Stumble It!
The Call to Dunkirk
By admin | January 5, 2009
Christian Home Educators in the USA are getting serious about helping their fellow Christians rescue the next generation — their own children — from Moloch’s pagan schools.
The featured speakers in this video clip “The Call to Dunkirk”, E. Ray Moore, Bruce Shortt and Vodie Baucham, are all passionate Christian home educators. E. Ray Moore is one of the early pioneers of home education in the USA, and our family has stayed with both E. Ray Moore in South Carolina and with Bruce Shortt in Houston, Texas.
Like these men, I can find little … well, let me be honest … I can find nothing positive to say about NZ’s state, compulsory, secular schooling system. It is a total disaster area, way beyond any kind of reform. We Christians MUST pull our children out — and I am particularly concerned about the primary school aged children. Christian children are not just forced to attend by law, they are being defiled in spirit, in body and in mind…and often also suffer physical violence and abuse as well.
And Christians pay for this abuse of their own Children with their taxes.
It’s time to get out of it, get serious, makes some sacrifices and think of creative and effective ways to help our Christian friends and relations disciple their children at home.
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The YouTube Video produced by Exodus Mandate, “A Call To Dunkirk” calls parents to get their children out of government schools and to provide them with a Christian education
Topics: Youtube | No Comments »
Pete, Genevieve and Natalie
By admin | December 28, 2008
For updates and photos of Natalie please go to:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KiwiSmithFamily/*Pete%2C%2BGenevieve%2Band%2BNatalie/
Topics: Profile of the Smiths | No Comments »
Genevieve’s baby
By admin | December 26, 2008
Peter and Genevieve de Deugd together with their parents, Henk and Sue and Craig and Barbara, would like to praise the Lord for the arrival of Natalie Elizabeth born at 9:07pm on Saturday, 20 December 2008 weighing 10 lbs 5! The Lord answered all Pete’s and Genevieve’s prayers for a natural, drug-free labour and also that they would be able to be thankful and joyful in the face of any complications needing medical intervention for which they are very grateful.
After the birth Genevieve was taken to theatre requiring surgery and stabilization due to heavy blood loss (nearly 3ltrs). She spent the night in intensive care and an extended stay in hospital for observation. She is very weak but otherwise recovering steadily and enjoying with Pete the wonders of new parenthood.
As for Natalie, her name is one which honours the birth of our Lord and Pete and Genevieve’s desire for her is that she will honour Him with her whole life. Thus she is also called Elizabeth, “consecrated to the Lord.”
May the Lord God be praised from everlasting to everlasting. His mercies are new every morning. All we have needed His hand has provided. May our mouths always speak of His magnificent goodness!
PS. As much as Pete and Genevieve would love visitors and phone calls, Genevieve’s weakness and need for rest means this should probably be put off for the next few weeks.
(Note from Genevieve’s Mum - Due to the huge blood loss, about 60% of her body’s blood, please let Genevieve rest. She is sleeping most of the time. You can email her or send land mail. She probably wont reply straight away and may take some time to reply.)
Topics: Profile of the Smiths | 2 Comments »
Mum fearful of school fines
By admin | December 25, 2008
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4803156a11.html
Mum fearful of school fines
By REBECCA TODD - The Press | Friday, 26 December 2008
A Christchurch mother is angry at the prospect of having to pay heavy fines because she cannot get her son to go to school.
Under new laws passed by the National-led Government, parents of truants can be fined $300 for the first offence and $3000 for subsequent offences.
They can also be fined $3000 if they fail to enrol their child in school.
In the past, parents could be fined $150 for the first offence and $400 for subsequent offences.
Michelle Chalmers said her 14-year-old son had not been in school for much of this year, but she could not force him to attend.
“We haven’t got any control, but we are being prosecuted,” she said.
“How do you forcibly get them out of bed, into school and keep them there, and even if they are there, how do you make them learn? I just don’t understand what they want us to do.”
Chalmers put much of her son’s problems down to lead poisoning from eating flakes of house paint as a baby. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) before starting school and has behavioural issues that have brought him close to expulsion.
At 14, he was diagnosed as dyslexic, but Chalmers said it was too late by then to make him want to be in school and learn.
“I was dropping him off, seeing him walk in and picking him up at the same place, only to find out later he had been bunking,” she said.
The former Aranui High School student was no longer enrolled at any school, but Chalmers had not been threatened with prosecution despite her son’s prolonged absence.
