From the Pastor's Desk--Counting the Cost

I am starting a new category of posts. "From the Pastor's Desk" is a weekly feature of our church bulletin, and I've decided to copy them here. I don't know where my husband gets these selections; most of them are anonymous. Here's the one for today:

Counting the Cost

Let's ask ourselves this question: "Am I concerned about the sacrifices I may be called upon to make in serving Christ?"

Two young men were talking about this very thing. One of them said, "I cannot tell you all that the Lord Jesus is to me, or what He has done for me. I do wish you would enlist in His army."

"I'm thinking about it," answered the other youn man, "but it means giving up several things--in fact, I am counting the cost."

A Christian officer, just passing, heard the last remark, and laying his hand on the shoulder of the young soldier said, "Young man, you talk of counting the cost of following Christ, but have you ever counted the cost of not following Him?"

It's all about your mood

". . .in behaviour reverent. . ." (from Titus 2:3, literal translation).

Yesterday I started a word study on the whole Titus 2 passage. I'm thinking about doing word studies on all the New Testament passages specifically geared toward women, and then moving on to Proverbs 31:10-31. This is going to be interesting, but it's going to take a long time to go through one phrase at a time! Bear with me, though; I think we'll learn a lot this way.

"In" is a preposition. If you need an explanation, consult your nearest grammar book.

"Behaviour" is a noun. It is translated from the Greek word katastema, which (and here's where things get interesting) is only found in this verse.

"Reverent" is a predicate adjective, meaning that it describes the noun "behaviour," but also implies action. It is translated from the Greek word hieroprepes, another Greek word found only in this verse.

Why is it significant that these words are found only in this verse, and, therefore, only applied to women? I think I understood the reason as soon as I looked deeper at the meanings of these two Greek words.

Katastema has a deeper meaning than just behaviour. Our English word behaviour implies outward action--everything you do or say. Katastema goes deeper than that. It means "personal appearance, mien, deportment." We'll get to personal appearance and deportment later. The subject of this post is mien.

mien [meen] noun
somebody's general air: somebody's facial expression or general appearance, bearing, or posture, taken as an indication of his or her mood or character

(from Microsoft® Encarta® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

According to Encarta, mien is probably a shortened form of 16th century demeine, from which we get our word demeanor.

On reading this definition, the word mood caught my attention, and I immediately sensed why katastema was only used in connection with women. After all, the other half of the population is not ruled by mood nearly as much as we women are. We are such emotional creatures! And, oh, the hormonal problems we have! I don't need to go into detail. You all know what I'm talking about! And in all this we are supposed to be reverent?!? Oh, if only I'd understood this years ago! Think how much grief my longsuffering husband could have been spared!

So what about hormonal problems? After all, hormones DO exist. They are not just a convenient excuse for snarky behaviour--hormones are real, and sometimes they do get out of whack. I've been post-partum nine times, I have a teenage daughter, I have lived with a menopausal mother, and I have seen friends and/or their teenage daughters go whacko once a month. I've gone whacko myself more than a few times. You could probably tell your own stories.

According to what I learned here, even in this we are to be reverent.

I'm going to suggest several things to help you with your hormones. These are all things I've tried, more or less, and I know they work. I intend to do these things even more in the future, because I want Christ to be glorified in my life in ALL things. There is never an excuse for sin.

1. First and foremost, use this time for increased prayer. Christ made both you and your hormones. He understands how they work better than you do. When you sense your mood changing, run to Him. Shut your door and pray. God will give you grace. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). The way to escape our sour moods is to cling to Christ in prayer.

2. Have you carefully examined your diet? A couple months ago I stopped eating anything with refined sugar or corn syrup in it, and I have seen an incredible difference in my overall health. Refined foods of any kind are not healthy. Look at what you're eating and make plans to eat a more natural, healthy diet. I could write a whole post about this, and why meat from animals raised on pasture is MUCH better for you than meat from animals raised on grain in feed lots. You can research that for yourself.

3. How much exercise do you get? I don't mean going to the gym and working out. I mean getting outside in the fresh air and riding your bike, taking a walk, working in your garden, hanging up your laundry, playing with your children, hiking through the woods or up a mountain, swimming, exploring nature with your children. Regular amounts of this kind of exercise will do wonders for your mind and body, and will foster great relations with your family when you do these things together.

4. Red raspberry leaf tea is wonderful for everything that ails a woman. I like so much to have a hot cup of this in the morning that I plan to buy it in bulk. I was first introduced to this when I was expecting my fourth child and began seeing a traditional lay midwife who has a lot of herbal knowledge. She started me off on a quest in search of medicinal herbs for my whole family. My oldest daughter is interested in this now, and we are going to work together constructing an herbal garden for food and medicine next growing season. I strongly encourage you to research this, too. It will be well worth your time.

5. Pray. I know I said this before, but if you do everything else and miss this one, you will not gain victory over your moods. You must pray, pray, pray. ". . .neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).

Joyfully, prayerfully,

Pearl

A very large petition--please pray with us

It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law. Psalm 119:126

This verse stuck out to me recently in my readings through the Psalms. I immediately thought of the gay pride movement, particularly in our city. These people are hideously wicked, and are flaunting their wickedness in the face of all that is good and decent in our society. They are thumbing their noses at God, daring Him to come down and judge them for their sin. They have passed laws here in Canada legalizing gay "marriage" and have just about made it a hate crime to preach against their chosen lifestyle. Two years ago they had a festival in one of our local parks--they chose the most prominent one, the one most of the city uses for all kinds of family-centered recreation. It was the first year for them to do this, and was a sort of "coming out" for the whole group. They raised their flag in triumph and "prayed," thanking the god of their own imaginations that they had won a victory. They saw my husband out there with his gospel signs and his Bible and his tracts and they mocked. They boasted that the fire of God’s judgment had not come down and consumed them.

