Blessings

So we have been here at Cone Oasis Baptist Camp for about 3 weeks.  We have been blessed beyond belief and I just want to share it here.  When we got here and started looking around, I discovered that my kitchen had fresh shelf paper lining, but not only that, our pantry and refrigerator were full of food.  Just last week, the Director of our camp gave us an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a free gift of a one year family membership to the local zoo.  Wanna know why they did that?  Because here at Cone Oasis, we are encouraged to spend time with our families and we will actually be given that opportunity.  Now that the material blessings have been named we have had several spiritual blessings as well.  Skylar, our youngest has accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and I am SO happy about that.  I have been pushed to do things outside of my comfort zone which was a welcome experience to say the least.  When it was discovered that I used to teach Bible Drill, I found out I was desperately needed for the camp that was going on. I was scared because I really didn't know any of these people and they were predominately spanish speaking.  I have felt the need to leard spanish here and I have developed many friends already who are willing to help me. The clowns that were here were so amazing, and when I had my picture taken with them was the first time that I had ever told ANYONE about my dream to some day be a clown myself.  Now that I have told people, I feel like I am free to do it now, and I also feel like a weight has lifted from me, so I have done tons of research and am so excited that I will be working on and pursuing a dream of becoming a "Caring Clown."  My clown name will be Missy the Clown and I will start my ministry by visiting hospitals and nursing homes and see where the Lord takes me from there.  I am going to be trying to do as many clown classes as I can.  I am so blessed.

letter to the board

To whom it concerns,

I am writing this letter to inform you all why my husband and I are moving on to other ministry opportunities.  Over the past year I have been amazed at the harsh and unchristian behavior of the leadership of PBA.  Let me share some examples from my perspective. 

There seems to be a sick need for control over all aspects of our lives.  At our Floydada Kids Kamp, one of the staff from that camp asked if they would be allowed to fill up ice coolers with ice from the dining hall.  Michael then told her that our ice machine was broken and we had to go to town before every meal just to provide ice for our campers.  The truth was, if we filled up their coolers then we wouldn’t have enough ice for the campers and if she had simply been told that, she would have been very okay with that.  Why was there a need to lie?  I can’t figure it out myself.  Telling the truth is just so much easier and more acceptable.  In other instances where Michael tried to control Paul was when he froze all of the accounts in town.  We had campers on site but because he did that, we had to explain what was happening; we had to have the parts. How’s that for a Christian image?  Now local people became aware of what was going on down here.

I am very extreme in my beliefs and the abusive nature in which Michael responds to not only his wife but other staff members and their spouses as well, is not okay with me.  I’m not only referring to physical abuse but verbal and emotional abuse as well.  Numerous times he has called his own wife names and become very belligerent with her in front of staff.  He was so angry with me when the golf cart battery died that he reduced me to tears, yet when was asked why he was so angry, he denied ever getting upset with me, even though the full office staff was witness to this behavior.  Matthew 12:36 says “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.  The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”.

My own children have been involved in the madness.  They have seen things go on here that they should have never seen.  My children watched a man get fired because he was wearing a sleeveless shirt in the dining hall.  Matthew 25:45 ‘And he will answer ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me”.  My older children were witness to the assault and the instances leading up to that.  My oldest daughter has encountered nightmares because she is scared to sleep in this house.  When you can’t feel safe inside your own home, and especially when your home is on a Christian camp, there is something wrong with that.  My kids feel like they have to walk on eggshells and be super cautious of Michael’s moods. 

Upon Paul’s resignation, he called several board members.  Before ending his call with every member, he asked if each one would pray with him.  Two members refused to pray with him.  I pray for the day when Christ is invited back to this camp because then I know a great work will be done.  Until the people on this board believe that it is not men that make up PBA, but Christ, ministry cannot be done.

In Christ,

Melissa Eckeberger

randomness

Yesterday I learned that St. Patrick was not Irish, he was only a missionary called to Ireland.  He also used the 3 leaf clover to explain the Trinity to the evil people....

