Matthews Family Herald

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" from Joshua 24:15

Hi family, friends, etc. I've mentioned before that we drive to a family farm in Mannheim about once per week in order to buy fresh, raw, unpasturized, etc., milk. Here's a picture of some of that delicious and fresh milk. Looks like something out of those old cartoons, huh?

I've mentioned that we draw water from various springs at the base of different mountains around where we live. Some springs flow more quickly than others. The one with the fastest water flow happens to also be the closest to our house. It's a very popular spring so I typically end up going at about 9 or 10pm. Here's a picture of the storage area we have. This lasts a little over a week. It is ice cold when first drawn, even in the summer and it is so very refreshing.

Micah decided to play the guitar that Rachel gave to him in a public are of the town in which we live. He had a lot of fun doing that. Later on, he and Jacob took turns hiding in trash cans and jumping out as people walked by. They also tied fishing string to a rubber snake and took turns hiding and pulling the string as a person walked by. They did surprise a few people and I believe they made someone a little upset, unfortunately. :)


Sweet Eden made a mess here. Isn't it strange how people love to take pictures of their kids making a mess!

We watched "Homesteading, Volume II" and were inspired in a number of ways. We are looking forward to the beginning of spring when we can go out and draw sap from nearby Maple trees and make our own syrup. But here is a picture of Eden making indentions with her fingers in the "Tea Cakes" that Heather and the kids made after watching the homesteading video. If you'd like to look at homesteading stuff, the folks that produced the video have a website: http://www.homesteadbeginners.info/ but we purchased it from Michael and Debi Pearl's No Greater Joy Ministries. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/

Another shot of all the family working on those "Tea Cakes." I was busy making this blog post and Micah was "chilling out" beside me.


The kids and I made a snow igloo the other day. It was a full day's work, spread out over two days... Here is Micah working on it. To his right is his very good friend, Leon. He's really a good friend of the whole family. He's an excellent example of the wonderful people that most of the Deutschlanders we know are. He's very intelligent, creative, inventive, polite, respectful, and confident. He's been a good friend to Micah and together they are becoming fluent in one another's languages and sharing their cultural differences together. Hannah is seen here also with her new Raggedy Anne doll. She has one of each now, along with an old copy of the original Raggedy Anne and Andy stories. A bit different than what is out there now. The New World Order, global elite athiest assimilators would not allow this kind of book in the library as far as I can tell.


Here's Micah and Nathan together near the finished product. We learned how to make the snow igloo by reading a couple of different wilderness survival books. The little sticks that you can see in the igloo helped us not to dig too far into the walls as we cleared out the inside space.


Hannah is seen here inside the snow igloo. It was hard to get a good photo of it but Hannah's feet are there just inside the entrance and her head is seen way back there. I think Nathan or Jacob was the person sitting in there with her. When it was finished, they could not stand up in it but they could sit up. Three people could lie down in it fairly comfortably. Unfortunately, the next day the tempurature warmed back up and after three days, the thing had collapsed inside.

Here's another picture in the early stages of the snow house. Jacob is near the entrance this time.


All the kids received art supplies from our good family friends, the Bacherts. Micah has done some very nice pencil sketches and I wanted to share them here. Micah did this funny pose for your entertainment.


Here's a more serious shot of Micah at work.

Here's a scene that Micah did which was inspired by the beauty of Germany. Rolling hills of farmland. A church below. Castle wall in the distance. City factories spinkled here and there. A castle and a log cabin to the far right area (hard to see in this photograph, the fault lying with the camera.) An airplane in a beautiful sky above. (Click on the images to see a better and larger rendition.)


Also, here is Micah's pencil sketch of a log cabin. Heather's first reaction when seeing it was "Beautiful! I want to live there, Micah!" I really wish we could. Lord willing, we'll be in a place like this soon. Farmsteading, I mean. Another great example of the talent which the Lord has blessed Micah with.


Okay, I have to tell you how wonderful the meal was that my wife prepared for me. She prepared some very fine cuts of beef for me along with a sauteed vegetable medley on the right of the plate. The noodles were so delicious with buttery, baby shrimp throughout. The best part, though, was enjoying it as a little mini date with my Heather. I'm truly blessed!


