In Memory of Troy

Troy no longer lives on this earth. I say this to make myself believe it even now--after three long days. He died flying his F-16 near a group of insurgents in Baghdad. Our U.S. ground forces were surrounded by enemies. F-16s were called in to strafe the area at low level. Somehow, in the middle of the fray, Troy's jet crashed and Troy passed from this life into his Father's arms. I still cry as I read these words--as though they are brand new to me--as though I haven't repeated them to myself twenty times a day.

O come, thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

It is to us that the gloomy clouds of night are left. It is to Brian, who silently mourns the loss of a friend who was, essentially, a brother. And, most harmfully, to Ginger, his faithful and capable wife. And to his sons Boston and Greyson. And to his daughters Isabella, Annaliese, and Aspen who will not remember their Daddy well enough. And to countless friends and fellow pilots. And to me. It is to us that the days seem dark and the nights seem long without our friend. It is to us that death's dark shadows all but drown out the memories of Troy's amazing chicken fried steak, his booming laughter, his copious hugs that flew so naturally from his Texas arms, his love of wrestling with his boys and ours. It is to us that the gloomy clouds of night encroach upon our knowledge of him as a hero, an unfailing friend, a romantic husband, and a passionate father.

But Troy, who once told us that he prayed Psalm 144 before he flew, knew that "Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow." He knew the risks and he was willing to pay the price because he knew that the Lord has numbered all our days. The enemies have stolen his body but Jesus was 2000 years quicker on the uptake. He said "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows" Matthew 10:28-31. Troy confessed his Heavenly Father before men and now his Savior is confessing Troy before his Heavenly Father.

Someday soon the Lord will speak peace to us as well--even here in this postmodern life and on this groaning earth--just as He did 2000 years ago. Isaiah 51:12 "I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass?" We are not afraid. We will soon rejoice. The Dayspring from on High will, one morning, awaken us with joy. Emmanuel will come to us. Oh Lord, we believe. Help thou our unbelief!

Saturdays

For a few years now, we've been trying to make our weekends look different--and not just so that we can claim to be the "weirdest" family in town. After reading a book or two on honoring the Lord's Day (Sunday), we looked at each other and said "Great! But what does this really LOOK like?" If we're not going to turn on the television or study or do chores or play catchup on Sundays, our Saturdays are going to be really HARD. And so it seemed--at first. Part of the reason that choosing to honor the Lord on Sunday is difficult is because it does not look the same for every family. We can't just look at what the Johnsons and the Siebens and the Tiffanys and the Andersons do on Sunday to determine God's declared will for our family. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to "teach us and remind us of all things." He will speak different truths to different families at different times and this is not relativism because the priciple remains the same: to honor the Sovereign Lord of the Universe in very practical ways and, thereby, to give us, His children, His BEST!

And so it stands to reason that our Saturdays don't look the same as other families' either. But the basic principles are these:

1. Sundays belong to the Lord for His glory and our rest. Sundays belong to the Lord for worship. Even the focus of our rest and our games and our delight should be the worship of God. I should perhaps give scriptural clarification here but I think that if you're truly interested in honoring the Lord on this day set apart from all others, you can think for five minutes and come up with about 3 verses that lead you to the same conclusion. For us, the first one starts "Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God..."

2. Because Sundays belong to rest and the cessation of normal activity, Saturdays must belong to hard work, preparation, and the continuation of normal activity. So without further ado, our Saturdays. They may look better and more human than what you'd expect from such a "weird" family.

