Sunday, December 5, 2010

Longing

As we were driving through the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas at Thanksgiving, we were listening to a CD that we had not listened to since we were in Guatemala. The CD is by Shawn McDonald and one song in particular reminds us of our time there. The words are:

Would you open up my eyes, so I can see.
Would you open up my ears, so I can hear.
Would you open up my mind, so I can know.
Would you open up my heart, so I can love you more.

I want to serve you my God.
I want to give you all of me.
I want to serve you my King.
I want to serve you my Lord
I want to give you everything.

Lyrics taken from Shawn McDonald's album Live from Seattle.
Here is a link to a video of the song.

Listening to this song as we drove up and down curvy roads, stirred a longing in Don and I for Guatemala. We are hoping to return in February once Don's mom has her 3 month check-up appointment, but we are having to wait to finalize any plans.

As I was thinking about this post, I was thinking about what a "longing" is. I found this definition on the internet: "A strong persistent yearning or desire, especially one that cannot be fulfilled".

I am sure that we could all come up with a list of things that we have "longed" for - a better job (or maybe just a job), a house (or a bigger one), a new car or other material things. Maybe our list would include children or a spouse or a purpose for our lives. What do you "long" for???

We watched the movie The Nativity last Saturday night as a family. I was thinking about how the Jewish people were "longing" for their Messiah. They were so oppressed by the Roman Empire and were desiring to be saved and freed. Sometimes our "longings" are not fulfilled in the way that we anticipate. This was especially true for the Jewish people.

I pray that as we prepare for this Christmas season, we long for our Savior. I pray that we not only know Him as our Savior but that we also long for Him to be the Lord of our lives. For me, many of my past longings have been fulfilled in my relationship with Jesus. I pray that is true for you as well. Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Thankfulness

We spent our Thankgiving this year in Arkansas with my aunt and uncle and cousins and extended families. The drive down there takes us about 10 or so hours of just driving time so we decided to split both the going and coming into two days.

We left early enough so the kids could swim at the hotel that night.


The next day we stopped at the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. We decided to hike a little and stretch our legs.

We would like to stop again in spring or summer, but it was a beautiful place.


Once in Arkansas, we had so much fun seeing family. Our kids love to play "at the farm" where my aunt and uncle live.
One of their favorite activities is "jumping hay bales"

They also just enjoy spending time, playing and pretending with their cousins.

We played alot of games and cards. My aunt and mom won 4 out of the 6 games that Jen and I played against them this morning!


I have decided that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is a time to gather without the pressure of getting gifts and it is centered around "thankfulness". Being thankful for the little things. The things we take for granted. We had so much fun just hanging out with our family!

I will praise God’s name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Lightning and Cancer

We missed a month! I was not going to let that happen. What have we been doing?? Well . . . cancer and Lightning.

As I wrote in another post, Don's mom has breast cancer. She had to have 8 rounds of chemo every other Wednesday until the beginning of October. When she finished the last round, we started setting up her surgery. She had to meet with the surgeon a couple times and then a mammogram and an MRI. She had her surgery on November 2nd and then lived with us for a few days while she recuperated. The next thing is setting up her radiation. She had all the follow-up visits with her surgeon and oncologist last week and this week, I took her to radiation oncology for the initial consultation. She goes back next Tuesday for the mapping/planning appointment. She will start with 5-day-a-week treatments on the Monday after Thanksgiving. These treatments go for 6 to 6 and a half weeks.

She is really doing well though. The tumor responded well to the chemo. Her surgery also went great. She has been widowed for over 3 years now so it is very important that we walk through this with her. It is definitely something that we don't want her to go through alone.

There was cancer, homeschooling, gardening, and . . .Lightning!



Caleb joined a homeschool flag football team this year. Practices started in July and went 3 days a week through August. Then the games were added to the schedule in September. We were doing football 3 to 4 days a week for most of the weeks in September and October. It was a huge commitment but it was so fun.

Caleb did a great job and kept improving but the best part of the whole thing was that it was about so much more than football. There were several of us moms who set up our bag chairs at the practices and talked and laughed for the entire two hours. It was such a needed "social" outlet for me while we were walking through breast cancer with Don's mom.

