The Gospel and Materialism ~

I enjoy Sunday afternoons. Usually we come home from church and the girls have quiet time while Brad and I drink tea and chat about the sermon...then sometimes we'll cook lupper (Brad's term for the combination of lunch and supper) together. It's always fun cooking with my husband!

While reading "Little House on the Prairie," Laura disobeyed her parents and visited the waterhole...right away Ruthie asked me, "Is Laura out of the sphere of safety? Will her parents need to bring her back into the sphere of safety?" Refer to Shepherding a Child's Heart for explanation. :)

Ah, the inevitable bang trim. I did this with Ruthie at Nae's age...I attempt to grow the bangs out and always resort to bringing out the comb and scissors. We're all glad we can see Nae's beautiful face again though.

Grandma Cheryl mailed a package for us that was full of cereal (really fun cereal). Due to this, the box was light. After picking it up Ruthie said, "This is light. Even if it has nothing in it I will be happy." She must just like getting empty boxes, as long as it's from Grandma. :)

The girls and I have been listening to David Platt's sermons on 1 Timothy. The last couple days we've listened to his sermon entitled "The Gospel and Materialism." I was convicted about some things within my heart and it's desire for worldly things. Platt mentioned materialism is like drinking seawater...the more you drink the thirstier you become. This thought gave me much to pray about.

After disobeying Brad's command to go to bed, he asked Naomi why she kept disobeying. Her response: We love to laugh! (This reference might be from Mary Poppins.)

After hearing this resolution I was encouraged to live this out in my own life, by God's grace.

Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyles:
We resolve to renounce waste and oppose extravagance in
personal living, clothing and housing, travel and church buildings. We also
accept the distinction between necessities and luxuries, creative hobbies and
empty status symbols, modesty and vanity, occasional celebrations and normal
routine. And between the service of God and slavery to fashion where to draw the
line requires conscientious thought and decision by us, together with members
of our family.

"Obedience to the Great Commission has more consistently
been poisoned by affluence than by anything else." Ralph Winter

Below: The girls enjoyed the video of Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky that Grandma sent...they enjoyed watching it over and over and over...they miss their cousins so much!

A friend emailed this little tidbit:
AT GALENA...JANUARY
2012 GOES DOWN AS THE COLDEST MONTH OF
RECORD. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF -32.6 DEGREES SURPASSED THE
-31.4 DEGREES IN 1971.
THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 65 BELOW
OBSERVED ON THE 29TH.
NOT ONLY WAS THIS A DAILY RECORD LOW...BUT
IT WAS THE 3RD LOWEST
TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED AT GALENA. THE
ALL-TIME LOW WAS 70
BELOW BACK IN JANUARY 1989. THERE WERE ALSO
FOUR CONSECUTIVE DAYS
WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 60 BELOW OR COLDER
ON THE 28TH THROUGH
THE 31ST. THIS WAS ONLY OUTDONE ONCE...IN
1989...WHEN THERE WERE
SIX CONSECUTIVE 60 BELOW DAYS AT GALENA.
WEATHER RECORDS AT
GALENA DATE BACK TO 1942.

Our Beautiful Reading Girl ~

Iron Dog Snowmobile Race ~

After my early morning prayer time with my friend, I came home and our family jumped in the car and spent Saturday morning watching the sunrise. It was amazing how fast the sun moves...we could actually see it moving above the clouds.

The Iron Dog snow-go race came through our village this last week. In March the Iditarod will come through too. I'm hoping our family can help volunteer for it by cleaning up after teams leave and getting water for the dogs. Maybe we can even pet some dogs too!
During our morning sunrise viewing we brought some cinnamon rolls I baked the night before.
Sunday afternoon we took a leisurely stroll on the ski trail outside the village. We took the snow-go and then walked the 1 1/2 mile trail.

During dinner we were talking about forgiveness and when asked how many times we are to forgive Ruthie said, "70 + 7."
Below: In this picture I'm actually standing up...that's how deep the snow is now. Ruthie and Nae seemed to float on the snow while I trudged through the drifts.
Here in the bush we love the sun! It's now coming back about seven minutes per day!
Every night at bedtime Nae consistently ends her day by saying, "Goodnight Mommy. Happy birthday Mommy. Merry Christmas Mommy."

