Matthews Family Herald

The New Year Has Kicked Off

2012-01-16T01:02:00.000-08:00

Hi Family, Friends, etc.

Great to update you very briefly here.

The kids have started up in Gymnastics again for most of them. Jacob is taking a mixed martial arts class instead. Micah was going to take some guitar lessons from an American but local legend here, Billy Goodman. This guy toured around with some of the major rock bands but then became a Christian. He's active musically and evangelically now, and also gives lessons at affordable rates. Check out Billy Goodman here:

http://www.homegrownmusic.de/billy_goodman.40.html#BILLY

So, although you can tell I think Micah would really benefit from Billy Goodman :) he's going with the martial arts now as well. That's great too, though, and I support him in that decision.

Micah has opened his website and continues to offer spray paint artwork custom made for you, if you make a donation to cover his supplies, shipping costs, etc. Comes out to about $20 a pop and well worth it. He's already had several orders and so he's pleased, but looking for more ways to get himself out there. Waiting for the summertime to offer more opportunities. He may up his price a bit, as this amount doesn't quite cover all he spends. But again, if you want to see his amazing work and consider getting him to paint you something awesome, his site is:

http://www.spacepainters.blogspot.com/

Speaking of Micah, he just about broke one of his toes trying to do a martial arts kick recently. And just about the time his toe was "all better," he and I were fooling around doing martial arts in the driveway, and he injured his pinkie. Good grief!

Heather and many of the other local homeschool moms have picked back up with regular weekly co-ops again. We had another great home fellowship meeting last night and we are starting a series by James McDonald. http://www.jamesmacdonald.com/

The keepers and contenders groups are going to have an annual planning meeting this month and then get that going again.

Heather's natural, herbal class materials for certification have not yet arrived but we await them eagerly. I continue reading my second Joel Salatin book and learning otherwise about argriculture as much as I'm able (which isn't much). Of great influence in our family right now are The Duggar Family in matters both practical and relational. http://duggarfamily.com/

Our oldest, Rachel, has had gall stone troubles. She had surgery to remove some of the stones and now it looks like she may have a second surgery to remove it entirely. Their family is set to move to Japan sometime early this year. The great news, though, is that they have started a family blogsite. http://www.meerkatfamily.blogspot.com/

Mary Ann is doing well but has a bit of a fever today. She is saying "Mama, Ninny, Da Dad" lately. Or some very close variation of those, and at the appropriate times you'd imagine a child saying them. She's gotten heavier recently, and of course, always cuter. She smiles a lot and laughes a lot. What a cutie! Heather has gotten so good at reading her body language, etc., that Mary Ann ends up "going potty" in a baby toilet that Mommy holds her over almost every time. It's pretty amazing. A definite head start on the road to being potty trained. Mary only fusses when something is wrong (imagine that) and something is normally not wrong. One funny thing I've noticed, if she needs a diaper change and is fussy about that, she'll calm down and smile if I come and say "change your diapie? Change your diapie?" with a smile? That's often how I know what the problem is without needing to actually check her diaper.

As for us, we spent a big chunk getting the van fixed but still have "miles to go before we sleep" in getting it back to standard. We have temporary tags for now. A friend, however, has loaned/maybe given us his car when he left Germany and so I now have something to drive. This may turn into the only car we have if the rest of the van problems are not taken care of.

I'm sure there's more news but that's about all I have for now. I'm here on MLK day, at work unfortunately, trying to catch up on some large projects.

Back to work for me and hope to hear from you soon.

"A Few of My Favorite Things. . . "

2011-12-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

Well, here are a few of the Christmas pictures. Nathan here in his cowboy outfit.

Mama picked out some of the kids favorite and often traditional stocking stuffer gifts. Jacob's going to town with his canned cheeze spread. Each kid received one of them.

Micah is seen here lovin' his egg nog. Again, each child recieved one of these.

Here's Hannah with all of her stocking stuff contents laid out.

Heather and I were up several hours working on getting everything set up the night before Christmas. The work was worth the effort. Heather did a great job of picking out most of these items. Many things, like the most of the items on the side table to the left she's sitting by, are traditional items always set out by her parents. It is lots of fun for us now too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS.

In Progress . . .

2011-12-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

Awe...this is so cute. My problem was picking out which photo of her I wanted to share with you. So, I shared several...

Eden is always happy, most of the time. But this has to be one of the happiest looks I've had the pleasure to capture on camera of her.

Wow!
Again, just too cute!

We have only had one day of snow thus far! And it's been a light snow at that. Well, the kids immediately went out to play in it, first thing in the morning. They built a snowman (melted) and managed to have snowball (schnee ball) wars too. Squabbling of who made the first snowball and saving them in the freezer, etc., all took place.

Eden was making, or trying to make, a snow angel here.

Eden was helping Mama make some delicious bread!

My book of Revelation poster I ordered from Michael Pearl came in awhile back (several months ago) . Micah and I laminated it and I hung it up over the dinner table. If you click on it and enlarge it, you can see lots of detail on it.

Heather found some organic (It's called "Bio" here and pronounced just like if we were saying someone's armpits stink. "You've got some bad B-O!" we'd say. That's how they pronounce "Bio"). It's still homogenized, pasteurized, and UHT treated, but it's better than nothing. Soon, we hope to have our own animals to milk fresh.
Mary had some in her bottle here. What a look she has on her face...

We have a tradition in our family. Every baby we've had as far back as I remember had enjoyed "pizza bones." Here Mary is enjoying her first set of pizza bones. We did and do watch them carefully to make sure they don't swallow any bits. Which means they never actually eat much of it. But they do love to chew them!

Micah here enjoyed an excellent tea party that Eden set up. She went through a phase of having tea parties set up all the time there for a minute.

The fun in the snow inspired them to draw this picture. I think Hannah made this one. The snow did not come down thick enough or stay long enough to actually sled though.

Hannah's braided hair looked so neat I had to share a photo of it with you.

Micah has been working a bit on some of his tricks lately. Pretty cool. Please do treat yourself to seeing his most recent 4 or 5 spray paint art pieces. Really awesome. Especially the "Silent Night Christmas" one. Here's the link to that one: http://www.spacepainters.blogspot.com/2011/12/silent-night-christmas-custom-painting.html

Hannah received a Rapunzel

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I Just Finished Reading . . .

2011-12-24T03:04:00.000-08:00

I've just finished reading this book a few days ago and found it informative, encouraging, and inspiring. I'd say it's a great read even if you have no interest in farming or in business endeavors. It falls, in many ways, into whatever catagory you might place a book like "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

I'm going to copy the editorial review from Amazon here for you, along with information about the author as well. Lastly, I give you the author's family farm website.

From Amazon, Book Description:

Saving the landscape, rebuilding entrepreneurial rural families, and protecting nutritious food are the themes of this timeless treatise-hence the word "testament." Delving into the soul of the Salatin family's nationally acclaimed Polyface Farm, author Joel Salatin offers Family Friendly Farming as the key to dealing with resource issues, food policy, and social fabric.With humor and personal stories, he opens his family and farm convictions for all to see, share, and enjoy. Written from his unabashed "Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist" perspective, his ideas are guaranteed to encourage and challenge virtually every "ism" in the culture. It will captivate anyone passionate about healing the land, healing families, and healing the food supply.For several decades young people have been leaving the family farm. The ones left behind are now responsible for society's greatest resources: clean land and clean food. Anyone dedicated to
preserving these resources will find in these pages a nongovernmental, self-empowerment approach to environmentalism and food safety.The heart of this book is aimed toward parents tired of their Dilbert cubicle at the end of the expressway who want to reconnect with their children through a pastoral lifestyle. It's written for anyone who yearns to grow old working with and being adored by value-sharing grandchildren and honored by passionate, productive
adult children. Family Friendly Farming can make any family business more viable and any family more functional.The ten-chapter section on how to get the kids to love the farm is an invaluable addition to any collection of child-rearing manuals. Salatin moves from the family team-building section into a practical discussion on how to increase income per acre and create new, white-collar salaries without buying more land, equipment, or buildings. He deals with the unique and thorny issues surrounding any family business by using his own multi-generational family farm experience as his base for insight and wisdom.

Author Info:

Called "the high priest of the pasture" by The New York Times, Joel Salatin likes to refer to himself as a "Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-lunatic farmer." He lives with his family on Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.Salatin has developed a system of pasture rotation that produces nutrient-rich grass and maximizes the composting of animal waste. Each species on the farm is dependent on another. The cows, for example, eat the nutrient rich grass in Pasture A and then are moved to Pasture B. The chickens then move to Pasture A where they pick through the cow pies eating bugs and grinding the waste into the ground where it revitalizes the grass for the cows.Salatin's innovative system has gained attention from around the country and he travels in the winter giving lectures and demonstrations. Salatin is the author of a number
of books including Holy Cows and Hog Heaven, $alad Bar Beef, You Can Farm, Pastured Poultry Profit$, and Family Friendly Farming, all available from Chelsea Green.

Biography:

About JoelJoel F. Salatin (born 1957) is an American farmer, lecturer, and author whose books include You Can Farm and Salad Bar Beef.Salatin raises livestock using holistic methods of animal husbandry, free of potentially harmful chemicals, on his Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Meat from the farm is sold by direct-marketing to consumers and restaurants.In high school, Salatin began his own business selling rabbits, eggs, butter and chicken from his family farm at the Staunton Curb Market. He then attended Bob Jones
University where he majored in English and was a student leader. He graduated in 1979. Salatin married his childhood sweetheart in 1980 and became a feature writer at the Staunton, Virginia newspaper, The News Leader, where he had worked earlier typing obituaries and police reports.Tired of "having his stories spiked," he decided to try farming full-time after first getting
involved in a walnut-buying station run by two high school boys. Salatin's grandfather had been an avid gardener and beekeeper and a follower of J. I. Rodale, the founder of regenerative organic gardening. Salatin's father worked as an accountant and his mother taught high school physical education. Salatin's parents had bought the land that became Polyface after losing a farm in Venezuela to political turmoil. They had raised cattle using organic methods,
but could not make a living at farming alone.Salatin, a self-described "Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic-Farmer" produces high-quality "beyond organic" meats, which are raised using environmentally responsible, ecologically beneficial, sustainable agriculture. Jo Robinson, the author of Pasture Perfect: The Far-Reaching Benefits of Choosing Meat, Eggs and Dairy Products From Grass-Fed Animals (2004) said of Salatin, "He's not going
back to the old model. There's nothing in county extension or old-fashioned ag science that really informs him. He is just looking totally afresh at how to maximize production in an integrated system on a holistic farm. He's just totally innovative."Salatin considers his farming a ministry, and he condemns the negative impact on his livelihood and lifestyle of what he considers an increasingly regulatory approach taken by the agencies of the United States government toward farming. Salatin now spends a hundred days a year lecturing at colleges and to environmental groups.

ME AGAIN: Well, you might be feeling like you don't need to read the book now, having made it through all that. But anyhow, here's his website: www.polyfacefarms.com

For Christmas, I recieved two DVDs put together by Joel; one being an overview of the different things going on at his farm and how they are accomplished. The other DVD is a recording of one of his lectures. I have watched these DVDs and passed them on. I have the book I've just reviewed, and another book called "You Can Farm" by the same author. I decided to read "Family Friendly Farming" first because it is more about the "whys" instead of the "hows." Although I'm more than eager to hear all the hows, I felt like understanding the "whys" and getting a feel for who Joel is will help me understand more about the "hows" he will present in other books, as well as increasing the likelihood that I can be creative within the same vein. Knowing the whys, to me, is more like teaching a man to fish for himself.

Too Close? Or Not Close Enough?

2011-12-22T00:48:00.000-08:00

Thinking about a divorce?

Mad at your brother or sister?

Having to share something or anything with someone else and you just can't stand having to work together with THAT person any more?

Click this link and watch this video:

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/02/minnesotas_abby.php

It's five minutes long. I would encourage doing additional research. I looked up these two on Wikipedia, for example, and there are several links to various articles and pictures.

If these two can do it, so can you! Give it over to God, keep up the good work together, and stay in the fight. What God has joined together, let no man separate. I wonder how many marriages would finally smooth out if there was no way to quit, be selfish, demand your rights, etc. What we need is to give up the fight and the wrestle against what God is doing. What if our sole reason for existing was to make it possible for the other person to enter into the Kingdom at some point? What if we surrendered to that purpose?

Lots of Creative Craft Work

2011-12-21T06:24:00.001-08:00

There's Micah tuning his guitar while the rest of the kids keep working on the Christmas tree.

Here's the tree with all the lights in the house off. That was back with the star still glowed. It. . . just . . . quit working recently. . .

This is Leon, one of the boys' best friends here in Germany. He also made Ginger Bread Man and began to dispatch him shortly thereafter. Those eye glasses are very typical of the German look.

Another shot of the kids working with Mom on shaping their ginger bread persons.

Here's a group photo of those popcorn balls mentioned in an earlier post.

Nathan proudly displaying his creations.

Hannah thought hers would make great ear rings.

Eden got an ouwee on her finger while hanging ornaments on the tree. I had to make her a bandage right quick.

Here's one of Micah's recent spray paint art work items. He did this one around Thanksgiving.

Awe, Mary getting some blanket toy time. . .

Another one of Micah's pray paint creations. A really good one, I think. Don't forget, he has his own website at: http://www.spacepainters.blogspot.com/
We are still working on arranging so that if a person wants to compensate him for supplies and time and trouble, he can apply his spray paint art practice making something for you. Let him know what you'd like.

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Jacob came up with the cool idea of drawing something on the magnetic sketch pad and then adding action figures to make the event complete.

This pencil sketch was done by Hannah. We've been reading more "Little House on the Prairie" and watching "Homestead Blessings" DVDs. Click the picture to enjoy a larger version. Click this link to see about the Homestead Blessing "West Ladies" http://homestead-blessings.com/

Jacob's ginger bread man pleads for his life...

But to no avail...

Hannah has made Eden lots of paper doll mermaids. Eden is holding one up here for you to see.

All of the mermaids are displayed to the left. Here's a great drawing Hannah did of her on our someday farm. . .

Here's the gingerbread cookies we made for the family next door with the same arrangement of husband, wife, one boy and one girl.

Eden was working hard on her gingerbread person.

This is Micah's popcorn ball man.

Jacob's a good brother.

Heather put together some homemade "good smelly" air freshner items found around the area and then put them in containers like this basket around the house. Makes a nice atmosphere.

Mary Ann here looking intently at this baby. Another "What chu talkin' bout Willis" moment.

Do you recall me mentioning that Hannah makes doll clothes out of wet wipes? Well, she does and here's an example of one.

Christmas Time Activities

2011-12-18T05:57:00.001-08:00

Heather has kept us busy and together with so many great activities.

Here, you can see me decorating my Christmas tree ornaments while holding the baby. We often here that there are not enough pics of Heather and I, so here's one for the road...

The next couple of photos are of the kids making Ginger Bread cookies. Some went to the neighbors but most were eaten right here.

Heather had all of us making popcorn ornament balls. Here's an absolutely adorable picture of Eden showing hers off. Has little M and Ms making the flower there.

Eden has a big tea party set up for me that I need to go take part in...so, I gotta run for now.

Laugh Out Loud Many Times Over Funny

2011-12-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

Need a boost? I did and thanks to Micah, we'll all have it.

Give this very brief video a watch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92DPi1Idz3E

Christmas Tree is Up and Going

2011-12-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

Well, our family van being in the shop didn't hold us back. As a family yesterday, we headed into town by way of the German train system and caught up on lots of shopping. It was a productive day in that among other things, we made it home with a Christmas tree. Here the whole family is working hard and having fun.

