Monday, February 18, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
What is a Family?
Some books take a long time to get through because they're..... well - just hard reads, but some books take a long time to read because you want to savor them - you simply don't want them to end. What is a Family? by Edith Schaeffer was that kind of book to me over the past year.
Since I've entered the inevitable season where my children aren't so young anymore, I really thought much of this book would be irrelevant to me, but because I love Edith Schaeffer's style of writing and her ideas, I decided to read this book anyway. I'm so glad I did! From the first chapter to the last this awesome lady challenged me to consider how I impact my family every day and how I will continue to impact our sons when they've left our daily care, and how my influence (whether or not anyone gives it a second thought) will have its effect in the lives of grandchildren and great grandchildren when I'm long gone from this earth.
The Schaeffers lived a unique lifestyle of ministry - rubbing shoulders with the world in a way that many of us are tempted to glamorize or think idyllic, but Edith writes honestly and sometimes humorously about their struggles and relates to things we all experience in our immediate and extended families. There is so much meat to savor and ponder in this book. It could be read very quickly, I have no doubt, but reading it slowly gave me the opportunity to relate her teaching to different seasons and crises that occurred in our extended family over the past year. It was like having an understanding and like-minded friend come alongside me as our family encountered uncomfortable issues. What an encouragement she was to me!
I was convicted, blessed, strengthened, and encouraged to be a better mom - not because I've been such a lousy one up to this point (okay, sometimes I have been, but that's not the point.) The point is that the Lord always wants us to reach for His holiness and at the same time live in humility - understanding what we're really made of. He wants us to be witnesses of the redeeming work He does in the lives of all His people. He wants our families to love each other and to mean something in a godless culture. Did I mention that I was convicted by this book? The ways we do that will happen in our relationships with each other and in the traditions we create and in the way those things flow out from our families to touch the world. And it will be different for each one of our families. That's what's so wonderful about this book. It doesn't contain a formula for creating a perfect family - never mind that the perfect family doesn't exist. It's simply an encouragement to live humble and meaningful lives in the context of family to the glory of God.
I have no doubt that others will glean different things from this book than I did. If you haven't read What is a Family, I encourage you to put it on your list of must reads. If you're like me, you'll probably want to read it several times to gather the many jewels it possesses that are relevant to the different stages of life we experience as women and mothers.
Since I've entered the inevitable season where my children aren't so young anymore, I really thought much of this book would be irrelevant to me, but because I love Edith Schaeffer's style of writing and her ideas, I decided to read this book anyway. I'm so glad I did! From the first chapter to the last this awesome lady challenged me to consider how I impact my family every day and how I will continue to impact our sons when they've left our daily care, and how my influence (whether or not anyone gives it a second thought) will have its effect in the lives of grandchildren and great grandchildren when I'm long gone from this earth.
The Schaeffers lived a unique lifestyle of ministry - rubbing shoulders with the world in a way that many of us are tempted to glamorize or think idyllic, but Edith writes honestly and sometimes humorously about their struggles and relates to things we all experience in our immediate and extended families. There is so much meat to savor and ponder in this book. It could be read very quickly, I have no doubt, but reading it slowly gave me the opportunity to relate her teaching to different seasons and crises that occurred in our extended family over the past year. It was like having an understanding and like-minded friend come alongside me as our family encountered uncomfortable issues. What an encouragement she was to me!
I was convicted, blessed, strengthened, and encouraged to be a better mom - not because I've been such a lousy one up to this point (okay, sometimes I have been, but that's not the point.) The point is that the Lord always wants us to reach for His holiness and at the same time live in humility - understanding what we're really made of. He wants us to be witnesses of the redeeming work He does in the lives of all His people. He wants our families to love each other and to mean something in a godless culture. Did I mention that I was convicted by this book? The ways we do that will happen in our relationships with each other and in the traditions we create and in the way those things flow out from our families to touch the world. And it will be different for each one of our families. That's what's so wonderful about this book. It doesn't contain a formula for creating a perfect family - never mind that the perfect family doesn't exist. It's simply an encouragement to live humble and meaningful lives in the context of family to the glory of God.
I have no doubt that others will glean different things from this book than I did. If you haven't read What is a Family, I encourage you to put it on your list of must reads. If you're like me, you'll probably want to read it several times to gather the many jewels it possesses that are relevant to the different stages of life we experience as women and mothers.
Friday, February 1, 2008
It's the 1st day of February and baby, it's cold outside. Brrrrr.
What's that? That's not snow. It's sand!
In honor of the first day of February (or rather to thumb my nose at it) I'm posting this photo taken of the guys a few years ago. I love this picture. It is taken on top of Mt. Baldy on Lake Michigan.
Mount Baldy. Yep, it's bald. Just a great big giant (and I do mean GIANT) hill of sand. It nearly killed Greg and I to climb to the top, but we were rewarded with an exhilarating view as we stood there gasping for breath and clutching our chests.
Thinking of that hot white sand almost chases the shivers away!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Highschool Graduation
A lot has been happening these past few months. March found me preparing to speak at our annual Homeschool Convention and immediately after that I got into full swing with planning our oldest's graduation ceremony and open house.
We participated in a formal, but simple graduation ceremony with 7 other homeschooling families. It was lovely with beautiful music, delicious cakes and lots of attendees to bless the graduates. Each graduate was given the opportunity to contribute during the ceremony in some way. Nathan gave a short speech and his humor, as well as his spiritual depth, came through beautifully. What a wonderful young man he has become. I could not be more pleased.
We held Nathan's Open House the weekend before his graduation and we were overwhelmed by the number of friends and family who traveled across town as well as those who came from a couple hours away. With a little help from some friends, we fed a huge crowd approximately 20 pizzas and all kinds of assorted goodies. We've decided hosting a graduation open house before the actual graduation is a great idea. I was able to enjoy the final preparations for the graduation ceremony the following week. I have struck upon a good idea. Too bad I only have two more chances to perfect it.
The beginning part of summer finds us wrapping up 4-H projects, preparing for Nathan to leave for college in late August, and me in a constant state of de-junking. There's something about knowing one of your fledglings is about to leave the nest that helps one see the unnecessary clutter all around. Unnecessary clutter -- talk about redundant! Well, this is an ongoing job and while I hope to make significant progress this summer, I know it's a forever task.
We participated in a formal, but simple graduation ceremony with 7 other homeschooling families. It was lovely with beautiful music, delicious cakes and lots of attendees to bless the graduates. Each graduate was given the opportunity to contribute during the ceremony in some way. Nathan gave a short speech and his humor, as well as his spiritual depth, came through beautifully. What a wonderful young man he has become. I could not be more pleased.
We held Nathan's Open House the weekend before his graduation and we were overwhelmed by the number of friends and family who traveled across town as well as those who came from a couple hours away. With a little help from some friends, we fed a huge crowd approximately 20 pizzas and all kinds of assorted goodies. We've decided hosting a graduation open house before the actual graduation is a great idea. I was able to enjoy the final preparations for the graduation ceremony the following week. I have struck upon a good idea. Too bad I only have two more chances to perfect it.
The beginning part of summer finds us wrapping up 4-H projects, preparing for Nathan to leave for college in late August, and me in a constant state of de-junking. There's something about knowing one of your fledglings is about to leave the nest that helps one see the unnecessary clutter all around. Unnecessary clutter -- talk about redundant! Well, this is an ongoing job and while I hope to make significant progress this summer, I know it's a forever task.
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