Cousins

When we kids were younger, one of the highlights of summer was getting to spend time with our cousins in Pennsylvania when we visited our Grandparent’s house. We were all close in age, and always had a blast together!

 

One summer several years ago my Grandma requested that we take some pictures of all of us cousins so that she could have one in a frame. We got all dressed up and went to a park by the lake to get some shots.

 

We’ve all grown up a lot since this photo was taken!

Every year we would spend a day at the Lake swimming and playing on the beach together. We’ve missed doing that since they moved to Florida several years ago.

The last time our cousins came to visit around Christmas, we went to the lake again. We certainly weren’t swimming, but we enjoyed freezing together! J

But back to the summer pictures. J Most of the pictures didn’t turn out well because someone wasn’t looking, someone wasn’t smiling, etc. But we still had fun!

When we saw our cousins in April, we had so much fun with them. We’re all still a little crazy, and enjoyed lots of laughs! J I’m so thankful for my cousins!

Big Project

The past several weeks, but especially this last week, have been filled to the brim with a big project. It involved lots of printing, labeling, addressing, stamping, cutting, folding, signing, and stuffing.

 

My temporary workspace.

The finished product.

Any guesses as to what I was doing? You’ll have to come back Monday to find out!

Day with Friends

Yesterday we had the privilege of visiting with several friends. Our day started off by going to a park day with our old homeschool group in northern Michigan. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of that part of our day, but we really enjoyed catching up with friends!

 

After our time at the park, we stopped by a friend’s house to see their garden. It was definitely an inspiration to me! I would love to have a bigger garden someday.

We received the grand tour of the garden and the chicken coop (another thing on our family bucket list: owning chickens.)

I loved their pumpkin patch!

After our stop there, we continued on to another friend’s house to visit with them, and go swimming in the lake behind their house. The view from their yard is lovely, and so peaceful.

She fixed a delicious “snack” of chocolate cherry cake, pretzels, carrots with dip, crackers with nasturtium dip, lemonade, and water. Now that’s what I call a snack! J

We had a great time swimming in the lake even though it was a little cool out. We swam out to a little sandbar, floated on the tubes, and played a long game of Marco Polo.

Photo Credit: Josiah.

We got out to dry off and had some more snacks. Then we played sharks and minnows for a little while before we had to leave. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with all our friends! Thank you all so much for having us over!

Photo Credit: Ben.

Senior Celebration

The same day as the racing festival, Ben and I went to an activity at church with our youth group. Unfortunately in the craziness of finishing the races, getting home to shower, and leaving right after that, I forgot to grab a camera on my way out the door. L You will simply have to imagine what’s happening!

 

Every year the youth group does a special celebration in honor of the graduating seniors. Each year varies depending on the personality of the senior(s). J Last year, we went out to dinner and then had a paint war. You can read more about that here.

 

This year, there was only one girl graduating. I didn’t really know her all that well until we went to Haiti together. Her choice of celebration involved dinner at Applebee’s and an evening at Kokomos, a small amusement park in mid-Michigan.

 

Thirteen of us carpooled from the church for an early dinner at Applebee’s. I had oriental chicken salad, tomato basil soup, and breadsticks. It was good!

 

{Insert imaginary picture of my dinner at Applebee’s J}

 

We piled back into the cars to make the drive to Kokomos. I had never been there before, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. When we arrived, we purchased wrist bands that allowed us to participate in three activities.

 

{Insert imaginary picture of Kokomos building}

 

We started off by racing go-karts. We had to wait about 20 minutes in line, but none of us minded that much since we could talk together. The go-karts were a lot of fun, even though I got one of the slow ones. J Some of the teens were getting pretty competitive with each other during our races!

 

{Insert imaginary picture of Ben and I racing our go-karts}

 

While some of the guys went to ride the little rollercoaster, we girls talked and waited inside the building. When the boys came back, we all played laser tag together. It was a lot more fun than I was expecting! We had two groups that went, and each time it was girls against boys. We girls won both times. J The winning team was rewarded with ice cream cones.

 

{Insert imaginary picture of candy bar ice cream cone}

 

Once we finished our ice cream, we went back outside. Some of the group decided to go on the go-karts one more time. Ben, our friend B and I went on the rollercoaster together. Although I will admit I’ve been on scarier coasters before, this one was a bit scarier than it looked! But we still had lots of fun!

