pdf of Issacharian Daughters – ID053 – click on link below for correct layout and photos
Dear Girls,
We have three introductions this week! Here they are:
Ruth Capill
??Hi, my name is Ruth Capill and I’m thirteen. I live on a mini farm in Christchurch, New Zealand. I have a big family with five brothers and four sisters. I have been homeschooled all my life and I really enjoy it. My favourite subjects in school are science and composition. I like reading, writing stories, swimming, cooking, baking, and gymnastics. I love to read missionary stories. When I’m older I would like to be a missionary doctor in Africa. In the last few weeks I have been really enjoying getting the Issacharian Daughters newsletter. They are so good. If you want to email me, my email address is ruthcapill@ihug.co.nz Ruth Capill ??
Kimberly Anne
??My name is Kimberly Anne. I currently reside in Hurst, Texas with my sisters-in-loves family, the Wenneker’s. I’ve lived with them for one year and they have been a real encouragement to me in walking this path of visionary daughterhood. I enjoy being with my sisters, visiting with people, knitting, attending tea parties, and especially cleaning and/or re-arranging the house. I am also enjoying learning new things such as how to cook, sew, garden, and learning to act as a lady.
??My friend Jessie Manteufel told me about your newsletter a couple months ago and they have been of most refreshing to me and Mrs. Wenneker. Seeing that there are other young ladies ‘that are doing things right’ instead of falling to the worlds standard is terrific and a fabulous role model of where I will hopefully be one day.
??Thank you for the newsletters and what a blessing they are to me and other young ladies around the world! I appreciate the time and effort that you and your family go through to do the newsletter and everything else that goes along with it. Thank you! Thank you! Sincerely, Kimberly Anne ??
An Issacharian Daughter
??Good morning Genevieve,
??For awhile now I’ve been meaning to write and thank you so much for your beautiful and inspiring ministry. A couple of times I’ve almost been reduced to tears because I’ve been so touched by what I’ve been reading in the ezines you produce. Thank you for all the hard work you do. It is so wonderful to be encouraged to be all that God intended us to be as growing women. To be graceful with dignity, obedient with humility, kind with Christ’s love.
??I am really very grateful for the stand you’ve made and how you’rebringing a generation of young women with you! I’ve struggled to find friends that are wanting the LORD and giving their lives to Him. I see in you, and in the lives of the people you draw testimonies from, a serene devotion and agorgeous radiance. It’s so beautiful. There is such a depth there! It’s a quiet, but sure confidence. It’s a flowing inner joy. It’s deep contentment. And I want that too. I want that depth of character and strength to be confident in Godly womanhood.
??From the snippets of times we have briefly talked, and the way I have seen you and your sister Charmagne relate to myself and other girls, it has really blown me away. The peace and beauty that is so part of you because you’re truly a daughter of the Lord. I’ve seen, in a fresh and inspiring way, a true example of beautiful woman. And I say beautiful because that word to me, speaks of such depth. It’s not a shallow word.
??When I heard you speak it really hit home to me, especially your testimony on honouring your father [This is the same testimony I sent out with the very first Issacharian Daughters newsletter. It can be accessed at https://hef.org.nz/page/890437] I cameaway from your message deciding to do that. Since then I’ve noticed Dad (and Mum) have mentioned a few times now howhe’sso glad and proudthat I’m asking whathe’d like me to do and how I’m wanting his wisdom and I’m valuing his opinions.
??All of my very close friendseither newly married or engaged to be married at the end of this year. A couple of them have qualifications. I’ve felt so far behind. Not that I am ready to get married at all. It just feels like my peers have all got their next chapter in life concreted and I feel like I’m floundering. I enjoy being at home, but I’d also like to study in design and sewing. I feel though, that the Lord would like me to be right where I am – living at home again, this year.
??So, I went out searching for work. I tried three separate townships and handed out CV’s till I was blue in the face. Nothing has come of it. My dad asked me to take up a voluntary position within his work. I was so upset because I’d been wanting a job that would pay cold hard cash so I could earn enough money to study.
