Risks Worth Taking

Many people are amazed at the risks we were willing to take to adopt five teenage children we had never met. And from a war-torn country. We already had seven children! They are even more amazed at the beautiful reflection of God’s mercy, grace, and love they see in our family today.            

From the beginning, well-meaning people and supposed experts laid out their fears for us. Their list of potential risks was long! We heard everything from, “You’ll need a Yellow School Bus to get around” to “It’s dangerous to upset the age order in your home by adopting children older than the ones you already have.” Then there were behavior/abuse issues (sexual being the scariest) the children might have suffered, and would possibly act out in our home and with our biological children. Of course, we were also warned of the potential for AIDS/HIV, other diseases from Africa, war-trauma, etc. As a result, we prepared for the worst, hoped for the best, and were pleasantly surprised.

Some of the obvious risks were the huge financial implications of adopting five teenagers internationally. We knew we would be radically changing our family’s comfort zone. In the year 1999, my precious father died and left our family resources that allowed us to change our lifestyle quite a bit. My husband built our house, and stayed home to help teach, train and disciple our children. That could change if we adopted five more children; he may have to go back to work outside of the home.

Something  Bigger than Ourselves! 

We absolutely love our Dad-built house and property in the country, but we could not allow it to be an idol in our life and get in the way of our serving God. We needed to be willing to offer it all up on the altar of God and open our hearts to the possibility of not continuing in this comfortable lifestyle.

Truthfully, we always wanted to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. We had a sense of urgency to put ourselves on the line in whatever way God was calling us. We kept asking ourselves the question, “What do we want the end of our life to speak of?”

Glenn and I had just been through a season of losing all our parents, our few remaining grandparents, and even a few friends our age to illness and disease. Life became all too fragile and eternal life’s reality became extremely REAL. We were ready to be living for what was REAL, painfully aware life here on earth was much shorter than we once thought.

The hole left in our lives from the death of our parents was significant. We all noticed it. Holidays, birthdays, fun-times and weekends spent with our folks… now they were gone.  Somehow, the vacuum left inside made room for a strong call on our lives. It was a call that spoke to our spirits and encouraged us that we were equipped for “such a time as this.

For 19 years, we did what so many other Christian families similar to ourselves had been doing. We focused on our family by home-centered living, learning to parent with love and grace. We learned to home-school with God’s design in mind for each child while trying to discover their personal interest and learning style. Our babies were born at home, we eat healthy and take care of ourselves.

I have always held the word ‘liberty’ dear in my heart. We named our youngest daughter, Liberty. Now, God has used that word to bring my faith to a place of action with my precious Liberian children. The Latin root for Liberia is liber meaning free. The Country’s motto is, “The love of Liberty brought us here." It reminds me of the quote, “True biblical liberty is a paradox! You’re never truly free unless you’re bound… to Christ.” I think this quote explains why we’ve sacrificed our comfortable life and risked so much. No man is ever truly free unless he is bound to his Savior. We are all bound to something in life; if not the Lord and His desires, we will serve ourselves and our own sinful nature.   

Missionaries in our own home!

As we considered adopting these five children, we realized we were making a huge decision. I needed to be extra certain that I was not deceived in my emotions or in my heart. Experience had taught me my emotions were open game for the enemy’s deception!  As we stepped out in radical faith, we were aware that many, many changes would be coming. For us, it would be like becoming missionaries in our own home. To my prayers, I added fasting (something that doesn’t normally come easy to me). We had been praying and trusting God could, and would, make His will known to us. I am blessed to report that He did in so many miraculous ways.

Someone said to me recently that adoption should not just be about rescuing children but about making a family. True! But why does "making a family" have to negate the fact that we are rescuing children? We are making a family--a lovely family--and we have also rescued children in the meantime.

The first two children, Boto (now Botianna) and Lightning, we chose to adopt because they had only months left before they would become un-adoptable. This pulled on our heartstrings. How could we let these precious children, who had been in this orphanage for ten years, reach this status of being un-adoptable? These children know we rescued them, feel rescued, and are thankful we rescued them!

Our children arrived home October 5, 2006. It is now four months later and they are an integral part of our lives. I periodically check with our younger biological children to see how they are really doing. I wish the world could see the joy and hear the responses. They absolutely love their new brothers and sisters! I actually see my children having beautiful compassion in their hearts for their new siblings and understanding for their weaknesses. They are getting missionary hearts.

Our two oldest biological children, Shepherd and Prayse, have both been to Liberia, and can’t wait to go back the minute funds are available. Shepherd is developing “Liberty Vision Productions” comprised of himself, his video camera, and a great purpose - to bring people who will never go to Liberia “the eyes to see and the ears to hear”.  He is developing vision for his future and desires to use his video talents to assist the missionary aid effort of Children Concerned.

Prayse strongly desires to go back to Liberia and love on the children who remain. Since coming home from Africa, she is gaining vision for her future and a life in ministry wherever her mission field may be. Even the younger children Joshua (9), Robert (8), Hope (7), and even Noah (5) have pen pals in Liberia. They are always asking their new brothers and sisters to tell them more about their friends there. They want to save their money and go to the dollar store to buy something for their friends in Liberia.

Our home is better than before! 

How have our Liberian children fitted in?

Botianna (17) is quickly becoming a wonderful mother’s helper. She absolutely adores Liberty and loves to take care of her for me. Likewise, Liberty adores Botianna and enjoys going to her. She has faithfully taken over managing the laundry. Wow! She helps with cooking and sometimes makes the entire meal. She does this especially well when we eat African. She is learning to make 30 loaves of bread on “bread day” and loves it. She has a GREAT personality and a beautiful, contagious smile. We would not want to be without her, and being the oldest Liberian, we all look to her for understanding. She takes her responsibilities in our family seriously. We all love her so much!

Andrew (16) is the calm, reserved one. His nature is to take things more seriously than the rest of us but, thankfully, he can be playful and laugh. He thrives on responsibility, is trustworthy,  honest and focused. I can always trust him to speak the truth because his conscience is strong. I’ve so connected to him as a son, and we’ve had many long heart-to-heart conversations that have proven glorious. He will make a wonderful father and leader one day! Our home is a more beautiful and wonderful place because he is in it.

Lightning (15) has surprised us all. When we processed our adoption for him, all we heard about him was that “he loves soccer”! We live way out in the country and had no plans of busying ourselves with a sport like soccer for only one of our children. We thought he would grieve this activity. Little did we know Lightning has so many interests! His younger brothers think he is a genius for all his creativity.  He amazes us constantly. No one in this house can speak too highly of Lightning; we all adore him. Lightning doesn’t know the phrase “I’m bored”. None of them do, thankfully! His other absolute number one passion around here is food. He loves to eat! He’s so excited because he can tell his fingernails and hair condition have improved greatly since coming home, not to mention, he loves to hop on those scales! Lightning’s smile can light up a room!  In fact, it does almost everywhere we go.  When we are out people always ask, “Does he always have such a big smile on his face?” and we get to say “Yes!”

