Our day at Auschwitz

Today we went to Auschwitz. I had lots of pictures in my mind of what Auschwitz would be, but nothing could compare to being in such a place. We started out by going to Auschwitz and going through several barracks. These barracks had different displays set up depicting prison life or memorials to those who were killed from particular countries or ethnicities. The museum was very moving seeing people that were just like me yet ending up in such terror and misery before their lives were taken.
The people were brought in to the camp and immediately separated into two groups. The people themselves did not know why they were being separated, but an SS doctor divided them based on their ability to work. Those who were able to work, stayed at Auschwitz until they died or became unable to work any longer. Those who were not able to work, children or those with children or the elderly were sent to Auschwitz Berkenau which meant immediate death in the gas chambers. There were so many painfully poignant reminders that these people who were murdered were innocent of any crime and were in reality people enjoying life just as I do. One section of a barrack had just a mountain of shoes—shoes that were taken from the people before they entered the gas chamber. One big mountain of shoes was just the shoes of little children. There were other things too horrible to even think about including a glass enclosed room of human hair—about 4,000 pounds of it.
During our time there, we saw the awful evidence of how degraded a human heart can become. As we ended our time there, we went to the gas chamber and crematorium. Already, before we ever got there, my heart was already heavy with the inescapable presence of an overpowering evil. It seemed like the whole complex just reeked of death and the stench of it seemed to permeate every inch of the place. When we got to the “showers” as the guards convinced the people that they were, it was almost overwhelming to enter, and I did not want to imagine all the horror that went on in that place. Some places I have to try to imagine the history that took place. In this large, dark room I was only trying to not be overwhelmed with the reality of what did happen there. There were candles lit and a few fresh flowers, but other than that, everything was just how it had been then only we were looking at it from history’s perspective.
I must say that I could not stay in such a place but just a few moments. After seeing the evidences just a few feet back of so many beautiful lives and then seeing their ends, made me have to get back into the sunlight and see if I could sense God’s presence there. As I left, I wondered if the sense of evil and depression that I felt was just because of what I saw. Was this just a human reaction to seeing the depths of depravity that a human heart can sink to? Perhaps almost everyone that comes out of this camp feels much of the same way. The other part of me couldn’t help but wonder if this feeling I had was more than my imagination and that there really was a deep spiritual darkness over this place. I am not a theologian, but somehow I just believe that the heart of God is still deeply grieved over all the hatred that took place there and one cannot help but feel it when you enter the gate.

In Germany and Poland

We are in the Czech Republic today and are enjoying the beautiful countryside. Our time in Czech is relatively laid back as we have had a very busy schedule up until this time and expect to have the same after we leave here. We felt that our time in Germany and Poland was very beneficial and hopefully very fruitful in the lives of the people we met there.

If you have ever been at the birth of a baby, then you probably know a little bit of the feeling that we experienced while in Poland. Quite some time back, we knew that we would be speaking to a homeschool group in Poland, but we assumed it would be a very small and did not realize the significance of the coming event. As we got to the location and began speaking to the host, we realized the magnitude of the coming meeting as the homeschooling community is just now being "born" and are very excited about the possibilities that they have. We thought that this would just be a few people from the local town and that was it.

We were delighted and humbled to know that when people heard about these day long meetings through the internet, they decided to come from all over the country of Poland to attend. I spoke to a couple of ladies that had started at 4 a.m. from their community of Gdansk (the home of Lech Walensa) and caught a train to attend the sessions which started at 10:30 a.m.
The group was excited as they realized that there were others in the country of Poland that were also homeschooling. They don't have any curriculum in Polish or any aids at all, but they have a desire to make a difference in the lives of their children and their country.

The experience taught me a good lesson too--how can I think I have difficulties homeschooling when I have untold catalogs of books, cds, dvds, magazines and lots of conventions, associations and tutors available to me, and they have nothing? The birth of homeschooling in Poland is going well and was a joy to see.

We spent time in Germany, however, and the birth of hoomeschooling there is not near as easy or pleasant. We spent the night with the Dudek family in a little vilage in the middle of Germany. They have been sentenced by the courts to prison terms just for choosing to teach their own children. It doesn't matter that both parents are highly intelligent and loving parents. It doesn't matter that the father tutors German children after school hours for his own livelihood. The problem is that Germany wants no "parallel cultures" as the courts state it. Somehow this term sounds vaguely familiar after visiting World War II museums in Berlin. It seems like that era was supposed to have died long ago, but somehow it is still alive after all these years and after so much suffering to supposedly free them from that type of thinking. At any rate, we were humbled and appreciative of the courage of this family who has endured so much already just to do what they think God wants them to do.

