The summer of 2011 went by too fast for our family! As we begin another homeschool year, we rejoice in all the memories made during the summer months. While we thoroughly enjoyed taking the bookstore around to various homeschool conferences in the midwest while meeting new friends, we were still relieved when we could actually slow down and just enjoy being at home with our own family. Many of the hot days of summer were spent harvesting the garden, watching the children swim in their pool, and renewing our weary souls. As we have discovered over the years, traveling and managing a bookstore tends to take away from the extra time we used to have just studying God’s Word. We have been convicted that as a family, we need to spend more time in our personal devotions and less time doing things that don’t truly count for eternity. To help in this endeavor, we are now using “Who is God?” by Apologia Curriculum. This apologetic curriculum is perfect for our family devotional time around the breakfast table. As we read about the various characteristics of God, our children work in the accompanying notebooking journal or coloring book which emphasizes scripture memorization and putting various doctrines into practice. (This material has great strengthened our children’s Christian worldview, so we are now offering it, along with volumes 2 & 3, in our bookstore at www.godseternalmasterpiece.com.)

We also worked on serving one another with love and humility. It comes easier for some of our children; however, it was a struggle for others. As each child assisted another sibling in picking berries, cleaning their bedroom, hanging laundry on the line, etc, we saw stronger sibling unity and a great love for one another being established. Even our one year old joined in by helping to pick the blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries while the older children were doing it. Of course, many of the berries ended up in his mouth - but that’s OK! It was a great source of Vitamin C!

Summer wrapped up with our vacation to the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp for Family Camp. What a joy to be refreshed physically and spiritually there! We all enjoyed the zip line, archery, swimming, boating, and reviving friendships with believers of like faith. Yes, there were loads of laundry to wash and overgrown weeds to pull when we came back home, but that’s OK! The memories made as a family were worth the work afterwards!

Now we are looking forward to what this new school year will bring us. It appears that the Lord has some new challenges for us in the days ahead, but we’ll tackle those as they come. It is so encouraging to know that God has promised never to leave us or forsake us!

Let us know how your summer went and what God’s been doing in your family! We can then rejoice together in all the amazing ways God works!

Becky, God’s Eternal Masterpiece, Mason City Iowa

As I child I learned the verse, Philippians 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.  Although I want to say we always live by that verse, I have to admit that many times I fail in fully trusting God to truly supply all we need.  This lesson in trust has been pounded in my head on a daily basis during the last few months.

Back in November, 2010, our geothermal unit quit working properly.  We’ve had problems with it for the past 6 years, but we’ve always managed to get it going again.  However, it became apparent that it was on its last leg.  In December, during our first big blizzard, the unit completely died, leaving us with a small back-up unit as our only heat source.  We immediately fired up our wood stove to heat up the living room area.  For the next 7 weeks, we had to work extra hard in keeping the house somewhat warm while we waited for a new geothermal unit to arrive.  Our church family loaned us several little “child-proof” heaters so that the kids could be warm in their bedrooms at night.  Another neighbor gave us wood for our woodstove since our wood pile was quickly diminishing. We did a lot of baking during those weeks so that the kitchen could stay warm!  Heat quickly became a luxury and we better could empathize with those who struggle to have heat during the cold winter months. 

While the Lord was obviously caring for us through the assistance of our church family, I still had a tendency to fret about how we’d come up with the finances to pay for the new furnace.  Sometimes I think God must just shake his head in dismay when He sees me showing such a lack of faith in His ability to provide.  Yet - God continues to show his utmost love and concern for us in spite of our doubts and fears.  Last week when our furnace was due to arrive, God once again showed us his great power.  At just the last minute, the last of the funds miraculously came in for the furnace.  Once again I had to humbly ask the Lord to forgive me for my lack of faith. 