Sebastian got a really long kick out of the fact that when I was in 1st grade, we still used film reels in school....

Our efforts to get rid of the ever lovin donkeys has been named  "Get the 'Hay' out of here...and the rattlesnakes are going in the freezer tonight...

Next week we are starting back up with school hot and heavy in our new cabin set aside just for school....La Primera Conference Room A is going to be cleaned out this weekend and all of our stuff moved in....

Monday I'm running again...training for a 5K....

and that's all for now....have a blessed week...

I dreamed a little dream...

So it has been 2 months since my husband has been assaulted by his boss.  Paul's boss has been biding his time and attempting to buy our board members.  He has actually been somewhat successful at this because our board has agreed to let him live on the property for an additional 2 months and provide other housing for another 4 months.  We are going to continue to pay his salary and all of his benefits.  Well it has already been a terrible start to his 60 day time period, it has been a time of beligerence and non-compliance. 

Last night, I had 3 dreams in a row.  I know they were seperate dreams because I woke up and looked at the clock in between each one.  In all of the dreams I was pregnant and about to deliver.  In the first dream, I didn't have the money to pay the hospital so Michael refused to take me there.  The second dream, he just flat out refused and I drove myself to the hospital while in labor.  For some reason the details of the third dream have escaped me, but in the third dream, Michael was not hindering me from delivering. 

According to some most likely unreliable sources, dreaming of being pregnant means giving birth to a new idea, a new direction or a new goal.  And dreaming in 3's symbolizes completion.  It also represents a trilogy. 

Call me crazy, but I am very convinced that dreams play a major role in our lives.  After all, in the Old Testament of the Bible, dreams were a crucial part of some's existence.  So I ask myself and my God, How do these dreams play a part in my life.  Are me and my family going to have to suffer a great deal of pain (labor pains) before we can give birth to our ministry here?  Does dreaming in threes refer to Paul, Mark, and Reagon (the 3 managers)?  Or does it refer to the Trinity??  Is money going to be an issue?  Am I going to have to go at it alone (well not alone because I have an awesome Savior)?

Ahhh, its so late.  I must get to bed now and dream more dreams....I know I won't have all the answers and am probably not supposed to, but if anything, I do have peace......

excuses, excuses

So here is a short list of the excuses I have been making lately, and then what I have decided to do about them....

1.  I can't start my running program because I don't have a treadmill, and I WANT one...

2.  I can't really eat healthy because I am not exercising like I should be in the first place...

3.  I can't really enjoy teaching home-school because I don't have a bought curriculum that tells me how to do everything....

This past Sunday I went to Refiners Fire Ministries church and honestly can't recall everything the pastor said or even what scripture he uses.  I think it was somewhere in Luke or Acts.  He basically talked about doing your best and giving your all.  That's all Christ wants from us anyways, He doesn't want us to be perfect, he wants us to be obedient.  Being obedient involves doing what we are told to do wholeheartedly.  To obey is better than the sacrifice we will have to make if we don't obey and give him our all.  

So my solutions are this, short and sweet.   I will start running because God has so graciously given us this land of about 300 acres to live on.  I am currently trying to do my best with my diet because I know that it is the right and healthy thing to do.  After all, we are supposed to eat to live not live to eat.  The last of my struggles, well in the area of excuses anyways, is the homeschooling issue.  It has been a constant struggle for me but since I so adamantly do not want my children in public schools, I have to give it my all.  I just have to do it.  No, I am not at the point where I can buy an expensive curriculum but I have been SO blessed by so many people with textbooks, workbooks, and so many other resources.  I will do what I know I am supposed to do, because I have spent time in the word and in prayer.   I know that there will be days when all of that goes out the window, but it is my daily goal to do my best at everything I was meant to do.  I am going to give Christ my all.

