How Big of a House Do You Live In?

The title of this entry is a question Beth and I get quite often from people after they find out the size of our family. Before I answer the question, I'm reminded of drives we've taken through some big cities. One example of this was driving through Chicago. When you're in the city of Chicago proper, the residential areas are older, and the size of the lots and the houses on those lots is relatively small. I say "relatively" because those are in comparison to the large lots and larger houses in the suburbs. The size differences say quite a bit about how families lived in earlier times as opposed to today. When those houses were built in central Chicago the families lived with a lot less square footage in their houses. They may have had only one bathroom (who could do that now?). They learned the character qualities of cooperation, consideration, and common courtesy. We might be better off with less space and more cooperation.

Having said that, our house was an average house in Cape Coral when we purchased it ten years ago. Since that time, we have built two additions onto it. The area of the first addition was gobbled up by the second. The second added about 1000 square feet to the house and lanai (screened-in porch). So now, we have four bedrooms. It goes 4/4/3/2 for occupancy. Four boys in the boys' bedroom; the four oldest girls in the girls' bedroom; the three youngest in the small bedroom, and Mom and Dad in the master bedroom. We added a bathroom in the second addition, so we're up to three. Even then, there are times when it's pretty busy.

The biggest blessings have been 1) the great room in the back of the house which gives more room for living, plus is where we have our church services on Sundays; and 2) the large dining room so we can all eat together in comfort, and even have friends over with room for them to sit down with us.

God has been good to us. We are thankful for all of His provision, including the house we presently occupy. We are blessed.

A New Season of Soccer and Outdoor Activities

We've been blessed to be able to be a part of the Cape Coral Soccer Association's Fall Soccer program for the last five years. The first year we started with just Joel and Caleb playing. This year will find five of our children playing. The league changed the age limitation from 14 to 15, so Caleb gets to play one more year. He's playing in the U(Under)16 group, which will be Co-ed this year. That means he's got boys and girls on his team. Zachary is in U14, and is a year taller and stronger. David will have his coaches from two years ago as coaches again. He's actually 12, but fit under the U12 boys category because his birthday wasn't before September 1st. Christiana is playing for her fourth year, and is looking forward to playing on a good team in the U12 girls group. Our new entry into soccer is Charity. She is in the U10 group. This will be her initiation into competitive athletics, so we're interested to see how she does.

Soccer season will last just about two months. During that time, Beth and I, with the help of Katie, will be transporting children at all different times for about five days out of the week. I believe Beth has written down all of the schedules in her calendar, and now the juggling begins. Just this week, practices for all of the teams started. According to the schedule, we have Sundays and Fridays off, so for the rest of the days of the week we will be hard to find, unless you look for us on the soccer fields.

As a home school family, this is the best time of the year for Physical Education. P.E. goes into full throttle when soccer begins. This season, tied with the changing of the seasons, makes for lots of outdoor time for our family. Not only do the soccer players practice, but the younger ones are outdoors more too. They especially love the swingset when the outside temperatures cool.

Soccer season is a great time for all of us. We all enjoy watching the children play, meeting new friends, and getting reacquainted with old ones, and also, watching the weather turn from summer to fall so we can enjoy the outdoors more fully.

The Thankless Job

Have you ever thought about the fact that you have clean clothes in your dresser drawers, or ironed shirts in your closet? Where do these come from? Do they just appear out of nowhere? The answer is an obvious, "No." Instead, they come from the person who labors hard several times a week to clean those dirty clothes you hopefully threw into the hamper. That person in our family is my lovely wife, Beth. She dutifully and consistently washes clothes on Tuesdays and Fridays, with some other days thrown in when a mess is made mid-week or on the weekend. She sorts and washes them. Afterwards, they usually go out on the clothes line for drying in order to conserve energy and save money. Besides, they smell better when they are air dried. Then the clean clothes make their way to our bedroom where she folds them and puts them in piles for each child and parent.

Now, she does get help from the boys in hanging out the laundry, and Caleb usually is the one to iron the shirts. But for the most part it's "Mom's job." It doesn't normally get recognized, but is a vital part of everyday life in our home. This post is written to say a special "thank you" to her for all of her labor of love, even the unnoticed stuff.

THANKS, BETH!

