The Juiceman

We have had a juicer ever since 1991, and we love it! Jeff's favorite is grapefruit juice, and mine is orange/broccoli, and the kids get really creative with carrots, spinach, and apples or whatever.

A couple of years ago we had to replace some parts, and since we didn't replace all of them it never really fit together very well and last week it made an awful noise and quit. So Jeff found a parts replacement place from the web, since they don't make this specific juicer anymore. They had the parts we needed and I thought it was funny that the phone operator took my name and address before he shared the price, because I kept wondering if it was going to be better to replace all the parts again or just buy a new juicer. So as I kept waiting to hear the cost, he finally said, "Well, Mrs. Kunkel, we do have the parts you need for your juicer and we will have them shipped out to you tomorrow, absolutely free!"

I was shocked! "What? Are you kidding me?" He assured me he was not joking. "Well somebody has to pay for the parts? What about shipping?" He said, "Well, today, it's all yours for free!" I asked if he had wings on his back, he said no. What a huge blessing! I was so excited!

Well, when it didn't show up with in a week, we thought I was on the receiving end of an awful joke. And I was kind of disappointed because I had gotten some extra produce to juice in anticipation of having the juicer back. But I could laugh at the wittiness of dialing a wrong number and the quickness of this man's response. But lo and behold, today it came in the mail. Beautifully packaged! Brand spankin' new! And yes it works! And totally free! Amazing!

Jam 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

The Love of Travel

Jeff travels occasionally with his job and when he wants to take us with him we jump at the chance! We have dear friends who are willing to rabbit sit and feed the African water frogs, so there are no worries on the home front to be gone!

It's highly entertaining to watch the younger boys pack their back packs, usually several days before we are scheduled to leave. We start a countdown and they carry them around throughout the day and add to their load more books and favorite things to take along.
The night before we leave, I usually stay up late to finish the packing because I love sleeping in the van! We have a list on the computer of what to bring, so it's pretty simple and we rarely forget anything.

Once everyone is up and has had breakfast, we load the last minute things (coolers of drinks and snacks, pillows, etc.) and then the kids buckle up anticipating the excitement! Jeff and I go through the house, making sure everything is off, flushed, and locked. When we're all in the van he takes a moment to pray for safe travels and a memorable time before we leave.

Right away I have to start a garbage bag to collect our trash. Someone needs a tissue or has found a piece of paper that is no longer needed. Then someone wants to play the alphebet game, but that is pretty hard to do out in the country, so we try to hold them off a bit for that!

We sing, play the grocery game ('I'm thinking of buying something from the grocery store that starts with a 'w'', and then everyone has to try to guess what it is.), the alphebet game, find how many different states we find licence plates from, look for deer (of course!), and sleep. Lydia watched me do some crocheting and was entertained for a long time with a crochet hook and left over yarn! Matthew, Joey and Ben have their seats all in a row and there were a lot of truck and car noise coming from the back and they worked hard to make the semi's honk!

The kids determine a good hotel from a bad hotel depending on the breakfast that is served. We almost always have fresh fruit for breakfast at home, so when bagels, donuts, sugar cereal, waffles, bacon and sausage is served - it's a really good hotel!

With the size of our family most hotels won't allow us to be in one room, so we have a 'girls' room and a 'boys' room.
Girls room rules: HGTV is on, only to be flipped to the food channel.
Boys room rules: hunting videos before bed, and you must never put the seat down!
Usually the little ones run back and forth between the two rooms, this time we had joining doors so that was nice.

Another favorite is snacks. We pick out several different bite size snacks and throw them all together and serve it in little paper cups, and the kids just love it!
We also never eat in the van, but when we're traveling a long ways it makes sense for us to use our stopping time to stretch out and move around, and sit and eat in the van. It's a special treat we all think is so fun!

On the way home we traveled 360 miles and only had to stop once! Jeff and I look at each other amazed the kids are traveling so well, finding it hard to be the adults and not whine ourselves! After a potty break, Jeff ordered our dinner and the rest of us did calisthenics in the parking lot next to the van. Highly entertaining to watch Ben and Lydia try to do jumping jacks!

When we got home we emptied the van and it looked like the bomber threw up all over the house! We had church the next day and had packed our church clothes just in case we didn't get home in time, so Sunday morning some clothes were a bit wrinkly, but we were sure the Lord wouldn't mind.

Now to catch up on the laundry! Weed the garden! And get back to our normal state of chaos! Always ready to go again!

Ben's Update

Praise the Lord! Ben's MRI came back normal! And the best part is that he hasn't had any more seizures for 11 weeks now! We are rejoicing, and may we continue so in every season of this earthly life!

Megan Jean turns Eighteen!

Last week Megan turned 18! This next week is her graduation ceremony and open house and I'll give you an update on her after that, but for now to branch off into adulthood she has started her own blog! http://www.musicmaiden.wordpress.com/ It's her own story, in her own words, her own perspective.

