2012 With The Schworers:A year at a Glance

 

Dear friends and family,

 As I looked through all my pictures this year I couldn’t believe how much I had already forgotten.  We did a lot this year.  Not only did we do a lot, God really blessed us in un-expected ways. 

 

 Brooke was able to live with us through June and we have a lot of special memories with all of us.  Our highlights were the evenings with the some of the college and career friends playing “Guesstures” and the retardedness that comes with that age group.

 

One of our many adventures was Rick’s weight loss journey.  As you can see in the pictures at the beginning of the year and then at his birthday, Rick lost about 70 pounds this year.  We spent a lot of time at the gym.  We got to experience swimming with the girls and the need for goggles.  We still have not gotten any that fit well yet, but we have a lot of memories.

Kiera and Lily were also able to help Grandma Schworer  (who is a caregiver) to help plant a garden with a couple she helps.  As we don’t have the time or energy to maintain our own, this was a special blessing to experience that.

Thanks to Grandma Cummons, my mom, Julie and well, pretty much everyone except us we were able to go to Pennsylvania and visit with the other side of the family.  It was great for all the cousins to see each other and in many cases meet each other for the first time.

 

The major highlights were for Rick to go to the Football Hall of Fame while the women and kids got  to go to Lake Erie and be on the beach for the first time and feel the waves.  Then we got to go to Jamestown’s Deer Park and had so much fun feeding the deer and animals.  While in Idaho we are surrounded by ranches and farms, we got to see so many animals there that we had only before seen in books.  The kids also got to see their great grandma Cummons, which for me was probably the most meaningful part of our trip.  I loved our trip out to Massillon and seeing all my family at Aunt Debbie’s.  It was a great week.

 

We came back to celebrate July 4^th with good friends and then set off some fireworks for Silas’s first birthday.

 

As if it wasn’t a amazing to be able to travel across the country to see my family, we also were able to have family come out to Idaho.  My mom and Frank as well as Aunt Debbie and Uncle Robert were able to come toward the end of July.  They were able to see Kiera practicing in her first year of basketball.  She was voted the most improved player.

 

Goodness, I am getting tired just remembering it all.  So, after months of Kiera bringing it up daily we finally gave in and on Charlotte’s birthday we had a Lemonade Stand that might or might not become an annual tradition.

 

Hmmm, what next? We got up SUPER early and went to watch 40 hot air balloons set off in Boise.  It was interesting, but not interesting to get up that early next year.  Neither the girls nor I could remember seeing hot air balloons in person.  So, it was worth it for a one time deal.

 

Well, it apparently is a year of new adventures because shortly thereafter we headed out to a bug festival in our own Boise Botanical Gardens.  We learned a lot about bugs and we all, except Rick, touched a huge one legged Mormon grasshopper.  I believe it did have two legs at the beginning of the day. Poor guy.

 

Homeschool started and with homeschooling comes Master Club again so we get to have a whole new year of more costumes and excitement.  The things we do for our kids.  The other day and I were discussing that we don’t really have fun ourselves too much, but we get to sit back and enjoy our kids having a lot of it.

Lily's Crazy Hair Night and Kiera as a girl in traditional Ukrainian dress for Missions Night.

 

             Kiera at Nerd Night in March                   Lily as a "Little Lamb" for the Christmas Program

 

 

Well, I can’t say that.  God completely and out of the blue (as only He can) provided above and beyond a way for me to go away 3 days with some ladies in our church.  The first day we went on a zip line, the second day I had some solitude to spend with the Lord and the third day we had a lady speaker to encourage us to “Fight for our children.” and to “Fight off the lies of Satan.”

 

God is SO GOOD. I told someone that I didn’t know how much I would enjoy being a homeschool teacher.  I used to think, “Ugh!  I never want to do that.  But one day I was thinking, “OH! I get to work on Math with Lily today” and actually was excited.  What a privilege to enjoy your calling in life.  It is extra fun that our church group hosts hands on activities like “A Day in Korea.” (More costumes … augh!!!)

 

 We had a great Thanksgiving Day with our newly traditional game of Basketball.  Aaron, Stephanie and I surprisingly lost to Rick and Brooke while grandma kept an eye on Charlotte at the home base.  Good times.

 

 

LILY’S BIRTHDAY was a lot of fun.  We had some last minute changes and ended up at Pizza Hut with some family and friends and then head over to Planet Kid to burn off all their energy.  She had a great time this birthday.  She loved her presents (surprise, surprise), but lost the skirt off her doll the first day.  Sigh*

 

So, here we are at Christmas time. We had a cute program with Master Club, a fun "ugly sweater" activity at church and in we are going to go on a search for that extra weight we lost this year and I think we might find them at the final few get togethers that will bring in the New Year.  Another sigh*

 

 I really started this letter to reminisce with you all, but I wanted to point out something as well.

 Nothing Is Impossible If You Put Your Trust in God.

God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think.”

ABUNDANT.  That is how I would describe the Lord.  You would never know the faith building that has gone on this year.  It’s easy to look back at the year and it seems that we are a spoiled middle class family.  Well, we are spoiled … by the Lord.  We look at our limitations and then we see how God kept giving and giving and giving.  It seemed that every fixture and appliance in our house broke this year, and yet we end the year better off than we started it.

