The Elk God Sent to Jonathan!

 God sent this elk right to Jonathan. 

Here is the story.

First of all, Jonathan was going to come home yesterday, and got stuck on the mountain road down from their hunting camp when he tried out the road (16 inches of snow had fallen over the weekend).  So instead he had to make arrangements with a friend who lived near Alamosa to bring chains to where the mountain road met the main road. Jonathan four-wheeled down there to meet his friend and get the chains.

Yesterday afternoon Jonathan texted that he had gotten the chains on his truck and succeeded in returning to camp. 

It had been a challenging time, and different ones had seen elk or bucks, but there had been no success so far. So it was a little disappointing that they had worked so hard for five days and had nothing to show for it. 

The family had cut enough dead trees for plenty of firewood, and they were keeping semi-warm through the snowstorm and the cold weather.

Jonathan had only eaten eggs and sausage yesterday morning late, and later in the afternoon little more than a granola bar and apple. 

No wonder he was almost falling asleep sitting there by a small meadow looking right then left, left then right. This is a photo he texted me a couple days ago. Hunting is not for the faint of heart!

                                      This is what they were dealing with Monday morning.

                        Jonathan claimed he had his very own Christmas tree to enjoy!

But I know you are wanting me to hurry up and get back to the story. So Jonathan was sitting there with his eyes taking way-too-long blinks, and he was hardly expecting to see anything, when, in fact, to his surprise he did see something! It was a bull elk! It was to his left, and of course, his gun was aiming to the right. The sun had slipped over the mountain already, and it was about 4:45 p.m., I think, and you could only shoot until 6:45.

         Jonathan told me that he immediately took off the safety and swung his gun around. He said that he suddenly had the worst case of shakes he ever had in his entire life!!! He took a shot, and the elk just looked like, "What was that?" And it kept coming toward Jonathan! 

        Jonathan was shaking so badly, but he took another shot, and the elk flinched--and kept coming toward Jonathan! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

       Still shaking so bad he knew he would certainly miss, Jonathan took one more shot--and it went through both lungs and dropped the elk!

Jonathan said he thinks that elk was no less than 1000 pounds on the hoof. It was so big, he said when he sent the picture below, that it would hardly fit on the back of Sam's truck! Jonathan was by himself when he shot the elk, but Rose and one of the boys heard the shots and came to investigate. Jonathan said he doesn't know what he would have done without Rose. He was so exhausted that he was having a very hard time gutting the elk. It was so cold that the blood on his hands would just stick to anything metal. Rose got right in and helped with the gutting. She is one of the most tender-hearted girls you ever saw, but when it comes to hunting elk, she is not the least perturbed by blood, guts, and gore. Jonathan says our children are just amazing! You'll have to give the credit to their father, because I don't go hunting, shooting, or gutting. Hunting has become a really terrific experience for the children. They learn a lot about endurance for one thing, and have loads of fun and adventure while they are at it.

 

I couldn't help feeling, as I listened to Jonathan tell me his story this morning, that God had to have brought that elk right into Jonathan's meadow and helped Jonathan's gun aim right even when he was shaking too badly to shoot well. 

A hunting buddy who pitched his tent near our family's had lost his elk a few days ago for that very reason--he got too shaky to aim well. 

Perhaps an angel grabbed the bullet, because our freezers don't have much meat left, and we have been praying about meat. 

Jonathan doesn't feel like he can take the credit because he had such a terrible case of shakes!

I was having a hard time feeling that we for sure would get an elk this year, as God does not always answer our prayer in the way we wish. Rose missed getting a buck, and Timmy would have shot at a bull elk if he had been sure the tine was long enough (there is a rule that your bull elk has to be a 4x4 I think, or else a 3x3 with the shortest tine being at least 5 inches long. Timmy couldn't remember if the rule was 5 or 6 inches, and since he didn't think it was 6 inches, looking through his scope, he didn't shoot. He was sooo disappointed when he found out the tine only had to be 5 inches. 

And Carrie shot an elk just shortly after Jonathan did. But he ran away. She and Rose tracked him for hours, and finally about 10 p.m. got back to their four-wheeler just when I called and there happened to be signal. So they could tell me some of the news. They were totally exhausted and heading back to camp. 