We had our weekly family gathering time last week, which is the only body fellowship we have right now, and the Lord gave me the idea of using the "stone soup" example. We all got together and I brought a large pot in. I said, "We are having stone soup and everyone has to bring in something to make it good. But it must be stone soup. It cannot be stone soup without three things: A pot, water, and a stone inside."
So, I got out a pot and said "This is the Holy Bible" and I set the pot on top of a copy of the Holy Bible. "The water is the Holy Spirit. The Rock inside is Jesus Christ," I said and I placed the Rock in the pot first, pouring the water on top. "Without the Rock, it's not stone soup. Without the water, the food would burn up. (I thought of this also just now: The water brings out the nutrients and should be drank) The heat will not be distributed evenly as the items simmer together, and it just won't be soup. The pot, the Holy Bible, is the context that the soup is contained within. (I thought of this as well: You need the whole pot to hold the soup in. Leaving part of it out won't hold the soup in.) The constraints of the Holy Bible keep the soup in the form it belongs in and we would have no soup without the pot. Nothing would stay together.
I then went on to hand out plastic toy vegetables to each person in the room. I challenged them to "bring something." To "Think back through the week and tell something that God has done, an experience you had in the Lord Sing us a Holy song, read a passage the Lord led you to this week, something." Each person did so, one by one, and placed their items into the soup as they shared. Even the baby, Eden, sang us "This Little Light of Mine" and it was a blessing for all.
I also emphasized how dead attempts to do something in the Lord could be born out of one legitimate and God inspired event like this "Stone Soup" analogy. Whole demoniations are born out of things like this where, 20 years later, there's a still a silver pot by the alter. The congregation comes in, takes a plastic vegatable and sits down waiting for their turn. Trying to hold on to a point God was making and turn it into man's attempt to create God's movement over and over.
The family said it was likely one of the best family gatherings we'd had. I think the whole experience shares a lot about what body fellowship should be. What kind of soup have you been drinking? Make sure it's actually stone soup.












My wife was visiting with some German friends of ours and as they "got to talking" the subject of firewood came up. These friends have a beautiful fireplace in their home and a wall filled with firewood for the winter stacked outside (our family had the pleasure of helping them stack it there).

In Germany, you must first get a special license if you want to operate a chainsaw and cut down your own firewood, just as you would get a license to drive a vehicle. And yes, it's very expensive. At least a thousand dollars. To get the license, you must attend a special school and learn all about how to operate a chainsaw and how to cut down trees in an environmentally safe way. THEN, you have to first purchase special equipment and safety gear. AND IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, you must pay the government thirty Euros per square meter of firewood that you actually cut down and bring home. And so it is much easier and likely much cheaper just to purchase your firewood from a commercial distrubutor. Gone here are the father/son times of going out and getting firewood for the family.

We were told that the German countryside is open to anyone and doesn't belong to anyone. Anytime, however, you get close to an area which is publicly owned (owned by the Government, I mean), it has a special triangular, green sign with the symbol of a flying eagle on it. The label on the sign translates roughly to "nature area" and there is a long list of things you can't do. No campfires, no tents, no hunting, no etc., etc., etc. Basically, if you'd like to do anything other than take a walk through it, you can't do it. A friend of ours from Germany who is presently visiting America was complaining on Facebook and saying how he missed the openness of the German wilderness and that there were fences everywhere in America where people claimed ownership of everything. My friend may have a point but I can't decide which is worse. In either case, you can't do it. Whatever you'd like to do, I mean.