??But as I began to mull it over, I remembered what you’d said – and the life you’ve lived that has illustrated your firm commitment. I thought of a couple of the other young women I have met that are still living at home serving. It is very encouraging to be aware of. I think there is alot the Lord wants to teach me. But I am stubborn and I want to do things the way I’ve planned it. When I lie awake in bed at night, Ifind myself needingto re-evaluate what is of eternal value and what is going to fade away and amount to nothing much if I put all my effort into things of this earth. Character is of eternal value. Obedience and faith is of eternal value. Humility and grace is of eternal value. Not money. Not sweating away to get expensive things.
??What also encourages me though, is that I realize that when God made me, He put dreams and passions within me. And He didn’t put it there to not give it life at all; but to breathe His life in His time! That’s the key, I reckon. And so I have to lay it down, into His hands. And I’ve got to trust that He will lead me as I firstly obey my parents. Which is what you’ve helped to inspire, in a way, through your testimony and sharing in your message, and you’ve consolidated it and nourished it through the weekly ezines. So thank you very, very, very much for your obedience to the Lord!
??May God bless you, your family and the ministry as you are blessing others so powerfully!
??Love and blessings, an Issacharian Daughter ??
There is another part to this letter from an Issacharian Daughter. She recently told me the following:
??Oh, I wanted to tell you…Dad asked me towork in his office (whichI kind of grudgingly agreed to do, because I did have my heart set on getting a real job so I could earn money) and Iworked in the office voluntarily for two weeks. Last week, Dad approached me and said his work would like togive me some money each week as I work in the office. It’s not alot, and I’d certainly be earning more if Iwas “in the world” but it is a start. ??
My experience is so very similar to that of this Issacharian Daughter. I too have found that when we trust in the Lord and live in obedience to Him He provides for our needs! He delights in fulfilling the desires of our hearts!
I would love it if we could all learn for ourselves the wonderful, beautiful love of our Heavenly Father and experience His provision and care in our lives!
All of you who receive this Issacharian Daughters newsletter are more than welcome to write introductions as well. You could tell us who you (your name, general location and a bit about your family) and about your passions. Tell us what the Lord is teaching you or what you have been learning recently. What books have inspired you? What have been your experiences as a visionary daughter?
This next newsletter is an interview with an Issacharian Daughter, Lindsay Schultz. I’ve eagerly waiting to share it with you all for a long time! It is attached as a pdf and the text (without the photos and nice newsletter layout) follows below.
Until next week,
Genevieve SmithMonday, 7 May 2007
Dear Girls,
Interview with Lindsay Schultz
I met Lindsay Schultz in Birmingham, Alabama at a lecture on homeschooling. She had read So Much More by Anna and Elizabeth Botkin and been so encouraged by it as the Lord had already been working in her heart and had brought her home. I was so excited as she began to share a little of her story because her testimony was very like my own. Here was someone who was walking the same path I was on and doing it with great courage. I was thrilled when the Lord made it possible for me to have some time to interview her.
What is your family like? What is your role in your family?
I live with my parents and three younger brothers. My father is really my stepfather. He has been my father since I was 5 years old when he and my mother married. I am so blessed to have been raised by truly Godly parents.
Right now I am at home serving my parents and my family, learning to be content at home and being a homemaker. After two years of college, my parents and I decided I would quit school and stay at home. Listening to Doug Phillip’s CD What’s a Girl to do? helped us to see God’s role for young women. Around the time I came home, my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. My mom goes to my grandmother’s house and helps her every day, so I homeschool my youngest brother and do all the cooking and shopping for the family. It has been such valuable training to learn and to experience firsthand all the dynamics involved in homeschooling a younger sibling and to completely run the house while Mom’s gone.
Would you explain what led to this decision to come home?
It’s very long!
I want to hear the whole thing.
Ok. I went from public school then to Christian school and finally homeschool. We changed churches along the way. I began to homeschool when I was in the 11th grade. Three months before I finished high school, I began to work for an insurance company. I worked there for two years. Right before my 19th birthday, my parents sat down with me and said,??We know you like being a secretary. We know you like to answer the phone and talk to people, but you have got to aspire to be more in life. Not only that, you need more discipline, and you need self motivation. You also need to have a career to base your life on in case your husband dies or in case he divorces you. Furthermore, if you want to homeschool your kids, you need to have a degree in education so that the government cannot touch you. ??