What they don’t realize is that we are praying the very opposite. "There is no fear of God before their eyes," (Romans 3:18), but we are praying for that to change. We are praying that God will open their eyes to the hideousness of their sin and fill them with a holy fear. We are praying specifically for the leader by name, asking God to deal in mercy with his soul, that he might see the wickedness of his heart and be afraid. We are praying that he would humble himself and seek the face of the Lord and be saved. We are praying that God would defeat the purposes of the whole group by saving His lost sheep from among them.

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. Isaiah 59:1

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that cometh to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

. . . .Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunks, slanderers, and robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God. That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (International Standard Version)

Over the next couple of weeks the brethren of our fellowship will again be attending the gay pride festivals. Men from our "daughter" church will be out in Ottawa today, and my husband will be out in our city on September 2nd. Please pray for their safety, but more importantly, pray for God to bless His Word with power that the fear of God will once again be before their eyes.

Hide the Word

T w h I h i m h, t I m n s a t. P 119:11

Okay, you're going to look at that and say, "What???"

No, it's not some secret code. It's a method of Scripture memorization that I learned when we lived in Texas some years ago. You take the first letter of each word, and all the punctuation, and write them down. Then you use that to help you remember the verse. At the church we attended in Texas, they used to hand out cards that had the whole verse on one side, and just the first letters on the other side. The above verse is actually this:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11

In doing this study on Titus 2:3-5, I have gotten stuck on this one phrase pertaining to the older women:

. . .that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness. . ."

My one recurring thought has been, Am I holy? The more I examine myself in the light of Scripture, the more I have to say, no, I am not. So what do I do about this?

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy (1 Peter 1:16).

Notice the first admonition: "gird up the loins of your mind." This is where temptation and sin have their start, and where character is formed. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. . ." (Proverbs 23:7). So the first step toward holiness is to think as God thinks. And that means spending time in His Word, hiding it in my heart, and meditating on it. "But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:2).

A couple of years ago, I used the memorization method described above to memorize the book of Philippians. I've forgotten some of it, so I'm going back over it again. It is such a rich book, and I'll be referring to it in future posts.

Hiding the Word,

Pearl

Large Petitions With Thee Bring

A Prayer, by John Newton

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:

Jesus loves to answer pray'r;

He himself has bid thee pray,

Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,

Large petitions with thee bring;

For his grace and pow'r are such,

None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:

Lord, remove this load of sin;

Let thy blood, for sinners spilt,

Set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to thee for rest,

Take possession of my breast;

There thy blood-bo't right maintain,

And without a rival reign.

While I am a pilgrim here,

Let thy love my spirit cheer;

As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,

Lead me to my journey's end.

Show me what I have to do,

Ev'ry hour my strength renew:

Let me live a life of faith,

Let me die thy people's death.

Sing to the tune of "Take My Life and Let It Be," repeating the last line of each verse.

Pearl

Something that gives me hope

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none (Ezekiel 22:30).

I realize that I am not progressing very fast on this Titus 2 study. Because my family comes first, I try to only write once a week--on a quiet Sunday afternoon when everyone is resting. However, during the week things tend to come up, prompting me to write about something other than that which I previously planned. This is such a time.

Yesterday my husband and four oldest children went to New York. Actually, they left Friday morning to go down to Mount Vision, a little place near Cooperstown, NY. There they attended a youth conference with the theme of "Standing in the Gap." My husband was asked to preach one of the messages, so our whole church youth group went. From what I hear, it was fantastic.

This conference was organized by three of the pastor's children: Nate, Jonathan, and Esther Ellis. (Their dad has a blog, too, but this post is about young persons ;) ) This in itself spoke to my heart, that three young persons organized a Bible conference for the encouragement and edification of other young persons. I've only actually met Nate and their dad. They came up for my husband's ordination a few months ago, and Nate spoke at our youth snow camp. But I've heard how the Lord dealt with Jonathan, who was once a rebellious preacher's kid.

And today I took a look at Esther's blog. Here's a quote (and remember, we're talking here about someone who still has "teen" at the end of her age):

I'm just so excited about what the Lord has been doing in my own life. Physical and non-physical things that I thought I would never let go of, just all the sudden became meaningless. God convicted me to throw away a lot of things in my life. But He's reminding me I can't stop there and think that is good enough. And for some reason, He keeps bringing Enoch into my mind. Its such a good reminder..let me tell you. Its very liberating when you get rid of things.

I can echo that, but I'll save that for another post when we get back to Titus 2. For now, however, let me just say that when I see a young woman like Esther striving to go "whole hog" for God, THAT encourages me. It makes me look at my own children in a whole new light.

When I see three young persons organize a youth conference, and hear four other young persons (my own) interrupt each other to tell me all about it literally from the moment they step inside the door late on a Saturday night (actually one started talking as soon as she stepped onto the porch, but we'll let her remain nameless), THAT encourages me.

When I hear a certain young man in our church pray for God to use him in the salvation of his friends, THAT encourages me.

When I heard what God did for Jonathan Ellis (and I hope he posts his testimony soon!), THAT encourages me.

When I heard Nate Ellis join other men in prayer as they laid hands on my husband at his ordination service, THAT encouraged me. It even encouraged me when I heard that Nate wouldn't let our young persons sit on nice comfortable couches when he preached to them at snow camp last March, because I knew he wanted them to hear the Word without falling asleep.

I know that a lot happened at that youth conference that I have only begun to hear about. Other young persons were there that I don't know, who also want to go for God. They want to be the ones who stand in the gap. They want God to use them in mighty ways. THAT encourages me.

When I see God working in our youth, I know there's hope for the rest of us. Some of the greatest revivals started with young persons. God grant that again, NOW, in 2006.

Standing in the gap,

Pearl

A book review

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness. . ." --Titus 2:3

I had intended to write a post that included a quote from one of my favourite books on mothers raising daughters. But when I checked the copyright info, I found that, unless I wrote to the publisher, I could only quote from the book if I was doing so as part of a review. Well, why not write a review, then? I really like the book. My oldest daughter and I read through it, and it became a turning point in our relationship, drawing us closer together. I loaned it to one of my best friends, and she said she wanted to buy a copy for each of her daughters.

