Somebody

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him -- but some of them still doubted! 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

  Matthew 28:16-20 (NLT)

 

Last Sunday we were challenged at RCC to be a Matthew 28 church.  We were reminded of Jesus’ last words to his followers to go and make disciples.  Those last words however, weren’t meant for just those there that day.  They were left for all believers in Christ that would follow until Jesus returns.  It was brought to our attention that there is no plan B.  It is up to us.  We were challenged to look outward and start building relationships with those who don’t know Christ.  The plan is simple.  Christians are called to share with the lost the truth about Jesus and what he’s done for us instead of depending upon ministers, elders, church ministries and programs to do it for us. We all have a role to play and a job to do.  We are called to go and be “Somebody” to someone else personally.

My first thought Sunday was, “Who do I know that isn’t a Christian?”  As a stay at home mom, I’m with my children and I disciple them daily.  I don’t have many outside contacts except through our local congregation and most of those are Christians.  Yet, again, God whispered to me in service, “Have you prayed for an opportunity?”  Ouch.  No, I hadn’t in a very long time.  In one of my college classes at LCU, we were encouraged to pray for God to give us an opportunity to share Christ with someone who was lost, and that we’d be able to recognize that opportunity and make the most of it. (Colossians 4:2-6).  I can't remember the last time I did that.

Lost people matter to God.  They were made in His image.  He loves them.  Lost people need to matter to us.  We need to make them a priority just like Jesus did.  I find it so amazing that it didn’t seem to matter how busy Jesus was, he always made time to spend with lost people.  He would talk to them, eat with them, show compassion and mercy to them, and heal them.  They were transformed because of their encounter with Him.  Usually after such an encounter they would go and tell others.   They couldn’t contain their new love for Him and had to share what had happened. 

I sat in my seat Sunday ashamed that I have been so caught up in my own agenda and lists of things to do that somehow reaching lost people has not been a priority.  Sharing my story has not crossed my mind while out in the community.  I have been focused on the spiritual health of our children, preparing for our new school year, and just trying to enjoy the summer.  I love God so much.  I crave my daily quiet time and enjoy each moment of it.  I can’t make it through the day without it.   Yet, somehow along the way I have lost the excitement to tell others and have totally turned my focus inward.  I realize as a mom, it’s part of my responsibility to shepherd and teach my own children, but I also have a responsibility to tell others as well.

Relationship building is not my strength.  I’m not a social butterfly.  It can be very stressful because people are intimidating to me.  Yet nowhere in Matthew 28 do I see a loophole to get out of going to tell others.  Yeah….I went to worship Sunday and got “wacked” on the head by the message.  Who does that preacher guy think he is to go meddling in my personal life?  J  Doesn’t God know that for me, building relationships can be scary?  What if they don’t like me?  Building relationships takes time.  It takes work.  It requires me to open myself up and invest myself in others.  Yet that’s exactly what I’ve been called to do; there is no exemption. 

City Harbor has a song you may have heard, “Somebody Tell Them”.  I love that song.  The chorus is my FAVORITE part.  It talks about how somebody needs to go and share Christ with these broken and lost people.

“Somebody tell him that the lost are saved
Somebody tell him that his debt has been paid
Let him know that love is calling out his name
Somebody tell him that he's a child of the king
And there's an end to the suffering
And hope that never fades
Through grace that's made a way

Somebody tell him
Somebody tell him now”

Matthew 28 tells us we are that “Somebody”.  We are given opportunities during the course of our day or week to share what Jesus has done in our lives.  Sometimes we may seize that opportunity and sometimes we may hold back because of our fear or insecurity.    I don’t know about you, but I want to be the voice of love to them.  Please join me and pray for me as I begin to pray for an opportunity to share Christ. 

 

Here is a link to the song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIgNbmHDaBo

 

Twenty Years Ago Today.....

July 10, 1993

Twenty years:  one score, 240 months, roughly 1,040 weeks, 7,300 days, 175,200 hours, 10,512,000 minutes, and 630,720,000 seconds worth of time.  Twenty years is a long time, you know?  As a young child just the few weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve was an eternity.  In that amount of time one can go from Kindergarten through high school and college with a few years to spare depending upon the college major.  And yet it’s gone by in a blink of an eye.  Twenty years ago today I married my best friend.