Oh and goodness, if you would like to hunt or fish, you must pay huge fees in the three to five thousand Euro range, attend classes lasting months, and jump through many other hoops. If you are not 18 years old, you will not be allowed to hunt legally, period. Permit or not. You must be 18. Hard to transmit a way of life, knowledge, and values onto a child when you can't do that thing with them anymore. By the time they are 18, will they want to even do it? That's the point, I think. In order to fish, you must be 13 or 14, I'm not sure but no younger than that is allowed. If I recall correctly, you are never legally allowed to hunt anything by bow and arrow. I'd imagine trapping is illegal too.
But in looking around in Germany and learning, I can see that this must once have been the outdoorsman's paradise. Hunting, fishing, building, living, being! They must have been the happiest people alive at one point in history. That is, before the dark times...before the Empire. I don't mean what you might think when first reading this. I'm not referencing Hitler at all, although I definitely am not a Hitler fan by any means! I'm discussing the NWO. I wonder if Germany was a proving ground, of sorts. "If we can do this new way in Germany, likely the most conservative, most religious, most intelligent and hardy and family people likely in existence, and make it work, we can do it anywhere." is what I wonder was the thinking. I once heard that Planned Parenthood opened a headquarters in Waco, Texas, for example, by stating that it was indeed a bold ascertion and that if they could plant and sustain a Planned Parenthood clinic there, they could do it anywhere. (It's called "Pro Familia" in Germany, what a deceptive name and what a cover up for the real agenda. We are not a garden for others to weed and tend and certainly are we not livestock to tend and care for, nor are we populations of animals that at times overpopulate and must be thinned out "for our own safety and good." I just read of a government controlled rabbit hunt on a nearby installation for similar reasons and I couldn't help make the association between that event and the Planned Parenthood/Pro Familia agenda.)
Anyway, this posting has taken an interesting path but there is some food for thought as to the differences (and similarities) between the US and Germany/Europe and an idea for where these NWO planners might want to take us.

We would like to officially announce some wonderful news to all. Yep, you guessed it! We have a little bun in the oven, some 6 weeks now or so. Rachel, our oldest daughter married this past September, and her husband Tom are also expecting their first. Grandparents at 35! She is only a week or two behind me. We look foward to being sick and fat together. I don't know about her, but I am craving cucumber and tomato sandwiches, and artichokes! In fact I just had some( at 4:30 am).mmmmmm! James is wonderful and supportive as always and the kids are equally excited.
After reading and researching thoroughly(over the past year or so- yes, we helped plan this one. The real "planned parenthood"), we are planning to have a home birth assisted by a midwife this time. It is a common and accepted practice here in Germany and there are several midwifes nearby. Hopefully, we'll find one that speaks English( ha ha). Your prayers are much appreciated. Also we know many of you(because we've all been conditioned by society, which is motivated by money)may want to caution or dissuade us to have a homebirth out of your love and concern. Believe me, we have prayed and done our homework. We would just suggest that you alleviate your worries by reading or watching several of the wonderful (scientifically and statistically researched) books or dvds on home births available first. Remember, it is only in the last century or so that women have apparently lost their ability to naturally have a baby outside a "professional" doctor, staff, (interferring) equipmentladen foreign environment. But we do appreciate your concerns.
So a BIG CONGRATULATIONS(once again and twice over) to all you grandparents, great- grandparents, and great-great- grandparents, and aunt,uncles out there in the Matthews clan!


You know, if people would trust God and simply just do what is right, in other words, just seek His will and act/react as God leads, and not try and manipulate, lie, subvert, cheat, steal, rob and otherwise take matters into their own hands (see the link below) wouldn't that be great? Does it ever seem outlandish when people believe crazy conspiracy theories, for example? Who can hardly blame them when we've got things like this that have happened:




I'm thankful I know and trust God. I don't think I could sleep at night otherwise. That such a thing would even be possible to conceive, that our own leaders would contrive such a plan...really. It boggles the mind. It hardly seems real but there it is.


"Count Rugen: Ah. Are you coming down into the pit? Wesley's got his strength back. I'm starting him on the machine tonight.


