Faith, Works and Salvation

I know that I'm way overdo to finish my thoughts on the Headships post. This should be relatively brief.
I've only ever met one man that verbally told me that you could only find salvation through works. Most people will dance around the issue and dip their toe in the water, but will stop short of jumping in with both feet and actually saying that salvation comes through works. This man could not imagine that God would only require your faith. His example; "If I stood here and told you I had a fifty dollar bill and you could have it, believance alone will not get you this fifty dollars. You have to step up here and grab it."
Ephesians 2:8 starts:⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast.

This is pretty clear as to what saves us. It is by the grace of God, through our faith (once again, made available by God) that we are saved. Not by works. If it were by our good works, what is the point of the coming and suffering of Christ? So many before Christ lived lives of good works. Alright, so what about verse 10 of the Ephesians passage? Ephesians 2:10: ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Yes, it says that we were created to do good works. No, it does not say that we are saved through good works. I already pointed out to you what salvation comes by. God loves for us to do good works. It pleases Him. A couple more references. Jesus himself said that a persons faith has saved them. See Luke 7:50 (read the preceding verses also). The woman who anointed his head with oil and kissed his feet. He forgave her of her sins and made the proclamation "Thy faith hath saved thee". Also in Luke 18:42 he also made the same statement to the blind man. Also in 2 Timothy 3:15, 1 Peter 1:9 and more. In fact, in Galatians 5:4, it says that if you are justified by the law (works), you have fallen from grace. Meaning if you put your faith in the law, you have turned away from God's grace. Your faith is in works, not in God. Also see Romans 4:4.
What about James 2:17 which says: ¹⁷Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. This passage does not say that faith coupled by works saves. It says that faith without works is dead. It's eluding to your faith producing works. Read verse 18 (James 2:18). It says that his faith will produce works. He also says that you can't have one without the other. He is not condoning the thinking of faith and works separated. He said that his faith is proven through his works. Good works is a by-product of true faith. A faith without works is not faith, or is dead faith.
How do you keep your salvation? Through faith! Read: 1 Peter 1:5 ("kept through faith unto salvation"). Jude 1:3 says to "earnestly contend for the faith" unto salvation. Many places he tells them to hold onto the things that first saved them (faith). To go back to that which first saved them (faith). In Hebrews 3, more than once the writer tells them to hold fast the confidence unto the end.
Alright, now that I made my case for salvation, back to the headship. If the un-spiritual husband tells you to cut your hair, put on pants, put on make-up, wear jewelery and stay home from church...does this mean the end of your salvation? Of course not. I just showed that your salvation comes through faith. I also showed that your salvation is kept through faith. Your mean heathen husband can make you do a lot of things, but he can't take away your salvation. Just like the martyrs of history. The biggest push of their persecutors was for them to recant and or deny their faith. Turn their backs on their salvation by grace through faith. They screwed their tongues to wood. They disemboweled them. They burned them and threw them into the wild animals. They took their scriptures and destroyed them. Locked them up and prevented them from going to church. But they went to the death and grave with their faith in salvation. Just as a woman can live amongst a cruel husband and be obedient to him, and still keep her faith; which in turn is confirming her salvation.
I know this is elementary stuff for some. Anyone who chooses to pick up the scripture, read it and actually believe what it says knows this. But the contrary is being preached from pulpits and believed among the congregation. Make sure that your confirming the preaching in your church with the authority of the scriptures. And as a final note, I certainly did not exhaust the scriptures with the passages I used. I know there are more to support this. I just ran out of time to run them all down. Besides, it will give you something to do.

