3/26/68

It was a hard labor. It was a difficult delivery!!…and after breaking a collar bone a 10 lb 2 oz baby girl was born to my parents. They were thankful that in spite of a broken collar bone all else was well. This little girl loved to eat (especially carrots) and continued to grow and by the time she was 1 year old weighed 36 lbs and was wearing size 6x clothes. Yes I was the girl who had an orange nose from eating too many carrots. As I got older I attended our Christian school until grade 5 when my parents decided to move an hour away from church/school and begin farming. Life on the farm was always busy and as I entered my teenage years the pattern became predictable: milking the cows….then head off to school….milking again ….supper….homework….bed…only to be repeated the following day. I didn’t have time for many school friends but I did have a very special friend whose name was Sir Lancelot (Lancer). Lancer was my horse and knew everything that was in my heart. Whenever there was a spare moment we were out together galloping at top speed or taking a slow walk while I told him all my troubles. And so life continued and finally graduation came and went. Three months after I graduated I met my future husband at a youth conference and after a 1 ½ year relationship we were married January 8, 1988. Shortly after we were married we moved from NJ to IA where we spent the next 9 years, he being a Christian school teacher as well as holding 2 other jobs…I being a stay at home mom with 2 part time jobs as well. By combining our salaries we were able to get by as our first 3 children were born.

In September of 1995 we moved from IA to MI where my husband entered the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary for four years. Three weeks after our move our 4th child was born and 3 years later we were blessed with our fifth. After 4 busy years at seminary my husband accepted a call to the Burgessville congregation where we are to the present. In 2000 our last child was born. And last year after 22 years of marriage our oldest son married his sweetheart…and so the cycle continues.

The calling we have as a family is a special one….we are called to a life of giving, but in essence is that any different than the calling each one of us has? We each are called to a life of servitude, a life of self denial, a life of giving, a life of putting others first….this truly is a blessed way to live for only then are we walking in the footsteps of our Master.