The photos uploaded a little out of sequence. Here I am topping the tree with the amazing star (looks so much like a cross) that Hannah picked out.
Here's the kids putting on their ornaments.

And the end of a long workday.

Sent Them Packing . . .

2011-12-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's great to hear when something great happens for truth and rightness. This article is a great case in point.

This type of event is occuring all over the place, all of the time, believe it or not. What's unique is this outcome. Praying this sort of outcome becomes the standard and that God will keep raising up more and more men and saturate the field with heros like this.

http://americanvisionnews.com/571/local-sheriff-defends-farmer-from-fda-intrusion

James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Here's the sheriff's website: http://www.indianasheriffs.org/ns/counties/Elkhart.php

Here's a great breakdown of what fuels the FDA "crackdown" against organic farmers; raw dairy, meat, vegatable or otherwise.

On Rome, Flight, and Christmas

2011-12-03T04:32:00.000-08:00

Our family, as Christmas time approaches, we are making some of our own ornaments for the tree. This has been great fun and a good bonding experience to share. Here's the fruit of some of our labors. This was Heather's idea and initiative, but I can remember doing this growing up as well. We're also stringing our own popcorn to put on the tree which I've yet to acquire. The van is in the shop but once it's repaired, we'll be moving forward with that.

Jacob came up with the idea of using the camera to make it look like the kids were flying. The first photo is someone else capturing him in motion, but the rest are what he came up with. Looks pretty realistic, huh? Lots of fun! It's a kids dream especially to fly!

Taking a break from flying momentarily here. Isn't Mary heavenly?! Absolutely beautiful picture here!

Nathan uses the force here to float over the mattress.

Not only are the flying photos interesting, they just make me laugh. They are fun. Don't you think?

Nathan came up the stairs dressed this way, as a pirate. If you look close, you can see he has a hook for his right hand. You can see his cape and his eye patch too. Does't he look a lot like Chief Sittin' Bull?

Nathan helped his Mom cook and here he is after a long day of cooking and working. Whew.

Hannah here having great fun making grill cheese "samiches" as I like to say.

Our home fellowship also has a Co-Op which I mentioned in an earlier post. Well, this Co-Op had an "end of year" Early Christians of Rome theme gathering where the kids showed off their work, competed in games, gave presentations, and everyone made food to bring representative of that time in Rome. The best part was we began with a Catacomb Communion. The hosting family has a cellar in their home, the entrance of which has an old wooden door and inside looks like a stone build dungeon. There were candles lit and we all arrived wearing Togas. It really helped us connect with our history imagining those first Christians, when it was illegal to be a Christian in Rome, having to live in the Catacombs because God was most important and this was what was required. But yes, below is (far left photo) some of the food Heather and the kids made. Wasn't it wonderful? Yes. Someone else brought fresh figs. Something I'd never had. Not dehydrated or preserved, they were extremely juicy and delicious.

Kid Creations and More

2011-12-03T03:41:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest sewing creation that Hannah has come up with. She made all of it herself. She can make just about anything with sewing, etc. Purses, dresses. She even makes doll clothes out of wet wipes!

These are the most recent spray-paint creations that Micah has made. They are his most awesome works yet! Aren't they cool! It's amazing what he can do with spray paint. He has a website up where he displays his work now and I'd encourage you to visit it and become a follower. www.spacepainters.blogspot.com

These are recent crafts that Heather and the kids have made at the Co-Op part of our homeschool project.

Micah and I eat at certain diner many mornings. While there, I saw this poster and had Micah take a picture of it. Now THAT is an America, or a part of an America, that we could be proud to be a part of...

I love catching Heather and the kids reading together. Isn't it awesome.

Here's a project that Nathan made. Cool stuff.

Mary here looks so cute. These shoes were given to us by our landlords and aren't they so cozy and warm!

Here's Micah in his nerd costume. He wore this on the train and bus system that he and I travel on. We had a real hoot with this. People just stared and gawked. They'd burst into laughter once out of eye and ear shot of him. But I would be a few paces away trying to take video of it. We had some good times!

Thanksgiving Foretaste

2011-11-24T00:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it's just a few hours until our home fellowship/home school several family wide gathering takes place. Down in the kitchen, as I entered and began to get things ready to brew some coffee, I discovered some of the great things my wife and children have already prepared. (The boys and I peeled potatoes for Mama last night with our new pocket knives. We pretended we were captives on a ship, peeling potatoes down in the brig kitchen. The mashed potatoes aren't ready, so no picture yet of that for you.)

The cherry pie here was made mostly by Hannah, with a little help from Eden. Mama provided some guidance but Hannah did all of it as a part of her Keepers at Home pie award. Mama was particularly impressed by the way Hannah "fluted" the edges of the pie there. Mama said she's never been able to do that part so well.

Next is the photo of Mama's famous hot rolls. When I say "Mama" I'm talking, of course, about several generations all at once now. Heather's Mama made these all the time. Heather makes them each year, and I'm sure sweet Rachel makes them now too. The recipe has been in use for I don't know how long prior to Heather's Mama using it, so it's quite a tradition. I do know that Heather's Mama got the recipe from Heather's Father's Mother.

Now, you'll see there are two rolls missing. That's what we call "Chef's pay" around here. It's customary that any food prepared is sampled by the preparer. I find it very endearing when that customary bite appears on a sandwich that my wife has packed in my lunch for me, for example. It's very special and we'll always do it.

Finally, a Thanksgiving themed project the kids did with Heather. I got to print out the pages to color and they did the rest of it (the top photograph of the place mats). Pretty neat, huh?

UPDATE from after the fact:

Also, here is a poem that Hannah wrote for the children's poetry contest which was held at the fellowship Thanksgiving meal. Here's what she wrote, with a little help from Mother:

T is for tiny baby sister this year

H is for happy home in Germany here

A is for Abigale and Alaina, my friends

N is for never wanting Thanksgiving to end

K is for kitchen that smells of spice

S is Squanto to the pilgrims was nice

Jacob wrote one too and here it is:

It's Thanksgiving now, and that's a living

We run downstairs to eat a feast

And I scarf it down like a beast.

My Mother says "Eat with a fork."

I say "okay" and I grab the pork.

There's so many desserts of every kind.

and sugar, it will blow my mind.

I get in bed and say a prayer,

and I remember how the Indians shared.

My Mom turns out the light

And says good night.

And so, ending here with this prayer. Thank God, thank you God, for calling us to leave our life, our family, our Country, our People, and to be transformed into the image of you Son, to be a part of your People and Your Nation. Those Pilgrims were willing to lose and leave all to follow You, may we always do the same.

Parental Rights Amendment Movement

2011-11-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

Wow, powerful and informative 40 minute video about parental rights in the US and worldwide and from parentalrights.org

http://overruledmovie.com/

It's war and we need to be in the fight, I suggest, by continuing in prayer, by signing this petition and supporting this legislation, by speaking, by acting, and by saying No and not backing down. By doing whatever it takes to raise our kids as God leads us, no matter what.

*Update. I tell you what. If you don't think Parental Rights are being usurped, etc., or even if you are just wanted to stay informed, I am thinking about posting a link to each and every online news event depicts parent rights infringement for you here, for us, here.

1) http://news.yahoo.com/obese-ohio-child-taken-parents-placed-foster-care-180816812.html

2) http://afrafrontpagenews.blogspot.com/2011/11/breaking-farris-defends-major-parental.html

I'll keep 'em coming as I see them. Send me a link if you come across one and I'll plan to post it here.

When the Work is the Glue

2011-11-22T08:35:00.001-08:00

What these photos specifically depict is a topic for another discussion, but it could at least be proof that work unites. But on to the topic at hand:

I once went to a meeting of 12 house church leaders here in Germany. It was the second attempt they had all made at getting together in the Lord and forming an alliance of sorts. The first one had ended in complete disaster - lots of conflict and anger and walking out, etc.

This second one went much better because everyone stayed through the whole time. There was some conflict though and some unpleasant moments too. Not everyone was willing to be together yet even though there was so much in common.

Regardless of the issues at hand (they all spoke in German but someone translated a bit for me) it brought the disunity and the memory of some of the previous conflicts I've had with various pastors and leaders, etc. It brought all of that to the surface for me, and I was troubled that night wrestling over all the bad feelings that all this "infighting" gives me.

The next day after the meeting, I was waiting for my train to come and take me to work. I kept watching these workers fixing the train tracks. I just cried out to God asking "why! Why do THEY get to get along but WE can't?"

One was supervising and two other ones were on either side, drilling away with sledge hammers. None of the three even spoke a word but seemed to move in unison. They were a well oiled team. I was jealous in some sense. But as I watched, I felt like God might be saying "it's the work that keeps them in unity." Troops near the front lines don't have time to debate which rifle would be best here, whether the bullet twirls three times or four per millisecond. The rifle is there. Shoot! The enemy. Let's go. You know? Garrison troops squabble over differences and pick apart each other's uniform, eating and living habits, haircuts, way of speaking, etc. But in the fight, there's no time for that.

That up there is personally how I'm able to work with people who are convinced on a major point "of the law" so to speak, that I'm convinced differently about but I'm still able to work with them.

However, sometimes you are supposed to stand up and not allow something to continue. Big stuff like "There is no hell, all the world is already saved regardless, the Holy Bible isn't God's word, all religions point to the same God, you can commit sodomy and God is fine with that, Jesus' brother is Satan, you can be the Saviour of your own planet some day, you have to aknowledge 'insert whatever cult leader name here you want' in order to really be saved in Jesus" and on and on. That stuff has to be corrected when asserted before your Body or your family as the truth, and cannot be linked up, arm in arm, with.

There's a fine line between squabbling over things that are important but not core doctrine, and then defending core doctrine. God knows the difference, I just want to be in agreement with Him about when it's worth the argument, and when it's just time to "get back to work together."

What is all this Songify Stuff, Micah?

2011-10-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well, my son Micah has introduced me to something called Songify. This is when you get something recorded, either video or audio, and turn it into a song and video via something called the Autotune process.

So, I have here a compilation of some of our favorites to share with you. Hope you enjoy these unintentional videos as much as we have:

1. UFOs are real??

Orig interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoytrHE821o

Songify version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qGTjIcVDAU

2. AZ near death experience: Reality hits you hard, Bro

original interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaB5u0XyiTk

Songify version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCSBoOcGFFE

3. Surfer Dude:

Original interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2h1VprIBpE

Songified version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgQ5BJTSv9U

4. eHarmony Video Songified: Cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4NMoJcFd4

Lake Trails - Castle Gardens Schwetzingen

2011-10-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Part Two

Minerva Theme - Castle Gardens Schwetzingen

2011-10-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Family Animal Park Visit

2011-09-18T10:27:00.001-07:00

Here in Germany, there are places called Tierparks or, Animal Parks which are like mini-zoos and they are free to enter and to see all the animals. They way that it seems they are able to fund the place is through the restaurant and concessions stand within them. Additionally, a pony ride can be purchased for the children, which appears to be immensely popular.

Our family met with a few other homeschooling/home fellow-shipping families at this Tierpark and we all enjoyed having our kids ride ponies. It rained really hard just as the last of our children were able to finish their rides and so we were thankful to God that He held off the rain long enough for us to finish.

Both images are of Hannah enjoying her ride.

Here's sweet Eddy Deree on her ride. Children her age had to have their parents walk alongside them so I was happy to have that chance to see her enjoying the pony ride.

Here's Nathan riding in his newly acquired Ephesians 6 Armor of God costume, minus the helmut.

Here's a good shot of all the kids together outside the Tierpark entrance.

Micah's Scuba Diving School Pics

2011-09-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

(AS ALWAYS, CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE THEM ENLARGED.)

Through a youth program here in our area Micah was able to become a certified Level 1 Scuba diver. Here's a picture of Micah suiting up with his assigned diving partner.

Here's a shot of Micah in "full battle rattle."

This Tom Cruise is ready to dive! We are extremely proud of him. Since the course, he's had a chance to go diving again "on his own dime." It costs about 25 Euro to rent the equipment for the day so it's not too bad.

Eden's Birthday Party!

2011-09-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

With Eden's birthday gifts finally in we were able to celebrate her birthday with her own Strawberry Shortcake party. While I was in town, Heather and Hannah worked hard decorating the house with red and white paper ribbons hanging all around. I was able to pick up some ballerina movies, ice cream, strawberry juice packs, and lots of pizzas.

The images below show Hannah posing with Eden and her cake. Eden opens her gift bag and pulls out her gifts, Strawberry Shortcake theme dolls. She'd already opened her Shortcake DVD episodes

Welcome Out Here, William James!!

2011-08-07T03:10:00.000-07:00

Our Well, our Daughter and her husband (our son now too!) just gave birth to our first Grandson! William James was born sometime last night! Many thanks to God and congratulations to them. The kids have not stopped calling me "Old Grandpa" and referring to me as "Grandpa, can I" do this or that. They are having a blast at my expense!

They also like to tease Hannah by saying "Aunt Hannah" really fast, which sounds like "Antenna."

They love making Eden yell too by continuing to tell her "You are an Aunt now" and knowing she thinks they mean an "Ant" now. "No, I'm not!!" She yells.

The fun has already started and I haven't even gotten to hold William James yet...

Happy Birthday, Mary Ann and Mama

2011-07-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

2 of 2 new posts

2011-07-30T04:39:00.001-07:00

This is of Hannah while out a lake trip we (the family) took with a friend of mine from work.

Nathan's white teeth...

Eden following her shirt's instructions...

Get back in the house, Eden!

This strange ride was a Pirate Ship park on the Heidelberg University Hospital campus that the kids have long wanted to visit.

This display at the Pirate Park was trying to suggest that ape people learned to make music on stones propped up like these and that they must have pounded them to make sound. silly but fun to play with.

Hannah and Eden here with two of their friends who came by to visit.

This was our 4th of July with Mom's famous cake

Micah at work on his latest spray-paint masterpiece. He made some cool stuff.

Eden and my co-worker's friend playing in the sand together at the lake trip I mentioned at first.

Philistines among us!

2011-06-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

This past year we have traded out all our old movies for only Godly and biblical valued based ones. I have purchased a collection of bible story cartoons- that really aren’t so bad- seem to be pretty accurate with ok production and graphics as well.

Eden’s favorite ones are Samson and Delilah, and David and Goliath. She often plays pretend about these two. The other day, when I had told her something to do that she didn’t want to do, and then had to scold her, she wrinkled up her nose, narrowed her eyes, and snarled at me in her most fierce manner, and whispered, ”You Philistine!” Later, when she was upset with a few of her siblings, she waved her arm at them and said, “You’re all Philistines!”

Last week, we went to the PX and bought Dad a basket ball goal for Father’S Day and had to have an employee load it out in the car for us. This employee’s name happened to be David. All that day, Eden kept asking about David, where’s David? And on and on. I thought it a little odd and strange that she would have this strange fascination for the PX employee, but didn’t make the connection until the next day when she was pretending to be Princess Michal (pronounced "McCow") and declared that she was gonna marry David at the PX! (Strangely, the young man there at the PX does look a lot like the cartoon character on the DVD.)

Just a little proof of how media influences kids

(Post composed by Mom)

Till, Weed, Plant, Water...It's Time to Grow!