The coaches for the team are wonderful, godly men who are not only focused on football but also the character of the boys. The team ranges from age 12 to 18. It was such a blessing for Caleb to be around young men older than him who were filled with character and spiritual maturity. He not only improved in football as the season progressed but he also gained some awesome friends. We were sad to see it end!

But it ended great! The team went to a tournament in Kansas where they took first place. Then we had a banquet last week and we will wrap it up with a team and coaches party this Friday at our house.

Here are a couple pictures. Caleb mostly played guard or center.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Treasure and Trinkets

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:44

I was thinking about this verse as we went "geocaching" last Monday. Geocaching is when you use your gps to find a cache (a hidden storage case) that was planted by someone else. There is a website to find caches in whatever area you are wanting to search. We were heading down to Nebraska City for the day and decided to search for "treasure" on our way down.

Our first cache was hidden where a monument used to stand. The monument was in remembrance of missionaries who served the Otoe Indians. For whatever reason, the monument was removed so someone hid a cache in the same spot as a way to preserve the memorial spot.
Here is Don leading us to the hiding spot.

A little cooperation was required.

Our second cache led us to a cementary and the gravestone of a civil war hero. Many of the caches contain trinkets that you can take but you have to leave one to replace it. We have a bag of little toys, pens, etc. that we take with us so we can leave things in place of the great "treasures" that we find.
Two dogs came up to us while we were searching. Bethany thought this was better than a trinket.

Hannah went back in to replace the cache after we found it. She loves the searching part of the adventure. She found three of the four caches we searched for that day.

Once we arrived in Nebraska City, we headed for the apple orchard. We picked about 20 pounds of apples. Another "treasure" that we got to take home with us.


We also ate some apples!

A picnic for lunch.

Our last cache of the day was at the site of an old bridge built during the depression. We had to go down these steps to find the bridge.


The kids, especially Samuel, get very excited about the "trinkets" in the caches that we find. Sometimes to the point of fighting over one that appears to be better than the rest (this day it was a little rubber lizard!). I was thinking about how I often spend so much time and money on the "trinkets" of this world. I want to have the perspective of the man in the scripture above. Imagine being so overjoyed over a treasure that you sold EVERYTHING you owned (your house, cars, wedding ring etc. etc.) so that you could have the treasure. The treasure that Jesus is talking about is the kingdom of heaven. Now imagine selling EVERYTHING you own so that you could have the kingdom of heaven.

Later in Mathew Chapter 19, Jesus told the young, rich man to go sell all of his possessions and give to the poor and then he would have "treasures in heaven". My desire is to not spend so much effort and money on the "trinkets" of the world but to focus on the true "treasure"!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Tomato sauce it is!

Wow, it has been a long time since we have posted. These days and weeks seem to fly by! We have been keeping busy with all sort of things this summer. I will try to get you up-to-date!! :O)

We have been gardening all summer. We had a great crop of grean beans. I canned 14 quarts and we ate at least that many! We have been using our potatoes and onions all summer. What a blessing! The peppers are doing very well. We had a little trouble with the pumpkins, yellow squash and cucumbers. And then there are the tomatoes . . .



I have already canned 10 pints of tomato sauce and am planning on preparing these today for some more. I also like to can some tomatoes whole and I have yet to make salsa with them. We did make some tomatillo salsa about a week ago and it was very yummy. Anyway, the garden has been keeping us busy.

We also had our patio project. The last pictures we showed you were of the kids moving the playground mulch. After we removed all of that, we put down a layer of limestone gravel. Here are a few pictures of that process.

Watching Caleb work - I like to call this "supervising"!

We did do some work as well. We had to move the piles from the front of the patio (where Caleb dumped them) to the back.

Caleb and Don starting to lay the bricks.

A few bricks were laid then we had a break for lunch. Unfortunately, we also took a break from taking pictures!

The bricks are all laid now and the pea gravel swept into the cracks. We also put up a swimming pool on half of the patio for the kids. The project is not yet finished but it is usable now. I am hoping to get some pictures of the kids swimming before we put the pool up for the summer. We shall see . . .