The book is entitled Raising Maidens of Virtue: A Study of Feminine Loveliness for Mothers and Daughters by Stacy McDonald. There are 19 chapters, each ending with a list of questions that really make you think. The questions often include Scripture references to look up and examine. The subject material is pointed, and often made me cringe as I examined myself in the light of God's word.

Sarah and I used this book in Sunday school, when she was the only student in my class. It is designed for mothers and daughters to read through together. (It could also work well in any older-woman-teaching-teenager situation, especially if the teenager does not have a godly mother of her own.) I gave Sarah her own copy, and we read the chapters separately during the week. Then on Sunday morning we read through the questions together, taking turns reading the Scriptures aloud. My daughter is a rather private person, and it used to be like pulling hen's teeth to draw her out. As we worked our way through this book, however, she began to open up to me more. I got to know her a whole lot better, and I think she might say the same about me.

Sarah had been resenting the fact that she is a girl. She heard lists of do's and don'ts that restrict a woman, lists that were often unnecessary, unbiblical, and that represented distorted ideas about the role of women in the home and in the church. One of the blessings that came from reading this book is that it helped her to accept her femininity as a gift from God. A whole new world was opened up to her as she began to look at all she can do and be for God.

So what was the quote I referred to earlier, and why did I think it important with regards to being "in behaviour as becometh holiness"? Raising Maidens of Virtue was written to help mothers raise godly daughters in a very ungodly society. Mrs. McDonald addresses a problem that is sadly all too common in the average western church today. In the chapter "Tinkling Feet" she describes "Mandy," a fictional teen who represents the average teen girl of today. How is the average Christian girl going to be a godly influence on "Mandy," when there is no real difference between the two girls? Mrs. McDonald writes:

The problem is that we have mimicked the world for so long--copying their fashions, borrowing their educational and social philosophies, conforming to their dating format, and adopting their dialect--that we do not even realize we have lost our Christian identity. We've been wearing the costume and speaking the language of the world for so long that we don't even recognize ourselves anymore. . . .

If we Christian women do not show Mandy what biblical beauty, femininity, and modesty look like, how is she to know? But then again, how are we to know? Who is going to show us? We ourselves have forgotten.

If we visit most any church youth group, we will see young ladies who speak, walk, dress, talk, and flirt exactly like the daughters of the heathen. This has happened as a result of our conformity to the world--and the Church doesn't even realize it. Instead, Christians must be conformed to the image of Christ, and it is imperative that our uniqueness be evident to the world. . . .

It has been said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. We tend to imitate those of whom we think highly--those we decide we would like to be like. So if we imitate the world, what are we communicating?

What, indeed?

Pearl

Link for Family Camp 2006

My oldest son was in charge of recording sermons and special music for Family Camp. He has put them all on mp3 files, which you can find here and on the sidebar link I just added. When listening to these, please remember that this is the first time he's done this. He apologizes for the way "O Worship the King", sung in French, turned out. The volume for the keyboard was too loud. Also, if you can't get the site now, try later. He says a lot of traffic (more than 6 or 7 hits at once) will slow it down.

Please look past our "oops-es" and get a blessing from the preaching of the word.

Pearl

Family Camp

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

We're home again, and I have a little bit of time to write. We just had a blessed week of family camp, where we fellowshipped with the brethren from both our mission works. Those from Ottawa have come every year for the past four years, but this is the first year we had those from Quebec City. Family Camp means we camp for five days and four nights on the banks of the beautiful Clyde River, sleeping in tents and cooking over camp stoves. Some of our group also stayed in the campground's motel rooms, which were very nice. We all came together for meals, prayer times, services, and activities with the children. Have you seen Rand's or Twinklemoose's blogs? They were there, and I thoroughly enjoyed some uninterrupted chats with Twinklemoose.

Why family camp? Well, why not? It is a time to be refreshed through the preaching of the Word and through fellowship with other believers. It is a time to come away from the busyness of everyday life and relax. There is time to pray -- alone and with others -- in a way we can't always experience at home in our regular routines. It's a time to focus on Christ: Who He is, what He has done for us, and what He can do through us if we are fully yielded to Him.

Things to do with the children:

1. Be a part of their swimming milestones. We don't get to swim much since we don't have a pool and we tend to avoid the public beaches (too much partial nudity). Family camp is the time we see who has advanced in their swimming abilities, and how far. One daughter swam all the way out to the raft without her life jacket (a "deep part" requirement for children who can't swim well). Another daughter swam out to the raft with her life jacket, "all by myself!!!" This daughter was petrified of the deep part last year. And the third daughter showed me proudly how she could put her face in the water without plugging her nose.

2. Special music. One of my sons has been practicing playing "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" on the piano, with one finger. He asked me to sing a solo with him playing, which I did. Two of my sons sang in a young men's quartet. We also sang as a family.

3. Help memorize Scripture. Every year we divide the children into 3-4 teams, with adult team leaders. We give them a passage to memorize (this year they did Psalm 85) and encourage them to learn as much as they can. Prizes are given to the winning team, and to the individuals who can say the whole passage perfectly. This year I actually didn't help that much since I wasn't one of the team leaders, but I did listen to my oldest daughter as she struggled, for the first time, to memorize the passage. Usually she does really well, but this year, for some reason, she couldn't seem to get past the first 2-3 verses. She said it just wasn't sticking. I told her to pray about it, and ask the Lord to help her. The next day she almost had the whole Psalm down! When she stood up to recite on the last morning, she did very well, making only two mistakes. Two of my other children were on the winning team. One son said the whole Psalm perfectly, tying for first place individual prize.

4. Fish. Okay, I didn't fish. I don't have the patience for it. But my 10-year-old caught one early one morning, and ate it for breakfast. Here's the test for patience that my husband passes with flying colors, which I don't even attempt: untangling the fishing lines of about half a dozen fishing poles.

