Our New Table!

Our Family of ten (CJ took the picture)

Between the year 2005 and 2011 (six years) our family grew from six to ten! 

Christo and me, with CJ, Heidi-Mari, Josua and Danika

As a result our 6 seater meal table were really stretched and sad to say, it wasn’t possible to fit our latest addition to the family, baby Michael, onto the table.  He had to sit in his high chair to the side of my chair, almost behind me.  We also couldn’t spontaneously invite friends over for meals any more. When I did want to invite friends, I had to think twice about what kind of meal I could serve that would be suitable to have on one’s lap or arrange for the children to eat first, then lay the table again for the adults.  I love to lay a beautiful table, 

with flowers, serviettes, all the right cutlery, candles and healthy, attractive, delicious food. So, sadly we didn’t practice hospitality often, over the past year or two...

This year with Heidi-Mari’s 14th birthday coming up, we planned a Mother-Daughter-Tea.  It started as a wonderful idea, but as soon as I started to plan the details it became a nightmare. The dinning room was in serious need of painting and the table would be to small for 14 people (the bare minimum we wanted to invite), to name only my major concerns. I literally prayed for nights to my Heavenly Father to make a way!  

How faithful is our Father!  Here you can read how the men in my life painted the dinning room.

We put two steal tables together for a big enough table

and the Lord provided in every tiny piece of detail for a most beautiful and enjoyable Mother-and-Daughter Tea.  

But that is only half the story...

Over the weekend of Heidi-Mari’s tea, we kept the two steal tables in the dinning room, just because we were to relaxed after the tea to completely clean up and the room looked so beautiful. 

We just wanted to enjoy it for another day or two.  After all, it was only Heidi-Mari’s birthday on the Monday!  Came Monday, we as a family had the most special dinner at the big, spacious table.  Everyone could fit around the table, the little ones weren’t irritated with each other due to lack of personal space. We could easily place all the food in the middle of the table, with candles and we could easily pass food without knocking over the gravy pot in the process...!  Just there and then my husband decided he will make a plan to get us a bigger table!  In the mean time we would keep the two steal tables as a dinning table and moved our beautiful, solid Imbuya wood dinning table to the lounge.

My biggest concern was what we would do with my dinning table?  We bought it as newly wed’s twenty years ago, along with a beautiful solid wood sideboard.  I didn’t want to sell it, due to sentiment or store it where it could get damaged.  We considered putting only a wooden top on top of the existing table.  Since it was a round table, it could actually work very well to put the 1.8 x 1.6 m rectangular wooden top on top of it, and have only one leg, and not 4 legs in every corner.  This way there would be more leg space around the table and we would be able to fit in more people around the table. But how do you stabilize the rectangular wooden top, without hurting the original table top? 

But the Lord was in control and He is interested in our daily living, especially in the Meal Table and delights to provide in the smallest detail, if we trust Him! At further investigation of how they could fasten the table top, the men discovered that the original table top can be removed from the huge, solid table leg! 

All they needed to do was to take off the round wooden top, put the rectangular top onto the existing table leg and fasten it. 

Michael W. Smith has a beautiful song, that Christo and I cherish, “You were my eyes when I could not see...”  This is yet again true in our lives.  

The Lord knew we would eventually surrender my womb for His glory, delightfully welcome into our home, all the children He want to bless us with.  

He knew we would eventually need a bigger dinning table. 

He knew we wouldn’t have all the money in the World to spend on a new table.  

He knew I don’t easily settle for second best... 

Because He especially cares about the Meal Table, He let us choose the precise table that would allow us to convert our existing, small round table into a much bigger, rectangular table!

A month ago, the men went to buy the wood and started the job.  

They worked through the weekend, and on the Tuesday, which was a holiday in South Africa. 

By Wednesday evening we had dinner at our brand new beautiful rectangular Table!  And it only costs us R800 (about $110).

The Lord is so good!

The same weekend I made a beautiful table cloth and smaller overlay to fit over my new meal table.

With the off cuts of the fabric (I chose a damask fabric) I could even make cloth napkins.  

Between Heidi-Mari, CJ and Me, we put in much effort with every meal (we eat two of the three meals a day, at the table - breakfast and dinner, Christo don’t come home for lunch) Eating at the table was always a special occasion, but now it is like eating like royalty at our huge table, with all our precious children around the table!

What a blessed experience it is to have a family meal table with healthy, nutrient-filled meals to nurture our physical bodies, the company of my beautiful family to nurture each others souls, and a loving God who loves to come spend evenings with us and nurture our spirits.

