What Is A Friend?

I was recently milling over what it means to be a friend. I love someone dearly but because I spoke to this sweet girl in a way of rebuke I lost her friendship. How sad. I dearly would love to talk to her again and have sweet fellowship but it seems I lost my chance. I love this person so much. I pray for her and her family and her life. I know God can change a person because he is constantly changing me. I know that God is in the business of changing lives. Should I have not spoken to this person. I think I should. I don’t believe we should be phony and go through this life just pretending everything is swell. I believe God tells us that words from a friend that wound us are really for our healing. Iron sharpens iron. I hope I can grow from this and other experiences like this where someone has turned against me when I have not wanted to hurt them.

What I Learned From the Institute in Basic Life Principles

When I was about 30 years old I went to my first Institute in Basic Life Principles. I had wanted to go as a high school girl but my parents were a bit suspicious of anything I cooked up with my best friend. I had some friends in high school that, well, let’s just say they made my parents nervous.

When I did finally go I was expecting my fifth child and was in my 8th month. We went to Columbus, Ohio.

I had heard about the famous Bill Gothard and was looking forward to meeting him.

A couple of years earlier my husband had attended a day for pastors. My brother Ken and my husband Jim went and heard things that would greatly affect my life.  We had several years earlier determined that our family size and the blessing of children was something that we could manage ourselves. In light of our situation we determined that my husband should undergo a vasectomy to keep us from having any unwanted children or the added financial burden of a bigger family. We already had four children. Wasn’t that plenty?

Well, when Jim returned from the seminar he shared with me his desire to return his body to the way it was created and leave the decision making reguarding  family size to the provider and creator. I was so excited. I had felt that we had made a mistake from the beginning but didn’t know there was a way out. Jim was scheduled for a reversal of his surgery and we prayed that the Lord would provide the $6,000. needed for the operation. When the operation was complete our insurance paid the bill in full. Only three months after his surgery we conceived our precious son, Jesse Levi.

Well, back to the IBLP. I had fully expected to get to the seminar and see the same Mr. Gothard that my husband had met at the Pastor’s Seminar. It wasn’t until I arrived and began the seminar that my husband explained that it was always done like this. A recording of Mr. Gothard on an overhead and mountains of notes. I was a little disappointed. Ok, I was really ticked.

But, an interesting thing happened. As I began to listen and learn I discovered that so many struggles that I was experiencing in my marriage and life in general could be traced to principles that I had failed to recognize. I came away with a huge picture of God’s design and practical ways to live according to God’s plan.

One of the real benefits of releasing the control of our fertility to the our Father in Heaven was the blessing of more children.

Just one year and 7 months after Jesse was born our daughter Chelsie was born. Jesse and Chelsie are currently serving the Lord as missionaries.  Jesse is in China and Chelsie just returned from Cambodia and is working in a Christian camp.

Then, just one year and 9 months later we all welcomed Lois Ashley to the family.

Then, Just one year and 8 months later we all welcomed Timothy Isaiah to our family.

Then, just one year and 10 months later we all welcomed Seth Matthew to our family.

Then, 2 years and 8 months later we welcomed Andrew Paul to our family.

Then, 2 years and one month later we welcomed Andrea Hosanna to our family.

I can not imagine life without our eleven children. God has blessed us beyond measure through our children.

Psalm 127: 3,4,5 – “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are sons born in ones youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies.

Good Sense and Taking Back Lost Ground

After numerous physical struggles, most being related to my problem with my kidney disease and subsaquent kidney stones I was directed to the writings of Dr. George Malkmus and the book entitled “The Hallelujah Diet”.  A lady at my daughter’s church recommended it and I read and reread it and then just decided it wasn’t for me. I was not really interested in a diet where I could eat no meat or cheese.

Then, after finding out my health problems were more extensive than I at first thought I gave the book a second look.
Early this year my husband and I had our blood work done for a physical that was to determine our eligibility for life insurance. I was denied coverage due to the fact that my cholesterol and triglycerides were much too high.

