StaddonFamily.com

posted by James on 12/31/07

One thing I thank God for, especially at this time of year, is a loving and energy-giving family. We were able to show our love for each other in a practical way on Christmas Eve in the form of a gift exchange. For weeks, we all worked diligently and secretly on preparing special, personalized gifts for the exchange.

As each gift was revealed on Christmas Eve night, it was really neat to see how each gift met a specific need. Here are a few of them: Esther wanted ways to hang pictures in her room in Oklahoma so David artistically decorated some frames and invented a way to hang them on the wall. Jonathan didn’t have a spiffy red tie, so Esther made him one! I needed orderliness, so Daniel gave me a handy, personalized weekly planner and notebook.  Everyone but Robert had a personalized table place-mat, so Michael used his skills to complete the set. Jonathan’s amazing custom-made beehive-tool holder for Michael will be very useful. Robert made David a notebook full of detailed Photoshop Tutorials for a fun way to learn the program. Daniel enjoyed the intense game I invented on the geography of Europe to help build skills in that area.

It was quite the evening! I praise God for a family who loves God, because those who love God, love others: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments” (I Jn 5:2).

5 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by James on 12/30/07

During this Christmas season, God has allowed us to show His love through hospitality in sharing our home with others. On December 19, the day Robert and I returned from Chicago, Dad invited one of his co-workers from work for dinner. Everyone had decorated the house splendidly. Even I was impressed with the beautiful Christmas decorations! The next evening, some friends, family, and neighbors came over for dinner and an uplifting Christmas concert. It was really good to get to know some  of our neighbors better.  Two days later, on the 22nd, a group of relatives and friends came down from Morgantown for another Christmas party. Everyone did really well on the piano, violins, and  bells for yet another concert.

Showing hospitality requires a lot of time but is very rewarding. Mom and Esther, along with their many helpers, sacrificially and joyfully set to preparing and serving each delicious meal. With the meals so well prepared, we were able to focus on meaningful conversation around the table. I don’t know how many hours Daniel, Jonathan, Esther, and  David put into practicing the Christmas carols on the bells and violins, but the beautiful melodies brought joy to many and glory to God.  I hadn’t practiced my piano piece on “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for over a month, but as I played for the Lord, it turned out surprisingly well. Michael, Robert, Daniel and I wanted to sing as a quartet, but we had to come up with something by that evening. So after composing and practicing throughout the day, we were able to sing a fun arrangement of “Angels we Have Heard on High”.

Showing hospitality is a good way to encourage and get to know our friends and neighbors. It is also a good way of celebrating the true spirit of Christmas. We praise the Lord for allowing us to keep His commandment to sacrificially love others as He loved us at Christmas-time so many years ago.

3 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Robert on 12/27/07

For Christmas Esther gave the family a video she had seen while spending some time in Oklahoma City—Behind the Sun from Open Doors International. Tonight we were finally able to watch it!

This dramatic story follows the life of Samir Majan, a young man from a Muslim family who has found Christ while attending college in the United States. Returning to visit his family, Samir knows that his newfound faith could result in persecution. Little does he realize, however, the extent of danger that awaits him when his father discovers what has happened.

A roundup of comments from the family:

David: “I was shocked by the surprising ending. You’ll have to watch it and find out for yourself!”

Jonathan: “Very exciting and kept me hanging! Made me very grateful we don’t live under persecution”

Daniel: “A well-crafted storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat”

James: “An eye-opening video of sacrifice and commitment to what is eternally important vs. what is temporally comfortable”

Esther: “This will stimulate a re-evaluation of your priorities”

Robert: “A motivation to shine brightly for Christ in the midst of a dark world”

Michael: “A renewed understanding of what it means to live for eternity and not for worldly life and comfort”

We would wholeheartedly recommend this video to everyone!

3 Comments » | posted in Tidbits

posted by Donald on 12/27/07

The night was crisp and clear. Between two very cloudy days, the Lord blessed us with a cool and beautiful Christmas Day–and night. I stood in an apartment complex looking up at the night sky. Between two towering apartment buildings against the velvet of deep purple sky, hung a full moon, radiating its calm, bright light. It was wonderful to behold.

After enjoying one another’s company, exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve and punching in a full day’s work of teaching, we had taken the opportunity to take the Christmas spirit a little farther–downtown–to a neighbor family. We sang Silent Night, Hark the Herold Angels Sing, Joy to the World and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The familiar strains rang among the buildings, radiating (much like the moon) both joy and peace. When the last song was finished the family came out to greet us with warm hugs and words of appreciation.

In making the night a special night for someone else, it become just as meaningful for us and the ancient carols reached their target once again, this time in a home on the others side of the world from my own.

4 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Michael on 12/23/07

I witnessed something new during hunting season this year. The tree stand I was hunting in one particular evening happened to be located in a stand of Bigtooth Aspen, also known as Large-toothed Poplar. A rather common tree on our land, Bigtooth Aspen is one tree that had me “wondering as I wander out under the sky”. It seemed to be a rather useless piece of creation. It holds no use as firewood or timber, it is insignificant as a wildlife food source, and its fall color is rather drab, unlike its “Quaker cousin”. Its bark is an entirely normal gray-brown. The wood is so soft and light that the life of a Bigtooth Aspen usually ends when the wind blows and the tree snaps in half, leaving a tall, ugly, ragged stump. Can it get any worse? The tree does provide some pollen to honeybees, but at the same time as countless other trees. To its merit, when you stand among its large trunks growing close together in the forest, they do give a wonderful sensation of being in a deeeep dark woodland. Other than that, what’s their use?

So as I sat there on my stand, I began to notice holes in the trees around me. Some of them were natural holes made when branches had fallen out while others had been deliberately carved. Then it struck me that all of the holes were in the aspen trees. Not a single one was in the nearby Red Maples or Tulip Trees, although both are known for soft wood. That was interesting. As it grew dark, I watched a Flicker land on one of the trees, hop down, and disappear into one of the holes. Soon a Pileated Woodpecker noisily swooped in and landed on a larger Aspen. It hopped around to the opposite side and into a bigger cavity. When it was almost dark another flicker flew in, looked into the same hole as the first had entered, but did not go in. It hopped to another hole and looked in, but would not go in there either. It flew to another tree and looked around. Finally it went to the top of yet another tree, looked in a hole, hopped in, looked out a few times, and then disappeared from sight. Before I left the stand I watched a Gray Squirrel scamper up another Aspen tree and crawl into another hole. There were several holes at which I had seen no activity, and began to wonder what cozy critters might be inside.

I trudged back to the house with a new appreciation for the Bigtooth Aspen. I knew of four other little creatures who might also be grateful. It strikes me that the weakness of the tree is its value. The extreme lightness of the wood, making it of little value for other purposes, is the very thing that makes it able to receive and shelter the animals. Does this remind you of something? Wasn’t it the big inns that were too full and busy to receive and shelter the baby Jesus, and the lowly stable that ended up welcoming the King of Kings? Wasn’t it the despised publican who was willing to repent of his sin and receive God’s mercy? “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to those that love Him?” If your heart is soft and you understand your weakness, you are exactly where you need to be to receive God’s greatest gift: “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world”. Now remember that the holes in the tree are not a comfortable thing for the tree. But they serve a higher purpose than the tree itself: higher forms of life. Neither is it a comfortable thing to “take up your cross” and follow Him. But our short, temporary lives were meant to serve a higher purpose, and “this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life”!

7 Comments » | posted in Family News, Possessing the Land