Cherish (12) is soft, sweet, tender and mild. She is sensitive and just a little girl inside. Cherish came here obviously wounded and bound; she had a hard time giving and receiving affection. However, she has been the most rewarding in terms of seeing her set free. One day, in the first few weeks of their being home, I had one of those migraines that got out of control. Cherish had never seen me sick and she could not stop crying for me. The next day while I was in recovery she laid all day cuddled up with me and never left my side. She is a nurturer and loves babies! I am amazed at how quickly we all came to cherish Cherish!

Kabiera (12) has the most expressive personality you could ever want to see, or should I say, experience. She is the queen of facial expressions! One day we were asking each child what some of his or her favorite things were. Andrew answered, “Laughing at Kabiera!” We all could relate. She is definitely a highlight to our home. She is spunky, cute, affectionate, warm and friendly. Just today, I had the privilege of leading her to the Lord. What a joy! Her heart was soft and pliable for Jesus, ready to hear and receive the gospel message.

The children had all heard enough Scriptures in the orphanage to have a foundation, but they still need one-on-one, individual discipleship. They need a personal relationship with wise and Godly parents. They are so receptive if parents can walk in lots and lots of love, patience, and grace! The mission field is right in our home!

Whatever risks we took we feel were worth taking! We are all better people today because we stepped out in faith and recognized that our ministry, once again, really is in our home!

ALICIA AHLERS

Pendleton, Kentucky,. USA

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www.theahlersfamily.com

 

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Rivers Of Joy

When I was born, my parents gave me the middle name Anandi which means joy in one of India's many languages. This name has proven to be prophetic in my life. I have always been naturally cheerful and I began to know true joy when I gave my life to Jesus Christ at age 15. I grew up with a wonderful dad and a loving and devoted mom.  

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a wife and mother. However, I had an extreme fear of the pain of childbirth. I don't really know where I picked that up since my mom gave birth to me at home and always told me it was the best day of her life. She hoped that one day my sister and I would also have homebirths. I used to upset her by telling her I wanted to be completely knocked out when I gave birth. I was so afraid of childbirth, I even tossed around the idea of never having any birth children but only adopting..

However, as I grew in my relationship with God, my thinking began to change. I learned what the Bible had to say about children being a blessing and about God not wanting us to live in fear.

When I was 19, I traveled on a missionary trip to India where I had the privilege of serving in a orphanage and performing dramas about Jesus on the streets. I had given up dating in high school after a painful breakup and vowed to wait for God to bring the man I was to marry into my life. I had even made a list of things I wanted in a husband and prayed over it.

I wasn't looking to find him on this mission trip (romantic relationships were not allowed since we were almost all teenagers.) But three days into the trip I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this blond guy from Colorado who loved God and children as much as I did.    I also knew it was going to be a long wait since he was only 16. Wow! Two amazing years of friendship and one beautiful year of courtship later, we were married.     

During our courtship I began to research different kinds of birth control. Even though I knew I wanted to have children, I was sure I didn't want them right away.

Was I shocked when I found out that the birth control pills I had planned to take had the  potential to cause early abortions. I was pro-life; therefore these pills were no longer an option for me. When I shared my concerns with my fiancé, he was amazingly supportive. He always knew he wanted a big family as well.

We took a few classes on Natural Family Planning, but ultimately decided to trust God to plan our family. We were scolded by well meaning family who were afraid we were too young and too poor to have a baby right away. We held our ground.

Lo and behold, a year passed and no baby. We weren't too concerned about it at that point. We enjoyed our first year of marriage and I busied myself caring for babies at a  daycare. A year and 1/2 passed. I was sure I would get pregnant soon. We took Bible College classes and went on our second missionary trip to India. Two and a half years passed and still no baby!

Now, family and friends were concerned for a different reason. I politely told people, that yes, we were trying, and no, we didn't feel we were to see a doctor about it. We were simply trusting God.

I began to learn more about nutrition and we both started taking better care of ourselves. We took a job as assistant house parents at a Christian ranch for troubled teen girls. I loved living with "my girls" and home schooling them. More than ever that I wanted to be a mom.

Three years passed. Now I was starting to get a little concerned. It was during this time I had a dream I will never forget. I was holding an adorable baby I had never seen before. The baby looked me in the eyes and said (even though it should have been too young to talk) that I was soon going to have a baby named Joy.

I woke up and wrote the dream in my journal thinking it was possibly from the Lord.

I also began to pray specifically for the Lord to bless us with a baby the following September. Three and 1/2 years passed. We were two weeks away from traveling to Australia to take music classes and play in a missionary band when I found out I was pregnant!

I spent my pregnancy traveling in Australia, singing and talking about Jesus in everything from bars to schools to churches. We then came back to the States to prepare for the birth.

On August 16th, after four years of marriage, our first son was born at home! He was perfectly healthy and had lots of red hair. We named him Rivers Chairo which means rivers full of joy--Chairo is Greek for "full of joy, delight, or gladness". He is now eight months old and lives up to his name everyday! He is the joy of our lives. We are now starting the process to adopt a brother for Rivers from Liberia.

KRIYA HERZOG

Helena, Montana,  USA                                        

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Degeneration or Regeneration?

Someone has said that “one generation is a generation away from regeneration.” I have seen this happen in my lifetime

As a child growing up in our little town of New Zealand it was the shock of the town if someone got involved in adultery. This was not only the sentiment of church folk but of everyone in town. Now, hardly anyone bats an eyelid when this happens in the church! Is this not degeneration?

When I was a child believers did not go to the movie theater. When my mother died at 83 years of age she had never been in a movie theater. One time, when an adult, I said to my mother, “Mum, there are some good movies that you could perhaps watch without being defiled.” “Oh no,” she replied, “What if the Lord was to come and find me in the movie theater!” Now, it seems the norm for Christians to go to nearly every movie that comes to town. And if they don’t do that, they watch them in the privacy of their homes! I am not saying that we cannot watch a wholesome movie, but we certainly must use discernment and scrutiny.

When I was a child we hadn’t even heard of the word ‘pornography’. It was never mentioned. Now, it is a word that is part of every day language and a bondage that has gripped thousands of men in the church today. What degeneration!

