Little children need CONSTANT supervision

{Woman's name withheld} "was outside smoking a cigarette while, unbeknownst to her, her two little boys were inside playing with a lighter in the basement."

So states the front page story in our local paper. The article goes on to say that the woman heard the smoke alarm go off and was able to get her sons out, but the house sustained $180,000 worth of damage.

From the Pastor's Desk: The Years of Our Lives

Someone has figured that in the average life span of 70 years, we will spend our time this way:

Eight years in amusements

Six years at the dinner table

Five years in transportation

Four years in conversation

Three years sick or convalescing

Less than one year for God--that is, IF a person attends ONE 90-minute service every Sunday and prays every day for ten minutes.

(Cathy's comment: Notice that there is no mention of evangelism at all--no teaching, no preaching, no witnessing to the neighbours, no passing out tracts. Also, there is no mention of any group prayer meeting at all. Is this what modern-day Christianity has come to? God help us! We need revival!)

"I, Isaac, take thee, Rebekah"

Back to the topic of matchmaking and courtship. . .

From Ravi Zacharias of Let My People Think, here is one of the best messages I have ever heard on this subject. I strongly urge all young people and all parents of young people to listen. After you listen, feel free to comment. Time forbids me to say more.

Part One

Part Two

"Until the earth passes away"

Today Elizabeth was telling me about her "bestest doll," her favourite, the one she wants to "keep forever and ever until the earth passes away."

That surprised me a bit. "'Until the earth passes away'?" I repeated.

"Yes," she said.

Later I told Sarah about this. She laughed, and related the following conversation she had with Elizabeth the other day.

Sarah: "Elizabeth, everything we have is just junk."

Elizabeth: "No, it isn't!"

Sarah: "Yes, it is. It's just junk, and it's going to burn up."

Elizabeth, dismayed and alarmed: "Why?"

Sarah: "Because it's junk. We didn't bring it in, and we're not going to take it out. It's just going to burn up."

Elizabeth thought about that for a minute, then asked, "But I can keep it until it burns, can't I?"

From the Pastor's desk--"That I may know him..."

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. Philippians 3:10

Tom has been preaching from this verse for the past month or so. Sunday he had this in the bulletin:

Four main aspects of the Christian life are,

1. Communion -- to know Him is to love Him

2. Conformity -- to know Him is to be like Him

3. Commitment -- to know Him is to live for Him

4. Consummation -- to know Him is to lose one's life for Him

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. If it is true that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12), then why aren't we suffering persecution?

Could it be that we are not living godly in Christ Jesus?

Finally back on line

The guts of my computer are still hanging out of it, but it has a new hardrive, and my resident computer tech (son Nate) is gradually getting everything back to normal for me. The only glitch right now is that for some unknown reason he can't install Windows. He put Linux on instead, which he likes better anyway. I really wouldn't care, except that the Internet web watch monitoring system we have won't detect Linux!

All my men are leaving this morning to go help friends knock down a wall in their house. This family just bought property about a half hour from here, and the house needs some work before they can move in. They helped us get our house ready when we bought this place, so it's nice that we can help them now.

Today I've got baking to do. Not too much, since other friends gave us a lot of day-old bakery bread (which they get free from someone else). We still have enough in the freezer to get us through most of the week. I've got sour dough working, which I'm going to try today. I made French bread with it last week, which turned out really good. I also need to make some granola and some cookies. I've been experimenting with using honey (instead of sugar) in cookie recipes. The oatmeal cookies I made a couple of weeks ago turned out delicious. Today I'm going to try peanut butter cookies. The key to using honey is to use half as much as what the recipe calls for, for sugar, and to add about a fourth cup more flour for about every cup of honey used.

I got an e-mail last week saying that my new wheat grinder is on its way! Finally I'll be able to start using that half ton of wheat we got last fall! That was another unexpected blessing. I happened to be talking to another homeschool mom about the crops they grow on their farm. She mentioned wheat, so I asked her where the common Joe (me) could buy wheat for home grinding. She said she would ask her husband if we could buy some of theirs. The next time we saw her, she had a sheet of paper on which she had worked out how much wheat we would need for a year, based on the size of our family, about how much bread we would use in a week, and how much wheat makes one cup of flour! She figured out to the bushel how much wheat we would need, and told us we could have it for $60!!! So Tom got ten large totes from Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire (Wal-Mart didn't have enough in stock). On the appointed day, he and the boys drove out to where they were loading the wheat for shipment and helped fill the totes with wheat right off the trucks. Tom asked who he should pay, and they said, "There's no charge." !!!!!!!

