First Born

Before Cassia was born a prophesy went over her:

"Every child that opens the womb shall be called holy unto the Lord. And this child, in your womb, this child will be His anointed. This child will be a fulfilling of the scripture, ' and a child shall lead them.'

Anyone who knows Cassia wouldn't look at her and say, "Now there is a great leader!" But typical to the kingdom of Heaven the weak confound; the least are great. Cassia has a meek and gentle spirit that draws you to her, helps you let down your guard, and captures your affections. She has an uncanny ability to care deeply about everyone she comes in contact with. You are taken into her heart. Once there you will be ushered before the Throne of Grace by her, time & time again.

Being around her challenges you spiritually. She doesn't have to say a word. There is simply a quiet strength about her; an irrevocable presence that goes deep unto deep where Christ speaks life and blows away the dust of dormancy as Holy Spirit begins to move.
She has made us unbelievably proud as parents, but more importantly, I believe God looks upon her and smiles. He sings over her. A song that bestows anointing and grace with it's melody. And she sings back ~ in harmony.

She is leaving in 7 days to take her first road trip all by herself. She'll be gone 4-5 days, for more than 50 hours on the Greyhound, and be going through an interview and several other events at Crown College in Minnesota. Please pray for her (and for us as we watch her grow up)!

Suddenly Gone

A couple weeks ago we noticed a cough, and some labored breathing. But she was still so happy, eating well, wanting to play ball, playing keep away.
2 days ago I mentioned that it was odd that I hadn't seen Mazy in a couple days. She is always our first and last visitor of the day.
We got news today that Mazy had a cancerous tumor on her throat, and they had to put her down or let her suffer.
I've been crying.
She wasn't ours, but she has definatly a special part of our life in Montana. So much so that I am having a difficult time seeing our days rolling by without her.
Goodbye, sweet girl.

Easter Weekend

Paul and Shari are good friends from a former life :oD

They have joined us in bozeman for the past 2 Easter weekends with their 4 boys, Michael, Mark, Matthew, and Benjamin. The boys have near boundless energy and our house rings with laughter and, of course, sound effects. Star fighters, explosions, sirens, roosters, & phaser blasts...
The boys call J. the "Tickle Monster", but Ben may start calling him the "Head Bonker" - J. can explain that if he'd like. :o)

To get some of that energy expended Paul and J got them outside to run around in the freezing cold while Shari and I stayed nice and snug at home.
We spent some quality time with the dishwasher too so it wouldn't feel left out of the festivities!

We taught them Speed Scrabble (which Paul trounced us at - but it WAS 10 pm and I had been up since 4 AM, so he clearly had an advantage!) The boys taught the kids to play Settlers of Catan (Shaun & Anna gave it to us for Christmas).

I always make Blima for breakfast with company, and it is always as much of a hit as it was with me when Great Grama Rachel made it!

Their last day here, Don and Jen graciously let us crash in on them for a morning where the boys could tackle the climbing wall! I think I can safely declare Matthew and Mark official monkies!

Paul & Shari have shared life with us for more than 8 years. God has given us similar hearts and dreams, visions and goals. It was good to talk about all those, to laugh at ourselves, and to pray with one another.

I was also blessed by my kids and how they jumped in with both feet to love on and bless the boys. Duplos, stories, 3-2-1 penguins, games of Settlers, Sorry, Blockus, hikes, egg hunts, photos and giving up their beds and rooms ~ they showed themselves friendly. They are truly letting Christ consume them fully.

:o) *sigh* ~ it's good to love and to be loved in return...

Daily

I get the feeling she wants to play - how 'bout you?

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I am very proud of our heritage - but I am sure glad my heritage tastes better than J's Norwegian cuisine!

We had our traditional meal, got to eat all together, and listened to the Irish Rovers during it all!

Happy St. Padraig's Day!

When in the Course...

The Declaration of Independence begins:
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The ‘south’ of the civil war echoed these words when thy chose to secede from the United States. Though I have never uttered them aloud to anyone for the reason of secession, I have felt them inextricably when it comes to the raising of our children.

20 years ago, J and I disconnected from popular culture – which not only didn’t win us any popularity contests, it set us at odds with family, friends, and even our church. We “assumed among the powers of the earth, the separate & equal station to which the Laws of nature and of nature’s God” entitled us! Very few understood or chose to try to understand why we were walking a different path and we soon found ourselves on the front lines of a revolutionary war.

I don’t want this to be a repeat of past posts (you can look back through the archives if you want to see me standing on my soapbox proclaiming Deuteronomy 6 parenting), instead I want to cross something off my life list and tell someone ‘Thank you’.

