If George Muller Registered His Kids for Band...

What would George Muller, the great hero of the faith, do if he had a 12-year-old boy who had begged for many years to play the tuba? (Of course, it had only now recently become a possibility since you have to be bigger than the tuba to play the tuba.)

He would pray as he registered that boy and his homeschooled siblings for a homeschool band.

He would pray on "new-family orientation night" as the band director talked to the boy and gently listened to his 12-year-old dreams.  He would pray as that wise band director encouraged the boy to start on a baritone instead-- it's smaller, a little easier to lug around, but still makes the transition to a tuba a great possibility down the road.

He would pray as he found out that a good, used baritone is anywhere from $600-$2000 to purchase  or $70 a month to rent. (Gulp.)  He might ask that boy if he's interested in the triangle instead, but he would smile when that boy said he'd really like to play the baritone.

He would search craigslist and Ebay, call music stores, and gather information in order to make a wise decision, but he'd still pray to the One who created music and brass and notes and songs-- pray that somewhere out there might be a baritone for a young boy, knowing all the while that the Great Giver of Music could provide one instrument among all the thousands of instruments.

And then he'd watch God provide a baritone to borrow for the year, one that's already owned by the band, one that's providentially not being used currently, one that will cost only a miniscule amount for the whole year instead of $70 a month.

Then he'd fall to his knees with tears of thankfulness, and he would get on his blog to tell his dear friends that nothing is too hard for the Lord-- that God has provided miraculously yet again.

Yes, that is what George Muller might do, if he had lived in the age of blogs and craigslist and homeschool band.  But prayer?  That transcends all technology and the information age.  The God of George Muller is my God and hears my prayers, even for things like instruments.

Once again, this great man of God who believed in the power of prayer and trusted in the unfailing provision of an Almighty Father reached down through the centuries to instruct and cheer on a mama who needed a baritone...

... for a 12-year old boy desperate to play the tuba one day.

Just this morning, He brought one that my son can use this year for just a small fee!  What a provision and answer to prayer!

May this boy and his newly-borrowed baritone ring out with low notes of highest praise.

Great Giver of Music, thank You.

Summer and Winter and Springtime and Harvest...

Everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I absolutely love summertime.  I love the sunshine, warm weather, relaxed schedule, extra playtime with the kids, and extra time for doing things that I can't do in the school year (like sew and read).  I'm most definitely a summer girl.

I have found over the years, though, that this love of summer produces a certain amount of dread and anxiety as fall and winter approach.  The days will be shorter, the sunshine won't be out as much, the schedule picks back up, and the responsibilities get heavier.  This year has been no exception.

Ah, but isn't it like the Lord to come in and bring truth in unexpected ways.  He spoke to my heart a couple of weeks ago to the point where I find myself anticipating the coming of fall like I never have before.  This may seem like a small thing, but it is a big hurdle in my own life and attitude.

I was at a prayer breakfast for homeschooling moms, and we sang a few songs together including "Great is Thy Faithfulness".  I have sung that hymn hundreds, maybe thousands of times.  We even sang it at our wedding.  I would say it is a personal favorite, but one verse popped out like it never has before.

"Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness,

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."

As I was singing, it hit me...

Summer and harvest both proclaim the faithfulness of God.

Summer AND harvest AND winter?

And not just proclaim, but join with ALL nature.  I had to let it sink in for a few minutes.

Could even my beloved summertime flowers, gardens, and sunshine be joined by leaves, cold weather, and snow in proclaiming the goodness of my God?  And joined in manifold witness?

Manifold.  Many fold.

                    A thousand-fold?

                                         A million-fold?

Manifold.

Witness to what?

To Thy GREAT faithfulness.

And enduring mercy.

And everlasting love.

To most people, this may not seem like much of a realization, and it's something I've known mentally for a long time, but what about my fickle, frail heart?  It's not always so quick to follow the truth that I know in my head.  I don't notice the "joining in manifold witness" as quickly as I notice the shorter days, cold weather, dead grass, and gray sky.