5. Encourage their character. Every year the adults nominate campers 18 years old and under for the "Camper of the Week" prize. They are chosen based on cheerfulness, willingness to serve, and overall good attitude. I got to see the tally sheet this year and was pleased to see that about half the children received nominations, and no one person received an overwhelming majority of the votes. This means we had a pretty good bunch this year, as all of the children were pretty well behaved and showed reasonably good attitudes. My oldest daughter tied for first place, and my youngest daughter tied for second place. My youngest daughter is only three, but all week we received comments about her sunny disposition and her ready smile. (Was this really the same little girl who only a month or so ago was the world's worst whinepot? What an encouragement to me that our training and discipline in this area is paying off!)

6. Pray. Twice a day the adults gathered for prayer. During this time, our two oldest sons (either together or taking turns) led the children's prayer group. None of the children resisted this; in fact, they expected it. It is such a joy to see children learning to pray.

If you ever have the opportunity to be part of a good family camp, one sound in doctrine and practice, I hope you'll take advantage of it. I like it much better than age-segregated youth camps or adults-only retreats.

Pearl

Who you're talking to

Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb990 is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate (Psalm 127:3-5).

I thought it might be fun for you all to see what my family and I look like. This picture was taken on a Sunday night when we were a little tired and some of us were a little giddy. I think that's the reason SOME people's personalities come through so nicely!

From left to right: Elijah (12-in-two-weeks), Sarah (14) holding John (2-in-two-weeks), Nathanael (18), me holding Timothy (3 months), Josiah (16), Abigail (7), Elizabeth (3), my pastor-husband, and Benjamin (10). Notice that I seem to be getting shorter!

Here's a close-up of Timothy.

Pearl

Take time to be holy

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness. . . (Titus 2:3).

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see
--William D. Longstaff

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13, emphasis mine).

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints (Ephesians 6:18).

I confess that when I was a young Christian, I did not have the habit of prayer. I did not really understand what prayer was all about, and had no idea what an essential part of the Christian life prayer is. The last verse quoted above is in the context of spiritual warfare, another topic I didn't know much about. I certainly didn't understand how the two were connected.

I married a man who prays. I didn't know anybody prayed so much until we were married. One evening after we'd been married only a few weeks, I walked into the bedroom and found him on his knees. I was surprised, and felt like I was interrupting something personal and private. I started to apologize for intruding, but he invited me to come and kneel with him. As I listened to him pray, I was in awe of this man. I already knew that he read and studied his Bible far more than I did. Now I was convinced that he had attained spiritual heights I would never know about.

Did I know that I could attain such spiritual heights as well? Maybe I sensed it, but I didn't really expect to. I know that for years afterward I compared myself to my husband and always came up short. I often felt a sense of loss, as if he was going on in his spiritual walk without me. He and God were going somewhere, somewhere very special, and I was being left behind.

But instead of spurring me on to prayer, this only made me feel sorry for myself. I whined to God about why couldn't I go along without praying so much. Surely five minutes of "God, bless my day" tacked on after reading the required chapter-a-day two or three times a week should be sufficient to make me a good Christian! Besides, the babies started coming, I had a lot to do, and surely God understands moms and their need for sleep! Surely God would not ask me to get out of bed early to pray!

I don't know when the turning point came. But I know that the Lord used three verses to convict me of my prayerlessness.

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? (Matthew 26:40).

One hour? One whole hour? When I was a kid with my first digital watch I used to pass the time during prayer meeting by timing how long people prayed. Two or three minutes was about average, with some of the men praying as much as five minutes or more. I thought those were long prayers! But an hour? Whatever would I say in an hour? And where would I get an hour in my busy day, anyway?

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, [Jesus] went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:35).

Have you ever really studied the first chapter of Mark? Two words stand out: straightway and immediately. In 45 verses, our Lord is baptized, is tempted, begins preaching, calls his first disciples, teaches in the synagogue, casts an unclean spirit out of a man, heals Peter's mother-in-law, heals many that were sick, casts out many devils, hikes into the next towns to preach in their synagogues, casts out more devils, and heals a leper. It almost makes me dizzy just to read about it. I have never been that busy. All right, so I carve an hour out of my day. But does it have to be so early in the morning?

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me (Proverbs 8:17).

Here are some reasons why I've found early morning to be the best time for prayer:

1. I'm not so tired. A little sleepy, maybe, at first, but not weary like I am at the end of a long day.

2. I can focus. Nobody else is up yet; there are no distractions.

3. I need help. If I've learned anything in the past 20 years, it's that I really can't be a patience wife and mother without spending a lot of time in prayer. And when Mom's not patient, the whole house is in turmoil!

4. It sanctifies the whole day. I get an "attitude adjustment" through early prayer that carries through the day, enabling me to meet any situation that arises with cheerfulness and grace. This works best if I pray every day, not just a few times a week.

This has been a long post, and I just realized that time is slipping away. It is now 7:17 a.m. Most of us have eaten breakfast, and my two medium boys (ages 10 and 12-in-two-weeks) have the kitchen cleaned up. They've also done their chores without being reminded, and have "reported for duty" (their words; they are into soldier stuff lately). I've got yard work for them to do, and need to do some laundry. I'm off to be Martha, but with Mary's attitude.

You will notice on the sidebar a new link. My good friend Twinklemoose started a blog on what the Lord has been teaching her regarding prayer. Like me, she is a busy home schooling mom (though she only has three children ;) ), so she doesn't write often. But I hope you'll check out her blog now and then. When I first began to read her blog, it convicted me to pray more, and I told her so. She surprised me by saying that God had used me to convict her, and that was part of what got her started on this! But isn't that the way it is sometimes? When a brother or sister is down, we help them up. When we are down, they help us up.

Going forward on my knees,

Pearl

What's in a name?

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold (Proverbs 22:1).

This post should have been made when I first started this blog. I thought I'd explain why this blog is called "Of Great Price" and why my screen name is "Pearl."

My theme verse is this: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies" (Proverbs 31:10). That's where I got the "of great price" idea. I can't remember what I originally wanted to call this blog. It was something about rubies, but that name was already taken on this blogger system.

My screen name, Pearl, is the meaning of my middle name, Margaret. In the comment box on my very first blog (entitled "New to Blogging"), my mother wrote this:

Pearls symbolize purity, charity, honesty, wisdom and integrety. The ragged, rough grain of sand, transformed over time slowly growing into an object of great value and beauty.