Suddenly the idea of being a vegan wasn’t quite so repulsive. I had also just had a spot of skin cancer removed from my face and remembered that there were some glowing testimonies from some folks that had seen and experienced healing from cancer and many other illnesses thanks to the Hallelujah Diet.

My husband had gotten me a juicer for Christmas but I had never taken it out of the box. Now, I was ready to take the plunge.

We (my husband and I) began juicing carrots and making that our breakfast. For lunch we would have a salad and supper was pretty much the same but with some added cooked food, like a baked potatoe or a piece of bread (homemade whole wheat). We also had fruit whenever we were hungry. I prefer bananas and Jim’s fruit of choice in the winter was oranges. We started our new diets on January 24th.

We had a hard time of it while we were in the Philippine’s in late Feb. and early March.  We took powdered carrot juice called “Carrot Max”and “Barley Max”. We ate a lot of white rice feeling that that would be a better choice  than meat.

Jim lost a whopping 40 pounds and I lost 25. That was a great thing but the real blessing has been some of the other side effects of eating right and the life style changes that we have encorporated.

Let me list them for you in the order that they come to mind.
I sleep all night and wake around 5:30 every morning.

I have had skin tags fall of my face and neck and others just dissolve.

I walk an hour each morning and feel physically fit.

I have no indigestion.

I have no more heart palpations.

What I thought to be a kidney stone turned out to be a mild case of shingles. Everyone I spoke to that had esperienced shingles said they never heard of someone recovering so quickly from the shingles.

No more hot flashes.

Much more energy and no falling asleep while reading.

No more high blood pressure. No more meds.

Smoother softer skin.

Well, I have read a couple other books written by the George Malkmus and his wife Rhonda.

One thing that just seems to jump out at me when I read their work is that we as Americans and Christians seem to have given our bodies over to doctors. We have failed to manage our health responsibly. I am guilty and realize that I have much ground to recover in this area.

I want to be healthy and live a long life with my husband and our families. I also want to teach my children while they are still young and impressionable that we are what we eat.

I remember a verse my son Jeremiah learned one year at camp. I Cor. 10:31 “Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

I also remember a verse that I learned just a few years ago, James 4:17 “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

In light of this truth, it is wrong (sin) for me to eat what I know will hurt my body. The Bible tells us that as Christians, our bodies are the temples of God. We should not put junk into our temples.

Dr. Malkmus, in his book, “God’s Way to Ultimate Health” says that when we eat junk food it is like taking a car and putting cheap quality fuel in it.  Our bodies are much more valuable than cars but we so often neglect them.

I am happy to say that I am trusting God to give me strength to take back ground that I had given to Satan and live in respect and honor to my temple. I have had many failed attempts to eat healthy. My first diet was Weight Wathers. I lost my weight by a delicate balancing act and still only scratching the surface of my problem. I soon was back up on the heavy side and looking for the perfect diet. I have gone up and down so many times and I am really ashamed to say that I have been a very poor testimony in that reguard.

I am praying that the Lord will keep me on track with my new and heavenly eating plan and that I will never stop exercising again. I feel so good but I also know how very weak I am.

Another verse that comes to mind is, Psalm 103:14- “He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust.”

No, our days are numbered and He knows just what day will be our last. Just the same, He gives us minds to learn and discover His truths.

I am so thankful that someone directed me to the Hallelujah Diet and that is just another milestone in my walk with the Lord.

Equal Time For Dad

I know I recently told you about my daddy dear to honor his birthday but I just had to let him know how special his is on Father’s Day, too. So in light of the universal day we honor our dads, this is for you, Dad.

My daddy dear was in Bible College (Cedarville Universtity, Cedarville, Ohio) when I was welcomed into my family. I made my grand entrance a bit early but that’s another story. My Dad was working full time while carrying a full load of classes and in his freshman year. He was a little uneasy with his fathering role as my mom shared with us. He got more comfortable with us when we got a little older.

