Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Vacation Time

Last Thursday Chep and I left for a short vacation. 
We went up to Oregon where we met with a dear missionary friend from Indonesia.  He is here in America for the next year raising support for his ministry and we were privileged to help him by supplying him with a vehicle.  We stayed several days before heading over to Idaho to spend Memorial Day with our family.  This is the first year I have been able to put flowers on my dad's grave for Memorial Day and it meant alot to me.  It's been almost two years since we lost him
but I still miss him every day!



Yesterday, before leaving Idaho, we were able to go to my dad's house and we took clusters of Hens and Chicks and starts of his lilac and cherry bushes.  We left for home and drove all afternoon and night and made it back to Wyoming at midnight.  It was so nice to be back in our own comfy bed!  I wish I could say we slept in but after being gone a week there was just to much to do, so Chep and I both were up and running as soon as we saw the sunshine.  I had a wonderful Bible study this morning as I finished the book of Deuteronomy and my study focused on praise.  I love this verse!  Deuteronomy 32:4 - He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.  With this thought running through my head, I got up and cleaned my house.  Although Mason did good and did not make that big of a mess, it definitely needed some tlc.  Mason had dirtied every plate and cup in the house and had left them all in the sink.  Neat and organized but still unwashed in the sink!  Chep then helped me plant all the lilacs and cherry bushes in the yard.  We are praying that they grow as I loved these growing up and not only are are they sentimental to me but all the green will help the yard look better.  I then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the prophets chambers and getting it ready for a missionary family that we will be having stay with us tomorrow.  The day flew by and before I knew it, it was time for church.  Still have a ton of things on my list for tomorrow but I am so happy to be home from vacation and back into our busy routine!


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

"A Child of the King" Award Ceremony

What an awesome night we had celebrating how hard the kids
 worked at hiding God's Word in their hearts! 


The kids sang "A Child of the King" and said their verses
 for their parents. 


Prince Bryant and Princess Annabelle were so sad when they found out that we were done with Bible Adventures for the summer.  Prince Bryant said he was worried something would happen and we would never see each other again.  I read John 14 to him and we talked about the promise that God has given us through his Son.  Prince Bryant was so happy to know that if we are "A Child of the King", no matter what happens, we see one another in heaven.  The kids then recieved awards for memorizing so many Bible verses.



After awards we headed outside where the teens donned plastic as the kids got a chance to throw pies and silly string at the teens and Mr. Chandler who had helped all year. 




The poor teens got covered but the kids had a blast. 
Of course when the teens were set loose, they took all the leftover pie and silly string they could find and tried to cover any adults in reach.  By the end, it seemed like everyone was wearing a bit of pie!


This year's Bible Adventure was so much fun and the kids learned so many verses and so many truths out of God's Word!  For the summer months we will start a series of missionary stories and in September we will start Bible Adventures again.  Excited to get a bit of a summer break but I am also looking forward to next year's Bible Adventures!





Sunday, May 20, 2012

Mason's Graduation and Party

We had Mason's homeschool graduation during evening services tonight.
 We sang Mason's favorite hymns, Chep preached a sermon on 2 Timothy 3:14-17, we showed a video of Mason's life and then Mason spoke about being in God's will everyday.
 It was so nice and made me cry several times!

One of my dear friends offered to cater the party and it was so good!


Shrimp Skewers, stuffed chicken salad pitas, pinwheels, mini pizzas, wrapped smokies, crab filled phillo dough, bacon wrapped sausages, brownies, dill chips and cake!  It was all so good and everyone ate and ate and ate!  Of course we had a lot of laughter to go with the food too!

After graduation Mason walked out to find his car by the side of the road, decorated with purple and pink ballons, purple streamers, and a Justin Bieber poster on the front windshield with the words, I love Justin Bieber, written all over the windows.  Everyone thought is it was hilarious and Mason is already plotting revenge against his brother!

