Welcome to my microcosm

I had mentioned in October of last year that we visited a small FIC church.  Well, we ended up joining a large baptist FIC and attended for a good while, helping them to become more family integrated.  But we had some problems with things the pastor taught and our primary purpose for going there was for Paul to learn about pastoring a church, which wasn’t really happening.  And when the only other married, homeschooling lady there (the church is mostly elderly folks) told me that God told her that I should have a tubal ligation, that pretty much sealed the deal and we left.  We are back at that small FIC I mentioned.  The people are friendly and generally seem in line with our values.  The men in the church are very emotional, which is a refreshing change from some of the staunchness and ungratefulness (to Grace) we have experienced in the free will churches we have been attending.  They do believe in election, which I am certain has a great deal to do with the tender and broken attitude, but I think the fact that most of the congregation are new believers has even more to do with it.

We are grateful to be there and although we don’t know how long God may have us there we always bloom where we are planted and I’m seeking as to how God wants me to serve the Church.

part 1, by Sarah Trost

in silence we cry
and you do not hear

in silence we die
and you do not care

when is it called life, this life that I live?
When my heart beats?  When I can breathe the air that you breathe?
I’m alive NOW, why won’t you believe?

you may say that you care
that I am dying here

you may fain interest
and even shed a tear

The last post I wrote about her was about her continuing illnesses following vaccinations.  She had been ill after her 2 and 4 month vaccines but the 4 month ones affected her more severely.  So I had them give her only half of the vaccines for six months and she was so seriously ill I wondered if she should go to the hospital.  She saw four doctors who all said it was normal that she had been sick for so many months, including weird symptoms they couldn’t explain such as boils in the throat.  When it finally ran through her system I did not return for more vaccines and she has been relatively healthy ever since!  But finding a new pediatrician has proven difficult given that they insist that all patients be caught up to date on their vaccines.  I found two pediatricians that said that since the baby got the MOST IMPORTANT vaccines they would be OK with waiting till she’s two to give her the rest, but the new baby would have to get the “required” vaccines.

A friend had a recomendation of a family practitioner who I plan to speak with before the new baby is born, I was just waiting on our new insurance to be finalized so I know which plan I have.

This has been a very difficult year- my aunt died suddenly, a friend died suddenly, we were in the accident, Hurrican Ike, the pregnancy and possible loss of a twin, illnesses with the baby, difficulty in finding a pediatrician and OBGYN, and change in insurance.  But I know that God is faithful and I am holding onto my faith in Him!!

This is our first truly QF baby.  We had been using NFP but I was still nursing and my fertility signs were very inconsistent.  After two months of abstaining to avoid conception (which is not only unbiblical but unhealthy for a marriage) we came together the way the Creator of the Great Romance meant for husband and wife, and I concieved the very next day!  So during that pregnancy (2006/2007) we really began searching the Scriptures and although we had never heard of the Quiverfull movement, were moved that we were to trust God’s soveriegnty in all things, including childbirth, and that we should give our fertility (at the time, 4 children in 4 1/2 years was certainly fertile!) over to God.  We should ask Him to control EVERY area of our lives, and who better to trust with our family then the Lord?

In my research I stumbled upon a pagan website bashing a group called Quiverfull.  I went to the site and did some other searching (the Internet is such a marvelous invention.)  I was so excited to know that not only did other people feel the same way we did, there was actually a movement!  God is working mightily in His people.

So, this, our fifth, was our first baby concieved without any concern wither I would get pregnant.  It was so liberating to TRUST GOD!  Like with #2,3,4 I knew I was pregnant before I cold even take a test.  Paul suggested I not take a test and just wait and when I feel the baby move I’ll know I’m pregnant.  LOL  Well, given that I am now 17 weeks and still haven’t felt distinct movements I’m really glad I didn’t take his advice.

I was sicker in this pregnancy then I was with the others and noticed my uterus growing faster then normal.  I wondered if I was having twins.  My 5 YO started talking about twins.  So when I had my U/S at 6 weeks and the tech said it looked like twins, I wasn’t surprised!  But then she said she couldn’t find the other baby (just a sac.)  A 10 week ultrasound again revealed only one baby.  I have another scheduled next week so we’ll see.  I’ll upload ultrasound pics next week.

