Tea, cookies and a life that matters.

Life is always busy at the Daugereaus' home.

We are glad that the new school year started, but we also know that it comes with many other commitments, like Awana, music, seminary wives discipleship, bible study and so on.

We get busy, but we love being involved and serving in our church wherever we are. 

This last month we had a blessed and unique time at our Bible study!

The ladies had a tea party, with hats and dress up included.

 A wonderful friend and amazing decorator set up the all event at her house, with hats to make, picture to take, fancy rings and bracelets to wear.

We chatted and laughed, we acted like princess in a British castle. We had delicious teas with wonderful desserts. But we also shared God's Word and learned important lessons.

We learned from Paul that we need to live a life that matters!

Philippians 1:21-30

"21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. 29  For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me."

Paul's life was spent for Christ. For him Christ was everything, and he lived, and talked and acted out of the outpouring of his love for Christ. And he encouraged the Philippians to do the same thing, to live a life that matters!

He encouraged the church to strive in oneness and to live in harmony with eachother. We always need to strive for that unity in the church body but also in our daily lives, considering the other more important, being humble and trying not to be selfish.

Another encouragement that Paul leaves in these verses is to not be afraid of adversity. My favorite verse is "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake....to suffer for His sake" Pastor MacArthur says that the verb granted comes from the same root of the word grace, so essentially that means that we have been giving the grace to suffer for him. It is hard to accept this concept in a society where the prosperity Gospel grows. But we have to remember that sufferings are as much as a blessing as our salvation itself.

Paul was in prison for the Gospel when he wrote this, what a great encouragement for us! Tt endure hard times and to consider them a gift. 

It was overall a great encouragement to live life that matters!  

       

Italy, my love.

We spent a few weeks in Italy this summer visiting family and at the same time visiting our past location of ministry. 

Italy has an interesting shape, it looks like a boot with a heel and a spur. It is kind of a small country, smaller than California alone. It also has two big islands part of it: Sicily and Sardinia. People ask me all the time how is the weather there and it is hard to give a response because for such a small country the climate varies greatly. If you go down to Sicily you can find that it is as hot as here in California but much more humid. And in the winter season you get storms, lightning, thunder and winds like no other! In the center south, in the coastal cities you find  a very warm climate, but you still get winters. In the north often it looks like there are rainy season and really rigid winter. 

But in Italy it is not just the weather that is various! Italy is made by 21 regions and each one of them is characterized by its own dialect. You can easily say that there is a dialect for every city and town, some of them are very similar with just a small nuance of difference, others are completely different and the reason lays behind the many occupations by foreign powers and influence of the country that have dominated my beautiful country. 

Food is various. Every region has its typical foods, if you go down to Sicily you find arancini, granite ai gelsi, cannoli etc., in Puglia you will find "orecchiette alle cime di rapa", wonderful pastries while the Florentine steak is found in Tuscany. Sometimes even silly things like a croissant change their name as you travel from south to north, the south will call it cornetto and the north would call it brioche. And they will look at you weird if you don't use the right name in the right place!

You can find a ton of history all throughout the land. Once a friend from Sicily was telling us that wherever you dig in Sicily you are most likely to find something ancient. One friend from Siracusa told us of a builder in the city. As his crew was digging down in order to lay a foundation, they find a statue. They looked at it and then buried it in concrete because if they would have said something the whole worksite  would have become an archeological site. In Sicily you can see temples like the ones you see in Athens. In fact in the third century, Siracusa was the largest Greek city in the world! Pompei and Ercolano hold the beauty of cities destroyed by the past, and is from sites like these that we can learn a lot about our history. Florence collects our arts but in every city or town you cam find ancient piece of our history, some are unknown to the world but still so precious. 