Headships

I just wanted to quickly cover a portion of my last post. Not that there's been a huge public outcry over what I wrote or anything, but I want to show that what we believe comes right from the word of God. And one more thing before I get started. I am not a dictator in the house. I do like order in the house, but that's just because my wife has spoiled me with keeping an orderly house. For the most part, I'm not too demanding. The reason I point this out is because I don't want people to think that I am extremely tyrannical, constantly shoving down my wifes throat that she must submit to me because thus saith the Lord!! Most of the scripture I'll run through is directed to the wives. I really have no business reading that portion of scripture. This is a subject for my wife to deal with. I have my own hurdles, like loving my wife (not that it's hard to love my wife; she really makes it very easy) and keeping her spotless and without wrinkle.
First of all, the headships are covered pretty unquestionably. Ephesians 5:23 says: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. We know without a doubt that Christ is the head of the church. For Paul (through inspiration of God) to compare the husband/wife relationship to that of Christ and church, it must be merited. I Corinthians 11:3 states: But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Enough said about headship? These verses are pretty straight-forward.
Most of the arguments against this that we hear go something like this: "I believe that a woman should always obey the Bible and not man." Okay, lets see what the Bible says about wives obeying your husbands. Ephesians 5:22 says: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Most women try to make this verse say something that it doesn't. They get hung up on the "as unto the Lord" part, as if trying to make it say that you submit to the Lord as opposed to your husband. It clearly states that you are to submit unto your husband, just like you would submit unto the Lord. And men, see who this is directed to? And what's it say? Women, submit yourselves unto your own husband. Not "Husbands, see that your wives submit unto you." This is an issue for the wives to work out. Typically, she doesn't need your help, and certainly doesn't need to be reminded of this. Also women, see how it says to submit unto your own husbands? Not someone else's husband, including the pastor/preacher/minister. Titus 2:4-5 says that the aged women are to: ...teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Hmm... this says that if your not obedient to your own husband, the word of God is blasphemed.That sounds pretty serious. How do these things get swept under the rug. This is a serious accusation. If a woman is not obedient to their husbands, they are blaspheming the word of God. Definition of blaspheme, in case you're wondering: defame, rail on, revile, speak evil. Who wants to be accused of that? But that certainly is referring to a Christian husband. Most women wouldn't have a problem subjecting to a Christian husband. Women can't be expected to be obedient to a non-saved, non-spiritual husband can she? Let's look at the Ephesians passage all put together. Ephesians 5:22-24 states: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Once again, a comparison of how the church is subject to Christ. It also says that a wife is to be subject to her husband in every thing. Everything means every thing, doesn't it? Except in spiritual matters, right? Well lets look at another passage. So far, we've just heard Paul's opinion...and he wasn't even married. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:1-2 that: Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Peter says, to the wives, that if there are any unbelieving husbands, wives should be in subjection [to subordinate; reflexively to obey: - be under obedience (obedient), put under, subdue unto, (be, make) subject (to, unto), be (put) in subjection (to, under), submit self unto] to their husbands, that their conversation [behavior: - conversation] towards him might win him to the Lord. So even if your husband is not spiritual, even if he is not saved, it is very clear that the woman is supposed to be obedient, submissive, in subjection to him regardless.
Historically:
From what I've seen, and I've become pretty observant, women who come out from under the husbands authority (headship) have homes and households that leave much to be desired. A vast majority of these homes have unhappy or broken marriages and rebellious, wayward children. Conversely, I've read stories (and met) unsaved families living in complete harmony because the wives are under the headship of the husbands. The children are unsaved and unchurched, but are obedient to the parents. This proves to me that the women have a lot of control to set the mood of the family. It also goes to show that the writers of the Bible knew that God's direction not only applies to those in the Church, but is a natural order in the world also. As the devil tries to take over the world, it would make sense that he would start in the home. And as much influence as the wives/mothers have in the homes, this seems to be a prime target.
Before you say to me or to yourself that being obedient to a non-spiritual husband may effect your salvation, I'll try to get my thoughts together and post on this as well (Faith, Works and Salvation). And if you still have issue with what I wrote, take it up with God in prayer. Read through the referenced passages. God wrote it. These are His ideas. If you still have issues, let me know and I will try to clarify. Or better yet, ask your husbands! 1 Corinthians 14:35 And if they (women) will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home:

Words of Wisdom

It’s amazing what gems you’ll stumble across if you sit quietly and listen. These words of wisdom were overheard at my company picnic this summer.

 

A mother to her child: “Eat your supper, not your butter!”

 

Hmm…may not have everyday application, but should probably file it away for future reference.

 

Then just a couple weeks ago I was playing a game with Grace, our 4 year old. She was ready to move on to another game:

 

Grace: “Where are those ‘burp-sticks’?”

Me: “Burp-Sticks?”

Grace: “Yeah, Abigail’s little burp-sticks.”

