Family, Foraging and Freezing

Friday and Saturday we stole away as a family to the Peace River, located somewhere south of Tampa, for a night of camping and a day on the river canoeing and fossiling. Before leaving Paul checked the weather and read that there was a chance of rain showers but it wasn't going to deter him. So, we loaded up, packed light (it was only for one night!) and headed off. We arrived, set up camp (see pictures below) and just about as soon as our tent was up and the tarp in place overhead, the rain came. It came softly at first but then it really started raining. So, embarrassingly, I loaded the kids into the van and put on a movie...yes, I know, I know, I wimped out. My excuse, of course, was that they only had one change of clothes and if the clothes they had on got all muddy and dirty we could possibly have some very unhappy kids the following day after time on the river, where the chance of getting wet would increase greatly! So, they watched an educational movie all about a desert in Africa and the bushmen there. We then headed to the local WalMart and purchased a few things to eat and a new tarp and then headed back to camp, hoping for the rain to stop (by this time it had slowed considerably). By the time we returned, we managed to eat supper (hotdogs and brats on an open fire) with marshmellows for dessert. We then piled in the tent to get the children ready for bed. Did I mention that it was cold??? Well, it was very cold, I guess you can figure that out by the pictures. Anyway, Paul read to the kids from Prince Caspian and then we headed back out to the fire. The kids needed help settling down (mainly Adele) so I went back into the tent after awhile. Everyone was just about asleep (including me!) when a huge gush of wind camp whipping through the camp. The whole backside of our tent collapsed on me and the kids. Paul was just coming in the tent to head to bed when this happened. So,I quickly pushed the wall back up...and got my shoes on to help Paul who was on his way back outside to anchor the tent down a little better. As you will see in the pictures, the tent/tarps ended giving us the feel that we were on a sailboat instead of camping because there were lines going everywhere. Ducking and stepping over the lines was a constant but thankfully no one tripped and got hurt! So, we slept soundly the rest of the night without any mishaps, thank goodness! We woke early the next morning, once again, freezing our tails off (it had to have been in the 40s, at least!). Paul got a nice warm fire going, we ate scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast and Paul made me a nice big cup of joe. We were then ready to break down our camp and hit the water for a day of fossiling. We did just that. We found a few sharks teeth, ray teeth and other obscure pieces that we will probably never know what they are. I found (as my first fossil find) an alligator tooth (and I impressed both my husband and my son with that find as neither of them have found a gator tooth as of yet!). We had a lot of fun. It was cold. But, we had a lot of fun. Because of all the rain we had the day before and the week before the river water level was up quite a bit and so it made fossiling along the banks a bit hard. There wasn't much space to move around. Paul was the best outfitted with his waders on but all in all everyone did quite well with it. We ate lunch along the river up on a bank. We fossiled some more and then headed home. Fossiling is a lot like digging for gold. Paul made some sieves a couple months ago when he and PJ went with his nephew and so you dig up some gravel-like stuff, swish it around in the water until all the sand/dirt/limestone floats away on the water and you're left with the rocks and fossils. Then you start digging! We're hoping to find some good finds, we're hoping to make this a family hobby. I am thankful we didn't see any alligators, though I am sure they were around somewhere!

Adele hitting her limit with the picture moment!

Do I look cold?

They love hotdogs and these even had cheese inside! Yum-yum!

"Be not afraid for little grace..." Samuel Rutherford

In my one score and ten plus one years on this earth there is one fact that becomes increasingly clearer and clearer...and that is the brokeness of people. No matter where we're from, Christian or Buddhist, atheist or Muslim, we're broken, messed up people.
God's grace is needed moment by moment in our lives. It's not just for those who know Him not, it's just as much needed by the believer of 1, 10, 20 or 60 years. When we left for Thailand, I fully expected to see the brokeness of humanity in that dark place. And, I did see it. When we returned to the States I guess I had been gone so long I thought that Americans (mainly Christian Americans) would be just as I left them, or better off somehow than those believers in Thailand. Instead, I've found, once again, broken people, messed up people, people in need of that daily sufficient grace that flows only from Him who can freely give it. And, this, by-the-way, is NOT a bad thing!!! It's freeing and beautiful and I see God's goodness and grace through it all. Mostly, I have grown to see my own weaknesses and messed up ways and brokeness before God. How does grace go beyond an idea or thought in Scripture to daily living it out? I've been struggling to understand how does grace practically apply to daily life. How do I press on to do good works- for God's glory ONLY and by His grace when I have this deep-seeded monster called "works" (a works that is not of God, that is only concerned with making myself be glorified in the eyes of other people and a works that thinks if I do this, then I have arrived) vying for my affections? How do I raise my children to love the Lord of the Scriptures in grace? So often, "you're a good boy/girl" comes out of my mouth. So often I reward them for the good they've done. So often I punish them and pick apart behaviors according to my whims and standards- because I want to look good. How do I instill grace? How do I deal graciously with them? How do I bring works and grace together? One cannot escape the "works" part of our lives. How can we live so that all that we do (works) is the out-flow of our love for God and not out of pride or fear of man? I'm setting out on a journey to hopefully learn some of these practical out-workings of grace in a believers life. Paul recently read for one of his classes a book entitled Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification. At his suggestion I will be beginning to plow through this book. I will try to share what I am learning and how God is using it to bring me to a better understanding of His work in my life.
I haven't been able to fully grasp what it means to live IN grace (MTW has a conference by the name Living in Grace, which I highly recommend). It is all of God in the believer's life...it has to be. We, even as regenerate, have so much sin, nothing good can come from us. So, join me, pray with and for me and perhaps I will yet figure out how to live out this faith we've been given. Perhaps my children will gain an even better understanding of God, His love, grace and mercy and as a result God will be glorified and we may be just a bit closer to living the way God has prescribed for us to live, according to, and governed by and only found in the Scriptures.