July 10, 1993
"Just Married"

The months of planning the wedding went smoothly and were enjoyable.  I had heard horror stories, but everything fell into place.  The day went off with only one hitch, the lighting of the unity candle.  The candles we chose were flat topped, and when we went to light our big candle the wax spilled over the top and burnt both our hands.  OUCH!  Other than that, it was a good day and the start of our family.

OUCH!  That wax was pretty hot!

In the years that followed our love and family grew.  God added to our family four beautiful children and blessed us over and over again.  It wasn’t always easy because there were times of selfishness, stubbornness, and stupidity which led to some “intense fellowship”.  However, there were also many times of happiness, laughter and romance along the way.  Each year we have learned more about each other, and our love has deepened.

Our blessings from God

This last year while we were experiencing times of separation, we learned in the classroom of life how much we needed one another.  Please don’t get me wrong.  Things between us were good.  However, we learned to appreciate one another in a new way.  We learned how to cherish one another and the time we have together, because only God knows what tomorrow will hold.  We fell in love all over again.  We began courting once again, and even though we are back together again under one roof....we haven't stopped!  It's a lot of fun!

I have been blessed with a God fearing man who loves the Lord with his whole heart.  He preaches the word in season and out of season straight from Scripture, sharing God’s salvation story each week.  He doesn’t cater to “itching ears” but teaches sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:1-8).  He is loyal, faithful, and kindhearted.  He is trustworthy and honest, full of integrity.  He is a servant leader in our home.  He is tender.  I love spending time with him.  I find as he ages he grows more and more handsome.  His smile melts my heart.  I love how his blue eyes sparkle when he and the kids get into mischief together!  He's my best friend!

The love of my life, my best friend!

There is no one else I’d rather do life with this side of eternity; no one else I’d rather share my hopes and dream with.   I am so blessed!  It’s amusing to look back and think it started with a cocky grin and a finger swiped through Jell-O cake in the lunch line of Lincoln Christian College.  We’ve indeed come a long, long way!  I look forward to our future together!  I love you, Brad!  Happy Anniversary!


It all started with a swipe of some frosting!  I'm glad we had the photographer take this picture on our wedding day to remember it by.  She thought we were crazy, but it's one of my favorites taken from that day!

I Am Chosen

I remember the day well.  We were on a quest to find the perfect pet for Maddie.   She just wanted a puppy to love and love her back so badly.  I had spent hours searching for just the perfect one that would be a companion pet and do well with little children, small in size, and non- shedding.  I felt as if my list of criteria was limiting me and would keep us from finding the perfect puppy.  However, that was not the case.  We had found a breeder and were in the car on the way to check things out in person. 

The kennel was clean and the little cage had three adorable pups.   I put my hand down inside to let the one we’d chosen for Maddie to sniff me, and all of a sudden this little black fuzz ball bounded over her siblings to kiss my hand and greet me.  I couldn’t resist and pulled her up and then she woofed at me.  She chose me.  I believe that today more than ever.  Now I know some of you would say she’d have done that no matter who’d have stuck their hand down in that cage, but I disagree.  It was all in the way she woofed….she chose me.  I had to convince Brad of that, and it took a little time, but a few weeks later we brought TWO puppies home.   It was wonderful.   I was hers and she was mine and we loved one another.   Macie Claire brought us so much laughter and enjoyment.  She was so full of energy and was known to steal socks and run off with them. 



Macie's "come adopt me" picture.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago.  Macie started to act different.  She was quieter and slept more.  She started eating less.  We took her in to the vet and discovered she had a rare autoimmune condition that attacked her red blood cells.  We treated her the best we could, but yesterday her levels dropped to a dangerous level where her organs were going to start shutting down.  It was time to make a tremendously difficult decision.  She had no energy to eat or even to stand up anymore.  In the last week she didn’t even have the energy to hop up on our bed.  Even though we knew it was time, I have to admit it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  After all, she chose me and I loved her so.