Hosea

     I will start off by giving a little bit of a background on my story here.  7 years ago, me and my husband felt the calling to be in camp ministry.  Several deployments later and during my husband battle with  kidney stones, we were at our wit's end on what to do about a job.  My uncle calls and tells us about this job opening at a camp in West Texas.  Shortly after Paul has surgery to blast the stones, we take off to our first job interview for the position at the camp.  Halfway there, we had to go to the ER due to an incredible amount of pain.  We debated on going home at 3 a.m but decided we would just make it to the interview.  Fast Forward a couple weeks, Paul gets the job and we are loaded up and ready to move.  Along the way we have 3 flat tires and the last two happen during the pouring down rain.  We roll into town about 3 a.m.  Ever since we have been here it is been a constant struggle here and  it has really begun to take its toll on us.  I am a pessimist at heart, I pray every day though about being different.
     For some reason, and I know its not random, I was reading the book of Hosea.  In this book, the Lord tells Hosea that he is going to marry a prostitute and she is going to be unfaithful to him, but he will take her back and forgive her.  He says that this is going to be symbolic of the relationship between God and Israel.  For 10 months I have been saying that all that bad stuff that happened was a "sign" from God that we should have never come here.  Although, deep down, I KNEW we were called here.  I know now though through reading about Hosea that God uses all things. Well, I knew that before, but it became more real to me.   All of the incidents that happened to us here were just a precursor to what was to go on here.  It was a long hard trip to get here and it has been a long and hard 10 months.  But just as in Hosea, the Lord offers forgiveness to the people of Israel. He gives them a chance to make things better for themselves.  I know that things are going to turn out to be better here and even if they don't, Christ never said it was going to be easy to do the right thing.  I have peace in my heart....I love my God... 

Confessions of a New Homeschooling Mom

Before I started homeschooling, I had visions of all the children sitting down and listening.  Enjoying education as much as I did, I was sure they would, since after all, I LOVE to teach.   But here is what day 3 looked like for us:

1.  I stayed in my pajamas all day long

2.  I yelled at the kids at least 10 times.

3.  I threatened them with public school.

4.  I forgot to feed one of them lunch until 3 o'clock.  (he never said he was hungry!)

5.  We did get school done though, they reviewed a lot of grammar and math and learned the proper form for writing a letter.  A lot of what we are doing is review anyways because I pulled them out at the semester.  That has been challenging trying to figure out what they learned and what they haven't learned so I will know what to teach and what not to teach.  It has been and adventure and one that we are all enjoying together, even if numbers 1-4 happen again.

My Sister written by J.E

So as I was cleaning out J's backpack before we homeschooled, this is what I found.  It is a paper he wrote before the Christmas holidays, and it is soooo funny.  He also made an A on it.  I will leave everything spelled just the way he has it.  I hope you enjoy.  It still makes me laugh.

I have the most crazyest sister in the world.  She does the most wierdest things in the world!  What she loves is what is the worst thing!  Ya.  Try living with her.

My little sister is white.  She has blue eyes and she has blond hair.  

She likes to play hide'n go seek with me, my brother, and my other sister.  She likes me to chase her with a blanket over my body.  That is really fun.

And what she likes to do very much is adgatate us.  She just go's on and on & on.  She's lucky we don't have duck tape.

She doesn't like us to be sarcastec.  She doesn't like us to go in her room or tease her.  And you know what's not fare?  When she teases us she dosn't get in trouble.  But when we do we get in trouble. 

And you think it's only hard?  Its horrible.  Its like I said in the beginning, try living with her.

 J 

We did it...