We visited Rome with our kids this time around because I wanted them to get a glimpse of their past! We also stopped at Saint Peter's Basilica. Many years have passed since the day it was built, but things are still the same. You have crowds and crowds who go there and pay to see the inside of the basilica, reliquiem and to see the pope. When I stand there and look and this huge building I am reminded that this is where everything started. I have those words that keep on going into my mind "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs". The basilica was built on the deception of people. Coin upon coin was paid with the hope to have a place in heaven. Martin luther was shocked when he saw what was being built and the deception behind it. And so the reformation was started! Even today the basilica is a sign of the richness of the pope and the catholic church and it is also a sign of deception. The encouragement to buy your salvation from the catholic church is always there, it is masked in different forms but it is there. 
The truth is that even if Italy is made up of so many beautiful things: food, climate, places, people...most of its people are lost deceived by an old tradition and religion. 
As you walk through those marvelous roads and you meet the people, you always have to remember that they are lost and don't have any idea of the spiritual truth spoken in the Bible.
 I think the reason why I love Italy so much is that I see not just the beauty of a country but also the need of a population! 

In less than 24 hours I will be leaving US soil. After being here for almost two years I get to go home, to my beloved land Italy. It will be an interesting journey, with three kids a lay over in London and a 5 hour drive to my hometown.  Lord willing everything will go well and we will make to my parents house at 11pm.

As I am excited to go home and see my family and friends and the church family where I got saved and grew up in my faith, I am also sad to have to travel without my special husband. Because of work Josh cannot be with us for the whole time. He will come be with us mid July, a friend gave him his flight miles so that he could come over and spend three weeks with us. We are so grateful for this blessing. 

So, please pray for us as we travel across the globe :)

One of the reasons for this particular blog post is to tell about Ruhamah, our youngest daughter. Many of you have been praying for her. 

Since December we have been dealing with symptoms like constipation. In April there was a twist of events, she had a rectal prolapse that brought the  doctors and us to think that maybe there was something more than just constipation. She was given an exam checking for Cystic Fibrosis and only last Friday we were able to have the results from that.

 She was negative to the Cystic Fibrosis test. 

We are so blessed and happy by the answer of the test. And at the same time we will have to investigate more to figure out what is not working properly in her intestines. Because we are leaving for Italy we will have to try to do more research while on that side of the planet. So please be praying for us as we hope to get more testing done while there. Being that we are italians we should be able to get medical access with no problems even if some people disagree with this. I guess we will see while there. 

Thanks to all of you that have been praying for Ruhamah and please keep praying for her that we can get a better understanding of what is going on and how to deal with it. 

Thank you all for your prayers,

Carmela

Celebrating Life Together

This month we also celebrate 12 years of marriage. 

An anniversary gives you a chance to look back at the years gone by and reflect on all the things gone through.

When we got married we were very young. I wanted my fairy tale. I had waited so long for the perfect man, I thought in reward I deserved a perfect marriage, the cinderella kind of marriage. Well things were not as simple and in the first few months I realized that I wasn't getting that perfect marriage, it couldn't have been, because both my husband and I were selfish people corrupted by our sin nature and didn't know how to consider the other more important than ourself.

When I look back I see how far we have walked in our path together. I see how we have grown and matured. How we have become more like one instead of being two different people. And that is the purpose of marriage. Two people becoming one flesh. 

Our love has grown, it is not just the sparkly thing of our fist year together, is a more mature love, seasoned with the knowledge of each other. Yeah, I am not married to the perfect man, but he is not married to the perfect woman either. 

We have become best friends, we have learned to support each other, we have learned to be there for each other. Again we have learned to consider the other more important than ourself.

Marriage can grow bad or better. It is indeed like a little plant, maybe like a little bonsai. It needs a lot of tender care, just the right amount of water, sun and fresh air. We can spend lots of time and energy on many things and often we forget to spend it on the most important ones.

Oh we were so different!! One silly example: I remember we would argue over what type of furniture to get, I like dark colors, Josh liked light. For the longest time I would not pick furniture because I was not going to give up what I wanted, I was not going to compromise!

Well, today we just grew in loving the same thing...yeah I know, how weird can that be? We have dark furniture in our living room and lighter in our bedroom :)

 Are we perfect? No we aren't! Often in Italy people would think we had a perfect marriage. We don't, but by the grace of God we live to learn how to love each other more and more every day. We learned to understand each other.

I am so thankful for a husband that loves me as Christ loves the Church. He is willing to give up himself for me. 

