Jayla is on a new kick of wanting to read to me! She flips through her books, page by page, and makes up a story that goes along with the pictures. She would do this for an hour if I sat there with her the whole time. I decided to videotape her the other night so we could always remember this! Really wish I would have pulled her hair out of the way so you could see her emotions as she reads! She really gets into it! You have to turn your volume all the way up because the boys are chattering in the background…in this video JJ is heckling Jayla and she stops mid-read to correct him. :)
This next video is more of the same, but since the other got cut off at the end, fast forward this one to the end and you can see her GIANT smile of accomplishment once the book ends. It’s so sweet!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Joyful All Ye Nations Rise
A few weeks ago we ‘split up’ our Rosebud girls, and one of them is now with a different host family in a different home. There have been many confirmations that this was the right decision, and I’ll save those stories for a different day. :)
The other night in the car we got into an interesting conversation with our Rosebud girl. It went a little something like this:
Out of nowhere she said, “Don’t you wonder what the end of the world is going to be like?”
Her question was the perfect invitation into a spiritual conversation.
“If you would have been in church today you wouldn’t have to wonder. You would know,” I replied.
For the past few months we have been going through the book of Revelation at church, talking in depth about the end times and how it will go down. She had overslept that morning, and I had decided not to lure her/drag her/force her out of bed.
Without missing a beat she promptly responded with a giggle, “My mom and grandma think that aliens are going to come suck us up and take us away.”
Hmmmm, hadn’t heard this one from her yet. She started talking about some movie she had seen and going on and on about death by aliens. One thing that God has revealed about our Rosebud girl is that deep down she is very fearful about anything regarding death. Because of that, she likes to make little of the subject. She talks about death in very comical/non-serious ways. She was obsessed with Halloween this year, and would always excitedly point out lawn decorations filled with make-shift graveyards, and zombie looking creatures. She fills her mind with books and movies all about darkness and evil and she becomes completely numb to it all. Her assumptions on what death will be like for her arrive at very comfortable-feeling conclusions.
Unfortunately, death for the person who has rejected God will be anything but comfortable. I felt the truth starting to well up inside of me, just waiting to bust out of my mouth. I began to recap what we had learned in church about the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath (Revelations 16) and I shared about some of the plagues God will send when the world comes to an end.
“The seas, rivers, and springs will all turn to blood. That means toilets and faucets will only pour out blood. Those who reject God will break out with ugly, awful, painful sores. The sun will be given the power to scorch them with fire. Giant hailstones will be hurled from the sky each weighing a hundred pounds and they will fall on people...”
Then she said something that made me hurt for where she is at spiritually, more than I ever have. She said, “If all those things were happening, why wouldn’t you just crawl in a hole and die?” My mind wandered to a different section in Revelation which described this exact heart response. As she implied, some will continue to reject God even as He displays His power through these judgments and plagues that will be poured out onto the earth. They would rather die than fall on their knees and acknowledge God’s Sovereign power. Revelation 6:12-17:
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Those who in their life flaunted their disbelief and showed no reverence for God will find themselves face to face with God’s wrath if they are still living on the earth during this time. They will realize that they were wrong. And in these verses we see that rather than repent, rather than look to Jesus and believe, they instead call on ‘mother nature’ to have rocks fall on them and kill them as they hide from God in terror. Further still, others in their pride and arrogance will curse His name rather than bow down to Him. Revelation 16: 8-9:
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
As I pointed this out she listened intently and then said, “That’s what you believe. The Lakota Sioux believe….” And then she went on to explain a few of the spiritual stories of her people that have been passed down to her from generation to generation. This is the point that we always get to when Jesus comes up. Every. Single. Time. She’s mentioned that to her, our faith - Christianity - is ‘white man religion’. If she were to bow down to Jesus, that would be rejecting her culture, her family traditions, her very identity, and once again giving into the ‘white man’ - which all of American History has proven to be a bad thing for her people. When I look at this all from her perspective, I can comprehend the loyalty that she feels to what she has been taught her whole life.
But there is something that doesn’t quite add up, and she hasn’t been able to connect the dots yet. She has expressed many times that she doesn’t want to go back to the reservation. So when we got to this point in the conversation I said, “Do the people on the reservation seem to be living lives filled with joy, hope, and peace?” I already knew what her answer would be.
“No,” she said.
“And why don’t you want to go back there? Why don’t you want to grow up there and raise a family there?”
“Because there are horrible things there. The suicides, rape, alcoholism, murders, depression, teenage pregnancies. It ruins people’s lives.”