 

I thought for a minute. Then it occurred to me that the day before she was playing with Abigail’s ‘hiccup-sticks’. Abigail had received Pick-up Sticks for her birthday from a grandma. Somehow a transition transpired from ‘Pick-up Sticks’ to ‘Hiccup-Sticks’ and from ‘Hiccup-Sticks’ to another bodily function; ‘Burp-Sticks’. Sometimes it’s like detective work just figuring out what your little ones are trying to say.

Church, Family and Church Family

Wow, it's been a while.

First off, we're all doing well. It's evident that we're headed into the winter up here. We've been winterizing the house by splitting and stacking wood, putting storm windows in, cleaning out gutters and raking the yard. My wife said the forecast looks like cold and wintry mixes possible this week with highs in the 40's. Seems too early to be experiencing this, but we are in the UP. Geographically, we're more than half-way (to the north) between the Equator and the North Pole.

We've had a rough week. We found out a while back that we had some distinct (and probably major) doctrinal differences with the church that we've been attending. At first, we thought that we could overlook them and just enjoy the fellowship. We love the people and they truly helped us get through a difficult time. Then some things transpired. With encouragement from the ministers wife, my wife gave counsel to some questioning women. The next Sunday, the counsel was ripped apart from the pulpit (by the ministers dad who was filling in), completely butchering the passages that she used. The question was regarding the headship at home. My wife said that the husband is the head of the wife and not the minister. She referenced Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3 and Titus 2. Each passage specifically states the hierarchy (this may be the wrong word) of the home, without condition. It was preached that a non-spiritual man can't lead a family properly. That if he tells her to do something opposed to the word of God (or opposed to the minister), that she should come out from under his authority and do what's "right". By doing something "opposed to the word of God", I mean if the husband insisted that she stay home from church or cut her hair (ref. the passage in 1 Corinthians 11 regarding hair/covering). It's obvious to us that these are not issues that would cost the wife her salvation. The church felt otherwise. And why should she submit to him, he doesn't love her like Christ loved the church.They made it very conditional (not even mentioning the passage in Peter that specifically says that if your husband isn't a believer, submit to him so that your chase conversation (conduct) might lead him to the Lord). After this, we sat back and watched for a while. We noticed a few things. First, the minister always stated the fact that it was easier to get women into the church than it was men. My theory: by telling the women to disobey their husbands and listen to the minister, this is creating huge amounts of dissension in the home. If she constantly runs to the minster with her problems, what's this doing to the man's self-esteem? No wonder your husband doesn't "love you like Christ loved the church". And what's the point of him trying to lead his family when you're running to the minister double-guessing every decision he makes? As a man, I wouldn't go to that church either. I believe these ministries are destroying families. One poll I read stated that this denomination had the highest divorce rate among all denominations. I can believe it. They had a revival-type meeting last week. We went for one night to "observe". What we noticed was how fake-ly happy the women looked, how unhappy the children looked and how beat-down the men looked. And it was obvious that the women controlled the service. Not by the up-front leading like preaching or song leading; that would be too obvious. They were much more "worshipful" and much louder "praisers". They controlled the mood of the service. I know that might not make sense, but if you sit back and watch, you might see what I mean in your own services. Besides this, we couldn't even feel comfortable inviting others to attend the church because the other doctrinal differences. I'm glad we teach doctrine to our children at home or else this could have completely confused them. Needless to say, I let the minister know that we wouldn't be worshiping there anymore. I'm sure he'll be out to talk. We pray that God opens his heart to the truth. We'll still be friends.

Another observation we had over the weekend. This time it was Sunday at another church we were visiting. We found out that this church was of the "Free-Will" theology, meaning that once someone was saved, there was no way to lose their salvation. We also noticed that they had a huge children's ministry. I was a bit baffled for a while. I wondered what percentage of the kids that came (which it was mentioned that 25 kids came on the bus that morning), stayed in the church for three, five, ten years. I know that if one comes to the Lord, it's all worth it. And I'm not opposed to children's ministries, but shouldn't the main push be for the parents? Get them into the church? I understand that not every parent is going to be receptive of the gospel, but shouldn't that be at least a focus. Then the children just kind of ran wild. One girl had on the roller-skate shoes and was zipping in and out of the sanctuary. Then something hit me there, also. Seeing their stance on salvation, they had in mind to get the kids in, lead them in a "sinners prayer" and baptize them, then let the children run free if they chose to. According to their doctrine, the children are eternally saved regardless of the lifestyle they move onto. Their invitation to salvation seemed so passive and cold. It nearly made me shiver. We won't be going back there either.