I link this posting to my posting The Family Meal Table and Hospitality book review.  The Family Meal Table and Hospitality was written by Nancy Campbell and also has a companion DVD.   


I also like to share this on Raising Homemakers link-up

Much love

Linnie

“Where two or three are gathered together in My name, 

there am I in the midst of them.”

Matthew 18:20

How I Long To Know You!

It is already four weeks since we’ve learned you are not with us anymore!  

Oh, how I miss you.  

Yes, I knew you so well.  

I look at your brothers and sisters and with certainty I can tell how sweet you would be.  

You become sweeter and have more personality the more you are.  

There are more to love you, more to teach you, more to keep you busy, more to comfort you when you get hurt, more to show you how to do things, more to introduce you to the wonderful world we live in. 

More hands to come rushing for help when you ask, more voices that encourage you, more excitement when you accomplish something, more loving eyes that follow you through your journey of life!

I watched your baby brother Michael early this morning laughing and playing on the bed, and I long to see you play with us.   

I looked into his deep blue eyes and I long to look into your blue eyes - all your siblings have deep blue eyes, would you too?  

I hold his chubby baby body and I long to hold you, with a deep ache in my heart!  

I saw his beautiful smile that crumbled my heart and I long to see your smile.

I watch your brother Josua, my ‘Always with a new plan, out of the box’ child. 

My son with life and that in abundance and I long to know the abundant life you would live.  

He is so full of fun, joy and passion, doing everything differently and I long to know how you would be different.  

For though all your siblings is so much the same, yet they are so different and so would you!

I look at your brother Andrew.  

My son with the clear cut purpose of changing the world and I’m experiencing a deep thankfulness for the purpose of your very short life in our lives.

I watch you brothers David and Daniel playing together, living in a world of imagination of their own and I long to see you play along. 

What dimension could you add to their imagination world?

I look at your oldest brother CJ, a fine young man, full of compassion, but a strong leader and my heart ache for the loss of not knowing you as a young man this side of life.

I watch your little sister, Danika and I long to know if you were the baby girl we were praying for, for months in advance.  

It is more difficult to think of you as my little girl, I’m so used to little boys playing all over the place. 

Or maybe I just try to protect myself from further loss -  thinking of you as my little girl, who would play dress-up with her sister.

I look at your creative and always available oldest sister Heidi-Mari and I long to know, if you were my little girl, what you would create.  

I long to have hours of enjoying creative beauty around the dining table, often till late at night! 

Oh, my dearest baby, I can almost see you in our big family, you would be overflown with love, laughter and friendship.  

I ‘see’ you talking, playing, exploring life.  

But I also know you were destined for this very short life and you have accomplished everything that was asked from you.  

I rejoice in knowing you for a very short period, carrying you under my heart for a very short time, but in my heart forever!

I’m looking forward in anticipation to eternity.  

An eternity to coming to know you, love you and experiencing everlasting life!

With all my love

Your mother

"To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;"

Eccl. 3:1;4


Can't wait for the time of laughter and dancing, on the streets of gold,
in the presence of our King!

Satan’s Biggest Threat!

People still don’t understand why we choose, to gave our family planning over to God!  

I thought by now, pregnant with #9 it wouldn’t be an issue or a puzzle anymore, but quite the contrary.  From different sides I’m hearing the objections and ridicule of people, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.

As I was sitting next to my 2 and 4year old, to put them to sleep for their afternoon nap. I looked at their sweet faces, and the question came to mind: Why would anyone not want such a sweet little one?  All mothers love and adore their children, they cannot imagine a life without their precious children, yet they don’t want more.

And that is fine with me! Living in the 21st Century, every woman have rights and she can choose and control her own walk of life. But that is not where it ends! People seem to find it impossible to stop criticizing families who choose to have more than the average amount of children!   

God implanted motherhood into each woman and we just cannot ignore it!  Wanting to nurture something, a baby or even a pet if it can’t be a baby, is natural to every single woman on the face of the earth. 

A few days ago while I visited with friends in a coffee shop, the sound of an almost newborn baby’s cry made everyone stop midway in their conversations to see where the precious little voice was coming from! As all eyes laid hold of the tiny baby in her mother’s arms, every single woman’s face glowed with a softness, in adoration for the mother and her baby!