Exactly. And what I know that she doesn’t yet, is that those things that are ruining the lives of her people are the product of Satan’s hands. Satan is the great deceiver. He can use what looks like ‘religion’ and ‘culture’ to lead people astray - far, far away from truth, generation after generation.
I know I serve a God who came for all nations and all people (Matthew 28:18-20), although Satan would try to dishevel that truth. The new life that Christ can bring stands in stark contrast to a life of guilt, shame, and emptiness that plagues her people.
Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
She’s already seen lives destroyed. I hope that she will get to experience life to the full through a Savior that gave his life for hers.
We of course are not the first to discover this tension of Christianity being perceived by Native Americans as ‘white man religion’. That tension has just traveled into my home now, so I am becoming very interested in it. I just found out about this book:
(Book of Hope)
It is a collaboration of stories and testimonies written about Native American’s who have put their faith in Jesus. Our church also supplied us with this book when we signed on for the exchange program:
(One Church Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You)I have yet to pick this book up, however, reading both of these are now on my list to accomplish over Christmas break.
The other night in the car we got into an interesting conversation with our Rosebud girl. It went a little something like this:
Out of nowhere she said, “Don’t you wonder what the end of the world is going to be like?”
Her question was the perfect invitation into a spiritual conversation.
“If you would have been in church today you wouldn’t have to wonder. You would know,” I replied.
For the past few months we have been going through the book of Revelation at church, talking in depth about the end times and how it will go down. She had overslept that morning, and I had decided not to lure her/drag her/force her out of bed.
Without missing a beat she promptly responded with a giggle, “My mom and grandma think that aliens are going to come suck us up and take us away.”
Hmmmm, hadn’t heard this one from her yet. She started talking about some movie she had seen and going on and on about death by aliens. One thing that God has revealed about our Rosebud girl is that deep down she is very fearful about anything regarding death. Because of that, she likes to make little of the subject. She talks about death in very comical/non-serious ways. She was obsessed with Halloween this year, and would always excitedly point out lawn decorations filled with make-shift graveyards, and zombie looking creatures. She fills her mind with books and movies all about darkness and evil and she becomes completely numb to it all. Her assumptions on what death will be like for her arrive at very comfortable-feeling conclusions.
Unfortunately, death for the person who has rejected God will be anything but comfortable. I felt the truth starting to well up inside of me, just waiting to bust out of my mouth. I began to recap what we had learned in church about the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath (Revelations 16) and I shared about some of the plagues God will send when the world comes to an end.
“The seas, rivers, and springs will all turn to blood. That means toilets and faucets will only pour out blood. Those who reject God will break out with ugly, awful, painful sores. The sun will be given the power to scorch them with fire. Giant hailstones will be hurled from the sky each weighing a hundred pounds and they will fall on people...”
Then she said something that made me hurt for where she is at spiritually, more than I ever have. She said, “If all those things were happening, why wouldn’t you just crawl in a hole and die?” My mind wandered to a different section in Revelation which described this exact heart response. As she implied, some will continue to reject God even as He displays His power through these judgments and plagues that will be poured out onto the earth. They would rather die than fall on their knees and acknowledge God’s Sovereign power. Revelation 6:12-17:
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Those who in their life flaunted their disbelief and showed no reverence for God will find themselves face to face with God’s wrath if they are still living on the earth during this time. They will realize that they were wrong. And in these verses we see that rather than repent, rather than look to Jesus and believe, they instead call on ‘mother nature’ to have rocks fall on them and kill them as they hide from God in terror. Further still, others in their pride and arrogance will curse His name rather than bow down to Him. Revelation 16: 8-9:
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
As I pointed this out she listened intently and then said, “That’s what you believe. The Lakota Sioux believe….” And then she went on to explain a few of the spiritual stories of her people that have been passed down to her from generation to generation. This is the point that we always get to when Jesus comes up. Every. Single. Time. She’s mentioned that to her, our faith - Christianity - is ‘white man religion’. If she were to bow down to Jesus, that would be rejecting her culture, her family traditions, her very identity, and once again giving into the ‘white man’ - which all of American History has proven to be a bad thing for her people. When I look at this all from her perspective, I can comprehend the loyalty that she feels to what she has been taught her whole life.
But there is something that doesn’t quite add up, and she hasn’t been able to connect the dots yet. She has expressed many times that she doesn’t want to go back to the reservation. So when we got to this point in the conversation I said, “Do the people on the reservation seem to be living lives filled with joy, hope, and peace?” I already knew what her answer would be.
“No,” she said.
“And why don’t you want to go back there? Why don’t you want to grow up there and raise a family there?”