 


Gracie and Macie last June

In the last few days I have spent time trying to figure out what in the world we were going to tell our children and even looked up on the internet about dogs going to heaven.  I have a degree from Lincoln Christian University.  I have grown up in church.  I know that Scripture doesn’t state if dogs go to heaven.  However, I have read through the Bible several times now and I see where God created these creatures with such love and creativity.  I see places where there are references in animals in heaven.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever see our Macie again.  However, in my childlike, simplistic view I know that God created our puppy, loved her and gave her to us for a short time.  He loves animals or why would he have Noah go to all the trouble to save them in the flood.  He could have just made more.  I like to think of her up in heaven with past childhood pets that have gone before, grabbing Jesus’ sandal, taking off with it barking with her mouth full, and then turning around pouncing and wanting Jesus to come play.  She’s free from the 5 pills we were forcing down her each day, no more pokes, and she has energy again.  While it may not be true, it helps me deal with my hurt and the empty place in my heart right now.



Macie last week.  So precious.

Today in church I was reminded I am chosen.  I am God’s child.  He saw my sin sickness and treated me with the most extreme act of love known to mankind.  He sent Jesus to die for my sin and to cleanse me, heal me, and make me whole.  Being chosen is such an incredible feeling.  I am His and He is mine and He loves me.  Today the Ferris family is resting in that love and we are grateful to our God for choosing us.

Butterflies, Blooms, and Basketball

Spring has been very wet here in Springfield with an abundance of rain.  The front flower beds are gorgeous and we have enjoyed the beauty of our new neighborhood.   Little cabbage butterflies and bees visit our front flower beds daily.  It’s a beautiful time of year with everything so green and bright!


Roses in the front flower bed.  Very pretty!

School is also wrapping up this week here at the Ferris house.  Due to all the moving around it added many days to the end of our originally planned last day of school!  It is safe to say we are all extremely excited for the end of the year.  Much of that excitement is because our June calendar is packed with fun things to do and explore here in the Rochester/Springfield area.  We are eagerly looking forward to checking out the Muni, Knight’s Action Park, the drive in, and a few Slider Baseball Games.  We have been able to go to our first Movie in the Park last week and watch Brave on a big blow up screen at the Community Park in Rochester.  It was a lot of fun!

Movie in the Park.  Was very much like a drive in experience.  We enjoyed the evening.

Something we are participating in this summer is the Rochester Summer Recreation Program.  It is incredible!  This program runs through June and July and is open to not only those in Rochester, but surrounding areas as well for ages Pre-K through adult.  Here are just a few of the classes the 18 page packet lists to choose from:  Tennis, sandlot baseball, cheering, archery, football, soccer, volleyball, karate, gymnastics, dance, and even scuba diving!  Cupcake wars, chocolate confections, classes at a local pizzeria, cake decorating, drawing super heroes, building benches for a local park, drama, how to do nails and French braiding, teddy bear picnic, Legos, visit to local farm, firehouse, and a local stable and saw mill are yet others.  I saw things for girls with Fancy Nancy, Princesses, and Strawberry Shortcake.  Things for boys like pirates and a “boys will be boys” class.  They have a sign up day near the end of May and each class has a fee to cover materials but nothing outrageous.  It’s amazing! 

Madeline was able to go to her first class last week, Butterflies and Blooms.  The hour long class was held in a classroom at Rochester Christian Church.  She had such a good time and created this vase of beautiful paper flowers from punches, stencils, and other materials.  It is so pretty we have it on our fireplace mantle!  Next week she gets to go to a Pajama party where they will learn to make homemade poptarts.  Samuel will go to the Boys Will Be Boys class later this week where they make and play with slime, play in dirt, and even paint with mud.   Sarah also gets to attend a class this Friday, Fun with Science.  Later in July the three younger Ferris children get to go to Razzos, a great little pizza place in Rochester, and take a class, Pizza Science, where they get to learn about using pizza dough for more than pizza.  

