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Monday, October 30, 2017

Who Is Your Father?

"How's Ed doing?" I'm asked the question often. And what should I say?

Do I say he is doing fine?

But GBM is not something that you just recover from and go on your merry way. Not without a miracle. But Ed is feeling great. His latest blood work shows that all his labs are within the normal range. Ed has been tired recently, but he has also been coming home, gulping down supper, and spending his evenings working in his home business in the basement. With those long work hours he has an excuse to feel tired.

But I think most valuable of all is that we truly have a peace about the future. We know that our lives are in God's hands. We can wake up each morning, do what we are called to do for the day, and not worry about the future.

A few weeks ago we had a visitor to our church who shared the morning message. (Many of you may know Timo Miller from Nicaragua.) He gave a very simple but clear message from Matthew 6.

Most of us can quote the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. "Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, They will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread..."

Several times during the message Timo asked, "Who is your Father? Is He trustworthy?"

So simple, yet so powerful. God will give us daily bread - everything I need - so why do I worry about tomorrow? When I truly claim God as my Father and understand His character, His power, His dependability, His love - I have peace.

The last few weeks have been busy. We bought a new van (a story for another day). My twelve-year-old son took part, for the first time, in the great Pennsylvania sport of deer hunting and brought home his first white-tail. (Yes, that also means he is fully recovered from his lawn mower accident.)

We have also had some not-so-good things these last weeks. We mourn to learn of a friend's diagnosis of glioblastoma. Several other friends have had serious illnesses and long hospital stays.

On the minor but still not fun category - our youngest daughter contracted a terrible rash. She had huge blisters around her mouth and covering a large portion of her legs. I suspected hand-foot-and-mouth disease since I knew she had been exposed, but this rash looked so unlike the typical rash that I took her to the doctor. Two doctors examined her and said they had never saw a rash like hers. We still don't know what she had, but thankfully she recovered quickly.

I love living in a place with the beauty of October. Maybe I enjoyed it more this year because we don't take even a day for granted.

We also had some fun events the last weeks. Here are a few photo highlights.



 One afternoon we went with a few friends to a pumpkin farm that has activities for children.


Such as slides...


And huge trampolines.


I took the older children on the corn maze, 


While the younger ones enjoyed the corn bin.


 What is more beautiful than the brilliant blue skies of October?


My whole family spent a weekend camping together. 


As always, food is a highlight of camping.


Saturday brunch was fritatta made in dutch ovens and coffee cake.


The barn was the site of lots of game playing.




Grilling chicken for more fabulous eating.


 Corn hole tournament.


Making music.


Sunday morning pancakes.


But the highlight for me was the service Sunday morning.


We sat around a circle and sang together. The men shared some insights from Scripture and then we joined together in prayer for my brother who is serving God in Iraq.


October, with all its beauty, only gives a glimpse of our Heavenly Father who pours out the blessing of grace and peace.

Who is your Father?

29 comments:

  1. The first of this post reminded me of a bible study I did once. I wrote down this from the study. "It is easy to say I believe in God, but do I believe God. Do I believe He is who He says He is. That He can do what He says He can do. That I am who He says I am." Dear sister, I pray for you and your family daily. God bless.

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    1. That sounds like a very valuable Bible study.
      Gina

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  2. The what a beautiful way to spend an Autumn weekend with family. The neurologist once told us that we should live between the seizures and other neuro events. At those times as you are living you almost forget the elephant in the room for a moment. Those are the best moments a gift really.

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  3. There is much to think about in this post. I am such a worrier and I know that in the Bible we are told not to worry, our Father will take care of us. Thank you for the reminder to work on this aspect of my walk with the Lord.

    Your fall festivities and camping trip look like so much fun. How wonderful to have an extended family nearby to spend time and enjoy life with. My husband and I are pretty much all alone, with the exception of our church family. All three of our children have moved to follow their jobs or spouses job, and our family is back in the Midwest. My dream is that after retirement we will be able to go back and be with them. I hope you continue to enjoy the beautiful fall weather.
    Blessings, Betsy

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  4. I wish you peace Gina but shall not read your blog again after realising that you have allowed your son to hunt

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  5. How special that Tim Miller spoke at your church. My sister in TX sends us his e-mails. He has had quite a journey. So glad you family had a "family fun" event in lovely Oct weather......you Godly attitude is so very encouraging. I look forward to your "updates"

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  6. So uplifting as usual, you help me to keep my life in perspective.
    Thank you again.

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  7. I love this so much, especially the question, "Who is your Father? Is he trustworthy?"

    He is but I sure don't always live like it!