We know that there have always been backyard abortions, but when we were children we never heard the word spoken aloud. It wasn’t practiced in the church. Now many church-going women have abortions! Forty-three percent of women obtaining abortions say they are Protestant and 27 percent say they are Catholic!

Although pagan societies have always accepted abortion, it was an antipathy in the early church. W. E. H. Lecky (1838-1903), the Irish Historian, although not always agreeing with Christian doctrine, wrote,"…it was one of the most important services of Christianity, that… it definitely and dogmatically asserted the sinfulness of all destruction of human life as a matter of amusement, or of simple convenience, and thereby formed a new standard higher than any which then existed in the world. The influence of Christianity in this respect began with the very earliest stage of human life…With unwavering consistency and with the strongest emphasis, they denounced the practice, not simply as inhuman, but as definitely murder." We have degenerated greatly.

I believe it is time we got some backbone back into the church and into society. Why do God’s people surrender to the climate of society and take that for their standard rather than the eternal Word of God? Have we become “cream puffs” or “jelly fish” as my husband often says?

It comes back to the Parents!

How do we get back to God’s ways? David cried out in Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” I believe we have to build the foundations again. How do we do this? It starts with us parents. We are responsible to pass on the baton of God’s truth and standards to the next generation. If we fail to do this, we fail God and this generation. It is God’s plan that each generation of parents pass on His ways to the next generation, establishing godly generations in the earth.

It’s no use sending our children to church or Sunday School or telling them what to do if they do not see it operating in our lives. They will follow who we are and what we do. They see through any compromise and hypocrisy.       

Ephesians 6:13 says, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Can I share one or two other translations with you? Weymouth’s translation says, “Put on therefore the complete armour of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground on the day of battle, and, having fought to the end, to remain victors on the field.”

J.B. Phillips’ says, “Therefore you must wear the whole armour of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground.” That’s the essence of this Scripture--to be still standing up even after the fight.

Stand your Ground!

That’s what we have to do. Hold our ground. Hold on to our convictions. Never let them go. While we are taken up with our excessive addiction to sports, movies and entertainment, we have become soft and flabby and have forgotten how to fight for morality and righteousness. We would rather play than pray. While we have our heads in the sand the enemy is having a heyday. We are in a battle, but we are losing ground. Many have given up the fight. Perhaps you are struggling to fight the good fight of faith? Don’t give up. Keep standing your ground.

We must also impart to our children the ability to fight and contend for the faith. We are the example for them to follow.

Evil is becoming more rampant. But God has told us in Isaiah 60:1-2 to arise and shine in the dark times. Will we shine in this evil day? Or will we hide our light and succumb to the darkness? Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove (expose, convict) them.” May God save us from getting so used to the climate we live in that we think it is normal. May He open our eyes to see His standards, and hold on to them. May He save us from assimilation, the most subtle of the enemy’s strategies. May He anoint us to expose the evil around us.

Everything today has to be politically correct. In other words, we have to fit into what the world is doing! This is not Bible. This is not New Testament Christianity. This is apathy. It is being luke-warm which makes God sick. We don’t have to be politically correct. We must be Biblically correct, even if we face persecution.

Most Christians do not condone adultery, abortion, and homosexuality. They would never do these things themselves. But they don’t want to make a scene. I hear many saying, “Well, I wouldn’t do that, but that is their personal choice. If that’s what they want to do, I have to accept it.” And now these things have become acceptable! All because we did not take a stand! We did not fight for God’s truth! We assimilated to the popular trend!

May God help us to once again be a holy people, filled with God’s truth and His Spirit, who will push back evil rather than yielding to it.  

Don’t Drop the Baton!

Dear parents, don’t let the baton drop! Keep up the great work of imparting God’s life-giving commandments to your family. Keep passing them on down the generations. You are doing a great work. My husband and I pray daily for our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren yet to be born. We are passionate about seeing the godly generation continuing down the years that our children, even those yet unborn, will be mighty for God, holding up the banner of God’s truth and fighting against evil. We pray that your offspring will be “mighty upon the earth” too! 

NANCY CAMPBELL

STANDING POWER

The morals of this world are going downhill

Against God’s Holy Word and His divine will,

No longer black and white, it’s now mushy gray,

God’s eternal absolutes many shun today.

 

Will you stand against this tide when others are crumbling?

Will you stand on God’s Word when many are stumbling?

Will you stand against sin and the devil’s deceptions?

Making no excuses or subtle exceptions?

 

Never be intimated, never be fooled…

Neutralized,

     Fraternized,

            Mediocre-ized

Or your fire be cooled!

 

When there’s no justice and only confusion

And God’s people are hiding their light in seclusion,

Will you rise up and be counted, open wide your mouth

And proclaim God’s truth to the north and the south?

 

Will you be strong in the Lord and the power of His might?

Always standing up for that which is right?

Rich in discernment, wisdom never ignored,

And walking daily in the fear of the Lord?

 

Never be wimpy or crumble at the knees…

Normalized,

       Traumatized

                     Luke-warmized,

And the devil never appease!

 

Will you stand the test when you are wronged and hurt?

When you are persecuted and treated like dirt?

Will you have backbone when the pressure comes on?

Or be a spineless jellyfish with purpose all gone?

 

Will you keep on standing if you’re the only one?

Lifting up the name of Jesus, God’s only Son?

Will you stand true now, holding on to the end?

No matter what it costs, God’s truth to defend!

 

Nancy Campbell

 

 

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Will he know the Difference?

“Will he know the difference?” he asked. “Please don’t tell him, Mommy.”     

It was a precious moment. My 11 year old son, Isaiah, and Shepherd Colin, our little miracle baby (born at 33 weeks gestation) and I were sitting on the oversized rocking chair together, staring at our beautiful new gift of life. All the ten children had loved seeing the baby grow in my tummy and reveled in the times when they saw him kicking and rolling around. It was enshrouded in mystery. We didn’t find out the gender of our baby until he was born as the children enjoyed the competition between the two teams. We had five girls and five boys and the new arrival would be the makings of the winning team.

It was amazing to think that this was the darling baby we had grown to love and anticipate during my pregnancy. We were both enraptured with Shepherd’s gorgeous little face when Isaiah said something that caught me off guard.

“Is he going to know, Mommy?”

“Know what?” I asked.

“Are you going to tell him, Mommy?”

“Tell him what?” I said. He was so earnest with his questions. He kept enquiring and didn’t answer mine.

“But will he know the difference?” he asked again.

“What difference?” He still didn’t answer but kept talking, taken up with the notions turning in his head.

“Maybe, Mommy, he won’t notice, because I have always been here since he came into the world.”  I started to see through the fog of what was on his mind.

“Mommy, where will he think that I get my dark skin? He continued questioning.

