We're Walking for Life

If you are a parent, think back to the day that you chose to announce your coming little one to your closest friends and family. Probably, for most of you, your annoucement was greeted like all of our pregnancies have been greeted--hugs, smiles, a kiss from an eager grandfather to be, and promises of support from helpful family and friends. As the long days of pregnancy progressed, and sickness or unforeseen complications arose, most of us received continual support and encouragement from family, our church, and friends around us.

However, while we usually fail to think about it in our secure and loving environment, there are those every day who are meeting an annoucement of a coming little one as a worst case scenario. There are no kisses, hugs, smiles and promises of support. There is anger, denial, promises of no support, and often there is violence. Often, in a time of life where human beings would naturally offer shelter and security, a woman is abandoned and left to face "the problem" alone.

We tend to point fingers and give righteous pronoucements while never remembering or refusing to acknowledge why we are not in her condition ourselves. Most of us were born into families with married parents. Most of us had the warmth and shelter of a happy home where meals were often eaten together and holidays are memories of love and contentment. Many of us went to church from our earliest days and had pastors and loving parents to guide us through the troubling days of adolescence. Most of us had someone to talk to, and a clean place to sleep. None of us had perfect homes, but most of us had homes where we were loved.

We tend to forget that the only reason that we are not the woman pushed into the street is
because we were born into a environment that kept us from this. We forget that we did nothing different than she did to avoid this awful place in life. Rather, we forget that God has been good to us. That's all there is to it...we forget that we aren't the pregnant teenager, or the single mother, or the abandoned wife, because God has been good. I can easily picture myself in each one of these situations, outside of God's mercy to me.

Our family is walking in the Walk for Life this Saturday out of gratefulness to God and out of a fear of God. Gratefulness because God has been better to us than we ever deserve. Fear because God does not give expecting nothing in return.

We need sponsors for our Walk so if you are not in a position to join us on this walk, but want to express your gratitude to God, please contact us. Someday I am sure that I will stand before God with these mothers close beside me. I have a lot to answer for, don't you?

The Half Way Mark

One of the interesting things about time is that it usually seems to speed up when we're having fun and slow way down when we're not. That's why we're celebrating the half way point of my pregnancy for baby number eleven! Nine months almost always seems like a very long time--especially when those first few months go by very slowly. Thankfully, although this pregnancy has had more than its share of difficult days, we are learning that God's perfect way is for us to glory in our difficulties. The Apostle Paul said that "most gladly" will I glory in my infirmities. Instead of asking God to take away difficulties, he learned that it was more beneficial to him to experience God's power working through the difficulties.

I'm still working on the "most gladly" part, but I will say that I have already learned a lot through the difficulties that I have experienced. Recently, my doctor asked me to "tell him something good" when he entered the room. I replied that I had recently saw pictures of a maternity hospital in the Sudan, and I was glad that I was here and not there! Yes, we all have innumberable things to be thankful for, and the more we look around, the more things we usually find to be grateful for.

I'm grateful for the sickness I've gone through because I learned a little more how to relate to others that experience extended sickness. I'm grateful for those days in bed because it gave me time to think about all the ways God had blessed me (after all, I was resting in an air conditioned room). I'm thankful for the days of isolation from others as I couldn't get out because it gave me perspective on the loneliness and pain that others have that never get out. I'm thankful for the difficulties I experienced because although it's not in the Bible, I believe that all good things come to those who put some effort into it. If that's true, I think we're getting ready to have something really special.

50 Years together for my parents

God has been very good to our family, and just this weekend, our family was able to celebrate 50 years of marriage for my parents, the Archibald's. Thanks to everyone that helped us to celebrate this time with them, whether you were able to come, or whether you sent cards to them.

I was very proud of our daughter, Joy, as she worked so hard to make a beautiful
cake for them. She did a magnificent job and since she is only thirteen, I think she has many years of beautiful cake making ahead of her! We're very happy for you, Joy, and thanks for working so hard!

If you want to view a video of thanks to the Lord that we made for the anniversary, as well as a power point slide show of pictures, visit this link.

God has been good to totally change a family that was destined for ruin. My father was successful in the world of business, but those who knew him knew that he was an alcoholic. He and my mother were far from God, but God came very near to them and made them an offer that has forever changed their lives--and ours. Everything that we enjoy today is a gracious gift that cost God dearly, but that has meant everything to us. God is good!