 
It was a wonderful night to celebrate this time with Mason
\and we are all praying for him as he searches for God's will
in the coming months and years.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Church Clean Up

You know the "Barney" clean up song?
Clean up, Clean up, Everybody everywhere,
Clean up, Clean up, everybody do your share.
That song was running through my head, (still is actually),
 as several of our church members gathered today to clean the church from top to bottom.  Although someone cleans the church every week, at least once a year we deep clean and scrub everything down.  We scrubbed walls, washed windows, wiped base boards, cleaned lights, and dusted and vaccummed every corner.





Of course as we cleaned we talked and laughed and laughed some more! It was a wonderful time of fellowship as we worked together.  The men had planned on doing some outside projects but were rained out, so they sweetly came inside and moved things so we could clean behind and underneath all the heavy stuff.


After the rain stopped, the men were able to head outside
and were able to work on some their projects.


Taking the axels off a trailer, which will be our new, short term prophets chamber.  It is really nice inside and it will be nice to have a place for people passing through to stay.



The men also worked on tilling up the playground so we can plant new grass!  The playground is very uneven and full of weeds so we are excited to be able to till it all up, even it out and regrass it.

   SheBear saw the guys digging up the dirt and thought she would too! She is such a big help too!

We got a lot done today and are excited to see what God
will do in services tomorrow.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

The End of Our Homeschool Journey

Today Mason took his last test and with sadness I closed the last book, marked the last grade and sent all the final paperwork to Abeka Academy.   Fifteen years ago I could never have imagined having done this,
as homeschooling was a journey that we had never planned on taking.



We were stationed in Germany the summer before Chandler
was to start Kindergarten.  Chep was up for re-enlistment in October but felt God had called him into the ministry.  We spend months praying as per where God would have Chep go to college and we were thrilled when we felt God calling us back to Idaho to school and to study under Pastor Tom Campbell, the pastor of the church I had attended as a child.  The church had its own private Christian school and we sent off the paperwork and money to enroll Chandler.   As a teenager I had promised God I would never send my child to public school.  Chep and I had both grown up in an area that was predominately LDS and we were in a very, very small minority that was not.  I remember being persecuted by fellow students and even teachers for my faith and I swore to never make any of my kids go through that.  Because of this I was determined that my children would only attend a christian school where they shared a faith with the other kids and where God was taught daily.  Chep and I were both so excited God
 had provided a school for Chandler to attend.

Our pastor's wife in Germany offered to homeschool Chandler
 up to the time we left, using the same curriculum that he would be being taught in his new school, that way he would not be behind in his work.  It worked out wonderful and we had only two weeks left before we completed our move to Idaho when my husband got the phone call.  The christian school Chandler was enrolled in had shut its doors. We were devastated!  What were we going to do?  There was no way we were going to let Chandler go to public school and there were no other Christian schools of like faith in the town we were moving too.  Chep and I prayed and prayed and decided that we would homeschool until we found a school to send our children to. 
As soon as we got settled in Idaho, the Christian school that had closed,
gave us all the school books and curriculum to get Chandler
started in Kindergarten and Mason started in pre-school. 


Each day as we homeschooled, we fell more and more in love with it! I loved being able to pray throughout the school day with my children and teaching them about God and his creation and teaching science and history through a Christian viewpoint.  I loved being able to spend all day, every day with them and being able to love on them and laugh with them over the silliest of things.  I loved taking them on nature walks and drawing and studying what we found.  I loved waking the boys up at 2 am and going out and sitting on a blanket to watch a meteor shower.  I loved taking them to the library and spending hours there as we lost ourselves in story after story.  Learning was such an adventure and we loved every minute of it!  One day as I was doing my daily Bible reading, I read this passage that touched my heart. and changed my thoughts of sending them to private school.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.  And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:  That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

I knew if we sent the boys off to school we couldn't teach them and train them the way God wanted us to.  We couldn't constantly keep God's Word around them if they were away from us for so many hours a day. 
From that point on I knew we would homeschool until both boys graduated, and so started this very special journey that would touch every aspect of our lives.  An amazing journey of learning, exploring, discovery,
growing, bonding, and loving.

Of course we heard from everyone that we were crazy for homeschooling, that our kids would not gain the needed socialization skills, they would get in trouble with the law and be in jail by the time they were 16, that they would not learn what they needed and never be able to go to college and so on and so on.  The thought of homeschooling was abnormal to all our friends and family and everyone thought we were
ruining our kids and setting them up for failure. 
 
