Fruit

Friday was a blast!  Freshly fallen snow, and a day off of school!!!  We took the kids to the sled hill in Delavan.  That was the first time Cale has ever gone sledding on a hill like that.  Boy, was he squealing with laughter all the way down.  What fun!

Today Garth and I went to school and helped the Kindergarteners learn how to roller skate.  Many of them started off using walkers to help them get their balance.  They all did real well.  Only one girl was in tears.  She said she was really scared, but didn’t give up.  It will be interesting to see how they progress.

During my devos this morning I read again in John 15.  The end of verse 16 says, “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last.”  I was intrigued by that verse so I looked into it more.  I found a sermon from John Piper on the topic.  This is really super cool.  Please take a minute to read it.

Turn the verse around. What if Jesus had said, "I did not choose you; you chose me?" What would

most likely be the point of saying that? Wouldn't it mean, "I'm not bound to you. You wanted

to come along. If the going gets rough, don't come whimpering to me. It's your choice, man. I

didn't stake anything on your success." But Jesus said the opposite: "You did not choose

me, but I chose you. And so the meaning probably is: "Your presence here is my doing and

so I take full responsibility. I know you agreed to join me in this work, but deep in your heart

you know it was I who laid claim on you and so my honor, not yours, is at stake in this work."

If that is what Jesus means, then the reason he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose

you, was to encourage us that he would help us. Therefore, he will not look lightly on

our cry for help, when we say, "Lord you chose me! You are not fickle. You are not

shortsighted. You are not impulsive. Your choices have the weight of eternity in them. You will

not let your chosen one be ruined. Help me, Lord." Such a plea -- if it comes from the heart --

he cannot ignore. His wisdom and constancy and reliability is at stake.

The only fruit that will last is the fruit that grows on the cross.

Oh, amazing!  He truly loves me and cares about my cries for help.

What an encouragement!

Love

Rachel

Banana Peels

So, I have been thinking about trash today.  I love Mondays because that is when our trash gets picked up.  I love that I can put it out at night and in the morning it is gone.  In Indo there was trash everywhere.  And I do mean everywhere.  Going to the market we would pass by a huge, enormously smelly pile of accumulated hot, steamy trash.  We would hold our breath until we had passed it.  The Indonesians didn’t think of it things any other way.  Our family would cringe when we would see them throwing loads of trash out the car window as they drove along.

Well, wouldn’t it be nice if we could load up all of the dirty, filthy, wrong things that we have done for the week and have a truck come and take them away for good?  Yet, some of those things can be recycled.  I was told once that God never wastes anything-He uses all the scraps.  My mess-ups can be recycled into something good if it is in the Right hands.  God takes those things, forgives me, removes them as ‘far as the East is from the West’, and then proceeds to use them to shape me.  And the thing I really love is that He doesn’t look at me and see the trash, He looks at me, and sees Jesus. And oh, how He loves me.  Banana peels and all.

Rachel

Auction

Saturday’s Auction went really well.  The weather was terrific and we got rid of everything.  Wyatt and Garth helped a man with a flat tire.  The other kids had made chocolate chip cookies.  I told them if they made them, they could sell them and then split the money.  I am always looking for ways that they can learn how to wisely manage money- some for God, some for savings, and fun money.  (There is a great site called Three Jars if you are looking for ideas.)

Sunday dinner was at my sister’s-yummy.  Today we took a trip to Moody to meet with some of the MK’s (Missionary kids) there.  The traffic was fantastic since it was President’s Day.  Thank you Lord!  We had a chance to talk to a girl from Austria who said she spent her first two years at Moody writing in her journal “What is wrong with me?” every night, and feeling so out of place until she started attending the MuKappa meetings for MK’s and realized that what she was feeling was normal.  It was encouraging to hear several stories like that.  When we tell them we understand, we sure mean it.  That is why this ministry is a perfect fit for us.

We are so thankful for where God has us right now.  Thanks for helping.

Love you

Rachel

Peace

Right now we have three kids on antibiotics, and it is not all for the same thing.  Emma just found out this week that she needs to get glasses and Sophie is being sent back to an ear specialist to see if she needs surgery or what they can do to help her out.  She is scared about that so pray for peace.