That is what I trust the Lord is doing in my life: transforming me into an object of great value and beauty. Right now there is still too much of the ragged, rough grain of sand in me, but I have this promise:

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

Pearl

Little Keepers

The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Titus 2:3-5).

I recently changed my e-mail address because of all the spam my old one was getting. My new address reflects my "keeper at home" status. When I alerted family and friends to the change, I got a reply from a nine-year-old girl who attends my church. She wrote, "Nice address. I'm a keeper at home, too." She sure is. Her mother is teaching her to bake, clean, and crochet, among many other things. She recently gave me a scarf she crocheted for my three-month-old son. I remember when I first met her six years ago. One of her first jobs then was to hang up the socks on a clothes rack when her mom did laundry. She did it very well.

I have three Little Keepers growing up in my house. (Well, one is not so little any more; she is two inches taller than me!) They are learning to do all sorts of things--cooking, cleaning, knitting, sewing, baking, gardening, etc. But what else am I teaching them?

At just 40 years old, I don't really consider myself to be well "aged," but I am older than my daughters. So the Scripture above talks first to me. There are characteristics that need to be in my life if I am to have any lasting spiritual influence on them. Some things are easy and obvious--or are they? I may not be "given to much wine," but are there other things just as foolish and harmful that I am given to? What really is a "false accuser," any way? What "good things" should I be teaching? Am I teaching things that aren't "good"?

And then there is that list of things I'm supposed to teach my Little Keepers. How do I teach my three-year-old to "love her husband" when she obviously doesn't have one? Can my seven-year-old really learn to "be sober"? Then there are the delicate topics of "discreet," "chaste," and "keepers at home" that have more recently sparked such fiery discussions with my 14-year-old. Keeping my "behaviour as becometh holiness" in such discussions has been quite a learning experience for me!

Lord willing, I hope to write a series of blogs on this passage of Scripture. I want to share what God has been teaching me, and how that has been working out in my life.

Pearl

Another arrow to shape

"As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate" (Psalm 127:4-5).

On Wednesday, March 15, 2006, we added a new arrow to our quiver. He is our ninth, another boy. God has given us the awesome task of working with Him in shaping this arrow so that it will fly straight and true to its intended target. For there is a war going on out there, a spiritual one which can only be fought by the use of strong spiritual weapons. Parents play a key role in preparing sons and daughters for the fight.

Some have asked us why we keep on having children, and are we going to have any more. We will have more if God so blesses, and we have them because they are a blessing. Should every Christian couple have as many children as possible? I'd say that's for each couple to pray about individually, but here is a short section of a recent news article which I found interesting:

"Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes," [Mullah] Krekar said. "Every western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman in the same countries are producing 3.5 children.

"By 2050, 30 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim."

I'm not sure how to do the math on this, but what if all the truly godly women in the EU had an average of five children each? How would that change the face of Europe by the year 2050?

Suppose my nine each marry and produce nine. That makes 81 in the next generation. Suppose those 81 do the same. That gives the third generation 729. Even if you shrink the original number to five, there would be 3125 in the fifth generation, for a grand total of 3905 (not counting spouses) in just one family. Do the math, and think what could happen if each family in your church did the same. Even a small church would have the potential for making a major impact on its community.

No, we have no guarantee from God that each child born into a Christian home will become a Christian. But the potential is there. I have six sons who have the potential to become preachers, evangelists, missionaries, or pastors; and three daughters who have the potential to become the wives of preachers, evangelists, missionaries, or pastors. My girls could also be teachers (Titus 2:3), servants of the church (Romans 16:1), prayer warriors.

I am not putting my faith in numbers. My faith is in the living God, who has seen to it that Christianity has survived the test of time, in spite of (or because of?) severe persecutions from those who declared that they would rid the world of Christians. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been slaughtered, yet the true Church continues to thrive. If God will be pleased to use me to help replenish the ranks, then may He give me the grace to shape the arrows He gives me to their proper form.

"Radically anti-Biblical in its theoretical suppositions"

More about the family library. . .

My husband and I were in town for a midwife appointment this morning. On our way home he said, "Shall I get the paper?"

I answered, "Well," and hesitated.

We used to be regular subscribers, and the paper came directly to the house. Every morning there was a race among the children to see who could get the funnies first. Some of the funnies weren't really funny, and some had to be cut out of the paper before the children saw them. The rest of the paper was mostly bad news of the sort I wouldn't even want to think about, much less see them boldly printed for all to see. Certain pictures would get torn out, or black marker would be used liberally.

Finally the subscription ran out. We were ready to move, and decided not to renew until we were settled. We've been "settled" for nearly four months now, and never did get around to renewing the subscription. Now and then my husband would buy a paper when he was in town. Sometimes he'd bring them home, but more and more often he was throwing them away before he got home. The ones he brought home seemed more and more disgusting to me, and I cringed at the thought of my children reading even the "good" funnies. My 16-year-old son commented on the way the paper seemed to sensationalize the news by reporting four or five different occurances of the same hideous crime on one page. All the children agreed that one comic strip was basically nothing more than a teenage soap opera repeating the same basic story over and over and over.

So today when my husband asked if we should get the paper, I hesitated. I did NOT want that thing to come into the house any more. Yet as a pastor, he wants to keep abreast of basic issues going on locally and around Canada. Knowing that, I suggested he get it, but not take it in the house.

We got home, and the 16-year-old asked if we'd gotten the paper. I said we did, that his dad had looked through it, and that we had thrown it away. He asked if that one paper had been that bad, or were we just not going to have the paper in the house any more. I said the paper would not be in the house any more because the news was horrid and the funnies really weren't funny any more.

"Even-----[name of family-centered strip that used to be my favourite]-----is . . . is . . . unrealistic and . . . and . . ." I couldn't think how to describe it.

"Radically anti-Biblical in its theoretical suppositions?" my son finished for me. (The dictionary is one of his favourite books.)

"Exactly!" I said, "Thank you. I couldn't have put it better myself."