This morning Jonathan called and said they have a big job skinning that elk. Rose had already been out hunting. 

But even if they don't get more than one, this one will provide us with hundreds of pounds of good meat. 

Thank You, Lord!

When Being Filled With the Spirit Doesn't Result in Great Things

 This evening (Sunday) after the evening chores were done, I sat back and read the editorial by David Wise in the God's Missionary Standard.

 

 It was about David Nash, a former pastor who became a prayer warrior behind Charles Finney. Because of his powerful praying, thousands of souls came to Christ. 

Here is how my praying today went.

Today I had signed up to take the Sunday noon fasting and prayer spot in Kimberly Hoffman's Fasting and Prayer Group, praying for our nation and about the election. Also Franklin Graham had called for today to be a day of fasting and prayer. So there were lots of reasons to fast and pray today. I arrived home from church and helped my daughter and her friend get some lunch on (the others have been gone hunting), while answering questions about fasting. "Aren't you going to eat anything? Hannah worried. 

"I will eat later," I assured her.

My fasting lasted exactly two hours, when I became so faint that I knew I had to eat, especially since I had to drive my daughter's friend home through snow squalls that afternoon, and had to help with evening chores in the evening. I hadn't expected weather in the single digits and snow squalls and company when I offered to fill a fasting spot.

I did spend about an hour praying when I could finally get away from the kitchen. I walked in my room and in the hall to keep awake. I wasn't on my knees like Nash prayed. I followed a prayer guide I'd typed up earlier because I was having trouble coming up with new words. At two o'clock I had to warm up chicken soup on the woodstove and eat it. That was all the fasting I could manage.

I didn't feel very full of the Spirit either when I went out to the barn this eveing with a pan of warm mush and milk for the pigs and warm water for the goats. The pigs nearly knocked me over and certainly knocked each other out of the way as they fought for the first and most mush, spilling part of their feed in the process. Pigs definitely know nothing about being spiritual and unselfish. We did our best to make sure all the animals had water and hay and feed before closing pens up for the night (me lifting up one heavy gate by leveraging a pitchfork under it so Hannah could line up the gate latch). Then I had to feed and water two of the dogs (could hardly get their latch to work, either) and put down towels and rug in the garage for the dogs since it was so cold. 

Finally I sit down by the fire to relax and read, and I read this article.

I can't relate to Nash except to the first part of his life where he struggled with church people problems. Who can't relate to that? He left that church and went to pieces. Or else he went to pieces and left that church, not sure which order. I relate to that, too. But then he spent weeks in nothing but thinking and praying in a dark room with an eye issue, and came out "overhauled" and full of the Spirit, never preaching again, but looking up Finney and becoming a partner with Finney in prayer, resulting in thousands of conversions.

That is where I can't relate anymore.I am out in the barn pushing pigs around and then coming inside and mopping up mud. I am playing a game with my daughter and working on her attitude when she pouts because I cross her. I am washing dishes and washing dishes and washing dishes, unless it is laundry or windows that I am washing. 

Most days I don't feel full of the Spirit at all. 

But is it possible that many times, maybe much of the time, living in the Spirit is more about willingly doing humble things than doing great things? Is it possible that being filled with the Spirit will result in just putting on your duds and doing what has to be done, even if it means fighting with the most selfish pigs you ever saw and the most cantankerous goats, and the most rowdy dogs and the poutiest kids?

Is it possible that being filled with the Spirit is about filling the pig trough and the chicken waterer and the dog dish and the woodstove and the kitchen sink? And then just offering these humble services up to God as a sacrifice of love, with no fame, no prestige, no power, no converts, just humble work that needs to be done being done?

Lord, if being filled with Your Spirit results in that, let me just humbly keep doing my work and trust You with the results.

Even the Goats Obey Him!

 Last night I had to be on call to help milk our lovely brown goat named Heidi. She had given Hannah no end of trouble in the morning when Hannah tried to milk her. The goat had gotten into the feed the day before and gorged herself, so she did not want her feed that she usually gobbles down while we milk her. I  even tried to hold the goat's back legs to keep her from jumping and kicking, but it did no good. She jumped and kicked anyway. After getting almost as much milk on our coats as we had in the pan, we finally gave up with only a pint of milk.