2011-06-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time again to post lots of photos with updates mixed in throughout. It has been a really busy time and so much has taken place. Mother's day, I was promoted, a home fellowship group is starting to grow, a women's encouragement group has launched with my wife and some other ladies, Micah has turned 15, Jacob turns 11 very soon, many of the kids have enrolled in things like scuba diving and gymnastics, and we (Heather and I) are gearing up to start a kid's group called "Keepers of the Faith." It's a real time of expansion and challenges as we grow. Just a little less than 2 months till the baby is to be born and we are very excited.

This first photo (above) took place back in April when Dad (me) went down to the river near our home and the kids threw a few stale loaves of bread into the water for the ducks (lots of cute lil baby ones recently hatched there.)

While we were feeding the ducks, one of the kids came across these very large leaves from nearby plants and began playing around with them. It caught on quick and soon just about everyone had a large leaf to be silly with.

A couple of the kids needed new bikes for their birthdays so we purchased them a little early. Warmer months here in Germany are cherished things so waiting till August, for example, was just not an option we wanted to take. Here Jacob has posed for me on his bike just after I re-adjusted the handlebars. He's growing quick, just like all of them.

Here's Hannah with her beautiful new bike. Streamers on the handlebars and everything. She began learning how to ride solo just a little while back and now rides like she's been doing it for years. I thought of Pawpaw as I helped trained her. I did it just the same way as he did with me; holding the seat and running along giving encouragement, etc. Being patient when she felt frustrated. She did so well.

Nathan is very proud of his brand new bike with awesome training wheels. He likes going uphill better than downhill since he can control the speed a little more that way. Very independent only allowing minimal help. Anytime he balances on his own we praise him alot with things like "you did it for 3 whole seconds that time!" He's coming along fast.

Jacob received a cool Roman costume for his birthday and doesn't he look awesome here?! This boy is very athletic and has a strong interest in anything military. Micah is athletic also and both the boys have been doing something called Parquar lately. It's a french word and I may be getting it wrong. But it's a combination of martial arts and gymnastics it seems. Reminds me of Spider Man. We've picked up several items of sports equipment and enjoy, as a family, playing baseball, frisbee, throwing the football, some tennis a bit, and things like that of late. My wedding ring flew off into a field while catching a football lately so we ask for your prayers in helping locate it.

Eden is so adorable and is just so talkative lately. Some folks laughed a bit when I posted her latest phrases on Facebook. "Don't take my property!"was one of them. I recall Rachel said some funny things at that young age, like "Impossible!" one time she blurted out in the back seat of the car, during a time when she had been into some sort of spy investigative cartoon thing.

Here the boys were "roughing it" from inside the house roasting hot dogs over an open stove burner. I remember thinking how funny and cool it was all at the same time. I quickly shot a photo of Micah and then found Jacob doing it also about 5 minutes later. Tastes just like you did over the grill. They used chop sticks here to hold the hot dog.

Isn't he growing up so fast?! He's an awesome guy. I enjoyed spending all of last Friday with him. We started off playing football with my unit, then had breakfast and hung out till lunch, when we ate with a co-worker who came to the US as a boy from China with his mother. He and Micah hit it off and seem to be good friends. I felt like Micah and I enjoyed lots of good conversation and I appreciate him even more. I love that boy.

We went for a family walk in the woods recently and this Soldier jumped out of the wood line throwing pine cone grenades. Micah took up a position and began to return attack. This Soldier, Jacob, almost got me here. Even though I am a reporter, I still did the truly right thing and got involved.

What could be cuter than Eden or Hannah? Eden and Hannah together, of course. What a sweet photo of some precious daughters.

A person can get thirsty trekking through the woods.

This stroller didn't last long on those sometimes harsh trails but this photo's appeal will last and last. Eden and Nathan here rode together. Awe.

One of the homes we pass en route to the trails had a tree with all these painted eggs hanging from it's leaves. Here's a close up of one of the eggs. All of them were painted with just about the same picture. Kinda like a sonogram if we were to paint the image onto our pregnant wive's bellies, maybe? No?

Here's an image of it further away so you can get a more overall idea. I guess that would be octuplets.

You know, the great thing about having your kids own an ELECTRIC guitar is that the thing needs an amplifier in order to be loud. If they can't keep it down, you just take the amp and "ah, peace and quiet." Not anymore! Someone gave Micah a birthday gift that plugs into the amp slot and has this little battery operated speaker. Wait! Battery operated? Okay. There's still hope... Seriously, Micah plays very well and respects the rules of quiet time too. I thought you might want a close up of him resonating his amazingness, and to get a good look at the mini amp thingie also.

Here's Micah, our Jacob, and their friend, Jacob L., playing hard in the band they have formed. Good times and good tunes for all!

Awe! A crown for sweet "Ebby" that I'm pretty sure Hannah made. Hannah makes all sorts of things and is very creative. She crocheted a purse with strap for herself recently and is always coming up with creative ideas for making doll clothes, etc. Industrious like her Mother.

Micah here with his plant leafe ears. I told you this guy is lively and funny. I like this guy.

Well, nothing ends a good day like a good time with the Lord and then Mama reading sweetly to you before bed. I'm blessed to have a wife who takes this kind of time with the kids.

Like the title of this post says, Heather and I realize this is a time for growth and expansion in every area. For us and for now during this time, the Lord seems to have warned us that saying "I'm overwhelmed!" may as well be a sin for us to say. "I am enough. My grace is sufficient. I'm doing great things through you so resist Me no more and move ahead" is the prevailing theme of late. It's largely also been about doing the two things we see in Isaiah 41:6 "They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage." The two things we need to say to each other are "How can I help you?" and "You are awesome! You can do it!" It's time to focus on speaking comfortably to one another. The World and all those we interact with "in the field," as well as our own feelings of condemnation at times over failures, etc., are more than enough negative. We need to bind one another's wounds more, hold and help. Those are the things we've been hearing. Expand, push, endure till the end of the season, a great harvest is coming up and you want to be ready.

A Few Peeks

2011-05-21T11:21:00.001-07:00

Many of the photos here were taken on Resurrection Sunday or prior to. These are two of the most suave guys around. It's obvious but I like to state the obvious...

In contrasting age motif, I present you two of the finest examples of Matthews.

Micah continues working his guitar skills. He looks good with the guitar Rachel gave to him. He looks cool anyway!

We visited Victory International serveral times. In this photo below, Jacob was taking his turn batting out on PHV Middle School Field. Several of the families at Victory met there for some baseball and hang out time.

Ken Klinner, pastor at Victory International, gave all the kids there rides in his cool motorcycle. Here Hannah and Nathan were enjoying their turn with him.

Horse/Rider Hath He Thrown into the Sea

2011-05-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 24:17-18 (King James Version)17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: 18Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

These are the verses that came to mind as I dealt with the large number of feelings I associated with the news of his death. I definitely believe his death was a part of God's answer to prayers that He will sweep away everything against the exansion and establishment of His Kingdom here on Earth.

I also believe it's right to pray God help me be an adversary to those He has be an adversary to. But rejoiceing over his death; I think that's too far. However, rejoicing in a victory God has given is appropriate. See Exodus 15:1. "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."

What's the difference in the two verses? I think one is about celebrating what the LORD has done in delivering His people and bringing justice. The other is about people mocking the misfortune of others. So, "Yeah! Take that you sorry so and so!" would be wrong. "God, thank you for Your faithfulness. I worship You" would be appropriate.

So, I don't believe Osama is dead because God loves America. I don't believe God is a respector of Nations. I think God is a respector of His own people and His own Nation; however. It's great when a political man-made Nation does acknow...ledge God but I think Osama's death is more about the consequence of sin, the consequence of those who do not "kiss the Son" as Isaiah says, the consequence of those who oppose Jesus Christ, those who attempt to hinder God's Kingdom being established, the consequence of the prayers of the saints, and so on. I am sorry Osama did not follow the Lord. I am saddened that he died without salvation as far as I know, I am appeased with the sense of justice for all the harm he caused to so many lives. I am confident even more that God hears prayers and that God carries out what He says, and I feel as sense of celebration as it concerns the mighty hand of the Lord and His works. God is no respector of persons. I would not want to be the person verbally opposed to the Lord's will and I would not want to be in the way of anything Jesus wants to accomplish or establish. In the last day or perhaps even sooner, those against Him will be next. The Lord's Hand is gentle but also very strong.

UPDATED BELOW ON 24 MAY 11 AD:

I've found another example of singing praises to God after a victory like this:

Judges Chapter 5:

1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
3Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
4LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
5The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.
6In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
7The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
8They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
10Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
11They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.
12Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
13Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
14Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
15And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
16Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
19The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
20They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
21The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
22Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
23Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
26She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
30Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
31So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

New Camera - Lots of New Photos!

2011-03-28T10:17:00.001-07:00

(As always, enjoy the pics more by clicking on them for a larger view.) Here's Eden in one of her other new dresses. She is so very adorable, no? Warning. I have had a hard time lining up my comments with the photos. I apologize but if you read this and enjoy the photos you should be able to match things up pretty well. I should have loaded all the pics first and then commented after. Next time I hope to do better but hope you enjoy anyway... There's Nathan C. looking so cool in his duds. Eden is a cutie as usual. I just have to have at least one shot of her with food on her face. It's a trend, you know?! Man, the kids collected a boo coo of snails from our backyard and entertained themselves for hours. They are pretty cool and entertaining. I was detailed as a color guard soldier recently at a ball. Here I am in uniform afterwards. I had the honor of holding the Deutschland flag. Hannah here in her church clothes or at least a new summer dress. She's so beatiful. Rachel sent the girls and my wife some really nice things and my Heather really loves this apron. She said it's the most favorite one she's ever had and wanted to make sure I posted it here. Nathan and Eden looking so great in their church duds. Here I am trying on some church clothes my wife found at a great deal. God is awesome to give me a wife who is so good at keeping us looking good and saving us money like this.

Heather made one of her favorite soups, French Onion using some wild onions we picked nearby. If any dogs happened to have peed on the onions prior to our using them, I certainly couldn't tell by the taste. The soup was delicious, as my wife's cooking always is. Here's a recent photo of the two coolest cats hangin' out. Jacob's wearing this Politzei/Police military motif clothing that he loves and Micah is looking casual, classy, and cool. Nathan and I rode the Seesaw together as a part of a day at some castle ruins and the nearby park with the family. It was good times. He is really a great boy, as all my children are. We discovered that he behaves really well when he gets plenty of quality time with Mom and Dad. He especially likes having books read to him. "It's a real treat, Your Highness. A real treat." One of my wife's favorite quotes from the cartoon version of Robin Hood. It's true for this photo first because any photo of my wife is a real treat. But especially because she doesn't let me take many photos of her. A rare flower is a treasure to find and so I share a picture of one with you. The baby is doing really well and so is Heather in that regard. She's a little more than halfway along. The whole family went down to the burgruins/castleruins here in our town and played for awhile. I shot photos while there and got this great one of our precious Hannah. Here we caught Eden listening to one of her favorite CDs by way of headphones. She loves this South African Christian CD we have. I love it too. It's awesome. But she's more awesome! Here's Nathan playing with his Tiergarten zoo animals. Here my children have engaged in improptu silly faces while posing next to our new (used) tropical fish tank. We have seven little neon fish, two small shark-looking fish, two prettier rainbow looking fish, two orange fish, two bottom feeders without suckers, two bottom feeders with suckers, and a large snail. I believe that all of the fish which we have two of are male and female pairs. The kids have named all of them. In Germany, there are still lots of "Mom and Pop" businesses left and so we bought all of our fish from a husband and wife-run camping store in our town. They were careful to ensure we did not over populate the tank too quickly and advised us as to which types of fish were compatible with one another. It's a far cry better service than what say Walmart might have to offer. Germany has their big chain outlets too but they seem to have a better balance and have preserved the small man businesses as well. My wife has done a great job of researching and setting everything up. We've had the tank for nearly a month now and all the fish has been doing really well. We all love to watch them. The tank's sound helps my wife sleep at night and it's just as interesting as television was but much better for you.

Butterfly Alphabet

2011-03-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hey, while you are waiting for those great pictures to come out on this website, check this out. Someone found every letter of the English alphabet on the wings of various butterflies. I've attached the picture for you.

New Camera...Yeah!

2011-03-07T01:41:00.001-08:00

Our digital camera began to have some problems some weeks ago and so this is why I've not been able to put any recent photos up. Thanks to God, we have a new camera as of yesterday so stay tuned...

Shunning...What's That All About Anyway??

2011-02-25T03:47:00.000-08:00

"Shun the nonbeliever...SHUN!!!"

It's a topic joked about often by people, in general. It's an often misunderstood topic, but an important one. The concept of shunning is Holy Bible based, however, and so I don't let persons who may practice this incorrectly keep me from taking God seriously about it.

Unbelievers are not to be shunned. Jesus ate with unbelievers, cared about them, ministered to them. That's the whole point of Jesus coming right? You can't make disciples out of people if you can't be around them. But Jesus never meant to leave those unbelievers where they were or as they are. But no, He and we are not supposed to "shun the nonbeliever."

Certain professing believers may need to be shunned, however. So, the first step in gauging the shunning test is asking yourself..."Is this a professing believer we are talking about?"

Jesus protected a believer from being stoned at a well when she was caught in adultery. But, He next said "Go, and sin no more." There is the beginning. The ball is in the believer's court now. Persons who say they follow Him but then continually engage in sinful behavior, and defend that behavior as acceptable, well, we are told by God that "with such a person do not even eat."

A person aknowledging something is a sin and wanting to change is one thing; a person defending it but saying they are Christian and God is pleased, that's another. Shunning may eventually be something God requires of you for a person in that catagory.

It's Biblical, it might seem mean, but God uses it and commands it, as I understand it. It's not something you do rashly. There's a long road to go down with someone before you reach that point. If it's not done in love, but in anger, then it's not done correctly. But there it is.

"Is that so? Where is that found?" you might ask. 1 Corinthians 5:11 "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

So, there it is. It's the Word of God. God is good, all the time. Even when He commands us to "shun." I want to trust Him enough to obey. I love God above all and will sacrifice relationships with people in order to keep my relationship with God, if need be.

Use of Liberty Can Be a Stumblingblock

2011-02-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

Just to briefly add on to the other post I made about "To the Weak I Became as Weak," my daughter reminded me, essentially, of this verse:

1 Corinthians 8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

and to add to that:

1 Corinthians 10:33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Tieing those two together, insisting on my own liberty and freedom, even to the exclusion of others, is basically putting my profit above others.

Before I get going, someone might think I'm suggesting that in order to win others, I might or we might need to commit sin. We are not commanded to sin in order to be acceptable to all, absolutely not.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

With that cleared up, (Liberty in Christ is not permission to sin or an excuse to sin. Sin is not means to an end either) we may be required, however, in order to win others to the Lord, to do things that are not necessary for us personally, but necessary for those persons we are around in order to either function as part of the Body with them, or to win them to the Lord if they are not yet born again.

So, this means maybe we'll need to maintain a certain haircut, eat certain foods or abstain from certain foods. This may mean going to a church building or not going to one. This may mean putting on a certain uniform or clothes or submitting to certain frameworks or organizational structures that are temporal, but being used by the Lord for a purpose, and which may be where we are called "for such a time as this." Recalling now Esther who ended up serving a worldly King. The King raised her to a royal position, but God orchastrated the whole thing for a larger purpose and not for Esther's own gain. She gave up her will to God as was thus used to bring the deliverance of her people.

Esther 4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Thanks Rachel for reminding me of how selfish it can be to insist on certain liberties in Christ at the expense of others within the Body or without the Body.

To the Weak Became I as Weak

2011-02-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

We have been starved for body fellowship and doing home church with just us for the last year or so has been great in many ways, but we've felt like a hand deprived of it's body and malnourished in other ways.