I finished “Family Driven Faith” yesterday. It’s subtitled ‘Doing What it Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk With God’. Dr. Voddie Bauchaum clearly and concisely communicated our 20 year heart’s cry for our family. I posted awhile back about the podcast we listened to as a family that had me in tears. There were tears again as I turned the pages filled with solid proof & validation of our heart’s leadings all these years. I wish I knew Voddie and Bridget personally. They are kindred spirits. Thank you, Dr. Baucham, for being faithful to proclaim this message.

As for my life list ~ I realized that this has really been a life message for us. It is a cause that I am passionate about and that I have a difficult time being silent over. I want to see God’s purposes fulfilled! I can cross it off my list!!

Things to Do / See While I Yet Have Breath In Me:

· Fall deeply, helplessly, and unconditionally in love with someone who returns the sentiments and marry him. X (11/26/1988)
· Be an amazing friend who has amazing friends.
· Teach someone to read. X (1991, 1994, 2000)
· Ride horses on the seashore.
· Give birth, breastfeed, and raise loving children. X (1989, 1991, 1993)
· Be someone others respect deeply but do not fear.
· Be rescued.
· Memorize a book of the Bible.
· Be hugged by my Dad for no apparent reason & hear him say, “I love you.” For the same reason. X (11/22/06 - he died later that week unexpectedly)
· Bathe in a claw foot tub with tons of bubbles. X (11/26/2000 Anacortes, WA)
· Learn to tell the truth, in love, tempered with grace.
· Take a vacation with no time limits and stop whenever and wherever I wish. Have picnics, explore, photograph everything of interest…
· Make my own jewelry.
· Work in a soup kitchen for a holiday.
· Talk in an foreign accent for an entire day, some place where no one knows me.
· Sit on a jury.
· Milk a goat.
· Meet at least 2 people I do not know, whom I admire deeply.
· Attend a Broadway Musical or a Ballet on Broadway.
· Swim with Dolphins.
· Ride a camel in Africa.
· Send a message in a bottle in the Atlantic Ocean.
· Pet a Harbor Seal Pup.
· Learn to speak a foreign language fluently.
· Learn Sign language well.
· Be covered in butterflies.
· Visit 5 of the 7 continents. (N. America, Asia...)
· Be someone’s mentor.
· Learn to really dance. All styles (except western).
· Write a novel and have it published.
· See the Smithsonian and the rest of DC.
· Watch a lunar eclipse. X (3/3/07; 2/20/08)
· Write my will.
· Experience weightlessness.
· Kayak with Killer Whales.
· Hold my grandchildren, and see them laugh.
· Walk through history in the original 13 colonies.
· See the Northern Lights.
· Ride in a hot air balloon.
· Design and grow my own secret garden.
· Watch a lightning storm at sea.
· Visit the birth places of my ancestors.
· Own one classic, classy evening dress.
· Volunteer at an AIDS clinic in Africa.
· Buy a home near a stream or pond with a big porch & have a “revolving door” for friends, family, and needy.
· Learn to sing so others at least don’t mind listening.
· Spend Christmas in the Alps in a chateau by a fire with the one I love and wrapped in Cashmere.
· Have our family portrait painted.
· Throw a huge party where everyone who has ever been dear to us is invited and attends.
· Watch the sun come up on the ocean embraced by someone who loves me.
· Tour countries by bicycle for a year.
· Become an Auntie X (8 / 10/ 2007!!! to Connor)
· Fly a plane.
· Take serious art classes.
· Be a “mama” to orphans.
· Go white water rafting.
· Be kissed so passionately I get dizzy.
· Have photos published.
· Experience a spa day ~ a total pamper and primp.
· See the Cirque de Soile`.
· Ride a motorcycle. X (beginning in 2002 - 2005, Honda Nighthawk 750)
· Make love in a sleeper car on a traveling train.
· See my children marry someone who loves unconditionally, passionately, and deeply and have the wedding they dream of.
· Help build a house.
· Become knowledgeable and passionate about a cause. X (Doing what t takes to raise children who walk with God fully~ realized 3-16-08)
· Live somewhere without TV / Internet / Telephone / Cell Phone for a year, where there is a tight community of people. (almost like early America)
· Photograph: A birth, a wedding X (10/3/03; 11/13/04; 5/5/05; 8/4/07;11/24/07 ), a funeral.
· Speak at a large conference.
· Wander through: sleepy New England villages; and the fallen leaves, flea markets, ancient ruins, coffee shops, sandy beaches, museums, gardens, vineyards and attics of the Grecian Isles, Scotland, Ireland, Giverny, Tuscany, Madeira, Maine, and Prince Edward Island.
· Give more support and encouragement than criticism and correction.
· Do one thing that scares me to death.
· Get organized.