“There’s nothing I can do to stop it and it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
“I know I’m not the only one out there.”
Linwood College principal Rob Burrough said the move to heavier fines was positive, but cases needed to be looked at individually.
“Part of it is parental issues and part is student problems, so I think a $3000 fine will have some impact, but there needs to be a multi-pronged approach,” he said.
“Some parents have lost control of their children by their own admission, and so this is a burden for them.”
Linwood has been trialling anti-truancy programme Rock On, in which the Ministry of Education, police, Child, Youth and Family and truancy services work with the school and parents to get students back in school.
Canterbury police youth services co-ordinator Senior Sergeant John Robinson said police were working on their third prosecution this year for parents of truants.
“We’ll never prosecute anyone if the child is the issue, only if the parent is the issue,” he said.
Heavier fines sent a message to people that attending school was a priority.
“No parent wants to be held out there having to front up before the court and told they are not a particularly good parent because they can’t get their kids to school,” Robinson said.
Topics: NZ Media | 2 Comments »
HSLDA 2009 Art Competition
By admin | December 23, 2008
2009 Guidelines
Submission Dates: January 1 through February 1 2009!
Entries received before January 1 or postmarked after February 1 will be sent back or discarded.
What
Students must submit a piece of artwork which, through the art, answers one of the following questions:
Category 1: What makes a day beautiful?
Category 2: What is true strength?
Category 3: What is worth fighting for?
We try to choose themes that will leave a lot of room for students’ imagination and interpretation. We want students to come up with their own ideas of what best answers the given question, without us dictating the response.
Students do not have to actually include the question or any text by way of answer in their artwork. The question is meant to be the inspiration and theme behind whatever image students decide to portray. Take the questions even further and ask your own and let your imagination run with it! Our judges love it when a student comes up with something they had not thought of before.
Basically, what does the theme make you think of? Then take it from there and be creative. We hope that students will come up with many imaginative ideas to fit the theme.
Of course, your entry must be original and appropriate for public display to our homeschooling audience (which is not meant to limit your creativity or choice of subject; for example, you are free to choose a serious or deep subject, such as suffering). We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Who
Contest prizes and themes are determined based on the student’s age. If a student falls into Category 1 in age, then he or she must do the Category 1 theme and will be awarded Category 1 prizes. The same applies for categories 2 and 3.
Category 1: Homeschoolers ages 7 to 10 as of January 1, 2009.
Category 2: Homeschoolers ages 11 to 14 as of January 1, 2009.
Category 3: Homeschoolers ages 15 to 19 as of January 1, 2009.
For the purposes of this contest, an eligible student must have been home educated in the past year and received a majority of his or her education in the past year through home education.
Media/Format
- Flat, two-dimensional, artwork less than one-quarter-inch thick, not including mat or frame (drawing, painting, mixed media, etc.)
- Completely original hand-done artwork (no tracing, photography, or computer-generated artwork).
- All work must be matted and/or framed with a simple and lightweight matte or frame and have wire or other hanging hardware attached ready for hanging.
- Maximum size including matting and framing is 48 by 48 inches. There is no minimum size.
- It is highly recommended that you use plexi-glass rather than glass in the framing. We have received damaged artwork before from glass shattering in the mail. HSLDA cannot be held responsible for artwork damaged in the mail.
For those pieces that make it to the final round:
Fee
- $10.00—HSLDA Member Discounted Entry Fee
- $15.00—Regular Entry Fee
Entry
- One entry per person
- Entries must include a completed and signed entry form (attached).
- Entries must include an entry fee (only check or money order).
- Preliminary entries must include an 8-by-10-inch color photograph, 8½-by-11-inch color copy, or 8½-by-11-inch color digital print of the artwork. Preliminary entries will not be returned. Do not send the original artwork—only submissions in one of the above media will be accepted.
- Finalists will be contacted by the contest coordinator and must send in the actual artwork that was presented in the preliminary entry. Finalists will be instructed on how to submit their artwork for the final round.
Mailing
Artwork should be mailed to:
HSLDA
Attn: Art Contest
One Patrick Henry Circle
Purcellville, VA 20132-3197
Timeline
- Preliminary entries must be received between January 1 and February 1, 2009.
- Preliminary judging will take place in mid February.
- Ten finalists in each category will be selected and notified by letter and/or email in early March.
- Final entries from finalists must be received by March 15, 2009.
- Final judging will take place in late March or early April.
- Winners will be notified by letter, and/or email or phone and announced on HSLDA’s contest website and e-lert service by late April, 2009.