The same day, a few hours later, I was in a queue at a local store with my five well behaved little ones (7years and under).  Everyone was intrigued by their behavior, until one lady couldn’t resist the question any longer and asked me if all five were my children.  On my ‘Yes’, everyone was listening. Even more, when she asked if I was ‘finished’ now. When I mentioned my 10 week pregnancy, the whole atmosphere changed before my eyes!  It was almost like a demonic manifestation and I was the centre of attack!  One after the other derogatory comment was thrown in my direction and the eyes which was filled with approval only seconds ago, glared down on me with disapproval and disgust! 

What made this happen?  

Why on earth, would people react in anger and antagonism towards a total stranger in the local store, who mentioned she is expecting her 9th baby?  Would they react with such criticism if I had my shopping chart filled with ten to twenty pounds of butter, asking me if I knew how dangerous it was for my health?  Would they also have given me disapproving glances if I wore a low cut t-shirt and high-cut shorts, asking me if I didn’t have something ‘more appropriate’ to wear?  Chances are that they wouldn’t even have noticed me and do not care about my cholesterol or my moral standard of fashion.

Why then do people react totally bizarre when they learn that a woman, whom they don’t know from a bar of soap, is pregnant with her 9th baby?  Why would anyone care how many children I want?  Why am I such an irritation to people (even more to Christians!), when I gratefully except another blessing from God?

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  (Eph 6:12)

God is the God of the kingdom of life! Satan is ruler of the kingdom of death and destruction! These two powers are constantly in opposition with each other, since the fall of humanity! 

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”  Gen 3:15

I have just realized again, I’m opposing the biggest lie of Satan.  It is against natural design to NOT allow God to determine your family size.  It is when you choose against the biological function of the womanhood God put into each woman, that you are acting opposite to the natural.  During the past 50 years Satan subtly (but effectively) imprinted the lie of family planning deep into humanity. Even the church fell for it. It is laughable to see and hear the shallow opposing arguments, criticism and open attack of Christians against fellow families in Christ, who allow God to determine their family size! 

Satan knows that the Godly seed brought forth by women, is his biggest threat in destroying his dark works of deception and destruction.  We read that Satan has already tried twice during Bible times to kill babies. In Egypt during Moses’ time, Satan killed babies using the Pharaoh, trying to avoid the birth of a Leader that would lead God’s nation to the promised land and again through Herod, Satan killed 1000s’ of babies trying to kill baby Jesus.

We all know we are living in the final hour, before the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever Satan is killing millions of babies, which should be the part of the End-Time-Army of God!  The sad part is that not only non-Christians, but Christians also, has bought into Satan’s lies to destroy the children again, this time though ‘family planning.’ 

Why would people react bizarre towards another pregnancy?

Because the family who allows God to determine their family size, is Satan’s biggest threat!

“To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”  II Cor 2:16

You decide.

Speaking the truth in love

Linnie

Walking Memory Lane

Since 2003 we have been going to Knysna for our vacations.   We love the beautiful garden route along the South African coastline.

Every time we went, we took pictures of our family at The Heads in Knysna and by now it has become a tradition. As I was looking at the pictures we took over the past 7 years, I was filled with thankfulness and praises to the Lord, for blessing us more than I could ever have imagined!

August 2003

Danika was our baby and only 8 weeks old, Heidi-Mari 6yrs, Josua 3yrs and CJ 9yrs.  When I look at my children I cannot believe how much they look alike.  Danika is now 7 years old and look just like Heidi-Mari at that age.  

This holiday was our first in five years and signified the turning point of a very difficult financial, physical, emotional and spiritual time of our lives.  Before this holiday, I thought we would never be able to own a car or house of our own again, let alone go on holiday!  CJ and Josua, both celebrated their birthdays while on this holiday and had very special memory making moments.  

Before we went to Knysna, CJ did a unit study on Knysna, a little about it’s history and the tourism attractions - the forest, the rare indigenous trees, the wood and furniture industry, the gold rush of 1885, the Knysna elephants, George Rex - the founder of Knysna, the sea horses and oyster farms. 

While in Knysna we got a tour through a saw mill; visited the Knysna elephant Park; drove up to Millwood in the Knysna forest, near Homtini, to see what was left of the town which grew tremendously during the gold rush and then died just as quick again; visited the old churches in Knysna and Belvedere, went to the oyster farm, where CJ and Christo even tasted very fresh, live oysters - it didn’t go down well, to say the least!  We even managed to see whales a few hundred meters into the sea at Plettenberg Bay.

