A long totally uninteresting post about the past year in YWAM

   As I look over the last year of our being in YWAM, I am amazed that we are still here. Does that surprise you? The last year was an incredible adjustment for me, for Joel, for the kids. The previous nine years was spent in a small town in a big county. Next to a beautiful, humongous puddle.

Joel with 9 mo old Rachel Summer 2007

This community was really the first for Joel and I in our marriage adventure. Sure we moved about every 1, 2 or 3 years to a different house, but it was always in the same community, same sweet town, same church family, same friends. Same wonderful grocery stores, bank and Post office.

So when God swung open the wide door of MISSIONARY and YWAM and FIVE HOURS AWAY FROM EVERYTHING FAMILIAR the adjustment was not a shock, but more like an ache. A dull, panging ache. Don't get me wrong, I love it here...now. The people are great- I love the staff. I love the students. We live out in the country. The kids are making friends. But as I look back on the last year, it's been hard. Lonely, in fact. Wondering "why" God put us here. What is our role here?

It's amazing what answers come in just a year. I don't ask God "why am I here?" quite so often as I used to. I see this time here at YWAM as a time of training. Of preparation for Something Else down the road. God is training us to be leaders. But as every leader should know- it's about servant hood. Joel is serving in the maintenance department. I am serving our children. Both of us help out where needed at the YWAM base, whether it's in the kitchen, in the accounting office or just cleaning.

God is teaching me to be content as a mother. At home. Cleaning. Cooking. Homeschooling. Raising children. This has been a hard lesson for me over the last year. I want to be over at the base Doing something. Anything. Because then, I'm doing something Important. Yes, this has been a hard lesson to learn.

Over the last year, I have experienced some emotional healing through a ministry called Theophostic Prayer Ministry (TPM). I have experienced freedom from different lies I believed about myself and God has brought His Truth into my life to set me free from those lies- permanently. This has been wonderful for me and I know it's another reason why I am here.

There are many other reasons why God has put us here, but those are the two I'm going to share with you tonight.

On a lighter note: I was praying and struggling about learning Spanish. Since ninth grade I have tried to learn this language off and on. But to no avail. I would try and try to learn it and then I would keep hitting a wall, and then I would quit trying. Then six months later I would pick it up again, only to fail again. So finally I asked God, "why? Why is it so hard for me to learn this language?" And do you know what He said to me? You'll never guess. When He told me His answer I didn't believe it. Until He told me again two days later: "I want you to learn German." ??? Why in the world would I want to learn German? Nothing against German, except that it sounds harsh, like Russian. I guess in one way I was relieved He didn't ask me to learn French. Whew.
So there you have it. For 2.5 weeks, I have been learning German, thanks to Duolingo. And you know? It's coming along a lot easier than Spanish ever did. Amazing.

I have a little praise report: Rachel had a severe stomach ache one night. She was doubled over and moaning in bed. I gave her peppermint. But that didn't seem to help like it usually does. I could only think of one thing- Appendix. No, not at the end of this long rambling post. I was thinking of a ruptured appendix. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about rushing off to the ER ten minutes away in the cold and snow and it was 11:30 pm and I would really like to go to sleep..please? I tried to give it over to Jesus. We prayed over Rachel. We tucked her in. Then we went to bed and waited. We prayed. And prayed. Rachel didn't get up. Not once during that night after 11:30. She woke up happy and ready to go to school. She was fine. I could hardly believe it. No surgery. She still had her appendix and I even got some sleep. God is good. Aren't you glad?

Having ECCO students and staff over for dinner and coffee

So a quick update on two things here at YWAM: One is that Joel and I are co-leading (yes) a Bible Class for our current school (English Cross Cultural Orientation aka: ECCO). We teach one hour twice a week. Monday and Thursday mornings. Hudson and Madelynn come with us and they do fabulous. I think it's because the students are so fun. Joel and I are writing and inventing the curriculum for this Bible Class and it has been such a blast. We sing songs, we play games, the students share (in English) what God is teaching them. This morning the students demonstrated their hard work and put on two performances: Original children's songs written, sung and performed (in English) by all the students in Noah's Ark theme. Oh they did such a great job!