- Final entries will be on loan to HSLDA and may be displayed at HSLDA for one year.
Judging
- A panel of judges selected by HSLDA will judge both the preliminary and final rounds.
- Pieces will be judged on originality, creativity, and adherence with the theme.
- The decision of the judges is final.
Prizes for Each Category
| Category | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| First | $100 | $150 | $200 |
| Second | $75 | $100 | $150 |
| Third | $50 | $50 | $100 |
| Honorable Mentions (2) | $25 | $25 | $50 |
Other Information
- Proceeds from the contest will go to the Home School Foundation’s Special Needs Children Fund.
- HSLDA has the right to use reproduction of entered artwork at its discretion.
- All judgments are final and interpretations of the guidelines are at HSLDA’s sole discretion.
Please contact Contest Coordinator Cherise Ryan at contests@hslda.org with any questions.
Topics: Challenges and competitions | No Comments »
Call to extend the school day
By admin | December 22, 2008
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4800976a11.html
Call to extend the school day
By LANE NICHOLS - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Teachers could be forced to work radical new hours, with the daily routines of thousands of children and parents disrupted, under suggested changes to make the school day longer.
The School Trustees Association, which represents most of the 2700 school boards, wants a national debate on whether schools should open well before 9am and shut much later each day to better cater for pupils’ changing needs.
Education Minister Anne Tolley has welcomed the suggestion, saying there is an “appetite” for fresh ideas to benefit pupils, teachers and principals.
Association general manager Ray Newport said any such changes would require a law change.
He conceded that extending the school day had huge implications for staffing levels, teachers’ hours and the effects on pupils and working parents.
But proposed changes to the education system by both major political parties, and a standoff with secondary teachers over their legally entitled breaks, presented an opportunity to consider whether the traditional school day was the best way to serve children.
“Schools should exist for kids, not for teachers,” Mr Newport said. “What are these kids going to need? Are they going to be able to access school outside the normal school hours?”
Mrs Tolley said teachers and principals had already suggested to her that schools’ opening hours be reviewed. “I welcome that. It’s a big opportunity for education [groups] to devise something that fits around the needs of the students.”
Schools could open for separate morning and afternoon sessions, she said.
Any changes would require widespread consultation.
“Some teachers might find they’re working afternoons rather than working nine to three. That might suit them or might not.
“I sense there is an appetite around the country to discuss some of these ideas.”
The comments come amid a standoff between school boards and principals with secondary teachers over new break requirements, due to come into force in April.
The Post Primary Teachers Association has advised teachers of their rights over breaks, but principals say the union’s hard-line stance would disrupt schools, forcing some to stay open till 4pm.
The School Trustees Association has now issued guidelines to all schools saying teachers’ non-contact time with pupils qualifies as a break sparking an angry response from the teachers’ union.
PPTA president-elect Kate Gainsford said teachers already had heavy workloads.
Non-contact time was essential for marking and lesson preparation and entirely separate from teachers’ legally entitled breaks: “It’s all pre-booked. It’s not people sitting around having a coffee.”
Some schools already had flexible operating hours, with many based around local bus timetables.
Secondary Principals Association president Peter Gall said the key consideration was whether changes could improve the transition from secondary to tertiary education and to work.
Note the poll on this page too:
Should the school day be extended?
Results as at 9:28am. You should be able to keep voting until midnight.
Yes (905 votes, 44.2%)
|
No (1141 votes, 55.8%)
|
Should the school day be extended?