Prince Humperdinck: [sincerely] Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped. "


Quote taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes, accessed 22 Nov 10

The other day I declared "Backwards Day" We did everything backwards. We stayed in our pajamas and didn't get dressed till that night. We ate in our rooms instead of at the table. I cooked pasta, rolls, and corn(no salad of course/ nothing healthy, that would be bad)in the morning for our "supper". We likewise had cereal and toaster strudles for "breakfast" that night. Poor James, didn't know what he was walking into when he got home. And the kids personal favorite-No chores or any responsibility!, and video games(nice educatioanl ones of course), during the week( gasp!) After each playing around of 20 min. however, the ugliness springing out of them put a stop to it pretty quickly. My point was to have fun in making a point, not to actually cause them any harm. They did not like however, when I said," Now, since we don't do structured"school" like the rest of the world does, normally, today we are! We will sit at the table with textbooks, and do every unrelated subject over the next 8 hours straiht, only breaking for lunch. I will cram as many facts into your head as I can whether or not you are ready developmentally for it and expect you to know them for the test later." Oh the look of horror and shock on their faces! Of course I did not follow through, like I said I did not want to harm the children, only make a point, which was made well enough by just proposing it. And what was the point you ask? Was there method and meaning to this madness?
Yes, actually.
The whole thing was an object lesson on Isiaih 5:20,21. Where God says " Woe unto them who call evil good and good evil, who call darkness,light and light darkness."(not exact quote)
We discussed many of the things the world says are good but showed scripurally where God says it is bad. Some examples were having lots of money( that's a biggie and sooo pervasive in our society) Getting lots of education so as to get the most amount of money and glory. Woman's rights, for ex.( not that I am for woman being abused wrongly by their God given authority,namely men)Rights such as abortion, equal ability/standing and pursuit of "fulfilling careers". Society implies that being a"barefoot and pregnant" housewife and supporting and being in subjection to your man is shameful. When in fact, the Bible teaches that we are to be keepers at home, submiting to our husbands, bearing much fruit(which the bible calls a blessing for women) and raising and training that fruit in the ways of the Lord. This is the highest calling one could ever hope for(and the most challenging and personlly fulfilling, I might add) These lies perpetuated in the world are a big part of why the infrastructure of the family and consequently society is deteriorating so fast. Women's selfish needs and ambishons for personal fulfillment have replaced there sense of duty to the detriment of there family. Some even put there kids in daycare as babies although they don't have to go to work, because as one woman told me, she "needed a break and didn't want to get burned out", as if children are a terrible burden instead of the most incredible joy that they are. Same said woman even said that the doctor, at her childs check up, and the child's psycologist advised her to keep her child in daycare so the child wouldn't be clingy, although there was known abuse to several children there, that even this woman admitted to me she had seen the adverse effects of in her child! Wow! talk about backwards! I hope my words had an effect on her. And we wonder why there is such vast rifts in parent/child relationships-duh!?! I didn't really mean to get on a soap box, but I guess I take it personally where the essence, purity, nobility, beauty and purpose of a woman is so perverted and destroyed and the children suffer for it.( And I daresay the woman too!) ( breathe, smooth red hair- If I were a preacher I'd be wiping the spittle off my chin and the sweat off my brow!-hmmpf!)

Things that the the world says are bad, that God declares "Good" are homeschooling(self-righteous wierdos), religion(what a crux for a weak mind!),rural living(how uncivilized, just a hand laborer), and large families(gross,what's wrong with you? Are you ever going to get fixed" ie, willfully sterilized?!?!)I guess lots of kids would be bad if you viewed them as estranged, burdensome, little monsters(product of society and public school). Ouch that was harsh.(What's wrong with me today?)

Anyway, we know that human nature and the carnal mind is enmity against God, but woe unto them. It is our duty as parents to keep our children from falling into satan's traps though these false, anti-scriptural worldviews. Enough said. I think it was a very effective and eye-opening object lesson for the kids, who admitted that although some of these things might be fun for a day or so, eventually they would be sick of it, and not to mention run out of clean clothes and dishes. So although we may seem backwards to the world, it really just depends on where the front is and which way you are facing. So go and live a "backwards" life!

Here's an interesting presentation entitled "World Poverty, Immigration, and Gumballs" given by Roy Beck. I have no clue who he is. The first thing that popped out to me (besides gumballs) was the number of immigrants. He referred to 1 million legally. Well, there's 7 to 20 million illegally. I would imagine that the 1 million the US takes legally "robs" so to speak, other nations of their talents, but the 7 to 20 million illegally entering likely have improved their quality of life. That was my first concern with the foundation for his argument. Interesting for sure though. Thoughts?

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE

About this blog