Blessings to all.

Sarah

I can’t wait to read this!  It’s called Family Unplanning.  For information on how you might win the book, check out this blog.    For further information on the book, look at this website. Feel free to pass along the info!!

Blessings,

Sarah

PS- I know updates have been a long time coming but I was having trouble editing my page until today!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=190653418

I saw this couple on Oprah and so enjoyed them! They were on another show and here is a video clip from it (they have improved since then.)

Interesting blog on abortion from which I copied the words of Kemper Crabb’s anti-abortion song from a band called Atomic Opera:

Lyrics: Kemper Crabb
Music: Kemper Crabb & Frank Hart

The judges sat outside the Law
And in their pride no evil saw
In setting teeth to Satan’s jaw
And feeding him our children.
When viewed in terms of cost and ease
An unborn child is a disease
A holocaust seen fit to please
Our own convience.
A curse A curse the Law it cries.
A curse a curse on mankind’s pride.
A curse on him who would deny
God’s image in mankind.
Torn from out their mother’s womb
Denied the sky - denied a tomb
Conceived in lust to their own ruin
A sacrifice to pleasure.
The doctors with their blood red hands
Who love their money more than man,
With greed their god they lay their plans
The butchers of mankind.
A curse a curse the blood cries out
A curse a curse the heavens shout
A curse a curse on he who flouts
God’s image in mankind.
O rid us of this evil, Lord
And turn our hearts by cross or Sword.
Our nation cannot long afford
To live beneath your judgements.
A curse a curse upon their heads
O save them Lord or slay them dead
And fill our country with your Dread
And turn away Your anger.

“We have to test everything,” writes Bell. “Do that to this book. Don’t swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it. Just because I’m a Christian and I’m trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn’t mean I’ve got it nailed. I’m contributing to the discussion. God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?”

Wow- I have never read a quote like that. This was from a review of Velvet Elvis, a book about what ‘it really means to be a Christian.’

Upon further research some claim this author is of the emergent church group of leaders.  Still, you have to be impressed with anyone who suggests that what he says isn’t necessarily right.

I’m alarmed at how many Christians are actually defending The Golden Compass. It’s worse then Harry Potter. They even have on the official website a questionnaire to discover what your ‘doemon’ is. Yes, that is a British spelling of demon. In the story people have a kind of spirit guide/their spirit that walks around outside the body in the form of an animal. This is called a daemon.

I have read Christians online who say that the email rumors are not true, yet snopes.com (a secular internet rumor/urban myths dispeller website) says that they are.

Supposedly, the author wants to ‘kill God in the minds of children’ and that in one of the books in the series Adam and Eve do actually kill God, also called Yaweh.

I know one movie I WON’T be seeing…

Ever since Baby Joy had her six month shots she’s been sick. She was sick following her four month shots, but she did recover. This time she had the flu shot as well, but I only let them give half of the other vaccines and said I would return in a month for the other half of the flu shot and the rest of the vaccinations.

Well, she got very sick that night and was sick for at least 72 hours (as opposed to the usual 24-48.) She was OK for one day and then got sick again (another set of symptoms.) I took her to the DR when she didn’t get better and they said she had the flu. They denied it was caused by the vaccine. A few days later she broke out in a rash all over her body. They started blistering. It was Saturday now so I didn’t take her to the DR, but by Monday she was better. She had two days of wellness, then got sick again. I did take her to the DR who again said it had nothing to do with the shots and sent us home (but tried to convince me to give the other half the flu shot and the rest of the missing vaccines even though she was sick!)

Now she has a virus- fever for four days and hasn’t slept. yesterday she was up 12 hours even though she had a poor night’s sleep previously. And I am so exhausted and sore and just want to sleep! Of course I refused that second series of shots and am finding a new pediatrician. That one is too far and too expensive and doesn’t have hospital privileges anyway. My plan is to not give her the vaccines anymore until perhaps two years old. That’s not going to go over too well I’m afraid.

I don’t put my hand over my heart OR say the national anthem…people sure can be judgemental.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/obama_nabbed_by_the_patriotic.html

It started with the vacuum. It wasn’t doing so well, and most of the time didn’t pick up much at all. So I got my mother in law’s. She said it worked great. We used it once- worked just fine. The second time it didn’t work, DH ordered bags online for it. He replaced the bag and, uh, it still doesn’t work.

