Remembering our son.

Three years ago the Lord changed our lives forever when he called our son Matthew home. We have never seen him smile, we have never heard him laugh, we have never felt his hugs. But HE has never known pain or sadness and has grown up swinging on the gates of heaven, hearing the voices of angels and seeing the face of God. How we envy him!

We miss him. We love him. We look forward to the day when we will once again see him face to face. Our child, our son.

Matthew Isaac
delivered March 14, 2006 3:45 a.m.
he weighed 4 ounces and was 6-1/2 inches long

He now rests in the arms of the Lord in the majesty of heaven

March 14, 2006

At 3:45 in the morning, today, you were delivered. Your daddy, Aunt Demma and Aunt Ginger were with me ~ their support, hugs, laughter and prayers were an incredible blessing for my heart as I had to deliver you ~ my fourth child ~ who had already gone HOME to be with the Lord.

You are my fourth son - a boy! Your name is Matthew Isaac Eastman. Matthew means “gift from God" and Isaac means "laughter". What a precious, precious gift it was from the Lord to know you are a boy. Your identity and individuality are so important to me.

Your brothers are grieving the loss of you ~ they will never be able to hold you, kiss your face, teach you to play baseball, build with Lego's or just laugh uncontrollably with you. But one day, they will see their little brother face to face in the glory and splendor of heaven. How they will run to you, Matthew!

You were so wanted ~ you were so loved ~ and you are so missed.

One of our best friends, Bruce Garner, is coming to dedicate you to the Lord. He is a pastor, a man of character and a dear friend who loves us. There is no one else we would want to stand with us as we commit your little life to the Living God.

I love you, Matthew. It was so hard to see you ~ so tiny ~ so fragile. I could not hug you or kiss you or touch you the way a mother longs to do with her child. All I could do was hold your tiny form and look at the beautiful design of God's hand ~ every part of you was fully formed. Your hands and feet had little fingers and toes smaller than grains of rice. Your little mouth was in the shape of a circle as if you were singing. I saw your knees, your arms, your face ~ there is not a part of you that my eyes missed, though swimming in tears. My teeny tiny perfect baby who was taken home early in our time but perfectly in the Lord's.

What a treasure for my heart to keep, knowing that you have seen the eyes of the Father! Your eyes have beheld heaven in all of its glory. I can't wait for you to show me your favorite places!

They just brought you to us ... Bruce is here. Just watching them push you towards me made my heart leap ~ my baby, my son, is with me again. Though I know it is simply a shell, it is hard to let you go. I want you with me forever.

Thank you, Matthew Isaac, for giving us 112 days of joy and hope and love. The Lord formed you. He knew you before you were conceived and He numbered your days ... though we would ask for a million more, these days have been precious. Every change in my body, every change in yours thrilled my heart and made me love you more.

I love you, my son, my baby, my child ...
forever and always, Mommy

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

Training our soldiers for battle … on all fields

During this past year (as we grew increasingly aware of the moral decay of our country and the world) and as we prepared for the birth of our next son, Dennis and I realized, with great intensity, that the Lord has a PURPOSE for our family. And WE have a responsibility to carry it out.

The Lord has given us a small army of our own men to train for HIM - to fight for the truths of Scripture - to stand up and say NO MORE when our rights are threatened and when we are asked to go against God's commands - to protect the innocent - to serve those in need - to "be ready in season and out of season to give an answer for your faith" ...

One of our family motto's is "Begin with the end in mind" - you cannot achieve goals or aim for the target if you do not know what it is you are aiming for, right?

So, we sat down together and began making a list of how we need to prepare our boys so they will be ready to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He calls them. And together - WOW - they can change the world!

I thought I would share our list ... we keep it up in our house to remind us what we are striving for so our days are not wasted. We are encouraged, challenged and refocused every time we see these goals as we train our young boys to become MEN who will be prepared when the day of battle comes - no matter what the field looks like.