ECCO Bible Class

And the second thing is that once a week in the afternoon we take four ECCO students and volunteer at the local thrift store. This has been fun getting to know these specific students a little better. Last week they came over for supper afterwards and we had a great time together.

At the Thrift Store

Joshua and Rachel are both in Scouts this year. This has been a good decision so far as it is helping them to form friendships and do something fun outside of school and YWAM. Joshua made his first Pinewood Derby car and Rachel will soon be selling Girl Scout cookies.

The L.S. Rock-It!

Two things you can be praying for us about:

1. We are still looking for a church. We were going to one since June 2014 but it has gotten very difficult with the timing (it's an evening service) and being a school night and all....The worship is great, the teaching is solid, the people are nice, and it's not a very big church. We've really enjoyed going there. But being on staff at YWAM, early mornings at public school, and trying to eat healthy have become large obstacles. So the hunt continues...

2. Please continue to pray for Joshua and the disease that haunts his body- Type 1 Diabetes. He is currently on a liver cleanse diet and it has been helping him. We continue to seek God and His Righteousness and we know that all things will be added to us as well-whether it's healing or just an improvement in blood sugar numbers.

3. (Ok there's actually three, not two) We are praying about taking a family missions trip this summer. Right now we are seeking God on a specific ministry that we have been made aware of in a large Asian country. We would like to travel there this summer and stay for a month and see how it goes. How we could fit in, how the kids do, how I do (with elephants, heat, snakes and oh yeah, spiders-really really big ones).


Going back to life at YWAM....
The kids are doing really well. This is home now. Though they talk about Grand Marais and want to go and visit. And oh yes, Madelynn wants to move back there, not just visit.

Rachel turns EIGHT on Saturday (can you believe it??), so our house will be pink for a few days.

Sledding Birthday Party!
Here's the train...watch out!
Love Rachel's face in this one.
(She's the one with a light green jacket, her mouth wide open-yelling of course.)

Joshua is doing a unit on Engineering in Science class so he's been constructing roller coasters and really enjoying himself.

Hudson is four now and is just as cute as ever. He's the baby of the family, so he probably gets cuddled way too much by Rachel and I. But he's becoming a handsome little man and knows how to count to 13 (skipping the 12) and recognizes the letters of the alphabet.

Hudson's Fourth!

Homeschooling Madelynn is easy peasy and I'm really enjoying this break from the usual chaos at home.

And that's about it! That wasn't too bad was it? At least there weren't any footnotes or a dozen appendices like the Lord of the Rings books. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day in the Presence of the One who is worth Everything.

At Minnehaha Falls visiting a friend in Minneapolis

A Hymn To Contentment

Lovely, lasting peace of mind!

Sweet delight of human kind!

Heavenly born and bred on high,

To crown the favourites of the sky

With more of happiness below,

Than victors in a triumph know!

Whither, O whither art thou fled,

To lay thy meek, contented head;

What happy region dost thou please

To make the seat of calms and ease!

Ambition searches all its sphere

Of pomp and state, to meet thee there.

Encreasing Avarice would find

Thy presence in its gold enshrin'd.

The bold adventurer ploughs his way

Through rocks amidst the foaming sea,

To gain thy love; and then perceives

Thou wert not in the rocks and waves.

The silent heart, which grief assails,

Treads soft and lonesome o'er the vales,

Sees daisies open, rivers run,

And seeks, as I have vainly done,

Amusing thought; but learns to know

That solitude's the nurse of woe.

No real happiness is found

In trailing purple o'er the ground;

Or in a soul exalted high,

To range the circuit of the sky,

Converse with stars above, and know

All nature in its forms below;

The rest it seeks, in seeking dies,

And doubts at last, for knowledge, rise.

Lovely, lasting peace, appear!

This world itself, if thou art here,

Is once again with Eden blest,

And man contains it in his breast.