The furnace was installed and I’d love to say that that’s the end of the story - but it’s not.  The day after we began enjoying the amazing warmth of 70 degree heat in the house, we were shocked to discover that we had very little water pressure.  It quickly became impossible to flush a toilet, wash hands, or take a shower.  The workmen came back out and worked on the furnace all day, only to discover that we either have a faulty piece on the new geothermal unit OR our 12 year old well is going bad.  We had a choice to make in the meantime.  Have heat (which will use up all the water) or have water and no heat.  Once again, it’s been easy for me to question God.  Yet, I know better.  God has never failed us nor forsaken us.  He has ALWAYS met our needs.  As I pondered upon this in church this morning, I quickly came to the realization that I am expending energy in worrying that could be used in a more profitable way - like serving and glorifying God.  I made the conscious decision to immediately turn the issue over to God as I Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you”.  I was then freed up to focus on what God wanted to teach me through the scriptures being expounded.  What a feeling of relief!  By the way - when we were done with the service, I happened to open a card that was in our church mailbox.  In that card was a note of encouragement and a $50 bill!  God once again was showing us that He is still in the business of providing all of our needs. Are our problems completely solved yet?  No - but that’s OK because I have the best Provider in the world taking care of the problem! 

I don’t know what trials you are going through right now - but could I encourage you a bit?  Turn it fully over to the Lord and see what great and mighty things He has in store for you!  You may not get everything exactly like you want it, but God knows what is best for you and He has great blessings for you when you let Him show you with great and awesome power.  May you have the joy of the Lord today as you rest fully on Him!

Becky, God’s Eternal Masterpiece

www.godseternalmasterpiece.com

I apologize for not keeping up with the blogs, but life has had plenty of ups and downs for us lately.  Thank you for your patience.  Many of you may know what it’s like to deal with special medical needs in your children; however, for us, it’s been a new road to travel.  Yes, we’ve dealt with slight autistic issues and speech delays in our adopted son for the last 3 years.  However, the Lord saw fit to teach us even more during the past 3 months or so.  This summer we began noticing that our 5 year old daughter would constantly space out while she was talking to us.  Our little “brain child” who loved to memorize scripture and who seemed to have a photographic memory suddenly couldn’t remember anything from one moment to the next.  She desperately wanted to learn to read, but she became very frustrated when she realized she couldn’t even remember a letter one minute after learning about it. 

By October, it was obvious that something was very wrong.  Our happy little girl went from energetic and bright to moody and withdrawn.  It became impossible for me to teach her kindergarten because she’d be spacing out constantly.  All I could think about was that my child must have a brain tumor or something.  (Cancer runs in our family, so it’s easy to concentrate on that thought.)  I prayed desperately for God to give us back our little happy girl, but God very clearly emphasized to us through His Word that He was sovereign and that all things work together for good to those who love Him.  We realized that we should never take good health for granted.  Instead we should be thankful for our children’s situations, no matter what kind of health they are in.  I began learning to thank God for all the blessings God had bestowed upon Joyanna instead of just worrying about the negatives.  All of her little drawings, pictures, and funny sayings became instant precious memories to us.  I found myself wanting to spend much more time with Joyanna and the other chilren as the days ticked by while our daughter got intensively worse.  Intently cleaning the house and doing all those other extras just didn’t seem as important anymore.  Being with my kids, teaching them God’s Word, and raising them for the Lord today - not just tomorrow - became much more important. 

One Sunday in October, I noticed that Joyanna had become much worse.  I couldn’t trust her to be near steps or around the stove because she’d go into her own little world while moving around in odd movements.  It was then that the Lord brought my sister-in-law to mind.  She’s a fantastic pediatrician who really knows her stuff.  As soon as I called her and talked to her about Joyanna, she immediately confirmed that we were most likely dealing with petit mal seizures.  We then met with our own family doctor who immediately scheduled an EEG for the next morning.  That night Joyanna had a dream come true.  She got to stay up all night and have a Mommy-daughter and Daddy-daughter party while everyone else had to sleep!  (We didn’t quite find it as much fun, but it was necessary since she had to be sleep deprived for the EEG.)  Boy was it a party!  We fingerpainted, baked cookies, played Candyland, colored pictures, played internet games, and finished it off with a very early morning trip to McDonalds. 

The EEG confirmed the doctors’ suspicions.  She was literally having hundreds of seizures each day - up to 6 every minute.  No wonder she couldn’t remember anything.  It was affecting her emotions and short-term memory!  As my husband and I read the report, it amazed us that she could do anything at all!  All we could do was praise the Lord for surrounding us with loved ones and doctors who could get on top of this quickly.  Joyanna is now adjusting to her medicine which she must take on a regular basis to help regulate these absence seizures.  She also has to have blood tests done every so often to make sure the liver isn’t being damaged.  The seizures have now been controlled, with the exception of a rare breakthrough seizure here and there once or twice a week.  Joyanna’s smile is back and she’s excited about school again.  Bible verses are being memorized daily and today she was able to read her first 3-word sentence!  She literally danced around the house while reading her sentence over and over again.   Each time she comes bouncing back to the table I thank the Lord for allowing me to see the joy on her face once again.