We're going to take a break and study at home what we believe and why. First, I'm going to break down the Apostles Creed and study it out, giving scripture references. Then we'll move on to more of a Knapp's Statement of Faith. We may take a break somewhere in there to visit a home church we know of about 30-40 miles from us. I really want to solidify our core and our foundation first. I also need to find a place to baptize one of the children. Eshell checked on-line the other day the temperature of Lake Superior (just a few miles from us)...a chilly 48 degrees. Lake Michigan, about an hours drive, was about ten degrees warmer.

That's it for now. Keep us in your prayers that we survive our first Yooper winter!

God bless!

It Is (still) Well With Our Souls

As expected, we still have our moments. Some days are better than others. Sundays are hard for Eshell. Any day that I have time to dwell on the loss of Isaiah is hard for me. Yesterday happened to be one of them. I met Eshell and the kids for lunch. On my way back to work I lost it. Then I lost it again on my way home from work.
The notes, cards, phone calls and e-mails have been a real blessing. Also, we know that we still have tons of prayer coverage; for which we are very thankful. Thanks to all who read my last post and commented; either through the comments or through phone/e-mail/cards. To get things out like this helps me heal. The story of the Shunammite woman has also helped. Read it in 2 Kings 4. She only ever wanted a child. The Lord blessed her with one. Then he died. She ran in desperation to the man of God (Elisha) and fell vexed at his feet. The Lord chose to raise the child up, but before He did, she exclaimed "It is well".
After things have had a chance to settle down, my mind has also struggled with thoughts like: "Did you really do all that you could have done?" I know it seems completely nonsensical, but it has plagued me. I remember a couple years ago when Regan Clem posted about the loss of his twins (I wish I could find that post). He struggled with some of the same feelings. Could I have prayed a different way? Maybe I should have prayed for Eshell more earnestly and her bleeding would have stopped, letting the baby stay in longer. I knew at the time that I was completely helpless to do anything in my own power and strength. That's why I gave it God at that time. Why now do I try to take it back from God?
I know that what happened, happened for a reason. I also know that it happened for our good (Romans 8:28). (That last sentence was hard to write and is even harder to understand.) We may never know why or how on this earth. But we still trust God and His plan for us.
We are doing well, but prayers are still much appreciated. Thanks for all of the support!

Troy

Another Soldier Down

We've lost another soldier in the war. You won't hear about him on the news. He was actually to be a soldier-in-training. The war wasn't for oil, or to overthrow a dictator. This was a much more important war. This was a future soldier in THE WAR. The war of Biblical proportions. The war of good versus evil. He was to be trained up in the Spirit and in Truth. He would be as an arrow in the hands of a mighty warrior. He would do great things for the Mighty King. But the King saw fit to call him from service. Now he sits at the King's own banqueting table. Although he left a family that loved him, he now entertains a company that loves him more. A company who knew like no other what was best for him. The very company that created his entire being. The company that knit him together in his mothers womb. The company that breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and lungs. This is the company that called him home.