I mean, really: several strips in our local paper show the mom ruling the house and bossing the dad around like he's just another one of the children; one strip features a witch and some trolls as the main characters; others show siblings fighting with each other and preferring the company of friends more than family; and so on. All this is supposed to be funny. Is it? No, it's completely anti-scriptural. Is sin (because that's what it is) supposed to amuse us?

Am I saying that no one should ever buy a newspaper again, or that families should not use it in the education of their children? No, not necessarily. But it is one more area in which Christians need to keep their spiritual eyes wide open in considering what will spiritually benefit the family and what will not.

God's grace to you,

Pearl

Spring Cleaning

". . .Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27).

I am home with a sick little boy this Sunday morning, and decided to take some time to write. I also decided to change the face of this blog in an attempt to make it more readable. I'd really like to change a few other things on here, but I'm not sure how yet.

This morning is bright, sunny, and mild. The forecast, however, is for rain or snow. We have had a very mild winter for this section of Canada. The temperature has rarely gone below zero (Fahrenheit), and I think we've had just about as much rain as snow. On a sunny morning like this the outside world looks fine, like spring is coming early. But on cloudy days it looks dreary, dismal, gray and ugly.

The other day I was commenting on this to my children. The skies were threatening, but the thermometer suggested rain rather than snow. A trailerload of mostly trashy stuff from our old house sits in the side yard, and evidence suggests that the wind, small children, or both have been scattering some of it. The ground around the new well is muddy, with the tracks of heavy equipment still scarring the yard. A branch of the big spruce hangs by a bit of bark, nearly broken off by the well digger. More branches, broken off completely, are piled next to the garage. The garden plot plowed last fall is humpy with lumps of broken sod. Parts of rabbit hutches sit here and there, waiting to be repaired. The front porch sags, the side deck is rotting away, the garage leans to one side. The garage door doesn't shut, so the opening is covered with a blue tarp. What snow is left looks old and tired and dirty. Mud, brown grass, and the remains of dead flowers poke through, and most of the yard is a soggy mess.

Looking out at all this, I said to my children, "Oh, if it would only snow! A clean blanket of fresh snow would cover up all this ugliness and make the yard look pretty again."

But, of course, that would only be a temporary fix. Sooner or later the snow must all melt, and the yard--and all the debris in it--will be exposed for all to see. What this place really needs is a good cleaning and a bit of landscaping. The house needs repaired in many places, and the garage needs to be replaced with a new one (as part of the addition planned to enlarge the place). The trash needs hauled away or burned, the flower beds need cleaned out, the garden needs raked and planted. I could probably name a dozen other things that need done. The yard work will take a few days or so of everyone pitching in. The improvements on the house will take much longer, possibly a few years, to get it all finished.

Do you see the lesson in this? Often there are ugly things in our spiritual lives that we really need to clear away. But this takes work--often hard, painful work--as we take a good honest look at ourselves in the light of God's Word. Sometimes we'd just rather cover up the bad with a blanket good works. But sooner or later, the good works begin to melt away and the ugly parts of our lives start poking through again. Piling on another layer of good works never really works because those kinds of good works can't last. Snow can't stand the heat of the sun because it is not alive and has no root in the ground. Similarly, our hypocritical good works cannot last because they are not rooted in faith and love for God.

We need to strip away the hypocrisy in our lives and humble ourselves under the hand of God. We need to get at the heart of the matter, which is unconfessed sin and pride. All the rubbish needs to be cleared away to make room for spiritual fruit and good works that last because they are rooted in faith. Sometimes this involves a simple apology, taking only a few minutes' time. Sometimes this involves a bit more time when restitution needs to be made in some way. Then there are the things that have piled up here and there over time. These often are harder to deal with, and may require a complete overhauling and remodeling of our hearts and lives. Attitudes of bitterness, selfishness, pride, impatience, laziness, an unforgiving spirit--these don't usually go away overnight. They may take weeks, months, even years to overcome. We may not ever completely overcome them. There may be a constant fight lasting a lifetime. But little by little, if we keep at it, we will see God working in our lives to make us more like His Son and less like the ugly mess we used to be.

Remember this: The best position in which to pull out dead weeds and plant new flowers is on your knees.

God's grace to you,

Pearl

'Tis the season

"One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. . ." (Romans 14:5, 6).

It is the last day of January, over a month past Christmas. This post is for those who are questioning whether or not to celebrate the holiday next season. This is actually a response to Rand's question, but when I started to reply to it on his blog, I realized that my response was turning into an article of its own.

Why address this in January? First, anyone dissatisfied with the season will still have that sentiment fresh in their minds. Second, this will give you most of the year to be thinking and praying about how you and your family will handle this next season. Now, I happen to know Rand, his wife, and his three precious children personally, so I suppose I could have answered him privately. But I got the idea that if one person (or family) asks a question "out loud," then others are probably also asking it silently.

I felt free in a way I never felt before, this year, because we did not do one single thing to celebrate a pagan Roman holiday. This was the first year for us to completely treat the day like any other. Last year the only thing we did was fill stockings for the children and eat a big dinner. That was our way of saying one last good-bye to Christmas, and weaning the children away from it. Getting away from Christmas is our way of saying, "No more compromise with Catholicism or paganism." That in itself is worth the bother to us.

Right away I am sure that there are some who object to the very thought of Christmas being Catholic or pagan. Many Christians are of the opinion that the ungodly of this world stole Christmas from the Christians, but, in fact, it happened quite the other way around: Christians, or, more accurately, Catholics, stole Christmas from the pagans in an attempt to attract pagans to the faith. (You can take a look around and decide for yourself whether or not that actually worked, by and large. Compromise rarely, if ever, attracts the world to true Christianity in any lasting, saving way.)

That is all I intend to say on the subject of the origins of Christmas, or whether you should let such origins affect your decision to celebrate or not. The main purpose of this post is to address the question, "So we don't celebrate any more; now what?"

Here are a few ideas from personal experience and from friends.