I love Josh, I am blessed so much with this great man. He really loves me in a deep way, how do I know that? Because I know how imperfect I am.

The women's role in the church

I know this may seem a boring topic but I had to do this research project for one of my class and wanted to share it with you. So enjoy it :)

The women's role in the church

Jews at the time of Jesus had a low view of  women. In fact women were not given opportunity to learn, there was no law that said they could’t go to the synagogue but in a way they were not welcomed. John MacArthur says in one of his books : “most Rabbis refused to greet women in public and believed that teaching them was a waste of time.”(God’s High Calling For Women, pg. 24)
In the greek society, respectable women had a very confined life, they could never get out alone, could never participate to any public assembly,  often she wouldn’t even appear at meals.
During the years the situation of women didn’t change much in fact even a century or more ago women where not allowed to vote and they couldn’t get an education. God’s view of womanhood and manhood has been distorted because of sin, and men often abuse their leadership role and women often try to rebel against their own God-given role. The feminist movement achieved great changes in our society, but has also brought much confusion regarding the woman’s role, not only in the world but also within the church. Since the birth of the feminist movement many things have changed and some are good, but most are very questionable, because of it though we face debate after debate regarding the role of a woman within the church.

Role within the family
- Helpmate
Genesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
In this passage we see that God decides to make a helper for Adam. Was this a mistake? Was the word helper wrong here? No, it wasn’t, God knew what He wanted to do and made it in a way that we would know it clearly.
“God created the woman to be a helper for the man. It is no mistake that God made Adam alone and incomplete. God made Adam incomplete because he intended to create a completer.” - (Leadership for women in the church, pg. 27)
Even if the helper role is often seen as a sad role compared to the man’s role, we can be encouraged by the fact that the Bible talks about God being a helper in the following verses: Ex. 18:4; Ps. 33:20; Ps. 70:5. If The Bible can talk about God as being a helper, without making Him look like a fool or belittling Him to taking away from His being God, then we should not shy away from it either. We need to be happy knowing that our helper role is not to diminish who we are. God made Adam and Eve perfectly but with different roles.
In essence we see that while man was put in charge of the garden and of the family a woman was created to help her husband. One would say that the husband role was to be a leader and the wife was to be a helper. Even just looking at it from a natural prospective we can see that men and women are wired differently, man are usually prone towards physical work, providing for the family, while women are more creative, caring, looking for details, they give comfort, lovingly protect, there are exceptions but the overall rule shows us the differences between men and women.
- Life-giver

Genesis 1:28  “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

 Genesis 3:20 “Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.” 

Eve’s role was to be a mother. God created man and woman in the same image of God but with different roles. Even from a physical prospective they were different. Eve was made to bear children and to be a life-giver while Adam was there to care for the needs of his family. Even if her name changed after the fall, she was still made with female organs able to procreate while man was not. She was made more sensible and careful to the needs of others while man was made with muscles and with an attitude towards physical labor. John Chrysostom explains it this way, “If they (husband and wife) perform their proper duties, everything around them acquires firmness and stability.” Susan Hunt says, “When woman join together to perform their proper duties as corporate helpers and life-givers in the family of God, they contribute to the firmness and stability of the Church.” Understanding and accepting our role as helper, will be a blessing in our marriage and also within the church, and will help us live in that harmony that God had prepared for us.

A verse that is often used to demonstrate the equality among sexes is found in Galatians 3:28. It reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This verse does talk about being equal but doesn’t refers to our roles instead it refers to our position in Christ. In Him in fact we are all equal, we all get saved in the same way and God doesn’t make any difference in the way he grants salvation.

- Dependent or subordinate

Ephesians 5:22-24 “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”

We see a clear lesson regarding roles within the family, the husband is the head, the leader while the wife has a subordinate role. So within the family  a woman’s role is to be a helper to her husband, to submit to his leadership and show respect. This is important because it has an impact in what a woman can do within the church.

