October 2019 Update

Nathaniel is never looking!

1 Timothy 1:5, "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (NASB)

Dear Family in Christ!

We do not have any news of snow to share with you yet - but we can share how God is blessing us! :)

Nathaniel is now 7 months old and can sit up by himself, eat foods, and is learning to crawl! 

It has taken a while for the new school-year pattern to kick in here in Northern Maine, due to each school making its own adjustment for harvest break. By the end of this week, all the potatoes will be harvested and everyone will be back in school! We are glad to have our own family pattern up and running:

I love spending the day with this busy, happy, fun-loving guy - and so does everyone else! 

Benjamin's work week has been stretched to a mandatory six days a week at the McCrum potato factory in Washburn, ME. His work schedule is as follows:

Monday-Thursday: 6:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Friday: 6:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Saturday: 6:30 AM - 11:30 AM 

Though this schedule infringes on our family time quite a bit, there are many ways in which it is a blessing! Benjamin has decided that mornings are the best time to wake up and study God's Word, which he does from 4-5 AM. This helps him start his day in the Word and prayer and gives us time to have breakfast together before Nathaniel wakes up and Benjamin leaves for work at 6.  Losing some weekend time causes us to guard our Friday nights as a family and we use Saturdays for our group Bible studies. Megan leads the ladies' study over breakfast on Saturday morning and Benjamin conducts the men's study after lunch. Sunday mornings we teach children's Sunday school during the adults class. We are learning more about how to steward our time apart and cherish our time together. God has also given Benjamin a better position at work, a raise in pay, and opportunities to share the Gospel with some of his coworkers.

Family Bowling :) Everybody got their partner? 

Brother and Sister chatting over food prep. 

We have not done much hosting since our last letter, but we have spent a lot of time celebrating with family. Christina (Benjamin's sister) visited Maine in early September and will be coming again next week to vacation with her husband while we help watch her two sweet children. This past month has involved some babysitting of our twin nieces also and the celebrating of our mother, Annette's, birthday and meeting her new Sweetheart.

Birthday Photo Booth.

Babysitting! 

One sad part of our month has been saying "good-bye" to our Pastor and his family as God has called them to a new church. We have been so blessed by their example in preaching Christ's Gospel in word and deed while here; their faithfulness to move away from their loved home to the place God calls them is a reminder to us to trust and obey God always.

A cheerful heart is good medicine. ~ Proverbs 17:22a

One further blessing of God this month has been to supply our home with desired furniture. Though Megan was earning money on the side in different ways to pay for things that were wants, not needs, God gave us the furniture freely. We now have a couch to make our living room more inviting and a desk for Benjamin to study at that remind us how much God cares about every part of our lives and how He is our Great Provider. This is a reminder we need often.

Nathaniel and I love to read his Bible story in the morning.

As to Megan's money from home schemes - only one has moved forward so far. She made string art snowflakes and they are on consignment in a local crafts store. Perhaps they will sell this coming season and she can make some more.

Sorry, no finished product photos.
At completion, they hung from one corner  from twine. 

One thing we have been contemplating as a family and researching more this month is the opportunity for Benjamin to do construction work for Christian ministries as a full-time vocation. We are hoping to take a ministry trip this spring but are wondering if God would like to turn that into an overseas missions trip. This Saturday we will both be attending the Annual Meeting of the Maine Baptist Association of Churches in Farmington, ME, on Saturday. We are praying that God will use even this conference to give us more direction.

You can bless us by praying with us! 

~ Sometimes we get burnt out and fuss at each other. Please pray for us to always be a team and save our best selves for each other, instead of putting our stress on each other.

~ Please pray for the Bible studies we host on Saturdays. Pray that we will have wisdom in preparing lessons and answering questions. Pray for the attendants, some of whom are showing great eagerness and openness.

~ Pray for Benjamin's coworker, Anthony, whom he was able to share the Gospel with before Anthony was laid off.

~ Please pray that we would represent our church well at this weekend's conference and become more aware of what God is doing in Maine and what He would like us to help with.

~ We have had more interaction with our neighbors this month. Please pray that we would be obedient to the Gospel and find ways to show them Christ's love.

~ Please pray for us as we host Christina's children this coming week (ages 4 and 2).

~ Please pray that we will have wisdom in parenting Nathaniel as he reaches an age where he will need to receive correction. There are so many questions as parents and very few concrete answers so we feel the need of God's leading very strongly!

Alyssa

Nicholas

Also, our sister, Shannon, is on the road to becoming a published author! She plans to launch her book for young adults Here's to the Underdogs on Amazon in December and needs people who are willing to read her book and be prepared to download and leave a review on it the week of its publication. Volunteers will be be able to freely download the book and will have their names printed in it! This book is appropriate for ages 13 and up. It deals with some tough issues but shows how God is greater than the circumstances in our lives and how His love can lead us to transform the world around us. For more information on how to support Shannon in publishing this book and to download the link to pre-read it, please visit her website by clicking this link, which has further information and contact instructions: https://www.shannonaardsma.com/post/exciting-news.This link is the home page to her lovely website: https://www.shannonaardsma.com.

One of the twins, holding a painting my Grandma Aardsma  made.
She says, "Auntie Megan, I like this picture!" Thank you, Grandma. 

Blessings to each of you!

Benjamin, Megan & Nathaniel