What to do about relatives:

1. We don't go visiting over Christmas partly because my mom gets nervous about any of her loved ones travelling in winter, and partly because we find vacations more enjoyable in the summer. Both my and my husband's families live hundreds of miles away, so maybe we have an advantage over those whose families live close by. We have found, however, that most of them have more time and energy, and enjoy our visits more, in the summer when their schedules are not so hectic. Sometimes you can offer to come for New Year's instead. There may still be the "holiday spirit," but this tactic will show that you still want to be with the family even though you object to Christmas itself.

2. My parents usually offer us either a gift sent in the mail, or a check. This year I asked for a check to spend on magazine subscriptions and books. I told my parents that was how the money would be spent. If we had chosen the gift sent by mail, we would have been expected to give suggestions. In that case, I'd have listed some books we've been wanting. My dad LOVES to give books as presents, so this would not have been a problem at all. You could suggest things your children need, or things they've especially been wanting, or one thing the whole family can enjoy together.

Both my husband's parents are dead, but if they were still alive, they, too, would have offered money in place of presents.

What to do within your family, with your children:

1. A family we know who used to visit our church gives their children a certain amount of money to spend on Boxing Day sales. Other than that, they treat the actual day as no different from any other day. They homeschool if it's a week day, and do normal weekend activities if it's a Sat. or Sun.

(If you have conscientious, theological children, be careful about the Boxing Day sales. I mentioned to the family that I might go out early the day after Christmas and get some Christmas candy on sale. My 16-year-old son said, "Oh, yes. Go get the meat sacrificed to idols after it goes on sale.")

2. As mentioned earlier, we "weaned" our children off Christmas by gradually doing less each year. Two years ago, we did not bother getting out any decorations except a miniature ceramic snow scene and a few candles. Last year we didn't even do that, and the only gifts we gave were what would fit in the children's stockings. This past season we did nothing at all, making a clean break from the holiday completely.

3. Explain to your children why you quit. Even a 5-year-old is able to understand a little about the dangers of compromising with the world (talk about "little" sins committed to save ourselves from embarrassment, or to make ourselves more "popular"). The older the child, the more in depth you can get, perhaps even turning it into a full-blown Bible study done a little at a time during family devotions.

What to do with questioning friends:

1. A popular question during the Christmas season seems to be, "So, are you all ready for Christmas?" (Or, to the children, "What is Santa bringing you this year?") After Christmas, the question goes backward: "How was your Christmas?" (Or, to the children, "What did Santa bring you?") It is easy to say you don't believe in Santa. Harder is to say that you don't believe in celebrating the holiday at all, and that your children got nothing. I did not know how to handle these questions at all, so I asked someone else how they handled it.

Basically, my friend simply says, "Actually, we don't celebrate Christmas, but we had a good day. How was your holiday?" This is said in a pleasant, friendly way that takes a stand without being needlessly offensive.

Most of my children have been able to be gracious about their responses to people, since they don't seem to be as sensitive to popular opinion as I am.

What to do with Christian friends/relatives who see nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas:

1. Are they fully persuaded that what they are doing is to the glory of God? If so, you probably won't be able to change their minds by preaching to them. Instead, simply explain your course of action and your reasons for it, and let it go at that. And only do the explaining if the subject comes up on its own in normal conversation. Usually it's best to say only little bits at a time, unless they want to spend a whole conversation on the subject. Don't be defensive or offensive, just state your case simply and briefly, and go on to something else.

2. Have they given you gifts or sent cards? Receive them graciously in the spirit in which they were given, and say thank you. Enjoy the bits of news you get from the family letters typically sent this time of year. Pray for God's blessing on them.

When friends/relatives simply can't (or won't) understand:

1. Stand your ground graciously, humbly, but persistently, just as you did when your unsaved friends and relatives thought you were crazy for becoming a Christian in the first place. They will eventually get used to the idea and stop bugging you about it. Take heart. The first year is usually the hardest.

I am sure that there are plenty of "what if" questions that have not been answered here. In that case, PRAY. God will lead the heart that is truly yielded to Him. In fact, DO NOT act upon any of these suggestions without first praying for God's direction. And if you are a wife (this blog was meant primarily for wives and mothers), DO NOT do anything without your husband's full, whole-hearted approval (a grudging, get-the-wife-off-my-back okay does not count).

May God guide as you pray through this, and other situations that may arise through the next year.

Pearl

The Family Library

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me" (Psalm 101:3).

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret" (Ephesians 5:11, 12).

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

These three verses have been the standard by which we judge our children's reading material (and, indeed, our own). Books need to be profitable spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. Books with swearing, immorality, witchcraft or magic are definitely off our shelves. Books that put evildoers in a "good" light are also out.

All right, that was easy. After all, those things are blatantly anti-Scriptural. Now for the hard part. What if most of the book's content is good, but there's this one little section that is questionable? This dilemma was faced recently in connection with one of my favorite books from childhood. The whole book was good, I thought, except for one minor section, which I merely skimmed over. But wouldn't you know it, that was the ONE section of the entire book that one of my younger sons enjoyed the most! He thought it was hilarious as he retold it to the rest of us, wanting us to join in the laughter. At that point I realized that I needed to re-evaluate that book, and perhaps others on our shelves, as well.

Spiritually profitable books are those that tell a story or a biography in the context of accurate biblical truth and sound doctrine. We have had to be especially careful with biographies and historical fiction, since the doctrinal bias of the author colors the life of the person he/she is writing about. For example, I once read a fiction book that included the real Jonathan Edwards as one of the minor characters. In the story, he was called to the bedside of a dying girl and asked to pray with her. In the process, he gave the gospel to this girl. He basically led her through the standard "sinner's prayer" and pronounced her saved. Any one who has studied the life and writings of the real Jonathan Edwards will immediate recognize the error here. He would NEVER have dealt with a sinner this way! Dying or living, child or adult, that person would have been asked to examine their hearts in the light of Scripture, and encouraged to pray by themselves. He would have waited for the Lord to burden the individual about his/her sin, and left them alone to pray their own prayer before God alone.

Similar things have been written of John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, and others. Spurgeon, especially, would be greatly grieved to read the things he is now supposed to have believed. He fought tooth and nail against those things, and that fight so wore on him that it led to his death.