Yes (3639 votes, 42.5%)
|
No (4928 votes, 57.5%)
|
Topics: NZ Media | No Comments »
Genevieve
By admin | December 22, 2008
Many people have been asking about Genevieve. Here is a photo taken just a few days ago. Please pray that she sleeps well at nights - thanks
Topics: Profile of the Smiths | No Comments »
ID93 - Wedding Reception - Part 6
By admin | December 22, 2008
Following are the blessings that my dad read at the reception:
From Bill & Diana Waring of Lake Stevens, WA, near Seattle (author of Beyond Survival and Reaping the Harvest plus other historical/musical resources for home educators)
Our Father God, Though we as Your children are separated by a vast ocean, yet we can join together in this moment to ask Your blessings on this marriage. We ask that by Your Spirit, You would increasingly root Pete and Genevieve in Your love, that they would be equipped by You to see with spiritual eyes-and increasingly comprehend with their hearts and minds-the width and length and depth and height of Your love which passes human understanding. We pray for them that their love for one another would be rooted and grounded and utterly entwined in You, so that as they grow in their love for You, their human love for each other would grow ever deeper, ever stronger, ever more encompassing. We ask that You would fill them to overflowing with the fullness of God, that they may experience the riches of knowing the day-to-day reality and presence of our Savior, Immanuel, God With Us. And, that in Your presence, as Your Word declares, there would be fullness of joy. We commit this marriage and these two precious people to You. We ask this in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Love you guys,
Bill & Diana
From Alfredo and Carmen Torres of San Antonio, Texas (parents of my close friend,
Lourdes, one of the daughters in The Return of the Daughters, and a young woman who
has been a real example to me of servanthood and femininity)
Dear Pete and Genevieve,
Here is the blessing Alfredo and I have for your wedding day. Thank you for giving us this special privilege. Blessed be the Lord, God Almighty, who before the foundations of the earth knew that you were for each other. On this day He is uniting your souls until death. Together may you serve the Lord, Christ Jesus, with all your heart, mind and soul. May the love for the vision God has given you grow each passing day. May you both glorify Him in the works He has prepared for you to walk in. May you take every God-given opportunity to give the gospel to a soul in want or to serve a saint in need. May the God of life bless you with many, many children; that together they may co-labor with you to further the Kingdom of Christ on earth. May your love for Jesus Christ grow deeper each day. May He continue to knit your hearts together and grow your love for one another stronger year after year. God bless and Keep your marriage always. To God be the glory!“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13
From Geoffrey Botkin of San Antonio, Texas (father of Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin,
authors of So Much More, directors of The Return of the Daughters and close friends of
mine):
Dear Craig and Barbara,
Allow me to begin with this prayerful blessing: Pete and Genevieve, for the Glory of Christ alone, may you be the deliberate and conscientious parents of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gates of those who are determined to destroy Christendom from the face of the earth. May your children be as honorable with the Fifth Commandment as you have been, and may they all disciple millions of lesser-advantaged peoples in the Southern Hemisphere. May your family unity and example show many cultures the blessings of dominion as you extend the Crown Rights of Christ Jesus far outside the borders of Australia. May your blissful marriage recover and model the picture of the Christian home, and may your estate be a great incubator of economic success, civil society, righteousness and applied theology as you work together to build a multigenerational dynasty. And may the Lord your God sustain you both with ever-increasing happiness. So be it. Amen.
Since I have known Genevieve, I have regarded her as the kind of historical heroine about whom such a prayer and blessing would be fitting. This is one reason I have prayed so desperately to God to find her the right husband. Craig, the daughter you give away today has been very precious to our family for many reasons. In past years, I have prayed with great urgency for a good husband for Genevieve because she is such a special and important asset to the Kingdom of God.
It was with special urgency I was praying for her on her last visit to the US. I confess there were times I despaired of her finding a worthy mate in New Zealand and cried out with a mixture of emotions as Genevieve bravely and confidently returned to serve her earthly father, trusting her heavenly father for her future. She was magnificent in faith and her radiant love for her father was noticed and remembered by many in the US.
I want to tell you how sorry we all are we cannot be with you to see that victorious moment which represents God’s great sovereignty in joining Genevieve and Pete in covenantal marriage. Her marriage is especially glorious to me because it so vividly represents God’s goodness, his faithfulness, his majesty, his love and his providential plan for history in leading Genevieve to Pete at exactly the right moment in history.
Genevieve is one of the greatest heroines I know. Her testimony in standing with her father is now a popular story in the US which has become legendary for the right reasons. I believe this marriage will become legendary for the right reasons. With the greatest of affection and overflowing joy, I remain your faithful and loving friend,
Geoffrey Botkin
For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Genevieve de Deugd
Issacharian Wife
Topics: Issacharian Daughters | No Comments »
ID092 - Wedding Reception - Part 5
By admin | December 22, 2008
Dear Girls,
The next newsletter is below.
Warm regards,
Genevieve
Introduction
Name: Judith
Introduction: Dear Genevieve,
Greetings from England!
My name is Judith. I'm 24 years old. I live in England with my parents and younger sisters. I found Issacharian Daughters through Anne Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin's website, Visionary Daughters. I've been SO blessed by reading through the archives and I've enjoyed (and been encouraged by) each of the more recent newsletters as you've published them on your website. I live at home and embrace my parents' guidance and protection in a culture that mocks young ladies who seek to be godly and virtuous and attacks their desires to live at home and prepare to be wives and mothers. It's SO refreshing to read your words and to know that I'm not alone in this battle! There ARE other young ladies with similar convictions and ideals. Thank God for the fellowship He provides!