Never let it be said that pastors and their families are poor. We are NOT. What we may lack in ready cash is MORE than made up with the blessings of being part of the church body. "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Psalm 37:25). "The young lions do lack, and suffer humger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing" (Psalm 34:10).

By the way, we still haven't found Larry.

Introducing Marcel Longchamps

Marcel and Lucie Longchamps are two of my favourite people. Together with two university students, they minister the Word in Quebec City. Please do not take this to mean that Lucie preaches. She does NOT. However, she is a brave soul who goes out with the guys when they preach on the streets, helping to distribute hundreds of tracts and engaging in conversation with souls as they pass by.

Lucie tries SO hard to communicate with me in her limited English. I want SO bad to be able to talk to her better!! (We're ordering a French course for our whole family this month. I can't wait!!) I admire her for her courage, for her determination to do God's will, and for her sweet spirit. Recently she quit her job because God impressed upon her to be a keeper at home.

Marcel recently started his own blog, The Beauty of Holiness. I encourage you to take a look at it. Keep in mind that his first language is French, and overlook any errors you may find in his English. I'm adding this blog to my sidebar.

Just another day in the life of the Newton family

Sarah just came out to the dining room, where I am folding clothes.

"Mother," she says, "I'm afraid we have a slight dilemma."

"What is it?" I ask, preparing my mind for a flood, since, the last I heard, she was working with her fish tank.

"Larry has decided he doesn't like his aquarium. And you know what that means, don't you?"

Yes, I know exactly what that means. That means that on the loose somewhere in this house is. . .

. . .a pet garter snake.

Thoughts on matchmaking

And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. --Genesis 24:61-67

1. Matchmaking is a biblical concept still practiced in that part of the world.

2. Parents should be involved in the process, and have veto rights. If Christian young people do not have Christian parents, older people in the church fellowship might take the role of "surrogate" parents, although the opinions of the non-Christian parents should still be taken into account.

3. Both persons being brought together by matchmaking have veto rights. (See the question put to Rebekah in Genesis 24:58.)

4. The most important aspect of the whole affair is prayer.

5. The process can (and maybe should) be swift and sure.

More expounding on this in future posts. Meanwhile, thoughts, any one?

October 1986 -- The List (Part Nine)

This is the key to this whole story, and I almost forgot to put it in!

If you have been following the story of my courtship and marriage, you may remember the list I compiled, mentioned in this post. This was a list of characteristics I wanted in a husband. I made the list the summer before Tom and I got together, put it away in a box, and eventually forgot about it.

Once Tom and I set the date for our marriage, I began to sort all my stuff, packing what I needed to ship to Georgia (where Tom had already gone to prepare a home for us), and packing what I didn't need to leave with my parents. As I was sorting through one box, I came across the list. I read through it and was absolutely astounded that God had given me every single characteristic I asked for, in Tom! Even the frivolous ones that my dad said shouldn't matter. I wish I had that list now. I have no idea what happened to it, but here are the ones I can remember (I think originally there were seven):

1. He must be a Christian.
2. He must be a Calvinistic Baptist.
3. He must be a pastor.
4. He must have brown, curly hair.
5. He must have blue eyes.

Now, a word about Number Three:

Tom really didn't know about being a pastor. He was a bit reluctant to seriously consider this as a career choice, so I was taking this by faith.

You may remember that God had made it plain to Tom that He wanted Tom to do a certain thing, and Tom said no. It was at this point that Tom says the lights went out and he was plunged into spiritual darkness until he said yes and obeyed the Lord. What was it God wanted Tom to do? I know you're curious, and since it has everything to do with this story, I'll tell you.

God wanted Tom to go to Georgia and attend what was then Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church. (It is now Peachtree Baptist Church.) They have a college and seminary there, and we planned for Tom to start classes there. By this time, Tom had no problem attending Mt. Pisgah, but he continued to wrestle with the idea of taking classes. Since he had run his own bookstore, he had read a lot, and was mostly self-taught in matters of theology. We began to realize that Tom had practically all the book learning he needed; what he lacked was practice, and experience with a biblically functioning local church.