 

{Insert imaginary picture of Ben, B, and I on the rollercoaster}

 

We waited around for quite awhile for those on the go-karts before finally leaving around 9:00 p.m. We made it home pretty late that night! But we had lots of fun together! We will miss E (the graduating senior), but we look forward to seeing what plans God has for her future!

 

Race Day

All spring and summer, our family has been training to participate in a race festival. The culmination of all that hard work came to pass earlier this month. We awoke in the wee hours of the morning, to eat toast with jam and make the drive to the race location.

 

Mom and Dad awaiting the start of the races.

Me, getting ready to start the 10 mile race.

I kicked off the morning by running in a 10-mile race. Despite the hot weather and the fact that I haven’t been able to train as much as I normally would, I was quite happy with my finish time of 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 35 seconds.

 

Dad and Ben ran an 8k race together. Ben finished in 45 minutes and 25 seconds, while Dad finished in 46 minutes and 56 seconds. Considering the fact that Ben had never run this distance, and Dad hadn’t run that far in years, they both did great!

 

Roma and Rubia ran their first 5k, and finished hand-in-hand in 36 minutes and 16 seconds. Mommy walked her first 5k race and finished in just under 1 hour. All three of them have been so faithful in their training over the past several months!

 

By the time the 1-mile race rolled around, I had recovered from my race and decided to walk with Josiah. He was originally planning to run the race, but the doctor did not recommend doing that because of his broken arm. But we walked the entire race together and jogged the last few feet with his hand raised. J He finished in 17 minutes and 15 seconds. The twins ran the one-mile race just for fun, but didn’t bother timing themselves. Ben raced the one mile and finished in 7 minutes and 57 seconds. I can’t believe he could do that after finishing an 8k!

 

After all that running and walking, we enjoyed the free pizza and beverages offered to the participants. Cheap pizza and Diet Pepsi never tasted so good! J We all really enjoyed the festival, and we’re thankful that God has blessed us with the strength and health to be able to run (and walk!)

 

Critical Question

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this:

If you could have heaven, with no sickness,

and with all the friends you ever had on earth,

and all the food you ever liked,

and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed,

and all the natural beauties you ever saw,

all the physical pleasures you ever tasted,

and no human conflict or any natural disasters,

could you be satisfied with heaven,

if Christ was not there?”

 

John Piper, “God Is the Gospel”

 

 

 ~ posted by Betsy

 

Recipe--Chinese Beef and Rice

Many years ago, we found this recipe in a newsletter from some friends. Since we eat rice at least once a week, this recipe was a great way to change it up (we love rice and beans, but it’s nice to have a change every now and then.) I like the subtle spice the ginger gives this recipe. We also love the crunch that chow mein noodles add to this dish!

 

Chinese Beef and Rice

 

1 pound ground beef

2 teaspoons oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 large onion, chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon ginger

 

In large frying pan, brown beef. Pour off excess fat. Sprinkle with soy sauce and oil. Add onion, sugar, and ginger. Stir fry for 3 more minutes. Serve with rice and chow mein noodles. Makes 6 servings.

 

Birthday Trip to the Zoo

One of our very first birthday trips was a trip to the zoo for Roma and Rubia’s 6^th birthday. (For those of you who may not know, our family goes on special day trips to celebrate birthdays as a family, instead of doing a birthday party every year.) Zoos are a favorite place for our family, no matter how old we all get!

 

At the entrance to the zoo.

Ben and Roma pose in a Kangaroo cut-out.

During our day there, we had lots of fun seeing all the animals! Ben and I even had the opportunity to ride a camel!

 

The birthday girls had the privilege of riding the ponies. That was definitely a highlight for them! Their 6^th birthday was quite a favorite!

Horse-Back Riding with Friends

Earlier this week, we were invited to go horse-back riding with some friends! Their family bought a horse named Velvet about six months ago, and they have been working on re-training her since then (she’s in her 20’s and hadn’t been ridden in a long time, so she was “out of practice” with some of her skills.)

 

We met at their house and drove to the barn together. They gave us a tour of the barn and showed us where they keep the tack, and Velvet’s stall. We paid close attention to all the details, as owning a horse is on our family bucket-list. After that, we went out to catch the horses.

 

Velvet is a beautiful horse! We also met the 3 other horses that are kept at the barn where they board Velvet.

We took Velvet and another horse named Diamond back to brush and curry them. Josiah enjoyed brushing them with his left hand. J

After the horses were saddled up, we headed out to the pasture where we took turns riding. It was fun to be back up on a horse again!