John Piper says:
“In the home when a husband leads like Christ and a wife responds like the bride of Christ, there is a harmony and mutuality that is more beautiful and more satisfying than any pattern of marriage created by man. Biblical headship for the husband is the divine calling to take primary responsibility for Christlike, servant-leadership, protection and provision in the home. Biblical submission for the wife is the divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts. (Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, pg. 52)”
Role within the church
- Spiritual gifts
The Bible teaches us that we all have spiritual gifts and that we need to use them within the church context, the gifts are given for the common good not for personal satisfaction but for each other’s blessing and growth, (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11).
1 Corinthians 12:7 “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

1 Peter 4:10-11 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

For this reason since we all have been given spiritual gifts, we are able to serve within the church according to what is the gift given to us. However those gifts must be used within the authority of God given hierarchy.

Along this line of thought Piper writes: “For men and women who have a heart to minister-to save souls and heal broken lives and resist evil and meet needs-there are fields of opportunity that are simply endless. God intends for the entire church to be mobilized in ministry, male and female. Nobody is to be at home watching soaps and ballgames while the world burns (Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, pg. 53).” 

Another key passage in Scripture that refers to what women can do within church is Titus 2:3-5. Paul writes: “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

As we mature as women in Christ we are called to disciple younger women, there are several things we can teach them in order to be reverent in the way they live.

First, to be reverent in the way we live means to live in a way that glorifies God, to have that approach to life where God is at the top of the list and everything else flows from our relationship with Him. Once we have learned that and started to apply it in our lives we can teach it to others. 

Secondly, as a mature spiritual woman we can teach others how to face life in a sober way. This sober lifestyle is not just connected to wine but connected to others too. We can teach them not to talk bad about others and how to live a life doing good works and blessing others with them. 

Thirdly, we can teach them to be self controlled. This aspect is extremely important in our Christian life. My eight year old knows the rules, so she knows what is good to do but often her sin nature prevails and she fails not doing what she ought to. We are the same way! We know what to do and we need to walk in that way and don’t let our sin nature win. We need to have self control being able to say yes to what is godly and no to what is not. 

Fourthly, we need to teach them to be pure and have a pure conduct in a world corrupted by immorality. 

Fifthly, a woman must be busy at home. As we have seen, our first priority is to be a helper to our husband because that is why we were created. We need to be their support in daily life, so even doing things like dinner, laundry, bringing him coffee and a piece of cake while he is studying or working are simple ways to help our husband facing the day with an advance. If we have kids we have a responsibility towards them so that our house is in order to welcome dad when he gets home from work. We need to embrace and live the concept of submission so that we can teach it to younger women. This is very important in a society where respect for man is gone and the equality of sexes makes you think that man has not a higher role over the woman. Once we have learned it ourselves we can teach it to others. 

By living this way and teaching others through discipleship and counseling we make sure that the Word of God is honored and as believers we are bringing God glory.

So from this verse we clearly see that a woman can teach, counsel and disciple, in the areas related to women. This is a great ministry that can take place within the church. In fact, women usually open up only with other women and to have wise ladies able to teach and train others in the christian walk is one of the greatest blessings a church could have. And this passage also demonstrate how some of the spiritual gifts can be used within the practical context of relationship with other believers.

- 1 Timothy 2:11-15  “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

Finally we look at a passage that clearly states that women should not have any pastor or elder role within the church. The greek word that translated “authority” means judicial or governing authority, so in essence this passage is referring to the teaching and preaching of the word of God in an authoritative way. In this passage we see again the subordinate role that the woman has in relation to men. So as within the family, leadership is appointed to the husbands, leadership roles within the church are appointed to men. Can a woman teach? Yes, as we have seen from the passage of Titus there are various situation in which a woman can teach, disciple and counsel, but those are all concerning women or children. We can serve in any way possible as long as we keep a humble spirit and we submit to the order God has created for us.

Suggested books:

Duncan, J Ligon, and Susan Hunt. Women's Ministry in the Local Church. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2006.

Hunt, Susan, and Peggy G. Hutcheson. Leadership for Women in the Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1991.

James, Sharon. God's Design for Women: Biblical Womanhood for Today. Darlington (England): Evangelical Press, 2002.

MacArthur, John. God's High Calling for Women. Chicago: Moody Publishers, ©2009.

