Large Family Life

Yesterday was Lila and Gracie's day and this is how we celebrated ~

Oh, these girls!! These sweet beauties!!

A few weeks ago we were able to visit Grandma D (Julie's mom). She made these beautiful aprons for the girls! They LOVE to work in the kitchen! And they LOVE their new aprons!!

The day before their birthday Papa and Grandma (Mike's parents) came from Illinois to see the girls!




Papa and Grandma brought the twins a coffee maker and mixer for their little kitchen!

And purple ballerina flats too!



Since their birthday fell on Sunday this year it was extra special to be able to go to church on their birthday. They went up front and Mike prayed over them and also Mike happened to be doing the sermon too. What a special day!

For supper we took just Lila and Gracie out to a nice Italian restaurant while the older girls prepared the house for a Cinderella party!

We enjoyed a great meal and had so much fun at the restaurant.

Yeah, that's mine. Fresh peach, chicken and Gorgonzola with a balsamic reduction wood fire oven pizza!! DEEE LISH!!!

When we got home we had a party with all the brothers ans sisters!

Lila and Gracie requested strawberry shortcake for their birthday and I happily obliged. It was so fun to make! ♥

They each had 6 candles to blow out. Green for Gracie and lavender for Lila.

Gracie Joy

An ice cream set from the sisters!

A doctor's kit from the brothers! Lila and Gracie LOVE to pretend to be midwives!!

And, what the girls have wanted for soooooo super long.......drum roll please........

dress-up dresses!

Our little princesses! ♥♥

We often have toddlers and the younger children crawling into our bed at night. On birthdays we always let the birthday child/children sleep with us too. They are always so excited for that!

And there you have it ~ Lila Rose and Gracie Joy's 6th birthday.

We are SOOO blessed to be given the privilege to be their parents.

We love you sooooo much!

Thank you God for these sweet girlies! ♥♥

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 Why We Love Being Uninsured

 

 

 

We are a family of 10 and we have no health insurance ~ so to speak. For years we went with the crowd and paid for traditional health insurance through my husbands job. Health insurance that we rarely used and had a very hard time with because we knew that the entire system was not Biblical. We have found EXACTLY what we have been looking for for so long. God led us to speak with other like-minded families that share our same convictions. We found Samaritan Ministries. A God send. It is a sharing ministry not health insurance. It is flexible, personal, cost effective, and time tested. There are more than 21,500 households that are currently involved with Samaritan Ministries. The monthly share for a family of ANY SIZE has never exceeded $355, and is even less for singles, couples, and single parent families. It is true that when we first looked into this that through Mike's job we could have paid less per month but the deductibles are so high and we did not feel at peace with being a part of that system. We will happily pinch pennies in other areas to be able to be a part of this wonderful ministry. We are blessed to not only send our monthly share to another brother or sister in Christ but also send them a direct note of encouragement and be praying for them. And on the occasion that we have a medical need our need would then be published and monthly shares would be sent to us to cover our costs. How wonderful it is to be part of a biblical health care system that is true to scripture in bearing one anothers burdens. Samaritan does not pay for birth control of any kind or sterilization. They do not pay for health care costs associated with unbiblical living. They do pay 100% for home birth as they see that it is not only safer but also much more cost effective than hospital birth. Two months ago I had some strange symptoms and went to our doctor with swollen glands. Ten days later I was in the Urgent Care with labored breathing and chest pain. I ended up having a virus that went into my lungs and I had to just get a lot of extra rest and wait it out. We ended up with bills of $2300. Unreal!! Anyway, I called Samartian and was blown away by the wonderful treatment I received. First the young man on the phone was so concerned about how I was feeling and asking if I was better. Second, he patiently walked me through the process of filling out the 1 form that they need to process my medical need. In the middle of our conversation I had to whisper to one of my older daughters that I needed her to check on the bread in the oven. He must have heard me because for the next 5 minutes he wanted to know all about our homemade bread and told me how his wife also does the same. Hannah and I were just stunned. What a joy to be dealing with other believers and not insurance companies that do not really care about you, just about being paid. So not only do our medical needs get paid we receive beautiful, encouraging notes from other members and the other members are also praying for us. Just awesome. Some people might be skeptical of this being "too good to be true" but it works. It works really well. We took a step of faith and we know that God will meet our every need.

No matter who is elected to office this month, the battle for the control of health care will continue. Will we as a nation depend on God and His truth to direct us, or will we accept the provision and protection of the lesser powers of this world? We need to cry out to God for His protection and provision. Only He has enough power and resources to provide for all needs. Only He can cause all things to work together for good to those who love him. Anyone else, whether person, organization, or government, will disappoint and sometimes enslave.

If you are a committed Christian, you do not have to violate your faith by purchasing health insurance that pays for abortions and treatments of conditions resulting from other immoral practices that are included in the federal "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (PPACA). You can live consistently with your beliefs by sharing medical needs directly with fellow believers through Samaritan Ministries' non-insurance approach. This approach satisfies the individual mandate in PPACA.

Galatians 6:2 ~

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Cross references:

1. Galatians 6:2 : Rom. 15:1; 1 Thess. 5:14
2. Galatians 6:2 : [ch. 5:14]
3. Galatians 6:2 : 1 John 4:21; See John 13:34

 

                                                                                                                                                                    

 

 

 

The Blessing of Menu Planning

 

 

 

We love to cook and we LOVE to eat!! We have planned out our weekly menu for years now. As our family has grown it has become more and more of a blessing. With 10 bellys to fill 3 times a day that is 30 plates of food to serve each day! It is so simple for our oldest daughters to refer to the menu posted on our fridge and be able to either get things started or make the entire meal if need be. We almost always have tacos on Tuesday (whether it be chicken, beef, or lentil), breakfast for supper on Wednesday, homemade pizza on Friday, and a big pancake breakfast on Saturday for brunch. It makes things so easy to use what you have on hand and create your menu around it and then to pick a few things up at the store when we go into town. It saves us so much money. Right now we are eating tons of our meals right out of our huge garden! We travel once a month to Woodman's Market that is about 1 hour from us and stock up on many things. We also go to Costco that is about 1 1/2 hours away every 6 weeks. We fill in the gaps with the Amish bulk store and also order organic staples in bulk quanities from Country Life. The few times that we have failed to menu plan I always regret it.

My oldest daughter created this menu for our family.

Even little ones LOVE to be a part of meal prep!