“He will think you got your beautiful dark skin the same place he got his light skin--from God and the heart of His creativity. It is boring for everyone to be the same as one another. I am so glad we have different colors in our family because God has different colors amongst His children.”

Isaiah had told me in the past that he did not like the word “adoption” when referring to himself. It made him feel too new and different. I now knew exactly what was on his mind.

“Isaiah,” I said, “I don’t see any difference between you and baby Shep. You may look different, but that is the fun part. Vision looks nothing like Mommy or Daddy with his flaming red hair, green eyes and turned up nose. I don’t love my children because they look like me. I love them because they are mine. Whether you became mine by adoption or pregnancy doesn’t matter to me. Adoption and pregnancy are just words, words that have the same outcome, words for the way you arrived and became mine. Whether someone took the bus, rode in a car, went by ship or flew in a plane—it’s all minor transportation details.

“Isaiah, before the beginning of time, God planned for you to be my precious child, to love, train and hold in my heart forever. He decided this for Shepherd too. You are both equally mine and equally adored. Whether you grew in my tummy or inside my heart, it doesn’t matter to me.

“Shepherd grew in my womb for almost nine months but you grew in my heart for nine months. To get you here in my arms was a long and rocky process. My daily thoughts were weaved with longing prayers for you. My heart swelled, grew and beat for you. My heart was pregnant with you. It held a bulging love that kept growing until it burst open and the dream of you became a reality when I first saw your face. All that matters to me is that you are mine. All eleven of my beautiful gifts from God are equally anticipated and celebrated. God wrapped some of you up differently. But the wrapping doesn’t matter, does it? It is the gift you care about.

“To answer your question, Baby Shep will know no difference. He will only know that he has a cool, good-looking muscularly African brother that he will look up to and want to be like. The fact that you were adopted, Isaiah, is a minor detail.”    

Isaiah gave the baby a gentle, but fervent hug, and ran off to play with a new spring in his step and the excitement of a new brother to love.

When I am grocery shopping, or out and about in town, and a well-meaning on-looker sees my crowd trailing behind and ask if I run a youth group or am a nanny of many, I say, “No, these are all my children.”

Sometimes they ask, “But which ones are really yours? I am sure you know my answer, “They are all mine, and there is no difference.”

SERENE ALLISON

Primm Springs, Tennessee, USA

    

 

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My Journey Of Infertility

Month after month I sobbed on the bathroom floor. “Why, why, why?” was all I could ask. I poured out my heart to God, begging Him for answers that only He could give. I pleaded and wailed, made bargains and asked questions. There were no answers, no revelations from God…only quietness.

I had just started my cycle, as I had like clockwork for the past eleven years. My husband held me as I cried. He had no answers either.

Everything reminded me that I could not conceive. I would go to the store and see only bubbly infants cooing to their mommas. Maternity clothes beckoned at me from the racks, knowing that I could not buy them again this month. The infant section was not an area I could go into without crying. I skipped the diaper and baby food isles at the grocery store.

It was no easier at church. Most of my friends and family members were expecting. People made suggestions and comments that broke my heart and sent me spiraling into a dark depression.  “Just let go and let God…give it to Him.”  “Why don’t you adopt?” “You should be thankful for the two children you already have instead of fretting over the ones you can’t have.”

Why didn’t anyone care about me and the hurt I was feeling? Why couldn’t they be a bit more sensitive with their words? Why wasn’t anyone reaching out to me? I was allowing my inability to conceive to rule my life and emotions, affecting all the relationships around me. Sadly, this infertility was a product of my own doing, which only added to my depression.

I fell in “love” in 1991 with a cute boy in my class, Joel. Not long after we started dating I became pregnant. Devastated, we considered abortion. After a series of miraculous events I was not able to abort this baby. I delivered Dakota in October 1992, got married February 1995 and later gave birth to Kennedy in November 1995. Both these children were born before I was 19 years old.

I had never planned on having children. I started college part time and began seeking employment. My husband joined the military and we moved overseas. Because the military was paying for it and others recommended it, we joined the ranks of many who cut off their fertility willingly by having a vasectomy. That was 1996. I enjoyed the freedom the sterilization offered us by not having to worry about an “accident” each month. My husband and I were just 19 years old at the time.     

Several years later, we moved back to the United States. A neighbor invited us to a drama at her church. We attended and, that night, both my husband and I gave our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. We promptly found a church and began serving in any capacity we could.

I began to long for more children. I begged the Lord for a miracle. I pleaded with God, reminding Him that we had no knowledge of Him when we had the vasectomy, so why should we be held accountable for something we did in such ignorance? I cried and looked for answers to my problem. I soon heard of a procedure that reversed the vasectomy resulting in restoring fertility to a couple. I was elated! I begged my husband to check into it. He did. The base where we were stationed did reversals. Praise God! My husband had the necessary medical appointments and put his name on the waiting list.

Months later, after waiting what seemed to be an eternity, we checked with the hospital to see where we were on the list. A mistake had taken place and we were never on the list in the first place. Crushed, I asked my husband to start over, but he had received orders sending us back overseas.    

God worked mightily. In 2002, Joel was able to have the reversal done in a military hospital in Europe. Each detail was orchestrated by God alone. This reversal gave me hope. I was sure we would be expecting a baby shortly.  How could we not after such a moving of the Lord on our behalf? I bought an armload of maternity clothes, knowing I would need them soon.

Month after month went by with no positive pregnancy tests. My heart plummeted into depression. Wasn’t I being obedient? If so, why wasn’t God blessing? Where was this baby I was sure we would have? Why wasn’t God answering my prayers? I reached out to other women who were suffering with infertility. I found comfort in knowing I was not alone, but none of us could really give the other what we so desired--a baby.

My husband had testing done. We discovered that the reversal was unsuccessful and we would not be able to conceive. I still prayed and asked the Lord to change the outcome. Almost four years went by as I charted temperatures, using ovulation predictor kits--and praying. Months went by. They turned into years.

In the beginning of 2006, upon returning to the United States, we decided to have the reversal done again. Once again I felt hopeful. Six months flew by and we still had not conceived. This time I started to feel peace in whatever the Lord was doing in our lives. I began to see the two children I had as blessings and slowly began letting go of the dream I had for more children. I realized that I needed to adjust my desires to God’s desires, rather than manipulating Him into letting me have my way. Sure, I still wanted to get pregnant, but I was willing to give up what I wanted and embrace what God wanted, which was much better anyway.

Slowly, my heart turned towards the subject of adoption. This was not an option for me before. My husband and children were ready to adopt, but I was holding back, hoping against hope that I could get pregnant. I began reading stories of families who adopted successfully. Ever so quietly, God prepared my heart to accept another woman’s child as my own.