The truth that changes the looming drab into a buffet of anticipation and color is knowing that I'm heading into an autumn where God IS and where He will most definitely be praised.

How like my Lord to sing His truth over me once again-- to redirect my heart and mind to His glory in every time, every season, every change.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided...

...even when the thing needed is the grace-filled truth that helps a summer girl say hello to autumn.

Great is Thy faithfulness...
 again,
 and again,
 and again.

Checking In Quickly

I apologize for my long silence.  We were just getting settled in after our eventful camping trip when we received the word that Paul's Uncle Ed went to be with Christ last Tuesday morning.  After weighing the options, we decided to travel as a family to Myrtle Beach for the funeral.  The kids knew Ed and loved him very much, and we were flexible enough in our schedule to be able to drive down together.

We left last Thursday and just arrived home again last night.  I think we spent more than 32 hours in the van in the last several days, but it was a good trip.  The kids are amazing travelers, and I don't think I heard a single complaint the whole time (although Paul's "Car Bingo" helped us pass many hours as we searched for all of those easy-to-find items like a West Coast license plate and a dinosaur)!

I'm extremely glad we all went down.  Despite the sad reason for a reunion, funerals have the effect of bringing many family members together in one place.  Along with spending time with Ed's wife (Paul's Aunt Linda), we saw two of Paul's uncles, another aunt, two cousins, and all of Paul's siblings.  We also had the opportunity to love on Paul's mom and dad for a few days.

Ed's favorite song was Michael Card's "Immanuel", and it was my privilege to play that song along with other favorite hymns and songs at his funeral.  He has been quite ill for many years although his death was still unexpected.  I think we are all rejoicing that he is no longer struggling physically.

The Lord was gracious to us on our long drive.  We have literally driven thousands and thousands of miles over the last thirteen years and have never once had a mechanical difficulty with a vehicle.  About four hours into this trip, a sensor in the van went out, and we ended up at a dealership somewhere along our route.  Two hours later we were back on the road with a new sensor that was covered under our warranty.  (We were less than 2,000 miles away from the end of the warranty when the sensor went out.)  Praise be to God for protecting us and allowing the problem to be fixed quickly.

Now we are back home settling in again.  Since we were in Myrtle Beach, we did take the kids to the beach on Saturday, and we made a couple of trips to the pool where Paul's parents live (more x's on the bucket list!).   I'll try to post some pictures in the next few days-- as soon as I figure out our new camera.  (Our old camera never did recover from the shock of the canoe incident!)

So on we plod, being reminded again that life is fragile and fleeting.  We don't know much, but we do know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Ed's healing is finally complete, and for that, I am very thankful.

Thunderstorms, Tents, and The Capsizing of a Canoe

After a very full few days, we are back home from our camping trip!  I'm pleased to report that we returned with all of our children, all of our belongings, and most of our sanity. (Well, we probably returned with as much sanity as we left with, but that's a different post!)

All in all, we had a fantastic time!  We picked Josiah up from summer camp on our way, and it was so wonderful to be back together again out in God's creation.

Other than the obligatory mosquito bites and campfire smell, our trip was uneventful-- unless you count a torrential thunderstorm our first night and the capsizing of one of our rented canoes the second afternoon.  If you count those things, it was a grand adventure that our kids will never forget.

I've never experienced a thunderstorm from inside a tent before.  A few of the thunderclaps were so loud that they caused us all to pitch to the floor.  Then we would sit up and laugh hard when the rumbling stopped.  I don't know if we laughed to send the fear scurrying or if we laughed to keep embarrassment at bay.  Either way, we would scream and laugh, talk about making a run for the van, and then decide to just stay put as another torrent of rain came pouring forth from the heavens.

The skies cleared up just in time for us to build a fire for marshmallow-roasting before bed.

On the second morning, the owner of the campground took the kids out into the river for "Kayaking 101".  They did really well learning to paddle and steer a little boat-- something that helped immensely a few hours later.