Ten Tips for a Successful Year of Homeschooling

Many families fail in their goals for homeschooling simply because of a lack of planning. Beginning a school year with inadequate planning is a recipe for a stressful, and ineffective year of homeschooling. I have homeschooled our children for fourteen years and people often ask "how I do it?" There's really a very simple answer to that question. The answer is that I do it 1. very prayerfully and 2. very carefully (with about two weeks of my summer given to planning for the coming school year.) Here are ten of my favorite ideas for having a successful school year.

My Homeschooling Picks of the Year

This is our fourteenth year of homeschooling, and over the years, I would say that I have learned many of the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling. One of the best things I have loved over the years is the variety of materials available so that each child can have a unique learning experience. One of the yearly events that I enjoy the most is going to our state convention and choosing the year's curriculum with each child in mind. While we usually have a few favorites that we stick with year after year, I also usually find some exciting new texts to try. Here are some of this year's top picks for our family.

Used Homeschool Curriculum Needed

We are collecting used Abeka curriculum that is still in good condition for a foreign homeschooling family that we met this past summer. It can be very difficult and expensive for these families to get the curriculum they need. If you have some to sell or donate, please contact me. We are looking for Abeka grades 5-9. Thanks!

Pudgy Motherhood

Recently I read a news article that reminded me of what true motherhood is all about. Now, I don't read the popular women's magazines nor do I watch television; however, apparently Jillian Michaels seems to be a very popular professional body trainer these days. It seems that a lot of women look up to her so I thought I would give my thoughts about a statement she recently made.

In a recent magazine article, Jillian Michaels said that she has no plans to get pregnant or deliver a baby because doing so would "mar" her body and cause her to lose her figure. Currently, she says she is involved in a program where she "stays with a different family each week with the aim of getting to the bottom of each person’s issues and helping them make life-altering changes to better their health and happiness." (Please note the quote marks around this last statement because they are not my words.)

When I read about her current mission of staying with families,
I thought of a place where I would like her to stay and a family I would like her to meet. If anyone out there personally knows Jillian, please let her know that she is welcome to stop by and help us work out some of our "issues." No doubt, she would think we have a lot of issues! I have no doubt also that when it comes to perfect body figures, we wouldn't even be in the same competition since I have delivered ten babies and been pregnant with twelve. However, when it comes to her helping us to "make life-altering changes to better their health and happiness" I believe I would have a few lessons to teach her myself.

Perhaps she hasn't yet learned that seeing an expectant mother waddle around with an obviously unshapely body is one of the most beautiful sights that one can ever see. If you don't believe me, ask the man who waited for years for his wife to conceive and she finally did.

Perhaps she hasn't yet learned that the sight of a one month postpartum woman with a big bulge around her middle is one that will bring a smile to the face of men who see her coming. If you don't believe me, aske the grandfathers who are arguing over who gets to hold the baby first.

Perhaps she hasn't yet learned that when a woman with various bumps, bulges, scars, and sagging features walks in and the room fills with "Welcome Home!" that there are better things than having a perfect body at 36 years old. If you don't believe me, ask the woman who is coming home to her family after a difficult labor and delivery.

Apparently one thing that she hasn't learned yet is that in just a few years, the best of age defying techinques and treatments will be rendered fairly useless on her formerly ideal body. Age will take its toll and her body will also begin to tell its story.

In the mean time, those of us who chose the scars and bulges will have something to show for it. After all, treasured family portraits aren't made with models surrounded by men. Treasured family portraits are made of slightly pudgy, but smiling grandmothers surrounded by children and grandchildren with just a few cookie crumbs and smeared peanut butter in the background. Perhaps the words of my favorite five year old would clarify things a little. Snuggling up to my "baby-marred" body, he said, "You are so beautiful."

Now as for Jillian, no doubt I haven't heard those words from as many people as she has, but I guarantee you that she doesn't have anything over on me. As a matter of fact, is she truly wants to visit families and talk about "issues" that affect "health and happiness" I can recommend a good place to start.

Happy Mother's Day to all the slightly pudgy, saggy mothers out there! Kiss those babies and don't look in the mirror too often and I think those "issues" will just go away.

If you are prolife, you need a baby bottle!

For years, I thought I was prolife. After all, I'm here today because my mother didn't follow the advice of her doctor to abort me. I was supposed to have some major health issues that made my birth inadvisable. (Maybe this explains my oddities to those of you that wonder about me!) However, he was wrong, and I'm glad my mom did what was right.

So, I've always been prolife--or so I thought--until this past summer when I had an experience that has already begun to change my life.

