Month: September 2011

Fairhaven Survivor

 

Yes, that’s me.  Just look at me.  Don’t I have the haggard, refugee look?  I mean, I’ve been through it all: the church (IFB!), the academy, the youth group, the college –the MEXICO TRIP! (oh,no!) –and I even grew up living on campus!!!

And I survived…and very well!  I now am very happily married to a wonderful man, attending church and serving the Lord in a like-minded IFB church in Pennsylvania, have great friends, wonderful relationships with my parents in in-laws, and we are expecting our first baby in February!  I have soooo much more than I ever deserved, and all because of the grace of God in my life.  Boy, is He ever good to me.

Married May, 2009

And a big part of God’s grace to me was placing me at Fairhaven Baptist Church.  My Dad and Mom met at Fairhaven (before they ever were “Dad” and “Mom” –and before I was even thought of!).  They were married and eventually I was born there in Indiana.   Later Sharon and Jim were born, and eventually Lindsey.  Lindsey had lots of complications at birth, and the whole church prayed and prayed for her.  She eventually learned to walk and talk, and today everyone loves Lindsey at Fairhaven –maybe because they remember praying her through those precarious early days!  God is so good to all of us, but often we forget.  I grew up with some friends who have forgotten.  I wonder if any of them remember how God spared and healed Lindsey?  How we all prayed together for her, and saw God’s miracle?

Well, I spent my childhood growing up at Fairhaven, attending Sunday School, riding on the Chesterton bus route that my Dad served on, attending school at the Academy, and going to day camp in the summers.  I loved it!  And I am so thankful for godly parents.  I feel so rich to have had a Dad and Mom who were faithful to read the Bible to us every day and who also were tough on us in order to teach us Biblical character.  Now Mom is in Heaven, but what a legacy and gift she left us.  Of course my parents disciplined us…and thanks to God’s grace in giving me this discipline, I am what I am today.  I would not be the person I am if it were not for the godly discipline in my childhood.  It is Biblical…it’s right.  I count myself privileged to have had the wonderful childhood I had.  I wonder if any of my friends remember those things.

Our family at a Fourth of July concert

Later I entered the Junior High Youth Group.  I loved Junior High.  I really began to have an interest in spiritual things in Junior High.  I accepted Christ as my personal Savior in the eighth grade.  And I even was present on that Mexico Trip of 1997.  For all the criticisms and allegations and bitterness that are taking place right now regarding that trip, I wonder if anyone remembers the trip how I do –?  I remember a trip where I fell in love with the Mexican people, where I treasured every word of Spanish I could learn, where I heard good, Bible messages, and was challenged from the Word of God almost every day –a trip I was sad to see end.  I wonder if my friends remember any of those things about that Mexico Trip?

Don't you just love the hairstyle! It was hot down there!
My friend Becca...I know she won't mind if I post this!?! She's very forgiving like that!

I went on through Senior High and College, and even stayed an extra year before going out on my own.  I consider my education at the Academy and College as superior in every way, and that is very valuable to me.  Why, our teachers labored over their lessons, and loved us and cared for our personal lives too!  Our pastors, Pastor Damron, Pastor Whitecar, Pastor Voegtlin, and Preacher loved us and prayed hours for us!  The Lord gave me a strength of character, and a love for Him and His Word through Fairhaven.  I would not trade it for anything!  Nothing.  I wonder if any of my friends remember how God worked on them during those years.  I know He did, I remember distinct times for some of them…but what happened?  Have they forgotten all of that?  Oh, that they would remember…how much God loves them still!

Our family --and Dustin...He became more and more of a permanent fixture around our house until I finally married him!

Because of Fairhaven, I married my wonderful husband, and because of Fairhaven, and the biblical teaching I received there, we have a wonderful marriage.  Now we are thrilled at the responsibility and blessing God has given us in a little child to be born in February.  We look forward to raising this little one for the Lord too!  We are currently very happy to be serving in an Independent, Fundamental, Baptist church in Pennsylvania.  God is so good to us, and we look forward to all He has in store!  But let us NEVER FORGET everything He has done for us!