 

We are daily loaded with benefits.  He promised to lead us.  He promised to provide our needs.  He promised never to leave us alone.  I hate to bring up a song I recorded, but I am reminded over and over the truth that I have all I ever need, but Calvary Would Have Been Enough.

I hope you are well.  We are looking forward to seeing what God will do in this next year.

With much love,
The Schworers

Trusting the Lord when the way seems dark ...

I just wanted to post this encouraging poem that a friend sent me.

He Maketh No Mistake

My Father’s way may twist and turn
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I’m glad to know,
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead,
For He doth know the way.

Tho’ night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break,
I’ll pin my faith, my all, in Him,
He maketh no mistake.

There’s so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight’s far too dim,
But come what may,
I’ll simply trust and leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift,
And plain it all He’ll make,
Through all the way, tho’ dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

- A.M. Overton, 1932

MY MOUTH! OH! MY MOUTH! (and the elections too)

MY MOUTH!  OH!  MY MOUTH!

Today I was reading about Brad 'n Deborah Wells, and part of their praise report included a prayer request.  It said:

"Pray for our men—we suffered a big hit due to elections. When the dust settled, everyone was still alive but many are wounded spiritually."

Well, that struck a cord in my heart about what I see and hear amongst Christians concerning our upcoming elections.  Everyone is very passionate about what they believe or don't believe which is fine.  It just made me think.

You see, I live in a world full of passion.  I wake up in the morning and usually the first words out of my children's mouth are something passionate; passionately happy, passionately angry, passionately hungry but always passionate.  There seems to be no medium ground in the life of a child.

Let me step back a bit and tell a little bit about my family.  I love my family.  We have a lot of fun.  There is a lot of love.  We honestly have times where rebellion and its fruit are at a minimum, but every day my biggest battle in child rearing is the result of sibling rivalry.  Every day I think with a smile "BEHOLD, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." 

I have three girls and a baby boy but with my girls I try so hard to teach them to be kind.  A little while ago I made posters with them of the Scripture verses I thought they would need to achieve kindness and graciousness.

The first was:

Psalm 141:3

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Second:

Pro 31:26

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Third:

Php 2:14, 15

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Fourth:

Eph 4:29

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

As I started making these posters I realized how much I needed these verses as well.  They kind of transformed my thinking.  It made it difficult for me to carry on a conversation because I realized how often I did not keep these basic commands. 

Murmuring:  Ouch!  Who likes to consider themself a complainer?  Yet, I realized how often I would make myself feel better by grumbling about the things I had dealt with that day.  It seemed like it was easy to start a conversation murmuring about something.  I have begun to start out conversations saying, "So, what has been good in your life recently?"  It really started to add joy in my heart when I stopped the habit of murmuring and started counting my blessings.

Disputings:  Hmmmmm.  Maybe I am the only one who does this, but I realized how much pride was in my conversation.  It was masked well in sarcasm or sometimes frustrated concern, but I began to discern that I was causing strife or disputes by what I was saying.  I didn't know what to do, because many times I really was annoyed and felt I needed an outlet. 

Ah!  Yes!  Thank you Scripture for meeting my need.

GRACE:  Goodness that someone doesn't deserve.

While the some of the above verses took things out of my conversation, it also replaced it with something so much better: edifying grace and kindness.  There were many times when I honestly just had to be silent and follow the old rule:

"If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."

It is a little odd that silence can actually be an act of goodness that someone doesn't deserve, but once you try it the fruit of the spirit shines through. 

But what about dealing with that frustration or discouragement?

Well, let me quote to you a well known hymn that started to become a moment by moment guide.

"Are you weary? Are you heavy hearted? Tell it to Jesus!  Tell it to Jesus!
Are you grieving over joys departed?  Tell it to Jesus alone.
Tell it to Jesus.  Tell it to Jesus.  He is a Friend that's well known;
You've no other such a friend or brother.  Tell it to Jesus alone."

He became that friend. A guiding friend.  A peaceful friend.  A friend that knew my heart and knew how to chasten me when I needed it.  

I held to the truth of Psalm 62:8. 

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

As things would have it, my Scripture application to my mouth went full circle and I saw how when I showed some meekness and temperence in my conversation that I started becoming more "blameless" and "harmless" and a better light shining God's love to those around me.

So you might be wondering what this has to do with the initial prayer request from Brad and Deborah Wells and our elections.

Politics kind of remind me of the following passage:

Isa 59:4
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

Until righteous men become our leaders there will always be mourning, but there is no need for Christians to become "spiritually wounded."  I know that PNG has its own special cultural issues that cause this type of damage but here in America with much social media we have ways of causing harm.

So this is just a general exhortation to all of us out there to educate, encourage, edify and most importantly to pray for one another.  Pray for our country.  Pray for righteous leadership.  Pray that we will be strong and of a good courage.  Pray that we will seek the face of our God and become a familiar friend to Him.  Pray that we will follow after His heart and His word.

And before you "share," "like" or "comment" on something check to see if you meet God's guidelines for communications so that we can be harmless and blameless and a light shining brightly to the world.