Those thoughts were far, far from the truth.
 

Fifteen years after beginning homeschooling, my husband and I are so blessed by what homeschool has done for our family and being able to see God raise two extremely wonderful young men before our eyes.  Young men that are smart and funny (definitely not socially backwards), young men that are loving and kind and always looking for ways to help others, young men that have never been in trouble and never shown rebellious actions or attitudes, young men that are responsible with fantastic jobs, and most importantly, young men that are grounded in the Word, following God and seeking His will in every decision they make.

We praise God for allowing us to take this journey, for allowing me to stay home all these years with my children, and allowing us to train them in the way we feel God has led us. Homeschooling has been an incredible journey and I am looking forward to continuing watch, as my children follow God and start their own families and watch as they too start their incredible journey, for in truth the homeschool journey never ends.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Building Progress

Many have asked how our new building is progressing.  
It may not look like we are not making much progress but we are, slowly but surely.  To start with, since we are in a flood plain, we had to make sure the area where the new building is, would be the required raised height.  Several months ago we had dirt brought in and packed to meet code.


We then submitted our site plan which requires a certain number of trees, parking spots and outside decorations.  We patiently waited for the county to accept our plan which we were told would take time.  After a month my husband called to see how much longer approval would take.  Turns out the county had forgotten about us!  They immediatley sent someone out and we started the process again.  We have an engineer working on the plans and he sends the plans to county and county sends them back with changes that need to be made and we send them back and so forth.  Yesterday we were told we needed 7 more trees and 11 more bushes to meet the development requirements.  Since two bushes equal one tree we decided to plant a row of bushes to seperate the playground from the parking lot.


We bought 30 Juniper bushes and two small trees.  It was so nice out today and Chep worked most of the day digging and planting.  I tried to help but I was not a very good digger! (Plus I HATE getting dirt under my fingernails!)  I ended up spacing all the bushes equally, making sure they were all in a straight line and keeping my honey's cup full of ice cold water.  Chep was so thankful when Mason got home from work and had finished his school so he could come out and help finish up the job. 


With the bushes in place, the county says we should get our permit to grade the parking lot and also the permit to start the cement work for the building by the end of the week.  We pray that everything will start rolling now and we will have the building up within the next month!


Sunday, May 13, 2012

A Wonderful Day!

It was so exciting to see Linda at church this morning! 


We met Linda on Tuesday while we were out door knocking and visiting.  We had a wonderful conversation with her and she told us that although she had been going to the Methodist Church but didn't know anyone there and had not been faithful in last few months.  We told her how friendly our church was and invited her to visit with us.  Our church was different from what she is used to but she says she loved it and is planning on coming back.

After church we took a picnic to the park and had a wonderful time eating and laughing.  Chandler, as he does every Mother's Day, gave me a beautiful letter that made me cry and a gift to go with it.  He wrote of our Homeschooling Journey coming to an end and a new journey starting and gave me several things to help me start this new journey.  A box of kleenex for Mason's graduation next Sunday, a hummingbird feeder as he thinks with all the extra time on my hands I need a new hobby,  'bird watching", a new card game to play on game nights, a pint of ice cream to binge on when needed and a few other things that made me laugh and cry!  What a sweet gift!

After lunch we took some time for some pictures. 
Getting the boys, (all three of them!), to be serious was nearly impossible
but we still got some good pictures.




  Thank you God for blessing me with such a wonderful family!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Mother Daughter "Tee"

This morning we woke up to snow, clouds and cold!



For the start of our Mother Daughter "Tee", everyone was supposed to meet on the outdoor mini golf course for 18 holes of fun. 
One look out the window and I knew we were going to have to cancel that part of our "Tee". 

We were still able to meet at the church for the rest of our banquet
and we had a wonderful time.  We decorated with golf balls, flags,
 grass and golf napkins and plates.


 We played a golf trivia which we all failed terribly at
 and we then had a devotion on "Avoiding the Hazards".  For food we ate finger sandwiches held together by golf tee's and the many yummy salad's our ladies brought.  What a wonderful time we had laughing and fellowshipping together!