My husband and I called an adoption counselor and began the process. Homestudy, applications, profiles--they filled my world for a short period of time. I had gone from being disinterested in the adoption process to wholeheartedly excited and ready to bring a baby into our home!

All I could think of was the baby God would bless us with through adoption. Three months almost to the day, after meeting our adoption counselor, we brought Isabella into our lives. I was at the hospital the day she was born. I met her birthmother and thanked her for choosing to give life and blessing me with her child. I assured her that Isabella would be taken care of and loved. The birthmother held onto the sweet little bundle for a time and then asked me if I would like to hold her. My heart skipped a beat. I accepted the little girl into my arms and my heart. Two days later, Isabella was released from the hospital to me.

As I look at my precious daughter, I realize this was the baby that I spent years praying for. This was the child God had in mind for me. I can thank and praise God for my years of infertility, for without them I would not have adopted this sweet child. Infertility has allowed me the chance to see God working in my life. As the song says, how can I know God can solve my problems if I never have them? I have witnessed Romans 8:28 in action, seeing God work good from all things, including my mistakes.

Do I still hope to conceive another child? Of course I do. However, I have decided to embrace the gifts God gives me, even if they are not wrapped and delivered in the manner I want them to be.

JESSICA DECKER

Sanford, North Carolina, USA

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Joel and Jessica’s children are Dakota, Kennedy and Isabella.  

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ABOVE RUBIES NEWSLETTER, #7, Nov 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU!

Dear precious Above Rubies reader, 

May God give you His heart-peace and fill your home with His love. And of course, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your whole family. We are looking forward to a big family gathering. There will be over 50 of us with just our immediate family, even though one family will not be with us!                                                                                                    

Here comes another newsletter to keep you going until the next Above Rubies comes your way. I hope to get it edited before the end of the year and send it out in the New Year.

If you live in the USA, I am sure you have received your new Above Rubies, #72 by now. The last packages were sent out on the 19 October. It is a wonderful issue and I know it is bringing great encouragement to you. I know you will have enjoyed the feature article on managing to live in a small house with a large family. I couldn’t fit them all in the magazine, so am posting a few more at the end of this newsletter. Make sure you get to the end to read them.

I also have to mention a couple more things…

FINANCING AN ADOPTION

There is an article about this on page 23. However, when I received the magazine from the printers, I was sad to see that  they had omitted to print the contact information at the end of the article. It was all there on the proofs but didn’t come out in the printing. Instead there was a green space. I was very sorry about this. For those who are interested I will now give you the full information.

If you need help with grants for your adoption from anywhere in the world, contact:

Donna Barber or Jeanette Turbeville

W6126 Hraban Road, Tony, WI 54563

Phone 715.415.4401 or 715.749.3607

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Website: www.globalorphanoutreach.com

BREAKFAST FOR THE BRAIN

Evangeline, our daughter, wrote an article about preparing steel cut oats for breakfast, page 20. She didn’t state how long to cook it, and because it was last minute, I decided I would put 35 – 40 minutes! She nearly had a fit when she read it. “Mum,” she cried out, “You only have to cook it for two to three minutes!” Forgive me. My mistake! You need to cook it this long if you don’t soak it, but the secret of preparing steel cut oats is to soak it overnight! Then you only have to cook it for a few minutes. I hope that helps!

WHOLESOME MOVIES

My husband, Colin and I do not have time for TV, therefore we do not have it connected in our home. When our older children were young, we allowed them to watch certain programs. However, they are now in their forties, and this is a different era of TV. I don’t believe that any God-fearing family could allow their children to watch TV today.

But now we face another problem. We have recently adopted four teenagers from Liberia, West Africa. If they had their own way, they would love to watch TV all day. Just as well it is not connected! However, they do need some form of entertainment, and so we allow them to watch some wholesome movies on the weekend.

But the next problem is. Where do we find wholesome movies? Fortunately, we have been able to find some very wonderful movies that were very positive and we were most happy about, but they are running out. I am certainly not an expert on movies (and don’t even know the names of any movie stars), so I need help. Maybe you do too.

I was thinking that it would be so good to have a list of positive, wholesome, and yet exciting movies for teens. When it is time to have a family movie night together, instead of going to the video store and spending two hours to find something wholesome and coming home with nothing, we could go with the list and choose one from the list that we know is going to be good.

Could you help me compile this list? I need it for myself, but once I put it together, I will post it for you too. Is that a good idea? I think it would be good to all glean from one another, don’t you?

Therefore, if you have watched a good movie that is suitable for young people (I am not talking about little children’s movies at this moment – there are many little children’s movies that are good, the problem is finding them for the middling and teen children), could you please email the title or titles to me. Please type MOVIES in the subject heading. Otherwise I may miss the email. I have so many hundreds of emails that I usually only pick up the ones with a subject heading that looks important. Now there’s a hint to get me to read your email!

DINNER TIME CONVERSATION

An Above Rubies reader recently wrote to me, “Both coming from families with poor conversational skills, my husband and I sometimes find ourselves at a loss to initiate meaningful and interesting conversation at dinner with our six children from ages 6 through 17.  The children and I are together most of the day, hence we already KNOW most of what has gone on with each other that day. Can you suggest some good conversational starters to help us get going?”

This is a really good question. I also find that if I don’t think of some ideas before the mealtime, the conversation goes nowhere or is non-existent. By the way, when we put out a question at the table, we start with one person and go around the table, allowing everyone to have a turn. Here are some ideas…

If you were given a million dollars, how would you spend it? (I have to admit that this was one of the favorite questions our children growing up, and they never tired of it! No wonder one of our sons decided he wanted to be a millionaire by the time he was 30 years. He didn’t quite make by 30, but he is one now! Of course, that didn’t happen with all the family. Our daughter, Evangeline, lives with their nine children in a little tiny cabin with no bedrooms and no beds! But she has such an amazing positive attitude that she lives like a millionaire!)

If you were able to travel to another country, which one would you choose, and why?

What is your favorite room in the house, and why?

What is your favorite movie, and why?

What is the most interesting show, entertainment or tourist place you have been to? Why did you like it the best?

What are you most thankful for in life?

What new thing would you like to learn to do?

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you in your life?

What is the best thing that has happened to you in your life?

What is the worst thing that has happened to you in your life?

What is your dream and vision for your life?

Who is the nicest person you know, and why?

What was the kindest thing that someone ever did for you?

What was the nicest thing someone ever said to you? How did it make you feel?

How do you think our words can affect other people?

What is the best Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Passover etc. you have ever enjoyed. Choose which one is appropriate for your family.

