Why We are Here

As I write this post thousands of Hindu families are preparing to celebrate Diwali.  It is a holiday to honor their "god of lights" and the power he has over darkness.  All week long devout Hindus have been painting their houses, buying new furniture and clothes, and making Indian sweets.  They cover their houses with strings of lights and set off fire works all to honor a god that doesn't even exists.  It breaks our hearts to see how spiritually blind these people are.  Oh if they could only know of the one true God.  The God who can truly bring light to a dark world.  All of this going on around us has served as a physical reminder of why we are here.  We are here to tell a lost and dying world that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  He is the only one who can fill their hearts with peace.  This is the reminder I need to keep before myself when all I want to do is pack up and head "home" to mommy and daddy (don't laugh, the struggle is real.)  This is the reminder I need to keep before myself when I look into their eyes and see an emptiness.  An emptiness that only Christ can fill.  How can they know Christ can fill them up if we are not here telling them?  I want so desperately to do the job my Lord and Saviour saved me to do.  I want to encourage my man to stay the course.  I want my children to know the joy of telling someone else about Jesus.  That is why we are here; to be the light of the world.

Some precious girls from our Sunday School class 

My Sunday School "helper" :) 

Our Not so "Fall" Fall foliage

As you are beginning to enjoy the changing of leaves I thought you might like to see what our yard is looking like now!!

Happy Fall!!

Ladies Retreat!

I have such sweet memories of getting to go to ladies retreats with my mom when I was a young girl. It was always such a sweet time of learning and growing and just having a great time with my mom.  As enjoyable as those retreats were they don't hold a candle to how much the ladies here in Fiji enjoy a ladies retreat. :)  We began on a Friday night with a wonderful dinner (cooked by one of the men in the church no less).  Once we got cleaned up we enjoyed some singing and a lesson from the book of Ruth.  A friend of ours from Pennsylvania was able to be with us during this time and did a great job on sharing this lesson of what God has taught her through the life of Ruth.  After the devotional the ladies enjoyed watching the movie "Princess Cut".  It is a really cute movie with a powerful message on allowing the Lord to bring along Mr. Right.  Most of the ladies spent the night at the church but I returned home with Emmie.  The next morning we feasted on a delicious breakfast that we all helped to provide.  Game time was next on the agenda.  I absolutely love watching these sweet ladies have a good time.  Their laughter is contagious.  We played very simple games but they were just in stitches laughing so hard at themselves and at one another. :)

  Once we all calmed down from the games we moved right into more singing and another lesson.

 I was honored to share a lesson on Biblical modesty.  The morning was finished off with a craft and a great lunch.  It was a very busy weekend and A LOT of work went into making it all happen, but it was totally worth it.

This sweet girl is visiting Fiji from China.  She was invited to come by the young lady on the right. 

Some of our young ladies 

What's an event without food? 

What a special group of ladies

A Little Homeschooling Update

We have been off to a great start this year with school.  We have five weeks under our belt and are looking forward to the year ahead.  We have chosen to take a Charlotte Mason approach to our home education.  Charlotte Mason was an English school teacher who had an undeniable love for children.  She believed children learn best when they are allowed to explore nature and are surrounded with what she called living books.  Living books are books written by someone with a passion about the subject with the facts presented in story form.  Once we read a portion of a living book our children narrate back to us what was just read.  Sometimes we just take turns telling back what was just read or other times Scot Jeffrey will write down a few facts in his notebook.  He loves looking back on these pages and recalling all the things he has learned.   Home educating this way has been a great fit for our family.  It has given us the freedom to read lots of great books as a family and learn new things at the same time.
In case in think our days are filled with long hours of enjoyable reading times  and pinterest worthy projects let me remind you we have a three year old little boy, a two year old little boy and a seventh month old baby along for the ride.  Trying to homeschool with all these little ones around is no joke, but I am learning what works and what doesn't.  We are slowly finding our groove and I am constantly trying to choose joy in the midst of the chaos.
Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to.