'Twas thus, as under shade I stood,

I sung my wishes to the wood,

And lost in thought, no more perceiv'd

The branches whisper as they wav'd:

It seem'd, as all the quiet place

Confess'd the presence of the Grace.

When thus she spoke-"Go rule thy will,

Bid thy wild passions all be still,

Know God-and bring thy heart to know

The joys which from religion flow:

Then every Grace shall prove its guest,

And I'll be there to crown the rest."

Oh! by yonder mossy seat,

In my hours of sweet retreat,

Might I thus my soul employ,

With sense of gratitude and joy!

Rais'd as ancient prophets were,

In heavenly vision, praise, and prayer;

Pleasing all men, hurting none,

Pleas'd and bless'd with God alone:

Then while the gardens take my sight,

With all the colours of delight;

While silver waters glide along,

To please my ear, and court my song;

I'll lift my voice, and tune my string,

And thee, great source of nature, sing.

The sun that walks his airy way,

To light the world, and give the day;

The moon that shines with borrow'd light;

The stars that gild the gloomy night;

The seas that roll unnumber'd waves;

The wood that spreads its shady leaves;

The field whose ears conceal the grain,

The yellow treasure of the plain;

All of these, and all I see,

Should be sung, and sung by me:

They speak their maker as they can,

But want and ask the tongue of man.

Go search among your idle dreams,

Your busy or your vain extremes;

And find a life of equal bliss,

Or own the next begun in this.

-Thomas Parnell (1679-1718)

Merry Christmas from our Family to yours

Please click on this LINK for our newsletter.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Love, Joel, Renée, Joshua, Rachel, (Emily), Madelynn and Hudson

Deep Thoughts (from my 7 year old)

Today on this beautiful Sunday morning, everyone in our little family had 20 minute span to sit quiet and read our Bibles. (We go to church in the evening- so there was time to do this...) 

Rachel jotted down some notes as she was reading her Bible. These notes were so precious I (Renée) had to share them with you, with her permission of course. I think my favorites are #1 and #9. 

Translation of some words are followed in [ ]. Also FYI: she was reading from MOPS Mom's Devotional Bible. 

1. mom's nede help.

2. lern thaingks.

3. God can hell us. [heal]

4. Go to India!

5. their are people in nend! [need]

6. tell people a\b God.

7. rest in him.

8. make joy.

9. God is the flower.

10. read the bible every Day!

11. you don't hav to be good for God to love.

12. Seay I love you to God.

13. love God.

14. be luet! [light]

15. Close to his heart-that's where God says he'll put us, We who have young ones. Is there a better plasce to be?

Amen Rachel! I have a lot to learn from you, my sweet daughter!!

Pressed but not Crushed

(Italics taken from a devotional entitled "Streams in the Desert" p. 391-393. This particular article resonated with me (Renée) and in this post alternates with my own thoughts).

"They were a people who were living to themselves. Their hopes, promises, and dreams still controlled them, but the Lord began to fulfill their prayers. They had asked for a repentant heart and had surrendered themselves with a willingness to pay any price for it, and He sent them sorrow. They had asked for purity, and He sent them sudden anguish. They had asked for meekness, and He had broken their hearts. They had asked to be dead to the world, and He killed all their living hopes. They had asked to be made like Him, so He placed them in the fire "as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Mal. 3:3), until they could reflect His image. They had asked to help carry His cross, yet when He held it out to them, it cut and tore their hands."

I (Renée) remember asking God for humility. I remember asking God to challenge my faith, to grow me, to not make my life so comfortable. Little did I know how much God was going to take me seriously in all these prayers over the last 10 years...

Our most recent challenge has been a cluster of smaller, related challenges. Each a little similar, each one health related: Joel's back is a constant heartache for me. Nerve pain down his leg and into toes, tight muscles along his spine like steel cords. And yet he copes well, smiling at me throughout the day and being the Daddy his children need. But there are days that are hard. Painfully hard. And he's only 35.