Then my toaster burned the toast. It doesn’t pop up.

The chord to my rice cooker doesn’t fit anymore. It’s a $100 rice cooker. I don’t know why the chord doesn’t make a good connection. I can buy a new chord for $25 but there’s no guarantee it’s the chord rather then the connection…

I washed my electric skillet yesterday but took the chord out and now I can’t find it. The chord to my electric Wok is gone too.

I tried to make babyfood and my blender started smoking. I bought a new one today that has a food processor attachment.

DH kept complaining about the dust on the fan and I kept complaining that I had no way to clean it (the vaccum is broken and I have no ladder.) So, I finally stood on a chair and pulled the blades toward me to clean them. The fan is sparkling, but the blades don’t turn. My Dad, master of all things mechanical, said I have to buy a new one.

My computer keeps shutting down. I thought it was a virus, but my husband tells me it’s not, that I really need a new computer.

The CD player in the bathrrom won’t play Cds any more and when I tried to play a CD in the van the player spit it back at me. I put a DVD in it and that wouldn’t play either. DH looked at it yesterday and said he doesn’t think it can be easily repaired, we need a new one.

Oh, and I almost forgot, my Sony digital camera doesn’t work either. You can look at the pictures but when you try to take a photo it shuts down.

I don’t know if this is just one of those patterns, or if the Lord’s telling me I don’t need all this junk. Still, it would be awfully nice to have photos of my children (I have no photos of the baby since she was three months or so) and to have a cooler house via our fans (I’m sweating and it’s 10 at night!)

I pray that your guardian angel protects you and your family, and all those appliances within!

I have debated to myself personally the ethics of wearing a wig AS a headcovering. In other words, my head is covered so I am following 1 Cor 11 and my hair is covered, thus I am being modest as only my husband sees my hair. I have a few problems with this. So, I looked it up on google and found this.

Apparently I’m not the only one questioning. And beyond that, some of the hair was harvested during Hindi temple rituals. Even the Jews would have to question that one (and they did!)

The Rabbinical council ruled the Indian made wigs are banned. Many women began covering in snoods and running to stores to buy synthetic wigs while burning those made in India. Some held onto the banned wigs “You have to hope whatever you have is good, otherwise you put a thousand dollars in the garbage,” said a woman named Mindy, who declined to give her last name for fear of what her father-in-law would think.

The issue had come up several years ago, said Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, a leading authority on Jewish law for the Orthodox Union in the United States, but was resolved without a ban. He said it appeared that practices in the Hindu temples where the hair of Indian women is cut might have changed, prompting the new ruling…One of the difficulties, he said, was discerning just what the Hindu hair-cutters had in their minds when they made their offerings, because that had a bearing on whether their acts were idolatrous.”

Ah, so it was OK then but wrong now just because of the changed ritual? I doubt it could have changed that much. And why in the world would the woman’s thoughts have anything to do with it? Sounds to me like he’s trying to justify sin. Or perhaps he profits from the wig business. Or he has a wife who likes her wigs and he likes his money and doesn’t want to part with thousands more dollars for new wigs.

“Mrs. Klein, 48, was picking out a new snood. She said she wanted to hear more from the rabbis before going back to her wigs. “I will be back in a wig once I know what the rulings are,” she said. Fortunately, she said, she did not have to go to Manhattan yesterday wearing the headgear.

“I would look funny,” she said. “One of the goals of modesty is to blend. When you wear a snood on the subway, you never blend.”

On a blog I read it was explained that Jewish women feel pressured to make their hair conform to the Disneyish beauty of society.

Now it comes down to the real reason- one of the big reasons I’m against the wigs in the first place. Vanity vanity all is vanity.

S

I have been very forward in my emails to churches looking for a place to
visit. Five people have replied to my many emails. I said in my emails that we are looking for a reformed church that would be accepting of large families and women who cover per 1 Corinthians 11.  I was so forward because I don’t want to go to a church for a time and find that they just don’t accept us. We have four small children and that’s not
good for them to skip around.

