Thought you might enjoy seeing a few shots of the MMT while they were here. Should bring back memories for some of you :-) We had a nice time with them. We were disappointed with the number of people at the concert (about 40) but I think everyone had a great time. Sunday night they all went back to their host families--we ended up with about 23 here, so we had leftovers and raclette. It was a first for all of them except Dr. Dad and Dr. Mom--so they showed them how to go about it. Each home did something different and they all had a good time. I think the Bixby household was the first to bed.
plus us) can have early morning coffee whenever they want! Anyone else want to stay here? We are having the cookout on the porch tonight, Ruth!
It is hard to believe that you have been married 16 years already! That makes nearly 1/2 of my life! WOW! In some ways, you are totally different and in other ways, you haven't changed at all! (Notice the iron!!) :-)
To the world's best fathers! Each of you is special and you are all wonderful dad's--including you Brian as you anticipate the future! I am a good judge as I see the results in our sweet grandchildren!
We're actually stealing this idea from a friend who recently posted a video clip of her 2-year-old saying her catechisms. We haven't really worked with Miriam individually on catechism, but she listens (& participates in a limited way) to her Daddy working on catechism questions with Micaiah every morning. So while we were waiting for Micaiah to arrive at our family worship time yesterday morning, we just started quizzing Miriam, and were amazed to see how much she has already learned.
Because it costs us about $125 every time we fill up our gas tank, we have been looking for a little "run-around" car that we can use for all the city driving. Tuesday, we saw one for sale on our way to the lake and Wednesday, it was ours! It is a Fiat Punto--cute little blue car. It is a 2002 but has very few k's on it.
Micaiah had quite the gathering for his birthday! In attendance were Papa & Me-Ma Pahnke, Oma Pahnke, Uncle Richard & Aunt Tara, Cousin Sophia, Aunt Donna, Uncle Brian & Aunt Johanna, and, of course, Mommy, Daddy & Miriam. So he was well celebrated! Just for your info, the bike helmet that he received didn't come with a bike, but hopefully it will help inspire him to keep working towards earning the promised bike! It was a fun evening. When asked what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he only asked for "meat." So we grilled pork loin chops. Of course, at his actual birthday party he was so keyed up by all the excitement, I think he only ate two bites. (And the second one I made him take!) Nonetheless, he DEFINITELY enjoyed his birthday. Hard to believe I'm the mother of a 4-year-old!
Well, the mother\daughter banquet is over for another year! It really went well and we were pleased. We had 37 for the meal and 5 helpers (plus JJ and his kids). The salle was "different" but cute. We decorated with purses. All the games were about purses. Hyo Soeng did a skit with me--and I about flipped everyone!! They thought it was hilarious. I guess most of them were seeing me in a "new role." For some reason, my tennis shoes cracked them up :-) It was fun. Valerie did a great job speaking. The meal was good, too---I can't brag on it too much since I was the cook. The clean-up crew was fantastic, but oh, do I have a lot to put up.
Here goes a feeble effort to summarize a book I just finished reading. I am neither expressive like my brother, Bob, poetic like my brother Dan, succinct like my brother Tim, or eloquent like my sister-in-law, Ruth, but I humbly offer my very short summary, opinion, and lessons learned from this book.
In her book, These Strange Ashes, Elisabeth Elliot Gren shares the memories of her first year as a single missionary in the jungles of
Elisabeth and 3 other single missionary women were stationed in a little village (really nothing more than a clearing) called San Miguel de los
During her year, she learned 4 major lessons. Each lesson was accompanied with a difficult experience that tested her faith. The first lesson came after the death of a village woman whose family was very much against the Evangelicos. Elisabeth began to question God. Why would He let this woman die when He knew there was so much at stake in the situation? Did He not care that they were the ones to administer medical care, the ones that would be blamed for her death? Elisabeth said that as she questioned she seemed to look into an abyss, finding “nothing there but darkness and silence.” It was sometime later that she was able to accept that God’s ways are not man’s ways. That God sees the whole picture, not just what is immediately visible to our concept however righteous our concept might be.
The second lesson came after the murder of her primary language informant. God had sent Macario to her in direct response to prayer. He spoke both the Indian language and Spanish fluently and helped Elisabeth begin putting the Indian language into written form. Elisabeth was devastated. How could the work of the language continue without such a person? It was during this time that she learned lesson two: the lesson of “bow[ing] down before that which I could not possibly explain.” “Faith’s most severe tests come not when we see nothing, but when we see a stunning array of evidence that seems to prove our faith vain.”
Lesson three came at greater personal loss. After Jim’s proposal to Elisabeth, she had given her all to completing the alphabet for the Tsahfihki language in order to finish as quickly as possible and move to Jim’s area of
The fourth lesson actually came through experiences that Jim encountered. Shortly after their engagement and Elisabeth’s move to the Eastern jungle, Jim contacted them by radio with the sad news that all of his hard physical labor (of his entire first year) of building missionary homes and buildings had been washed away in a flood. Elisabeth’s heart cried out to the Lord again, asking why He would allow such things to happen when they were giving their all to Him. The answer seemed to come through to her aching heart: “faith, prayer, and obedience are our requirements. We are not offered in exchange immunity and exemption from the world’s woes. What we are offered has to do with another world altogether.”
Elisabeth says that many times God used hymns to sustain her during times of testing and trial One hymn that became dear to Elisabeth during dark times and encouraged her faith when it seemed there was nothing to cling to is by Georg Nuemark.
If thou but suffer God to guide thee and hope in Him through all thy ways
He’ll give thee strength whate’er betide thee and bear thee through the evil days;
Who trust in God’s unchanging love builds on a rock that naught can move.
Obey, thou restless heart, be still, and wait in cheerful hope, content
To take whate’er His gracious will, His all-discerning love, hath sent;
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known to Him who chose us for His own.
Sing, pray, and swerve not from His ways, but do thine own part faithfully.
Trust His rich promises of grace, so shall they be fulfilled in thee.
God never yet forsook in need the soul that trusted Him indeed.
Georg Neumark
Though I feel guilty giving any frank opinion of Elisabeth Elliot’s writings, I, while humbly recognizing that in no way could I write (or live) like she does and has, feel that this book is basically a haphazard attempt to recall events of her first year on the mission field and derive some lessons from them. It is more journalistic in nature and seems to jump from one story or event to the next. The continuity of the book seems somewhat lost in the recollections of many years past. However, I was reminded of my own selfishness and lack of trust in God and His sovereignty. Certainly the things that she had to endure strengthened her faith in God and helped mold her into the remarkable woman that she became. If I could have but a portion of her knowledge and love of/for God, I would be grateful. She is truly a woman that God has used greatly in thousands upon thousands of lives. I highly recommend the book, as it is an encouragement to see that such a great woman struggled with many of the same things I struggle with--just in a different environment.
