Some Charlie Brown Christmas Cheer

I heartily enjoyed watching this! It brought a big smile to my face after a long day.

Three Little Pigs and the Big, Bad Whooping Cough

Our little trooper

For about 6 weeks our family has been dealing with sickness in some form or another. A cold, a stomach bug, but always this endless, tiresome cough.

The first little pig (a.k.a Abby) got sick but seemed to recover at a more or less normal rate. She struggled with a lingering cough, but it wasn’t anything to raise alarm. 

Because colds are such social bugs, this one passed right along to little Pig #2’s house, even before taking proper leave of Pig #1. Little Rebekah started coughing and spluttering. A few weeks went by. Everybody seemed to be getting well at last, just in time for Thanksgiving. And then suddenly, the cough we thought was dying returned with a vengeance. 

By now we knew we needed to get some medical attention. After several visits from the doctor, a bronchitis diagnosis, and a dose of antibiotics, we comforted ourselves that we were finally going to be well.

But after 6 full days of antibiotics, the cough didn’t go away. In fact it was getting worse. 

That’s when Joshua’s mom heard Rebekah coughing as we were visiting via Skype. As a veteran mother of 6 children, (5 of whom had this cough several years ago) she instantly recognized the culprit: The Big, Bad, Whooping Cough. Sure enough, when we looked into the symptoms, it all checked out.

Rebekah has been such a trooper! She has had night after night of serious coughing fits, and many in the daytime as well, but she hasn’t complained a bit. She feels mostly normal and is able to play and be active when she’s not coughing or vomiting.

We have received a lot of good advice from dear friends and family.  And God has provided exactly what we’ve needed. It “just so happened” that we had on hand some essential oils that would directly target the issue, and we’ve been applying those round the clock. We’re doing lots of vitamin C. We’ve pulled Rebekah off of all dairy and sugar. Tonight we even tried an onion poultice. (Rebekah did complain about that, poor kid.)

Little Pig #3 has not been visited by the Big, Bad Whooping Cough. We are really, really praying it will stay that way. She has had a bad runny nose and a bit of congestion throughout the last week, so we’re definitely keeping our eye on her and doing what we can to boost her immunities. And then praying some more!

Pray for Hosanna to stay well!

God has given me a lot of grace. It’s been a challenging time with dishes and laundry and clutter piling up around the house, sleep schedules totally whacked, everyone needing doses of something or other all through the day and night, trying to pull meals together that don’t have dairy in them, helping Joshua prepare for a big ministry weekend, and in general just being behind and under the pile.

I certainly haven’t been a paragon of patience over the last week, but two words have given me a lot of encouragement and help. 

One is Elizabeth Elliot’s classic: "Do the next thing."  That phrase has been going through my mind as I try to gain focus amidst the chaos.

The other has been, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (Psalm 34:8) God is good and has good for me, even today, even when my better judgment wants to write things off as bad. I am blessed if I keep trusting in Him! 

So many of you have been showing concern, sending notes, and praying for us. Thank you so much! We know God has a plan in all of this, and we pray that very soon our family will be back to normal health and activity.

A Matter For Prayer

This weekend, Joshua has the opportunity to speak to a group of about 40 college students regarding where they will spend eternity.

He's been invited as the main speaker for a regional conference hosted by Campus Crusade for Christ. All his sessions will be in Ukrainian. The topic is apologetics.

I know he would appreciate your prayers.

He'll be speaking a number of times, covering various world views and why faith in Christ stands apart, how we can know that the Bible is the absolute, authoritative Word of God, why adherence to religion isn't enough to save, the doctrine of imputed righteousness, and the reasons behind why Christ is the only Way to God.

Speaking at a national conference held earlier this year.

Campus Crusade is quite active here in L'viv, and they frequently recruit new students to their ranks--very often students who need to know Christ. We pray God will use this conference for His glory!

Courage

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

C.S. Lewis

Monsters

Recently, I snapped a whole bunch of pictures of Abby's artwork so that I could throw away the multitude of loose-leaf paper littering my house. (Oh, the freedom!)

Here is one of my absolute favorites from this year.

Not bad for a 5-year-old!

Light the Night with Thanks

On Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we had our missionary-friends, Tomasz and Miriam, over for a mini-Thanksgiving party. While they were here, we decided to do a cool activity called "Light the Night with Thanks."

My mom developed this wonderful tradition a few years ago and it has been a big hit with her family for several Thanksgivings in a row. This year, we decided to try it with our girls. It was great to have Tomasz and Miriam join us too!

Here's how it works. You start with a dark room, lots of tea candles, and a pack of matches or a lighter.

(You also need a wonderful photographer who can turn out good pictures in very low lighting. In this case--Joshua!)

Then you need to grab some grateful people to be thankful with you. :)

Little Hannah thought this was so fun!

Each person takes turns expressing thanks for the first category: "A person outside your family for whom you are thankful." While sharing, they light a tea candle.

The children were very interested
in participating.

Miriam tells about a book she is thankful for
 and how it has influenced her.

Another category was "Something the Lord has taught you."

Abby said she was learning that Jesus
died for her sins, and how to be obedient.

Naming ways the people in the room have blessed your life.

Category #3 was a for physical blessing, and #4 was
for an intangible one.

Rebekah: "I'm grateful for my mommy and daddy,
because I just love them so much."

By now the room was growing quite bright! And so were our hearts.

The 7th and final category was a characteristic of God
for which you are thankful.

At the end, we closed in prayer, thanking God for all the blessings we had been talking about. (You can also choose to pray after each individual category.)

We enjoyed some fellowship, play time, and yummy apple strudel made by Miriam. Hannah had lots of fun with our latest-greatest new toy: a ball popper!

Tomasz and Joshua discuss the latest
immigration requirements.

One tired little girl. Time to go home!

Thanks, Mom, for a great idea! And thanks, Miriam and Tomasz, for a great evening!

[If you're interested in seeing pictures from our Thanksgiving Day celebration, Joshua has an album you can view here.]

A Dozen Things I Have Been Given for no Reason at All

These thoughts were a blessing to me on several bleary-eyed mornings this week when I was especially tempted to complain or have a pity party. I wanted to post this on Thanksgiving, but due to a little girl getting very sick, several sleepless nights, and in general being behind, it didn't happen.

A Dozen Things I Have Been Given for no Reason at All

The Holy Spirit is shed abundantly over me. (Titus 3:5-6)

I am loved more than I can ever understand. (Eph. 3:19)

I am completely free from sin's power. (Romans 6)

I am accepted in the Beloved. I am received. (Eph. 1:6; Rom. 15:7)

I am called a friend of Jesus. (John 15:15)

I am blameless in His sight. (Col. 1:22)

I am kept by the power of God. (1 Pet. 1:5)

I am chastened as a beloved son. (Hebrews 12)

I am watched over. (Ps. 34:15)

I have all that pertains to life and godliness. (2 Pet. 1:3)

I have access to the Father at the throne of grace. (Eph. 2:18; Heb. 4:16)

I have eternal life. (1 John 5:11)


God did not have to give me any of these things. There is no reason why He should. In fact, there is every reason why He shouldn't!

He did it because He is so, very gracious.


“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)