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| So often I write these great blogs in my head. I know exactly what I want to say. Do they actually make it as a blog? Nope. Not usually. But this time is different. We had family night last night. That is the one day every other week that my whole family is home (inlaws included) and we have a great old time. Yesterday was no exception. We had a great dinner (courtesy of Mom, Karen, Heidi, and Esther), went to the Library (all of us except JP, Jake, and Dad), and just hung out. When we got home I started thinking about what a great family I have. It is definitely not your average family. When you think "perfect family" I'm sure that we are not what would come to mind. First of all, there are a lot of us: eight kids, mom, dad, two (almost 3) inlaws, and a niece or nephew on the way. To a lot of people this already messes up the "perfect family" look. I think that it simply adds to it. There is always something to do, someone to talk to, and you never have to worry about having to be lonely. Secondly, we were/are all homeschooled. Many parents feel that they can't/don't want to do this for a variety of reasons. My parents did have to make a lot of sacrifices and I am so grateful. They instilled in me the importance of having God at the core not only my life but my education as well. I know how to read, write, process information, math, science, history, and all those other important things. But I also know how to find root causes in a lot of problems that people have, find God things in almost any situation, how to have Character and teach it to others, how to serve and not expect to be served, to conduct myself properly in different situations, accept differences in others as varying degrees of maturity, and many other important life lessons. These are things that couldn't be taught by just anyone. They had to be someone who genuinely cared about my life, the way I would live it, and the kind of person that I would turn out to be. That would be my parents. They gave up much to give my brothers and sisters and me much. I thank them for that. So you see, my family is great. Just in case I haven't made myself clear enough for you, let me elaborate a little bit more. From what I have been told, my brother-in-law had a desire to be a part of our family when he first met us. At the time he only knew about myself (married) and Melodie (waayyyy to young)  from the girls. Then when he met my sister, Karen, he fell in love and got his wish. My husband too was really excited that he got my family as well as me when he married me. But we are kinda picky about who we let in so if any of you guys have an eye on my other sisters, be warned. The application process is a lengthy and in depth process and not one for the faint of heart so you will want to think (and pray) long and hard before beginning anything.  'Cause when you are in, you're in. We love, laugh, pray, and play together. I thank God so much for the family that He has put me in. I couldn't have picked a better one if I tried. | | |
| Hey Everyone, Believe it or not, there are some new things going on in my life. My brother is courting (congrats again, Vic), one of my best friends just had a baby (congrats to John and Helena and little Nevaeh Joy), and I am off to school again next week. Actually next week is just prep week, but still. I spent a week in Florida taking a course in teaching and before that our church hosted "The School of Prayer and Revival" for almost a week. I learned so much and consider myself richly blessed to have sat under the godly men that came. Some of what I am going to share may be totally old news to you guys but bear with me. I am still very much trying to get used to this "sharing my heart" thing. * Just a note. I am saying all of this with a smile on my face. I am not angry, hurt, bitter, or any other such emotion. (Although my siblings might attest to the fact that I have never been quite normal.  ) Growing up as a PK (pastor's kid) I learned to share a lot. I shared my parent's time, our home life, even our personal life. It was pretty open to others poking, prying, and nosing around. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't that bad. We were a bit of a novelty back in the day. Imagine, eight kids all in one family (on purpose no less), girls who wore skirts, children all homeschooled. I mean, it must have been better than the circus.  So naturally people were quite curious. I didn't really mind all of that. But one thing that I did do, and not necessarily intentionally, was to pick certain areas that were private to me and kept them that way. My family I did not share. I didn't mind people coming over and that kind of thing but when it was family night, it was family night. Others were not allowed to call my parents "mom" and "dad". That was one thing that was ours as a family. And just for those that don't know, we were and are a very close family. I love it that way.