May you and your husband and your little one be
blessed richly beyond all measure!
In Messiah,
Judith
ID092 - Wedding Reception - Part 5
Following is the speech that Pete de Deugd, my new husband, gave at the reception:
About 18 months ago, I was in town waiting for some machinery parts to be made at a local engineering firm, when on a whim I thought I’d pop in on an old work colleague.
During our conversation, the inevitable question came up, “Have you met anyone yet?” The conversation concluded with my friend saying, “So let me get this straight…you are writing to a man you have never met, about a lady you have never met, in a country you have never been to????????!!”
Well. “Yes!” And the next chapter in the tale is even better.
On a Sunday evening in June last year, I was on an Auckland/Palmy flight, and the air hostess announced that we would be making the decent to Palmerston North. I knew that Mr Smith would only have invited me over to New Zealand if he believed it was worthwhile.
So there I was.just 15 minutes away, after having written to Mr Smith for almost a year, potentially about to meet my future wife at the airport! I did meet the family, but no Genevieve!! She had to collect young Gracie who had caught a ride up the nearby escalator.
Then I saw her! And in her wonderful face I saw gentleness, confidence and sincerity. Over the past months I have seen that these traits characterize Genevieve. It doesn’t end there either.
It’s been inspiring to witness her faith, her loyalty, insightfulness, diligence, self-control,charity and the fastest touch-typing I have ever seen!
I have been calling Genevieve a little pet name. But before I tell you what it is let me mention something about my own hometown. Ballarat was one of the first and I think the largest gold rush town in Victoria.
Funnily enough, many of the miners from the Californian goldrush were amongst those who flooded into Victoria looking for a rich claim in Ballarat.
Ballarat has a historic tourist township, and while I was working there, I learnt that the gold miners would tunnel along the seams of quartz rock, remotely hoping their quartz seam would intersect with an old dry riverbed. The reason being that the quarts seam/river bed intersection would almost certainly contain a rich gold deposit called a mother lode - hence the term.
On occasion I’ve called Genevieve my mother lode, because she is my rich treasure, a lady of rare virtue and beauty.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank her father (a Californian no less!) for granting me the honor and priviledge of caring for and having his daughter’s hand in marriage. I would also like to say a special thank you to Mr & Mrs Smith for fostering a close friendship and camaraderie with Genevieve over the years.
It would seem to me that one of the greatest wedding presents a groom can receive comes from his new parents in-law, particularly the bride’s father.
It is the special gift of knowing that one’s bride is acquainted with strong feelings of friendship, trust and respect for the man who first held her in his arms, then carried her on his shoulders and finally lead her down the aisle. It is a gift to know too that she has heard firm words such as, “No, child,” as well the tender words of, “Yes, Princess?” So Mr Smith, I would just like to say thank you for being both my wife’s father and friend over the years.
As for things at my end, my parents have also been my closest friends. Through thick and thin (he he. a lot of thin), Mum and Dad have rallied around. Few friends (if any) would stick by, encourage and support in the way that my parents have. I will always remember the 2am morning teas with my mum, as we took shifts operating machines to fill army contracts.
So thank you, Mum and Dad for your care, direction and support all these years. And Andrew, although we have been geographically apart much of our adult lives, we have shared very similar roads. Sometimes there has been an ocean between us, a long drive, or just a silo wall. We have always bridged these things for each other in a flash as needed, and I’m sure we always will.
Actually, Andrew has a new understanding of engagement too. He hasn’t been able to get Mum or Dad on the phone for months!!!
Pete went on to give a number of thank yous to folks who had helped with the wedding and finished by thanking me for marrying him. Something he still does to this day. And I’m always thanking him for asking me!
For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Genevieve de Deugd
Issacharian daughter
Topics: Issacharian Daughters | No Comments »
ID091 - Wedding Reception - Part 4
By admin | December 22, 2008
Following is the speech that Pete’s best man, Jonathan Field, gave at the reception. Jonathan is also the man who recommended me to Pete. He tells the story of his involvement in our courtship in his speech.
G’day all,
My name is Jonathan Field and in case the accent hasn’t already betrayed it, I come from the West Island of New Zealand-also known as Australia. Today is a special day for all of us-most especially for Pete & Genevieve, but also for us their myriad family and friends as we rejoice in God’s goodness and anticipate God’s rich blessing both on and through this marriage.