Sunday, September 2, 2007, I was in the shower getting ready for church. Eshell came in and was chatting with me about typical stuff. Just as I was finishing up she said "I'm bleeding".
We knew from an early ultrasound that she had complete placenta previa; which means here placenta was completely covering her cervix. The doctor gave her some restrictions and said that if the condition didn't correct itself, they would take the baby c-section ten days before her due date (December 21st). They also said that she may experience bleeding (without pain), but this was typically common between 27-34 weeks and that we were to promptly bring her in.
She was now 24 weeks. She was bleeding heavily and was experiencing a lot of pain. I called the OB doctor and they said to bring her to the birthing area of the hospital where they could check her. She managed to make it out to the van and after I confirmed that she and all of the children were buckled in, I proceeded to speed to the hospital. I was driving about 75mph on highway 41 into Marquette with Eshell insisting that we were going to get pulled over. I disregarded her. We then got pulled over. As the State Police officer was walking up along our van, I stuck my drivers license out the window and said "Officer, my wife is hemorrhaging and I need to get her to the hospital". He said "Go ahead" so I took off again.
We got to the hospital, and after a circus show, made our way to the birthing area. The children waited in the waiting area while we got Eshell settled. They would try to get her bleeding under control, but if they couldn't they would have to take the baby via c-section. Things appeared mellow for a while, so I told Eshell that I would take the children home and feed them and let the ministers wife come and sit with them so I could be with her.
I took the children to get a sandwich and took them home. As soon as I got them unloaded I got a call from Eshell saying they were going to take the baby and that they couldn't wait for me to get there. I got the children inside and called the minister and let him know the situation and to have his wife come out and sit with the children. I was then off again to the hospital. I cried and prayed that the Lord would be with them. I prayed "Lord, they came into this world as your children. If you choose to take them now, they'll leave as your children".
I arrived as they were finishing up the procedure. The doctor came in and informed me that Eshell was doing well and that she would spend a few minutes in the recovery room while she was coming around. The baby was stable and was being attended to by the neonatologist. She informed me that he came out fighting at a length of 12 inches and a weight of 1 pound 8 ounces. Isaiah Nathanael would be his name, born at 12:22pm on 09/02/07. The Lord gave that name to Eshell shortly after she gave birth to Susanna two and a half years ago. Eshell recovered, but they had to give her a pint of blood due to her heavy bleeding.
After she came around, we prayed together often. When we were able to see Isaiah, he was in an incubator with wires and hoses running from everywhere. He had a machine breathing for him. We'd seen this before with some of our other children. The difference is, our next smallest child was born weighing 5 pounds 2 ounces. We prayed for a healing to his body, but we also gave him back to the Lord at that time. We had prayed that if the Lord was going to take him, to do it quickly. At about 9:45pm, the doctor came in and said that there was nothing more he could do...our baby was going to die. We had requested that in this situation, we wanted him unhooked from his machines and brought in to us. As I held him, I cried and prayed. I told God that it wasn't too late to perform a miracle. They pronounced him dead at 10:05pm on 09/02/07. God did not let me down. We are not bitter nor angry at God for choosing not to heal our baby. He knows far better, how could we doubt Him? We cried and called out to the Lord to comfort us. I've never felt a pain like I felt when I gave my baby back to the nurse. It felt like she took a part of my being with her. We cried and prayed some more and an amazing peace covered us both. God's Spirit was so evident, we were again comforted. We could both honestly say, and did say, that "It is well with my soul". I spent that night with Eshell in the hospital room.
I got up early the next morning and went home. I wanted to be there when the children woke up. As they woke up, I let them know that mommy was doing fine, but that Isaiah didn't make it through the night. The two oldest took it very hard. The little ones didn't understand. I tried to comfort and pray with them all.
Eshell had the best doctors and the best nurses that I believe I've ever met. They truly made this all easier. Eshell had the nurses and the social worker who were evaluating her mental state in tears. They came to "counsel" her, but as she began to tell of God's goodness, they both wept. They actually let her come home a day early (Tuesday) because they thought she would "heal better at home". And one nurse mentioned to the doctor that she had a great faith in God and that would help her get through. My mom, mother-in-law and father-in-law were all up here for help and support. Between that and our church family...what a blessing! And I know we had prayers coming in from all over. What a comfort to know you're smothered in prayers of the saints.
We had the funeral for the baby on Friday. I thought it would be difficult. I had given the baby's spirit to God as he lay in my arms on Sunday night. Now I would give his body to the grave. Eshell and I prayed before going to the funeral. The minister did a beautiful job, and God was faithful and comforted us. We cried when the ministers wife sang "It Is Well" at the graveside. I'm sure we'll have our moments of sorrow. I'm sure things will jog our memory of the small amount of time we got to spend with him. But we will always remember the grace that God gave us to get through this.
On Wednesday when I was finally able to turn on some music again, I had the Isaac's family CD in the car stereo. The song with the same title as this post came on and it ministered to me as did several songs on the CD. Hard to imagine bluegrass music ministering. The specific lyrics that touched me was "the fight before the victory; the cross before the crown". This is a bump in the road to the victory. The victory that Isaiah is already enjoying. Please pray that God would continue His mercy on this family. That we would not begin to doubt Him. We do serve a God that has the power to heal, but will comfort when He doesn't. Praise Him for His divine will and grace.

