Uncategorized

Midmom and Doula

Joy

I’ve been rather dull with blogs lately.  It’s not that there hasn’t been anything going on, that’s for sure!  It’s just that sometimes I’m not sure what I want to put out there. 

I know that some of you have been aware that the Samfords, fellow missionaries, were expecting child number four.  Since it was not practical for them to return to the States to deliver, and the nearest decent hospital was 7-8 hours away, they opted to do a home birth.  Lots of people might initially think that’s the craziest idea – home birth? in Africa? If you were to see the local hospitals, you might understand better why home birth was a good choice.

Bonnie asked if Lindsey and I would be willing to help her with the delivery, and we agreed.  Jacob started calling me “Midmom” and so that’s been my new nickname as of recent. For the past several months we have been doing our best to prepare for this event.  I downloaded e-books, I ordered some books and had them shipped, which Lindsey and I have used to study. We’ve watched a gazillion you-tubes. (Don’t laugh! You can learn a lot about delivering babies that way.) We started getting together with Bonnie once a week, sometimes twice, to take blood pressure, check baby’s heart rate, discuss plan of action, etc.  We prepared the best we could and prayed about it a lot.

Lindsey taking Bonnie’s blood pressure on one of our visits.

As Bonnie’s time drew near, all of us were getting more excited, as well as a bit nervous. We were not unaware of the magnitude of the event which would soon take place.  Bonnie had been having contractions on and off  the last couple of weeks.  A couple of days before she delivered, we started going for walks with her.  Friday morning we walked a couple of miles, which included up a couple of nice hills. 🙂 Then Friday evening I went for another short walk with her.  She had been having some contractions throughout the day, though they came and went.

Friday evening Carey called about 8:45 and said it seemed like her contractions were coming more regulary now, about 3-4 minutes apart, and the time had come! I had the bright idea to do a last minute sewing project of a scrub top and had just a little bit to finish up, so I quickly finished sewing and threw a few last minute things together. Our family gathered on the front porch and said a prayer before we left. George drove us to their house and we arrived 20 minutes after receiving Carey’s call. Not too bad! (Our houses are only about one-fifth of a mile apart). We found Bonnie in very good spirits, with lots of smiles, laughing and joking in between contractions.

Bonnie modeling her cute hospital gown. 🙂

It didn’t take too long for things to turn a bit more serious as she began her work in earnest. At 12:14 a.m., Kylie entered this world.  She gave a healthy cry right away.  What a wonderful sound that was!  We are  thankful to God that the birth went so well, with no complications whatsoever. Bonnie handled everything SO wonderfully and Carey did a great job supporting her. It’s hard to believe that the other children slept through it all.  What a surprise they had when they woke up the next morning to find a new baby in the house!

Kylie Elizabeth – now that’s a fresh, new baby!
Carey, holding his new baby daughter for the first time.
Me cleaning and dressing baby Kylie.  She wasn’t happy about it!

After cleaning up and getting Bonnie and Kylie settled in, we called George to come pick us up around 2:30 a.m. and we finally crashed in our own beds just after 3 a.m.  

After a few hours of sleep, I started to tackle the dirty laundry from the birth. We had no power, but thanks to our generator, I was still able to get things washed.  Linz and I went back to their house, fixed everyone a bite of lunch, and then brought their three older children over to spend the afternoon so that Carey and Bonnie could get some rest.  Linz and I prepared supper for their family and ours, as well as another meal for their Sunday’s lunch. We fed and bathed the kids, our family ate a quick bite of supper, and then all of us took the kids home, along with food for Carey and Bonnie.  We stayed for a little while and took turns holding the baby while Carey and Bonnie ate.

You could say that we’ve had a busy weekend! Linz and I are pretty exhausted, but it has been SO worth it! Would we do it again?  Absolutely!