What was the most interesting thing that happened to you today?

Tell us something new that you learned today.

Did you learn a new word today? Can you tell us what it is and what it means?

What is your favorite story, and why?

If you were given a day that you could do anything you like to do, what would you like to do?

What is your favorite Bible verse, and why?

Who is your favorite character in the Bible, and why?

Tell us what you think is special about older people.

Tell us what you love about babies.

Share with us the character of the man or lady that you would like to marry when you grow up.,

What kind of a house would you like to live in when you get married?

What kind of wedding would you like to have when you get married?

What is your favorite tree, and why?

What is your favorite flower, and why?

If you could have whatever you wanted for dinner, what would you choose?

In what way would you like to serve the Lord when you grow older?

If you were going to be a missionary, to which country would you like to go to serve the Lord?

 I think you will have enough here to keep you going for a good while. If you can think of others, you can email them to me.

Another good idea is to ask each of the children to bring a poem to the table, read it and share why they like this particular poem. Or you could ask one child each  night to have a turn and the next child another night.

CALIFORNIAN ABOVE RUBIES EGROUP

The new yahoo group for CA is active if anyone is interested.  You might want to post it in the magazine. 

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ONE HOT, ONE COLD

“When you sent out the letter asking for nursing stories for the magazine, I didn't have any; but a few weeks later, I got a good one! I was nursing our six-month old son Joey while Davey (almost 5) and Willie (just turned 3)were playing nearby.  When I switched Joey to the other side to finish nursing, Davey suddenly stood up and asked, "Why did you put him on the other side?" 

I replied, "So he can drink the milk on this side. There's milk on both sides."  With a look that said he had just solved the mystery he exclaimed, "Oh! Is one the hot milk and one the cold milk?"  Children's thoughts are so precious!” 

Jenny Luibrand, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Novi Sad, Serbia

Blessed to be married to Steve and mother to Davey, Willie, and Joey

CANDLE LOVERS CAN HELP ORPHANS

“We adopted a little boy from Acres of Hope in the winter of 2005/2006. After our experience with Acres of Hope, we wanted to contribute to their ministry on a regular basis. We turned our candlemaking hobby into a fundraiser for Acres of Hope called "A Flicker of Hope".  We have already been able to send nearly $4,000 in cash and products, a laptop computer and a digital camera to Acres of Hope over the course of the last year. 

If you are a candle lover, we certainly hope you will consider "A Flicker of Hope" for  your personal purchases. Our candles also make wonderful gifts and help spread the word about the work of Acres of Hope and Liberia.  Our candles are of highest quality. They are made from all natural soy/cottonseed blend wax.  We use a cotton core wick that doesn't require trimming.  The combination of natural wax and cotton core wick produces a much cleaner burning candle.  his means little to no soot on your jar, wall, furniture and in the air.  Our prices are low and the quality of our fragrances ranks right up there with the more expensive, high end candles. Best of all, 100% of the profits goes to the programs of Acres of Hope. 

Please visit our new website at www.aflickerofhope.org for more of our story, complete product descriptions and ordering information.  You can learn more about the work of Acres of Hope in Liberia by visiting their website at www.acresofhope.com.

Missy Hickman and Cheryl Blankenship

CHRISTMAS CARDS TO RECOVERING SOLDIERS

I received this through my email and don’t usually pass things on, but I do feel this is something positive we can do, or our children can do. I don’t get time to send Christmas cards, but I think I should send one of these. The note says…

“When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American soldier
C/o Walter Reed Army Medical  Center
6900 Georgia Ave NW
Washington D.C. 20307-5001

DOWN SYNDROME CHILDREN

My lovely niece, Melissa, is mothering her eight children, ten years and under, while her husband is in Iraq. Two of the children are little ones they adopted from Liberia recently, one is her baby who was born the day before her husband left for Iraq, and she also has a little Down Syndrome daughter. 

She wrote to me, “I don't know if you saw or heard about the recent report on the conditions for special needs people in Serbia? If you didn't, it was, and is terrible. Children with Down Syndrome are tied to their beds for years at a time, adults with handicaps are kept in empty cold rooms... It is hard to imagine that people don't realize that these fellow humans have worth, they have thoughts and feelings, hopes and desires, like the rest of us do.  

To think that some people could look at our daughter Jahna and think that she is useless, valueless... tie her to a bed for the rest of her life, barely feed and clean her. It would be better to just outright kill these poor souls, but that would be morally offensive wouldn't it?!

All sarcasm and emotion aside, all I can do is send you this link (which will hopefully work), in the hopes of moving you to take some action, for maybe just one child, to have a family to love them.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=43584ff9c987f96c0f042 (this link did not work)

Melissa Calhoon, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

NEW COORDINATOR FOR GULF COAST RETREAT

Darlene Barnett writes, “My husband (Melvin) has accepted the pastorate in Neeses, SC. So, where does this leave Gulf Coast Rubies?  It has been my privilege to be your Gulf Coast Event Coordinator for the past five years.  Your new Gulf Coast Event Coordinator will be Misty Potter.  Misty has attended all the Gulf Coast retreats. She can usually be found pitching in at the book table, cleaning up or pouring a cup of coffee for the ladies  She made the gorgeous name tags for the past two years, and she also coordinated a retreat in Tennessee several years ago.  Most importantly, she is a godly wife and mother who loves her family, loves her Lord and has a servant's heart.  She accepted this leadership position after much prayer and with her husband's blessing and encouragement. Second in Command will be Rosanne Van Cleave. 

The retreat for 2008 will be February 29 - March 2. Check the website: www.gulfcoastrubies.com. 

By the way, it is Rosanne Van Cleave’s husband who is on the front cover of the current Above Rubies, with their precious little daughter, Melody.

 

CHRISTIAN MIDWIVES’ CONFERENCE

Doran Richards, who wrote CELEBRATING PREGNANCY, page 10 in the current issue of Above Rubies sent information for a coming conference for midwives in the spring of 2008. There is such a need for Christian midwives. There are too many new age midwives and not enough Christian midwives around. If you are interested, here is the information:

Christian Midwives International 4th Annual Conference

The Joy of the Lord!

April 30 – May 3, 2008 - Indiana

www.christianmidwives.org

For women, doulas, childbirth educators, midwives, pregnancy center workers, students, young ladies, etc.

Register online, advertise or have a table/booth

CEU’s available through MEAC

Why is this conference different than all the rest?