That evening I deccided to do the milking. Maybe for some reason, the goat did not like the way Hannah milked her, I wondered. So I started milking, and Heidi, latched into the milk stand, started kicking. She kicked and kicked, jumped and jumped. I stayed on my feet instead of sitting down, as sitting there would have been a disaster. I was clutching the milk pan in one hand and milking with the other, jerking the milk pan out of the way anytime the goat's hoof came up too high, lest it end up in the milk. My chin was way too close to Heidi's rump, and I had to watch so I would know when she was about to jump lest I get my face bucked into. I milked and she jumped. I milked, and she kicked. I pleaded and begged, gasped and gritted, scolded and even yelled. I even gave her a little smack once, just a little one because I knew very well that even the biggest smack in the world wouldn't make her behave. 

I would gladly have just left her unmilked, but you are asking for mastitis or other problems if you do not milk a goat out regularly. Finally, in utter desperation, I cried right out loud, "JESUS, PLEASE HELP THIS GOAT SETTLE DOWN!"

As I continued milking, the goat jumped again. Just once.

"Maybe she wants hay," Hannah said, hustling off to get some hay from the loft. Suddenly, I was milking and the goat was being quiet. I was milking, and I could hear the rustle of hay in the loft. I was milking as fast as I could, and the goat was just standing there. Was she listening to the hay in the loft? What had made her be quiet?

This morning, the same thing happened. In the absence of the mighty hunters who usually do the milking but are away hunting elk and deer, Hannah milked Frannie, the easy goat, and I came out to milk Heidi, the hard one. Again Heidi jumped and kicked. Again I hung on and kept milking. Again I had to cry out, "Jesus, please help this goat settle down!" 

And just like that, she settled down. Not another kick out of her. 

"What manner of Man is This, that even the naughty brown milk goats obey Him!"

Crystal, the Teacher, and her Students' Dioramas

If you never heard of a diorama before, join the club! I never did, either! But here is one that one of Crystal's students made. Every six weeks, the students do some kind of project in history. The first project was about their choice of native American. This time the project was to be about an event in the American Revolution, and it was Crystal's turn to choose what kind of project. She used a suggestion of Mrs. Spangler (the teacher she is student teaching under), who suggested a diorama, a 3-D model of something. 

This one was one of my favorites of the five Crystal sent me pictures of--the crossing of the Delaware.

Crystal mentioned that other teachers had been asking to see the children's projects, having apparently seen the children bringing them through the halls. 

The students had done such amazing jobs on those dioramas, writing about the event on an index card, and representing the event inside a cardboard box of some kind.

The students were allowed to make it as simple or as complicated as they wished.

This one was simple--on the same event, crossing the Delaware.

This one is the Winter at Valley Forge.

 Thursday evening Crystal called, feeling overwhelmed after having to teach the whole day of school all by herself, because the teacher was away. Her class has 28 students of 5th and 6th graders. Little did she know that another teacher was getting a sneak picture of her at her desk in this classroom.

If I had that stack of books, that much work to check, and that many lesson plans to do, 

I'd probably be looking like this, too!

She got through Thursday and did better Friday, even though she had to wing the history lesson.

Here is a diorama of the Battle of Bunker Hill, she thought.

Another--War Bunk.

This kind of project allows children to shine who struggle to write papers.

Below, Crystal is grading penmanship.

 

Remodeling at EFM Headquarters in Bedford!

Not everyone is willing to get their hands dirty, but this crew was! I am always profoundly impressed with anyone who is willing to do the dirty work, the digging, the figuring out what to do, the sawing and drilling and starting projects and getting over hurdles and getting dirty and ending up with concrete dust in their hair and callouses on their hands.

At the same time Jonathan and I decided to make a fast trip back to Indiana to pick up a used skid steer that he bought at auction for his business, he remembered that just a week earlier Steve Gibson, president of Evangelistic Faith Mission, had texted asking if Jonathan could possibly help on a remodel project. Our friend Elizabeth Albertson had moved to Bedford a couple months ago to work for EFM, and needed living quarters. A corner of the office building was needing to be remodeled into a tiny apartment. Jonathan decided that he would squeeze one extra day into the business trip to help get that project started.