Many of the homeschool families go to the PHV protestant chapel. We talked about it, going to one of those institutional church services, I mean, and I had many doubts as the time got closer.

Then Micah and I were downstairs talking about 1 Corinthians 9:22. "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

I was referencing an unrelated topic but as we discussed becoming all things for all people in order to win at least some from among them, I thought about the context was Paul ministring to other Hebrews and weaker Christians who were legalistic in many ways. As I stated that yeah, like "Paul shaving his head for them, dressing like them in order to have that gateway in"

I realized that doing things like meeting in a building, dressing up a little bit, etc., while deemed as required from the point of view of a weaker brother (when actually it isn't required), might also be essential for us to offer the body at large what they need from us, in addition to being able to receive from them what we need.

If I'm stronger in my knowledge of what God requires, then I'm the one likely to need to bend for the weaker and so I should go to the building, put on the slacks, do what's needed to interact with them. Like Paul did. It sounds strange but it was an epiphany for me. It was the tool I needed to be obedient and to reconnect without compromising.

A Holy Nation, a Peculiar People

2011-02-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Growing up and not understanding some things as I do now, I often felt sad and left out concerning culture. I noticed the various things that other cultures have which makes them interesting. Their songs, dances, language, and their togetherness and support for one another.

When the color of my skin determined my sense of culture and belonging, I had very little. My earthly nationality/state origin/family heritage/etc. left me lacking as well. But after becoming a believer in Jesus and a follower of Him, I was transformed into a new creature. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A peculiar people. A set apart people.

I taught my family today how we as believers in Jesus are a unique and transformed people, set apart for God and distinct from other nations, peoples, and cultures. We have our own God, our own culture, our own Book, our own Language, our own Law (of the Spirit), our own King, our own Country, our own Dances, our own Songs, our own Customs, our own Bread, our own Wine, our own Water, our own Purpose, our own History, our own Leaders, our own Failures, and our own Future. And we need each other.

We are (especially in the Western segment of our diaspora) wholesale forgetting who we are, where we've come from, what our culture is, and why we are here. We often look and act and talk and think and believe and do just as any of the others would. We are moving rapidly away from where we ought to be. We must fulfill why we are here and not be assimilated into the nations and peoples of the World. We are called to be among other peoples, but not to become other peoples. Quite the opposite. We are ambassadors sent to represent our God and our Nation before all and make the offer of invitation for Citizenship known. So, we must honor our God and strengthen our culture of faith amongst one another.

Our God has told us in our Book:

1 Peter 2:9
But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light

A Slice of Our Lives

2011-01-30T03:33:00.000-08:00

In our family, we occasionally come up with new words for things. I suppose this is how languages develop and change over time... It's sort of a humorous and cute thing in our family.

So, in terms of cutting a portion of pie or cake or something for yourself, we have these:

Slice - Yes, that's normal slice of pie.
Slighs - A slightly smaller slice of pie than normal. Maybe 1/2 a slice.
Sleece - A very thin slice of pie. 1/4 inch or less. Something like what you'd cut for yourself if you were trying to eat some of the pie without anyone being able to tell you sliced any
off.The problem is that everyone normally does this and so the pie disappears in
record time. The purpose of the Slighs you took is moot and the pie is gone.
I'm thinking of Congress just now. Don't know why...
Sleeghste - This is the newest addition. Micah came up with this one and it's basically the
crumbs or a crumb.

We are back to the slice now. Let's go the other direction.

Sloose - A bit of a large portion but not a ridiculous amount at all. Perhaps a slice and a half.
Sloghs - An obnoxiously large piece. Something like what Goliath might cut for himself.

Frosty Family Fun

2011-01-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here's our Nathan who looks like he may have just woken up.

The kids were making bublle beards and here's a shot of Hannah acting silly while eating a cracker, wearing her beard.

Here's another shot of Nathan. His beard had really grown long in one spot.

Here's a couple of ropes we learned to weave together from dried Nettle and Palm leaves. Pretty cool, huh?

Micah continues to work on his sketching skills. Here's one of his latest creations.

I have to at least throw in one shot of Eden making a mess each time. This was a pasta night mess, if I recall.

There's a shot or two in this post left over from when the kids made "Tea Cakes" with Mom. Micah wasn't in the last shot but here he is with the rest of them. He's trying to sneak a cookie out from behind Jacob.

Heather continues learning more about herbal remedies and Hannah loves to help. Here she is helping Mom.

Heather and I laid out all of Heather's herbal stuff on the kitchen table in order to get a good photo for you all. Hannah is seen in the picture.

Heather makes a tea for relaxation and mood improvement. I put the tea she made beside the ingredients so you all could see it.

It was a cold winter night. I had stopped the van when one of the boys called out "I need to go pee!" Once word had gotten out that I'd let that boy go ahead and pee by the side of the road, the other two boys needed to go as well. I was pleased to capture this "relief" and comraderie so common when men brave the world's challenges, then stop and pee on tree.

Jacob has a learning laptop like device that has an exciting "Spy" theme. He often finds that dressing the part makes it even more fun!

Getting the photos out of sequence it seems. Hannah is here wearing her soap beard. Too cool! I always knew she had a bubbly personality.

It appears that old man winter has a son.

Here's a photo of Nathan when he was helping Mom in the kitchen with the tea cakes. That was some tasty cherry jam he was spooning into the middle of the cakes. He is a good boy.

My best friend, wife and mother of my children is so sweet and wonderful. She makes the best homemade bread I've ever had. Just the sight of those loaves she makes, not to mention the wonderful smell they produce throughout the house, is a treasure to enjoy. I just had to get a photo of them to share with you.

We love snow. Melted snow, that is, especially. We've made slushies out of it by adding flavorings and well, we just like the taste of it. We pretty much kept some in a deep pot all the time that snow has been available. You can catch any of us throughout the day scooping a little out to snack on throughout the day. We also find it makes great, cold and tasty drinking water. I had to rely on it for several days at one point when the water spring I go too was surrounded by too much snow to allow me to park nearby.

Here's the backyard from the 2nd story patio during snowy season.

Here's Super Eden snacking on a piece of "wonder" bread and wearing her cape.

Family Update for December

2010-12-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hi family, friends, etc. I've mentioned before that we drive to a family farm in Mannheim about once per week in order to buy fresh, raw, unpasturized, etc., milk. Here's a picture of some of that delicious and fresh milk. Looks like something out of those old cartoons, huh?

I've mentioned that we draw water from various springs at the base of different mountains around where we live. Some springs flow more quickly than others. The one with the fastest water flow happens to also be the closest to our house. It's a very popular spring so I typically end up going at about 9 or 10pm. Here's a picture of the storage area we have. This lasts a little over a week. It is ice cold when first drawn, even in the summer and it is so very refreshing.

Micah decided to play the guitar that Rachel gave to him in a public are of the town in which we live. He had a lot of fun doing that. Later on, he and Jacob took turns hiding in trash cans and jumping out as people walked by. They also tied fishing string to a rubber snake and took turns hiding and pulling the string as a person walked by. They did surprise a few people and I believe they made someone a little upset, unfortunately. :)

Sweet Eden made a mess here. Isn't it strange how people love to take pictures of their kids making a mess!

We watched "Homesteading, Volume II" and were inspired in a number of ways. We are looking forward to the beginning of spring when we can go out and draw sap from nearby Maple trees and make our own syrup. But here is a picture of Eden making indentions with her fingers in the "Tea Cakes" that Heather and the kids made after watching the homesteading video. If you'd like to look at homesteading stuff, the folks that produced the video have a website: http://www.homesteadbeginners.info/ but we purchased it from Michael and Debi Pearl's No Greater Joy Ministries. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/

Another shot of all the family working on those "Tea Cakes." I was busy making this blog post and Micah was "chilling out" beside me.

The kids and I made a snow igloo the other day. It was a full day's work, spread out over two days... Here is Micah working on it. To his right is his very good friend, Leon. He's really a good friend of the whole family. He's an excellent example of the wonderful people that most of the Deutschlanders we know are. He's very intelligent, creative, inventive, polite, respectful, and confident. He's been a good friend to Micah and together they are becoming fluent in one another's languages and sharing their cultural differences together. Hannah is seen here also with her new Raggedy Anne doll. She has one of each now, along with an old copy of the original Raggedy Anne and Andy stories. A bit different than what is out there now. The New World Order, global elite athiest assimilators would not allow this kind of book in the library as far as I can tell.

Here's Micah and Nathan together near the finished product. We learned how to make the snow igloo by reading a couple of different wilderness survival books. The little sticks that you can see in the igloo helped us not to dig too far into the walls as we cleared out the inside space.

Hannah is seen here inside the snow igloo. It was hard to get a good photo of it but Hannah's feet are there just inside the entrance and her head is seen way back there. I think Nathan or Jacob was the person sitting in there with her. When it was finished, they could not stand up in it but they could sit up. Three people could lie down in it fairly comfortably. Unfortunately, the next day the tempurature warmed back up and after three days, the thing had collapsed inside.

Here's another picture in the early stages of the snow house. Jacob is near the entrance this time.

All the kids received art supplies from our good family friends, the Bacherts. Micah has done some very nice pencil sketches and I wanted to share them here. Micah did this funny pose for your entertainment.

Here's a more serious shot of Micah at work.

Here's a scene that Micah did which was inspired by the beauty of Germany. Rolling hills of farmland. A church below. Castle wall in the distance. City factories spinkled here and there. A castle and a log cabin to the far right area (hard to see in this photograph, the fault lying with the camera.) An airplane in a beautiful sky above. (Click on the images to see a better and larger rendition.)

Also, here is Micah's pencil sketch of a log cabin. Heather's first reaction when seeing it was "Beautiful! I want to live there, Micah!" I really wish we could. Lord willing, we'll be in a place like this soon. Farmsteading, I mean. Another great example of the talent which the Lord has blessed Micah with.

Okay, I have to tell you how wonderful the meal was that my wife prepared for me. She prepared some very fine cuts of beef for me along with a sauteed vegetable medley on the right of the plate. The noodles were so delicious with buttery, baby shrimp throughout. The best part, though, was enjoying it as a little mini date with my Heather. I'm truly blessed!

Stone Soup for the Believer(s)

2010-12-17T03:42:00.000-08:00

We had our weekly family gathering time last week, which is the only body fellowship we have right now, and the Lord gave me the idea of using the "stone soup" example. We all got together and I brought a large pot in. I said, "We are having stone soup and everyone has to bring in something to make it good. But it must be stone soup. It cannot be stone soup without three things: A pot, water, and a stone inside."

So, I got out a pot and said "This is the Holy Bible" and I set the pot on top of a copy of the Holy Bible. "The water is the Holy Spirit. The Rock inside is Jesus Christ," I said and I placed the Rock in the pot first, pouring the water on top. "Without the Rock, it's not stone soup. Without the water, the food would burn up. (I thought of this also just now: The water brings out the nutrients and should be drank) The heat will not be distributed evenly as the items simmer together, and it just won't be soup. The pot, the Holy Bible, is the context that the soup is contained within. (I thought of this as well: You need the whole pot to hold the soup in. Leaving part of it out won't hold the soup in.) The constraints of the Holy Bible keep the soup in the form it belongs in and we would have no soup without the pot. Nothing would stay together.

I then went on to hand out plastic toy vegetables to each person in the room. I challenged them to "bring something." To "Think back through the week and tell something that God has done, an experience you had in the Lord Sing us a Holy song, read a passage the Lord led you to this week, something." Each person did so, one by one, and placed their items into the soup as they shared. Even the baby, Eden, sang us "This Little Light of Mine" and it was a blessing for all.

I also emphasized how dead attempts to do something in the Lord could be born out of one legitimate and God inspired event like this "Stone Soup" analogy. Whole demoniations are born out of things like this where, 20 years later, there's a still a silver pot by the alter. The congregation comes in, takes a plastic vegatable and sits down waiting for their turn. Trying to hold on to a point God was making and turn it into man's attempt to create God's movement over and over.

The family said it was likely one of the best family gatherings we'd had. I think the whole experience shares a lot about what body fellowship should be. What kind of soup have you been drinking? Make sure it's actually stone soup.

One Rule/Rabbit Hunt at a Time

2010-12-13T00:41:00.000-08:00

My wife was visiting with some German friends of ours and as they "got to talking" the subject of firewood came up. These friends have a beautiful fireplace in their home and a wall filled with firewood for the winter stacked outside (our family had the pleasure of helping them stack it there).

In Germany, you must first get a special license if you want to operate a chainsaw and cut down your own firewood, just as you would get a license to drive a vehicle. And yes, it's very expensive. At least a thousand dollars. To get the license, you must attend a special school and learn all about how to operate a chainsaw and how to cut down trees in an environmentally safe way. THEN, you have to first purchase special equipment and safety gear. AND IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, you must pay the government thirty Euros per square meter of firewood that you actually cut down and bring home. And so it is much easier and likely much cheaper just to purchase your firewood from a commercial distrubutor. Gone here are the father/son times of going out and getting firewood for the family.

We were told that the German countryside is open to anyone and doesn't belong to anyone. Anytime, however, you get close to an area which is publicly owned (owned by the Government, I mean), it has a special triangular, green sign with the symbol of a flying eagle on it. The label on the sign translates roughly to "nature area" and there is a long list of things you can't do. No campfires, no tents, no hunting, no etc., etc., etc. Basically, if you'd like to do anything other than take a walk through it, you can't do it. A friend of ours from Germany who is presently visiting America was complaining on Facebook and saying how he missed the openness of the German wilderness and that there were fences everywhere in America where people claimed ownership of everything. My friend may have a point but I can't decide which is worse. In either case, you can't do it. Whatever you'd like to do, I mean.

Oh and goodness, if you would like to hunt or fish, you must pay huge fees in the three to five thousand Euro range, attend classes lasting months, and jump through many other hoops. If you are not 18 years old, you will not be allowed to hunt legally, period. Permit or not. You must be 18. Hard to transmit a way of life, knowledge, and values onto a child when you can't do that thing with them anymore. By the time they are 18, will they want to even do it? That's the point, I think. In order to fish, you must be 13 or 14, I'm not sure but no younger than that is allowed. If I recall correctly, you are never legally allowed to hunt anything by bow and arrow. I'd imagine trapping is illegal too.

But in looking around in Germany and learning, I can see that this must once have been the outdoorsman's paradise. Hunting, fishing, building, living, being! They must have been the happiest people alive at one point in history. That is, before the dark times...before the Empire. I don't mean what you might think when first reading this. I'm not referencing Hitler at all, although I definitely am not a Hitler fan by any means! I'm discussing the NWO. I wonder if Germany was a proving ground, of sorts. "If we can do this new way in Germany, likely the most conservative, most religious, most intelligent and hardy and family people likely in existence, and make it work, we can do it anywhere." is what I wonder was the thinking. I once heard that Planned Parenthood opened a headquarters in Waco, Texas, for example, by stating that it was indeed a bold ascertion and that if they could plant and sustain a Planned Parenthood clinic there, they could do it anywhere. (It's called "Pro Familia" in Germany, what a deceptive name and what a cover up for the real agenda. We are not a garden for others to weed and tend and certainly are we not livestock to tend and care for, nor are we populations of animals that at times overpopulate and must be thinned out "for our own safety and good." I just read of a government controlled rabbit hunt on a nearby installation for similar reasons and I couldn't help make the association between that event and the Planned Parenthood/Pro Familia agenda.)