Piper, John, and Wayne Grudem. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism. S.l.: Crossway Books, 2012.

This month Benedetta celebrated her 8th birthday. 

It has been fun seeing her grow up and becoming a little lady. She was a chuncky baby that would get sick all the time, looked very much the Tom boy until the day she discovered nail polished. She could sit and work on her nails for hours and I felt so good because finally I could do something while she was entertained for more than 5 minutes without her getting in trouble!!!

She then discovered purses, dolls and pretty dresses and daddy realized that his hope to have a child that would go wild with him were all gone!

Her nick name is dangerous, because she does all the scary stuff. She learned how to walk and few weeks later she was already climbing chairs to go get the candies that mommy had hidden. 

She is my italian looking girl, energetic, determined, intelligent, full of life.

Her birthday wasn't even over yet when she already told me the theme for next year's birthday :O

This year she wanted a Frozen Birthday party, and so mom, as much as she could, tried to put it together. 

We had melted snow, melted snowmen, snow-covered pretzels, snow pops and nutella sandwiches (these didn't really match the theme but we added them anyway).

Daddy read the proclamation by queen Elsa before starting the party. I have to say he is such a good father to girls!

 We had a snow-covered cake, with princess Anna and part of her castle as a decoration.

 Benedetta and Ruhama were both born in the month of April so we had a double celebration and both of them shared the party and the cake.

 We were so blessed by having lots of friends to celebrate with us. We also had grandma and grandpa from Washington State!

Overall we had fun, we played, ate and opened presents. Isn't it fun to celebrate with friends?

Review of the book "One with a Shepherd"

Recently  I have read a book called: “One with a Shepherd” written by Mary Somerville.

I would categorize the book in the Women’s ministry section since the book gives encouragement to those women who are married to a pastor and have to deal with the many issues that a pastor’s wife has to face such as being an example, loneliness, hospitality, discipling, counseling etc.

The book wants to give a better understanding of the challenges awaiting the woman married to a pastor. It starts by defining what the role of women is in general and then going on more specifically talking about the role of a pastor’s wife. The pastor’s wife must be an example and a supporter to her husband. 

There are many topics discussed but the three major areas of discussion are:
- How to face ministry from an emotional prospective: loneliness, pride issues, being one with our spouse, 
- How to face ministry practically: being an example in marriage and as a mom, being hospitable, managing the money.
- Ministry in relation to others: discipling and counseling.

She concludes the book by reminding us that being a pastor’s wife is a place of honor. Even if there are many challenges the outcome is to see people’s lives changed to the glory of God. It is an honor to support a man in this great task and it is an honor to walk in the path that the Lord has assigned for us bringing Him glory.

This book greatly encouraged me to hold on to God even in the midst of the many challenges. It was good to be reminded how much this role is a place of honor even if at times, when among difficulties, it may not seem so. A practical lesson was the one of making disciples and training them in doing some of the things I’ll do that way ministry is not as overwhelming as it could be.
I was also encouraged on the matter of loneliness and not to be afraid to go out and make friends. One other encouragement was about raising kids and the challenges that come with it as they grow. The encouragement was not to get discouraged but keep the Word of God at the center of our lives.

I really liked this book. Mrs. Somerville did a great job in presenting all the themes without being boring but talking from her heart and personal experience.

I would certainly recommend this book to every woman married to a man who is involved in some kind of ministry because it is a great encouragement of how to live life when God calls our husbands to a position that is in the public’s eye.

Sarah Edwards - an example of a life well spent!

Sarah Pierrepont was born on January 9, 1710. Most of us may know her as Sarah Edwards or better still, we may know her husband Jonathan Edwards.

Sarah was from New Haven in Connecticut where her dad, James Pierrepont, was the local pastor.  Her father was also involved in the founding of the Yale College. Sarah came from a wealthy family and because of it she received a good education, she was also characterized not only by an outward beauty but also an inner beauty. Recordings of Sarah’s life say that she loved meditating on God, walking alone in the fields, she loved singing and always seemed very happy and pleased with life. She played the lute and knew how to put people at ease.

