StaddonFamily.com

posted by Esther on 08/17/07

Welcome back to the follow up post on Flash News Interviews! Today we will be questioning the rest of the group that traveled to Indianapolis from August 7-11 for the ATI Homeschool Conference!

“Esther, I hear you were leading a pre-Excel team of 12 wonderful 9-11 year old girls. Tell us about it.” She said: “Well, the hightlight was definately sharing the lesson on honoring your Dad. Reading the girls notes to their dads that said things like ‘I want to make you successful’ and ‘I love you and give you my heart’ was very touching. What a joy to see the hearts of children turned toward their fathers! Malachi 4:6

“Michael, how did the Lord speak to you?” He answered: ”During the day of delighting in the Lord He showed me a significant scripture tha provided direction for me at this time.”

Mom is excited to share with us: “I appreciated the openness and oneness of spirit that I believe was a result of the new emphasis on prayer and making sure your heart is right vs. outward conformity. It was a blessing to see the first timers there” she says. ”The whole atmosphere was encouraging.”

“Dad, was there a main point that stood out to you?” His answer is a good final thought to leave our audiance with. He said:”The whole idea of meditating on a passage of scripture until there is a change in my life frees me from the pressure and tension of trying to change others.”

 Thank you for coming back to Flash News Interviews! May the Lord bless your relationship with Him as you apply the truths of His Word daily.

5 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Esther on 08/15/07

Wow, so much was covered in this years ATI Home Schooling Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. Here are specific things that members of the family shared with me during this morning’s Flash News Interviews.

David, what did you think of the day of delighting in the Lord? “God spoke to me through Ps. 119:9 and Prov. 9:6. I have now memorized these verses! I have been motivated to memorize more scripture because of this conference.

“Next, we will hear from Jonathan: “It was a lot like the Journey to the Heart but I understood more and it was good to hear it again.

Daniel speaks of the message from Jim Sammons: “I was encouraged not to let any person, hobby, or interest rival my dedication and excitement for my relationship with Christ.

“In response to the question “What will you be able to apply from this conference?” James said, “The message on being instant in prayer. God is ready and willing to intervene in every situation and desires us to invite Him into our trials.”

What incredible glimpses of the truths of God’s Word! But this is only half of our featured celebrities! Stop by Friday for more exciting pictures and insights from Flash News Interviews!

4 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Esther on 08/9/07

A good friend of mine recently gave me a journal of what she prayed for me as I was doing ministry work this spring. I compared entries with my journal and found serveral times that what was prayed was exactly what I needed that day. God hears prayer! Here are a few examples:

Jennifer’s journal entry for 4/16 read “May her failures not discourage her but encourage her to turn to her Saviour.” My entry for 4/16 read “I did not connect with the back table in the 5th grade class very well.”

Jennifer’s journal entry for the beginning of the fourth week read “Give her excitment over this next week,…” Mine read “Today was an exciting day at school! The Lord blessed tremendously”

Jennifer’s journal entry for 4/30 read “May you free her of the bondage of focussing on any part of herself” My entry for 4/30 read “We watched a good video this evening on brokenness in the life of Joshua. We get burdened becuse we think we have to lead the battle. God is the leader. It’s all God not our self-glory, self-effort or self-will!”

Jennifer’s journal entry for May 2nd read “open the hearts of these young peple and children. Help them to hear and apply. May they… grow into mature, and faithful servants in your kingdom.” That was the day a little boy in Bible club received his Bible. My journal read “He was so hungry and thirsty to use and read it.”

Jennifer’s journal entry after it was over read: “May her joy for serving there in the schools be channeled to serving and blessing her family once she arrives home.” My journal read: “I’m going home with incredible joy for what God did here and enthusiastic gratefulness for my families goal and how I can help them reach it.”

It has been invigorating to compare our journals and see how God works through prayer! If you ever feel like you would like to be an important part of another ministry just pray the for the work God is doing in the people of our nation and the world!

10 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Dad on 08/6/07

It is not too often that a missionary is paid by an organization in the host country to come and serve. But this is the marvelous provision that the Lord has made for the team that Donald will be serving with in Taiwan. (We plan to post more specific updates so stay tuned!)

After notification of acceptance and just two weeks and two days to prepare, Donald was very busy packing, obtaining his visa, opening a bank account, getting a health certificate, traveling to PA for his cousins wedding, assigning his duties to others, taking care of last minute emails and teaching responsibilities.

As a special treat, David and Esther braided bread dough in strips and formed the letters to make “Good-Bye”. Donna’s parents joined the nine of us for his fair well dinner since it would be a year before we would see him again. We woke up at 3:30 a.m. in order to have Donald at the airport for an 8:30 flight.

We are grateful for Donald’s faithful service here in our home for the past 2 years. We know the Lord’s call is upon him and we rejoice in the ministry God has for him. Please pray for him as the Lord brings it to your mind.

2 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Jonathan on 08/3/07

Last week we took a trip up to PA to visit our cousins. One night while we were there we had a cookout. I was going through the line and had just put on some mustard on my hot dog when all of a sudden my plate slipped off the counter and all the mustard on my hot dog went flying onto my new white shirt It was easy to clean up my hot dog but almost impossible to get it off my shirt.

When we finally got home I tried spraying Pre-Spot on the mustard stain but it didn’t do very much good. So then I tried Sol-u-mel and it worked a little better. By this time I was getting rather discouraged. It wasn’t coming out! Then Mom remembered that once she got ink out of a blanket with toothpaste! So I decided to try it. I scrubbed the toothpaste on the stain and it worked better then anything we had tried yet. But it didn’t get it all the way out. We then checked on the internet and it suggested using Fantastik so we tried that and it worked really good. After this we threw it in the washing machine when it got out it was exactly how it was when it went in. So I thought that I’ll just have to make it a work shirt. But Mom had one more idea. She hung it out in the sun, and by the end of the day you could hardly tell I ever spilled mustard on it!

I’m so thankful for mom encouraging me to keep trying and not to give up. Always have determination even when you miserable mistakes.

6 Comments » | posted in Family News