Madeline's Masterpiece

Neil has his own activities this summer.  We are excited to announce that God has opened a door for him to play organized basketball at a local Christian School, Calvary Academy.  We have been praying for God to open a door for him to play on a team of some sort for over a year now, so this is an exciting answer to those prayers!  He has been able to participate in some open gyms in the last few weeks and travel with the JV and Varsity teams to Waverly, IL and Lincoln, IL for summer basketball league play.  His first play of a Varsity game left him with a bloody nose and broken glasses for about a half, but after his nose was taken care of he went back in without his glasses and played well…he even scored.  We were proud of him.

Posting up under the basket

His summer league schedule has us doing two games a night, three nights a week.  It’s been something new to adjust to, but we are so excited for him!  The experience he is gaining by playing now will help him later for his first season.  Not playing on an organized team before has him a little behind the others, but they are all so encouraging and have welcomed him in with open arms.  We know with time and hard work he will catch up.

Once I began putting things on the calendar with camps, classes, games, reading program, movies at the park, and activities at the local library, etc…  our June is crazy full!  I’m sure many of you can relate!!  It’s going to be fun.  I hope I can find someone to even take me to the local farmers market in town, too.  (Hint! Hint!)  I’ve heard so many good things about that as well. We also need to find a place to swim, too.  

Summer is almost here!  I can’t wait!!!  It’s going to be a great time!

Settling In and Looking Forward

Box by box we are getting settled in.  The children have enjoyed seeing long lost toys and playthings, and I have enjoyed the peace and quiet those items have provided. Finally I have been able to touch/open every single box that came off the truck and from the rental house even if it’s not been unpacked yet.  The scariest place by far has been the garage, the “junk drawer” for the entire house.  The task of organizing the labyrinth of bikes, boxes, tubs, tool boxes, gardening and lawn care tools, sports equipment, recycling/trash, chemicals, and other miscellaneous homeless items was almost overwhelming and even a little terrifying!  There came a point and time that I was sure King Minos’ Minotaur was lurking out there somewhere in the eerie maze of stuff waiting to devour me!

The paths were extremely narrow and tricky to maneuver through.  It took great skill to slide between spokes, wheels, and boxes to find the needed item in a timely manner.  I tried to ignore and avoid the garage, but it seemed daily I had some sort of business that would take me out into the Minotaur’s lair.  Fearful of getting lost in the Labyrinth and never being seen or heard from again, I never ventured too far or stayed very long.  It soon became apparent we would have to conquer the garage with the courage and fearlessness of Theseus of long ago.  Resolutely, Neil and I set out equipped with our own ball of string, broom, sharpie marker, recycling container, and trash can.  The contest raged for three hours, and we at one point were ready to surrender.  However, I am pleased to report we emerged battered yet victorious.  The garage still seems a mess, but at least now it’s an organized mess and we know where everything is.  We have like items grouped together and the path is much wider.  Most importantly, I know there is nothing lurking amongst the boxes waiting to consume me!

This week we are finally feeling settled in here not only in the house, but the community.  There are still things on the transition check list we are working on:  doctors, therapists for Maddie, dentists, etc…, but slowly that list is getting smaller, too.  Pictures and wall hangings are going up on the walls, Pinterest ideas are flowing for redecorating, and for the first time in a long time I can finally see a light at the end of the transition phase of this part of our journey to Illinois.  We are looking ahead to the summer now as we finish up our school year in the next few weeks!  I think it’s safe to say….we made it!  While this phase of the journey is over, it’s actually a new beginning!  Looking ahead now to what God has in store for us….the journey continues!

Breaking Camp!

Where we've been for the last five months.  Time to start packing boxes again!

The time has finally come for us to break camp here at the little red cabin.  It has been an eagerly anticipated day for our family.  As of today, we have 9 more days until we close on our new home.  We are now down to single digits!  Yeah-rah!

I find it amusing our character trait this month is gratefulness.  As I have shared with you in previous posts, we’ve learned a lot about that this year.  One of the activities we did as a family was to make an acrostic of the word gratefulness.  What I thought would be a very quick activity actually turned into a really neat family experience.  It was fun to listen to their responses, some serious and others silly.  Everything from God, eternal life, and names of best friends to Skittles, unicorns, and underwear!  It inspired me to do a little “homework” myself, so I decided to come up with a top five list of things I’m actually grateful for about the cabin itself instead of the lessons we have learned while living here.  The assignment also had to be worded in a positive way.  For example, I couldn’t write down I was thankful that the “Potty Kitchen” was located downstairs instead of upstairs.  (That’s what we affectionately call our conversation piece in the basement here.)  It did not come easy, but after some time I did find five things.