This is what Jonathan Edwards wrote about her in the front page of a Greek grammar:

“They say there is a young lady in [New Haven] who is beloved of that great Being who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight, and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on him—that she expects after a while to be received up where he is, to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with him, and to be ravished with his love and delight forever…. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this great God has manifested himself to her mind…. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have someone invisible always conversing with her.”

Jonathan was a Yale graduate and after college he was pastoring in New York for a year when he accepted a teaching job at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. It was there at New Haven, that he met Sarah in 1723, at this point Sarah was thirteen and Jonathan was twenty (it was very common for women to get married by age 16).

Jonathan Edwards is one of the most important, towering figures in church history. He wrote a lot and impacted many of his day and still impacts many more today. Jonathan Edwards was very different from Sarah. He was introvert, not a people person and by his own testimony, not very kind in his manners. He didn’t eat much, had a rigorous diet and didn’t drink much. The one thing that they had in common was their love for music.

They got engaged in 1725 and married on July 28, 1727. Sarah was 17 while Jonathan was 24 years old.

A few months before they got married Jonathan accepted a position as a pastor in the church of Northampton where his grandfather was a pastor.

Being a pastor’s wife at that time was interesting. Since they were just married, on her first Sunday she had to wear her wedding dress and turn around slowly so that everybody could get a good look at it. She had a special seat in the church, facing the congregation, that symbolized he role as  pastor’s wife.

Jonathan used to study a lot, 13 hours a day. He did some work around the house, this was part of the things that he would do to keep his body in shape. He would chop wood, mend the fence or take care of the garden, but most of the housework was on Sarah’s shoulders. He used to wake up early and so did the family, they would together read a passage of Scripture before starting the day.

They had 11 kids, so Sarah’s life was pretty busy. She was always welcoming and hospitable. In fact a lot that we know about them is from a man named Hopkins who stayed with the family for a while wanting to learn from Jonathan. Sarah’s idea was that she was spiritually responsible for the people who entered her house. In fact there are testimonies of people saying how well they were treated and how godly Sarah was in her care for them and for the family at the same time. 

George Whitefield says about them:

“Felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a  Son himself and hath also a daughter of Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their children were dressed nor in silk and satins, but plain, as becomes of those who, in all things ought to be examples of christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the Things of God, and seemed to be such a help meet for her husband, that she cause me to renew those prayers, which for many months, I have put up to God, that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife.”

Sarah’s life wasn’t easy, she had 11 kids to care for, guests to serve, church members always looking at her to learn from her or to criticize her, and a husband who was always busy. At one point in her life she also experienced something of a breakdown. They were going through some financial difficulties and asked the church for a steady set amount as a “paycheck.” The church responded that maybe they needed to investigate as to how the Edwards’ were spending their money. It seems after that Sarah’s went into an emotional breakdown. It is probable that not many people realized what had happened, because Sarah, for as much as she was able, kept on taking care of her family and guests. Jonathan, from his writings, lets us know that they considered this experience as a spiritual struggle. The difficulties they were going through brought her to a closer relationship with God and trust in Him.

After 20 years of service as a pastor of Northampton, Jonathan was dismissed. We have to say that he was a man of no compromise, in fact, he was known for not wanting to distribute communion to just anybody but only to the believers. At that time everybody that would attend church, born again or not, would take part in communion. Jonathan’s stance did not always make him likable. We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Sarah to witness the events surrounding her husband’s dismissal. 

Since no other position was available, they had to stay in the same city for a year and we can imagine that this must not have been easy for Sarah, to stay in the same town were her husband was rejected and being without an income.

The next job for Jonathan was in a town called Stockbridge, were there was a community of Indians and a few whites looking for a pastor. They served there together for 6 years.

In 1757, Sarah’s son in law died unexpectedly, leaving behind his wife, Esther and two small kids. He was the president of the College of New Jersey, that would later be called Princeton. After his death, Jonathan was asked to take his position. Jonathan left for Princeton in January 1758 and his family would have reached him in the spring. While at Princeton, he was inoculated for smallpox, then contracted the disease and died in March. Jonathan’s last words were for his wife: 

“Give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her that the uncommon union…will continue forever: I hope she will be supported under so great a trial, and submit cheerfully to the will of God”.