Well, I can remember lots of fun and crazy antics of my dad. I loved to ride on his back and wrestle (pronounced rassle in our family) with him. He let me shoot the bb gun one time and I thought that was cool. He did other neat dad things, like let me steer while he was driving when I was just little and he taught me how to usher and even let me take the offering at church. He always bragged on me, like telling me how well I played a song on the piano or how good my cooking was even when it wasn’t. There was this great game we played in the basement of this one old house. We called it “Bash Your Head In”. I know now how nervous the loud ruckus must of made my mom while the three of us, my dad, my little brother Kenny, and I played and screamed for hours at a time.

I also remember dad trying his hardest to teach me to swim but I was a real failure in that department. I still can only manage to dog paddle and do some kind of thing on my back that looks like a seal in distress. Anyway, dad was great! He made us tire swings and tree forts and let us play with old boxes and junk like that. He took us fishing with old cane poles and bobbers and we had a great time.

Dad did lots of stuff with us but the best stuff he taught us was ministry. Dad loves the Lord Jesus and has served him all my life and most of his. He has taken us calling with him,on visitation, to nursing home ministry, taught us to serve as Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teachers, taught us song leading, and an endless list of ministry related tasks. He has thrown himself into each of these tasks in such a wholehearted way we always knew that it was and is his first love.

I am so glad that my dad is the dad he is. I am so glad that God placed us in such an awesome Christian family and that God has chosen to use my brothers and myself in Christian service. It is the greatest joy and the most rewarding blessing.

I am so thankful for a loving dad who prays for me. Dad, that is the best thing you have ever done for us. You are a faithful prayer warrior and I am sure it has made all the difference in our lives. I want to be just like my dad in that way.

I love you, Dad.

My Mom

I have been asked to sing on Mother’s Day at church and I am looking forward to it. I heard a song sung several years ago by Cynthia Clawson called “My Mother’s Faith”. I hope I can get through it.

Let me tell you about my mother’s faith. I found out when I was very young that when my mother was just a little girl, her parents separated and went their own ways and the three children were broken hearted in the process. It happens all the time but my mom and her sister went to a church Vacation Bible School and discovered the Lord Jesus loved them and wanted to help. My mother and her older sister Sue trusted their futures to the Lord, yielded their hearts to Him and He began making a difference in their lives. This was just the beginning of my mother’s faith.

My mother and her sister began attending Bertrand Bible Church and through their faithful attendance and personal study of the Bible began learning to live the life that God had intended for them. My mother met my dad in her early teens and they were married before her 18th birthday. My parents both loved and trusted the Lord to direct their lives and futures. He would be their guide and provider and life would be an adventure.

My parents have worked together at ministry for more than 50 years now. They have worked side by side as my dad pastored small and struggling churches, administered Christian Schools, and made the most of small salaries and continued their educations as they raised their four children.

My dad ( well into his seventies) is still pastoring and my mother is working hard to make their little parsonage a warm and inviting place to offer shelter or a meal to a visitor or a friend.

Mom directs the choir and the last I talked to her she was getting things ordered for VBS this summer.

My mother taught me many more things than I could hope to list. My mother would be the first to tell you that she is not perfect and that she has made many mistakes but she has never stopped learning or giving her all for the Lord.

Life has not been easy but I am sure she would want to have everyone know that she has never been disappointed by her Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been taught so much by my mother. I have learned much about her faith by her life and example. I hope my children will be able to say that of me.

Thank you mom for…………..

reading the Bible

reading it to me

telling me when I was wrong

making me pretty clothes

loving me

believing in me

teaching me to sew

being such a good friend

encouraging me

teaching me to cook

teaching me to teach Sunday School and VBS

having a slumber party for me

telling me what to wear and what not to wear

teaching me to set the table

letting me use your things

making me feel special

praying for me

praying for my kids

all the things you have gone without to make my life better

I love you!

Thoughts on the Philippine Trip

We showed the pictures of the Philippine Trip to our church last night and answered questions. It made everything fresh again and I can’t help but wonder where it all will lead. I am so glad we could go but we could be doing so much more. There is a wide open door to the gospel. Many, if not all, of the schools we visited would love to have us back anytime. There were hundreds saved. There were thousands of Bibles given out. The harvest is ripe and ready. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom to do what He wants us to do.

