Family Vacation in the Mountains

It's hard to come home after spending a week surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. We were blessed by friends of my mother and stepfather, who own gorgeous wooded property with a lake, cabin, guesthouse, waterwheel, real spring water, wild grapes, deer, creeks,...ahhh. Paradise.

Buck and Darlene, our hosts, showered our family with fun, food and great fellowship for five days. They even slept in their motor home so that our family could have their lovely cabin to sleep in. Mom and Bill slept in the guesthouse and brought all sorts of supplies to make life easier for us and helped us with the little ones everyday. It was like living with four grandparents. What a blessing!

We were all glad to see Kendal. She loved every minute of her four weeks of vacation!!!

Eventually we settled into a routine and everyone had a chance to enjoy boating, 4-wheeling, and sitting around the fire after dark. We tried to figure out how we could move there and make a living...we're still working on that!

Once home, with the State Fair rained out, we decided to go to Kitty Hawk, NC to climb Jockey's Ridge. That was one of our Nagshead Last Day of Vacation traditions. So in one week's time we had been 3,300 ft above sea-level where water came out of the rocks, and back to the sand where the rivers all run into the sea! Amazing!

We have many gorgeous photos. Hopefully we'll make our holiday card with one. I'll post a few for today.

Bob, Isaac and Daniel at the top of the pasture.

One of many bubbling creeks.
Hanging out on the dock by the lake with Grandma Brenda. Kelsey was in the boat taking the picture.
All eight Butler children with the lake and cabin in the background.
Anna playing checkers with Grandma Brenda, with Kendal watching.
Kendal, Joy, Anna, Kelsey and Molly Kate (our hosts' dog) in the Johnboat.
The waterwheel that runs into the lake.
The Butler family on the steps of the cabin.
Anna, Isaac, Buck, Kelsey (holding Molly, another dog of our hosts'), Mary, Daniel, and Kendal on a very slow ride on the four wheeler back to the cabin from across the lake. By the way, Kelsey had atleast one of two dogs in her boat, bed or arms most all of the time we were at the cabin. It's a wonder that we didn't come home with one!

This is my favorite view on the whole property. Bob and I rode this trail several times! Buck and Darlene with our family. This is a storage shed built over the water. It looks like a millhouse, or boathouse. Picturesque.
Kelsey turned thirteen on the first day of our vacation. It was a VERY exciting day for her. Wait until you read her version of it!
While all the big kids were out four-wheeling, Mary enjoyed a Cherry Coke with a cookie! Shhhh! Don't tell.
Noah on the hammock with the woods in the background. So cute in his sweater!The children at the base of the mirror horse, in NC at Kitty Hawk Kites, across from Jockey's Ridge.

Many Hands Make Light Work

I'm not sure who coined this saying, but we are learning, from experience, that it is true! Kendal is still with Grandma Brenda and Granddad. Since Kendal, Kelsey and I(Marcella) are the main workforce in our home, we are really scrambling to fill the gap left by Kendal's absence.


The good news is that, in Kendal's absence, we are more effectively employing the hands of all the other children in our home. Isaac, Daniel and Anna have been helping a lot! Even little Mary stood on a chair and washed dishes with Joy. Afterwards, of course, Mary needed her dress changed, the floor was wet and the dishes needed rinsing again. But it was worth it, to see their enthusiasm to help and to have an hour of peace! Joy has climbed on a chair several times to take her turn scrubbing the skillet left over from breakfast.


We also realized that not one of the families that we admire, follow, read about or learn from, were ministering to other families when their children were all little! So far as I can tell, the books are being written by people who are old enough to be grandparents, or are already grandparents. The families that travel around giving workshops to homeschoolers are also comprised mostly of young adults and sometimes a few children. Very rarely are there any babies or toddlers in the families who are leading the way. Although I am sorry for her struggles, I am relieved to know that one mother, who has had a huge influence in helping homeschooling mothers, was suffering with depression for many years when her first four children were coming along. So it's not just me and my friends who are finding this life to be very overwhelming at times. Phew!


We feel so inspired by the instrument-playing, smiling large family who ministers in prisons, nursing homes, and in their neighborhoods. However, when we begin to wonder how we could fit those activities into our life, I feel discouraged. Right now we can't! We are thankful to get through Bible study, three meals, school and laundry smoothly. But we are gradually working towards a different season of parenting when we will have more young adults. In four years from today, if the Lord tarries, our children will be 18, 16, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, and 4 (plus ?). That is a completely different group that what we had when Mary was born: 12, 10, 8, and so forth. Of course each season brings new learning opportunities for children and parents. That is what maturation and sanctification are all about. They both require time.


I'm trying to be more patient with myself, my husband and my children. We have much for which to be thankful. God is faithful and we must not doubt His work in all of our hearts.

We're not ever THIS far off schedule, but a late lunch clean-up does sometimes run into dinner preparations, and Daddy's return home...where did the time go? This cartoon is from Todd Wilson at familymanweb.com:

Great Commission Families

Our church had a conference this weekend that was lead by Bernie and Linda Beall and their young adult children. Their ministry is called "Great Commission Families". We were so blessed! They simply told their family's story and encouraged the families of our church to seek God for ways that we can help lead others to Christ. They also talked about their experiences with courtship and alternatives to leaving home for a college degree. One of their sons has memorized and recites chapters of the Bible as part of their ministry. Since their four children are 17-24 years old, and the eldest is married with two children, it was an educating experience to hear how they arrived to this place in time. We are inspired! You can visit them at GCFamilies.org.

The Bealls professionally print tracts related to historical sites in near their home. They go to these tourist traps or heavy traffic areas and pass out Gospel tracts with historically relevant information in them. People gladly receive them. On other occasions they conduct surveys that ultimately can lead to sharing the Gospel. Mr. and Mrs. Beall worked for Campus Crusade for Christ for many years before starting their own ministry more recently, which is focused on teaching families how to fulfill the Great Commission.

Our family is going to start working on some tracts that we can pass out to people who ask about us. When we visit stores, restaurants and even walk around our neighborhood, people ask many questions about our family size, especially. We know these questions are invitations to tell them about Jesus, but we aren't sure how to bridge the conversations. Afterall, a grocery store check- out line is a tough place to come up with relevant, God-honoring answers to life's most important questions. Once printed, we think we'll have the boys keep some tracts in their pockets and always be ready to hand them out. We'll keep you posted on our project's progress.

By the way, Kendal has been having a wonderful time with Granddad Bill and Grandma Brenda. And Kelsey is doing a great job as the oldest helper in our home. Everyone is counting the days until we drive there and can spend a week of vacation together. It's about 12 days from now.

Here are some recent photos of the family:
In this photo Noah looks exactly like his dad did in his one year portrait. Noah gets a generous share of hugs, snuggles and kisses everyday!
End of summer shots: This is Mary under the waterfall at our local YMCA.
This is Joy on the turtle with the water-spraying mouth.
Here are Daniel and Anna with the water sprayer that rotates. Many unsuspecting pedestrians have been targeted by this "weapon". If you enter the kiddie zone, you are fair game, or so I (Marcella) found out the hard way. :)
The weather has really been changing lately, and though it will not officially be fall untill around the 22nd, we are having beautiful fall weather. So I (Kelsey) think we have seen the last of our trips to the YMCA, at least for this year.

We are now all thinking about our vacation, which we are all looking foward to! I am sure we will have plenty of pictures to share on the blog from it.

Being at the conference was also a great time to fellowship with families we don't usually see, such as the Hiltons. They have eight children, three girls and five boys. I really enjoyed talking with Katie, who is thirteen years old and the fourth child.

Kelsey and Marcella