After Jonathan’s death, Sarah wrote to her daughter Esther, trying to encourage her and remind her of God’s goodness. Her daughter never got that letter for less than a month later Esther died. Sarah wrote,

“My very dear child, What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may kiss the rod, and lay our hands upon our mouths! The Lord has done it. He has made me adore His goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives; and He has my heart. O what a legacy my husband, and your father, has left us! We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be.”

That same year, while Sarah was returning to Stockbridge with Ether’s kids, she left this earth after contracting dysentery.

Sarah was an amazing woman of God married to one of the greatest theologians in church history.

There are so many things that we can learn from Sarah’s example:

I love how Sarah was holding on to God even in the midst of difficult times. After being without an income, having lost a job, having lost family, she was encouraged because she knew that her life was in the Hands of an amazing God. She kept her trust in Him no matter what.

She was hospitable, considering others as a blessing in her life she was able to bless others with her kindness.

She was faithful in the ministry God had for her, she took care of her family. The way others spoke about her kids being dressed in simplicity, reminds us that as mothers we need to help our children look at the eternal and not the temporal and material.

She was a helpmate to her husband. Her husband would have not been able to be and do as much as he did if he didn’t have a supporting wife like Sarah.

Her mind was set on the things above. The way she raised her kids, the way she supported her husband, the ways she served others, all of these things show that her all life was set on God and walking in a way worthy of the Gospel!

Reflections...

     Today we had an exciting tea party. International wives of the seminary students all came together at the house of Karen Busenitz to share testimonies  around food and tea. 

     Yes, testimonies about what the Lord has done in our lives during our time here in Seminary.

     Well, I have to confess I had hard time putting my words together, and it didn't help that  only had a few minutes to share thus not allowing for detail. 

Returning home from the tea, my mind has been on looking back at what the Lord has done in our lives and the way He has blessed us. 

We keep a jar filed with all the blessings received so that if our memory fails us we can have paper reminding us of the great things the Lord has done. 

     Well, during the past year and a half so many things have happened, we have seen envelopes attached to the door with money inside, I started college, and the kids have started music. Our support went low and we found ourselves not knowing how we were to live on our income, much less how to pay for seminary  The Lord not only provided jobs but also provided scholarships and internships. And then, when we lost more support, we have to look back and be reminded that He took care of you in the past and will take care of us in the future also.

     One of my biggest blessing this year was to see my family here in the States. After 17 months without being able to hug family from overseas, I was able to have them all here in my house. Growing up I didn't really get many hugs or pats on the shoulder from my dad because of my faith. I was the disappointing child, who chose to be a missionary instead of following  a career. I was the embarrassing child who left the catholic church to follow a different "religion." Only a few years ago my dad actually told that he loved me. And since then every time we see each other we hug knowing that much of our time went lost and now we have only few years, and few moments left to say what wasn't said in the many before. That is why for me seeing my family was just a huge blessing. 

     While here my dad got a chance to hear the testimony of Joni Eareckson Tada and he was so impacted that he is reading her book right now. Could it be that the Lord may have brought my dad all the way to America to change my dad's heart? Even that is possible. What I am realizing as I think through everything, is that the Lord is not only changing us through seminary, but He is also changing and impacting the lives of the people around us.

So what I have been learning is that the Lord is amazing, and He is not only working in our lives growing us and making us more similar to Him every day, but He is also impacting the people around us in ways that we could never imagine!

The surpassing worth of knowing Christ

My dad has a farm house, there are many olive trees, so when the olives are ready we collect them and bring them to a place where they have a cold press. The olives in fact get pressed and become olive oil, a wonderful olive oil. Why am I talking about olives? Well the passage in Philippians 3:1-11 reminds me of this image. Let’s look at it together.

In these verses Paul is facing a problem and at the same time giving a solution. The problem is that there were false teachers trying to tell the Philippian church that they needed to be circumcised in order to be real christians. This meant being saved by works, Paul wants them to understand that we are saved only through  Christ’s sacrifice and faith in Him.