“Because there are horrible things there. The suicides, rape, alcoholism, murders, depression, teenage pregnancies. It ruins people’s lives.”
Exactly. And what I know that she doesn’t yet, is that those things that are ruining the lives of her people are the product of Satan’s hands. Satan is the great deceiver. He can use what looks like ‘religion’ and ‘culture’ to lead people astray - far, far away from truth, generation after generation.
I know I serve a God who came for all nations and all people (Matthew 28:18-20), although Satan would try to dishevel that truth. The new life that Christ can bring stands in stark contrast to a life of guilt, shame, and emptiness that plagues her people.
Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
She’s already seen lives destroyed. I hope that she will get to experience life to the full through a Savior that gave his life for hers.
We of course are not the first to discover this tension of Christianity being perceived by Native Americans as ‘white man religion’. That tension has just traveled into my home now, so I am becoming very interested in it. I just found out about this book:
(Book of Hope)
It is a collaboration of stories and testimonies written about Native American’s who have put their faith in Jesus. Our church also supplied us with this book when we signed on for the exchange program:
(One Church Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
No Winter Blues 'Round Here!
Our kids have been keeping busy this winter, with little imagination-inspiration needed from hibernating mom! They can have loads of fun with less than an inch of snow…
JJ and Justice are also on a tent-making kick!
Although it does take up almost the entire living room and makes the house look a little disheveled, hearing their little voices inside there talking and giggling for HOURS (yes, that’s plural) makes a momma’s heart smile!
They also like to cozy up with all their big comforters inside and sleep in there overnight like a campout. I did have to make a rule that the tent comes down on Sunday nights for the week….but can go back up on Fridays. :) It’s so fun to hear them talk about looking forward to putting up their tent throughout the week.
In this home, anything can turn into a competition, even balloon volleying. This don’t-let-the-balloon-touch-the-floor-game is a family favorite right now.
The other day Justice came home from school with this….
In this home, anything can turn into a competition, even balloon volleying. This don’t-let-the-balloon-touch-the-floor-game is a family favorite right now.
The other day Justice came home from school with this….
…..a handmade piggy bank! His ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher has been trying to teach him that reading is FUN and that it has meaning. So, she had him read through an instruction manual on how to make this. He was so proud of his creation, and of course JJ was quite wow’d and asked Justice if he could help him make one too. They started JJ’s bank while I was at a baby shower this past weekend, and Jake was in charge (ahem!). Justice couldn’t quite remember what it was they had used to make the newspaper paste in class. He thought that they had used some sort of powder mixed with water, so he opened up the cupboard to find something that looked like it….and apparently decided on pancake mix! When I got home later the boys were so proud to show me their start of a soggy pancake mix piggy bank. In the end they had to throw that one away, but started a fresh project once Justice located his copy of the instructions and realized that the paste was made of FLOUR! Of course JJ is happy to let Justice do all the messy work….
Justice also learned how to make snowflake cutouts at school this year, and is constantly creating new designs for me to decorate with at home.
So far, winter is oh-so-good, and we are excitedly waiting for the first BIG SNOW!
Monday, December 5, 2011
JJ Hoopin'
This year JJ got ‘recruited’ to play on a YMCA kindergarten league out of Waukee (the coach has a 5th grade son in Jake’s program and a younger son that is JJ’s age). :) Wouldn’t you know it, JJ’s team is full of parents who are major Cyclone fans, but the name his team was assigned is the Hawkeyes!!!!! AHHHH! Thankfully it doesn’t say it anywhere on their uniforms so we won’t have to be reminded of it in pictures in the years to come! ;) Yesterday JJ had his first game!
Pre-game pep talk with Daddy…
Pre-game pep talk with Daddy…
Warming up...
They play 4-on-4 and substitute players every quarter. My action pictures didn’t turn out so great (I’m sure your shocked), but I got some good videos! Coach Hart is so good with the kids! JJ’s team can handle the ball well and each of the players have been pretty exposed to basketball, so Coach Hart decided to teach them how to set screens at the second practice! During the game they ran the play that they learned which is just a basic pick and roll….but it is SO STINKIN CUTE watching little five year olds execute on the floor! In this video watch JJ (#34) call the play right when the ball comes inbounds - then watch for #9 on the left come up and set a screen so that JJ can dribble around and get a shot off…
Love it! Now watch this one where JJ sets the screen (sort of) and then rolls and gets the ball for a shot.
LOVE that smile! And love watching these lil boogers!
Love it! Now watch this one where JJ sets the screen (sort of) and then rolls and gets the ball for a shot.
LOVE that smile! And love watching these lil boogers!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)