6:30 A.M. Little ones are up and usually cuddling in bed with Brian & me. I pretend to be asleep. The kids always go to Brian's side of the bed. I'm obviously better at faking sleep than he is. Older boys are in family room reading their bibles, playing games, reading books. No math today.
7:00 A.M. Brian and I still trying to catch a little extra cuddle time with two kids wedged on/between/below us
7:15 A.M. Adults finally give up on cuddle time and take a raincheck for Sunday night
7:30 A.M. Beds get stripped of dirty sheets, laundry hauled from the four corners of the earth/house to the washing machine
8:00 A.M. Brian starts the vacuum cleaner. I'm in the master bath "getting ready" and cleaning the bathroom in between takes with the curling iron and helping Eva with pretend "makeup."
8:30 A.M. Boys are finishing up bathroom cleaning
9:00 A.M. I realize I'm still wearing PJs but I go in to make the barley pancakes anyway
9:30 A.M. The whole family sits down to barley pancakes with all of the toppings they could haul from the fridge: peanut butter for the older two, cashew butter for the younger two & Brian, fruit spreads, applesauce, real maple syrup, honey, butter, Earth Balance, homemade berry syrup
10:00 A.M. Older boys have cleaned up breakfast dishes, wiped down the table and everyone sits down for bible reading and prayer time
10:30 A.M. I take a few swipes with the dust rag through one or two rooms in the house, Brian continues with the vacuum. Boys get down to the hard work of playing and wrestling (go outside, boys!)
11:00 A.M. Shopping list still incomplete, I set off with one of the boys (whoever's "date with Mom" is today) to the grocery stores: Cash 'n Carry for Asian staples and requisite large bags of beans, Fred Meyer for produce and natural foods, Thunderbird for water, wine, and local specialties (Masala spices)
11-2 P.M. Brian works outside, plays with Eva, throws football with boys, and holds down the fort. Meanwhile, I take my "date" out to lunch and try to devise a wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free treat to be had while shopping. Sometimes it's to no avail and we settle for an hour of painting tiles at the paint-your-own-pottery shop in town.
2 P.M. Brian's helping me with the groceries. Meanwhile, I'm pondering: What to make for dinner tonight and Sunday lunch? What can be heated up nicely or thrown together after the 1.5 hour car ride back from Medford?
3 P.M. Dusting rag comes out again. Boys are glued to the college football game tracker on the computer (did I mention we have a completely disconnected TV?) Brian's monitoring the boys' consumption of Game Tracker.
4 P.M. Little ones wake from naps and mass chaos ensues. Dinner is in prep stage. Clothes are coming out of the dryer. Sheets are everywhere. Some clean clothes are being dutifully put away. Others end up "accidentally" back in the laundry basket. Thanks Evangeline! Brian is in the bedrooms wrestling with mattresses. If it weren't so possibly detrimental to his soul, it'd be REALLY funny--like America's Home Videos type of funny! All the children want to help with dinner. They also want to watch a DVD. They also want to play Scrambled States of America. But they can't get any answers from the Scrambled States of Mommy and Daddy.
5 P.M. Everyone sits down to dinner. World peace has not been achieved but peace with God is about to be savored. Soon and very soon...
6 P.M. Brian's off to soccer practice--usually with the two older boys in tow.
6:30 P.M. Eva and Seth have game time with Mommy. Anyone played "Station Celebration" five times lately? I have.
7:00 P.M. Time for Bible stories and hymn singing with the little ones
7:30 P.M. Bedtime for Seth and Eva--WHEW!!! As though I need reminding: "Sratch my back and sin me song Mommy. Jesus Love Me? Pray?"
8:00 P.M. How can I turn tonight's leftovers into something delicious for tomorrow? Okay, maybe not. You win some, you lose some, you know. That especially applies in the kitchen. On good nights we had roast chicken and it becomes the Infamous Bergeron Tortilla Soup. Maybe I'll go fold laundry for awhile instead...
8:30 P.M. Brian and older boys are back from soccer. Oh, and they listened to the end of the college football games in the car for "a few minutes." Big boys are off to bed and I go in to pick out what everyone will wear tomorrow. Clothes get laid out on the couch.
9:00 P.M. Brian drags out the behemoth ironing board and gets to the ironing. I finish Sunday lunch and clean up the pots and pans.
9:30 P.M. Time to get ready for bed. Will anyone notice if I don't wash my hair tonight?
10:00 P.M. Lights out. Alarm set for 6 A.M. We're ready for that rest.

Barley Pancakes

4 cups barley flour
1/2 cup flax seed, cornmeal, or just more barley flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 Tablespoons honey
4 large eggs
2/3 cup safflower or grapeseed oil
3 cups rice milk
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance or margarine

Stir together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a "well" in the middle of the dry ingredients and add in honey, eggs, oil, and rice milk. Beat the wet ingredients together and then stir gently into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix (thanks Granny, for the good advice)!!!

Heat the griddle or frying pan to medium temperature. Don't let it get too hot or these will surely burn. When griddle is hot, coat with the Earth Balance or margarine and swirl to coat the pan. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto the griddle and wait until you see the edges just drying a bit before you flip. These are not as sturdy as wheat pancakes but they are almost as fluffy! They're worth a few practice batches so that you can perfect them.

Makes about 18 medium sized pancakes.

Just some notes on barley flour:
1. Grind your own if you can. The nutrients are much more available when you grind the flour and use it immediately than if it sits on the shelf for a month (or longer) before you buy it.
2. Barley is an excellent source of dietary fiber, selenium, phosphorous, copper, and manganese. Moreover, the variety of fiber in barley breaks down into butyric acid (and a bunch of other stuff) which friendly bacteria in the large intestine eat to grow strong. Finally, barley binds to and removes from the body cholesterol-containing bile.
3. Anecdotal evidence only but I find that the adults in our family can eat barley carbs to our hearts' content without gaining an ounce. I can't even come close to saying the same for wheat--not even whole wheat (which I still love anyway)!