Dustin and I in Baltimore last winter
The only picture we have so far of our "soon to be"!

Deu 4:9  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 

Psa 78:7  That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

Oh, How I Love Thee…

…Pumpkin Spice Latte!  Every year about this time, I fall in love again with Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  And the funny thing is, that as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I lose interest altogether!  Then I jump full force into a sea of Peppermint Mochas…and just relish the taste until about Christmas.  After that, I still like the Peppermint Mochas, but not so exclusively.

Well, the problem with Pumpkin Spice Lattes is that they are difficult to immitate.  I mean for Peppermint, you can just use peppermint oil, or dissolved candies.  For caramel, you can dissolve caramel.  But how do you attain the flavor of Pumpkin Spice without using pureed Pumpkin and lots of Spice?  Then this can make quite a gritty drink if not done properly.  Of course, the easiest way would be to use some of that fancy syrup Starbucks uses, but who knows where to buy it? and how much would it cost?  And we all know, if we invested in that, we would probably have to buy it in bulk.  Then by the end of the season, we would have used an eighth of the bottle, and by next year it would be lost or no good at all!

Well, I found a pretty good recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  It is not perfect, and the drink is thick and full of spice and puree, but it is enjoyable too.  In fact I loved mine until about the last fifteen percent.  Then you get all the pureed pumpkin and spice that has settled to the bottom, and it gets a strange texture and bitter taste real quick!  So do you know what I did?  I covered and refrigerated that last little bit, and the next morning, I added more milk coffee, and sugar, and had another Pumpkin Spice latte!  Not so bad!  So go ahead and try it if you’re brave, but beware of the last few gulps…I wouldn’t try to drink it!  (You could even try adding half the spice the recipe calls for to avoid a bitter end of the cup.)

Here’s the link.  You’ll be taken to another website where you’ll see the recipe when you scroll down.

Happy Fall!

The Stork is Halfway Here!

Well, we’re over the hump…last Monday made twenty weeks, and I think that is officially considered halfway.  Tomorrow will be twenty-one weeks.  And the next Monday, at twenty-two weeks, we will find an answer to the big question:  He or She!?!  (So, you have just about one week to vote.  Please leave a comment including your guess as to Boy? or Girl?  We would love to read everyone’s opinion, and then announce who was correct when we find out!)

I feel this critter a lot now…lots of little taps and pokes!  It is exciting!  And, yes, I am starting to get into Maternity clothes.  My regular clothes have been getting snug for quite a while, and my closet options seem to be diminishing by the week!  I finally got down to a very few skirts that were still wearable, and a friend kindly offered to go maternity shopping with me!  It was such a nice gesture, and turned out to be a very successful trip.  Now there are a few more choices in my wardrobe, and I am just about to plunge whole-heartedly into the maternity look!  I have actually been waiting a bit anxiously for this, excited to wear some of the cute maternity tops I have found or been given!  It is a bit challenging to change your whole wardrobe, though!  Now I have skirts and tops, but not all of them have a matching counterpart, and, well…we’re still sorting things out!  The funny thing is though, that your size is constantly changing (getting bigger, that is!), so something that worked last week may not work this week!  Keeps life interesting!  (All the moms out there are probably laughing at me and my ‘pregnant newbie’ discoveries!)

Speaking of getting bigger, this baby does not help matters when it wants to eat chocolate and sugar all the time.  And of course, I don’t want to be selfish;  it’s not about me and what I want (whick is only healthy food, of course!) –it is about the BABY.  So I just have to sacrifice and keep giving the little one the chocolate and sugar it wants.  Ohhh the trials of eating for two!  And the other thing is that baby wants to sleep all the time!  Why it’s making me yawn now!  Oh well, if I have to eat chocolate and sleep in every day for the baby, I will suffer through it!  I’m joking!  (Well, kind of…)  I have had a big sweet tooth lately, and the baby does make me more tired, but I don’t sleep in EVERY day!