For door prizes, several ladies won golf bags with candles and other goodies inside.  It was definitely a fun theme this year and we will be be taking a raincheck on mini golfing later this summer.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Whack-A-Mole

We have a huge prairie dog problem at the church.  They have dug little holes all over and it seems like my foot is always finding them.  I told Chep I was going to break a leg one of these days!  We have tried everything to get rid of them but they have seemed to flourish.  One of our men came up with a wonderful idea and it seems to be working.


Chep and Mason set a wire covered ring over a freshly dug hole and fill the hole with water.  If there is a prairie dog in the hole he will soon come up gasping for air.  The wire ring keeps him from escaping and then the guys simply.............well you get the idea.  Everytime they see one pop out of the ground they rush out to get the pesky critter.


This has been one of Mason's favorite duties around
the church this spring and I am sure he will be have the 
church yard prairie dog free soon! 


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Midweek Kids Club

We are almost done with this year's Bible Adventures,
 "A Child of the King" and what a wonderful year we have had!


This years Bible Adventures has been about Prince Bryant. 
 Prince Bryant has a hard time acting like "A Child of the King" and hates wearing his crown and dressing like a prince.  The kids have loved getting to know Prince Bryant and watching as he has learned what the King expects out of him as "A Child of the King".  Of course we have many puppets that have helped the Prince learn many things along the way and have made us laugh and smile.  The kids have also learned how they too can be a "Child of the King" and what God excpects of them once they do.  Every week we have had a new Bible story that has helped Prince Bryant and the kids as they learn how  "A Child of the King" should and should not act.

Each week the kids memorize verses that go along with what they are learning.  For every verse they memorize and say they get a jewel for their crown.  They also get jewels for bringing friends, monthly Sunday school and Club attendance, and reviewing their verse cards.


For every verse they say they also get to pick a small prize, which is a small piece of candy or toy out of the prize holder.


This is simply a shoe holder that has numbers over each pocket.  They kids get to pick a numbered pocket for each verse they have said and they get the prize that is in that pocket.  After they say all the verses on a verse card, they have to review the verses on the card again and be able to say the verses word perfect.  When they have reviewed a verse card they get to pick a review box.


Each box has a prize in it which may be a stuffed animal, a bottle of bubbles, a mini flashlight or even a 5 dollar Walmart gift card.  
 (I get most things for the boxes at the dollar store.) 
The kids love picking a box and really work hard on their verses.

We have two more weeks of Bible Adventures "A Child of the King" left before we end for the summer. Our big awards night will be on May 23rd and I have a bunch of fun surprises for the kids planned.   My husband, who got a pie in the face at last year's award ceremony, was a little weary when I asked him if he was willing to help again this year but said he is willing to do anything for the kids.  Tthe kids love Pastor Chep and love that he is so willing to be a part of their fun know Pastor Chep loves being in the middle of the kids and their fun no matter if their fun involves a pie or a very, very large water balloon. 
 (Yes, I will post pictures, lol!)  



Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Fighting Hunger, Physically and Spiritually



Today was our monthly food bank day. 
Our church is one of our cities distribution places and it gives us the chance to feed people not only phsically but spiritually.  Although no one has to come to our church in order to get help with food, we are able to witness to those that come and invite them to church services.  In this time of economic struggle, there are so many people that see their need for material help but have no idea of their greater need of salvation.  We pray that every person we are able to help with their physical needs, we can also help with their spiritual needs.

Tonight was also our weekly door knocking and visitation night.  Every time I go door knocking here I am just amazed!  The difference in people and their attitudes here, compared to Idaho is so totally different.  In Idaho we would knock on door after door and have most people give us very short answers and many doors were shut in our faces but people here are so friendly and willing to open their doors and talk to you about God and church and their beliefs.  We had a wonderful night and were able to share the gospel with many people and are praying that we will see some of those people visit our church on Sunday.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Men's Cooking Contest

What a wonderful time we had last night! 
The men took over the kitchen and did all the cooking and cleaning. 



