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

Happy Birthday Hannah Grace

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

It was a cold morning of 10 years ago, when at 5 o'clock am I started having strong contractions. 

Our first baby was getting ready to come see us :)

Hannah's pregnancy had been good all the way until the 7th month. Then contractions and worries on the doctors part made the end of the pregnancy a continuous trip to the hospital. Hannah was small in the womb and doctors couldn't figure out why. Her length was at the standard but her body was petite. After many check ups, threats to take her out with an emergency C-section and then bring her by plane to a different hospital with intensive care, shots to help with the development of her lungs. Finally things calmed down and we made it to the 9th month.

There were two doctors that I still remember, one was a female, long time doctor and well known who told me "everything is ok with your baby, you are small, maybe that's why she is small too". 

Those were the words I wanted to hear, I wanted my baby to be fine and didn't want to give birth earlier. 

The other doctor was a young guy that would always look at me like I was going to die and once told me " if you don't feel your baby move, just run to the hospital."

He was right, there were problems. Hannah's umbilical cord was wrapped twice around her neck, she was suffering in my womb and that's why she was so petite. 

I can't image if the Lord would have taken her in that last trimester, we would have remained with a dream of a daughter and lots of hurt. 

The Lord was so gracious to us because he protected Hannah and taught us a lesson on Sovereignty. 

He had her life under control. 

Her name is Hannah Grace, double grace, because we have been given the grace of her life twice, once He allowed us to get pregnant and second He kept her in our life. 

We have been truly blessed by this little bundle of joy, she weighted less than 5 pounds when she was born, but grew up fast becoming now almost as tall and big as her mommy. 

Looking back in our life helps us see the goodness of God

and helps us remember that God is really involved in our lives. 

Being reminded of His blessings is an encouragement in dark days, because we are never alone. 

The Great and Almighty God always stays on our side!

Hannah is 10 today, she is almost as tall as her mom, loves reading, can speak, read and write in two languages, has traveled around the world and is an amazing girl. We have been blessed by her life this past ten years and can't wait to see what she will become.

God's blessings never end.

Happy birthday Hannah!

Happy 2014

Happy New Year from the Daugereau girls!

In reading the Psalms and in many parts of the Old Testament, we see often how Israel is reminded of the great things that God has done in their lives. 

As we start a new year we can get a chance to look over the year passed and see what God has done in our lives and how he has blessed us even through those moments that at first didn't seem to be the greatest.

This past year for our family was full of blessings. 

As we started the 2013 with a second semester at the seminary we got to meet new people and deepened our friendships. 

In 2013 we struggled financially but, because the Lord has brought us through similar  experiences in our lives, we were able to make it through, to use what we had wisely and make the most of it. Because of this however, Josh looked started looking for part time jobs. He was blessed with an internship and another awesome part time job that he is going to start this semester. 

God does't leave his kids uncared for!

As a parent I try to give my kids the best and God is such a perfect Father and we were able to experiment how he takes care of us in such a perfect way, providing what we needed at the right time. 

What are some of my blessings?

He gave me such an awesome husband who does love me as Christ loves the Church, and three wonderful kids. One of them is turning 10 just in a few days. My kids are just as challenging any kid is but they do bring a  sunshine in my days. 

I got the joy of seeing my family from Italy coming all the way to the States. The got on  a plane for the first time and landed on US soil which they loved, spoiled the kids with Kinder chocolate eggs (now my little one thinks we can just go to the store and buy them and doesn't understand that instead we have to go all the way to Italy to find them!). I got to see their amazed faces in Santa Monica or Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

Benedetta was blessed to get into a special piano program and proved to be an amazingplayer.

Hannah was blessed with wonderful teachers. 

We were able to go up to the mountains and got to see a bunch of animals that we had never seen before.

We got to go to the Ocean and see a dolphin swim by.

We got to spend a weekend alone in Malibù.

Some of my personal highlights of the past year were being an assistant leader for the seminary wife Bible study. I love working with ladies and just when I thought there would never be a chance for me to do any women's ministry here in such a big church God proved me wrong.

I love the chance He gave me.

And the other highlight for me has been taking classes at the college. I love learning more things that I can use in ministry but I also love being around college students and being able to impact their lives as they impact mine. 

In the past year I met so many wonderful people and made new friendships. I still miss the ones I left in Italy and hope to be able to see them this coming summer.

God is good and great!

We had so many difficult times but we learned to be closer to each other and close to God and by looking back I am reminded that God loves me so much and blesses our family greatly. He does bless us even through the difficult times. Infact it is in the hard times that our faith gets refined, we learn how to trust God more and to walk with Him. It is in the hard times that our character changes and our pocky corners get smoothed out.

All this to say that if you are going through a difficult time take courage, look bad at what God has done in your life and remember that He loves you and will take care of you. Sometimes he needs to bring you down so that you can learn to trust Him. But stick to Him, follow Him and don't abandon Him and he will life your head up :)

May this new year bring many blessings to your lives.

Trusting in Him

Proverbs 3:5-6


"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

A few weeks ago there was a Women's Conference at Grace Community Church. 

That weekend  Josh and Hannah were also gone at Junior Camp. As you know the weather is great here in California but that weekend was particularly cold and rainy and the temperature was very low. 

There was supposed to be ice on the road.

  If you know me, you know that one of the thing that scares me is the unknown and driving with bad weather on California Highways was not something I wanted to do. 

I had promised my 7 year old that I would have brought her to her Sunday School Christmas Party and I really wanted to go to the Conference but I was scared to drive in that weather. How was I supposed to balance everything?

I have to be honest, I was ready to give up and stay home. 

But as I was praying I realized that I was being controlled by my fears. My fears were the one deciding my actions and I was not living in God's sovereignty . 
I needed to learn to rely on the Lord, to trust him with my life and the life of the kids and trust him to the point that it would overcome my fear.

I prayed and prayed and finally started getting ready to go. 
I prayed as I was getting ready to go, I prayed as I was getting close to the car and while driving. Mainly my prayer was that He would keep us safe and that if something would have happened to us to remind me that He is sovereign. I cannot control my life nor the one of my kids. But whatever the Lord pours over my life, our life, it's good. 
 If we believe that He is sovereign we also need to live in such a way, knowing that He takes care of us and if he allows certain things in our life is because He thinks it is good.

It wasn't easy but it felt good to trust the sovereign God.
I went there and back and the Lord did protect us and nothing bad happened. It felt good not being controlled by fear.

At the Conference I was also reminded that He is the King. 

What does that mean practically?

Well a king rules!

 And he wants to be the ruler of my life and I have to be ready to let him rule. 

It was a good weekend full of encouragement in trusting the Sovereign God and let Him reign into my life.

And everything went well despite my fears!