Beth rented a jackhammer and concrete saw and Friday evening Jonathan was jackhammering through the concrete to find the drainpipe to hook up a tub, and the next day was searching around in the ceiling for the water lines. He was able to tie plumbing into the old drain pipe, hook up the tub and then bring water lines down from the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Beth's father was using the concrete saw to cut out the old restroom door to make a bigger bathroom, and then cut another door through the cinder block wall for the bedroom. A tiny room that used to be just off the radio broadcasting room is being turned into a bedroom. I won't go into how the concrete saw quit because a belt broke, and how the guard part around the belt melted, and how the men had to figure out how to use an angle grinder to do the sawing.

Friday afternoon, Jonathan and I had to travel two and a half hours one way to Markleville, IN, to pick up the skid steer. Then more work at Bedford was done that evening. Jonathan is here checking out measurements and lighting, in this tiny room that used to have this window between it and the radio room which is now a room for video recording. I thought it so interesting to learn about the two red light bulbs out in the hall, which showed, when they were on, that the radio room was not to be disturbed because someone was preaching and being recorded on the radio.

Jonathan spent a couple hours or more Saturday morning just collecting material at Lowes nearby. And what a surprise awaited him when he was checking out and heard his name being called! It was Herb Halbert, Jonathan's old schoolmate who had been with him throughout many of his years of school. Herb lives nearby, and Jonathan had actually contacted Herb about possibly helping us on the project, but he had other plans. However, God still brought them together coincidentally! Herb offered that Jonathan could load the materials onto Herb's empty trailer, which they then unloaded together at the EFM building.

 

Stephen Delong's family came, and Stephen worked all day Saturday helping us. 

While Jonathan was busy with the drain and water lines, Stephen hung drywall in the office-turned-bedroom and helped shovel out the concrete chunks that Jonathan had jackhammered.

                                                            Talk about a  messy job!

Beth was such a willing helper to her dad. She would spray water on the angle grinder blade to keep the dust down while her dad cut through the concrete. Then she helped haul out the broken out concrete. 

I have seldom seen a girl I was more impressed with--hardworking, helpful, respectful to her parents, easy to work with, and fun, too! EFM has gotten a real gem to work there.

Beth will be helping with Shepherds Global Classroom materials as well as other office work such as with the Missionary Herald, EFM's paper. I loved being shown around the place, where 50 years worth of Missionary Heralds were being stored, ten from each year; where all the year's correspondence was stored; the shelves where each EFM missionary has their most recent newsletter, and where the office ladies addressed and labeled thousands of issues of Missionary Heralds besides all the missionaries' personal newsletters every month. Everything was neat and clean and smelled so much like a nice office--an atmosphere I really, really like. Sort of like a library.

This part of the building smelled different! Like concrete dust!!! Janet Albertson, who was painting Beth's office way down at the other end of the hall, said the men could not eat in the kitchen.

They were so dirty, they would have to eat meals outside!

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So we all ate outside with them. We made sure the hardworking men had seats at the table, and we ladies found seats afterward. If you think this picture is funny, you should have watched Beth and me helping Jonathan carry this thing out the first night we were here! It was too awkward for Jonathan to carry himself, so Beth and I quickly grabbed one side of the tank each and away we hustled!

In between helping wherever I could and taking pictures, of course, I spent several hours doing the final editing of the book I wrote for Haskell and Ina Burch, my sister-in-law Regina's parents.

Here is the cover as seen on my laptop in our guest bedroom at the EFM headquarters. 

I was able to get through it the final time and have my nephew Ezra do all the final corrections over the phone. He formatted the book for us. 

The book is at the printer right now with the first copy coming off the press any day. 

 

Another work scene.

Jonathan with little Jonathan DeLong.

Stephen DeLong helping Jonathan make sure the skid steer is chained on well before we leave that night for Illinois.

I try to let the little ones know they are valued!

                                                            What a great time we had!

And now this skid steer is already paying for itself working like crazy back here in Colorado. Jonathan was paying so much to rent skid steers every month for his business, esp. digging out foundations and water and electric line ditches, that he felt it would be better to buy one. And this one is better than the ones he rented. I watched Sam operating it just a couple days after arriving home. He was really going places with that thing, working so much faster than the rented one the guys had to use earlier.