Anyway, this posting has taken an interesting path but there is some food for thought as to the differences (and similarities) between the US and Germany/Europe and an idea for where these NWO planners might want to take us.

More Matthews, Coming up soon!

2010-12-11T21:18:00.001-08:00

We would like to officially announce some wonderful news to all. Yep, you guessed it! We have a little bun in the oven, some 6 weeks now or so. Rachel, our oldest daughter married this past September, and her husband Tom are also expecting their first. Grandparents at 35! She is only a week or two behind me. We look foward to being sick and fat together. I don't know about her, but I am craving cucumber and tomato sandwiches, and artichokes! In fact I just had some( at 4:30 am).mmmmmm! James is wonderful and supportive as always and the kids are equally excited.
After reading and researching thoroughly(over the past year or so- yes, we helped plan this one. The real "planned parenthood"), we are planning to have a home birth assisted by a midwife this time. It is a common and accepted practice here in Germany and there are several midwifes nearby. Hopefully, we'll find one that speaks English( ha ha). Your prayers are much appreciated. Also we know many of you(because we've all been conditioned by society, which is motivated by money)may want to caution or dissuade us to have a homebirth out of your love and concern. Believe me, we have prayed and done our homework. We would just suggest that you alleviate your worries by reading or watching several of the wonderful (scientifically and statistically researched) books or dvds on home births available first. Remember, it is only in the last century or so that women have apparently lost their ability to naturally have a baby outside a "professional" doctor, staff, (interferring) equipmentladen foreign environment. But we do appreciate your concerns.
So a BIG CONGRATULATIONS(once again and twice over) to all you grandparents, great- grandparents, and great-great- grandparents, and aunt,uncles out there in the Matthews clan!

Manipulation is a Downward Spiral

2010-11-22T06:49:00.000-08:00

You know, if people would trust God and simply just do what is right, in other words, just seek His will and act/react as God leads, and not try and manipulate, lie, subvert, cheat, steal, rob and otherwise take matters into their own hands (see the link below) wouldn't that be great? Does it ever seem outlandish when people believe crazy conspiracy theories, for example? Who can hardly blame them when we've got things like this that have happened:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

I'm thankful I know and trust God. I don't think I could sleep at night otherwise. That such a thing would even be possible to conceive, that our own leaders would contrive such a plan...really. It boggles the mind. It hardly seems real but there it is.

"Count Rugen: Ah. Are you coming down into the pit? Wesley's got his strength back. I'm starting him on the machine tonight.

Prince Humperdinck: [sincerely] Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped. "

Quote taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes, accessed 22 Nov 10

Backwards Day

2010-11-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

The other day I declared "Backwards Day" We did everything backwards. We stayed in our pajamas and didn't get dressed till that night. We ate in our rooms instead of at the table. I cooked pasta, rolls, and corn(no salad of course/ nothing healthy, that would be bad)in the morning for our "supper". We likewise had cereal and toaster strudles for "breakfast" that night. Poor James, didn't know what he was walking into when he got home. And the kids personal favorite-No chores or any responsibility!, and video games(nice educatioanl ones of course), during the week( gasp!) After each playing around of 20 min. however, the ugliness springing out of them put a stop to it pretty quickly. My point was to have fun in making a point, not to actually cause them any harm. They did not like however, when I said," Now, since we don't do structured"school" like the rest of the world does, normally, today we are! We will sit at the table with textbooks, and do every unrelated subject over the next 8 hours straiht, only breaking for lunch. I will cram as many facts into your head as I can whether or not you are ready developmentally for it and expect you to know them for the test later." Oh the look of horror and shock on their faces! Of course I did not follow through, like I said I did not want to harm the children, only make a point, which was made well enough by just proposing it. And what was the point you ask? Was there method and meaning to this madness?
Yes, actually.
The whole thing was an object lesson on Isiaih 5:20,21. Where God says " Woe unto them who call evil good and good evil, who call darkness,light and light darkness."(not exact quote)
We discussed many of the things the world says are good but showed scripurally where God says it is bad. Some examples were having lots of money( that's a biggie and sooo pervasive in our society) Getting lots of education so as to get the most amount of money and glory. Woman's rights, for ex.( not that I am for woman being abused wrongly by their God given authority,namely men)Rights such as abortion, equal ability/standing and pursuit of "fulfilling careers". Society implies that being a"barefoot and pregnant" housewife and supporting and being in subjection to your man is shameful. When in fact, the Bible teaches that we are to be keepers at home, submiting to our husbands, bearing much fruit(which the bible calls a blessing for women) and raising and training that fruit in the ways of the Lord. This is the highest calling one could ever hope for(and the most challenging and personlly fulfilling, I might add) These lies perpetuated in the world are a big part of why the infrastructure of the family and consequently society is deteriorating so fast. Women's selfish needs and ambishons for personal fulfillment have replaced there sense of duty to the detriment of there family. Some even put there kids in daycare as babies although they don't have to go to work, because as one woman told me, she "needed a break and didn't want to get burned out", as if children are a terrible burden instead of the most incredible joy that they are. Same said woman even said that the doctor, at her childs check up, and the child's psycologist advised her to keep her child in daycare so the child wouldn't be clingy, although there was known abuse to several children there, that even this woman admitted to me she had seen the adverse effects of in her child! Wow! talk about backwards! I hope my words had an effect on her. And we wonder why there is such vast rifts in parent/child relationships-duh!?! I didn't really mean to get on a soap box, but I guess I take it personally where the essence, purity, nobility, beauty and purpose of a woman is so perverted and destroyed and the children suffer for it.( And I daresay the woman too!) ( breathe, smooth red hair- If I were a preacher I'd be wiping the spittle off my chin and the sweat off my brow!-hmmpf!)

Things that the the world says are bad, that God declares "Good" are homeschooling(self-righteous wierdos), religion(what a crux for a weak mind!),rural living(how uncivilized, just a hand laborer), and large families(gross,what's wrong with you? Are you ever going to get fixed" ie, willfully sterilized?!?!)I guess lots of kids would be bad if you viewed them as estranged, burdensome, little monsters(product of society and public school). Ouch that was harsh.(What's wrong with me today?)

Anyway, we know that human nature and the carnal mind is enmity against God, but woe unto them. It is our duty as parents to keep our children from falling into satan's traps though these false, anti-scriptural worldviews. Enough said. I think it was a very effective and eye-opening object lesson for the kids, who admitted that although some of these things might be fun for a day or so, eventually they would be sick of it, and not to mention run out of clean clothes and dishes. So although we may seem backwards to the world, it really just depends on where the front is and which way you are facing. So go and live a "backwards" life!

World Poverty, Immigration, and Gumballs?

2010-11-18T10:13:00.001-08:00

Here's an interesting presentation entitled "World Poverty, Immigration, and Gumballs" given by Roy Beck. I have no clue who he is. The first thing that popped out to me (besides gumballs) was the number of immigrants. He referred to 1 million legally. Well, there's 7 to 20 million illegally. I would imagine that the 1 million the US takes legally "robs" so to speak, other nations of their talents, but the 7 to 20 million illegally entering likely have improved their quality of life. That was my first concern with the foundation for his argument. Interesting for sure though. Thoughts?

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE

The Week in Pictures

2010-11-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

Our kids are really into skateboarding. Micah is heading down a ramp in this picture.

Here's Jacob showing off his talent.

Here's Hannah skateboarding with her new helmet.

Nathan got a new "Cars" helmet too and had a great time riding fast away from me while I chased him shouting "Hey! Come back with my pizza! He stole my pizza!"

The kids went along with me to fetch natural spring water from the base of a nearby mountain. Hannah was off playing nearby. We collect our drinking and cooking water each week from one of these springs.

Someone had left a container of waterbased and nontoxic yellow paint open in the "schoolroom" and, of course, Eden found it. We just HAD to get a picture of how cute she looked!

This is the finished product of about a week's worth of family activity. Rachel and Thomas bought Heather a Thomas Kinkade puzzle and we all worked on it "here and there."

Here's a photo of Heather during the early stages of working on the puzzle.

Happy Veteran's Day to all those who have ever served the Lord as they served in uniform.

Action Within the Authority God has Given

2010-10-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I voted today! Yep, it may seem odd that I'd vote considering how I often feel about the way of things but it's not a contradiction after all. I have no intention of letting the devil render me ineffective in the world around me by convincing me that it's all going to crud anyway and why bother. Our leaders AFFECT our lives. Yes. From the moment they take the reins of whatever office God has entrusted to them, they make decisions which affect the lives of everyone under their authority. Those leaders need our prayers. They need our encouragement. They need our chastisement too! They need us. And so, our vote may well determine who it is that takes the reign. I think if we don't care to get involved, then God may give us the fruit of our apathy and allow people who will hurt us to take control. You've heard maybe that it's all corrupt and your vote won't matter. Don't believe it. It's likely another lie to render you ineffective. Those with authority to act are authorized to act. We are blessed with individual authority excerised by our vote so use YOUR authority from God. If your vote is lost through corruption, you will not bear the guilt of that affect; the one who corrupted the process will.

I also agreed to commit financial resources to causes I believe are important in the Kingdom of God through the Combined Federal Campaign. I've chosen:

-The Voice of the Martyrs

-Cadence, International

-The American Center for Law and Justice

-Homeschool Legal Defense Association

-American Family Association

Additionally, our family supports the "Gospel for Asia" ministry and a local missionary family living near us.

The Kingdom of God is advanced by our prayers, by our support, by our actions, by our words, by our lives. I think a large part of God's accomplishment of His will is through His empowerment to get us to act and to stand in the gap by defending what is right and spreading the gospel to all Nations.

Our Educational Goals

2010-10-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share what our educational goals are for our family. Some people have asked and many more wondered I’m sure, “Does this educational style really prepare our kids for the “real” world, for college, for being a productive member of society in their well-paying 9-5 job to provide the American Dream for their children?” The answer is a purposeful, resounding “NO!”

We are anti- “real” (pseudo) world, anti-college, and anti-American Dream 9-5 lifestyle. When one’s ultimate end goal and priority is Not the American Dream then the educational paths and vehicles taking us in a different direction will look very different from the traditional, mainstream educational methods. We believe that this world and its system, including college and a material lifestyle are contrary to the Christian faith and biblical principles. Not only that, but scripture makes it clear that it will only become more hostile to Christians, so much so that one won’t be able to buy or sell without the “mark of the beast”. This is perhaps a shorter time away than we might think. Why would we prepare our children to fit into an anti -Christian system that is faulty and harmful in every way? Wouldn’t our time be better spent learning the skills necessary for survival ; (food ,clothes, shelter, and herbal medicine) and preparation for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom through outreach, service to each other in a community of faith, and preparing them for marriage and parenthood?

I have been appalled to realize the many years wasted preparing my children for the world’s system by pumping them full of facts that the “world” says are important to know with methods that the “world” approves of. Much of homeschooling, even by Christians is nothing more than secularized education geared for success in a secular world- which makes for very unhappy , and unhealthy families and relationships. Not our idea of success. You can put a Christian label on it, have a curriculum full of Christianese lingo, refute evolution, but basically the end goal is the same: to prepare the children to become successful in this world, servants to an un-godly , materialistic, self-serving society.

Our picture of success looks more like this. We want our children first and foremost to have a totally devoted and intimately personal relationship with God, demonstrated by Godly lives of obedience and service to others. This alone would be enough. With God’s leading, they would become and do everything God wanted them to be and do, whether it is a doctor, or pilot, or sanitary worker, farmer, homemaker, entertainer, artist, teacher or hamburger flipper . They would hear God, know and be submitted to His plan for their life and He would equip them through whatever methods He chose. We tell our children, that they don’t get to chose whatever they want to be, but that God already chose and wrote the days of their life designing inside of them the desires and talents necessary, before they were even born. (That is another worldly lie- “you can be whatever you want to be if you just believe in yourself!”) That is totally unbiblical. The Bible says to believe in God- not yourself. That is humanistic, “We don’t need God, we can build a tower to the sky ourselves” kind of thinking. This kind of thinking is very prevalent, not just in public schools and public educational television, but even among Christian homeschoolers. We don’t even tell our children that it is their job to find out what God wants them to be or do. We don’t want our children identifying who they are by the job they do- those titles are not who they are. They are a redeemed; second Adam generation, new creations. They are only to identify with their new life and identity in Christ (being crucified and raised with Christ, hid in Christ, no longer they that live, but Christ who lives in them). They may “do” many things throughout their lives to provide food, clothes, and shelter for themselves and their families.
Learning how to provide these things without being dependant on others is ideal and gives them more freedom, especially as Christians. These are the practical skills we wish to teach our children. The journey, the purifying of Christ’s Bride, each and every step or moment walking with our God, being a light to those around us furthering the kingdom of God to which we are loyal citizens, IS our mission here on this Earth. In contrast to society’s mindset of preparing one’s whole life to reaching a pinnacle of occupational height or wealth, material goods or reputation (which are usually unreachable and at the cost of much family destruction and misery.) Man’s nature is such that it is never satisfied; not with these things anyway. God designed man to only have satisfaction and total contentedness, peace and Joy when being restored to Himself. Farmers, on the other hand, experience less divorce and health problems, and live a generally longer, healthier life with strong family bonds.

The other goals/skills we wish to train or teach our children are relationship skills, such as pertains to marriage and parenthood. Much of a successful happy life depends upon these two factors. Society does a good job at downplaying the family (which is their goal), but ask any married person (or divorced) or parent. They will tell you the largest bulk of their woes are related to their children and/or spouse (or lack thereof). We aren’t the perfect model of parenthood or marriage at all times, but when we blow it we acknowledge that to each other with apologies, and tell our kids that that is Not the right way to behave. As we grow in Faith to Walk more and more after the Spirit, these things take care of themselves, so everything, really, relates back to that walk with God. The children are trained in and practice daily with one another very vital skills, like: selflessness, preferring others above you, forgiveness, not returning evil for evil, self-control, patience/longsuffering, kindness, not being envious or jealous, generosity. These are the skills that will make for a happy, successful life as it pertains to all relationships whether it be your children, spouse, boss, co-workers friends, or neighbors. This is the “socialization” we prefer to give our children. Not the dog-eat-dog, cliquish, competitive, cruel, me-first, sexually saturated, foul-mouthed, disrespectful to authorities, governmental/political; brainwashing and often violent socialization that the world has to offer( I know , I went to public school and things are 100 times worse now.) This is how children are trained in relationships in the world. Is it any wonder that more than half of marriages end in divorce and children are rebellious and estranged from the family? Well, I’ll get off this soap-box for now.

Do we think all other book learning is irrelevant? NO. Of course not. Reading , writing , and arithmetic, as well as history and science, all play a very important role in everyday life ( especially rural living). For example, when we were picking apples yesterday at an orchard, Micah, found too kinds of flavors he liked to eat together, came home and decided to plant some seeds, and got very excited when I told him how farmers breed two kinds together to get hybrids ( this is NOT genetical engineering , mind you!) So we will get books about how to do that at the library today hopefully. Jacob has a renewed interest in navigation( stars , compass, etc.), and Hannah, is enjoying her newfound freedom to make all kinds of projects and write letters to friends, now that she is writing independently. I mean, come on, deep down in every man, they long to build a log cabin with their own hands- it takes quite a bit of math and science there to do it properly. (Micah is itching to build his own skateboard ramp! I see a great geometry opportunity.)