I might add, Baby’s Daddy has been quite the sweetie lately!  I’ll admit I am getting a little spoiled…seems like we have been going to eat where I want, and buying other little things that I like.  It really pays to be pregnant!

All in all, things are going very well so far.  Didn’t have much of any morning sickness in the first trimester, and even now, there are some common side effects of being pregnant, and aches and pains here and there, but nothing too bad at all.  I think I am VERY blessed compared to what some moms have to endure.  Thank the Lord…He is always better to us than we deserve!  And we are looking forward to raising this child for Him.  What a privilege…and an immense responsibility!

Brainwashed?

Brainwash – to make (someone) adopt radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible pressure.

Have you ever been directly or indirectly accused of being brainwashed?  I am convinced that this word is horrendously overused in today’s American English.  It implies being dominated completely by another human being, and not being able to think for yourself; as well it often includes being labeled as a “dunce.”  Being a Christian, I would say that I am fairly used to, especially in the post-modernist media establishment, being labeled as brainwashed.  It is hilarious to me to see how many angles this label/accusation originates from.  For example:

  • Many nations from around the globe claim that Americans are brainwashed into believing their country is the greatest on earth.
  • Those who believe in God are said to have been brainwashed into believing in Him when they were uneducated Christians.
  • Christians are supposedly brainwashed by their church to believe that Christ is God, and that there is no other way to heaven but through Him.
  • Fundamental Baptists are somehow accused of being brainwashed into adapting biblical standards concerning separation and godly living.

But what are all these accusations based on?  Fact?  The accusations are far from fact.  They are all based on opinion and emotion.  Brainwash is a very emotion-driven word, especially to the average person living in the United States.  The immediate reaction to this word is supposed to be, “How horrible!  ___________ is using mind control techniques to make people believe things.”  And I agree, human mind control is wrong in every aspect; but to be specific, why label separated Baptists as brainwashed?  Truth: it stirs the general public’s emotions by, at the very least, embellishing, if not outright lying to them about what is actually happening.

Let me illustrate by personal example and experience.  I was raised in what most would consider a very “religious” home –to be exact, a fundamental Baptist home.  I was constantly trained from the Bible.  I was always taught to listen to what godly teachers and preachers said, and as long as it lined up with the Word of God, to direct my life in that path.  Yes, I was highly influenced by people, starting with my parents, and so many others thereafter.  Who is not influenced by teachers and mentors in their life?  This is where the brainwashing accusation comes in.

However, the key difference is that I made a conscience decision to follow what I was taught.  I could have rebelled, stopped going to church, threw away everything that I was taught, and lived the way I wanted.  However, I didn’t choose to.  Why would I?  God has given me so much to be thankful for.  I could not have planned my life to be as joyful as it has been.  By God’s grace, I made my own choice to follow Christ with my life.  Contrary to today’s common belief, I was never brainwashed into doing anything.

I think what these people are really trying to say is that they do not like what people are being taught.  For most people who use the word, I think that they classify brainwashing as someone being taught anything that they themselves do not believe.  Now it all makes sense!

Here are some not-so-uncommon comments that are said when using the term brainwash.

“Those children behave too well.  They must be brainwashed!.” –No, that’s called obedience.  That used to be common in America up until fifty or so years ago.

“____________ just takes the Bible so literally.  He’s brainwashed.”  –No, he has faith.

“The people from _______________ Church are so religious..and they dress funny too.  They’re so brainwashed!” –No, they’re making their own decision to follow Biblical standards.

If we are going to use this false definition of brainwashing than we should use it universally.  All children are brainwashed by their teachers; all people who want to lose weight are brainwashed by their newest diet guru; all sports fans are brainwashed by their favorite team; and television brainwashes everyone!

I consider myself a pretty independent person.  I typically like to make my own decisions, make my own living, and make my own way in life –until God comes in.  And believe me, He is always there.  I gladly throw away every ounce of independence I may have, for His will.  I could never be happier than to be influenced and controlled by God and his Word.  What a privilege!