In Georgia, we learned how a local church should function. (To this day we hold Peachtree Baptist up as an example of how a church should function, and recommend their college/seminary to every young person who asks our opinion--and to some who don't ;) .) We spent five years there, during which time Tom preached in the jails, in the nursing home, and in chapel services at the Christian day school. He also taught high school math and science in the school, and learned definitely that teaching math and science was NOT what he was to do. Sometimes he also taught the adult Sunday school class.

By the time we left Georgia, we had developed a burden for church planting, and were ready to head for Canada to work with Native Peoples. The Lord had a round-about way of getting us to Canada, however. First we went to Ohio to work with Tom's home church. That did not go well, so we moved to Texas. From there we were sent to New York state, where we tried to start a church. This door did not open up for us, though we tried to keep at it, praying all the while for God to give us direction. In answer, God used a can of beer in a Walmart parking lot to lead us to the church where we now are, in Canada. (We are not specifically working with Native Peoples, but there is a reservation nearby, for which we are praying.)

On September 3, 2000, Tom preached his first sermon as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, thus fulfilling Number Three on my list.

"The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad" (Psalm 126:3).

Our mystery Christmas visitor strikes again

Every year since we've been in Canada, a mysterious somebody has left us a gift. The card is never signed except for some expressions of love and appreciation. There is always candy for the children (conveniently packaged so that Tom and I get some, too ;) ), and a generous collection of $20s.

This morning when I opened the door to let the cat out, there was the bag on the front porch. Same goodies, same handwriting on the card. May God bless the giver, who has learned that "it is better to give than to receive," and who probably doesn't even want our thanks. They have our thanks anyway.

I love to be an anonymous giver. It is really fun to give somebody something, without them knowing where it came from. If you've never done it yourself, I suggest you try it. It's a lot of fun for both parties, but I think the giver has the most fun.

Pictures of us, 20 years ago (Part Eight)

This is Tom and me in my grandma's apartment, probably sometime in July, 1986. My dad was candidating at a church nearby, and we went along for the ride. At that church there was a little girl named Abby, who called us "the twenty-year-old woman and the thirty-year-old man."


We were married Thanks- giving Day, 1986, at home. My parents were scheduled to move over Christmas that same year, so we were not able to have a church wedding. I didn't really care; a marriage is more important than a wedding, anyway.

Pictured with us are (left to right) my Grandma Rudisill (Dad's mom), my Grandma Caulk (Mom's mom), and Tom's mother, Marie. By coincidence they all wore blue dresses, which looked really nice.


I'd like to know who started this custom, and why! Here we bow to tradition, and feed each other cake. However, we did NOT smear it on each other, like my brother did at his wedding.

My mom made the cakes. We also had turkey casserole and cranberry salad, since it was Thanksgiving. I don't remember if we had pumpkin pie, but we did get a couple of pecan pies as a gift from a lady in my church.

Notice Tom's suit jacket. It's the same one he wore for his high school graduation pictures, 10 years before our wedding! I made my dress, and my mom made my veil.

Hopefully I'll have more pictures soon, along with a post about my thoughts on courtship, dating, and matchmaking. Stay tuned.

The beginning

Today is the start of one MAJOR project. Can't tell what it is yet, but will let you know all about it when it's done. I would have marked the calendar, but all the 2006 calendars are about to be thrown away. I will give you a hint: it has to do with clutter. No, I did NOT just now give it away. You will have to check back later to see what this is all about.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness" is NOT a quote from the Bible, but I wonder if you can find a verse that sort of means that, and in more ways than one.

Daddy, dip your finger in the water

I hesitated somewhat to post this, but decided to go ahead. This is a sad and sobering post. It is also a request for prayer.

Today my husband will bury another of his brothers. This brother died in his sins. Oh Lord! When will the plague of death be stayed for this family? How long before You turn from Your fierce anger and save members of Tom's family? O Lord, in wrath remember mercy! There are five brothers left, along with their families. Please pray that God will have mercy. Pray for Holy Spirit conviction of sin. Out of all Tom's large family, he is the only one who is saved. He has already lost his father, his only sister and another brother to the judgment of God. We believe his mother is with the Lord, and possibly his step-dad.

