Blessing Number Eight Arrives – 11:36pm, December 28, 2008

Mama and baby are doing very well!!! Thank you for your prayers. Gabriel (Man of God) Leander (Lion Man) Primer (First Reader of the Sacred Scripture at Mass) seems to be a very mellow and laid back lad. He weighs every bit of 9lbs 2oz (according to Julianne ) and is 20 inches long (short and stocky… just like his uncles ). Both he and his mama are looking forward to a long winters nap. Daddy is very pleased and thankful to his Faithful Heavenly Father for another blessed world changer. "Lord, may you grant me the strength and wisdom to lead him, by word and by deed, to the foot of your cross."

I want to thank you all for your prayers. I also want to convey my deepest gratitude to our loving, caring and extremely experienced midwife, Terry Rogers, for her calm and sweet disposition and her deep love for us and for Christ. Also, for our dear sweet friend and sister in Christ, Tracy Berard, who served and served and served us throughout the whole labor, so graciously. We thank God for such wonderful gifts.

We have given him the name Gabriel… to honor the day the angel came to Mary. Our celebration of Christmas is so meaningful to us. This year especially the celebration of the gift of a child has been precious. Gabriel means "Man of God". We pray that Gabe will follow hard after his great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Leander (Lion Man) in honor of our dear friend, father, brother… Dr. Leander Eckard. May Gabe have the sensitive, evangelistic, stubborn-headed drive of his namesake!! We miss you Doc! Did I mention, Gabe is short, stocky, barrel-chested, has two or three chins, and wrinkles on the back of his neck?  It was easy to name him Leander.

For Christ and His Kingdom,

Brian

The Blessings of a Faithful God

As our building fund decreased to nearly nothing, and our fall ministry and activities increased, we began to think perhaps we were going to spend another winter without making any progress on the lodge. But, we are so close to being able to finish! As we prayed about the situation and patiently waited for something, we both became content with letting the progress go in God's timing, not our own. This is something that we have had to do over and over and over since we started.
Well, recently a dear soul called and said they had a check for us, could we stop by. Not only was it enough to make the few final necessities, like sheet rock on the bathroom walls, countertop in the kitchen, and some wiring and septic fixtures, but it looks as though we will be able to purchase a cistern, pump, and all we need to have RUNNING WATER.
Brian has been making calls about what pump to use on our 600 foot well with our solar power system. Then we took a trip to town to look at poly cisterns and see what all that entails. The pump has been ordered and arrived a few days ago, and the pump guy is scheduled to come out next week.
So, as we look forward to celebrating Christmas this week, we have more than a few things to be thankful for. We are still amazed that we are able to build this big, wonderful house, without a bank mortgage, on our modest income and growing family. It is nothing short of a miracle really, which is the whole reason we named our home Providence Lodge.
As the snow has been falling, we imagine how cozy and romantic it will be to observe the winter stillness from within the rustic walls, a cup of our favorite tea ("Preacher's Passion"**) in hand, and little munchkins snuggled in all around us, but alas, we will be happily content with our little parsonage until that momentous day arrives. As with waiting for a baby to be born, it is always NOT my timing, but as God wills, and what a wonderful lesson to learn to sit it out with a rejoicing heart.


May you be encouraged as you read this, of what a great, good, loving God we serve, and be thankful for all the good things He blesses you with each and every day. Merry Christmas!





** Preacher's Passion tea: 1 part of each of the following: chamomile, oat straw, passion flower, peppermint. Each herb calms a specific system within your body, making for a very relaxing, de-stressing drink, and it tastes really good. We encourage our children to drink LOTS of it. ;-)


We got the recipe from THE BULK HERB CO, where we also guy the herbs to make it, 1/2 lb. of each makes a huge batch that lasts (even us) for months.