Happy Birthday Levi!

We have a performer.

Naomi is 5!

Naomi turned 5 years old on August 19th so we had a girlie princess party complete with nail painting and hair fixing.  It was a grand time.  Her guest list included several little girls in addition to three of the sweet ladies who babysit for us.  This girl is absolutely adorable.  So girly and funny.  It is so much fun to watch her grow up!

Southern Iowa Sister

The kids and I went to visit the Hill Family in way way way southern Iowa.  It took me four whole days hours to get there.  It was totally worth it!  I love my sweet Emily and her beautiful family.

We went on vacation...a long time ago

We drove to North Carolina back in July for a vacation with my family.  We went from the beach to the mountains and it was a wonderful trip.  It is always delightful to spend time with my fam and share life with them.  They are a rowdy bunch of folks, Ill say that.  There was lots of laughter and goofing off and quality time just relaxing.  I thank God for such a loving family!  Here are some highlights in pictures.

Stuff and such

Here are some pics indicating what we have been up to.  This has been the most fun summer that I can remember.  Just doing this blog post has caused me to have perm-a-grin.  The kids are at such fun ages, they are trying and accomplishing new things all the time, and they are so interesting to talk to and hang out with.  I was struck while looking back over these pictures at how much joy they give Micah and I and how incredibly blessed we feel to be their parents.  Every victory for them is so much fun for us to watch and every skinned knee or big bump on the head is a privilege for us to care for.  I know that if I, a sinful human, love my children this much that there is no way I can comprehend how much my heavenly father loves me.  And that my friends, makes me well up with tears and takes my breath away.

So, with that, here is the summer so far.  I know it may seem like the longest blog post ever and like I chose every picture that we have.  However, we have a thousand and one pictures and it was very hard to choose.

The kids all took swim lessons this year along with Naomi's best pal Paisley.  The beginning of June in Iowa is not exactly balmy, its not even warm actually.  Most days were in the 60's and they left the pool with blue lips in sweatshirts.  Isaiah and Naomi both are able to swim pretty well on their own and they are so happy about that.  Levi just thinks its fun to sit on the bottom of the pool with his eyes open.

Naomi and Paisley attended a dance camp.  Boy was this interesting.  Um, I don't even know what to say.  We aren't doing that again.

We have spent lots of time at the lake having camp fires with new friends, among other things.  The kids ride bikes all day and play in the blow up pool and sprinkler.  We have also purchased 160 sparklers, 800 water balloons, and lots of smores ingredients.  Micah and Isaiah obtained a inner tube and floated down the river.  I have been reading on the deck with a big glass of lemonade.  

We finished up baseball and Isaiah loved it.  I did too.  It doesn't get any cuter than those little buns in those little baseball pants.

We have had multiple cookouts with our small group including this one for Independence Day.  It was a hilarious event as Levi entertained us all by just being himself.  If you hang around him for more than 5 minutes you will know what I mean.  He is a very fast moving bundle of JOY.  Isaiah lost a second tooth in his can of lemonade.  There was lots of lightening bug catching and sparkler enjoyment.  We watched the fireworks together to end the evening.  

Grandma and Grandpa Steele have been making more frequent visits to Dubuque.  It's been super fun.

Lots of bike riding has been going on.  

We finally dug out the owners manual for our camera and we are attempting to learn how to use the thing.  Here is quite possibly our favorite picture of the summer just because he is so darned cute and that personality is just unbelievable.  I've caught myself thinking and saying out-loud lately that God must have known when he added Levi to our family that we would be reminded how to relax, have a lots of fun, and not take things so seriously.

Absolutely. Adorable.

Motherhood as a Mission Field

Here is a great article from the blog at desiringgod.org. A great reminder to all you Jesus Lovin moms out there!

Motherhood as a Mission Field

There is a good old saying, perhaps only said by my Grandfather, that distance adds intrigue. It is certainly true — just think back to anything that has ever been distant from you that is now near. Your driver’s license. Marriage. Children. Things that used to seem so fascinating, but as they draw near become less mystical and more, well, real.

This same principle certainly applies to mission fields too. The closer you get to home, the less intriguing the work of sacrifice seems. As someone once said, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.

Home: The Headwaters of Mission

If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.

There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.

At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

Faith Makes the Small Offering Great

If you are like me, then you may be thinking “What did I ever give up for them? A desk job? Time at the gym? Extra spending money? My twenty- year- old figure? Some sleep?” Doesn’t seem like much when you put it next to the work of some of the great missionaries, people who gave their lives for the gospel.

Think about the feeding of the five thousand when the disciples went out and rounded up the food that was available. It wasn’t much. Some loaves. Some fish. Think of some woman pulling her fish out and handing it to one of the disciples. That had to have felt like a small offering. But the important thing about those loaves and those fishes was not how big they were when they were given, it was about whose hands they were given into. In the hands of the Lord, that offering was sufficient. It was more than sufficient. There were leftovers. Given in faith, even a small offering becomes great.

Look at your children in faith, and see how many people will be ministered to by your ministering to them. How many people will your children know in their lives? How many grandchildren are represented in the faces around your table now?

Gain What You Cannot Lose in Them

So, if mothers are strategically situated to impact missions so greatly, why do we see so little coming from it? I think the answer to this is quite simple: sin. Discontent, pettiness, selfishness, resentment. Christians often feel like the right thing to do is to be ashamed about what we have. We hear that quote of Jim Elliot’s and think that we ought to sell our homes and move to some place where they need the gospel.

But I’d like to challenge you to look at it differently. Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive.

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She is the author of "Loving the Little Years" and blogs at Femina. Her husband is Luke, and they have five children: Evangeline (5), Daphne (4), Chloe (2), Titus (2), and Blaire (5 months).