A certain chiropractor was recommended to us by a friend. I had noticed the results in this certain friend who went there and so we decided to try it. This chiropractor has a strong faith in Jesus, runs his business with Christian music blaring, and treats the problem not the symptoms. There is something else that's different with this doctor than other chiropractors. His practice is based on a neurological philosophy. The spinal cord sends messages throughout the body and to all the organs and is vital to the survival and health of the body. His technique then, is to "reset" the signals from the brain to the organs by simple techniques which I do not have time to explain here.

The chiropractor evaluated Joel and to make a long story short: six years ago Joel was diagnosed with a short leg resulting with a 1.5 cm lift on his left shoe. Well, it turns out his other leg is shorter- and not by that much. So because of this misdiagnosis, Joel is now experiencing degeneration in his left hip, his scoliosis is worse and his herniated disc is not healing.

Forgiveness for the doctor who misdiagnosed him...

The chiropractor recommended the whole family get checked out since scoliosis and other such problems can be passed down to the next generation. So we decided Joshua should go in since he has the most health problems at the moment.

Joshua's evaluation: He has an extra disc in his lumbar. He also has a six degree twist to his spine - the start of scoliosis. And because of this skeletal problem it is pinching a nerve in his spinal cord that is directly in tune with his respiratory system, possibly causing his asthma difficulties.

"They had not fully understood what they asked, but He had taken them at their word and granted them all their requests. They had been unsure whether to follow Him such a long distance or whether to come so close to Him. They found it easier to obey than to suffer, to work than to give up, and to carry the cross than to hang upon it. But now they could not turn back, for they had come too close to the unseen cross of the spiritual life, and its virtues had pierced them too deeply."

So what more can God inflict upon our nine year old son? Not only does he have asthma, super sensitive skin that breaks out in hives when a band aid touches it, had ITP (a blood (un)clotting autoimmune disease), has Type 1 Diabetes but now he has an extra vertebrae and possible scoliosis. He's NINE. There is no diet remedy for scoliosis. No herbal concoction can take care of this. This is skeletal.

The neurological chiropractor says he can treat Joshua. Correct the scoliosis and more than likely, eliminate the asthma.

Of course I have my doubts. I've heard all this "treatment" and doc's "plans" and read the books telling me about "cures". The only cure I've been able to find is the cure for Celiac Disease. Praise God for that.

This chiropractor seems our only hope. His philosophies on medicine line up with mine. His diet choices are whole grain, whole foods - pretty healthy. His methods really seem to work.

But it's an hour drive away. In good traffic.
It's also out-of-pocket.

Three days a week for the first four months of treatment. For both Joel and Joshua. That's at least six hours of driving a week.

So we keep giving it to God. Surrendering these earthly tents to Him.

"Now at last their opportunity had come. Earlier they had only heard of the mystery, but now they felt it. He had fastened His eyes of love on them, as He had on Mary and Peter, so they could only choose to follow Him. And little by little, from time to time, with quick glimmers of light, the mystery of His cross shone upon them. They saw Him "lifted up from the earth", and gazed on the glory that radiated from the wounds of His holy suffering."

Our son, Joshua, is a brave boy. He has looked at chronic disease in the face and shook it's hand. He has warmed nurses' hearts and made them smile. He has looked so sweetly at me countless times while I watched helplessly as tubes, needles and white sheets dominated his life. He has matured so much over the years as hives, asthma, and blood are just a part of our day.

Why him? Why does his body have to be wracked with shots, immune system problems, disease and now scoliosis?

"As they looked upon Him, they approached Him and were changed into His likeness. His name then shone out through them, for He lived within them. Their life from that moment on was one of inexpressible fellowship with Him above."

O Satan, beware of my son. Though you try to kill him with disease and fill his life with pain, it is through this pain he is being made new, he is being made like his Savior Jesus Christ. A suffering servant. "Jehovah saves" my son and his life will not be in vain.

"Yet God strengthened them and protected them, even from themselves. They knew it was good to suffer in this life so they would reign in the one to come; to bear the cross below, to wear a crown above; and to know that not their will but His was done in them and through them." ("Streams in the Desert" Devotional pgs. 391-393)