Chidren's Bible Class

From a Babe You’ve Known the Sacred Writings

Joy
One thing that I’ve been working on lately is a list if suggested Bible lessons/topics that parents should teach their children.  Ignorance of Bible content is not a problem limited to third world countries, such as where we currently live.  It is an increasingly world-wide challenge, as worldly pleasures compete more and more for our time.  This isn’t just a challenge for children, but it affects all ages.  So, I would like to challenge you to make Bible knowledge a priority in your family.  Help your children become students of the Word.
Knowledge alone is not the same thing
as a tender heart that desires to please God.
However, our family members, 
both young and old, 
 need to see that within the pages of His Word
there are men and women who were real,
who had the same basic struggles as we have.
They  need to see that some people made good choices 
and some made bad choices,
and they need to see what God’s response was,
based on the choices made.
Our families need to be amazed
at God’s power and providence throughout the ages.
 
If there is one thing I’d like to stress, it is that we should not underestimate the minds of little children! They are so often capable of MUCH MORE than we give them credit for.  Most two and three year old children are capable of learning all of the books of the Bible, from memory!  You may find that you have some catching up to do, and that’s okay, as long as you recognize the need and you are willing to do something about it.  Learn together with your children.
So far I have the list finished for the Old Testament.  Please know that this list is just a starting place!  It is in no way a complete list of all relevant events in the Old Testament, but rather, it is designed to help parents who may feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin.
I’m also working on one for the New Testament and it is proving to be much more difficult for me to decide what to list, keeping in mind that one of my goals is to translate it into Swahili so that it can be shared with parents who absolutely do not know how to go about teaching their children.  It’s still a work in progress, but hopefully I will be done soon, and then I can share my N.T. list with you also.
If you are interesting in having this O.T. list in .doc format  email me privately and I will be happy to send it to you.  You are free to use it and edit it to make it work for you.
Page 1:
Page 2:
Uncategorized

A Little Get-Away

Joy

Every great once in a while it’s very nice to be able to take a little break from daily responsibilities, wouldn’t you say?  This applies to missionaries, too! Even Jesus, our perfect Lord, felt the need to go apart from the crowd and have some quiet time.  So, George and I planned a little get-away for the beginning of last week.  We had planned on being gone only one night, but we decided, spur of the moment, to stay one more night.  It was something that we both needed very much and did us both a world of good.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip.

 

Uncategorized

Today’s Lesson: Parental Responsibilities

Joy

George did it again!  He delivered a great lesson on Parental Responsibilities.  Once again, he was only able to touch the hem of the garment.  There is SO much that needs to be said on this topic; where does one begin? Here is the gist of his sermon, along with some of my own thoughts.  Children are a gift – a special blessing – from the Lord.  Upon the birth of Cain, Eve declared: “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”  Genesis 4:1.  Psalm 127:3 says: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.”

There are many blessings that we enjoy, such as food, clothing, shelter which are temporal.  However, children are blessings that will remain.  Each child, a blessing from the Lord, is given a soul that will exist eternally.  What a sobering thought for parents!  Here are some questions that deserve serious attention:
Do I want my children to go to heaven?  What am I doing to help them get there?

WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO MEET THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF OUR CHILDREN MORE THAN THEIR PHYSICAL NEEDS

1 Timothy 4:8 teaches that one must provide for their own family.  This verse is referring to the physical necessities of life.  However, if physical provisions are important, how much MORE important is it to provide spiritual nourishment for our family?  Luke 16:19ff tells of the account of the rich man and Lazarus.  Lazarus was a poor beggar in this life, but after death he was spiritually rich.  The rich man was indeed rich in this life, but after death, he was spiritually destitute –  lost. Which person was most effective in planning for the long-term? Consider the following verses in light of your parenting:

Matthew 4:4  “…It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Mat 16:26  “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

This is not to say that we can neglect the physical needs of our children, but we must stress the spiritual over the physical. If your children were asked what was most important to you, how would they answer?  What issues stand out in the minds of your children as family priorities?

WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO TEACH THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR CHILDREN

2 Timothy 1:5  “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”

2 Timothy 3:15 “and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.“

Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

There is a lot of pressure on parents to have kids that “perform well.”  Parents are concerned about their children learning to read at the same pace as other children.  Parents are concerned about their children’s test scores – they’ve got to score big on those ACT and SAT tests!  After all, that spells success, right?  Even parents who have chosen to homeschool because of religious conviction sometimes get caught up in the academic performance of their children, perhaps because of pressure to “prove” one’s ability to educate one’s own children.  Am I saying secular education is not important?  Not at all!  But priorities…where are our priorities?  If your child is a math whiz but cannot even say the books of the Bible, there is a problem.  If our children can quote dozens of movie lines, yet cannot manage to memorize sections of  the Holy Scriptures, then the evidence points to some misplaced priorities.

Although Bible class teachers can be a great support system to help reinforce the truths of God’s Word in the lives of our children, they cannot and should not replace your duty as a parent to saturate the minds of your children with the Word of God.  That is the responsibility of parents to their own children.

WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO TRAIN OUR CHILDREN HOW TO WORSHIP

The prophet Isaiah had a vision, recorded in Isaiah 6.  The first part of the vision impressed upon Isaiah the holiness of God.  God’s holiness has not changed.  He is every bit as awesome, as powerful, and as Holy today as He always has been.  Parents have the responsibility to teach their children to respect the holiness of God.

            Teaching our children to respect the holiness of God begins by teaching our children how to behave in worship.

First of all, we must be there!  It is our responsibility as parents to make worship a priority above all other activities.  Our children should never have to wonder whether or not we are going to worship!  Second, during worship parents need to see to it that their children learn to respect the occasion.  ALL children will need an occasional “trip to the walnut tree” to impress upon them the need to behave properly.  If parents themselves understand the importance of worship to our Almighty God, then they will find the resolve to train their children to respect the occasion as well.  It’s the better part of wisdom for parents to have their children sit with them during worship so that the parents can make sure their children are behaving.  If there are occasions when your children are allowed to sit with someone else, make sure that person will respect the expectations you have for your children.

WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO LIVE A GODLY EXAMPLE BEFORE OUR CHILDREN

Have you ever had someone tell you that your child has mannerisms just like you?  Even at a young age it was rather uncanny how some of our children had some of the same gestures and mannerisms as George and me.  It may or may not be a purposeful decision, but you can be assured that your children are watching you and they will imitate your example!  This is a rather scary thought.

When you think they are not watching, they are.

When you think they are not listening, they are.

When you think they are too young to notice, they are not.

“Do as I say, not as I do” is not a Christian principle!  If Momma lies to Daddy to avoid getting him upset, your children will lie to you to get out of trouble. If  Daddy makes fun of Momma in front of other people, the children will not respect their Momma either.  If Momma is in a constant state of frustration, habitually yelling at and smacking her children, the children will yell at and hit one another, as well as hit back at Momma. (Habitually “smacking” children is NOT biblical discipline and is not the same as a controlled spanking.)

Every parent ought to periodically do some self-examination.  Many times those negative attributes which we find most distasteful in our children are the very ones they’ve acquired from us!  The more we, as parents, live godly lives, exemplifying godly attributes, the more we will see these qualities develop in the hearts of our children.  It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?

There is no such thing as a perfect parent.  George and I do not claim to perfect parents.  As we look back over the past almost 24 years of training our children, there are things we wish we would have done differently.  Yes, parents will make mistakes, but our children need to see that we are putting forth our very best effort to be godly.

Our children need to see that God is Number One in our family.

Our children need to see that we are doing our best to LIVE the sermons that we preach.

Our children need to see that we are willing to say I’m sorry when we mess up.

Our children need to see that we love God above all else.

Our children need to be trained in such a way that OUR desire to please God

becomes THEIR desire.

Our children need to go to heaven.