Our summer has also involved taking Don's mom to chemo appointments. She is halfway through that process with 4 more rounds to go. Then she will have to have surgery. She is doing great and is handling the chemo very well. We are just taking one day at a time with all of this. We are confident of the Lord's grace and mercy.

A couple weeks ago, we hosted some missionary friends of ours for a week. It was great to see them and spend time with them. It made our hearts long for Guatemala. We are seeking the Lord and His plan for us as a family. We know that we need to be here for Don's mom right now. We are also working hard to pay off our mortgage so we can be debt-free. We feel like the Lord is maybe giving us the beginnings of a plan but more on that later . . .

The kids are having a great summer. Here is an updated picture of the baby birds that they were watching. They are so much cuter with their feathers.


We took a few weeks off of school this summer but have tried to keep going with a few subjects like science, history, geography etc. The kids have had some free time. One particular day, they decided to "dress up" their pets. They took a few pictures.

Bandit is not really enjoying the whole process!

Ashes was more agreeable.

Shadow is just great as long as she is getting attention!


There, now you are all updated . . . I'm off to make tomato sauce!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Life

For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

"Life" can so quickly pass us by if we let it. It often takes a change in our routine for me to slow us down. We had that chance a little over a week ago. Don has to take his boards for his PA license this year so he went to a review course in Chicago for a week. Because he was going to be gone, I schedule some different activities to help us pass the time.

We went to the zoo one afternoon. We saw most of the kids' favorite exhibits but a highlight was feeding the parakeets with a "feeding stick". They were able to get the birds to sit on their sticks and eat.


We also had to stop at the petting zoo. At this point, Samuel looks at the ground and says, "Mom, look at all the goat crap!" Can you tell he lives with his 13-year-old brother? Such a proud parenting moment for me!


Another day we went on a field trip and had a picnic with friends. Everyone went to bed very easily that night!

Bethany had her weekly horse lesson on Prince.

We had a really good week and the time flew, but it was so nice to have Don home again.

A morning last weekend, the Lord blessed us with beautiful pictures of life. We had found a caterpillar in a cocoon when I was cleaning some lettuce. We decided to put it in a jar and see if we could watch it transform into a moth. While Caleb, Don and I were sitting in the back porch talking, the moth emerged from the cocoon. Don called everyone else into the room so we could watch the moth stretch his wings and get used to his new shape. It was amazing!

The kids had been watching three eggs in a robin's nest for several days. The same morning we watched a new moth fly, the kids found that two of the eggs had hatched into baby robins. Bethany took a picture of the new babies.

Our Creator is so amazing. He is truly the Fountain of Life. My prayer is that we continue to stop and notice the blessings of life all around us.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Work and Play

I am amazed at how fast May has flown by. We have not posted a single entry this month. It has been busy here but we have also had some computer problems. Our laptop is not working again (for those of you who remember - it crashed on us the first time while we were in Guatemala). We have so many things to be thankful for though.

First, we know it is not the hard drive because we were able to buy a hard drive enclosure and connect it to our desktop so we could retrieve all of our information. Praise the Lord! Second, it crashed AFTER I finished all of the 2009 financial statements for the ministry in Guatemala! Praise the Lord! Third, we have a desktop that the kids use for school so we have still been able to connect to the internet. I pay most of our bills online and retrieve Don's paystub as well so this is really a blessing! The Lord is so faithful!

We have been trying to finish our curriculum for the year. We won't really take a huge break over the summer but it is nice to finish up some books so we can start something new. The summer stuff is generally less intense and more "fun" than school. We have also been trying to get some work done outside. Yesterday we worked in the garden and on a patio project.

Caleb and I working in the garden.

Bethany, Hannah and Samuel are working on our patio project. We moved the swingset further back in our yard (you can see it in the background) so that we could put a patio where it used to be. They are shovelling up the wood chips into buckets and then hauling them away in the wagon. They had a system where Hannah and Samuel would shovel. . .

. . . and then Bethany would haul. They worked really hard and were very tired! We are hoping to get the area all level so Don and Caleb can lay brick down soon.