“You can’t keep a good man down!” Despite his recently broken arm, Josiah had the opportunity to ride Diamond (don’t worry, she was on a lead rope!)

We unsaddled the horses and fed them some treats, which they enjoyed a lot!

Afterward, we drove back to our friend’s house, where we had a delicious lunch and enjoyed an afternoon of visiting, sharing music, and watching the Haiti highlight video. We had a wonderful time with friends! Thanks for having us over!

 

Visiting Cousins

This past weekend we had the opportunity to visit our cousins (the same ones who visited us in February) Although our visit was short, we made the most of it!

We arrived at their house in Ohio on Saturday, just in time for lunch. They had prepared delicious sandwiches, chips and cheese, carrots with dip, chocolate covered strawberries, brownies with caramel inside, and buckeyes. It was all so tasty!

The kids had a blast playing together during the weekend. Josiah and E are just a few months apart, and had lots of fun playing Legos®, toy cars, and many games of Uno.

Roma and Rubia had lots of playing with R. They love spending time with little kids, so they had a marvelous time.

Photo Credit: Roma.

We shared a lot about our recent trip to Haiti. After a dinner of Texas-style pulled pork, we watched the 20-minute highlight video with pictures and video from our trip. It was fun reminiscing about our time there!

On Sunday morning we were treated to a delicious—and filling—breakfast of oven-baked French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, bananas, and juice. We had so much good food over the weekend!

Photo Credit: Roma.

Then we all piled into our van to go to church together. Their church is really big! The sermon on serving was convicting to me.

Photo Credit: Roma.

For lunch after church, we had meatball subs, chips and salsa, carrots with dip, and more brownies and buckeyes. The subs were especially good!

Before we left, we paused to get a picture of our two families together. We’re so thankful that we had the opportunity to visit them, and we hope to see them again soon!

"Radical" and "The Radical Question" Book Review

During our trip to Haiti, our leader from World Hope assigned us some reading for our team devotion time. He had us read through a little booklet called “The Radical Question.” I was so challenged and convicted by that booklet, that as soon as we got home, I ordered the book “Radical” from our library.

I think that reading “The Radical Question” on our trip made it more powerful than if I had read it beforehand. In Haiti, I would often do my devotions on the rooftop where I could enjoy the calm and look out over the Haitian people walking up and down the road from the well. As I read David Platt’s challenging book, I could look at the poverty around me and say, “Yes! I understand what he’s talking about!”

The subtitle of the book is “What is Jesus worth to you?” This booklet contains excerpts—the main points—from “Radical.” The book starts off by talking about how we have redefined Jesus. We have twisted Him into a nice, middle-class, American Jesus who doesn’t call us to give up our material security, doesn’t ask us to give up our closest relationships, and would never ask us to leave our comforts.

David Platt challenges us to look back at scripture at the real Jesus. The Jesus who called people to leave behind their families (Luke 14:26), give up all their material possessions (Luke 18:22), and give up their personal comforts to follow Him (Luke 14:33.) Do we really worship and serve that Jesus? Or is our devotion simply to earn a “Get Out of Hell Free” card?

One quote from the book that really stuck with me is “The cost of discipleship is great. But I want to propose that the cost of non-discipleship is far greater.” Following Christ brings hardship and requires sacrifice. But isn’t the cost of disobedience to God’s calling for my life even worse?

After I finished reading the booklet, I spent a long time pondering the questions, “What is Jesus worth to me? Is He worth abandoning everything for? Would I be willing to leave everything I own behind if He called me to? Am I willing to serve Him with radical abandonment? Is He worth it to me?"

Reading “Radical” when I got home was another hit between the eyes. The subtitle of the book is “Taking back your faith from the American Dream.” In this book, David Platt again challenges Christians to take a look at the real Jesus and ask what He is worth to them. Throughout the book, Platt challenges the goals of the American Dream.

Here’s a typical quote from “Radical”: “You and I have an average of about seventy or eighty years on this earth. During these years we are bombarded with the temporary. Make money. Get stuff. Be comfortable. Live well. Have fun. In the middle of it all, we get blinded to the eternal. But it’s there. You and I stand on the porch of eternity. Both of us will soon stand before God to give an account for our stewardship of the time, the resources, the gifts, and ultimately the gospel he has entrusted to us.

When that day comes, I am convinced we will not wish we had given more of ourselves to living the American dream. We will not wish we had made more money, acquired more stuff, lived more comfortably, taken more vacations, watched more television, pursued greater retirement, or been more successful in the eyes of the world. Instead we will wish we had given more of ourselves to living for the day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will bow around the throne and sing the praises of the Savior who delights in radical obedience and the God who deserves eternal worship.”

