Meet the Family

With so many new readers lately (Welcome!), I thought I would take just a moment to introduce you to our wild and crazy, extra-large family.  

One new blogging friend recently commented that she'd like to find out more about my big kids ... since I often comment about them, but haven't given a lot of details recently.

Here is a quick peak into the fun bunch of people that we call family:  (and, actually, we have quite a few more young adults that also call us family ... but we'll save that for another day)

Papa D. is a school teacher.  This is his 21st year of teaching, and his 5th year at an alternative school, working with homeschool families.  And, for the past 30 years, he has painted houses in the summer, with his business, Sonshine Painting.

Mama D. spends her days homeschooling the youngest 7 children.  She also has a speaking and writing ministry, called A Journey of Faith.  Her passion (in addition to caring for her 13 children) is to support and encourage women on their own journeys of faith.

Gregg (24) spent 4.5 years serving in the U.S. Army (with 2.5 years in Iraq).  He is currently pursuing a career with the FBI.

Cassie (23) lives 9 hours away, in Oregon.  She has ministered around the world, in Haiti, The Gambia, Senegal, and India.  She also worked for 2 years in full-time children's ministry at our church.  Then, 2 years ago, she "flew the nest", and moved to Oregon to volunteer at a church there.  Here passion is ministry, but the life of Mary Poppins pays her bills.  (She LOVES the precious little 9 month old that she spends her days with.)

Jeremiah (22) is studying Arabic in Jordan, while at the same time working with a ministry that serves Iraqi refugees.  His passions?  Politics, International Relations, Ministry ... He is just taking one day at a time to see where, exactly, the Lord is leading him.  Right now, he is praying with a group of young adults about starting a long-term ministry in the Middle East.

Carissa (20) is on full-time, volunteer Youth With A Mission (YWAM) staff in Mendoza, Argentina.  She has a passion for children's ministry, and is creating a new neighborhood ministry for her YWAM base.  She has been there for a year, and has committed to at least another year and a half.

Lindsey (20) is currently in Bangladesh with a YWAM team.  She spent the past 2 months in India, and next month will be going to Germany.  We are excited to have her heading this way in April, as she takes a stop-over at home to pray about the Lord's future direction for her life.

Joshua (18) is finishing up his AA degree at the Community College, and is currently applying to several universities.  He is hoping to pursue a degree in Athletic Training, with an emphasis on Sports Medicine.

Well ... I think that's enough for tonight ... I'll post another post in a day or two to introduce you to the younger half of our family (the 7 younger children, that I get the privilege of staying home with all day).  

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I teach our children at home until they are 16.  Then, most of them have chosen to attend the local Community College in order to earn their AA degree at the same time that they are completing their homeschooled high school diploma.  So, Cassie, Carissa, and Lindsey all had 2 years of college, prior to flying off around the world to explore the mission field.  And, Jeremiah had 2 years of college, then he managed a coffee shop for a year, then he attended Liberty University in Virginia for a year, then he taught school for a year.  So, at the ripe old age of just turned 22, he has a LOT of different life experiences.  We continue to be amazed at ALL of the exciting journey's that the Lord is taking our children on.

Yes, these 6 are all biological children.  Yes, I had my first 5 children in 4 years (after being told I could NEVER have children ... read about it HERE).  And, the day after the twins turned 1, we found out we were expecting again.  So, this gave us 6 children in 6 years.  Then ... we slowed down the pace a bit, since I was only 28 years old.