Update

We visited a small church two weeks ago and almost instantly knew that God had led us there. The church group is about 1 year old with a young minister (29 I think) with a young family (3 little girls: 4, 2 and maybe 4-6 months). Most of the families of the church seem to be new converts with little to no church background. The minister works full time in construction, manages the church and conducts Bible studies throughout the week. Not so much verbally, but in his actions he's screaming for encouragement and support. How this type of lifestyle must suck every ounce of energy from a person. The minister and his wife are probably bombarded with the needs of ministry. We will attend here and encourage where we can. I've already talked to the minister on several occasions about different things and we seem to click. We have a lot of similar interest.
My prayer is that we can sit back and not be too invasive. That we wouldn't try to take over his ministry. That we would serve in the gaps that need filled. There are parts of the service that bug me, but really they're trivial things. My wife and I discussed last night how we'll just pray about the quirky things, and if they're issues that God deems worthy to make a fuss about, He'll lay it on the ministers heart to change.
He is very focused on the family. Once again, his family is still young. He needs to focus on his family. He also needs to teach it. With a fresh group of Christians, they've probably never heard about holy living or protecting your family; as soon as they get stripped of their innocence, you can't get that back. If God moves you, please pray for this situation.
Also, pray for other opportunities that may be opening up. I can fill in more details later about this.
And lastly, God seems to be working on everyone in the Knapp household. The children are asking spiritual questions. I pray for wisdom in answering them. I always need to remember to answer in a way that a six year old can understand. Also to answer the questions and not break into a sermon, complete with topic changes and cross references.
Anyway, we would covet your prayers in this time as God is working in this family. Pray that we could be pleasing to God and glorify Him in all that we do!

The Interview

So, I had my interview scheduled for the first week of April this year; the 5^th to be exact. We thought we’d take advantage of the long weekend (Good Friday) and see the area. In Ohio, we have a superstition that says if it rains on Easter, the next seven Sundays will rain. Our superstition says nothing about snow. On Tuesday of that week, the Engineering manager of the new company called me at work. “Troy, I’m really sorry to call you at work. I know it’s not real appropriate to do, but we’re expecting a blizzard up here on Thursday and wanted to know if you would like to re-schedule your interview.” Silence….Me: “You realize this is April, correct?” Eric: “Yeah; we’re usually good for one good snow storm every spring.” More silence…Me: “Let me call you back.”

I talked it over with my wife and we decided to take the trip. We ended up leaving that night instead of the next morning like originally planned. We ran into snow about an hour from Marquette. It was just a heavy snow and no blowing. We finally got into Marquette at about 3:30 a.m. so we pulled into a rest area to sleep in the van for a bit. We couldn’t sleep so we moved the van to a hotel parking lot in town and went to sleep. When we woke up about an hour later, the van was rocking because the wind was blowing so hard. We found our way to the company to pick up the keys to the company’s apartment. Finally, we were settled in. We spent the day in the apartment watching the snow and wind blow up to 50 mph. We were staying in an apartment about two blocks off the south shore of Lake Superior and the wind was tearing off the lake.

I made it to the interview the next morning. I was completely amazed to see that a blizzard up here doesn’t slow people down…at all. The interview went well. And I made it back to the apartment where my wife sent me out to Fazoli’s to get supper. The roads were terrible and the drivers were scary. We had a tour lined up for Friday morning, so my son and I went to meet the tour guide. It was still snowing and blowing quite a bit. This guy’s driving a full size Ford van like it’s a sports car in the snow. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. We made it back to the apartment that afternoon, and after consulting the weather channel, decided to head for home. It looked like the wind had let up a bit and the snow dwindled to a flurry, but they were calling for another 18 inches overnight. By that time, we should be safe into the lower peninsula, if not at home. The main highway we take home was closed due to snow coverage so we had to take an alternate route. I think we ended up making it home at about 1 or 1:30 a.m., safe and sound. It felt great to be home.