Spiritual Training
~ Scripture memorization ~ Theology ~ Personal prayer and devotion time
~ “Who I am in Christ” ~ Knowledge and exercising of spiritual gifts
~ Understanding church history ~ Biographies of the great pillars of the faith
~ Mission trips – individually/family – home and abroad

Personal/Emotional
~ Personality profile ~ Knowledge of strengths/weaknesses ~ Manners
~ Journaling ~ Express emotions rationally ~ Attentive listeners
~ Observant of people/needs around them

Physical
~ Conditioning ~ Basic survival skills ~ Good sleep habits
~ Healthy eating/ water drinkers ~ Understanding body/how it works/what it needs

Political
~ Full knowledge/understanding of world systems ~ History of USA/world
~ Volunteer with political organizations ~ Travel to see and experience other cultures ~ Knowledge of military ~ Understanding domestic/world politics

Intellectual
~ READ – everything! Biographies, history, culture, map study …
~ Writing skills ~ Math skills ~ Art appreciation, in all forms

Skills
~ Learn to shoot a gun ~ First Aid ~ Cook a month’s worth of meals
~ Woodworking ~ Sew a button, mend a tear, wash clothes
~ Change a tire/basic car repair ~ Electrical /Plumbing ~ Infant/child skills
~ Painting interior/exterior ~ Ability to teach others ~ Clean/maintain home inside/ out

Service
~ Neighbors ~Volunteer in community ~Meals/needs to the sick
~ Work with children – camp, Sunday school ~Hospital visitation

The Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Parenting 101

Since I find parenting amusing, rewarding, challenging and in constant need of creative solutions, I thought I would share some of the ideas I come up with (or copy) in case others may benefit.


You have already seen a few of them (see 12-08-2008 in the archives for an example) so this will just be an ongoing, as-they-happen documentary on "how we do it" in the Eastman home.


Today's saga:


I asked a child to feed Josiah so I could make breakfast for the rest of the family.

The response was, "WHAT? I don't feel like feeding him. Ugggggghhhh!!!"


REALLY?


As I controlled my inner rage for this selfish attitude, I summoned my creative powers and came up with the following result:


"Well, I do not feel like cooking for you or feeding you either. So you may go sit in your room until we are done with our delicious breakfast and you may have a bowl of cereal or an apple. You were asked to serve this family but you chose to serve yourself instead. So I am going to "do unto you as you have done to others" so you can feel the pain of it. Goodbye."


I would LOVE to say that this creative and gentle response evoked deep conviction and repentance on the part of my child, but alas, it did not.


About an hour later, and after some temper-filled moments, he came forth from his room with a sorrowful heart, apologized for being rude and selfish and was restored to the family.


Time will only tell if this lesson cut to the heart or not ... I am wondering how quickly I should test it again. Hmmm .....

The gift of words

My husband's main love language is "words of affirmation". Like most men, he needs to know that he is appreciated, respected and noticed for the things he does in our family, at work, in life.

And while one of my spiritual gifts is encouragement, I am not always as consistent with him as I should be.

So, this year for his birthday I gave him the gift of WORDS!


I went and bought a nice, hard-cover, spiral bound weekly calendar and each day I write something I appreciate, admire, respect, enjoy or love about him. It is amazing how many things there are to praise someone for when you are purposeful about doing it!

After he read the inscription when I gave it to him he looked up at me and said, "You are going to write something every day for a year?!?" He couldn't believe it!

And do you know what - my groom goes to that book every night before bed to see what I had to say to him that day. He NEVER misses a day! And he must say "thank you" at least twice a week for what I have written.

It has been a blessing for both of us actually ... he receives the words of affirmation he craves and I enjoy seeing the look of delight and pleasure on his face after he reads my thoughts about him each day.

"Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word aptly spoken" - Proverbs

Thought for the day ...

"In the midst of suffering we need to focus not on the explanations of "why"

but on the PROMISES of God's Word."