WE love discovering how the gospel message, is hidden in all of nature, including every system of our body/ math and the sciences that have math and formulas all contain spiritual truths in them as well. Literally, EVERYTHING (in this natural world (natural laws included) SCREAMs to us “ILOVE YOU” from God. The Bible tells us this about nature as well in Romans 1:19, 20; “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them: for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His external power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”

Generally, as a guideline our learning choices are based upon these three goals/priorities:
(a) To know God
(b) To be known by Him
(c) To make Him known to others

These are the reasons we learn anything that we learn: it keeps us on target, constantly vigilant to weed out the worldly, unnecessary things (there are many, many things to learn out there). We select only the best that line up with these priorities and the Christian Faith ( biblical, God-glorifying truths.) Truly, all the subjects can/are, used to fulfill these three criteria. I could list many specific examples; if you’re truly interested, just comment to this blogpost.

So we don’t learn “just for the sake of learning” or just because society says it is something you should know. We don’t learn for the end goal that most people get an “education”. Education being the cure-all to all man’s ills, is another very popular deception out there (even among Christians, sadly). WE learn to learn more about God and how much he loves us, this in turn, leads to the second reason we learn- to grow in our relationship with God, and this in turn, leads us to the third reason we learn, to further God’s kingdom here on earth. We also learn, to be able to sustain life on this earth (independently of society, if need be) so that we can fulfill the first three goals. So there you have it- Our educational goals.
Hope this blesses and encourages someone or at least clears up some confusion. Happy Whole-life learning!

Zoo Trip

2010-10-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

Hi, we recently had the opportunity to go to the Heidelberg Zoo. (Thank you very much Heise Family!)

You can click on any of these images in order to enlarge them and enhance your view of them.

Lots of turtles were there! They were not as active as the ones our family viewed in Tucson, though...

There was a whole barn full of these, as well as those outside. This mother and child were cute. It looked like the two donkeys behind her might have been teenage sons or males who were interested in her. She kept kicking at them if they got too close!

Another shot of the donkeys as they came around us. .

This donkey looked like he might have been sick. He was moaning and breathing heavily.

Rabbits and hampsters, etc. You can't tell from looking at the picture, really, but the critters lived in a town constructed to look like a human town. These guys eat pretty well, huh!

When we first entered the zoo, there was a large playground filled with many things to do. Among those things to do were many wooden carvings of animals which were life sized. You'll find several pictures of here of the kids playing on them. In this image, Micah is standing behind a Hippo's rear end and flung his shirt back just as I snapped the shot. It made for quite a gas!

This is not a self portrait! I can't believe you'd say that. It's not Sally either. But it is one of the many camels that were at the zoo.

Here is wise grandfather. He sat above our head levels and looked down with an aire of wisdom and judgment. Perception often is NOT reality. Micah and the boys say that one of the apes, probably this one, earlier had "gone # 2" and then ate it. We've seen them do some strange things at other zoos also. One time we saw a mama ape nursing herself. That was odd but yeah, okay...

Just about all the kids wanted me to take a shot of them getting "eaten" by this hippo.

Here's Jacob at the playground.

Poor Hannah's turn to be eaten alive.

The best petting zoo area I've ever seen. There was a little machine just outside the gate that dispensed feed; a handful for 1 Euro. Lots of fun watching the kids and helping them. Eden was too scared unless I held her above head level to the goats. There's Nathan feeding them.

Heather is helping Eden feed the goats and you can see Hannah and Nathan here feeding them too. One of the goats almost got out. I had to catch him and steer him back inside the fence. Also inside were shaggy haired sheep and an occasional chicken. The chickens must eascape rather easily because I saw one here and there wandering throughout the zoo.

Here's Nathan on the ropes.

(I could not get these two photos to act properly! Nathan sitting on this sleeping (wooden) camel. He just won't wake up! You know, my Grandfather and Dad would always tell me about how they once rode dinosaurs. Bet they never rode a fake camel!

Hippo girl amazes the crowd with her feats! How did she get the hippo to hold still that long, anyway?! Mind control! There's a joystick between the Hippos eyes that Hannah is using to control it. Works on me!

Jacob couldn't resist being eaten alive when it was his turn.

I guess I couldn't resist some things either. Tried sneaking this kiss in when Heather was looking elsewhere. Reminds me of a family favorite movie..."I dooo"

Micah was having his share of fun on the ropes.

Ah, no words are needed to convey how sweet and wonderful this photo is. That's why I didn't bother writing anything at all for this photograph. There just wasn't any need to. And so, since I've not bothered writing anything here, let's go ahead and move on to the next photographic representation. Wait, there isn't any more. Ah, man. Is it time to leave the zoo already?

Glimpses with photos from earlier this year...

2010-10-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

(Clicking on any of these photos will give you much larger, and more importantly, much clearer views of them. The photos look MUCH better once you click on them.)

Rachel went to North Carolina to get married a little while back. She and her new husband are doing very well. They are decorating their new place for fall and getting settled into life together. One of the things that touched me most was when Rachel told me what she's really been enjoying is just getting to know her husband more. That was such a sweet thing to hold so dear and it means a lot to me. Well, she and her husband recently sent our family a care package filled with gifts for everyone. This dress for Eden was in it and doesn't she looks so cute in it?! I had to laugh because they bought me a coffee mug that looks like it's made of titanium. That's funny because Thomas has bought me several coffee mugs since he and Rachel met. They've all, for one reason or another, broken in relatively short periods of time. So far, I've had this one for about a month...

There are beautiful forests surrounding every city here in Germany. Connecting each city, aside from the streets that automobiles use, are trails through the woods. I believe that most of these trails are very, very old because of the landmarks within them, such as very old looking benches, stone forks in the road with chiseled directions and names, etc. Trust me, it looks and is likely very old. Kinda neat to imagine townsfolk coming down with packhorses carrying fruit, etc. Anyway, we have learned by watching the Germans to take walks nearly each day through the woods, especially in the wintertime. We took a family walk recently and while taking a break and letting the kids play in a wooded section, Heather and I picked blackberries and harvested apples from the ground from a nearby orchard. We snapped this shot of Nathan taking a break.

Here's Hannah playing with some of her most favorite toys. Prior to her birthday, I took Hannah to something akin to a shopping mall here named "Kaufland." "Kauf" in Deutsch is a reference to commerce and, of course, land is land. So while there, I steered her to the toy shop and watched what all she showed interest in. She really thought a mood ring there was neat but what she loved the most were these horses. I purchased the one she liked the most later on for her birthday, in part, with money sent to us for our birthdays from Grandpa Ray. Thank you, Grandpa and thank you, Dale, for your love and friendship. After Rachel married, she sent the care package I mentioned earlier. In it were more horses from the same series of toys which Hannah loves and that we saw at Kaufland. Oh, that table she's sitting on is an "L" shape bench table kitchen table which tucks into a corner and thus provides more kitchen space. It's made entirely of solid wood and was a gift from our friends and missionaries in Europe but from America, the Macy family. We've mentioned them before here and they live about 20 minutes from us.

Here is a picture of Micah, on the right, and Jacob just before going for a run held for all those in our area. The sweatsuit Jacob is wearing was bought with this occasion in mind. Jacob has always been athletic and competitive, and a good runner as well. I've taken him running on the trails with me before and he did over 3 miles with me, with little trouble. He's faster than many adults I know and has more stamina for distance. Micah has lots of talents and among them are his ability to entertain and amuse others. He's very good at impromptu and this picture captures just such an example.

Well, we recently went to the zoo and I want to upload those scenes for you but the boys are not here. They are out skateboarding and playing. They often take our camera and use it to make silly videos. Often, it doesn't make it back into the camera case and so I'll need to get it from them first. Grrr....it's one of my "pet peeves." I have about a million of them. :) Kids and pet peeves! I think each kid makes new pet peeves for me. :) Speaking of that, we leave it to God to decide whether we have any kids more. We've gone back to this way of doing things for the last couple of months but no baby yet. Must not be what He has for us right now. But we'll see...

Love from The Matthews,

James

Tis' the Season!

2010-10-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very cold, rainy day. We started out the day with steamy, creamy, blueberry oatmeal. We read a lot together,(Little House) and had fun building a tent in the living room. We made some homemade butter(yum!) We plan to obtain some raw milk from a local farm and try our hand at cheese, yogurt and keifer. My friend has some keifer grains and I discovered that our amazing nettle can be used as rennet. ( yah, we watched our homesteading dvd recently)

We also watched vol. 2 of Making Herbs Simple. I can’t wait to make salve! I might even be brave enough to try a Henna hair dye. The kids got a big kick out of that.

Jacob started reading Oliver Twist and is halfway finished. He had a lot to share and questions to ask. He is very big-hearted and would wipe the world of injustices, if he could. I can foresee a lot of great discussions later. Not on the literary aspects. For we do not praise these, but how people without God/hope deal with problems, and the sad truth of reality vs. fiction and romanticized tragedy. About how to recognize Satan’s tactics to discourage someone through his lies; that there is any good in man aside from God. And mostly how to wisely choose reading material that is lovely and pure, noble, and of Good reportand glorifying to God. I believe it is time for the Illustrated Classics to go. (Except perhaps Swiss Family Robinson, and Heidi)

Hannah realized she had missed a couple of her friends’ in the States birthdays, and made cards for them and wrote letters yesterday. She started to ask me how to spell some things and I made her do it. She was thrilled and surprised that she could! I have been so pleased to see her whole mindset shift about reading and writing (unprompted) from total disdain and aversion to joy and eagerness!

Micah spent most the day down in the woodworking shop carving a sailboat from a log he obtained in the forest as a gift for someone. It is looking pretty good! He ahs been reading a lot form How to Do Just About Anything and The Darign Book for Boys.
And of course, I am making sure he learns diligence with the clean-up and care of tools.

Nathan spent a lot of time watching his bros and playing, making butter and being my general helper. We have been doing a lot of training with him on obedience, joyfully and willingly, without asking twice or whining. Eden as well. They get lots of hugs, praise and kisses when they do it right. When they do it wrong, we redo the whole scene. He was excited and interested to learn how to load the dishwasher (!!!!!) His siblings were excited about that.

I realized that I still have some secular educational ideals to discard when I was secretly pleased that they were doing things that were more “academic” for me to blog about. Either that or I still have a fear on how others will judge/critique us. Or both. I suppose it is warranted somewhat in the fact that the government can take your kids away if you are not teaching them the way they believe is the right way. Oh well, I suppose I will have to trust in God.

Today, I am Very Thankful that not one child coughed all night( causing me to have to get them some more herbal cough tea- which works within seconds, by the way!) Nathan was running fever a little last evening, so I gave him immunity tincture( in OJ, cause I made the mistake of making it with vodka instead of glycerin last year-Hey! We’re talking a half a teaspoon in a cup of juice here- Don’t call CPS yet!!) Not too tasty. I really had no clue how bad the stuff tastes. On the bright side, I don’t think they will ever be tempted in that respect. Hee Hee Hee. I have new cough and immunity tinctures brewing in glycerin that I made yesterday- will be ready in a month or so. Then I rubbed all his lymph nodes and feet with the infused garlic oil, that I made last week, and gave him herbal tea, and he was good as new before bedtime. And I had a good night’s sleep.

My poor little guinea pigs. I wouldn’t be surprised, if they drew up a Doc. Mom comic strip, with my apron tied on as a cape. “ Is that a sniffle I heard?” ZOOM? SWOOSH!! “ Here Take this!” AAAHHH!,
“But mom, I’m not sick!” “Take it anyway! To keep you from getting sick- It is the season!”
Ah, but I digress- time to go look on line for herbal oil diffusers for my new essential oils!

In Case There is any Doubt...

2010-10-19T03:29:00.000-07:00

I frequently post about my thoughts or bring some kind of message which is on my heart and put that on this blog. I know this is supposed to be a family blogsite. I do intend to give updates at time and I think one is coming soon. There was a nice zoo trip we had and I'd love to share about that. So the first "In case there is any doubt..." is that yes, this is still a family blogsite and there are still plans to make family updates. :) Now, my wife makes frequent blog posts about what all they are doing at home and so you can read about it at:

www.whole-lifelearning.blogspot.com

The other "in case there is any doubt..." is about followers of Jesus Christ and the use of physical violence. Sometimes, my posts become rather spirited, so to speak, and may cause a person to wonder about my intentions. I want to ease your mind if that is the case. I do NOT believe that ANY Christian has ANY business trying to use weapons, fists, or anything else to harm anyone or anything in order to bring about what they want to see happen or to stop what they don't like from happening or continuing to happen. We are to love ALL person and only to hate evil. People cannot come to God if they are not alive to do so. People must come to God out of their own free will. It is never our job to force a person, a group, a State, a Nation, a Government, a comany or corporation, an international group, or whatever to seek and obey God.

I know the New World Order is wrong. Most day to day people are really just inside the Matrix, so to speak, and have no real idea about it. Others who do recognize it and promote it likely believe that no God exists. They look through history and they see all the violence and the unrest and they feel like the New World Order is the best hope we have on Earth for peace, stability, and security. They want that, just like we all do, and are determined to see it established, whatever the cost in the end, for the good of everyone, in the end. It's a nobel intent, but it's incorrect, arrogant in some ways, and it lacks confidence and faith in God. There are some too who seek to establish the New World Order for selfish reasons and exploit it for personal gain as well.

There's no way I could accurately explain the exact plan or show how it all unfolds. I can tell you who is to blame, and it's NOT people. It's Satan. Our enemy is NOT people. The Holy Bible says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. The Holy Bible tells us not to take up the sword for all who live by it will die by it. We are to watch, to pray, and to believe in God.

In the end, whatever New World Order that persons attempt to build WON'T be successful. But it won't be me who stopped it. It will be God Himself. He will one day return to establish His Kingdom and I have total faith and hope in that. I can speak out about things that are wrong, I can call others to come away from the influences that corrupt and to come towards God with all their hearts, and I can pray and wait patiently for His return. But that's the extent of my involvement.

I do think that as the New World Order continues to develop, serving God with all of our hearts and still maintaining involvement within that system will be harder and harder. It will look like all of the stong delusions that are pumped into people from the New World Order propaganda will seem true. But whoever endures to the end will see God's Kingdom established and all their hopes and faith will be realized.

But those who get wrestless and decide they have to take matters into their own, physical hands will be defeated and removed. It's the same mistake that Israelies made when Jesus first came. They wanted their Davidic Messiah to give them a military victory and set up an Earthly Kingdom. They tried with their own hands to both establish it and to force Jesus to do it. But He died on a cross instead. They lost faith and looked elsewhere. They were only half right. Jesus will come back as a Davidic King and establish His Kingdom, but He first suffered and paid for our sins. We must wait, encourage, pray, continue to be used of God to keep arms open and to reach out in love to all who would come to Him, and let God take care of everything else in His timing.

Does John 3:16 mean Unconditional Acceptance?

2010-10-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

IS IT REALLY? I believe God loves everyone and that Jesus died in order to offer all of us, whom He loves, payment for our sins/that which kept us from fellowship with Him. But God definitely doesn't accept anybody unconditionally. I mean, I recall Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and saying how he longed to gather him under his wings, so to speak, as a hen would gather her chicks, but that the chicks would not allow it. So I know then that not everyone who God loved enough to invite to His banquet will actually come. There's a gate that's narrow out there. It's God who wants relationship with us but expects it on His terms and not on ours. It's also, to me, like on the Matrix. We are out walking through life and doing our things. God, through the Holy Bible, through a word someone says, through circumstances, etc., puts out an escape for us. The phone is ringing, Neo. But Neo has to pick it up. Again, he has to respond on God's terms and not on his own. So, God's love is unconditional in its availability, but not unconditional in terms of who receives the actual benefit of it. He who loves me obeys my commands, I recall. So, we have an expectation to receive His love on His terms, to follow Him on His terms, and not ourselves or our heart or whatever we'd like to think seems just, right or fair. I would say the only party in the agreement which truely is required to love unconditionally is us. That might sound wrong and I'm trying to word it correctly. But that's basically it. It would take incredible humbleness and submission. God, you are right because You say You are. Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him. Shall I receive good from the Lord but not evil. It's unconditionally laying down ourselves and loving Him unconditionally. He makes the terms and conditions, rules, means and ways, right and wrong, etc., we don't get to do that. We just get to say "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord" and "in all of these things, Job did not sin by accusing the Lord of wrongdoing" or however it is worded. With that explanation, I can agree then that unconditional means without conditions. God sets them for us, but we don't get to set them for Him. He has set them all.