And to complete the quote for the title of my post today and give hope that we are Christ's...
"Be not afraid for little grace. Christ soweth his living seed, and he will not lose his seed; if he have the guiding of my stock and state it shall not miscarry. Our spoilt works, losses, deadness, coldness, wretchedness, are the ground which the good Husbandman laboureth."
-Samuel Rutherford, 17th century preacher

shuttle launch

This is little out of date, but we saw a shuttle launch one afternoon in November (it was Paul's birthday). We were on our way home from visiting his family in Jacksonville and decided to stop and see the show. It was a beautiful day and much better than our midnight viewing of the shuttle launch in August! Paul borrowed Grampy's camera to get really nice pictures. Since neither of us have any training in how to take great pictures I think they turned out well!

A good visit

Yesterday and today we had our dear friend and team leader, Dave Veldhorst, from Thailand visit us. MTW Thailand is having a partnership meeting in Tampa tomorrow and so, we got to see this guy. We had a great visit and it was incredibly encouraging to hear what God is doing in Ram 2 (where we lived) and to think about future missions with MTW Thailand. It made me extremely homesick for all of you who are ministering there, both our Thai brothers and sisters and the foreign missionaries (you know who you are!) and I just can't wait to get back, but I am also trying to be content with where God has us right now. I am more and more thankful for Mission to the World and the way God works through us as an organization, and the godly men and women we have to lead us and their hearts for the nations. We are blessed! Many do not have these same sentiments but I am thankful that we do! I would ask you all to continue to pray for those laboring in Thailand, that God would encourage them and give them the strength to press on in Him.

oops...

My dear friend Rhianna, brought to my attention the possible confusion that the title of my last post (#4) could bring to all of you. I am very sorry if many of you out there thought you were going to hear a different story, like we're having a 4th child. =) I am sorry to report that no, we are not expecting #4 but we sure had fun celebrating #2's #4!!!! LOL. Rhianna, your comment made me laugh out loud...and wondered how many others thought the same. And just so you know, the thought never crossed my mind!!!

#4

I know I say it every year for each of the kids, but really, Calvin turning 4 really makes me sad. We were in Thailand 6 months when he came into the world and life was forever changed. He was always an easy and good baby. His arrival was God's conduit to helping me learn Thai...the Thais would speak to him in Thai and I understoond enough vocab to figure out correct sentence structure. And, now he's 4. It seems like he grew up overnight but I have pictures and experiences that help me remember those sweet baby days and those fun toddler days and now these hard 4 year old days when his temperment is up and down (much like his mother, I might add!) but he is still my sweet boy. He's definitely a momma's boy.


We celebrated his birthday on Sunday after church. We had shrimp and french fries (his favorite) and then we sang and opened gifts. We got him a round house for his train engines and he just kept saying, "I can't believe it!" It was pretty funny! Thank you to the grandparents for the gifts you sent him. He can't wait to take a bath tonight to play with the Lighting McQueen and Mater bath toys. And, he immediately looked through the book with me. He picked out a turntable to go with his round house from Toys R Us yesterday with money my parents sent to him. All in all, it was a great day. I hope he felt loved and celebrated. I certainly can't imagine our lives without Calvin Lewis.

Enjoy the pictures!

tufted titmouse

Here it is...Adele saying "tufted titmouse" and if you listen carefully at the end you can hear her tell PJ that he is "nuts". I just overheard PJ and Adele in the bedroom. PJ and Calvin were playing legos and Adele said something to PJ. PJ, not knowing what she said, asked her, "Do you want a bagel?" She said, "no" and then repeated what she said earlier. Then I heard him say, "oh, you want to build legos?" Bingo...Adele said, "yes". It made me chuckle to myself. =)