Here are also some random pictures of our time in Poland.

Christian saw so many muslim people in London and western Europe that he thought he would also fix his towel like them. By the way, over here, London is now called "Londonastan." It is humorous to hear him say, "Mom, there's a towel head."
One of the many plaques around Warsaw where Hitler's soldiers went on a killing rampage.
The International Church in Poznan, Poland.
The homeschool organization of Poland.
"Old Town" Warsaw, Poland
Rick buying me a basket of strawberries in Poland
Sunshine at Aldi in the Netherlands
The cultural palace in Warsaw, Poland
Pope John Paul in Warsaw.
Royal and Christian with the executioner in Warsaw. This guy was dressed up and would do a little jig when someone dropped a coin in his bowl at his feet. People were surprised that neither Precious nor Christian was scared of him. They went right up to him and touched him. I should have known that he wouldn't be afraid of this guy after what he did to the mummies at St. Michans church in Dublin, Ireland, when the guide said he could touch the finger of one of the mummies that was about 800 years old. He was in the room with Rick and the kids and I was outside with Paul. Just let me say this...if mama had been in the room, he would not have done what he did, but when dad is in charge, you just don't repeat what happens. Ask me when we get back--the internet is too public!

In Berlin Today

We are about three weeks into our trip now. We had services here in Berlin yesterday and visited lots on interesting places today. Tomorrow we head for a full week of ministry in Poland. Here are some pictures of our trip so far.

Here Royal and I are with two soldiers at the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. Can you tell which one is the statue and which one is living? The real guy is to your left...

The family at the Irish Sea in Northern Ireland

One of the highlights of the trip was touring the Ten Boom house in Holland. We saw the "hiding place" there.

Having fun in Northern Ireland

We have finally made it to Northern Ireland. Our days have been packed with ministry in lots of different places here. Tonight we are in the Republic of Ireland in Dublin where Rick is speaking in a Romanian church. We enjoyed ministry in New York City on our way out.

Will it be a Happy Mother's Day Thirty Years from Now?

What will your child's world look like? When we answer this question, we often think in terms of technology, finances, and new inventions, but if we were to know the reality of what this world will look like in just 30 years, it might give us cause to reconsider our current trends in hopes of preserving for our children, the culture of Christianity that we have enjoyed.

It's nearing mother's day, and people often ask me about the number of children that I have. What can I say??? I have ten children because I love children! I don't have ten children because I like changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night, enjoy labor and delivery, don't miss going out with friends, and don't have a need for privacy! However, several years ago, not only did God put a love in my heart for children, but I realized that many of today's mothers are going to have to step up to the challenge of doing what other generations have done--even if it was done then because there were few other viable options.

In past generations, our Christian culture has been maintained largely because women had a culturally sustainable number of children. Although they may not have realized that the privileges and freedoms they enjoyed came in a large part because of the number of children they raised to carry on their deeply-felt beliefs and convictions, that is the real result of what happened.

Today, we have plenty of options for avoiding having children which those generations before us did not have. Now we have the option of limiting children, and many have taken up the culture on that option and have achieved a higher lever of affluence, freedom, and career success than our mothers before us. While these things are not necessarily to be avoided, we should rest assured that there is sowing and reaping and cause and effect. Whatever we sow, we will reap, and by the looks of it, we may want to change course rather quickly. Is there anyone out there who will step out of the norm and accept the responsibility for averting a coming culture change? Are there those who will accept the stigma that our culture attaches to the couple who chooses to have a large family and who chooses to give up temporary freedoms of adulthood for the responsibility of raising future generations?

If you are truthful and if you are brave, take a look at this video on you tube. Keep in mind I did not produce this nor do I know the organization who did, so don't get mad at me! However, if you can stand some truth about the statistics of what your child's world will look like, check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU. Happy Mother's Day!

I didn't have time to do it

How many times have you heard someone say that they, "didn't have time to do it." Whether it was a task that didn't get finished or an activity that was left undone, we often excuse ourselves by saying that we didn't have time to do it.

In reality, however, we did have time to do it--we just chose to do something else instead. Each one of us has the same amount of time in a day and how we choose to spend it is up to us. When we say that we do not have time to do something, what we are really saying is, "I think something else is more important or I have something else I want to do more; therefore, I don't have time to do anything else"

The fact of the matter is that we always have time for the thing we do FIRST, and if we really want to do something, we can always make it first. Over the years, I have often thought that I did not have time to do something, but generally found that if I really wanted to do it, I could make time to do it by just throwing out activities of lesser importance. When we know what we should be doing and use the excuse that we do not have time for it, we are really just admitting that the problem is that other activities are a higher priority in our schedule.