Are all the problems over?  I doubt it.  God knows that we are refined more for his glory as we go through these valleys.  However, I am so thankful that once again, God has shown Himself faithful.  He has reminded us of His goodness to us and He was shown His grace even during the times of uncertainty.  We have also been shown once again that our children are a precious gift from God and that should never be taken for granted. 

Thanks to all of you around the world who prayed for us as we were going through all of this.  Some of you sent special gifts to Joyanna and let me tell you - that made her day!  She hugged those stickers, cards, and books as if they were the best things she had ever received.  While she was getting her blood drawn, EEG performed, etc, we would remind her that people all over were praying for her.  That would instantly calm her as she realized that her situation was being kept before the throne of her Heavenly Father. 

We would love to hear from those of you who also have been dealing with medical issues with your children.  Your testimonies of God’s goodness to you, suggestions, and prayer requests will encourage all of us.  Feel free to comment!  May the Lord richly bless you as you raise your “gifts from God” for his honor and glory - despite the tough circumstances!!

Jesse and Becky - God’s Eternal Masterpiece

www.godseternalmasterpiece.com

The summer has flown by and once again I am realizing that I got behind on my blogging.  Thanksgiving is now before us, the leaves are all raked, the garden is winterized, the wood is cut for the winter, and I am once again thankful for God’s goodness to us.  As I am teaching the children about the Pilgrims and the early history of our great country, I am reminded that we have an awesome and mighty God.  God’s power was shown again and again to the early settlers as they depended on Him for their survival.  That power has been seen over and over again in our lives this year as we look back and remember what God has done for us.  I think of all the miles we traveled with our bookstore, God’s Eternal Masterpiece,  to various homeschool, church, and camp conferences.  With all the deer that decided to cross in front of us, the mere misses of other sleepy drivers at the wheel, and the poor weather conditions, God saw fit to protect us in amazing ways.  God has shown his power in allowing this little one growing inside me to develop in a healthy and normal way despite the concerns about a possible tumor (which has since disappeared, thanks to our mighty God).  We can’t help, but also praise the Lord for the shelves of food God allowed us to can and new warm clothes for the children (courtesy of our brothers and sisters in the Lord). God has also seen fit to allow God’s Eternal Masterpiece to triple in inventory size, despite the poor economy.  We’ve had the opportunity to minister to many families who were searching frantically for godly books for their families.  What a blessing it’s been to give them what they were praying and looking for.  Another big note of thanks comes to mind.  God, in his loving kindness, has seen how much we’ve missed my mother (and the kids’ grandmother) who went home to be with the Lord 2 years ago.  We praise the Lord for giving us a new mother come this next spring!  What a joy it has been to see my dad once again revived with that sparkle of joy that comes with love.  His fiance dearly loves the Lord and has already shown her love and encouragement to all of us in amazing ways.  Just as we are reminding our children of God’s greatness and blessings to us, I hope and pray that you are also reminding your children of God’s gifts to them.  We have found several items helpful in doing that as we have our family time each day.  You may want to check out the CD “A Thanksgiving to Remember” by Barbara Rainey (available at http://www.godseternalmasterpiece.com/catalog/audio-history-social-studies-c-22_84.html or at www.godseternalmasterpiece.com. 

The Drive thru History DVDs on America’s early history are also very educational for your visual and auditory learners who need to be reminded of God’s power in the development of our country.  Choosing Gratitude by Nancy DeMoss is another must-read for moms, especially as this time of year tends to be extra stressful at times.  Don’t forget to take time each day to thank the Lord for all His blessings to you.  Have your kids list each and every one as a visual reminder to them.  (Feel free to send me your suggestions for teaching kids about God’s greatness in their lives and in our country.  I’ll try to post the suggestions as time allows.)  May this Thanksgiving be the best one yet as you remember God’s greatness in your life!!!  