I’m thrilled to be celebrating with you all, and thrilled to see so many in attendance. Today is a day to rejoice, and I thank you for joining the celebrations.
There are many people and unusual circumstances through which the Lord brought Pete & Genevieve together. I was one of the cogs in the Lord’s wheel, if I may so say it, and in fact have the unique privilege of being one of only three people in the entire universe who knew both Pete and Genevieve long before they finally met. This is their story, and I’d like to share it with you. But even moreso, this is God’s story, and we have all been thoroughly delighted to see His hand at work.
Pete
I first saw Pete in about July 2003 at a friend’s 21st birthday party, although I don’t specifically recall him from that event. My first recollection of Pete is roughly a year or two later (in March 2005) at a bonfire held on his parents’ farm in country Victoria, just north of Ballarat. Ballarat is roughly two and a half hours west of Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria in Australia where we live, and Pete’s parents own roughly 80 acres of land just north of Ballarat. Technically speaking, they live in Coghills Creek, a place so tiny you’ll hardly find it on the map. And I must confess that a few wrong turns jeopardized my chances of arrival, but in the darkness I finally saw the roaring flames of the bonfire and knew I had arrived. To my surprise and delight, I already knew many of the people there- invariably friends through homeschooling-and so passed a very pleasant evening. I met Henk, Pete’s father, that evening, and remember enjoying a good chat and being impressed with his sincere passion for truth and righteousness.
Many of us slept over that night-myself in an open-air hammock near the dying fire-and then attended church with Pete the next morning, heading home en-masse early or mid afternoon. I got into conversation with Pete, and we discovered much in common, and I ended up staying late into the night that Sunday after all other guests had departed. In the end I caught a few hours kip and left at some unearthly hour on Monday morning! That’s how many hours we spent in conversation!
It was truly delightful to begin to get to know Pete. I don’t think I’d ever even heard of him or his family before, but we quickly discovered much in common. Both home-schooled-and proud of it. Both running a business-him in woodworking, and myself in computer software. Both passionate about seeing Christ and His truth impact every aspect of culture and lifestyle. Both committed to seeing every aspect of life as “sacred”, instead of buying into the false “sacred/secular divide”. And despite some differences in theological background, we discovered that the outworking of our faith was very similar indeed.
And here I must stress how extremely refreshing it was to meet Pete. Those who have been running a business for any great length of time, know how very different a mindset is required for running a business than for being an employee. Not that one is good and one is bad, but simply that employed friends rarely comprehend the struggles and stresses of business life. In addition, open, honest, trustworthy, passionately committed Christian young men who really think about every aspect of their life and let Scripture shape every aspect of their thinking-such men are rare and delightful treasures indeed-and when I find them, I like to stay in touch!
These are the men with whom I hope to see Christ’s purposes outworked in the decades to come. For those who don’t know Pete, he’s an honest, reliable, hard-working, Truth-loving disciple of Christ. He’s a country fella-or “country bloke” as we say in Australia. He’s very skillful with his hands. He’s a “philosopher” in the original sense of the word-a lover of wisdom. And, taking after his God, he has a strong creative flair too-evidenced in creative innovations in business, as well as decorative woodwork, metalwork, and even the occasional prose. I am proud to call him “friend”.
Now, I should say-and this is very important later in the story-that there is another thing Pete and I had in common. And it came out quickly in conversation. We’re both very, hmmm, particular about what we were looking for in a future wife. We both knew dozens, if not hundreds, of “nice Christian women”, but we both had a very strong sense of marriage as a calling with God-ordained purposes that wouldn’t simply be fulfilled by niceness alone. And as we compared checklists, if I may be so brutally honest, we discovered even a great similarity in the kinds of things we did and did not want in a future wife.
And because it is relevant, let me take a moment to list some of the things that Pete was
looking for :
- He wanted a wife who recognized that work is not merely something that a man must do in order to survive, but is in fact a noble calling and blessing designed by God Himself.
- He wanted a wife who recognized, valued, and joyfully embraced her calling as his primary earthly helper.
- He wanted a wife who was not afraid to undertake the different, the difficult, or the new. Who knows what challenges may come in the years ahead, and a woman who crumbles at the first sign of challenge or change, is not the kind of help we need! And the calling of helper-as Proverbs 31 demonstrates-may engage the woman in ways beyond what Western tradition recognizes.
- He wanted a wif