A Father's Day

Jeff is out of town for a few days and it is so true that absence makes the heart grow fonder! He doesn't have to travel very much and sometimes we get to go with him, but since he works out of our home we really miss him when he's gone! I notice how much he helps, giving the kids a bath, vacuuming (he loves to vacuum! Seriously!) I am so blessed to have married my best friend, a wonderful father, and such a godly man. He calls us every night he is away! He talks to every one of the kids and they always have a joke to tell him. Sometimes we have to stay up extra late waiting for his call, but we all look forward to it with great enthusiasm. My favorite is when he will call to talk to the kids and then call later to talk just to me and we chat like a couple of school kids late into the night.

We always try to do some type of home improvement while he is gone to surprise him when he returns. Well, this weekend is Megan's graduation open house so we are busy preparing for that, but I was able to fix the toilet paper holder in his bathroom, so that should count! ;-)

Jeff is a real D.A.D. - Devoted And Dedicated. He takes his job as husband and father very seriously, and we love and appreciate him so very much!

Ben's MRI

Benjamin has been having seizures for the past year so today we had his first MRI. He had to go with out food for 7 hours before hand and his appointment was at 2:15. So my dear husband got up and took him to McDonalds for an early breakfast. The nurses asked him what he had, "Panceeks and sausage!" What did Mom have? "Well, Mom didn't go because she was still sleeping!" ;-)

Then he had to change into a gown. To every ones shock and amusement we discovered he didn't have any underwear on. (Good thing he can't read this yet! ;-) No problem, just needed an extra gown for the back side. Mercy!

He was so sweet and wooed all the nurses with his please and thank you's. I was able to stay with him until he went to sleep and oh, how that can tear a mother's heart apart! We had Lydia with us so that made the time go faster while we were waiting. After growing impatient, I went to ask why it was taking so long for them to call us. They said he had just come into the recovery room and that I could go and sit with him until he woke up. We gathered up all our things (we get anyplace looking like home in no time :-) and made the hike. The moment I stepped beside his bed, he woke up. We snuggled for a bit, and he perked right up when they brought him a popsicle. That triggered a appetite that had not been fed since 7 A.M. They brought graham crackers, apple juice, and he devoured them all! This was a sign he was ready to go home! The nurse got a wheel chair and Jeff pushed all 3 of us to parking! Ben ate for about an hour straight, and a few more times before he went to bed.

We are so glad it's over and thankful it was not a tramatic experience for him, all (but one) of the nurses were all so very nice! Now the waiting...

When we got home the rest of the kids had worked hard in cleaning, changing our sheets, even dusting! And Ben had some special things that they made for him also - it was a very special ending to a very long day!

Ben's Spelling Bee

You could tell by his face that Ben had this defeated look. He told Megan, "I don't know how to spell nuthing."
Megan, being encouraging said, "I think you can spell your name! How do you spell Ben?"
Ben smiled and visably perked up, "B...E....N!"
Megan, "Good job! See you can spell something!"
Then Ben responded, "Yeah, but I still can't spell nothing!"

"Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Mark 10:15

Unusual Compliment

I was out and about with all 8 of my children which usually brings about some interesting looks, stares and comments from onlookers. I'm sure it's quite entertaining to most to watch us all load and unload from our 15 passenger van, and do our business. People usually count us all and wonder if they are all ours.

Most comments are very kind and encouraging with the occassional "How do you do it?". We received 3 of them while we were at Culver's (our favorite restaurant!) for lunch. One was from a really sweet family saying what a nice family we have, another was from an older lady saying how much she appreciated watching us all hold hands and give thanks to God for our food. We thanked them for their sweet words, and gave praise to God. But we have never before received a comment like this one:

A young gentleman came up to me and said, "Ma'am, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate the modesty of your family." I thanked him for his kind words, gave praise and thanks to God, and he left.

Then I got to ponder his unusual comment. Modesty? Then I was quickly reminded of what an important issue this has become since our boys have reached this teen age.

Jeff has done a great job training our boys to bounce their eyes, and set no unclean thing before them, but in todays society it's increasingly hard. We love the warm weather, but hate the immodesty it brings.

My heart breaks for a young girl who seems even comfortable exposing her body that God created for her future husband. Undergarments aren't private anymore, nothing is sacred or protected. I immediately pray for this girl that God would bring someone in her life to protect her and teach her such things her parents should be doing.

God is so holy that He said even looking on a woman with lust is like committing adultery. Yes, men are certainly responsible to keep this in check, but women also have the responsibility to not cause them to stumble, or draw the eyes of someone other than our husband.

Modesty comes in many shapes and forms. Body language, facial expressions, conversation, and dress, but this all comes from the heart, a heart that is concerned with glorifying and honoring God, and living true to His Word.