Paul gives his lesson with two important points:

- Look at what I consider loss

- Look at what I consider gain

Look at what I consider loss - Paul gives his testimony and in the first point lists the things that in the past were important to him when he used to think he could gain peace with God by his own works. He lists the fact that he was a real Jew, and observed the Law to the letter, he was blameless, he lived trying to achieve righteousness by human efforts. But he considered all these things as loss. Why?

Look at what I consider gain - Because now he had met Christ face to face and realized that he cannot have peace with God by his own works. Only divine righteousness can give him true peace. So now for him is important to be found in Christ by Christ’s righteousness. This is what is important, and because of this he wants to know Christ more, live for him, suffer as he did, die for him...Paul can’t wait for the day of resurrection when salvation will be complete. 

So in these verses we see that the most important thing for Paul is to know Christ and live for Him. When we read his letter, when we look at his life and the way he lived it, there is only one thing that comes out of it: Jesus! Is it the same for you? Do you live wanting to know your Savior more and more? To live for Him and die for Him? My encouragement for you is that Christ can be the most important “thing” in your life like He was for Paul. 

Let all that I am praise the Lord

"Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things He does for me" 

Psalm 103:2

Christmas 2014, what a great feast we had! 

After being in the USA for 18 months we were blessed by the visit of my family, 4 of them, my mother and father, my sister and little brother came.

We were packed, 9 people, three bathrooms and two bathrooms to share.

We had to learn to share our time, and rooms.

I loved watching the expressions on my parents' face when we were in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu. 

I think they didn't know how to express it in words, but on their faces there was the amazement that said it all.

On their first drive around they took pictures of anything out of the window; the cars, the trees, the birds...

They were like little kids with a new toy. 

This was the first time they were on a plane and the first time some of them went overseas. 

I loved being able to have my little brother here. 

He was 7 when Josh and I got married and it has been interesting to get to know him as a grown boy. 

We have always lived apart and spent only vacations together. I love to see what the Lord is doing in His life day after day.

While we were all together they wanted to give me a taste of Italy, so we made pettole (fried pizzas), homemade ravioli, spaghetti and orecchiette, pizza etc. 

My kids ate a ton of kinder eggs, and many more chocolates!

We were all spoiled....

...and blessed. 

It has been a blessing to have my parents here, we did many things but mostly we spent time together, we argued and laughed like good italians do. But the most important thing is that we were together. 

I loved being able to bring my dad to see the Christmas concerts that our church put together, he loved every minute of it. 

We went to take a tour of Joni and friends (the ministry of Joni Eareckson Toda), I think her book was the first one I read after I got saved. 

She did an amazing job sharing the Gospel and my dad was there to listen (he is not a believer). 

He enjoyed listening to Joni so much, he decided he wants to read her book. 

So I was blessed by seeing my family, and also by my dad being able to hear the Gospel many times.

 (My sister Anna with my Hannah on a train ride to LA)

My middle sister came too, and as she left here she is going to England to the New Tribes English school to learn English and then who knows what other marvelous plans God has for her life. 

She was the one that brought everybody here, the one who took the charge and came taking the responsibility for three more people. 

A long time ago my mom and I were the only believers in our family, God made many changes, He saved many and then He changed their lives to the point of bringing my sister on a trip to Indonesia last summer to discover how missionaries live and what the need is around the world. 

God has done amazing things, what more amazing things will He do?

 (My dad at downtown LA, amazed looking at all the mexican vendors)

My mom had told me in the past that she would never come to America. She not only came but in her words "everything is beautiful here" and she would like to come back again sometime. She grew up on a farm and didn't see a city until she was in her twenties. 

For her anything that the city had to offer was amazing, so you can imagine how it felt for her to be here. Because of those farm years my life was impacted. 

My food was always homemade and fresh, I wore cloth diapers and most of the time she hand washed our clothes. I learned many good things that were useful later in life. 

So when my mom was here she did all kinds of stuff and blessed us once more with her homemade deliciousness :)

 Los Angeles

 Ruhamah on her first train ride from Newhall to LA

I had a blessed time, as the Psalmist says, let all that I am praise the Lord, may I never forget the good things He does for me.

Amen