We Have Lots of Piano Players

While we were pastoring Living Faith Church in Cape Coral, Florida, our church's organist, Jeanette Ronan, approached us and gave us a wonderful present. She saw the potential in our children, and offered to give our three oldest children--Nathan, Katie, and Joel--piano lessons without charging us. Well, we couldn't pass up this opportunity. Mrs. Ronan gave them all a great foundation. Since that time, they have had other piano teachers, and more children have been included in lessons. Other teachers included: Shari Pettis (Boshart); Michelle and Natalie Mayer; and Marcia VanderPol. Besides all of those piano teachers, those three older children have taught lessons to the younger ones. What a blessing that what was taught to them is also being passed down to their younger siblings. So, presently here are the piano players in our household: Nathan, Katie, Joel, Caleb, Zachary, David, Christiana, Charity, and Emmaline. We thank God for the ability He has given our children, and we thank Him for sending Jeanette Ronan who helped get them all started!

A Daughter with a Servant's Heart

What can I say about our oldest daughter, Katie? She has been a model of a servant. Since she is older than ten others in our family, she has willingly taken on numerous responsibilities. Beth informed me several years ago that Katie without any prompting by Mom took on the responsibility of providing lunch for the rest of the family every day. Beth has commented more than once at how freeing this was for her, and how blessed she was to have Katie do this. Even now, when Katie has to be away, she will either rearrange her schedule or work it out with Mom or one of the older brothers to cover for her in this regard.

Whenever we have any activity that requires us to dress up, Katie is actively involved in helping her little sisters get ready. She has five little sisters, ages two to ten years old, so this is no small task. She usually does the hair for each of them, creating new and stylish braids that make them look beautiful. My observation is that she makes sure all of the rest of the girls are ready before she starts on herself--another sign of a servant.

For several years, since she was about 13 or 14, Katie has been faithful in playing the piano for our worship services. It started one winter while we were having services at the Tamiami RV Park in North Fort Myers. There was a woman who played who did a fine job. One year she said, "I think it would be good for Katie to be able to play, as this will be a good training ground for her." Well, what started as a training ground turned into a long-term commitment, and for this I am thankful. I have never had to worry about having an accompanist for our services. She has done it now for about seven or eight years. Even though I'm not always that quick to give her a list of songs for the next Sunday, I have yet to hear her complain about playing.

She has been a blessing to our whole family. Someday, some young man will appear on the horizon in Katie's life, and she will leave our home to start one of her own. Both Beth and I recognize the great gap that will be left when that happens. For now, we appreciate every day we have with her as she has grown into a beautiful and godly young woman!

Proud to be a part of ALERT

When he was 15 years old, our oldest son, Nathan, told us of his interest in being a part of ALERT. ALERT is an acronym which stands for Air Land Emergency Resource Team. ALERT is a Christian organization which trains young men to be spiritually and physically fit in order to be ready to help in the time of natural disaster. At that time, they had recently moved their headquarters from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to a former university campus in Big Sandy, Texas. He spent a week there helping one of our friends, George Mock, rewire a large portion of the campus for electronics. Beth and I believe that the Lord had been working in Nathan's life, and used this visit to instill in his heart a desire to be a part of ALERT. Two years ago he left his well-paying job working for a company which sold and repaired computers here in Florida to travel to Eastern Texas. Thus he began the process of going through Basic Training, Phases II and III, and graduating from each one. At the conclusion of Phase III, he was asked by Captain Chris Overby to join him in the computer (IT) department of ALERT. This was what he has been trained to do. Seven years have passed since Nathan first stepped onto the ALERT campus. He has now been working for them since last November, and feels that this is where God wants him at this juncture in his life. We are glad he has this sense of being in God's will. There's no place better to be than where God wants you. We're proud to have one of our children working at ALERT, and so to be tied to its ministry.

A Red-Letter Day for Two Young Men

For almost two years our sons Joel and Caleb worked through the process of having braces. That meant sacrificing some of their favorite foods (what wasn't on the "off limits" list?), taking more time to care for their teeth, and enduring the pain of having their braces tightened. But this lesson in endurance paid off earlier this summer as they showed off their pearly whites in this photo taken just after their braces were removed. Now it just means wearing a retainer 24/7.

Welcome to our family blog!

There are many friends and family with whom we love to keep in contact. This blog has been set up for us to interact with many of you, and to open up our lives to anyone who would like to walk with us in the our pilgrimage of faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. If you are reading this, then we invite you to post comments on what you read, and hopefully we will encourage one another as we seek to love and serve the LORD.

God bless you!