Tomorrow we are having an auction to get rid of things in my Mother-in-laws apartment.  We are hoping that the weather is not too cold, and that a large group of people come.

Please pray for our family-our whole family.  There is a lot going on right now with my Uncle being sentenced to time in prison.  We have a whole new “normal” now, and are trying to figure out exactly what that looks like.  There are many details that make the story confusing, and complicated.  We all need to feel God’s incredible peace.

In Numbers 11 vs.23 it says “The Lord answered Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s arm too short?  You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.’”

Psalm 86 says “Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.  Guard my life, for I am devoted to You.  You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.  Have mercy on me, O Lord for I call to You all day long.  Bring joy to Your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You!”

Rachel

Believe

There isn’t much I can say…  It was a hard day for our family.  Due to some bad choices in the past, a family member was sent to prison.  The sentencing was this morning.  If you think about all of us, please pray.  If you want more details, let me know.

A verse has been running around in my head since yesterday-“Don’t let your heart be troubled.  Believe in God.”  John 14  I look at that verse as two choices.  (1.) Be troubled (2) Believe in God.  It seems that God doesn’t want us to do both.  So, I need to take it to heart and believe.

Rachel

Loch Ness

This has been a sick week at our house.  I am convinced that every sick germ that our family hasn’t had in the last four years is sneaking its’ way into our vulnerable systems!  Wyatt has strep and Cale has a bad chest cough.  We keep taking kids to the doctor, but most of it is just viruses that don’t want to leave.  If we could buy stock in germs we would be one rich family!  Ha.

So, Cale was home from school today.  After crafts, a haircut, a bath, some books, and a movie he needed something else to do.  I made some bread dough for him to play with.  We had been reading about the Loch Ness monster so he decided to create one out of dough.

While we were in the kitchen I started thinking about the process of making bread.  It sure doesn’t look appealing when it is being mixed up.  I asked Cale if he would like to eat it like that.  He was grossed out and said “No way!”.  There are many steps involved until it is a finished product.  Just like us.  God isn’t finished with us yet.  We are all at different stages in the making. The final creation will be well worth all of the goopy steps along the way.

The Quilt

Last week was something else, I tell ya.  I mentioned before that we moved Garth’s mother into an Assisted Living unit on Tuesday.  The rest of the week was spent going through everything that was left behind in her apartment.  It was quite the job!  The fun part was “uncovering” hidden treasures.  Pictures of the family we have never seen, recipes, 2 beautiful quilts that had been hand sewn, old spoons, stamps, letters, cards, books…I love when you find something and then later get the story behind it.  It makes the object even more special.

One of the quilts that we found had a note pinned on it that it was hand sewn by Dottie’s mother, Nina.  Later when I was going through pictures I found an old black and white from 1947 with the quilt hanging out on the front porch, and Nina’s Mother-in-law rocking in a chair by it.   She wrote on the back that she had made the quilt herself.  Cool!

Now the quilt is more meaningful.  I think Heaven will be like that.  There will be so many hidden treasures, things that we didn’t understand here on Earth.  Things that just didn’t make sense will be revealed.  Hardships will turn into moments of beauty as we see the reason behind them.  How awesome that God is the Master quilter placing each stitch of our lives together to make a breathtaking masterpiece!  Can’t wait to see the finished product!

Moving

Today was a big day for my Mother-in-law.  We moved her out of the apartment she has been in for 13ish years and into an assisted care facility.  I know it is hard to give up that freedom, and she was a trooper.  This is the best thing for her, but change is always difficult.

She has a bone marrow disease and is having a harder time doing things on her own.  Garth and I are working on going through all of the boxes of stuff.  We found some amazing pictures, including one from 1913 of her Father’s family and a journal of her Mother’s from 1913 as well.  It included some recipes that I can’t wait to try.

This weekend was fun as Garth’s brother came and stayed with us.  He lives in Colorado and doesn’t get to Wisconsin very often.  We played lots of ping-pong, and enjoyed hanging out.  Boy, does he look like Garth, or what?

Love you

Rachel