Chico

About a week ago a friend called J and asked him to come up to Chico for a weekend to see his band play and hang out with their family. We didn't have it in the budget. A few days later he called again and told us that they were reserving us a room and taking care of it.

What an amazing gift. We had a getaway not too long ago, but this was a time to not only be together but to go and be with friends, and hear some tight musicians laying down the funk, sleep for hours and even dance.

Scotty's band is "Big Caboose and The Soul Penetrators"! They are a fixture at Chico. Everyone knows them. The photo above is only about half the band. Guitar, bass, drums, keys, 2 trumpets, sax, & vocals make up the complete group, but even without the other 4, they did themselves proud! Scott plays some raunchy keys! Lots of attitude & soul in every chord! ELO, Tower of Power, BeeGees... and a little "Jesus Is Alright With Me" got people dancing, whoopin' and clappin' the night away!

Toward the end of the night, Scott called his daughter & her best friend up, and "MyMan James" to do the echo (sorry, I have no idea what song it was...). It was great!

Thanks Scott and Sadie for a great night! I wish we would have had more time to hang out, but we feel so blesssed to have been your groupies for Friday's performance and to be called your friends. We love ya!

Little Fella

Little Fella, originally uploaded by efiw.

I walked to the mailbox yesterday because the sun was warm and bright and I wanted a bit of it. Someone else wanted a piece of Mr Sunshine too!
Isn't he the cutest?

TGIF!

Melissa emailed this week and asked if we could meet for coffee. No agenda, just to chat. :o) We met at the new Daily on Rouse and did just that... talked. Thanks Mel. It was schweeeeet!

Catching Air! I'd appreciate your prayers still for Tof. His landing on his elbows and the ensuing numbness/tingliness of his left hand have not disapated for 2 weeks now.

We had friends over last night for a Mexican Fiesta! After gorging ourselves with enchiladas, spanish rice, frejoles, and Birthday Cake (Nathan and Anthony's), we played games, went sledding, had a snowball fight, and listened to the 3 guitarists hone their skills!

The time went by so fast. No one left until midnight!!

Really Clean

I love how the house smells when it is clean! However, it probably isn't the scent most people think of when they think 'clean'. There is no pine, no amonia, no lemony wax smell that greets you when you walk through the door. A little over two years ago all chemical products were purged from our home. What isn't made here, we make sure is safe for the enviorment - and for us. In the end, the house smells just plain clean without competing scents.

Here are some of my favorite home and body cleaners:

Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Magic Soap! Great for hair, clothes, dog... it comes in a vaiety of scents, but this is my long time standby. I also like the lavendar and the tea tree. Another of Bronner's creations, but this one is for hard surfaces. I do dishes with this, clean our floors, kitchen counters, etc... It's not soap, but it does have suds. Amazing stuff ~ SAL Suds. Nature's Gate has come a long way. Their new scents are luscious, but this is one that I repeatedly find myself gravitating toward. Madarine Orange Patchouli. My other fave is Grapefruit Wild Ginger. Natural Antibacterials.

In the dishwasher I use ECOS Wave powder tabs. I tried making my own dishwasher soap, but it just didn't get the dishes as clean or disolve well, so I am doing the next best thing ~ non-toxic, plant-based, free of phosphates, chlorine, petroleum chemicals, 100% biodegradable and the containers are easily recycled.

That's really all that isn't homemade around here. Here's a link to many of the recipes I use for glass, toilet, shower, carpet, & wood.

One wasteful product that I have not been able to get away from are dryer sheets. In the summer, I try to let things dry on a line, but winter and the static are BEARS where I live. Grizzly style - if you know what I mean?! Dryer sheets are toxic, however. Gives new meaning o "killing me softly", eh? Unlike some, I could care less whether any scent is left on the clothes, just keep away the static creep and crackle! The only natural alternative that works is Mrs. Meyer's, I've found. I reuse the sheets several ways. 1st use sheets are saved in a pile on top of my dryer. When there are 2 per load for the remaining loads, I begin putting 2 - 1st use sheets in for a 2nd time to make up the equivalent. After their 2nd run I save them in a container for dust cloths, computer screen wipes, & over the top of a cloth as a 'swiffer' for the hard floors. Mrs. Meyer's are biodegradable.

It's cleaning day here. I can't wait to smell it!

A Rant & a Praise for Grace, Grace, Grace

The worldwide churches' model of youth ministry from the last 50 years or so doesn't flip my flapjacks. (Like that one babe?!) But that isn't simply what this post is about. I hope it is more about the grace of God in the life of this hard headed, freight train of a daughter of His.

