Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas Eve




Greetings in Jesus' name to Family, Friends and so many that we have not yet met.

Psalm 111: "Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his reghteousness endureth for ever. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant. He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."

It is scriptures like this that get us through the trial that we are experiencing. My flesh is so weak and my humaness wants all to be fixed and to have our 'normal' life routine again. Today I found myself in despair and wondering where God was, but it wasn't long until, as one we've heard write, we got back up on the "Rock". May he give us grace for each moment.

We do have plenty and our cup is running over when we stop and count our blessings. Many of you we haven't met yet, so we thought we would give you a peek at our family. And to those who know us you might find out something you didn't know.

The Lord has blessed our family with 13 blessings and desiring all that God has for us, the Lord gave Terry and I grace to build upon the truth that children are his reward. We live on a small farm and have many endeavours that keep a large family busy.

Caleb and Daniel: 19 year old twins. The Lord has blessed them with musical abilities, violin, viola, and piano. They have been taking string lessons from a UCO professor for about seven years. They taught themselves piano and have been playing for 12 years. The Lord has provided a studio here at our home and superior high tech equipment so that they can hopefully produce a CD with music to glorify the Lord. This past summer all the big and little guys built us a barn with a gamble roof.

Recently they have had some small construction jobs with dear friends and right now they are framing houses. They are like having three 'Terry's' around. They can accomplish most any 'job' that mom has for them. They recently purchased a new (to them 1995) Chevy pickup along with Elijah and dad pitched some too!

Bethany-17 years old. She has many projects going on and also is one of my main homeworker helpers. She keeps her family stocked with fresh bread almost daily. Bethany is the keeper of our nubian goat herd of 12. We are milking 2 right now through the winter and possibly we are going to have 12 babies to tend in the spring. Bethany has a vision to breed labs and has a 2 year old female. She has done alot of research and is looking forward to the Lord fulfilling that vision. Bethay enjoys the violin too, although with the schedule we've had in the last 6 months, her practice time has been little or nothing.

Elijah - 16 years old. Elijah is a stout, hard and industrias worker. He has a vision in the mornings and by evening he sees great new things that can happen around here! Elijah has recently purchased two registered limousin heifers. One is bred and due in March and the other is around 10 months. He hopes to show the 10 month in spring. Elijah has a talent of fixing things and making things from scratch. He is handy to have on the farm. Elijah is very sensitive to the needs of others and seeks out how he can bring a smooth path to his mom. We need to mention that Elijah rode a bull this summer at a youth rodeo. His parents hope that might be the last ride. (It was short, but he did it!)

Anna - 14 years old. Anna, our gracious Anna, she seems to float around our home on wings to meet the needs of her brothers and sisters. Sometimes I don't know if she can stretch any more, but she always comes through. Anna makes our goat cheese and keeps big brothers stocked up on desserts for their lunch. Anna enjoys spending time with Joel and taking care of baby Mercy! She has a big, I mean big, black Golden Retriever/Lab that she enjoys playing with on the farm.

Micah - 12 years old. Micah is one of 'mom's men' when the big guys are off to work. He enjoys farm jobs outside that his dad gives him, and he and Josh are in charge of our chickens. Micah has a vision of cattle too, although he is a little behind Elijah on getting his herd started. I've seen spiritaul growth in Micah this year and I praise the Lord for that.

Andrew - 10 years old. 'Dewey' (Andrew's nickname) is a hard worker too! He works with Bethany around the goats and is a professional goat milker! Andrew likes horses even though we don't have one right now.

Joshua - 8 years old. Just give Josh a BB gun and a pack of BB's and he will be fixed up. Joshua is dad's main garden worker.

Jeremiah - 6 years old. We call Josh and Jeremiah, the two J's - Jeremiah is an adventuresome fella. He likes to hunt and jump on the trampoline - he calls it Bull riding because he rides his big brother Elijah.

Hosanna - almost 5. She is our sweet little 'daughter of Eve'. Hosanna already knows how to take care of babies and all about being a 'home worker'. She loves taking care of Mercy and is also one of dad's garden helpers as well!

Joel and Josiah - 3 year old twins. What a pair. Joel, even though he is the first born twin, tends to be a little more laid back and Josiah wants to run the show. Joel calls Josiah, 'Siah', and Josiah calls Joel, 'Balley'. They have great fun together, they enjoyed helping dad plant the garden this past summer. Josiah doesn't seem too sad about his twin's situation. He has alot of playmates to fill in the gap. It's mostly hard on mom, because she remembers all the things they have done together. They loved swinging toether this past summer and fall and jumping on the trampoline. They would ride on Elijah with their one arm waving in the air. They would push their dumptrucks together at high speed along the beaten paths, when all was well with Joel - they certainly were buddies stuck together. They still have fun together, but since Joel can't manuever like Josiah, Josiah brings laughter and smiles to Joel. It has been so sweet to hear Josiah pray for Joel. "Oh Lord, heal Balley", repeating after his mom.
Mercy-9 months. What a joy is this little girl. She is adored by her brothers and sisters and is a wonderful blessing to all of us. She is carried around and pampered by all of the older children. There are times when she is almost pulled apart by her older brothers trying to be the first to hold the little lou lou, (one of her nicknames). She is crawling around and trying to put everything she can in her mouth. She is standing up and almost ready to start walking.

Terry is still at Sara Lee in OKC. What a tremendous boss that he has, and co-workers. Their support and understanding in our time of need has been a blessing to our family. Thank you, thank you! He has also enjoyed leading our little home church along with the other two fathers. He is seeking to return to the simplicity of the new testament, and the 'church that is in thy house'.

As for me, I'm blessed and I want to be more like Jesus - my how our trials show us our true state and our lack of faith. O Lord, refine me....

This is the group that is taking Joel's journey along with him. Joel has had an up and down weekend. He did not eat very well until Sunday afternoon. He seems to have lost some weight and we really ask that you pray for his appetite to increase. He is due to go back to the clinic on Wednesday to see the doctor, and if all is well he will be admitted to the hospital on Thursday for his next round of chemotherapy. He has enjoyed riding in his brother's truck, and he is also entertaining his grandparents from Texas for the next few days.

May you all be blessed with the presence of the Christ of Christmas, the one who was born in a manger and proclaimed by the angels to be the savior of the world.

1 comment:

Teena said...

What a beautiful picture! Thank you for the update about your family. It really helps for me to get to know ALL of you. I know that may seem strange as we do not know one another.... but we are both "keepers at home, love our children, believe they are gifts from the Father, and we are HIS" that makes us connected. :)

I love hearing about your family.

I will share a few things with you~ our Mandi our 2nd born will be 18 next month. She is such a great help so I understand when you talk about your girls being such great helpers. :) Our Michael is finishing up college...
he will graduate in May and may go on to seminary~ but will marry his life mate (only girlfriend ever) Amber in Nov.

Our little boys are 17 months apart and keep me on my toes! They are 3 & 4 right now.

I am 45 ~ and we still pray the Lord will bless us again :)

We live in the south (Georgia).
Oh we are a home schooling family.

I am praying for Joel~ as today you will receive his blood count and may have a hospital stay tomorrow.

May God give you HIS strength. May a hedge of protection be around your family~

here is my blog if you want to take a peek~
www.homeschoolblogger.com/teena6

In Him,
Teena wife to Billy
mom to 1/2 dozen
Michael 21, Mandi almost 18, Dakota 13, Alyssa 9, Wyatt 4 & Wesley 3 and praying God sends more.