This past summer we were very busy as my husband presented his seminars all over Europe. Many of our evenings were taken as he spoke in churches, but during the day, we often visited historical places. One day in Poland, we decided to visit Auschwitz.

Although I have read a lot of history, nothing prepared me for that day in the infamous World War II death camp. The camp is left much as it was then, and is a dark, depressing reminder of the millions of Jews that were slaughtered just because of their race.

After we left Auschwitz, I blogged about our day there, (see June 2009) especially as I remembered the large rooms stuffed full of shoes and purses and the display of broken toys taken from the children. A very grim room was full of the human hair taken from those unfortunate to have been taken there.

I blogged about the tragedy that I saw there and wondered about how it could have happened. After all, there are houses around the perimeter of the fences and surely lots of people knew what was happening at least in some measure. After all, how can one hide the deaths of at least 11 million people?

As I pondered about how this had been allowed to happen, another blogger posted a comment that made me question the whole idea that I really was pro life. He ended his comment by saying,
"I would also say that I cannot think of the holocaust without thinking of the American Holocaust, the genocide of the unborn which is continuous and ongoing and for which we all bear great shame. May God forgive us for our silence and may He strengthen us for the fight."

My heart was struck that although I claimed to be prolife, I had done almost nothing to show it. While condemning those of a previous generation, I had been showing the same general attitude of carelessness and resignation. After all, it's the law in our land as it was the law back in the days of Hitler that certain classes of humanity can be extinguished.

Since that time, I have begun volunteering at our local Pregnancy Support Center. While I have to live under laws that allow for the destruction of unwanted babies, I can do all within my power to convince their mothers of the value of their child and to support them through this crisis in their lives.

This is where the baby bottle comes in. If you say you are pro life, then you need to get a baby bottle. The baby bottle campaign in a fund raising campaign that runs from Mother's Day to Father's Day every year. Baby bottles are distributed to the churches in our county and are filled with change (and hopefully quite a few bills!). The funds are used to do everything from providing free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, to providing diapers and infant formula to needy mothers who have chosen life for their children.

If you live in Rowan County, let me know if your church has not yet received baby bottles for this year's campaign. If your church is not involved, we'll supply you with all the baby bottles you can use on your own. If you are not in Rowan County, but wish to be involved, let me know, and we will certainly find a way. After all, faith without works is dead. There are mothers out there who have chosen life and they need us to come along beside them and support them in their choice. Let's all remember the words of I John 3:17, "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"

Is Gardening Redeeming the Time?

Since this blog is supposed to be about Redeeming the Time, I would like some comments about whether you think gardening in today's world is redeeming the time.

Today, I finished planting my garden for the year. After 250 strawberry plants, over 100 tomato plants and multitudes of seeds, I was happy to be finished to say the least. It's always nice to see a big job finished as long as I don't think about how much work it is going to be maintaining a garden and doing something with everything that comes from it.

Now the big question...With vegetables relatively inexpensive at places like Aldis, do you think it is worth the time to raise a garden considering all the time that has to be given to it? Also, if you have a garden how well do you keep it up? Is it redeeming the time to have a weed free garden or does your garden resemble my "jungle patch" by the end of the season?

Post your comments or email me with what you think. Let me know if I cannot use your comments on an article for our website on this topic. Otherwise, I'll assume you don't mind being published!

Cows are Messy (and so are kids)

Recently I met a man that reminded me of this verse in Proverbs 14:4. "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

We were walking together as a family and as is usual when people see us all together, this man stopped us and asked if the children were all ours. As we began to speak with the man, he told us about a family that he knew that had a large number of children and how clean their house always was. He said that this family always had a spotless house with sparkling windows. To top it off, he said their floor was clean enough to eat off of.

This was quite impressive to say the least, especially since it reminded me of our house--at least a little. It's true that our windows rarely sparkle because they usually have quite a few fingerprints on them. It's also true that it certainly doesn't rate spotless--at least since we moved in. One thing he said,though, made me really relate to this amazing family that I have never met. This gentleman remarked that one could even eat off the floor in this house. I laughed to myself when he said this because people can often eat off the floor at my house also. Yep, there could even be a few cheerios there right now. Maybe even a Pepperidge Farm goldfish or two. If you get here at just the right time, you'll probably score some leftover birthday cake since we have so many birthdays around our home!

