:21).

For more information see the following websites:

http://www.carm.org/christianity/creeds-and-confessions/nicene-creed-325-ad

http://www.gotquestions.org/Nicene-creed.html

One of the things I like to do while I am working around the house is to listen to various radio podcasts.  Lately, I have been listening to a lot of John Piper's sermons.  I love his preaching.  His passion for God and burden for the lost combined with his powerful, expository teaching style leave me both inspired and convicted.  Here are a few quotes of his on the subject of revival that I wrote down while listening to some of his sermons:  

"What I found was the paradox that genuine, heart-felt pain over sin flows only from genuine, heart-felt pleasure in God."

"Genuine, evangelical, broken-hearted tears over sin, flows only from having fallen in love with and delighting in the beauty of God."

"The main problem in the church is not gross sinning. The main problem in the church is loving innocent things."

"The pain of genuine repentance flows from the pleasure of seeing God. Genuine grief over sin comes from genuine joy in the glory of God.

"When I pray for revival . . . in the American church . . . My first prayer is Lord pour out your spirit in such a way that your people desire Christ more than they desire anything. Pour out your spirit on this church in such a way that we are disentangled from the world and radically devoted and full of allegiance to Jesus more than we want next fall’s school, more than we want that job assignment, more than we want the wedding in August, more than we want the child, more than we want retirement. Just make us love you Father. That’s revival."

"Revival is first a white hot love for Jesus Christ that makes you ready to die gladly at any moment and leave everything behind for the surpassing worth of gaining Christ. That’s revival. That’s what I pray for first."

These were good reminders to me of what I should seek as I pray for revival in the American church in general, and in my own church specifically.  It first starts with me.  It begins with revival in my own life  -- my personal love for and brokeness before God.  Too often my focus is not on my own lack of passion for God and my own sin, but on those same deficiencies I see in others.  Too often my thoughts are consumed with my own self-righteousness rather than seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  This is an area of my life with which  I continue to struggle and seek God for guidance.  I found Pipers thoughts on this subject extremely poignant and relevant.