I'm not normal. If you have read this blog very long, I'm not sayng anything new. Look back through the archives and you'll see it crop up. (*here, *here, *here, *here are some examples)

Before I married J, God got ahold of me hook, line and sinker. I had been a 'believer' but not a Christian until that point. I began to devour the Word. What spoke most to me were the verses where God revealed how to raise a family, what a Godly wife looked like, and what it meant to be His child in His family (that is pretty much the entire Bible... :o) ). Deuteronomy 6:7 became my mantra. J & I discussed it all. We would homeschool our kids. Raise them without TV and very few if any movies. We would teach them to love God and seek Him and listen to Him. Our kids wouldn't date. We would make sure they were socialized through hospitality in our own home, under our authority. Dreams formed into values and study of Word and resources formed foundations.

We were told we were overprotective, that our kind of kids were needed in the public school arena, that they were going to grow up ignorant and naive ~ Do you get the picture that 20 years ago these were not popular ways of thinking. They still aren't, but as our kids are older and are able to expound their own thoughts and values to others; they have taken on much of the "Burden of Proof". Who they are speaks for the fact that God's ways are perfect.

Every now and then we hear someone else's voice that supports us in our shaping and sharpening of the arrows in our quiver that they might hit the marks God shoots them toward. 16 years ago we got ahold of a tape series by a (then) little known pastor, named Gregg Harris. (He's the dad of Joshua Harris, and Alex & Brett Harris and others who are shaking the world) I walked away with a key phrase from this series; I want my kids to be the missionaries and not the mission field .

We began homeschooling and lapping up everything we could get our hands on that would help us to not just fill them with knowledge, but train them in the way they should go. The Vision Forum began sending us catalogs, and I shamelessly ordered their books and tape series through our local library. We were filled with vision and purpose!

7 years later (that would be 9 years ago for those of you who don't like to do the math!) Monte Swan came into my life. Not literally. Just his book. It gave raising a family beauty as well as purpose.

When the teenage years (5 years ago) began and it was time to decide what to do about youth group, our spirits were in turmoil. We wanted to support our church, our youth pastor, and our youth, but we couldn't reconcile what we were doing with what we had always taught our kids ~ with what our convictions were. So again we began to dig for God's Truth. We didn't want to say "No you can't" simply because our hearts were unsettled, we wanted to bring it back to the Gospel. We knew the Word said clearly - "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children " (Deut. 4:9) "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." (Deut. 6:5-8) Simple as that. Was there a model out there? Something and someone we could point to that could back us up when we presented this highly unpopular belief to our circle of friends and family? Stats? Anything? What a joy the internet became. We had the world at our fingertips. :o) cliche' but true. I now have a favorites file entitled "Reimagining Family and Life" where I have bookmarked sites of people and organizations that point us ever onward in this journey being a Christ Centered family.

Again we found a book. Parenting with Kingdom Purpose both reiterrated what we had always held a conviction in and gave us new weapons to fight the battle ahead. We were refreshed in our zeal, steadfast in our purpose.

2 nights ago, J came home and had us all gather in the lvingroom to hear a podcast. This is nothing new, but J was impassioned by this speaker and we could tell the next 20 minutes were going to be important. Family Driven Faith is a new book on the old subject (in our house anyway) of shifting your paradigm of how you think family should be done; not going with the flow, not doing what everyone else is doing, or what is the easiest... but what God ordained from the beginning of time for our families to be. I was in tears by the end. My heart was just so full of the grace of God.
Thank you, Father for the fortiftude you placed in our hearts and continue to refortify. Thank you, for not allowing our shortcomings to derail Your divine purposes.

It isn't over yet.

Glimpses

I love photos! Thanks to all of you who sent us pictures so that we could see how big your kids have gotten and feel old! :oD
We love you all. It's so good to be in relationship.

Mama's little baby made shortnin' bread. Not just any shortnin' bread but Guerrilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower (Guosim) shortbread! We picked up the Redwall Cookbook at the library and are trying out some of the recipes.

Tofer got to go boarding midweek. A friend from our Bible Study is a snowboard instructor and he came to get Tof so the 2 of them could spend the day on the slopes. He had a great time and learned a lot.

Kathy's memorial is today. This picture was the last time I saw her before she began chemo. (she's the red head, 2nd from the left). It was this event that made her asthma act up. 3 days later it still wasn't going away, and upon going to the dr. they found the Lukeimia. We had just celebrated Danielle's (Tall brunette next to Kathy on the right) adoption of Angelika (from Russia), something Kathy and Danielle had warred in the heavenlies over for several years. Kathy got to see Angelika just before she passed away. I'm excited to celebrate Kathy's life today. She was an amazing women.