I will readily admit that I probably never would have read these two books if I hadn’t been required to. In fact, I was rather skeptical of the book. I thought it was one of those pop-culture, shallow, a-dozen-books-like-this-exist, books. But I couldn’t have been more wrong! Next to God’s word, this is by far one of the most challenging books I have ever read. As one of the endorsers said, you will bounce between saying “Amen” and “Ouch” as you read this book. J Platt brings to new light Biblical truths that are impossible to ignore.

If you are perfectly content with living the American Dream of acquiring material wealth, don’t read this book. If you are happy with living like everyone else 6 days out of the week, and attending church for 1 hour on Sundays to fulfill your religious obligations, don’t read this book. If you’re satisfied with the distorted view of Jesus the American culture has created, don’t read this book.

If you want to be challenged, read this book! If you desire to be exposed to the real Jesus of the Bible, read this book! If you are pondering the question, “What is Jesus worth to me?” read this book! It is one that I will be reading many, many more times in the future and one that I believe every Christian needs to read.

First Broken Bone

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was bound to happen at some point. Last week Josiah became the first child in our family to officially break a bone (I broke one unofficially, but that’s a long story.) When we were visiting friends on Saturday night, he fell off a Ripstik (also known as a caster board.) He had a small cut on his wrist and a good deal of swelling. The adults examined the wrist and had him squeeze their hands and move it in a couple of directions. It didn’t’ appear to be broken, so they iced it for the time being.

On Sunday morning Mom and Dad left on an anniversary trip. My grandma and I administered Ibuprofen to Josiah every day to try and help the swelling. He didn’t complain about his arm hurting, but he wouldn’t move it very much either. He didn’t want to try rotating it at all.

When Mom and Dad got home Tuesday night, they thought it still looked pretty swollen. So Mom took him to the doctor on Wednesday morning. The doctor ordered an x-ray, and it turned out that he had indeed broken his wrist. The technical explanation says that he had a “non-displaced cortical buckle fracture involving the distal radius.” Basically, when he hit the ground with his hands extended, the bone buckled at the wrist and snapped.

Thankfully, the bones were still aligned so there was no need to adjust them.

They kept Josiah in a splint for one day until he could see the orthopedic surgeon who put on the permanent cast.

Josiah was very brave through all of this. He got to be the first one out of all of us to experience a broken bone, getting a cast, etc.

His cast goes up to his shoulder to minimize rotational movement of the arm. He has to wear it for 3 weeks. Then they will do another x-ray and if it is improving quickly enough, they will put him in a half-cast (up to his elbow) for another 3 weeks.

We share this as a warning to all of you reading: if you think a bone might be broken, you should get it checked! We felt bad that Josiah walked around with a broken arm for 3 days, but a broken bone is not always as obvious as one would think! (And some children apparently have a higher tolerance for pain than others.) We have all learned a valuable lesson. But we’re very thankful that we did catch it before it was too late and that he will hopefully need the cast for only 6 weeks!

Thirstier

La Montagne, Haiti

Oh, God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”

A.W. Tozer, “The Pursuit of God”

 ~ posted by Betsy

Recipe--Fresh Cornbread Salad

Several years ago, our family had the opportunity to tour the one and only Jiffy baking mix factory right here in Michigan. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Jiffy cornbread mixes! What you may not realize is how many other types of mixes they manufacture.

When we toured the factory, we received a free cookbook (that you can look at online here.) As I perused the cookbook, I found a delicious-looking recipe for fresh cornbread salad. I made it for our family, and it was a BIG hit! I love the recipe because it’s very easy to tweak the amounts, or add/omit ingredients that you may or may not have. This is great for summer potlucks and makes a lot of salad!

Fresh Cornbread Salad

1 pkg. “Jiffy” corn muffin mix

1 small head lettuce

1 cup shredded carrots

1 large tomato

1 small onion

1 red pepper

1 lb. bacon, cooked (crumbled)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz. mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare and bake cornbread as directed on package. Set aside to cool completely. Shred lettuce into a large bowl and add carrots. Finely dice tomato, onion and red pepper. Mix in with lettuce and carrots. Add cooked bacon, peas and cheese. Stir in mayonnaise and mix well. Crumble up cooled cornbread. Fold into salad, mix well. Place in refrigerator and chill. Makes 10-12 servings.