Over the years, I have discovered that each one of us has the same amount of time allotted to us. Some people use their time making their home spotless, others surf the internet or chat on facebook (shouldn't have said that one I guess...), and never take time to clean up the home. Others realize what this verse in Proverbs 14 says brings valuable insight into a proper perspective. If you don't have cows around, you will have a clean barn. However, remember that cows are valuable, so take your choice!

Children are like cows. They're messy and sometimes it even gets smellly; however, I would rather have a house full of priceless children than have a spotless house and none to be seen. Now back to the big family that had the spotless house. My best guess is that the gentleman had failing eyesight. Other than that, I would say that there could have been some misplaced priorities.

Today I took my children fishing with their grandparents. I had plans to get a lot of household things done, but grandparents won't always be around and neither will my kids. In the last few weeks, we have gone fishing three times and caught about 250 fish. Nothing will ever replace the memories we have made standing on the creek bank and watching my daughter continually yank her fish into the tree top while eagerly reeling it in. I also had time to have a picnic with my daughter back in the woods--just the two of us.

Friday, we enjoyed one of the privileges of homeschooling and cancelled school to go to the Discovery Place in Charlotte. On the way back we enjoyed 99 cent meals at IKEA (hint: families watching their budget should watch the restaurant specials at IKEA--we got 12 full size meals for 99 cents each).

Yes, you can probably find a snack on my floor tonight, but you can also see some smiling kids around my table. We don't have a spotless house, but we do have children and as of last week, we also have a cow, but that's another story for another day. Thanks to my sister in law, for keeping my cow at her house. I hope she remembers how valuable it is when she sees the mess it is making!
For other thoughts on children and time, visit our site for ladies.

God is Helping Me

Thank you so much to each one of you that send kind emails, cards, prayers and even great food our way in this last week. Thanks to the friends who live close by who stopped by to talk and cry with me and showed themselves to be true friends.

During the past week, I have experienced a lot of struggles as I have worked through the loss of our baby. Although I never questioned why God allowed this to happen, I still had questions and things that I did not understand. Since last week, I had been getting very little sleep and my days were not much happier. I know it is normal to grieve over losses in our lives, but I was looking for some answers from God and wasn't hearing much from Him although I knew He was there.

Yesterday morning I was able to spend some time by myself in the quietness of the morning, so I began to talk to God about all the things that were bothering me and things I did not understand. As the Psalmist says, I "poured out my heart before God." When I finished, I decided to read one of the Psalms as I felt perhaps I could find some answers there. I took my Bible and opened it instead to a passage of Scripture that talks about the holiness of God.

As I began to read about the holiness of God and about how everything He does is always righteous, pure and holy, God began to touch my heart in a way that I can only best illustrate by relating what happened at the hospital just a few days ago.

I have always been a private person when it comes to displaying emotions in public--especially among strangers. However, after all the stress of having found out that our baby had died, I found myself crying in front of hospital staff, in the waiting room and in other public places where I normally would have been able to maintain my composure. The day before my surgery, I had to go for pre operation procedures so I was at the hospital for a while in various offices. I'm sure my face was a mess and I was having a hard time just going through with everything. I got to the lab at the end of my time there and by then I had been crying for a while.

The lab technician didn't say much but she looked at my already bruised arm and proceeded to jab it again and draw even more blood. When she was finished, though, she did something that no one had ever done even though I have had blood drawn many, many times.

As she finished, instead a sticking a little bandaid on it, she began to carefully wrap and bandage my arm, but as she did it, she not only bandaged it by carefully wrapping it, but she patted my arm and and squeezed it and communicated to me without saying a word that she didn't know my difficulty, but that she cared. In the quietness of that room, she took the time to care without saying a word.

Back to the passage about the holiness of God...
As I quietly thought on the holiness of God and about how God is different from the other "gods" we often hear about, I realized in a new way that God is a holy God and He does nothing out of spite, or revenge, or hatred, or just to take advantage of us. He does everything that He does out of His goodness, His righteousness, and His holiness. His holiness only allows Him to act righteously toward us, and this began to comfort my heart.

As I sat in the quietness of the morning and began to think about these things, God began to "bind up the brokenhearted" as the nurse in the lab bandaged up my arm. There wasn't a lot said between me and God, but I felt Him bandaging up my heart-- stopping to pat it and pour some "Balm of Gilead" in it and take His time to communicate that He cared. When He got finished, I was able to walk into the day having experienced a wonderful office call with the Great Physician.

Thanks again to all of you who have prayed for me and sent emails from all around the world. Between this blog and facebook, I have received a steady stream of thoughtful comments from those close to home as well as from thousands of miles away. I never knew there were so many people who cared!