In the picture Danika is sucking my pinkie finger and is so content.  She was my baby who could be soothed the easiest by giving her my pinkie finger to suck on, when it wasn’t possible to nurse her right away.  When I happened to drive and she started crying, she would even sucked CJ’s pinkie finger.

This holiday will always be one of THE holidays!

April 2005

I'm 32 weeks pregnant with Andrew. Josua is 4yrs, Danika 22months, Heidi-Mari 8yrs and CJ 11yrs old.

During this holiday we stayed at Brenton On Sea in a beautiful raised log chalet.  What I cherished most about this holiday was the quiet evenings (after the children went to bed) with Christo on the balcony of the chalet, looking out over the dark sea with it’s constant rhythm of waves in our ears.  

Since I was in my 7th month of pregnancy, we didn’t drive much, the weather was good and we mostly went down to the beach, but I had to climb 100 steps down and back up again! The children had hours of fun in the sun, boogie boarding and flying their kites.  At one stage I tried my hand at the kite too, but lost my balance and fell!  Everyone had a terrible fright and I thought my waters had broke!  Christo ran up the stairs and fetched our vehicle and tried to get as near as possible to the beach, so I didn’t need to walk the steps.  After Christo picked  Danika and me up, and rushed us to our chalet, my courageous oldest son, CJ only 11 years old, took responsibility for Heidi-Mari and Josua and got them safely up the stairs back at the chalet! 

My waters didn’t break and after a warm bath and tucked in bed early, I was all well again!

The rest of the holiday was pure bliss and we were hooked on Brenton on Sea! 

September 2008

Since our last visit to Knysna, 3 1/2 years past. During the time between our Knysna holidays the Lord added Andrew, David and Daniel to our family!

Daniel was 6 weeks old, Andrew 3yrs, Danika 5yrs, CJ 14yrs, Josua 8yrs, David 22months, Heidi-Mari 11yrs old.

Since we had so many little people, the raised Log chalet, with all the steps up to the chalet and inside the chalet wasn’t practical anymore.  We stayed at a log cottage on ground level and since we mentioned we had 7 children, they gave us a cottage at the outside of the group of cottages more to the side, with more running space for our children!

We visited the Knysna Elephant park again and also Monkey Land just outside Plettenberg Bay!  When Daniel was born I bought an Ergo and a special missionary couple who went to America to have their 5th baby, sent it back to me!  I carried baby Daniel in the Ergo where ever we went. Even on the beach I could carry him in the Ergo and he was protected against the wind and sun.

Our family reconnected during this holiday. Over the past 3 1/2 years a lot has happened in our home and we could just be with each other, rubbing our fingers over our children’s hearts, filling cracks with love and attention! We had perfect weather and the little ones played for hours in the sand next to me, while Christo and the older children boogie boarded and had fun in the waves!  In the evenings we had a ‘braai’ (barbecue), having ‘stokbrood’ (bread dough rolled over a stick, grilling over the open fire) and melted marshmallows dipped in chocolate flakes! 

October 2010

Since the last picture in 2008, the Lord added little Michael to our family!

Josua 10yrs, Daniel 2yrs, David 4years, Michael 9months, Danika 7yrs, Heidi-Mari 13yrs, Andrew 5yrs and CJ 16yrs.

Although we went for the 5th time to Knysna and in the same cottage as 2008 and 2009, it was a total new experience.  We prayed for weeks for the weather, but the Lord knew better. We needed time close together and we got more rainy days than sunshine.  The first day or two we panicked, but then made peace with God’s best for our family and had a wonderful time together! We celebrated David's 4th birthday, played board games and went to see things we never did before.  The three days at the beach were champagne clear days, with no wind at all and just the right temperature to play in the water! This year even I could go boogie boarding - in the past I was either pregnant or had my hands full with a new born baby! 

By now our family knew the routine and what were expected of each one and with the least effort we had such a relaxing, restful holiday!  

This time Josua studied Knysna and we visited specific places as part of his learning experience, but more on that in a separate posting.

I praise the Lord for the ability to look back on my life and count my blessings!  

The Lord blessed me with a very special family - unique children, who each contribute to my character and experience of life and fill my days with love and laughter, not giving me one dull moment!

But most of all, the Lord blessed me with a husband of faith!   A man of God who trusts Him in providing for our family and who leads us in God’s ways!  A man who loves me like his own body and lays down his life to take care of me and our children! 

I’m a blessed woman! 

With love

Linnie