Mentally uplifting books are those which give accurate information without wicked, gory details. This is the hardest for me to judge. Since we homeschool, we have lots of resources on our shelves that give historic and scientific facts. Scientific resources aren't hard to deal with. We just keep evolution off the shelves, and the rest takes care of itself. Historic resources are harder. Here, again, the bias of the author will color the information given, whether it be a documentary, biography, or historical fiction. The most awful things will be presented in a favorable light, while anything having to do with true righteousness and godliness will be given a mere footnote at best, or criminalized at worst.

Once again, it is easy to keep away the blatantly bad. Harder is to sort through the material that looks good. Christian conservatism, especially in the United States, has done a lot more harm to our historical reference materials than many would like to admit. To read most of their histories, you'd think all the great men who are called the Founding Fathers of America were the most godly men you'd ever hope to meet. Were they? Absolutely not. Most were deists who denied the diety of Christ and believed God had no real influence in the modern world. The infamous "Jefferson Bible" is full of holes where Thomas Jefferson cut out everything he believed to be in error. Benjamin Franklin spoke of a "higher power" but never bowed his knee to the God of the Bible. Most of these men were idolatrous Masons.

Emotionally uplifting books are those which encourage good character qualities such as self-control. The average romance novel does nothing of the sort. Characters whose anger, hatred, selfishness, sibling strife, etc., are seen as normal behavior do not encourage good character in our children. Sorting out the bad, again, is easy. And difficult, again, is dealing with books from "Christian" authors and publishers. What about the "Christian" romance novel? Even the "best" of these appeal to the flesh and the lusts thereof. How are family relationships portrayed? Do brothers and sisters fight a lot? Do mothers support the fathers? Are wives submissive to husbands? Are dads seen as doofuses and laughed at? Do children look up to and respect their parents? To whom do the children go most often for advice--their parents, their peers, or some other trusted adult?

I added a new link to my sidebar: the Castleberry family. They are a homeschooling family who write and publish their own books. I have come to share their philosophy regarding books for the family, and recommend them to you.

Two other book-related links are listed. Grace and Truth Books distributes books written mostly from a sovereign grace perspective, but let the buyer beware: we have encountered a few questionable items from them. Nevertheless, most of their stuff is fantastic. I have almost decided to remove the other link for Christian Book Distributors. I've left it on only because they sell homeschool curriculum at discounted prices. A look at their most recent homeschool catalog, however, reveals that they are becoming more and more ecumenical in what they recommend and distribute. Buyer be doubly aware.

I have not mentioned videos, DVDs, cassettes, TV, newspapers, magazines, or radio, choosing to focus on books. Yet all the above applies to these as well.

God's grace to you as you look at your bookshelf,

Pearl

If you're thinking of spamming my blog...

...be forewarned that you will be automatically deleted. Although I was not able to post here during the past eight months, I did keep tabs on the place through my e-mail. Some unsavory characters posted links to porn sites, while others used my blog to promote their own agendas and/or favorite websites. Rather than taking the time to sort good from bad, I have adopted the policy of deleting any and all posts containing links to other sites.

This is MY blog, and I will post the links I think are necessary.

Thanks.

Pearl of Grace

Why I haven't been here in a while

I must first apologize to anyone following my blog for not having kept up with it during the past 8 months. After getting back from my sister-in-law's funeral in May, life suddenly became extremely busy for our family.

For several years we had been considering buying our own home--a first for us since we have always rented. We had been looking around rather casually, not really getting too serious about it, since we really couldn't afford the average house-with-land-in-the-country that we needed for our large family. A few days after we got back from the funeral, I was surfing through our local real estate websites, and came across a fixer-upper on an acre of land offered for a very low price. The Lord seemed to go before us the whole way through the buying process, and in less than 6 weeks' time we went from not having any prospects on a house at all to first-time homeowners.

The next 3 months became a whirlwind of activity, with us scrambling to make this non-habitable house somewhat habitable before winter set in. With paying rent and mortgage, plus utilities at two homes, we were also feeling a severe financial crunch, so we were trying to hurry. Our rented home had become a sort-of mini farm by then, and we had a huge garden to harvest, chickens to put in the freezer, and rabbits to move. All this in addition to sorting and packing. The packing was tricky, since our new house is much smaller than our old one, and much of our stuff had to go into storage. We really don't have a lot of we-don't-use-it-every-day stuff, so it was hard to decide what to put in storage and what to leave out.

Somewhere in the middle of all that it was confirmed to us that we are now expecting our ninth child in March, adding midwife visits to our list of regular activities.

And then there was homeschool. We finally moved sometime in October, and I started then to look over the books we had and what we needed to order. My husband and I decided that this year we needed to use a more self-teaching curriculum because of all the upheaval in our lives, so I began ordering curriculum accordingly. We got four of our children started in November, and are only just this week getting our two oldest enrolled in a video correspondence high school. (They had some things to finish from the previous school year so that I could count it for transfer credit, hence the long wait.)

Even though we started some school in November, we got off to a pretty rocky start. For one thing, our budget would not allow us to order all the curriculum at once. For another thing, we were still trying to settle in, and still had some remodelling to do. My attention was divided between so many things, and I was not able to give my fullest to any of them.

By the end of December, I felt we were doing great. We were getting consistent with school work, and were adjusting to the new routine a new house brings. Then one morning late in December my second oldest son came to me complaining of "bumps" all over his head and "blisters" all over his chest and arms. Oh, joy! Chicken pox! Two weeks later, the other seven children got them all at the same time. And I got a really bad cold!

I think we're done with all that now, and I think we can get back to "normal"--whatever "normal" may be. We haven't really had a "normal" for months. My husband is in the midst of preparing for our annual church business meeting, and asked for my help in remembering the highlights of the last year for our church. I honestly could not help him much. Most of the year is pretty much a blur to me!

Well, that catches me up to the present. This has been a longer post than I'd like; the next ones will be shorter (and hopefully more spiritually uplifting!).

The Lord has given us much grace in all of this--our family actually seems closer now than before we bought this house.

Pearl of Grace