Blessings on your day! God is always good.

What is it like to touch the face of God?

Tonight we found out that the baby we were eagerly waiting to hold has already "slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God." Our loss is temporary, but our child's gain is forever. While we are sad, how can I be sorry when our child is perfectly happy and whole with Jesus tonight? I have so much to be thankful for, that while I am sad, I am glad that God made a way for us to meet in heaven. I like the words of the song, "Blessed be your Name... You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, blessed be the name of the Lord."

Our Trip to Europe in Review

The newspaper recently wrote an article about our time in Europe. If you are interested in reading it, here it is. Enjoy reading about a miracle trip!

Haiti

Most of us have been deeply touched by the needs of Haiti in this past week as we have seen the pictures of the devastation that has come upon their land. For those of you who are looking for a Christian organization who will minister in the name of Jesus, you may want to consider this mission which is directed by a good friend of our family.

This organization has been in Haiti for years and already has an established medical clinic, Christian day school, church, and orphanage. Within hours of the earthquake, they were headed for the streets of Port au Prince to minister to the needy there. For years they have been shipping tons of medical supplies, office equipment, and basic supplies to help the people of Haiti through their mission there.

While there are numerous organizations to give to, you may want to consider giving to an organization that has been there for years, and will be there for a long time to come and will be sharing the love of Jesus to these people who cannot be healed by medicine alone. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these..." Matthew 25:40

God Works on Refrigerators

One of the greatest joys in trusting God to provide our needs is actually getting to see Him do it. Recently, we got to see the Lord take care of our refrigerator.

This year at Christmas, we had a very busy household--much busier than usual for us--with lots of people coming and going. We were looking forward to enjoying several meals with extended family and having large groups in our home. The night before our first guest was to arrive, I was up late working and getting ready when I noticed that our refrigerator had stopped cooling. Not only was this really inconvenient because it was well after midnight, but also because we had two big meals planned for the next day for friends and family. I had a large amount of food in my refrigerator just waiting for the next day.

I must say that I was frustrated, because not only was I very tired by this time of day, but I didn't want to have to go find a refrigerator on Christmas Eve and still have to prepare two meals. It was cold outside, so I knew I could just put things there, but that would be a lot of work which I really didn't want at the time. I just stopped, and partly out of exhaustion, and partly out of frustration, I just prayed to the Lord and asked Him if He couldn't just make the refrigerator work just until the holidays were over. With the faith that I had, I just left the refrigerator and kept working awhile and came back. I was delighted when I came back right before I was ready for bed and saw that the thermometer showed the refrigerator to be very cold--almost too cold. The end of the story is that the refrigerator worked wonderfully through the next few days and through the holidays. Our last guest was preparing to leave, when I noticed the refrigerator was getting warm again.

I mentioned this story to someone in my family, and they said, "Why didn't you just ask the Lord to fix it?" I don't know why I didn't, but I am glad that He did what I asked--He fixed it for the holidays.

The end of the story came tonight right before Lowe's Home Improvement closed for the evening. We had been watching for a good deal on a refrigerator while we used a smaller one to get us by until we could find one large enough for our family. Tonight, Rick went to Lowe's to buy other things when he decided to ask the man back in appliances if they had any damaged appliances that were marked down. Rick told him what we were looking for, and the man said they had one in the back. Now, keep in mind that we were not wanting to spend anywhere near full price for a refrigerator that would suit our family size. We were looking at used options or praying that we could find a blemished one.

He took Rick back and showed him a refrigerator that was a great refrigerator--much better than we have ever had before, but the original price was $1700. They had marked it down to $1500 for some marks on the front, which was a nice discount, but still way more than we wanted to pay. Rick began talking to the man and he said that he would sell it to him for $900. Rick said, "Well, I tell you what, if you will take $800, I will buy it tonight." He agreed, and we walked out of the store with an amazing deal and a brand new refrigerator (with a little scratch on the door). We also came out of it with another story of God's provision for our family! What a blessing we would have missed by just walking in, handing over a credit card, and buying a refrigerator big enough to meet our family's needs. God provides for those who choose to place their trust in Him!

My Christmas Present to my Husband

This was one of my Christmas gifts to Rick this year. I had been wanting to purchase vinyl word art for our home, but when I saw the price, I decided against it. However, after researching online, I was able to make this word art for about $1, and I think it turned out fine--even if I say so myself! If you are interested in how to do it, visit this link that I made. If you try it, send me a photo. I'd would love to see your work!