Of those  emails I received, one was the wife of a Rabbi who does
not believe that women need to cover to pray but said some women do
cover in their congregation. She was somewhat kind, but told me that they are there for Jews and their gentile spouses and she hopes we find something (IOW the general gentile population are not welcome.) Another response  was a lady who said that although they
don’t cover because it is a liberty from the law (I haven’t replied to
that yet, still praying how the Lord wants me to approach it) we would
be welcome.  Another was from a pastor who said that it was written to the church at Corinth only, not for us.  So, does he not believe we should follow the principals at all in first Corinthians because it was written to that particular church?  How much more of the Bible should we throw out then?  I do plan on responding to that.  That was the worst reply I could imagine hearing from a pastor.  Another pastor said “Well I think the
women would be surprised but please visit!!”

We went to that church Sunday. They are family integrated
sovereign grace which is something we’ve looked for. Everyone in the
church are related except the pastor’s family. It’s a fairly new
church. They were very nice and seemed fine about my scarf. There is a QF lady in the church but the other ladies are her daughters and it is unclear wither they agree about birth control.
We liked the church a lot, although I don’t know that my husband would agree to go to it full time.  He didn’t like the fact that they don’t believe in the gifts of the spirit.

Well, the Lord knows what he is doing, even when we don’t.

S

This also came up recently. My response on 1Tim 2:11-15 being interpreted that women should not preach when men are present.

“As far as teaching, I think it is BEST not to. I think if they
DO it must be while they are under the authority of their husband. I do
not approve of women like Paula White being pastors.

However, I have known of instances where women have preached being the
only one who would do it. Susanna Wesley, I believe it was, taught her
children at home and the people in town came to hear her teachings
because her husband was away and there was no pastor. She was not
having authority over them, but they were hungry to be taught (probably
couldn’t read or have a Bible.) Was it wrong for her to allow them to
listen to her teaching her children? No, I don’t believe it was.

But in the IDEAL situation, I believe there are plenty of men available
and they should do the teaching/preaching.”

The subject of women being silent in the church recently came up on a yahoogroup, taken from 1 Corinthians 15=4: 33-36.  A woman posted that she believes in following the Bible 100% and does not speak AT ALL in church (other then the occasional short reply to someone greeting her because she doesn’t want to appear rude.)  My response:

I do believe in looking at context Biblically as well as historically.
I know that people say that headcoverings were cultural but no longer,
so no longer are headcoverings required. This is clearly not correct,
so I do not want to use that reasoning here. It is certainly very
important to me that we are obedient to the Scriptures without making
excuses why we need not obey them. However, I do want to give a
description of the situation then. Men and women did not sit together
in the service, just as the Amish, orthodox Jews, Hindi Christians, and
many others still separate. Women did look to their husbands for
explanations and it is commonly explained that the women would holler at
their husband’s for clarification. This was a clear disruption in the
church. During the service it was inappropriate to discuss things. In
the churches I have been in the men and women sat together, so when my
husband and I have something to say, if it is inappropriate to whisper
we write it to each other, or make notes to discuss it later.

Bringing it back to Scriptural context, Paul said each Christian is
gifted with something to edify the body (discernment, healing, prophecy,
tongues, healing, ect.) He also said that when a woman prays or
prophesies she should have her head covered. I believe this means that
women were praying and prophesying in the body, but that they should
only do so IF covered, meaning under the authority of a male AS WELL AS
having the physical covering which showed to the body that she was under
submission. Ultimately it was she not having authority in the body, but
her husband/father or whoever as her “head.” She was UNDER their
authority…

.At least, this is one of the things I was taught and it
makes sense.

My mom does not believe in women having authority over men, teaching
men, preaching ect. However, the Lord started giving messages to the
church through her. They were in tongues with interpretation sometimes,
sometimes in English. My mom is very concerned about how others
perceive her and does not want to give messages as they were often an
exhortation to repentance. However, she was not about to tell God NO.
So she prophesied there in the congregation IN FRONT OF MEN. No, her
head was unfortunately not covered. But my dad was there, and he was in
agreement to what she did. She was not out of line.

Anyway, I believe that contextually this shows us that they DID speak.
But I can’t prove it and you’d just have to pray and talk to your
husband and come to your own beliefs.

S

I just thought I’d post the little things Faith (4) has done this past week.

We went to Dollar General and she saw a little old lady and ran to her and hugged her.  The old woman was so touched and said she loves children, she has 14 great grandchildren!