Maybe God wants you to do something. Jim got a letter just a few days ago from another group that wrote to say they needed pastors who would come to the Philippine’s and mentor the national pastors there. There was a warm and friendly reception for American Christians in the places we went on Manila and Nergros.

I will try to post some pictures of the trip and some of the families and pastors we met along with the names of their churches or needs so you can pray for them.

This is Pastor Nono and his family serving in La Carlota on Negros.

My parents and my little brother Kenny and me way back in 1960.

My parent’s prayers have been a huge part of what I have become. To God be the glory.

We will meet this week, the Lord willing and have a time of giving thanks (personal testimonies of what God has done in our lives). It is a yearly ritual that reminds us of His blessings and gifts in our lives over the past year.

Thoughts on praying for our children

I was in Sunday School class yesterday where we were wrapping up a series on the parables. This one was the wheat and the tares. (Matthew 13:24-30) As I sat listening to the discussion my mind went back to eleven years ago when the Life Action Revival team came to our church. The Lord worked in my heart in that revival to pinpoint some sins that I had never gained the victory in. I learned that my failure could be due to the fact that I was not loving the Word. Loving the Word would give me victory in my life.

I am happy to say that I begged God to do a work in my life and help me to love ( crave) the Word as a believer should. (Psalm 1)

I soon began reading the Word more faithfully. This led to me reading it more eagerly. I can say that I now recognize that I am close to worthless without the power of the Word and His accompaning Spirit. The two go hand in hand. I read to hear from Him. I pray to express myself to Him. He speaks to me in my “inner man” and I continue to pray to adjust to His will.

I have many desires for my children and family. One that is most important to me is their salvation and their hunger for His Word. I know that the Word is powerful. Resting on the promises of God and His Word brings peace.

We can only be certain of our own standing with God. In other words, only He can decide which are the wheat and which are the tares.

We should never stop praying for God to have his perfect will in the lives of our children. That includes their eternal destiny. We can rejoice in their salvation when we see God working in them but we can never relax our prayer efforts on their behalf.

Home Sweet Home

We are settling into our home in the countryside of Illinois. We (Jim and I and 5 of the eleven children) moved our stuff here from storage in Mi. on Saturday. Lots of folks from our new church helped, from carrying junk and driving many miles to preparing food for the family and workers. We have a wonderful church family here. The Grace Baptist Church of Ottawa is a great place to be.  I am a little unsure of how I will really be used here but I know God brought us here. He made that very clear.

I am so thankful for God’s presence and love. I have had times of really missing the older kids and the grandchildren. I must say I carry them in my heart and look forward to the day when we can all be together forever.

I have thought many times this week of my friend Marty who went to be with the Lord two years ago this past October. I wonder how her children are doing. I am fairly certain that they think of her everyday. She had such an impact on my life and I know she did on the lives of her children and many other families. Marty was so much the Proverbs 31 lady. She was so faithful and diligent. She was such a blessing. God’s Word was so much a part of her. I hardly remember ever talking to her but what she would quote a verse that dealt with whatever we were talking about.

I miss Marty but I would never wish her back. I know she is in glory and what glory it is. Sitting at Jesus feet. Talking to Him face to face. That is truly home sweet home.

Keeping Up

It is so hard to keep up with this blog thing when life keeps rushing by. Last night I was watching a little Jack Van Impe on the TV. Seth was mesmerized by the him. I felt a little guilty sending him to bed before it was over but I am trying hard to keep us early to bed, early to rise.

Well, we are moving again. The sun is rising here and I wonder which window the sun will come up in at my new house. I wonder where I will have my quiet time. Last night the glorious clear sky and stars and now this huge ball of fire before breakfast. I must get the kids going. It is ten minutes till eight and so much to do. I will update more as able.

Keep looking up. His return could be today.

Jim’s on the road. First Texas and then Colorado.