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  8. I am so thankful you were able to spend time with your family...it looks like a wonderful, refreshing time. Praying for you on your journey.

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  9. It's good to hear that things are going well for you and your family.

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  10. I will pray for your brother in Iraq. Is he in the military? My husband is in the Army. It looks like you and your family had a good October. I've always enjoyed going through corn mazes. Congratulations on your son getting his first deer:-) I really like deer stick! You and your family are still being prayed for in Hawaii. Thank you for sharing your life and faith with us.

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    1. Thanks for your prayers. My brother is serving Christ by showing the love of Jesus to refugees.
      Gina

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    2. Thank you for answering my question. I will pray for him. I'm sure what he does could be a whole post sometime, if you were allowed to share?

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    3. He cannot tell us many specifics about what he does or even where exactly he is because of security issues. So we just pray that God will be with him and guide him. We can pray without knowing details.
      Gina

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    4. Okay thank you for answering my question. I will pray for your brother:-)

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  11. My middle daughter also had a nasty strain of the Hands Foot Mouth the last time it went around here(like large blisters like you mentioned).

    About 2-3 months after it her toe nails fell off. Just wanted to warn you, I guess it's common when a little one has a nasty case of it!!

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    1. Thanks for the warning so I don't panic. I've heard that children can lose nails after Hand Foot Mouth but hadn't thought about it could happen to my daughter.
      Gina

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  12. What a beautiful post! I appreciate your faith and trust in God and how you cherish each day. Such a good reminder for each of us! I continue to pray for you and your family.

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  13. Dear Gina,

    Thanks so much for sharing about what's happening in your lovely family! It is a blessing you can all still be together.

    Yes I am somewhat familiar with Timo Miller and his recent trials. It would have been a blessing for your church to have him teach.I know that sometimes we act as though God cannot be fully trusted. If only we left all our cares in His control!

    God bless you all!

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  14. It is so good to hear of your much better days! I always love your extended family stories. This post also causes reflection. How easily we get caught up in words and forget to "do". I hope to be more mindful of our Father. I am still praying for your family..now I'll add your brother!

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  15. What a lovely post, Gina! I am fascinated by your photos as I live on the other side of the world but we all have the same Father. How amazing!

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  16. Hi Gina,

    I think it is so special to have Bro. Timo preach in your church. We have been praying for him and Bro. Kenneth Miller in prision. We do not know them personally but for some reason we came in contact with people who do and as we have read of him in Angels over Waslala and other books from Pablo Yoder we feel like we know him and we pray for him and his family. Your family has been a great encouragment to us. Blessings.

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  17. Thank you for commenting about October's perfect blue skies. I lost my earthly father 10 years ago, on October 10, and when I stepped outside after he was gone, all I could think of was what a beautiful day it was to go Home. I loved my father dearly and we were very close. Grief came soon enough, but at that moment, I was almost jumping up and down with joy that he was with Our Savior.

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  18. Just catching up on your blog. The last few weeks have been busy and I am cutting back on social media, deciding just what is edifying and what is simply wasting my time.
    As I read this post I was greatly encouraged by Timo Millers sermon. I don't personally know him but, have read Pablo Yoders books on Nicaragua. I assume it is the same?
    Also, I was just blessed to see your rich heritage of family. How blessed you are, Gina!
    With all yours trials and hard things, your blog encourages me so much! Thank you.
    And I love your book reviews as always.
    Continuing to pray for you and your family, Beth

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  19. This post speaks to me right now. I wrote out a long detailed story about why, but suffice to say, THANK YOU.

    We are praying for Ed, and your family. Now adding your other friends going through hard times as well. Hugs.

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  20. Hi Gina. My own father passed in Dec 1992; my brother passed in Mar 2002; my sister passed in July 2002; my first husband passed in Oct 2002; & my mother passed in Nov 2004. I was the only one left ... an orphaned widow ... but my true Father Jesus took care of me until I met my current husband of almost 7 years, a wonderful pastor. Jesus is my true, ever-faithful Father! All praise & glory to Him! Thank you for your blog, I love reading about your faith & your family. You are all in my prayers.

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  21. I'm pretty suspicious that my husband and I just spent the summer with your brother, but I never connected him to you until I glimpsed another sister in your camping photos. V was a great blessing to us!

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  22. Hi Gina,

    your pictures look like you all had such a wonderful time together, a great blessing to you all. Praying for you all. I really appreciate your blog and find it such an encouragement as we live life with my sons health problems. Thank you for your writings.
    Blessings to you all
    shelley p
    from over the pond

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