My husband has an example that he uses in his seminar to prove this point... Think of all the things that you have to do. Do you have time right now for a two week vacation? Probably most of us would say that we do not. However, if you were to receive a call that a friend had just given you a free two week trip to the Holy Land if you could be ready to go in two weeks, would you suddenly decide that you really did have time for a two week vacation? Why? Because all those cleaning projects and petty activities that seemed so important just a few minutes before suddenly just really aren't that important any more!

We have been homeschooling for twelve years now, and quite honestly, with all I am doing, I just don't have time for it. I could name a hundred things each day that I have to do, but each day for 180 days a year, I start out by doing first what has to be one of the most important things in my life--teaching my children to love God with all their heart, and preparing them to effectively accomplish what God has called them to do in this life. Sometimes I get other things done, and sometimes I don't, but I do get done what I make time for.

In just a couple of weeks, our family will have two big milestones. First, our oldest daughter, Sunshine, will graduate from high school. When I see how she wants to serve God and is adequately prepared to do so, I am not sorry about all the things that I didn't have time for while I was spending it helping to prepare her for life!

Just a few days after her graduation, our family is leaving for a four month trip to Europe to share the messages on "Redeeming the Time" that we have shared for over twenty years here in the U.S. It seemed like an impossibility that God would ever work it out, but now it's almost here, and we are excited about how we will be able to minister (all twelve of us!) in countries from Ireland to Albania. We'll be posting what we are doing as we get the opportunity.

If you have the time--actually, if you take the time--be sure to check back in and see how we are "redeeming the time"!

No Regrets

"Live each day as if you knew it were the last day of your life." I have heard this statement often, but never really stopped to think it through. Many times I would hear it and attempt to practice it only to end up frustrated. As I began to think through what it really means to live each day as if it were the last day of my life, I began to come to the conclusion that it is not possible to live each day as if it were the last day of my life. A better challenge seems to be, "Live today so that if I die tonight, tomorrow I will have no regrets."

I know some people may think that the difference between these two goals is trivial, but in the working out of them, there is a great difference. For the person who thinks that he must live today as if it were the last day, any activity that is just a necessary chore of living becomes insignificant.

For example, if you really knew that this were going to be the last day of your life, what would you not do? I can guarantee you that if I knew today were my last day, I would eat all meals out to avoid cooking and washing dishes. I would skip all school work with my children and just sit and read books. I would forget about doing laundry and go for a long walk through the woods with my family. I would get up very early to spend extra time with God and then would spend the rest of the day consumed in enjoying the final day with family and friends.

This might be okay for a day or so, but eventually I would have to come back to reality and start washing dishes, doing school work, and cleaning the house--none of which I would have chosen to do if it were my last day on earth. This is why I think we sometimes feel frustration when trying to live by this standard of living for our last day. God didn't intend for us to know our last day of life because He wanted us to be living each day fulfilling our responsibilities, but continually living in light of eternity.

Now to the second goal statement: "Live today so that if I die tonight, tomorrow I will have no regrets." How is this statement any different than the first one? This statement realizes that life cannot be lived the way that the first question demands, but that it is possible to live with no
regrets. Today I can live so that if tomorrow I am in eternity, I will have no regrets for how I spent my time. In eternity, I will see that doing the daily chores were necessary. I will see that sweeping the floor was not any less spiritual than spending time with a child. However, I am afraid that I will also see that so many of the ways that I chose to use my time were only living for the temporary instead of the eternal. Even when it comes to daily chores, I may discover that so many of them were unnecessary in light of more important things.

I wonder if I were really living today so that in eternity I would have no regrets, which things would I leave undone? Who would I spend my time with? How would my standards for living change? How would I use my money differently? Which words would I choose to say or not to say?

For me, it brings a sense of freedom knowing that doing daily tasks are not just a necessary evil, but they are actually a very important part of God's plan for my life today. However, every moment of my life that I trade today for more of the temporary only takes away from the eternal significance of my life.

Borrowing from my husband's favorite quotes, I should continually be saying through out my day, "What does God want me to do RIGHT NOW?"

By the way, I have a wonderful sixteen year old daughter that is trying to live this statement out in her life. She chose to invest in my life on Valentine,s Day with a dozen roses. Her investment in my life, and my investment in hers will be something neither one of us will regret in eternity.