I kept hearing from people how well the UP keeps the roads clean. When I went out in the snow, the roads were awful. Then it occurred to me; with all the snow blowing, there’s really not much you can do to keep the roads clean. I was awe struck when the wind finally died down. That’s when they brought out the snow removal equipment. Back home, we call them land-movers. These are huge tractors with buckets and blades. Big equipment used by land excavators. They also had trucks like we used in Ohio, only they used them to throw salt and sand. They were too light-weight to get down to business. They really did do a great job on the snow once it stopped blowing.  It ended up snowing over 50 inches over the few days we were up there. They tried to console me by saying that this was the worst blizzard they’d had in several years. That wasn’t much consolation. We’ll see how this winter pans out. They also tell me that my house is located right in the snow belt….on a hill…on a dirt road…that might get neglected by the county when it comes to snow removal. It’s not uncommon to get 300 inches of snow in a year in this area. Well, God is faithful. We’ll leave it in His hands.

That’s it for now. God bless.

 

Troy

Update

We are pretty much settled into the house. The basement is still a bit disorganized, but not too bad. After all, it is a basement. The house has been a bit quirky; sometimes shutting it's water off at random points in time. That's not always too convenient.
We have several hundred acres out our back door that belongs to the mining company up here. The land is all wilderness and all public access. We've enjoyed hiking and exploring the land. We've seen bear tracks relatively close to the house. That might get interesting. Deer and porcupine are also plentiful up here.
We got our van back last weekend. Friends from back home brought it up to us. That was a very nice visit. They are hoping to move up here (2.5 hours away) in Aug./Sep. and they wanted to visit the farm they are going to purchase on the way. Muddy revealed how God provided for them in the way of a vehicle. Same here. It didn't turn out costing $5000 like the first mechanic quoted. Our friends towed it to another mechanic friend who happened to need a roof on a barn of his. The guys struck a deal. Our friends would put a roof on the barn if the mechanic would fix our van. When the van was delivered, we DID NOT get a bill. We gave them some gas money for their troubles. What a blessing! I still need to learn that when I take something to God, to leave it with Him. I always stress about these situations initially. Then God always come through. You'd think I'd learn.
Speaking of the van. Now that we have transportation that we can all fit into, we can start visiting churches in the area. Pray for that situation. We've endured some frustrating church visits in the past. Maybe things will be different up here. We'll see.
That's all you get now. Next update I'll tell you about the interview up here and the a little about the yoopers.
God bless!!

Splittin' the Mitten

Well, the name says it all. As you can see, this is now "The Sheep and the Goats: Life Lessons From the U.P." My family and I took a gamble and came to live with the yoopers. So whats with the title "Splittin' the Mitten"? Look at a map. The shortest route from NW Ohio to the U.P. is straight through downstate Michigan (the mitten). We've traveled those roads so many times in the last two months...it's really kind of sad.

I took a job in Marquette, Michigan. It's the largest city in the whole U.P. with a modest population of ~20,000. We bought a house in a small town called Negaunee (crazy Native American names up here). I've been at the new job for about a month now. Seems like a very interesting company. My co-workers have been great to work with so far.

What else...hmm...? Oh, we're also expecting again! Eshell is due in early-to-mid December. That was a surprise.

Our van also broke down. Luckily it happened before Eshell and the children made the trip up here. I can't imagine the chaos of it breaking down on the busy interstate with all of the children somewhere in Michigan. The mechanic wanted $5000 for a new motor. We have a good friend down there who's wheeling-n-dealing with a mechanic friend of his on our behalf. So, last Friday I'm on my way to Ohio to pick Eshell and the kids up to bring them to Michigan because we're closing on our house on the following Tuesday. I just cruised through Mount Pleasant and it's 11:00 p.m. I hit a deer in our only functioning vehicle. The car is rendered inoperable. I call the cops and he calls a tow truck and a hotel. Very nice people in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The hotel gave me a room at a discounted rate because of my circumstances. The hotel let me stay an additional three hours for free. The guy at Nextell let me charge my cell phone in his store (turned out his family was originally from Hicksville, Ohio). And the people at Starbucks let me sit in their store for about an hour and a half while my brother brought my wife and kids to pick me up and bring us to Marquette. The car should be fixed by the middle of next week. The van...not so sure. We're driving a rental mini-van for now.

So, that's it for now. I know I'm missing some other crazy adventures. They'll come to me and I'll pass them along. Hopefully my faithful reader(s) haven't given up hope. Maybe I'll get some momentum and I'll start posting again. Maybe not.

God bless!!