So we have been praying about homeschooling for a long time, we finally have decided to jump into it full force this January.  Everyday we go through the whole rigamarole of getting the kids onto the bus, so they can spend a total of ten hours at school and on the bus.  The kids do really well in school but the scripture that I am so thankful for is Psalms 127:3-5.  "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."  So after reading and praying that and many other scriptures, we just came to the conclusion that we were not investing into the lives of our "reward from God" as much as we could and should.  Putting our family first is what we aim to do no matter the thoughts and opinions of others.  We always get the condescending remarks about socialization for our kids.  But I always ever so gently remind these people that in public schools, students are required to sit down and be quiet all day long and they only get a 30 minute lunch and maybe recess if they behave.  Physical activity isn't a requirement in most public schools today, which brings me to my next point.  Inactivity is the leading cause of death today.  It has surpassed smoking and heart disease.  Do I really want my child to become a slave to this lifestyle?  Also, school lunches are pretty non-nutritious these days and kids get the opportunity to eat one time all day.  Not good for the metabolism in my opinion.  With homeschooling, not only will we be able to fulfill Christ's will, we will also be becoming much healthier people.  We plan on growing our own garden and raising chickens.  Its going to be awesome and we are so excited.  I know that it is going to be hard but life isn't supposed to be easy.  The cost of Christianity is high and I'm willing to pay the price......

Natural High Anyone??

So in my health class, my instructor recommended that we create a Top 10 list of our own personal natural highs....Its a lot harder than you think...

1.  Every morning when the kids are getting on the bus, Joshua will run all the way back to the house to give me a hug.  Mornings are not very fun since I am not a morning person and neither are any of my children, but no matter how grumpy I am, he still loves me when its all said and done.

2.  Whenever Paul picks up a guitar or sits at the piano and sings, it makes me happier than you could ever know.  I love that man so much, he gives me a natural high.

3.  Grocery Shopping!!I know that sounds so weird but since I don't work and will soon be homeschooling. nothing brings me greater joy than preparing healthy meals for my family....which leads me to the next on my list.

4.  Sitting down at the table and all of the kids liking what I have prepared...It sure doesn't happen very often, especially since I have so many kids, some of whom are extremely picky, but I love it when it does.

5.  There's always the obvious natural high that I get when I exercise.  I certainly don't do it enough, but that is on another list.

6.   I have two children who have accepted Christ as their Savior already and that was a high I will never forget.  Kind of made it clear to me that even though I think I am muddling through this parenting thing, at least I have some impact on  my kids...I owe everything to God!!!

7.  When any of my children tell me thank you for little things like treating them to a sonic drink, it makes my heart swell with love...and a little bit of pride, too...

8.   I get this crazy high when I am discussing literature....I love love love to read literature, but love discussing it even more.

9.  When my cat comes to sit in my lap sometimes I get really annoyed because I think she is in the way, but I rejoice in Gods creation when she does...I love my animals...

10.  My last high that I want to list is when my kids or my husband hug me for no reason other than the fact that they love me for me.  I am overly critical of every aspect of my own life, yet they just see a great person who strives to lead them in a life filled with Christ's love..

I will be adding to my list and look back at these regularly just to be reminded when I need reminding.   

thoughts on education

So I am working in a public school system and quite honestly, it sucks. There are so many politics involved with running a school. I don't agree with half of them, and because I don't agree with them I have been labeled as "not a team player". I work with the special ed department and we are doing those kids such a disservice that I want out. I don't want to be involved in any more ethical dillemmas. I don't want my kids to be a part of a public school system that is so large-scale. I think that is where some of the problems lie. It's too big for its own good. So my next dilemma is "homeschool or public school"? I can't really afford christian school for all four of my kids but they can get a christian education from me!! And they can get the rest that they need to be healthy. They can learn from an ordinary person(me) when they struggle with learning from a more educated person(teacher). I have been praying about it for a while now, I don't have a clear answer just yet, but I know that I will most likely not be continuing my career in the public school system. I am just grateful that for now while they are in public school, they aren't under the special ed category because they certainly would't be getting what they needed.

Blogging

I am home sick today and wanted to start my blog again. I will write more tonight though because I don't have time now. I have some serious thoughts I would like to write about here. So until then...