"I am worthy to lose my house in a fire for Christ and be happy." ~ Ruth Shilloy Fox

Sidenote: I think she meant to say that Christ is worthy enough to lose everything in a housefire and still be happy, but you get the point.
My friend and I have a Bible study every Thursday and Brad's sweet enough to stick around the house to watch the girls for me...
...he even takes over teaching Ruthie's reading lesson that day...
...while I walk the mile or so to my friend's house for a refreshing time of prayer and study.
I like this sign. In our village it pretty much means: stop if you want to OR if you feel like it OR if a car's not coming OR if you can't get up the hill OR if you feel like not stopping go ahead caustiously BUT seldom does it mean stop.

Friends, Planes & Pizza ~

Our thoughtful mom said when she saw this t-shirt she thought of me...but I have a question: Where was the blue t-shirt that said, "I LOVE MY SWEETIE-PIE" which made her think of Brad? I know for a fact that he would have wore that t-shirt proudly to every occasion here in the bush...possibly even while out cutting wood! :)
Bradley was blessed to have an opportunity to visit a nearby village (about fifty miles downriver) to preach on Sunday. He and some of our teammates flew out Sunday morning and returned before dark Sunday night. Upon returning, Brad went straight to youth group to help facilitate that time as well.
We are praying that this last trip was a blessing and encouragement to the native man who pastors the small Bible church there. The pastor mentioned a desire to have a Gospel-sing sometime in the future.
My friend had a migraine so I offered to watch her daughters for the day. I enjoy babysitting their three girls because Ruthie & Naomi get along with them so well. They play nicely together and it's encouraging seeing their friendship grow.


A teacher friend of ours told us he asked our "houseguest" how his time was at the Foxes. I was sure his reply would be something to the effect of, "Wow, the love of Christ flowed through their lives and I want what they have," OR "that honey bucket experience helped me learn my lesson," OR EVEN "that Madelyn sure can cook amazing meals with just a crockpot and no working oven," BUT INSTEAD HE SAID, "Those girls are wild!" We'll take that as a compliment? :)
I LOVE MY HUBBY (AKA BRADLEY)

We took the snow-go to get the mail and came back with frost on our goggles (more Ruthie than me).
The girls enjoyed helping me bake a pizza for dinner one night...
...but I did catch Nae popping a few pepperonis in her mouth when she thought I wasn't looking!

The Snowcave ~

We took one morning and drove to the river to watch the sunrise. When we saw the sunrise all we could do was praise God for His greatness!
God answered prayer: Brad strained his back while chopping firewood for an elder last week and we only had a couple days left of firewood for our family. Brad really needed to cut and split the logs we had so we could heat the house. His back was so painful he couldn't do it himself...he never told anyone this dilemma, but God provided some men (who are from near Palmer and have come to help the community out this week) who randomly showed up at our place and chopped and split our wood in two hours! God is our Provider!
During this time, Brad was gone visiting a native elderly couple so when he came back it was all chopped and split. He was surprised and thankful. While the guys were here the girls and I played outside to watch them work.

It's been between -10 to +20 degrees so the girls and I have spent many hours outside enjoying the warm weather!
The beautiful wood pile provided by our Jehovah Jireh!
Today is Sunday and Brad left this morning to a neighboring village (about 50 miles away). They'll be flying home tonight before dark, Lord willing. I was happy he was able to go and encourage the native pastor there. The girls and I enjoyed our church service today, but I did miss having my hubby next to me. Brad and I have been listening to some Platt sermons on 1 Timothy and the church...I've learned a lot and am understanding more about this "earthly expression of a heavenly reality" we call church.
Our friend came over for lunch the other day and the girls begged him to make them a snowcave...he did a great job. We saw him today at church and the girls ran up to him and hugged him. They like Mr. Justin a lot.


During that time I took advantage of the warm weather and went skiing. I think I overdressed (I was wearing my heavy winter coat) because I came back hot and sweaty.

Naomi brought me a picture she drew and I asked her where she got her artistic abilities from (the response I wanted to hear was "God"), but instead she said, "Grandma!"
A friend enjoyed seeing our family travel by snow-go with a crockpot in tow to church last week...so he took our picture and emailed it to us (see below).