Another thing that I kept very personal was my spiritual life. I learned so many things and it was different from the things that those around me were doing and learning. Remember, I was homeschooled (a fact which I deeply appreciate, especially having worked in the education system) so there was a lot more emphasis put upon spiritual things. But to put that out there for people to gawk or poke at was not something that I was willing to do. For those of you that don't remember, our youth used to be a very different thing. I was the only one that wore a skirt, for starters and that was only one very minor thing. Spiritual discussions were not at all common and some were very argumentative when we did get a discussion going so I was definitely not going to put my "different" ideas out there to give them fuel. As I grew older things around me started changing but I did not change with them. I was still learning but not sharing. Consequences of that, I discovered, are a deep frustration. I would hear and see things going on around me but I felt powerless to do or say anything to help. I didn't want to hear messages, sermons, or anything spiritual because I already felt so full of teachings and I couldn't contain any more. I know it is a bit of a gross picture, but think of a person whose body accepts food for so long but does nothing with it when it is in the stomach. The food has to be disbursed to all parts of the body before it can be of any good. I felt like a full stomach, unwilling to accept any more but unwilling to share what I had already taken in.
A few months before the School of Prayer and Revival I had a friend come over and ask me if I had a spiritual life. That was an uncomfortable question. Of course I had one. What a ridiculous question. Well then, why wasn't I sharing from it? That proved to be a little bit more of a difficult question. I wasn't quite sure.
While at the School of Prayer and Revival one thing that was mentioned was praying aloud when you are by yourself. I thought that it was a bit unusual. I had never thought of doing that. That may sound very unusual to you but think about where I was coming from. Since then, a lot of what I have been sharing with you has been shown to me. That doesn't mean that I am now easily able to share with everyone that I talk to. But I am trying. This blog is evidence of that, I hope. I know that a lot of people still look down on me and consider me "less spiritual" than a lot of people. That is uncomfortable, especially when they are in the youth. But I have no one to blame but myself and I can only pray that I have not done damage to God's name or robbed others of what He has shown me.
If you think of it in the days to come, please pray that God will give me boldness and a sincerity in making His name known. May God bless you all with such an outpouring of Himself on your life that you will not be able to contain it. Sherry | | |
| Hey Guys, I just wanted to say hey. I am enjoying all of my 1 1/2 hours in Florida. Just so you know, today does not feel like Sunday. I am going to church in just a few minutes though. This is going to be a short entry. The weather is a lot more humid than good old ontario but I am really looking forward to my sessions and a lot of the stuff going on here. I am supposed to be going to a Planatarium and this one does everything from a Christian perspective. I didn't bring my camera but some others did so I will try and bring some pics home. Maybe I can even post them from here. I went to an amazing School of Prayer and Revival this last week and I can't wait to tell you what God is doing in my life. It is so incredible. Well, I really don't want to be late for my very first session (or the service or whatever you want to call it) so may God bless you all. Sherry | | |
| I didn't take the job. Lots of reasons. It isn't my time to move on yet. I am willing to wait. I am so glad God knows what He is doing and is in control! | | |
| Do you ever have this happen to you? You know for a fact that God has placed you in a particular place and you are content to stay there as long as He would have you there. Then along comes this opportunity. Parts of it sound GREAT and parts are not so great. You think, "no prob. I'll just stay here". Well, then comes the thought, "What if God wants you to move on." How can you tell? Where can you go to figure out what voice is you and which voice is God's. I woke up this morning with nothing so deep on my mind but because of a circumstance that has been thrown my way I now find myself contemplating this. I am a temporary receptionist at a car dealership. I really enjoy the job. Often it gets slow and that is very boring. But the actual job is great. Today the owner walked in, plunked himself in a chair across from me, and offered me a full time job as a receptionist. I would be making almost double what I do now plus benefits. If I were full time I'm sure that I would have more responsiblilities and that would keep me from being bored. If I took this job though, I would have to quit my teaching job. I love teaching. I love the kids. I love the interaction with the other teachers. I am remembering all this after school stopped though (naturally). So how do I know if God is calling me away from one and toward another? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Why can't God make things a little bit easier on us when He can see that we genuinely want to do what is right? Anyway, enough of that. I still have a couple of weeks of freedom. :) So, I have rediscovered how much I love working outside. I have been doing a lot of work on our yard. I dug 29 holes all by myself :back pat: We planted 39 trees on our property line. They really look great. And at the beginning of the summer we had no grass in our back yard. Now it is almost completely green. My garden is doing great too. I really need to hoe it. Maybe I'll do that tonight. I also plan on working on my flowerbeds this week. Oh, and mulching around all our new trees. JP put up my hammock the other day so I really need to do some serious relaxing. Well, off I go. Melo and I have a date to play Scrabble. God bless you all with more clarity than I have right now. Sherry | | |
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