I also think this is true for person to person relationships for those that follow Jesus. We should love others and all of what we do towards others ought to be for the Lord's sake and in love towards God and towards them. But we are not to accept everyone unconditionally. To the unbelieving person, God allows us quite a bit of leniency as He works on them, partly through us. But towards others who say they follow Him, we have some pretty serious responsibilies about whether or not we are to accept them as followers together. We can love and pray for them but the Word of God :) is full of warnings about this topic. I think there's two sides to the coin. One side of the coin preaches the Lord's will and feels very righteous but then doesn't bear fruit in their own lives or in the lives of those they are supposed to help. That person is guilty of being a hypocrite. The other side of it would do many of the things which the hypocrite does not do but are missing the first part. Like Jesus told some God believers "they should have done the former without neglecting the latter." or words to that effect. It takes a complete package, in the end.

The Year of Broken Marriages

2010-10-12T03:03:00.000-07:00

Last year seemed to be the year of broken marriages. We've seen at least 5 different marriages of people we know break apart upon the rocks and sink this year.

My daughter was just married this year and she wrote out some vows which I wanted to share. I posted them originally on Facebook and so I've copied and pasted them here. They are in reverse order:

‎12. I vow to never leave you and will love you until my final breath. Amen.

‎11. I will always remain loyal to you, and will not allow anyone to take your place, physically or emotionally.
‎10. I will support and encourage you through all that life will bring, sharing in your joy as well as your pain.
‎9. I will never become complacent, but will always strive for growth in myself and our marriage.

‎8. I vow to never leave an issue unresolved and will not allow un-forgiveness or bitterness to remain indefinitely in my heart.

‎7. In such conflicts, I will communicate any hurt or opposing opinion respectfully and without spite.

‎6. When a conflict arises, I will listen to your view and respect you, your thoughts, and your feelings.
‎5. I will always put your needs and desires before my own.

‎4. I will fulfill my role as your wife and will do everything within my power to help meet your needs, choosing to serve you, not merely out of duty but as an act of love.

‎3. I vow to always honor you and submit to the authority and spiritual leadership God has given you as my husband.

‎2. I will always trust Him and believe His truth about you, having resolute faith in His word.

1. First and foremost, I vow to never forsake my faith in God or His plan for our lives.

Having a good marriage isn't hard, but seems so and millions of divorces each year make it look very difficult. Following God is also not hard but seems to be so as so many people give up and turn from God each year. It isn't hard. All you have to do is give up yourself completely and follow God will all of your being. That's all. You die and go away. God lives through you. Get that straight, and first, the definition of a "good marriage" will be defined by God and not you. Secondly, your life and your marriage will please God and therefore will be "good."

Unconditional Love is a Coin With Two Sides

2010-10-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

I was eating a Doner Kepab & waiting for my bus on this sunny day in downtown Heidelberg, Germany. Amid the scores of German speakers, 2 men walked by talking in plain English. 1 was smiling & saying "the unconditional love of Jesus" as they walked. Unlikely as that senario was, it got me thinking. We want God to love us unconditionally, but do WE love Him unconditionally? Or only if He meets our standards? I have heard it said that most atheists are really just mad at God because they either feel they have not been treated fairly by God or that God has not met their expectations as to how He should govern things.

Primordial Painting

2010-10-05T07:22:00.001-07:00

Check out this cool painting I found in my backyard! My kids spilled several cans of paint in the corner of our backyard last year. When the first storm came, lightening happened to strike the puddle of paint and grass and leaves. After that, over the course of the year, this painting is what evolved. Amazing!

An Upmost Serious Matter

2010-10-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

Doner Kebaps, Doner Yufkas, Doner Pizza! Oh...ode to thee, ode to thee indeed.

I'm so serious. I'm not even kidding. The story of these items to eat is very, very sober and serious in our family. We have found these to be among the best of things to eat in the world. It all starts and likely ends with the grilled meat that's inside them. The meat comes from this gigantic cylinder of meat that stands upright and spins as it is grilled by heating elements. The meat is cut from these in a downward motion and caught below. It's next added into amazingly fresh, toasted bread or something similar to a tortilla, and then covered with a unique sauce. All kinds of tasty vegetables are added in. Finally, you can have peppers and/or a hot spices sprinkled in which look something like the hot stuff you sprinkle on pizza at Pizza Hut. The places that make these in Germany are literally all over the place. Most towns have at least 3 or 4 of them. If someone brought these to America, they would make a gah-billion dollars an hour.

I would not be surprised if wars were started over these or will be soon. They are that good. We crave them constantly. My wife says that she learned that meat, when grilled, has a chemical make-up that's more addicting that cigarettes. This just might be so. For sure, the Doner food is for me.

There's an unwritten rule that whoever of us goes into town must bring one of these back. Once, I accidently got to the Doner too late after I had already promised my wife I'd bring her one. The Doner place was closed. My wife did very well in not staying upset and not showing her feelings but I knew for sure that she was hurt.

I've had nights where I literally was nearly tasting one of the Doner Kebaps. I had one two days ago and that same night, I couldn't sleep for wanting one. The next day, we ordered three of them while in town and squabbled over the food as we ate it in the car.

Doner food is not to be triffled with.

Last but not least, thank you Bachert family for this great little YouTube video they sent me of a dog praying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSjYGWAmYHA

This in no way implies that this food is made from dog meat...

Also, there's a song I sing some variation of any time we are going to get some Doner food. It goes something like

"Yufka, oh Yufka

Doner, Doner Yu-oo-fkah!

Yufka, oh Yufka

(Insert a person's name - example:) Micah wants a Yufka"

I'm planning to come back to this post each time we have Doner food and post the details.

Growth and Shared Life

2010-10-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a good long while since I've lasted blogged and I regret that. Things are finally reaching a level where I can write.

Since last time, Rachel has gone to North Carolina and has married her Thomas. They have their own apartment now and are having a great time stocking it and settling in. They recently had the chance to attend a married retreat and said it was good for them. Rachel is reporting that she's having great fun just getting to know her husband each day.

I've been on leave now for a month and today I'm planning to sign back in. I'll have to shave by beard off and that's the second worst part of the whole deal. :( ;) Really, the saddest part is just having to not be with my children each day. I really feel like the Lord's ultimate best will is for families to work and live and play together. Whatever we do for "increase" ought to be all done together. The world system we live in isn't designed that way and is contrary to God's will. Anyhow, I seek the Lord perhaps daily for His deliverance and am thankful for how much time I DO get with my family while working out of debt and finishing the term of service I'm in.

Our landlords are replacing an outdoor staircase and I believe doing some wall repairs as well. So, we felt like the best option would be to live elsewhere during that time. We didn't have the money to afford to travel or stay in a hotel so we were planning to stay and somehow live around the dust and noise and repairs. Then our missionary friends, the Macy's, who are from the US and live about 10 miles from us in Germany, invited us to live in the vacant apartment downstairs from them in the building they live in and are managers of. We were so excited to have the chance to live a greater measure of community life in the Lord with them and grow in that expression of following Jesus. It's been a real blessing this week and also a challenge for growth. I believe both families are growing and learning together in the Lord. They are very generous, loving, open, down-to-earth, and cool people and it's a rare find to run into people like them.

Micah's been playing lots of guitar now that Rachel has gone and left her favorite one with him and in his care. Jacob and Micah both are doing lots of comic book art work. Hannah is growing so much and maturing in her schooling and elsewhere. She was washing a load of dishes the other day and I was proud of her. She's been a big help to Heather. Nathan is just enjoying playing with his brother in the Lord and it's a pleasure to see them together playing. Eden is such a princess and it's great be with her so much. It's been so fulfilling to be home with the kids. As much as we miss Rachel, it was time for her to go and I can see the growth in everyone as we all step up to fill in the gap. We miss her, but we are not in constant sorrow or mourning as the Lord knew it was time and prepared us. This is how it's supposed to work, I believe.

Oh, Micah has finally gotten a large revelation of what Romans 6 is all about. He came into my room excitedly talking about "I get it, Dad!" and he was grinning ear to ear. We discussed it and he was very confident and articulated things well. He's also been reading some of the Pearl's commentary on the topic and we've been discussing that also.

Heather, Micah, and I have all been reading a book together called "Revolution in World Missions" and it's been fun to read it and discuss it as we go along. A great way to be connected. The book emphasizes several things, but one in particular is something that's been on my heart for awhile. A social gospel isn't THE GOSPEL. It's the cart that the horse pulls but preaching and teaching who Jesus Christ is, inviting others to know and serve Him, and disciple them with a solid Holy Bible and Spirit based foundation is THE calling we all have. Meeting needs is not the objective but will come out of doing the first.

Okay, well, that's enough writing for now but I hope you feel somewhat caught up.

Acts of God

2010-09-01T10:02:00.001-07:00

Here's an amazing story. I'd like to have a collection of stories like this one in a book I'd call "Acts of God." This book would contain stories of God intervening in the legal and governmental affairs of men, through nature, that call our attention to our need of Him and leave no doubt as to whether or not He is involved in what we do.

(Click on the text to the left in order to make it large enough to actually read.)

Waking up, in more ways than one

2010-09-01T06:03:00.001-07:00

Well, great day and good morning.

It's the afternoon here but, hey, most readers are just waking up. So anyway, it's great to be back.

James

Honey and Mustard

2010-08-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

The other morning, I was making some peppermint tea for Eden. The tea had been sitting 10 minutes or so, so it wasn't boiling hot anymore, but still hot enough to burn. I placed her cup, I thought, out of reach and sight, and strictly told her not to touch it or the tea pot, and then stepped around the corner to get a spoon out of the kitchen for the honey. Well, when I heard her screams, I figured what had happened. Feeling like I had just won the "World's Worst Mom Award", I scooped her up quickly, noting that the water had already cooled to the touch on her chest( she was only in diaper)so instead of wasting time running it under cold water, I started blowing on it, while I made a quick paste of mustard and honey. This I quickly spread all over her torso and thighs, probably withing 30 seconds of the incident. 10 seconds later, she was laughing and acting normal with no signs of having pain. I sat her at the table to eat her bagel and finished making her tea. She really enjoyed that bagel, dipping it in her paste so much, that I had to mix up more to put on her plate. When she was finished 15 min or so later, we cleaned it off, and there was no sign of anything but perfect skin- not even pink/scalded looking like before. So, if you have kids, keep some honey and mustard on hand!

Rotten Fish and Crocodiles

2010-08-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

The other day, Nathan was sorting the beans for me. He is far mor particular than I , tossing any mis-colored, or even wrinkled bean. I've always wondered what was the basis for his selection process. Well, apparently his standards have risen again, because now he has added to the discard pile any split bean halves. When I questioned him as to what was wrong with them, he said," They taste like rotten fish and rotten crocodiles!"

"Wedding Bells are ringing..ding, ding, dong...."

2010-08-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Well, our sweet Rachel will be leaving us next month to get married to Thomas Merrit. She will be flying to North Carolina, where he is stationed. No family will be attending their small ceremony. Being here in Germany, would cost way too much for our whole family to fly down and get accomodations. So they decided to put "wedding" money towards their new start in life. Very practical, I thought.
I, of course, have been in denial, since they officially got engaged and started planning the date. (Or maybe it was when they first started courting a couple of years ago.) She is more prepared for marriage than anyone I've ever know, or heard of. She will be as sweet and wonderful a wife, as she has been a daughter and friend to me. I don't think a mom can ever really be prepared for that day when their baby girls leaves home- but God has been helping me. I awoke this morning at 3:00, because a poem was filling my heart and mind. Perhaps you'll get a glimpse of what it is like for this mom. Grab a tissue.

Who Is This Boy?By Heather Matthews

Who is this boy
Now turned man,
Who comes to take
My daughter’s hand
And lead her away
To a far-off land?
Who is this boy-
I want to know?

Who is this man
Who was once a boy?
How can he take
A mother’s joy,
And give her a ring-
Not just some toy?
Who is this man-
I want to know!

Who is this boy?
What power has he
To take my own
And give her wings
To fly away
To bigger things?
Who is this boy-
I want to know?

Who is this man
Who comes too soon,
And cups your face
In the light of the moon?
He sings a song;
You’ll heed it’s tune.
Who is this man-
I want to know?

Who is this boy,
Who saves and plans?
Who tips the glass
Of timely sands
And spills them free
Slipping through my hands?
Who is this boy-
I want to know?

Who is this man?
Who seeks a mate,
Who makes your’s like
All women’s fate
To leave us all?
It’s far too late.
Who is this man-
I want to know?

Who is this boy?
So brash, so bold
To bind you with
A band of gold
And take you from
My loving hold?
Who is this boy?
I want to know.

Who is this man
Who’ll ever share
The waking dawn,
While I’m not there?
And behold your light?
It’s really not fair.
Who is this man?
I want to know.

Who is this boy?
And can he see
My darling one
When she was three?
And rocked upon
Her mother’s knee?
Who is this boy?
I want to know!

Who is this man?
Can he protect
Her heart in love,
And never reject?
Is he that strong,
Can I suspect?
Who is this man?
I want to know.

Who is this boy?
How can he guess
The value, his treasure-
How much or less?
My tears can count
Her worthiness .
Who is this boy?
I want to know.

Who is this man
Who tears from me,
My heart and soul
So easily?
As if it were
Just a casual plea?
Who is this man?
I want to know!

Who is this boy?
I dared not ask;
Too hard makes he
A mother’s task.
Better to hide
Behind this mask.
Who is this boy
I didn’t want to know?

Who is this man,
Who was once a boy?
And surely was
His mother’s joy,
While on the floor
He played with toys?
Who is this man,
Who was once a boy?

Who is this boy
I dimly see
On his mother’s lap
When he was three,
Rocking there
So carefree?
Who is this boy
That now I see?

Who is this boy,
Who off to school
Learned the trade
And given the tool
To break her heart-
Was she a fool?
Who is this boy
That waves so cool?

Who is this boy
Who through the years
Ran to her arms
With all his tears?
She kissed away
And calmed his fears,
Who is this boy
Standing there?

Who is this boy,
Who grew and grew
And somehow, somewhere
From her nest flew
To find his way?
Her heart broke too.
Who is this boy
Who grew and grew?

Who is this man
Gone off to war,
Who made his own’s
Heart so sore?
The fears and prayers
She surely bore.
Who is this man
Gone off to war?

Who is this boy,
Now turned man
Coming now to take
My daughter’s hand?
The time’s so short-
How will I stand?
Who is this boy
Now turned man?

Who is this man
That now I see
From far off there,
Drawing nigh to me
The tool in hand;
Oh, can it be?
Who is this man
That now I see?

See now the man,
Who stole her heart
He’ll carry it off
To their new start;
He’ll take mine too,
Now we’ll not part.
See now the man
Who steals our heart.