Spiritual Uplifting

Biblical Instruction

Godly Fellowship

 

MORE STORIES ABOUT A LARGE FAMILY IN SMALL SPACE

I know that you will have enjoyed all the testimonies in this current magazine about fitting a large family in a small space. I received far more than I could ever fit in the magazine, and some also arrived too late. I will print a few more for you here…

MATTRESS FROM CORNER TO CORNER

We live in the mountains in Mexico in a very small canyon…well the canyon is not so small but it is not very highly populated. My husband pastors a church here and we publish a home school magazine in Spanish and organize home school conferences.

We lived in a small log cabin with six of our 9 children for 7 years.  Our three older children live in the United States now, two of which are married. While we have now moved into a larger home (about 800 square feet), we lived in a 400 square feet cabin that also had two lofts that we used for bedrooms.

It has been an adventure similar to Little House on the Prairie. My daughter Anna climbed a homemade ladder and crawled into her room. (At six years old, she could barely standup in the center of the room.) The boys had the larger loft. They climbed a steep set of stairs to get into it. There is a saying in Spanish—rincón a rincón puro colchon. That means from corner to corner it is all mattress. With five boys in one loft, that saying certainly fit in our house!

The children loved their cozy rooms. We had no living room, so the small kitchen (10’ x 12’) served as an all purpose room.  My husband built a bench from an old church pew that was wall to wall. We stacked school books on both ends. After meals that was our place for school work.

The first two years we did not have electricity but were later blessed with some solar equipment people had purchased to prepare for Y2K. Many days we had to gather rain water or bring it from a nearby spring. Our youngest child was born in this cabin with out any electricity!

As the boys grew and did not fit well in the little beds in their room, they often slept out side in sleeping bags.  We found we could always make room for a few more. We often had to set up tents out side and some times people even slept in the van.  With one bathroom you made it quick and the boys often used to hide behind a cactus outside. Although the house was small, we had many guests who loved the rustic setting. Whether it is guests spending the might or picking people up for church in our van, my husband’s favorite saying is, “There’s always room for one more.” We have had more than thirty people in our van and more than twenty guests at a time.

Each child had a small plastic box for school supplies. We found it most helpful to throw away extra papers rather than keep them. We had one drawer per person so clothes were kept to a minimum.  When things were worn, we got rid of them if they could not be repaired. We found that even though we had small children, we really did not need a lot of toys. I kept a box of blocks put up for special occasions and lots of books. Since I had five boys and one girl at home, we found rocks and sticks were great toys and they loved catching lizards. They would make arrows and sling shot from things that they found outside. I preferred that the home toys (and lizards) stayed outside, but on occasion they would find their way in the house. It is such a relief not to have toys that get scattered around the house and the children hardly miss them.

We have moved to a larger home this year. The extra room is nice but on occasion we miss the quaintness of our small mountain cabin. Quality of life is definitely not dependent on the space you have in your home… but the space you have in your heart for those the Lord sends to your life.

PAM RICHARDSON

Baratillo, Coahuila México

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Mike and Pam are blessed with 9 children Jeremy-30, Michael-28, Misty-27, Samuel-12, Isaac-11, Anna-10, Joshua-8, Timothy-7, Benjamin-5.

A TEENAGER’S POINT OF VIEW

Living in a small home with a large family is not a foreign subject to me. We’ve always lived in small homes and have had to be creative with space, storage, and sleeping arrangements. 

Being the eldest of ten children and currently living in a 29’ travel trailer with my family while we wait for our home to be built, I understand tight living quarters.

Above every thing I’ve learned about storage, conserving space, and creative sleeping arrangements, nothing compares to keeping an attitude of peace and order in the home. You could be living in a palace, but without peace, cheerfulness, and love in the home – the abundance of space is worth nothing.  Keeping short accounts with others, being thankful for every little thing (no matter how insignificant), maintaining a cheerful attitude, having a willing heart to serve (no matter how mundane the task), are all ways to have peace and order within your own heart, therefore maintaining peace throughout your home.  How you act affects others whether you are the eldest, youngest, Mom, or Dad, attitude is everything! 

You can make your season of living in small quarters a joy or drudgery just by your attitude.  I encourage you to take a look inside your heart and turn you frown into a smile when you see the laundry pile up in your tiny laundry room (if you have one!) and find 10 things to be thankful for.  I’m sure that you’ll see a change in the atmosphere of your home (no matter how small) once you have chosen to change the attitude of your heart.

JIMELLA CALLIS (17)

North Fork, California, USA

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Daughter to Brian & Charity Callis and big sister to Eden (16), Philip (15), David (13), Mark (8), Abigail (6), Meorah (4), Merry (3), Titus (2), Hope (8 months)

Coconut Oil, Red Palm Oil or even an Ergo Baby Carrier

Jimella is Charity Callis’ daughter. If you need coconut oil, red palm oil or even an Ergo Baby Carrier, she is the one to contact:

www.TheHomeGrownFamily.com

Toll Free 1 (877) 841-2861

ERGO Baby Carriers ~ Organic Coconut & Palm oil Products ~ Mixers, Dehydrators & Grain Mills ~ All Natural Sunscreen

BOSCH, Vita-Mix, Electrolux, WonderMill, Nutrimill & Excalibur

ONE LONG CAMPING TRIP 

My husband and I are Baptist missionaries in Greenland. We have four small children from ages three months to six years. Currently, we are living in a very small apartment. When we moved to Greenland four months ago, we shipped all our belongings in a 20 ft. container never dreaming that we would be living in a place too small to unload it. 

After several days of cleaning the apartment, we were ready to move in. My husband laid some carpet on the old floors to make it more friendly for little feet. We have one room that consists of a shower, a sink, and a large cupboard that holds all of our clothes. We refer to this as the “dressing room.” The toilet is in a room of its own because it is what the Greenlander’s call, “an earth closet.” This has taken us Americans a little getting used to! 

The kitchen is very small with minimal cupboard space and only a two burner stove top. We have one table for eating and another table which holds our small kitchen appliances (i.e. toaster, crock pot, etc.). On and under the table, I use plastic containers that serve as my pantry. I use uniform plastic containers because they stack well while helping to conserve space and avoid clutter. 

This leaves the remaining room as our “multi-purpose” room. In the interest of conserving space, we have a fold out couch, a pack-n-play, sleeping bags and mats for the kids. Every morning we fold up the couch, roll up the sleeping bags and mats and place them in the pack-n-play in the corner. A built-in book shelf in the room holds all of our school books. My husband’s desk is used for studying languages, preparing messages, and keeping in touch with the outside world via the Internet. The last piece of furniture is our school table which is used for school, crafts, coloring, and snacks!