We ladies had so much fun as we sat and visited and ate all the wonderful food the men had prepared.  It was so nice to just sit and not worry about any of the setup, serving or clean up.  We sat and laughed and just totally enjoyed our night off kitchen duty!



It was hard to choose a favorite but Bruce's apple crisp won 1st place with Dave's sloppy joes coming in 2nd.  The ladies also voted that the men should do the cooking and cleanup at least once a year!


Thursday, May 3, 2012

In the Waiting Room


I knew I would have to get up extra early today and spend several hours in the waiting room when I was asked to take one of our church ladies to a surgical appointment.  I tried to snuggle in my comfy bed for as long as I could before I had to jump up and get ready and head out the door.  On the way out I grabbed my Bible to read as I sat and waited.  I just started reading through my Bible again and am currently in Numbers and knew that this would be a good chance to get through this book.  Numbers is not my favorite book of the Bible and I usually have to push my way through it, but today I saw something I had not seen before and it made me stop and think about Satan and his lies.

I read about Balak and how he told Balaam
that he would promote Balaam to honor and do whatever he asked if only Balaam would curse Israel. Of course we know that the Lord would not allow Balaam to curse Israel but only bless them.  Balak was so upset with Balaam that he says this 

Numbers 24:11 - Therefore now flee thou to thy place: 
I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo,
the Lord hath kept thee back from honor.

This is a lie that the world often tells us and our children. 
If you follow God and seperate yourselves to him, you will lose a blessing.  The world tries to to put doubt into our minds, just like Satan put doubt into Eve's mind, that God is not really that good.  The world wants us to think that it is God that is holding us back and not letting us enjoy everything to the fullest.  Satan wants us to see what blessings the world would have given us if we had not been following God because he wants us to be discontended with what God has given to us.  It is that little bit of doubt and discontentment that turns into rebellion against God and starts us down a worldly path that is full of serving ourselves and not God.  It is so important that we keep our eyes and ears open to lies that Satan is telling us through the world today.


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Answered Prayer!

Isaiah 65:24 - And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer: and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

It is so amazing to see when God answers
a specific prayer so fully and quickly!


Chandler and Saraina moved home a year ago and for a full year Chandler has struggled to find a job.  He has been working hard at doing any and all odd jobs he can find but it just has not been enough to support his growing family.  With a little one on the way he has praying for God's will, even if that means moving to another state in order to find work.  Last night as Chep and I took our nightly walk, we prayed for Chandler.  We prayed specifically for him to go in early in the morning to the state temporary labor agency and for him to get sent out on a job.  We also prayed that before the end of the day that the company he was doing temp work for would offer him a full-time job.  What joy and shouting and praises to God you could hear coming from our house when Chandler and Saraina came over tonight to tell us that Chandler had been hired full-time!  We thank God for hearing our prayer and answering and providing exactly what Chandler needed!


Another Day In the Ministry


Every morning after my personal Bible Study, I go over to my husband's office to have coffee with him. If you know me, you know how much I hate coffee or tea or any hot drink, but I have coffee with my sweet husband to be able to spend some time with him and talk with him before our busy day starts. Of course one thing we talk about during our coffee time is what we have planned for the day ahead. Today we talked about how my days were getting ready to change. On May 20th, our youngest son Mason will graduate from High School and I will no longer be a homeschooling mom and will no longer have kids around the house that need my supervision. What will I do? It has been something I have been praying about for many months. I know I will be able to help out at the church more and be more of a helpmeet to my husband as I can dedicate all my time to him. My husband told me a few things he thought I should do and I am throughly praying about those things.

After coffee I took some time and went through every room of the church, cleaning and tidying up. The county Sheriff's office is going to use our church and grounds as a training facility tomorrow as they practice several rescue senarios and I do not want our church looking messy! Also, one of our church members gave us a piano and my husband wanted it put in the Jr. Church room so I had to rearrange everything and find a place for it as they delivered the piano today. 
I can not wait until the new sanctuary is built and we can move the Jr. Church to the old sanctuary!!!

Now I am off to get Mason started in school.  He tells me only 14 days of lessons left and 19 days until graduation.  He is excitedly counting the days down, and I am so sad to see of days of homeschooling end!