 Becky - God’s Eternal Masterpiece

I have had several families ask us how we celebrate Thanksgiving since we have several various nationalities and cultures in our home.  Well - we do have a few differences, but nothing too strange!  Since my husband is not a turkey person, we do chicken instead.  We keep all the other trimmings, but we add rice and occasionally eggrolls to the table for the Asian food lovers.  Occasionally we have other families from the area in to celebrate it with us.  It’s a great way to introduce foreigners in particular to our Lord and Savior as we reminisce on God’s goodness.  Our most favorite part of Thanksgiving is the praise and testimony time.  Many years ago I purchased plain vinyl placemats for each child.  (As God gives us another child at our table, we add another placemat for him/her.) Before we partake of the Thanksgiving meal, we all take our placemats and grab a handful of permanent markers in various colors.  Then we choose a small 3″x3″ area of the placemat to write and illustrate what we are most thankful for that year.  Each year it’s fun to look over every person’s placemat to see how their praises have changed and how they’ve matured physically and spiritually.  We always chuckle over Daddy’s because each year he draws a picture of God with his arms around each family member.  About every two or three years, another family member with his/her unique features is added to the fold.  The toddlers’ placemats have pictures of their blankets, pacifiers, and bears.  Then that special year comes where there is a picture of the cross to signify that they were saved and added to God’s family that year.  Occasionally there is a picture of heaven to remind us that a loved one has gone on to be with the Lord that year.  After we are done praising the Lord for all his blessings, we then enjoy the food God has bountifully given us.

This year we plan to add on another new tradition.  We are going to see how long of a list we can make of ALL the blessings God has given us.  In preparation, we’ve purchased a big roll of paper and we’re going to see if we can make it stretch across the whole house.  No large writing allowed!  Sometimes it’s good for us to remember all the little blessings, not just the big ones!  We also plan to open God’s Word see how many different passages of thanksgiving we can find.  Last, but not least, we plan to discuss how we as a family can reach out in practical ways to other families with the blessings God has bestowed upon us.  To end tomorrow evening, Grandpa plans to come over to spend the evening with us.  He’s bringing a dramatized story of the First Thanksgiving in America so that the children in particular can be reminded of God’s goodness shown to America.  (We now have this audio CD, Thanksgiving, A Time to Remember, available in our bookstore, www.godseternalmasterpiece.com if you would be interested in it for your family.)

As you celebrate Thanksgiving, may you, too, take the time to remember what an awesome God we serve.  May our children see that we have been blessed beyond measure each and every day of the year.  Most of all, may they see for themselves God’s most special gift to mankind - His only Son!  Happy Thanksgiving!

This week has been one of those weeks which have been very busy as we can the produce God has given us, but it has also been an awe-inspiring week as we have taken the time to see God’s creation up close.  Many times we get too busy and we forget to look at all the blessings God gives us.

Several different nights I took the children outside to view God’s creation from a different perspective.  We thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside listening to the locusts sing their song of praise to the Lord.  Also, we tried to check out the cicadas emerging from their homes underground since my dad said they were doing that in full force.  After checking out all the trees in our yard (which are many!) and finding none,  we went back inside and viewed the entire cicada life process via the internet.  It is fascinating to see how God allows that cicada to grow for 17 years before it emerges from the ground.  Some of the girls found the night time insect search to be strange, but our boys were totally enthralled with it.  Even our 1 1/2 year old searched diligently - with his swim goggles on! I should say that we did manage to see some shooting stars and other beautiful nighttime scenes.   

The next day as we were preparing to go out to pick more berries, we had the opportunity to see 2 new baby fawns.  They were just learning to walk and were the cutest things you’ve ever seen.  It was a great opportunity to discuss with the children how good God is in even protecting the baby animals through camaflouge.  When we then came upon a bunch of absolutely gorgeous wildflowers and we saw the beautiful sunset with large billowing clouds allowing bright bursts of red/gold sunlight to shoot out, the following song came to our minds:

I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise, That spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies.

As you finish enjoying these summer months, I hope you too are taking the time to enjoy God’s creation with your children.  Remind them of Gen. 1 which speaks of God’s mighty power in creating all things for his good (and ours!).  During devotions, take them to Psalms and praise God together over his amazing creation.  When we are busy praising God for his goodness, it’s mighty hard to complain about our other concerns in life.  Try it and see for yourself! 

We now have a fairly large inventory of creation science books and curriculum available for all ages at www.godseternalmasterpiece.com.  They are a great asset when teaching your children about God’s creation and the fallacies of evolution.

 Becky - God’s Eternal Masterpiece