Ten Beautiful Children ...

A few months ago, Mr. Jones and I met a family from our church with ten children ... remember? I told you about them last spring. Two of their teen daughters were raising money for separate mission trips with the high school group at church, so they hosted a week of spaghetti dinners at their house. We were invited to come, along with some other choir members, and ate a yummy dinner and then donated money to both mission trips. I loved all of the hard work these girls put into the dinner and I was so impressed with their work ethic to actually earn their support instead of just asking folk for money outright! They far exceeded their financial goal and then gave the rest of their earnings to other teens who were lacking their support money for the trip. What a great servant attitude they demonstrated!

A few weeks ago, God laid it on my heart to invite this family over to our house for dinner. I argued with Him awhile about it, resisting His voice in the matter, but I finally phoned Christina (the mom) and asked them over. I think she was a little stunned at first, because families of this size just don't get asked anywhere very often!

There is a lot I could say about this family. They are just beautiful, inside and out! Thom (the dad) is a roofer and runs his own business. He and Christina met at Calvin College back in the mid-80's and married in 1988. Christina is from Ontario originally and from a very large family herself. Their ten children consist of Tanner, Steffani, Jacqueline, Cassidy, Tyler, Trevor, Nicholas, Rebecca, Jordan and Mitchell. So ... a boy, three girls, three more boys, another girl and then two more boys! Tanner just turned 17 last week and the baby (Mitchell) is 10 months.

We were actually able to get the entire family of 12 situated in our dining room all together for dinner ... well, not Mitchell ... Mr. Jones entertained the baby in the family room while the rest of the family ate. There were eight around the table, with the youngest two on our stools, the two oldest girls sat on the deacon bench that we pulled into the entrance, and Tanner (the oldest) sat at the little serving table (you know, the one with the extra serving dishes and the really messy drawer) because I pulled out the leaf and brought in an extra chair. We served them a Pillsbury bake-off recipe called Savory Crescent Chicken Squares, a chicken casserole, a green bean casserole, a nice tossed salad, zucchini bread, and watermelon. The whole family stayed after dinner and played and visited all over the house, deck, and yard until it was dark. Then, we enjoyed dessert ... and everyone went home. Mr. Jones and I received big hugs from every single one of the kids (except Tanner ... he's 17!) and three of the little boys asked if they could spend the night! (No, they didn't stay!) So I'd say the evening was a success ... a definite God-thing all around!

P.S. We were talking about funny signs last night like: "Tresspassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again." But here is an actual sign from the driveway of their house: "If you can read this sign, you are in range." Mr. Day says the sign is there to ward off any potentially dangerous suitors to his lovely daughters! ;)