After all the work and school was done, the kids filled up their squirt/squeeze bottles and had fun getting wet.

We have been having great weather here so it has been fun to be outside more. We are going to my parents for Memorial Day weekend to spend some time with them and do some bikeriding. Hope you all have a great weekend as well! Thanks for reading

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Piano for Katie

When we returned from Guatemala a little over a year ago. The girls began a piano curriculum called "Music in Me". They had wanted to play a little for Katie while we were in Guatemala last February because she is a very talented piano player and they know that she really likes music. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for all of the things that we wanted to do. The girls have been working on a duet of "This is My Father's World" and we decided to try to videotape it so we could share it with Katie. Here it is:

Caleb has been learning the guitar but he wouldn't let me videotape him. Maybe I can sneak it sometime!! He is working on "I could sing of your love forever" - we have been singing it in both English and Spanish. It has been so much to see them enjoy learning and playing music.

On another note, we have been studying India and Mother Teresa for history. The poverty, hunger and hopelessness have been convicting us of how much we are blessed in this country. If you have been keeping up with what is happening in Guatemala, you know that the hunger is getting worse there. The rains usually begin again in May; however, the people need corn to get through the planting and harvesting. The price of corn has gone up from Q125 at the end of 2009 (about $15.50) for 100 pounds to Q160 (about $20) recently. In the areas hardest hit by the drought this price is unrealistic. As the supply of corn continues to decrease, the prices will only get higher. Here is a story published by the United Nations on the situation.

As a family, we are praying about what we can do to help the starving people of Guatemala. It is hard to know that we have more than enough when others are suffering. If you want to help, go to this link to Adonai's blog. It is a "chance to do something beautiful for God" - Mother Teresa.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Where has April gone??

It has been a while since we posted - April seems to have flown by. We are working hard at finishing our curriculum for the year (so we can start some new stuff - but don't tell the kids!!). We have started planting in our garden and working in the flower beds. It just seems like there is always something to do.

Our biggest event this month was the step into "teenagerland" with Caleb. He turned 13 on April 18th. Don and he went to a father/son weekend to mark this transition into a new season of his life. They had a great male bonding weekend. Here are a couple shots from the actual big day!

We met my family at Pizza Hut in a town that is halfway for both of us. Bethany is experimenting with the timer on her camera to get a group shot!


Also, the kids are participating in a homeschool soccer group on Saturdays. It is a great group and they always look forward to it. Here are Bethany and Hannah (with a few of their friends) walking back for snacks after their scrimmage.

Samuel is the goalie for his group of kids.

Caleb has somewhat transitioned into more of an assistant coach role this year. It is so awesome that we can take all four of them and everyone gets to participate.

Someone asked me today about team sports and homeschooling. Everyone always has this notion that kids can learn so much from participating in team sports. I have been thinking about this alot lately. I feel like the Lord has given us all teams in our families. Our kids love to play with other kids yet I think they learn more about being a team when they are home. They have group projects to do for school. They all have to participate in chores. The other day they worked outside pulling weeds and spreading mulch. They all have a job and yet they have to work together. Some speaker once said that if kids can learn to get along at home, they will be able to get along almost anywhere. I feel so blessed with the team that the Lord has given me!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A Day of Rest

Our family has pretty consistently observed a Sabbath day of rest. It has looked different over the years but now we usually start on Saturday night with a family movie. We go to church on Sunday morning and then have lunch, either out or when we return home. We try not to turn on our computer at all. We usually play board games, video games etc. together as a family.

When we are in Guatemala, the Fickers celebrate their Sabbath on Wednesdays because of the clinics on the weekends. When we were there last time, they would begin the Sabbath on Tuesday night with worship.

I have to confess that I was tempted to not observe the Sabbath while we were there. I kept thinking that I had alot to do and we were only going to be there for a short time. And then I came across this verse:

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest (i.e. the busiest time) you must rest. Exodus 34:21

Then I read this verse:

There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:3


There isn't alot of "gray area" in either of those verses. The Lord so clearly commands us to keep the Sabbath that, in the Old Testament, the penalty for not observing a day of rest was death. What is so ironic about the whole idea of the Sabbath is that the Lord created it for us. The Sabbath is a gift.