Our family activity.  Give it a try yourself!  It was fun!!

1.     The backyard.  It’s wonderful with a covered patio off the garage and a large space for the children to play.

 

Covered Patio we have enjoyed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big, beautiful backyard!

2.     The bathtub.  What the bathroom itself lacks in number and size, the bathtub makes it an enjoyable space.  The rental house is older and so is the tub…a nice large old fashioned tub where those of us that are a bit fluffier than others can actually soak in without feeling like a sardine smushed in a can.

 

Pretty!

3.     The flowers.  Whoever lived here before planted one large flowerbed out front with spring bulbs and they are blooming.  New things springing up daily.  Very, very pretty.

More pretty stuff!

4.     The wildlife.  The subdivision we live in is established with mature trees.  We’ve enjoyed seeing many different birds, gray and brown squirrels chasing one another and doing death defying feats on the power lines, and a few unexpected visits from the raccoons that live in an old hollow tree out front.

This is from the internet, our squirrels wouldn't cooperate with me today.  However, we did see them playing outside on our tree just like this today.

5.     The sense of community.  This was the big one and the most unexpected.  In a word – amazing!

There is a sense of community here among the 6-8 neighbors up and down this street that I have never experienced before in all our adventures together as a family.  The first day we moved in here at the cabin, the ladies across the street presented me with a map complete with names of all family members and phone numbers in case we needed anything.  During one of the larger snows this winter we discovered while locking up for the night that someone had used their snow blower and cleared our driveway, in fact all driveways up and down the street were done.  I found out later it was a neighbor across the street.  There is an older couple next to us and everyone networks and keeps an eye on them.  The older gentleman goes to dialysis several times a week.  On move in day they told us about them and how they like to help out and keep tabs on them and might even take them a meal from time to time.

After our first week, the cold weather hit and we all hibernated inside the homes up and down the street.  We’d wave from our warm cars when out, but not much communication yet there is this sense of being a part of something bigger.  It’s getting warmer now, people are slowly coming outdoors and the neighboring lessons continue as I see them interacting.  I’ve been watching and I’m convinced it’s an art -the art of neighboring those around you.  It’s been one of the unexpected blessings of being here at the cabin.  God is still working and teaching us more things before we leave this place.  He never wastes an experience and will use those to help us minister and encourage others.

Where we are headed in 9 more days!  Yeah for us!!

 We’ll soon start packing up things and getting them ready to put in boxes and move across town.  The goal is to move the items here at the rental house one weekend and get those things unpacked and settled since they are the things we need daily.  Then we are planning to have the boxes on the truck brought the next weekend.  Looks great on paper, but we’ll see how it actually works out.  Our journey continues and soon we’ll be breaking camp!    I can’t wait!

 

In a box....on the truck!

“Mom, where is my ____________?”  is a question I have heard numerous times in the last few months from the children.  “Mary, where is ____________?”  is a question I have heard several times from my handsome husband guy.  “Now where did I put __________?”  is a question I have asked myself here of late.  The answer to 95% of those questions is the same, “In a box…..on the truck.”  In fact, anymore they just join me as I answer, “In a box, on the truck!” J Those missing items are on the big moving truck loaded up Tuesday, January 15 of this year in Newburgh.  The same truck that is now stored somewhere here in the local area that we are unable to get into until unloading day sometime in the future.  Items I thought we would be able to do without since we were going to be moving into a new house at the end of February.   If only I had known our original plan wasn’t going to turn out as we thought, I would have most definitely packed a few more things for the little red cabin. 

The boxes...on the truck.

The little red cabin has somehow shrunk these last few weeks.  Door knobs have been falling off doors, the drain under the kitchen sink separated this past week and I found myself standing in a huge puddle of dirty dishwater I had just dumped down the drain, and the one bathroom has now become more difficult to share.   It’s getting harder to be positive about camping.  The little ones are bickering more.  While it is tempting to open up the backdoor and let them out in the gorgeous back yard here…I learned the hard way that was not such a good idea.  So I won’t be repeating that mistake lest we have the return of the mud monsters!