Tom's step-dad was raised in a Presbyterian home, with a godly mother who took him faithfully to church every Sunday. I don't know why or how, but he turned away from all that. Tom was about ten or so when Pop married Tom's mother. He was totally antagonistic toward anything to do with religion in any way. After Tom was converted, he refused to allow Tom to read the Bible to him, or to pray with him. Just before he died we think God had mercy and saved him. Tom read to him from the book of John and prayed with him as he lay on his deathbed, and for the first time he wanted to hear the Scriptures read. Later a Christian nurse told how she had talked with him about the Lord, and had prayed with him. She said he also prayed that God would save him. That is our hope.

However, Pop died without ever saying anything to his children about the Lord. The title for this post is a line from a song I once heard on the radio. The song tells the story of a man who is sleeping, and dreams that his child is calling for a drink of water. As he goes to give his child a drink, he realizes that his child is calling to him from the place of torment, asking his father to dip his finger in some water to cool his tongue. I first heard that song during the week that Pop lay dying of cancer. I couldn't help but think of all the knowledge this man had about the Lord and the way of salvation, that he deliberately withheld from his children.

Pray for Tom today, and in the weeks to come, but especially today, that he might be able to speak to his family of the hope that lies within him. Oh, that God would have mercy on this family!

August 1986 -- "We were like them that dream" (Part Seven)

The Announcement was made one night during the August conference at Maranatha. My dad stood on a chair in the fellowship hall after the service, raised his hands, and in a loud voice said, "May I have your attention please?"

Normally, when my dad says that, everyone gets quiet and waits for some important announcement. Then, when everyone's looking at him, my dad will say, "Thank you. I just love attention." And then he will get off the chair and go back to whatever he was doing before. You have to know my dad. He is never annoying or egotistical. Things like that usually only make him more lovable.

This time, though, he said, "Someone else wants your attention." He then looked at us, expecting Tom to explain. Tom was not really prepared for this, but he managed to make The Announcement. We got a lot of applause, congrats, hugs, well-wishes, that kind of thing. And a bit of ribbing and teasing, too.

Later, though, some people suggested to my mom that wasn't this a bit sudden? Didn't we need time to get to know each other better? My mom just quietly referred them to Isaac and Rebekah, who had never even seen each other until the day they married. Rebekah Walker's dad, Pat Horner, puts it this way:

Short thoughts on courtship and marriage...how long does "courtship" last?

Taken from the biblical account of Isaac and Rebekah--

1. Help her get off the camel.

2. Say I do.

3. Take her into the tent.

Is it the Lord's will for me to be with this person? If the answer is yes, then marry them already!!!

Our thoughts, exactly. Tom observed that we had a lifetime to "get to know each other." We knew enough to get married on; the rest would come later.

In the very first post of this series, I quoted Psalm 126. The first verse says, "When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream." In a later post, I noted the spiritual depression Tom went through, which was a direct result of his saying NO to God. He says that when he said NO, all the lights went out. After he said YES, all the lights came back on, and the very first blessing God gave him was me (see Proverbs 18:22). After years of praying for a wife, God granted his request as Tom yielded to His will. God had turned the captivity back in Tom's life, opening up a whole new life of blessing.

For me, the "captivity" was singleness. A fellow college student had told me that before God would give me a husband, I would have to be willing to be single, perhaps for life. But I just couldn't accept that. I was definitely NOT willing to be single the rest of my life! I struggled a lot then with what God might require of me. I had to learn the truth of Psalm 37:4, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." I did not need to resign myself to a life of singleness in order to be "rewarded" with marriage. I only needed to have the Lord as my soul's delight. My primary focus had to be on Him, not on marriage. Once I stopped trying to "find someone" and learned to wait on God's timing, He gave me Tom.


to be continued. . .

July 1986 -- "You'd better take good care of her!" (Part Six)

For those of you who have been following this story, I apologize for taking so long to come back to it. My two oldest sons have taken over my computer. For you who are new, I suggest clicking "My courtship and marriage" on the sidebar to get the beginning of this story.

I came home from my aunt's house 100 per cent positive that my being with Tom was of the Lord, and I was ready to follow Tom's lead in how this "relationship" progressed. I put "relationship" in quotes partly because I don't really like that word (it implies more than friendship, but not necessarily long-term commitment). Also, words like "relationship" and "courtship" were not common buzzwords then. I didn't like calling Tom my "boyfriend" either, since that also did not suggest long-term commitment. So I just didn't bother with labels; instead, I concentrated on making sure I was ready for marriage, in case that's where this led (and I was pretty certain it would).