Before I went to college, the Christian girls I hung out with were not the best influences in my life in many different ways. They and their families decided that there was no reason for a Christian girl to go to college if all she was going to do was to be a wife and a mother. So they lived at home, but they did not have a heart to serve their families. They also did not desire homemaking skills. They hung out with their friends every weekend, and they had a job outside the home. So we didn’t have a good example of a single young woman aspiring to be a homemaker. And my parents and I fell into this wrong way of thinking.
So I said to my parents,??You’re right. You know I don’t want to go to school. I like being a secretary. I’m very happy where I am. I like people, but I’ll go to school if you want me to. ?? So after much prayer and consideration, we decided I would live at home and commute daily to a local university where I decided to study elementary education. The money I had saved while I was working was used to pay for my education. During my term, I took a full load of classes, did very well and met lots of people. I was even able to stand up in front of a whole speech class and give a gospel presentation. I was in a position to witness to people every day in many ways and on many topics. People were always asking me questions, especially about courtship, since I did not date. It was what a lot of modern day churches and the world would consider an excellent college experience. I had what many would consider great opportunities for a Christian to be a testimony. But at the same time I was exposed to horrible philosophies and terrible teachings that were against my faith. I would come home everyday and have serious conversations with my parents about what I was learning and being exposed to. Every semester my parents would essentially have to??de-program ?? me and correct my thinking because I was becoming so brainwashed by my anti-Christian studies. But that wasn’t the key. That wasn’t why I came home.
After attending university for two years and getting excellent grades, I started to consider getting my masters degree. I also found myself looking down on other girls I knew who did not go to college and were not getting a??higher education. ?? I felt they were throwing their lives away. One such example was at a church conference where I was introduced to a girl named Tiffiny. I started a conversation with her in which she told me she was the oldest of eleven siblings and she helped her mom to take care of them. I replied,??That is nice, but what do you DO? ?? She sweetly answered that she helped around the house doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and helping her younger siblings with school and whatever her parents needed her to do. I was appalled! I thought to myself,??How dreadfully BORING!!! ?? Tiffiny was a very nice girl, but in my heart I felt very sorry for her and thought I was better than she was. I was so glad I was not wasting my life by doing what she was doing. Little did I know that God was working in my and my parents’ hearts. I then attended another church conference where I met the Keen family. Just like Tiffiny, their daughters were homemakers. They and Tiffany continued to show me what single girls at home could do without working outside the home or going to a university and still be content.
As God continued to work on my and my parents’ hearts, we began to question why I was going to college. God helped us to see that I was preparing for a life of failure apart from Him instead of preparing for a life of success by having faith in God (Philippians 4:19). I did not have to prepare for failure: divorce, abandonment, government intervention, etc. I could prepare for a life of success in God’s eyes by trusting and having faith in God alone. This revelation occurred during the summer college break when I was working full time in an office. My boss was an extremely independent and successful businesswoman. She and I were very good friends. We were so close that she desired me to become her protégé and took me under her wing. As my parents and I prayed about whether I would go back to school in the fall, my boss came to me and said,??Lindsay, you shouldn’t listen to your parents. You need to do what you want to do in life. Don’t let anybody else tell you what to do. You are an adult and should make your own decisions. Be independent. ?? So after much prayer and talking with my parents, I walked in the next day and told my boss that I had decided to quit. God used her to show us in what direction He desired us to move. It was NOT God’s will for me to be independent, especially from my parents (Ephesians 6:1). I needed not only their guidance but also their protection. From that day on I purposed to stay home, serve my family and learn homemaking skills (Titus 2:3-5). I have NEVER for one moment regretted the decision we made.
Wow, how exciting.
(…to be continued ??)
Next week Lindsay talks about the messages on her heart, having vision and passion, and the transition from getting teen magazines and having posters of singers on her wall to removing those influences from her life.
For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Genevieve Smith
Issacharian Daughter
Notes: I have sent this email to girls who have embraced a vision of victorious daughterhood as well as those who may be thinking about doing so (and even to some girls who may just like some encouragement regarding different areas of home life). Some of the girls are in the USA. Most are in New Zealand. You are welcome to forward this email on to others so long as you do so in its entirety. If you do not want to receive these emails please just send a return email to me stating that fact. If you know of other girls who would be encouraged by receiving these emails, feel free to forward the email to them or send me their email address.