Here is the boy,
I now have known,
Who knocks just now
At our dear home
From wanderings
And places roam.
Who is this boy?

He is my own.

Blog Time with Mr. Clocky

2010-03-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

There's this clock on my wall at work. It's not like other clocks on walls out there. No sir, this one is special. Not just cuz it's mine (aw, how sweet) but also because the hour hand is always off. The hour hand always stays close to the current hour no matter how close to the new hour the minute hand is getting. So at 4:45pm, for example, the minute hand looks right, but the position of the hour hand looks like it's still barely past 4pm. I'm likely not painting a great picture of what I'm talking about but trust me, it doesn't look right.

But the funny thing, though, is that the clock is as accurate as "all get out." Once you get used to the strange hour hand, you can easily get used to telling what time it is. But other colleagues before me had already written this clock off. I found it dusty and with an old battery that had been dead for months or perhaps years. (Well, mostly dead. The second hand continued to twitch and that's what caught my eye about it.)

Everyone just wanted to throw it away. (Who ever thought I could make someone cry with sympathy over a clock but I'm about to.) I picked it up, dusted it off, changed it's battery (my eyes are getting misty - with either sympathy or laughter. Not sure. You'd have to have seen Wall-E, I guess) and put it back on the nail it once hung on. Seriously, there was even a little ring on the wallpaper where you could tell it once sat. I gave it a chance, the lil guy, and it has done just great.

Sounds silly but this clock is a lot like me. Maybe a lot like you too. I've got my quirks and I definitely have my weaknesses. There are many out there who would or have already dismissed me as unimportant. But if you just give people a chance, you might find out that they are very dependable, useful, and make a great contribution to your life and to society...like my very special friend, Mr. Clocky.

And hey, it'll save a little money too. I didn't have to buy a new clock.

James Matthews
(in c/o Mr. McClock)

Grader, Grade Thyself

2010-03-09T03:32:00.000-08:00

Timothy Ferriss, in his book "The 4-Hour Workweek" gave perhaps some of the best advice I've heard in years and had me laughing today.

He said that while in college, anytime any teacher or instructor gave him any grade of less than an A, he would either visit that instructor in their office after class or at some other time shortly after the grading and go over each and every mistake, point, question of decision, etc., and that he'd make sure that he compiled enough questions and discussion points to make the meeting last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.

He said this strategy had two outcomes:

1. It helped him to thoroughly learn the teacher's grading technique, mindset, outlook, viewpoints, and prejudicies.

2. It caused the instructor to become much more careful and to think long and hard before finding something that Tim submitted for an answer to be false unless there was truely some firm ground in which the teacher could reasonably count the question wrong and defend their position.

I not only found this advice to be highly valuable, but I also found it hysterical and I laughed out loud after hearing it, several times. I'm grinning as I type this. It made my day.

I'm also thinking about how to apply this elsewhere. In the work environment, for example, persons (including me) are evaluated in writing. Where else could this strategy be applied? I'm not talking about making up false questions, but seriously, honing and training those in authority over you to be careful and to make sure they aren't messing with the outcome of your life through their ratings or comments unless they really have a point and are on firm ground.

Two New Audio Books

2010-03-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share the two books I'm going through right now. One I listen to at home when I have moment and the other I play at work when I'm doing something mundane like punching holes into 2,000 pages of a record of trial.

"The Unemployed Millionarie" by Matthew Morris

and

"The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss

Fahrschule

2010-02-27T14:47:00.000-08:00

"Fahrshule" literally means "travel school" but is understood here (in Germany) to mean driver's education. My sons love the fact that since "Fahrt" means here to travel by vehicle, they can yell out this word in public without the usual reactions they'd get in America. I named this post "travel school," though, because that's where I've been.

When I first arrived in Germany, I had big hopes of getting a little car that I could use for work. Instead, I ended up using the public transportation here for several reasons. The Lord said to :), saves a lot of money, gets me just about anywhere, better for the environment, etc. Germany has an elaborate system of buses, trolleys, and trains. At varying times and in intervals of usually about 20 minutes apart (like labor contractions - not that I've been in labor), there's some form of transportation that will make a stop at nearly just about anywhere. What's so cool is that for one, flat rate, you can use them all and mix or match your way to a destination.

At first, I kept trying to "manipulate" or "play" the system with different combinations of travel modes and locations in order to try and get home faster. But no matter which way I chose to go, I'd either arrive at the same time anyway or end up being late because of unfamiliarity with new surroundings, etc. It reminded me of how I used to switch lanes while driving in a traffic jam (stawberry ones are my favorite, Grape ones I cannot stand), only to find that the lane I moved to ended up being the slower lane later on. Grrr! (Yes, I just said "Grr.")

I was thinking about how that all ties into walking with God (not the labor contractions and strawberry jam part). He also has a plan for our lives that plays out each day through an elaborate and well-orchastrated series of circumstances. It's so tempting, and I think we all try (at least sometimes) to find a way to get what we want (stawberry jam, for example) our way (by going into labor, perhaps) or to speed things up (hurry with that bagel, this next contraction could be "the one!") or change the outcome, but in the end, we just make things worse when we do that. (Honey, I can't believe you just ralphed stawberry bagels all over the delivery room people!) We have to trust what God is doing, how He works, and how He has things unfold and realize it's okay. We'll get to where He wants us to go and no need to try and control the situation and bend it to our advantage. That's what I learned at Fahrschule today, mama.

2010-02-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

The Greatest Force on Earth/Die größte Kraft auf der Erde

I've been listening to an audio book co-authored by world famous singer, Stephen Curtis Chapman and by Scotty Smith, Stephen's pastor. It's called "Restoring Broken Things" It's theme is that the expansion of God's Kingdom is summarized in the title of the book. Each time any of us makes a move to restore something from brokenness and back to wholeness, we are expanding His Kingdom. I couldn't help comparing this with current military events and to the justice system. To illustrate it in a personal way, I would rather have restoration than justice if someone hurts me. Rather than punished, I just want that person to choose differently, to apologize and make amends, and to restore the relationship. That's what God wants from us, right? Otherwise, He wouldn't have sent His son. He chose restoration over what we deserved. But would it work in the justice system? It's a hard call but it's why the death penalty makes me uneasy. Why? One person is worth however much it costs to give them the chance to eventually be reached, to come to terms with what they have done, to be restored unto Jesus, and to perhaps made an impact in the world before they die of natural causes. How? By perhaps writing a book or answering newspaper interviews, or who knows. I know this, love, God's love is the MOST powerful force in heaven and on Earth. No revenge, no wrath, no evil, no darkness can ever defeat God's love and those who choose it over retaliation. Certainly, if it's called for, it's not our place. "Vengence is mine, says the Lord, I will repay." Choosing it,expressing God's love, I mean, means a greater personal sacrifice, it means needing more patience, and it might mean watching what looks like things going the wrong direction and losing for awhile. But in the end, absolutely NO force can overcome and be victorious over God's love.
-James D of Germany

--------
Ich höre auf eine Audio-Buch mit dem Co-Autor von weltweit berühmten Sängerin, Stephen Curtis Chapman und Scotty Smith, Stephen's Pfarrer. Es heißt "Wiederherstellung der Gebrochenheit" Das Thema ist, dass die Expansion des Reiches Gottes zusammengefasst im Titel des Buches ist. Jedes Mal, wenn einer von uns macht einen Schritt, um etwas aus Gebrochenheit wiederherzustellen und wieder zurück nach Ganzheit, erweitern wir sein Reich. Ich konnte nicht umhin, einen Vergleich dieser mit den derzeitigen militärischen Ereignisse und der Justiz. Um es auf eine persönliche Art zu illustrieren, möchte ich lieber als die Wiederherstellung des Rechts, wenn mir jemand weh tut. Anstatt bestraft, ich will nur diese Person anders zu wählen, um sich zu entschuldigen und sich bessern, und die Beziehung wieder herzustellen. Das ist, was Gott von uns will, nicht wahr? Andernfalls würde er seinen Sohn nicht gesendet haben. Er entschied sich für die Wiederherstellung über das, was wir verdient haben. Aber wäre es Arbeit in der Justiz? It's a hard nennen, aber es ist, warum die Todesstrafe mich unruhig macht. Warum? Eine Person wert ist jedoch viel es kostet, um ihnen die Chance, letztlich erreicht werden, um die Bedingungen mit dem, was sie getan haben, kommen, wieder hergestellt werden zu Jesus, und vielleicht hat diese Auswirkungen in der Welt, bevor sie eines natürlichen Todes sterben. Wie? Mit vielleicht ein Buch zu schreiben oder beantworten Zeitung Interviews, oder wer weiß. Ich weiß das, Liebe, die Liebe Gottes ist die stärkste Macht im Himmel und auf Erden. Keine Rache, kein Zorn, kein Böse, keine Finsternis kann je Niederlage Gottes Liebe und diejenigen, die es vorziehen Vergeltung. Sicherlich, wenn es gefordert, es ist nicht unser Platz. "Die Rache ist mein, spricht der HERR, ich will vergelten." Die Auswahl ist, Ausdruck der Liebe Gottes, ich meine, bedeutet eine größere persönliche Opfer, bedeutet dies, brauchen mehr Geduld, und es könnte bedeuten, beobachten, was aussieht wie die Dinge die falsche Richtung zu verlieren und für eine Weile. Aber am Ende, absolut keine Kraft überwinden kann und über die Liebe Gottes siegreich. -Jakobus D. Deutschland

Puzzled In, By and For Him

2010-02-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

Today I had the joy of helping my three-year old son, Nathan put together one of his favorite "Thomas the Train" puzzles. I started right away using the same method I normally use, which is to build the borders first and fill in from there. I also frequently compare what I'm doing with the puzzle to the picture on the box. Watching Nathan put the pieces together made me smile and remember what it was like when I was his age and had no technique or method yet developed.

I watched him trying to force two pieces into fitting together that didn't belong together. I would have to calm him down and gently convince him that this was not the way it works. The puzzle "is what it is" and we have to submit to making what belongs together go together. I realized how much doing a puzzle was like serving God and walking with God. We have a big picture to frequently compare who we are and what we are doing to. That big picture is the life Jesus lived, the Book His words are captured in, and the Spirit He guides us with. We have our agenda that we are constantly tempted to force into being in spite of the Maker's guide and plan. We have to submit and put things where He wants them in our lives no matter how much we wish for that other thing to "go there." We are truly happiest when we are ordered in His fashion and after His design.

Finally, we can't always see the big picture. When working a puzzle, I notice pieces that belong together. I I put them together and notice that other pieces attach to those two. As I'm building this smaller portion, I'm not always yet able to see how that cluster of pieces fits into the overall puzzle, but God has allowed me to put them together. My son has his cluster and I know his pieces fit into the big picture too but sometimes I can't yet tell where. He builds, I build and we both work together. I see a piece and share with him and he sees one that I need. As long as our pride doesn't stop us from cooperating, we build the big picture together and, like I was able to coach, comfort, and encourage my son, God is there to mentor and guide us as we do our part of the big puzzle He has designed for all of us.

SNOWY SEASON

2010-01-29T04:36:00.000-08:00

We've been getting heavy snow here in the Neckargamund/Heidelberg general area (heavy to us, anyway) and so the kids have been having some great fun. I have to admit that it's very pleasant and calming to look out and see a blanket of white over everything. The air becomes so clean, crisp, and cool in my lungs; very refreshing! And so quiet outside. Quieter inside as the kids are out out playing in it! :) There's a lot to be said for quietness. Yes, I intended the pun that time. Seriously, this home has a peaceful quietness I can only recall experiencing out at Nonny and Pawpaw's and then at one other place we visited once off in the country years ago. And there's this old, wind up clock that's so nice to have as background noise when Heather and I sit on the couch, soaking up the silence and having tea.

Our wonderful Grandparents/Landlords came to visit recently and they provided me with some pictures from their visit that I'd like to share. Micah and the kids are quite amusing characters at times and they put together this jolly rendition of Mr. Snowman.

My Cup, it Overflows

2010-01-18T03:36:00.001-08:00

So much has been happening and God has really began pouring out opportunities to fellowship and meet others.

For example, we were told by another homeschooling military family here about some missionaries who came here to Germany from Washington state about a year ago and who believe they are called to the Tibet refugees that came to Europe from China. What's even more amazing is that these missionaries live only 14 kilometers from our rent home in Neckargemund.

The husband, Mike, speaks German pretty well and rides the train into Heidelberg several days a week for ministry stuff he does with Calvary Chapel and other things he does "free lance" if you will, ministry that he does to groups such as "The Hell's Angels of Germany" or something close to that. Basically, rough and tough bikers who need to know about Jesus' love for them. Mike says the ministry opportunities that present themselves to him while he rides the public transportation to Heidelberg and back is enough in itself! Anyway, they came here with no financial backing and with not much money, he and his wife and two children. God has sustained and cared for them and Mike and his wife shared a million stories of all that God has done for them.

Perhaps topping the list or to share for starters is that he himself, Mike, has personally met (briefly) the Dalai Lama, shaken his hand, and told him "Jesus loves you." (I think Mike said he's person number 49 to have done so.) The circumstances leading up to that moment were miraculous. He's also taught Lama monks how to skateboard and I've seen a photo of pehaps the first such monk to learn the art. It's pretty cool.

But anyway, if the "coincidence" of them living less than 10 minutes away from us isn't enough, (we live in a small town about 25 minutes from anything military or big city) Mike's wife, Amberlea, also happens to be into herbal and natural medicine and reads the same child rearing books that we do by Mike and Debbie Pearl. These are a few signs. Thirdly, they have two children who match right up in ages and gender to two of ours. Mike and his wife had been praying for companions for their kids. I've included some pictures of them for your enjoyment:

Here's Nathan and Zion, followed by Mercy and Hannah, and a third photo all four of the "pair-up children" together.

Mike and Amberlea cover their calling to Tibetans on their blog site at:

http://becausejesuslovestibetans.com/

When they, Mike and Amberlea Macy, knew they were called to Tibetans, they tried to come over to Tibet but God kept shutting the doors. "Tibetans, Lord, so Tibet, right?" they were saying. "Tibetans, yes, but not IN Tibet...in Germany,"...the Lord was saying. :) "Germany...oh. Okay." And God began having them meeting individuals from Tibet and also groups of them all over the place in Europe. I have to admit that when I first heard they were called to Tibetans I said to myself "isn't that Tibet. I think I've heard that word before." I had to look it up. "Oh, China and persecution. It makes sense now." :)

Please be in prayer for Mike and his wife as his wife has a number of health concerns. They are also getting a car soon but all of the circumstances haven't yet worked out. Mike believes he is to make a trip back to the States soon and is not yet sure how the Lord will provide for that.

Additionally, a German couple came over for tea yesterday and brought the most amazing, Cherry filled dish. I wish I had taken a picture of it but I didn't. It was circular like a pie and had heart-shaped crust parts placed in a circle around the top. Beautiful and time consuming to make, I'm sure. Anyway, we enjoyed several hours of talking and sharing with them and so we are excited about all that God has in mind for us in growing a friendship there as well.

The German couple I just mentioned we ask for prayer about as they face a large legal and financial battle over some roof troubles they are having. They have a teen son as well.

We have family of friends who lost children in an auto accident and are injured severely also and we lift them up in prayer.

We ask for prayer for our family and that all the work to do in my office would be completed. We have some concerns in our home that be ask for prayer about but also know the Lord has already said are going to work out.

There is quite a bit more going on and things I want to share but this isn't the best time to do so.

Take care,

James and family