I started working at the camp, volunteering my time. I was able to be at all the camp services, and fellowship with people I'd known half my life. Since Tom was on vacation at the time, he came to stay at the camp, and we spent a lot of time together. It was at this time, I think, that I learned that Tom and I had played ping-pong the year before. I was shocked. I had absolutely no memory of it at all. They said I beat him soundly, and kept asking if Tom had gotten any practice since then, in order to beat me this year. Even Tom was teasing me about it! Apparently I was so adamantly opposed to the very idea of having anything to do with him that I completely blocked it out of my memory.

We became engaged one night during the second week of July, 1986. We were sitting on a bridge in the little village up from the camp, talking about this and that. Tom was silent for a few minutes, and I asked him what he was thinking. He said he was wondering if it was too premature to ask me to marry him! I told him I was willing, but he would have to ask my dad. We decided not to say anything to anyone until then. Meanwhile, we continued to get to know each other through conversation, studying Ephesians, and watching each other interact with others in different situations.

Tom and I met with my parents the next week, I think. The four of us sat together on the floor of my parents' large bedroom and talked things through. Tom had a lot of questions to answer, and we had details to work out. I think we talked for well over an hour. When we were finished, and had my parents' blessing, we went downstairs to tell my grandmother. She hugged us both, and with tears of happiness in her eyes, she wagged her finger at Tom and said,

"You'd better take good care of her!"


to be continued. . .

From the Pastor's Desk--"One-Legged Missionary"

From today's bulletin:

A one-legged school teacher from Scotland came to J. Hudson Taylor to offer himself for service in China.

"With only one leg, why do you think of going as a missionary?" asked Taylor.

"I do not see those with two legs going," replied George Scott.

He was accepted.


This afternoon I did some internet research about George Scott. I came up with this interesting fact: Mr. Scott's first Chinese evangelist was paralyzed.

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

A must-see video

My brother-in-Christ, Rand, just put this video on his blog. Now I'm putting it on mine. If you are an average North American teenager, watch this video. If you are the parent of an average North American teenager, watch this video with your teen. It is almost an hour long, so make sure you have time to watch this, giving it the attention it deserves.

Paul Washer preaching at a youth conference in Alabama, in 2002.

From the Pastor's Desk--True Revival

from today's bulletin. . .

We hear much about revival these days, but the heart of revival is the Lordship of Christ. A mere emotional upheaval, a spurt of religious excitement, is not revival. When Christians become convicted of rebellion against the rule of Christ in their lives, confess their sins, renounce self, take the cross and let Jesus have the first and last word in everything, that is revival, by whatever name you call it.

-Selected

A crazy day

Another "Life at our house" post. This is a copy of what I wrote in an e-mail card to a few people today. It is short and terse because they would only let me have 500 characters. (Sometimes I feel like I actually have 500 characters living in this house! :) )


Cats belong outside. Cleaned up two dumps in my room. Kittens are outside. Sarah says they have worms. Josiah called the shelter. John went on a potty strike. Made my bed w/ clean sheets; John wet it. Timmy not happy. Laundry, laundry, laundry. [Insert name of a friend] called to say she has lice. Checked everyone's heads. All clean so far. Need to scrub floors. Never got school done today. My devotions this morning: This is the day which the LORD hath made: let us be glad and rejoice in it. Psalm 118:25


Previously, Sarah had adopted a stray pregnant cat. BIG time mistake. After blessing us with four kittens, she and they infested us with fleas. Then the kittens proved they had worms. Josiah did research and found that fleas are worm carriers, perpetuating their life cycle. The whole cat family was taken to the shelter; mama last week and kittens today. Practically the girls' whole bedroom was infested, and had to be thoroughly cleaned and fumigated. All the bedding, all Sarah's clothes (she found out the kittens had slept in her dresser drawers), all had to be washed and dried in the dryer to be sure the eggs were killed. I lost count of how many times we gave the kittens flea baths. And they would NOT use the litter box! We put them in; they ate the litter. Then made messes all over the house.

I had a sinking feeling when we found out about the lice. AND a feeling of HUGE relief to find we didn't have any!!!! I have had enough extra laundry for a while. Tomorrow we are going to scrub all the floors. All this is why the first thing I did when we got this house was to rip out all the carpet.

All the children have gone to bed. I am going to sit and crochet in peace so my mind can relax before I go to bed myself.

Really, I can laugh about this. A little. Maybe a chuckle or two. A sense of humor, after all, is mandatory at this house.

Smiles,

Cathy