Our plan that day was to rent two canoes (the place we stayed is a campground and a canoeing/kayaking outfitter) and canoe down a river through a national wildlife refuge.  The trip was supposed to take 4 1/2 hours and cover about 16 river miles.  We planned to stop for some bird-watching and snacks along the way.  It was still very cloudy, but the guy that put us in the water said that the sun was supposed to come out later that afternoon.

Everything started out well.  I was in one canoe with Josiah and Isaac, and Paul was in the other with Micah and Sarah.  Other than a few mishaps canoeing into trees, getting stuck on some fallen logs, and knocking spiders out of the trees into the canoe, we were moving along just fine.  (Who knew that one treachery of canoeing is spiders falling out of trees when you bump into said trees? Eek!)

About an hour into the trip, I had just gotten stuck on some fallen logs when Josiah, who was in the front of my canoe, looked behind us and yelled, "They're in the water.  The other canoe is upside down!"

At that particular spot, the river was narrow and full of rocks and downed trees.  Paul, Micah, and Sarah had gotten dumped over when the current knocked them into a large tree branch.  When I turned around, I could see that Paul was struggling hard to keep the large canoe from sinking while the twins were floating through the water trying to catch our belongings and a lost paddle.  Praise God that the water wasn't very deep or fast in that spot and we were all wearing life vests.  Providentially, because I was stuck and my canoe wouldn't budge, I wasn't struggling to stay nearby.  I had the twins swim over to me, we retrieved our things as they floated past, and then they climbed up onto a log and got into our boat, shivering and crying.  Meanwhile, Paul was still trying to get the canoe turned back over.  When he finally did, it was full of water.

After about 30 minutes of tipping the canoe to get the water out, bailing out the rest of the water with a cut-off water bottle (it takes awhile when you're bailing 12 oz. at a time), calming the twins down, and discovering that everything in our fancy "stay-dry" bag was soaking wet (including the extra clothes and our cameras), we were finally underway again.  A few hundred yards down-river, we found the lost paddle caught on some more downed trees.  I had prayed specifically that God would stop that paddle somewhere so we could find it, and He answered that prayer with another log!

At that point, we had many miles and several hours to go to meet up with the van that would take us back to the campground.  I found myself in knots most of the rest of the afternoon.  Paul kept trying to remind me how blessed we were and how God had taken care of us, but my mama-heart was anxious every time either canoe got stuck or looked like it might tip even slightly.  We got the twins paddling right away to warm them up, and a couple hours later, the sun finally came out.

Eventually the river widened, the going was much easier, and the kids (and the mama) began to enjoy the trip.  They were such troopers-- all four of them paddling most of the way.  About five hours after setting out, we arrived at the pick-up point to meet our ride.  Aside from sore muscles (and Josiah declaring that his "blisters had blisters" from all of the paddling), we were all in one piece.

God really protected us that day.  Our only casualty was our camera, although thankfully everything on the memory card is likely still there-- (hence the reason there are no pictures of our camping trip yet).  I'm going to be reflecting on that canoe trip for a long time-- the providence of my getting stuck just before the other boat capsized, the shallow water, the hard work Paul did righting and bailing out the other canoe--all while standing chest-deep in the water.  I'm also going to be pondering how it helped when the sun came out, the obstacles and twists and turns of the river, and the spiritual parallels to the experience of those in the canoe farther ahead yelling instructions to those behind them on the journey-- "Stay to the right up here.  Be careful in this spot!"

Compared to that adventure, the rest of our trip was truly uneventful.  We had a great evening by the campfire (I loved learning about cooking over a fire), we all slept hard, and we arrived home late the next day.

I'm certain that there are many more camping adventures in our future.  The kids are now officially hooked!  I think Paul and I had the chance to remember how much we enjoy taking trips like this.  We decided long ago that we would always try to give our kids experiences, not things.  God was good to give us a safe, albeit adventure-filled few days, and I'm thankful for the chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday life.

So a few more items have been crossed off the summer bucket list, and memories were made that will last a lifetime.  I guess the only thing I can add is this:

God is very good...

To protect His children...

To give us the opportunity to make memories together...

To allow us to experience the beauty of his creation and the majesty of His thunder...

and

To bring us back home again after teaching us many things about Himself.