For the children’s toys, I have again resorted to plastic containers which stack neatly along the wall. We have found that furniture is overrated! We find ourselves using the floor more often than the couch and we don’t need all the extra amenities such as coffee tables, easy chairs, etc. We prefer the extra space for the children to have more room to play, yet we are still able to entertain guests in our home. If you follow the mantra, “A place for everything and everything in its place,”  you can have a small, but peaceful, uncluttered home.

Is this my dream home? No. Is it where I want our family to live indefinitely? No. I look forward to the day when my kitchen will have cupboards instead of containers and my children will have beds instead of sleeping bags. Yet, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” If I am happy and content, then my family will be happy and content. Right now our children love our new home and they view it as one long camping trip! We have learned to embrace each new adventure with smiles and optimism. Now we are settling in for the long winter ahead, our first winter North of the Arctic Circle. 

CAROLE SHULL

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ALL IT TAKES IS ORGANIZATION

Our three boys, ages 11, 10 and 8, share a room together in our basement. They each have either a shelf or headboard for their current reads, framed pictures, and favorite toys. There is one 5 drawer dresser in the room, where they put their socks, underwear and pajamas. In the adjacent back hallway (usually used for storage), they each have a wide open bookshelf to keep more toys and the rest of their clothes. Their better clothes and all their shoes are in the small closet in the room. They also each have a designated shelf on a bookshelf next to their room where they put the books that have been given specifically to them. The games and larger toys (i.e., Lincoln Logs, marble game, Rescue Heroes, costume box) are stacked on the bookshelf and in the back hallway. Nails/ hooks on the walls hold their coats, hats and backpacks.

In the laundry room, I have a shelving unit which is on top of a table. Each child has a cubby hole where their clothes go. They know to check their cubby hole 6 days/ week and put those clothes away. Even my husband and I have a place. This gives us room to fold 2 or even 3 loads of laundry if we're behind, and still have the room to put their clothes.

JANE CARTER

Gresham, Oregon, USA

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Jane & Eric are blessed with their dear children: Joshua (11), Nathan (10), Jonathan (8), and Hannah (5).

I  MISS THE CRAMPED LIVING

My family and I moved from Northern Virginia to the Piedmont Area of Culpeper.  What was supposed to be a short term home turned into an eight month home in two small campers.  My husband Alan and I had 5 children, ages 2, 4, 7, 10, & 15.  The children shared the smaller camper (15 foot) and Alan and I in the 17 foot.  We stored all the belongings in two 40 foot freight containers. The children made their beds daily, and had assigned cubbies for a few pieces of clothing.  They were allowed one toy inside the campers, and other outside toys that stayed outside.  Also a favorite book.  We homeschool and did most of our schooling in the library. At home during the day we took walks on our property, had picnics in the woods or by the pond.

I had one trash bag to collect dirty laundry, went to the laundry weekly. I cooked outside at the campfire, and we mainly ate from paper plates.

In a nutshell we tried not to collect stuff and kept our belongings to a limited number.

Now that we are in a big house we have more than we know what to do with.  I sometimes miss the cramped living!

LORRAINE BRETZIN

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PLEASANTLY SURPRIZED

We live in a 1280 square foot home and just had our sixth child. When people see where we live one of the first questions they ask is, "How do you all fit?". Once they come inside, I think they are pleasantly surprised to see it's not as bad as they had imagined! It is a tight squeeze at times, especially when we have guests, but we have found several ways to keep organized and save space.

We are blessed to have 4 bedrooms.  We do not keep toys in the bedrooms. It helps to keep the bedrooms neater and easier to clean if the toys are stored elsewhere. We keep most of our toys in a front hall closet that we modified. We removed the rod on which you hang coats and put in several shelves. The toys are organized in bins. For example, we have a storage bin for blocks, legos, toys cars, and trains. In general, we don't have a lot of toys. Our family only keeps the toys that are made to last and entertain the best, the rest is given away. Our couch has a storage bin under each cushion where we store toys that are rotated out every few weeks. This helps keep the clutter in the living room down while keeping the toys interesting. We don't have a lot of large toys. Those we do have are kept in the basement or for outside play.

Right now we have four boys, five and under, in one room. The room is of average size, about ten feet by ten feet. We have one twin size bed,  two toddler beds, and a crib in their room. All the boys share one dresser and the closet. We have an additional rod to hang clothes below the original for extra hanging room. The closet is deeper than most so behind the hanging clothes are shelves that can be used to store clothes that don't fit in the dresser or out of season clothing. In the future, we plan on using bunk beds, but for safety reasons we decided against this right now. One great feature of living in an older home is a laundry chute. Our clothes go straight from the bathroom to the basement laundry area without having to sit around in baskets or hampers.

Our oldest daughter's room has a built in dresser/desk that is a great space saver. The dresser portion has six very large drawers, three on each end. The desk portion has two small drawers in the center where the chair, or even two, pushes in. This built in is the length of the room which is about ten feet so there is plenty of room for displaying special items and for doing schoolwork. The landing where our stairs go from the first floor to the second is a little wider than a normal hallway so we lined one wall with bookshelves for book storage. I keep some books for the children in the living area but most are kept on shelves. We rotate those as well to keep the little ones from getting bored with the same old books.

The area of our home where we feel most cramped is the kitchen. We have a small eat-in style kitchen. Our table seats six but since the kitchen is small we lose one seat having the table up against the wall. We bought a bench that matches our table, this holds three of our little ones at meal time. It has worked out great for our family. We will have to do some rearranging as the new baby grows and needs the high chair. Living in a colder climate means snowy shoes and coats need a place to go when you walk in the door. Unfortunately, we don't have a mud room or even a closet by our back entrance. Instead, we have a row of hooks behind the door where we hang our coats and a bench with an open bottom storage area where we put our shoes. The bench has a lid that opens as well, which is great for storing mittens and hats.

We keep only what we need and use on a regular basis in the living areas. All extras (toilet paper, diapers, out of season clothes, bulk foods) are kept in the basement where we can get to it but it isn't taking up precious space where we are most from day to day. I also think it helps to keep things picked up. We have several clean up times throughout the day and everyone helps. While our house may not always be perfectly clean, at least most of the time it is picked up. Before I go to bed each night I do one last check to make sure the living room, kitchen, and our only bathroom are straightened so we don't wake up in the morning to yesterday's mess. Every few months, we all work together as a family to get rid of the things we don't need and use. For our family, less clutter means more space.

SHELLY SHOWN
DePere, Wisconsin, USA
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Jerry and Shelly Shown are blessed with Rosalynn (15), Wesley (5), Elihu (3), Justus (3), Hayden (21 months), and Jeremy (newborn).

Many blessings. I’ll send some more next newsletter.

Nancy Campbell

 

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ABOVE RUBIES NEWSLETTER, #6 2007