Schroeder Family New Year’s Note 2008

As leaves once yellowed in the sun turn brown and blow away in a cold winter wind my heart begins to reminisce on the happenings of another year passed. Looking down the tunnel of the past year I am, more than anything else, humbled at the goodness of my Savior. As my quiver expands exponentially I come to understand more and more the desire of my Father in heaven to give good things to the ones He loves. Just like a cold winter wind heralds the end of a season yet with it brings the joys and pleasures of a winter’s snow. So to these perilous economic times, which herald woes for many, finds our family rejoicing for a new season in which to enjoy the goodness of our Perfect Father.
The blessings began at the start of this year with the Lord laying on our hearts a desire to serve Him in short term missions this summer. Just like with any ministry that we take up the Lord had planned to give us more than we could ever give back to Him. The blessings began with our economic stimulus check from the Federal Government. With this added bonus Leah and I saw that traveling overseas would vey well fit into an affordable budget for us. We then sent out letters to many of our missionary friends overseas to see how we might help them on a short term trip during my summer vacation. We soon heard back from Matt and Carol Bugbee with news that they needed a teacher for the Middle School program at the SIL Summer Conference in Bagabag. Leah and I then began to get things in order to travel to the Philippines over our summer vacation.
As we planned our trip the expenses began to pile up and our monthly credit card statements were getting bigger than we could pay. However, we knew that the Lord had laid this trip on our hearts and in the final month before our trip we received two lover offerings one from Faith Community Church and one from Antelope Valley Bible Chapel. Eventually all of the details were worked out and the day after school ended in May we left for the Philippines.
For three weeks Leah, Sophie, Aubrey and I got a first hand look at what it might be like to be missionaries overseas. We had multiple opportunities to talk to missionary families about their experiences and many more opportunities to serve and be served by those who have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord in the Philippines. The first two weeks of our stay were spent primarily in Bagabag running a Middle School program for the children of SIL Bible Translators in the Philippines region. During this time we took the kids through a curriculum we had developed based on the story of Pilgrim’s Progress. We were also able to set a correspondence between several of the kids there and the kids that we minister to here in the Antelope Valley. During the final week of our stay we worked with Pastor Noel in an area of Manila called Laguna. During that time I was able to teach at various church and outreach programs and I was also able to teach in their school the Arise and Shine Academy. Through it all we saw the great need for workers in the harvest and we also came to realize that it would be very possible to minister as a family.
Coming home from the Philippines we found that the Lord and more plans to bless us through our ministries. For the remaining weeks of our summer we planned two camps one for my church and one for my school. First we took a group of Middle School kids to Silverwood Lake for a 3 day camp. During this time I led the kids through a study on the Believer’s life of worship, and I was struck with the fact, as I constantly am, that God chooses the weak things in the world to shame the wise as I saw the kids understand the simple truth that the most rewarding life is a one lived selflessly for the Lord. Coming back from Silverwood we then began planning a week long altitude training camp in Mammoth Lakes for my Cross-Country team. We ended up taking a group of 7 kids with us and had a great time running through some amazing back-country. Most of the guys who went were Christians and we had a neat time on top of Duck Pass the last day just enjoying the Lord’s creation. The day after cross-country camp ended school began.
Though we had an extraordinary summer serving the Lord He has even greater plans for us in the semester ahead. It began with the Lord answering our prayer for help with the Middle School Youth Group A.L.I.V. E. (Always Living In View of Eternity) we had started at Faith Community Church. I knew that there was no way I could run this Youth Group by myself and still teach and coach at Rosamond High School. So the Lord sent several college students our way from the Master’s College whose talents seemed to perfectly line up with the things we needed help with in our fledgling youth group.
The blessings continued, by way of trial, through the roller coaster of emotions of the next few weeks. It began with a pregnancy test, as it often does, in early September that was negative. However, a couple of weeks later a second test came back positive. It seemed that this truly was a year for blessing, but a couple of weeks later Leah began feeling like she was having another miscarriage. Leah went in for a check up and they could not find a heartbeat so we prepared for the worst with the follow up visit. On the day of the visit Leah called me on my Lunch break, and, after making sure I was sitting down, told me that she was fine and that they had found two heartbeats. I can not begin to express in writing the elation this news brought me. It was as if I had come around a bend in my understanding of the Father Heart of the Lord. It is one thing to know that the Lord is able to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” but it is another thing altogether to experience it in such a real way. Before I had heard this news I had resigned myself to the fact that I do not deserve such great gifts from the Lord. I had told Him that I was content with what I had but that my desire was for Him to protect our unborn child. To not only hear the news that our child was fine but to know that the Lord was blessing us with twins was perhaps one of the most humbling blessings I have received from the Lord.
As the year progressed so did the blessings. Cross-country season was soon in full swing and the Lord was teaching me humility again. My competitive nature often gets the best of me as I coach and I lose focus on why I am doing it. At Cross-country camp this year I told my athletes that I wanted to measure our success based on how we glorified God with our performances more than anything else. One of the ways we did this was with a weekly bible study after practice on Monday’s for anyone who wanted to come. It was through this study that my top runner, and team captain, realized that He was Christian in name only and that he was spiritually dead. Over the course of a couple of weeks he recommitted his life to the Lord. Through observing our conversations my number two runner eventually recognized his spiritual shortcomings and he soon committed to living for the Lord as well. At the end of the season both of my runners new found faith was put to the test as they advanced as individuals beyond any of their teammates. At the final race of the year we talked about running for a reward that endures rather than a temporary one. At the end of the race both runners told me that, though they did not advance to the prestigious state championship, they were content with their races and that God deserved all the glory for their season. They were also both rewarded with an opportunity to talk to Mickey Hall, the father and former coach of Olympian Marathoner Ryan Hall, who shared with them many of the same things I had told them about running for the Lord’s glory. As of right now these two runners, Christian and Joey, are both planning on attending the Master’s College in Santa Clarita and running for my brother. It is my prayer that their spiritual growth will continue there.
Altogether this year has been full of blessings. With each there have been lessons learned and treasures gained. We find ourselves at the end of the year with a deeper understanding of our Father’s love and grace. Perhaps more than anything we have learned to never doubt the goodness of the Lord. That does not mean that we have perfected that art of doubt free living. We still find ourselves anxious over an uncertain future, but the testimony of the Lord’s goodness bid’s our hearts to let go of anxious thoughts. In addition, we know that to whom much is given much is expected and we have received so many gifts this year that we know the Lord will expect great things from us in the future. Though such expectations can be daunting we are reminded that the Lord is faithful to complete the good work He has begun in us. So it is in joyful expectation that we look forward to the years ahead with our Faithful Father as our Great Giver and our Guide.