We went to Mcdonald’s and she hugged the old old woman who works there cleaning the tables and floor.  “Miss Mary!  How are you?”

At the pool she told a woman that her little boy is an excellent swimmer, introduced herself, and asked the woman how her day has been.

At the pool she went up behind an old man sitting in the water playing with his grandchildren, and gleefully sprayed water all over him.  Repeatedly.  Horrified, I told her to stop but he was delighted.

At the resale shop yesterday, she was talking to a woman and gave her a hug and congratulated her that her grandsons are turning four this weekend.

At a birthday party a friend of mine’s sister showed her how to make this neat toy work and she happily nestled her head in Michelle’s lap in thankfulness.

I’m sure there have been many more times where she blessed someone with her openness and sweet disposition.  I do caution her to not be so familiar with strangers, but I don’t want her to be afraid either.  Does this mean I will leave her alone at a park while I run to the bathroom?  Well, no.  But I don’t think telling her “Never talk to strangers” is the right strategy either.

I know that we all have different opinions on how to raise our children and what is the best way to protect them.  We can only be the best that we know how to be. But I encourage all parents to seek the Lord and not just rely on your own understating.  Acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths!

Bless and be blessed,
S

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071005-5.html

Main point from interview -

“Q But I want to tell you — and I hope this doesn’t bother you at all — that in the Islamic world they think that President Bush is an enemy of Islam –

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q — that he wants to destroy their religion, what they believe in. Is that in any way true, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: No, it’s not. I’ve heard that, and it just shows [sic] to show a couple of things: One, that the radicals have done a good job of propagandizing. In other words, they’ve spread the word that this really isn’t peaceful people versus radical people or terrorists, this is really about the America not liking Islam.

Well, first of all, I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That’s what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace. And I believe people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives aren’t religious people, whether they be a Christian who does that — we had a person blow up our — blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City who professed to be a Christian, but that’s not a Christian act to kill innocent people.”

1) Are they all yours?

A: No, I just love to go grocery shopping with four children ages four and under.  There’s nothing like the challenge of keeping everyone happy and cooperative while attempting to get everything on my list and everything I forgot to put on my list.  Don’t forget the process of loading all in their carseats, unloading them, walking to the store without getting squished by the cars, getting through the checkout line, back through the parking lot, and loaded back into the carseats, only to be unloaded again at home (and then unlaoding the groceries and getting them up the LOOOOONG walkway and into the house and into the fridge all while trying to keep the children from hurting each other and the baby from crying.  Oh yeah, I’m training for “Survivor!!!”

2) You have your hands full!

A-Not really,you should see me cooking dinner with a baby on my hip, my skirt pulled to my ankles because my 2 YO is pulling on it, and my 3 and 4 YOs screaming that so and so took such and such.  THEN my hands are full.  Right now they are just pushing a cart.

3)  Are you trying for a boy?

A- We are a part of a scientific study to see if all the old wives tales about gender are true.  As of yet we have not tried to have a boy, because we are still doing the girls’ studies, but hopefully in the next four years or so they will let us know it’s time for the boy studies.

4) Are you done yet?

A-  Well, I still have a lot more eggs and sperm available, so I don’t think so.

5) How many children do you WANT?!

A- The guiness book of world records is 22 children.  At the rate I am going I could have at least 24 before menopause!

6) (to my four year old) Are you not in school today?

A- no, we don’t believe in the confines of an education.  We believe that a child is at his best exploring his environment through play and we don’t want to squash that by teaching them things like how to read the alphabet and count.

7)They are so well behaved!

A- while I love to hear this it makes me wonder what it is that I am doing wrong at home! “Thank you.  I take parenting advice from nursery rhymes.  Remember the old woman who lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn’t know what to do?”

Are they twins/triplets?  They all look just exactly alike!

A- Why yes, the oldest three are triplets but were born a year apart from each other.  I know, it’s hard to tell them apart, since they all have blue eyes (which is almost their only similar feature.)

9) You need to get a hobby!

A- Oh, we have a very nice hobby, and it burns calories too!

10) You do know what causes that, don’t you?

A- cock the head and very seriously reply “no, I don’t.  Could you please explain it to me?”