I was feeling so proud of myself.  That alone should have been a red flag, but it wasn’t.  They were bickering and fussing and it was such a nice day, so I bundled them up and sent them O – U – T, out!  I sat down to get some lesson planning and other administrative things done at the computer without interruption.  Ahhh!  All was quiet and I was making tremendous headway when all of a sudden the backdoor flies open, Sam thunders through the kitchen, continues on through the entry way, and into the living area on the main floor just as proud as can be.  His pink cheeks were glowing and his brown eyes snapping.  He was animated and full of the energy only a 4 year old can contain.  He stops right in front of me, holds up one leg, and says, “MOM, LOOK AT THIS!”  I was horrified.  From this point on, it was all in slow motion.

Note to self:  Self, this beautiful backyard gets muddy after the snow melts.

The bottom of his shoe was entirely caked with at least no less than 1/2 inch of mud.  He was like some mud monster you would see on Scooby Doo.  There was mud everywhere!  Mud on his face, coat, pants, and his shoes were hard to see beneath the filth.  There were globs of mud falling off his shoe as he stood there with it in midair.  Then in an instant we went back to real time, and I can now see past him.  I see the trail of muddy footprints from the back door to where he was now standing.  Clumps of mud in between those prints dotted here and there.  It was at this point something inside me snapped.  Sam was instructed in a not so calm and patient voice to return outside to the beauty of the day, and I had a little change of plans.  Instead of getting some work done at the computer, I got to clean up a bunch of mud inside the house, off the back porch, steps, patio, and three muddy children (shoes, muddy pants, and muddy coats).  That was perhaps the most stupid idea I’ve ever had because I didn’t think it through.  While yes, it was beautiful outside, the newly melted snow had made the yard very squishy. 

 

I did bring two boxes of toys for the little ones back from Newburgh to the rental house and immediately we opened one up.  I forgot about the other one.  I know that sounds silly, but there are still items we have here packed in boxes with lids open against the walls.  It is primitive I know, but we’re camping, remember?!  So it kind of blended in with the others.   I discovered this box not so long ago and we had a grand time opening it!  You’d have thought it was Christmas!  WOW!  Talk about peace and harmony and excited voices about what was inside new to play with.  I didn’t know Legos were such a big deal.  Never before had they been so enthusiastic about them in Newburgh.  Absence does make the heart grow fonder I guess.  The Legos hadn’t changed, but their attitudes about them had.   They were grateful.  I have a feeling it will be sensory overload once we unload the boxes on the big truck. 

 

We’re one week away from the one year mark of when it became very clear to us that moving to Illinois was most likely going to happen.  It marks the time when we began the process of preparing to put our home in Newburgh on the market.  A time when I began putting items in boxes for the first time, and storing them in the yard barn or garage.  I can’t believe it.  It’s been a very interesting year.   It’s been a year where we’ve had to rely on God like never before, and trust His plan for our family.

And the boxing began.

If I were to sum up this year in one word, it would be Simple.  We’ve learned about simplifying our life and getting back to basics, the core of what is needed instead of wanted.  We’ve discovered those things we once thought were needs are really wants and are appreciating those things now that we have gone without.  Things like having enough bathroom space to store your toiletries, hang your towels, and even just turn around.  Things like more than one bathroom, dishwashers, carpet, cabinet space, pantries, dressers, and an attached two car garage.  I’m even grateful for their toys and books.  You know, all the ones I used to get frustrated about cleaning up at the end of the day!   We’ve also learned to appreciate one another.  We’ve learned we are so incredibly blessed and don’t deserve all we’ve been gifted by our great and awesome God.  Please understand, I’m eagerly looking forward to the day the big truck comes and is unloaded, yet I’m even more grateful for the lessons we’ve learned this year.  Fortunately for us, those are things that will always be with us in our hearts and minds, and not packed in a box….on the truck! 

Shoe storage converted to toiletry storage.
50 gallon gray storage tote converted to dresser in background.
Camping at the Cabin.