Learning that "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492"

Filling a bird feeder we made

Finding the perfect spot to hang the feeder

Field trip to the library

Learning about the mangroves on the field trip

Learning the days of creation 

Andrew "doing" school 

Keeping little hands busy while mommy reads 

Emmie learning to keep her hands busy while mommy reads

An Open Letter to my Parents

Dear Daddy and Mommy, 
I was recently asked by someone why I thought our family was so close together and why we always had such a strong relationship.  The answer was really a very simple one.  You gave me your TIME. Looking back its not the "things" I remember but the time we spent together.  It was time spent baking billions of little pumpkin loaves to give to friends at church or the guys at daddy's work.  It was time spent in the backyard burning all the discarded Christmas paper and boxes.  It was time spent teaching me how to bake and letting me make a mess in the kitchen.  It was time spent helping me make a bird house.  It was time spent walking through the field looking for wild strawberries.  So thank you for loving me enough to give me your time.  Time that could have been spent doing other "more important" or "more urgent" things was traded in so you could be with me and Bethany.  These are the things I remember.  These are the reasons why I know we have always been so close.  These are the things I want to pass on to your grandchildren.  I am so thankful to have parents who taught me how to truly invest in my kids.  You taught me through your example how to have my children's hearts.  Scot and I want so desperately to have a close relationship with our children.  One that we can build on as they grow older.  Thank you for teaching me the importance of stopping what I am doing and playing a game of chutes and ladders.  Thank you for teaching me to put aside the work that will always be there and read to my children "just one more chapter." Thank you for teaching me by example that people are more important than things.  I pray that one day my own children can look back on a childhood that is filled to over flowing with the sweet memories of time spent with mommy and daddy.  I love you both more than any words can say.     

Do I Delight?

I have been thinking a lot about the word delight lately.  A couple of months ago I was reading Psalm 40 and the word delight stood out to me as being something I desperately needed to work on.  In verse eight it says "I delight to do thy will..."  Wow, I am not just supposed to do God's will for my life, but I should delight in it!  Unfortunately I knew I was responsible for many "delight-less" days.  You see I felt like we had just been through the wringer so to speak.  I was almost able to convince myself that maybe just maybe we shouldn't be here.  It was at this very low time that God gave me this verse. I needed to understand that  it was not and never will be my job to tell God what His will for my life should be.  He knows and loves me more than anyone else ever could.  God's plan for my life is a beautiful one.  It is one that I need to accept and do with delight.  
Being content here in Fiji is however just one area of God's will for my life.  Do I show delight in doing things for my husband?  When he comes to me and asks if I could make him an apple crisp (side note: it is 9:00 p.m. and I have already been in the kitchen since the dawn of time) do I do it with delight or a begrudging attitude.  Thankfully on that particular occasion I chose to delight in my task and we were able to enjoy apple crisp together for a late night date.  I hate to think how many times I lost out on a special memory because of my bad attitude.
Our children is another area in my life where I want to choose to delight in God's will.  I am sure the average person thinks we are nuts to have five children so close together.  Does is get crazy sometimes? (ok a lot of the time)  YES!  Am I usually tired?  YES!  Have I lost my patience?  YES!  Do I love my kids more than life itself?  YES!  Would I do it all over again?  YES!  It is only with the Lords help that I can ever look past the mess and spills, and endless laundry and see those little faces that we have been given to raise for the glory of God.  It is easy to delight in them when they are being obedient (or even better when they are sleeping), but what about those "other" times?    By delighting in God's will I can put a smile on my face and love on our children, love my man, and joyfully serve wherever He leads.

Youth Camp!

Youth Camp was always a highlight of my summers growing up.  What a terrific opportunity to get away from all the distraction and busyness of life and for five days be saturated in God's Word.  I am so thankful for the sacrifices my parents made so I would have the opportunity to go to camp.  It has been a L     O      N     G time since I have been a youth camper.  Now I am blessed by being able to have a small part in making it happen for the youth of Fiji. 

 

    

Our theme this year was "Going for the Gold".  We heard powerful sermons and sang songs that challenged the youth and adults to make decisions to honor and serve God with our lives.  Everyone was still excited that the Fiji rugby team just won an Olympic gold medal (the first ever in the history of Fiji), but how does that compare with a life that is lived for Christ. In ten, twenty, or thirty years who is going to remember who won what, but how we choose to live now could make the difference for an eternity.  What a joy it was to be able to be a part of such a special week.