Cleaning for Armageddon

This is Brian - I have officially hacked control over this blog for the next several weeks.  Yvonne carries no responsibility or liability for the statements/comments/general thought process which will be shared.  For those concerned(and you know who you are) you can just close your computer for the next 3 weeks and pray and fast...and seek some counseling and/or prescription medications.

We leave on Sunday - so this being Friday means I've got one more day to watch some TV, surf Ebay, and eat Bon-Bons before I'll start thinking of packing.  My wife on the other hand is diligently rearranging our bedroom into a Walmart shopping isle of folded shirts, socks, toiletries, and nick-knacks. (all hypoallergenically sealed in ziplock bags of course)

We (myself and my children) were, as expected, told the house need to be cleaned before we leave.  I beg the question to all humanity - Why do we clean our homes just to leave them - which then upon our return we instantly unload all of our dirty laundry, empty our overstuffed luggage, spread out all the overpriced souvenirs and "gifts" for those who watched our turtles and watered our plants, as well as tear through all the missed mail and completely obliterate any coherence of order in our homes...  Tell me how any of this makes any sense.  I guess if we die it will be easier to sell our house - you can thank us at our funeral.

But now it's off to don the latex gloves and clean underneath the backside of the drainage pipe behind the toilet. - I can't imagine what we'd have to clean if we were going on vacation... Merry Christmas and Yes, I do love my wife - hope she knows that.

A Lesson To Be Learned In Nit Picking

What's up with the Downs? Last week some pesky little bugs jumped into our hair...literally. Half of the Downs household ended up with little nits, the eggs that lice lay, in our hair. Of course they were sweet eggs because they were from some precious friends of ours, but we wanted to get rid of them as fast as possible.

After shampooing with chemicals to kill the nits, bleaching every nook and cranny, ferociously vacuuming, pulling every article of clothing, bedding, rugs, etc. and piling it high in a corner to be fed to the washer turned to "hot water" we gals sat in the master bathroom (it had the brightest lights) to begin the long process of nit picking.

Not until this last week did I understand the phrase, "You are so nit picky". Now, I get it-someone who finds every minutest thing to be critical of. We looked through every particle of every hair of the four of us Downs who had these critters not wanting to miss one egg. We wanted to be extra safe and pulled each hair out that had a nit. Over the course of 5 days, approximately 7 hours were devoted to looking at each strand of our luscious nitty locks.

What's the lesson? PATIENCE! Multiple times a day this thought circled through my mind, whether I was putting in the 20th load of laundry, vacuuming for the 7th time, or picking nits--

"LORD, You are so very patient with me!!! Thank You! You take time to pick all the nits out of my hairy soul and do it with such love, and patience. Never do You get riled up if you find another nit, but You are the God who sanctifies and You promise that you will sanctify me through and through so that all of me is kept blameless. My heart is grateful to you the God Most High for teaching me about Yourself through a little sticky bug."

We are lice free and grateful. My heart is filled with gratitude that I have a washer and dryer and access to lice shampoo, because so many live with these critters, because they don't have the means to get rid of them.

I simply need to be still for chunks of time while the Lord sifts through my bugs, so I can praise Him with purity.

May God Himself, the God of Peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Blessed Beyond Measure

The Kenya team! The Klassen Family, The Downs Family, Brad & Jen Bell, Loni Weber, & Charlotte Teisinger.

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:22-23

Today I can't help but proclaim the magnificence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the Head of us, those who believe Him, and we are His Body! I am in awe and humbled that those who trust Jesus are "the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way". I have seen this in action countless times and have been marveling at how His Body works and moves as His hands and feet and arms and toes and legs and nose. We look to our Head for all direction and ability to do anything for His glory.

13 of us in the Body have the privilege of going to Kenya in 40 some days as the feet, sharing the gospel with others as we walk along, while over 50 precious people have personally given sacrificially (through prayer, encouraging words, and financially) to the Downs household to enable us to go share the love of Jesus. I would guess a couple hundred people have been involved in one way or another for our whole team. I wish we could take every single one of them with us because of how instrumental each have been in enabling us to go. We couldn't go without the Church functioning as the Lord designed it.

So this morning my heart is soaring and blessed beyond measure. I try to calculate it and simply can't wrap the measuring tape around it, because it is eternal Kingdom work and the Lord works miraculously! Some things we just can't put in words. I know with confidence that everything is for the Lord's name and fame.

We are honored to serve the One who gave His life for us.

Pumpkin Nut Ring with Butter Sauce

My friend, Tiffany Gear gave me this recipe some years ago at Hume. I didn't use to like pumpkin, but after having this cake, I changed my mind. I think the butter sauce may have had something to do with it.

31/2 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1/2 t. baking powder

2 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground cloves

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1 cup butter

2/3 cup water

2 cups pmpkin

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat ingredients together for 2 minutes. Generously grease a bundt pan. Bake 350 degrees for about one hour. Cool and then flip onto a plate

Butter Sauce

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

2 cups whipping cream

Cook in a pot for 10 minutes, stirring so it doesn't scald.

Remove from stove and add 1 t. vanilla

Slice the cake and pour butter sauce over each slice and serve immediately.

This is a dessert to enjoy with a nice cup of coffee and a friend on a rainy fall day.

Oh how I love this family!

Brian--the most amazing, loyal, servant I have ever met. He shows me Christ daily.I love being a mom of teenagers...great conversations. They have wonderful insight and sometimes verbalize struggles that as adults we don't say out loud.
The Downs have fun!

Ashlyn--considerate, thoughtful, understands daily grace, best back massager ever!Kylen-playful, loves to have his back scratched, smiles with his whole face, loves to read and create things.
Julianne--adaptable, achiever, loves caring for little kids, and draws beautifully.
I am blessed beyond measure to know and have relationship with these four people the Lord created for His glory!