After finding these verses, I was convinced that we needed to continue to observe the Sabbath even while in Guatemala. Really, I don't think it would have been an option to not keep it. Our kids look forward to the Sabbath every week and I don't think they would have agreed to "skip" it.

Last Sunday, we spent our Sabbath "geocaching". We wanted to do something outside so we loaded up some coordinates on the GPS and went in search of "treasure"!
Here is Hannah leading us on the hunt.

Samuel and Bethany are showing off some "treasure".

Clearly, these two need to ask for directions!

I love this picture!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

We are Home

Our day started at 4:15 am yesterday and about 12 hours later (with an hour lost for daylight savings time), we were in our home in Nebraska. We had a little trouble with embroidery floss and craft scissors in the airport in Guatemala. (No trouble when we left the States with the same items, go figure!) Everything else went well and my family was at the airport in Omaha to pick us up when we landed.

Don is back at work today. He is experiencing a little culture shock (no one in Guatemalan clothing speaking Spanish/Quiche) and is really tired, but getting back into the swing of things. It is really cold here but better than when we left! The kids are playing with all the toys they left behind like it is Christmas. I am trying to figure out where to pick up our life here while unpacking our luggage and going through the mail.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers. It amazes me how the Lord works differently every time we go. He continues to stretch us and challenge us and asks us to let go of our comfort so that He can work. I am so thankful for His provision and protection. This relationship with Him is never boring or mundane. I pray that you all know Him personally and intimately. If not, please ask us, we would love to talk to you about Him.

Monday, March 15, 2010

A Day in the City

It is very hard to explain what it is like to drive in Guatemala City. Even as the passenger, I have a very active role in the process. If Don wants to get over into a right lane and there isn't much room, my job is to open the window and wave a little so the driver right next to us knows to make some room. There are also many one way streets and things are not marked well, or maybe not marked at all would be a better way to say it. All of this said, we left the hotel to go to the zoo.

It often takes us a while to get our bearings once we get started. We know the general vicinity and route to the zoo but we often have to circle around a couple times to find the right entrance etc. We did our usual couple times around and then arrived at the gate to park. The attendant came out and told us that the zoo was closed on Mondays. What a bummer! We were disappointed but were trying to remain positive (at least those of us who are generally a little more optimistic!).

We had another errand to run and we needed gas so we decided to get these things out of the way while we thought of plan B. We knew that there were museums somewhere in the City and we had been to a mall that has indoor rollerblading so we had a few options. We ended up calling Rachel Ficker to get suggestions from her. They had heard of a place called "Irtra" which sounded like fun. They were going to get us directions so while we waited we went to the mall (we knew there was a pet store there as well).

As we entered the mall, we immediately noticed that the rollerblade rink had been removed. That's ok (optimistic response), we can see a little dog at the entrance to the pet store. Turns out there is this one dog and another in a cage and a dozen or so acquariums with fish. That's ok, let's ask the salesclerk who works here about "Irtra". She has heard of it, gives us directions (all in Spanish in a City where things are not marked but the optimist thinks we can do it!!) and then she decides that we should call the place. Turns out, they are also closed on Mondays. Hmmmm, that's okay, let's go see if the museums are open! (They are probably closed on Mondays too - comments one pessimist).

Turns out, the museums are also closed on Mondays. But in our journey to find the zoo, the mall and now the museums, we passed Chuck E. Cheese's several times. The optimistic (who generally avoids this place in the States) suggests that we head there. The other optimist says "hopefully they aren't closed on Mondays". The one pessimist is getting crabby as he drives in circles searching for the entrance while the other pessimist insists that he told us to turn yet we missed the entrance because we were not listening plus they are probably closed on Mondays anyway!

We eventually made it to Chuck E. Cheese's and they were open! We actually had some fun (even the pessimists!) and the pizza wasn't too bad!





Unfortunately, we found out later that the Fickers had gone to Chuck E. Cheese's several years ago and had all gotten sick. That's ok, it was a long time ago and I'm sure that won't happen to us! : )