The Schamel Family

Best Article Award!

Pre-Born Puppies By John Schamel

About 6 months ago, Ben’s dog, Princess, had 12 puppies and now she is pregnant again.   Ben breeds his dog with a dog that is half Dad’s dog and half my dog.  His name is Buddy. It takes about 9 weeks or 63 days for the puppies to be born.

     In the 4th week the puppy’s eyes and spinal cords develop and their faces take shape. By just the 5th week, the puppies will get toes, claws, and you can tell if it is a boy or a girl. The mom will start looking pregnant. Then on the 6th week they develop skin and you can hear their hearts beat with a stethoscope.  On week 8, they grow more and you began to think how many will there be? You also have to make a place for her to have her puppies. We put down hay in a stall in the barn with a heat lamp and a heater for Princess. So, when she has her puppies, they will be safe and warm.  This picture is of a puppy 3 days before birth.  At 60 days, the pups get to where they can hear and smell.  They have nearly 200 million scent receptors in their noses.  We humans, have only 5 million just after birth!  Dogs can smell 100 times better than humans.  This helps them to smell out birds (if they are hunting dogs), bad guys (if they are guard dogs), and their mom when they are born because they need to know where she is by smell because their eyes are closed and they can’t see her!    
      On week 9 or 63 days she has her puppies. We are very excited about having our puppies!  What we do with our puppies is sell them.  They are AKC registered Labrador Retrievers.  We allow them to go to their permanent homes at 8 weeks old.  They come with their 1st shots too.  People can pre-order their pups already, so if you know anyone who’d like a good puppy, let them know ours should be available around March 10th. 

November Hunting Trip    By Ben Schamel

On the 20th of November our family, and five other families
started our way down to Missouri, for our very first family
camp. After we drove for a few hours the, Cupit's Uhaul
trailer that they were taking with them fell off and
started banging on the bumper of their van in the middle of
the highway. We all had to pull off to the side or the road
in the middle of traffic. Fortunately a police man was
right behind us when the incident happened, and called over
another police man to help direct the traffic while we tried
to find out what the problem was. It turns out that the
ball on their vans hitch came unscrewed and that is why the
trailer fell off. We found out afterwards that there was
not much damage done to the back of the van, only a slight
dent to the bumper. When we finally got to the ranch that
night, all we had time to do is inflate some air
mattresses, and get settled in, and go to bed.
At 4:00 O’clock AM the next morning all the people that
were going deer hunting, met in the cafeteria to meet with
Mr. Brock Frost, who was the one who set up all the deer
stands. Then we selected our deer stand that we were going
to hunt from, ( I got the stand by the spring ). I walked
down to the spring, and sat there until daylight came.
After a few hours of sitting there, I saw five does out in
the field, but I did not shoot them, because I thought that
you had to fill the "either sex" tag before you could fill the
doe tag, and I didn’t want to shoot a doe for the more
expansive "either sex" tag. Soon they sensed me and ran off,
so I waited for about another hour. When I did not see
anything I walked back to the house, and found out that I
could have filled the doe tag first, which was a bit
disappointing, knowing that I could have got a doe that
morning.
Until it was time to go out hunting again in the afternoon,
we mostly fished in the pond, played musical interments,
and ate some delicious food. When it was time to go hunting
again I went back to the spring and sat in the tree stand
for just about two hours with out hearing or seeing any
thing, but all that waiting paid off when a buck came
running down the hill behind me. He crossed the dried up
creek bottom, and popped up over the little ridge thirty
yards from the tree stand that I was at. By the time he
came over the ridge I already had my cross hairs right
behind the shoulder, then BANG!!!! The buck ran as fast as
he could. As I watched him run, doubts in me arouse, “did I
miss?? Did I hit him in the stomach, that would be a mess??
No I had the sights right… I thought!!” However I anxiously
watched him run, but when he got about fifty yards away, the
buck ran full speed into a big oak tree, then fell down,
rolled over, and kicked for a few seconds. When I walked
over to him I did not know if he was dead or not, so I
grabbed a stick and touched his eye hoping that he wouldn’t
blink. It was a good thing that he didn’t or I would either
have to shoot him again, or slit his throat, and I did not
want to do either one. Right there started the hard part, I
had to clean him.
I had him mostly cleaned, but by this time it was getting
pretty dark, so it was difficult to see what I was doing.
Fortunately not long after that, my Dad and David were
coming back from hunting, and they were coming in the truck.
There are two things that I was grateful for them having
the truck, one is that it could give me light to see what I
was doing, and the other is that I would not have to carry
it a mile to two miles to the house, or need to walk that
way to get the truck. After flagging them down, my dad
pulled in front of the buck, and he helped me finish
cleaning him. The funny thing was, I didn’t get nervous
until we got the buck in the back of the truck. The buck was
a seven point, but the ends were broken off both of the
sides, so it could have a small ten point, but I guess we
will never know.
The next morning my family accidentally slept in to long to
go hunting. However that night I took David out to a
different deer stand than I was in, to see if I could help
him shoot a doe. About 20 minutes before it was to dark to
take a shot, David saw a doe out in the field about 400
yards. We decided that in order to get a shot before got to
dark, we would have to sneak up on it, instead of waiting
for it to come closer. When we got close enough to get a
good shot the deer saw us, and ran away in to the woods.
After it the deer left, David and I started walking back
home through the field, when we saw another doe, but by
this time it was to dark, so I advised David not to shoot.
A few days went by and David and I were still hadn’t gotten
another deer. One morning he got his chance, we had a doe
at twenty yards. I whispered to him to get his sights on
her, ( I was going to have him to wait for a better shot,
but I guess I didn’t tell him that) because while I was
getting my firearm ready, I heard his gun shoot. After
David shot and the deer ran, we both went to look for
blood, although we were almost sure that he missed. We
looked, but we did not find anything.
On the 26th, the five other families drove back to
Colorado, but all of my Dad's side of the family came over
for the rest of the time that we were there. We didn’t go
hunting but twice after the 26th, and only once I got
another shot, but I went with my dads muzzle loader so I
missed. On the thirtieth at 11: 00 O’clock PM we got home
and went straight to bed.
Some of the things that I enjoyed the most, was the bible
studies that we did every night, shooting the buck, and
spending time with friends and family, having a great time.

Trip to Florida   By David Schamel

In December we went to Florida for a business trip. We flew into Ft. Myers. The night we got there, we had to go to Naples. By the time we got to Naples, it was about six o’clock, so we ate and went to our hotel. The next day, my Dad had a meeting. While he was in the meeting we went to the store then went swimming at the beach and then the pool. We went swimming for most of the day. The next day we swam at the beach and did some boogie boarding, collected shells, then we went to the pool. That night we went to the business banquet. It is a formal banquet where everyone dresses up in fine suits and dresses and eats a fancy dinner.

Then Sunday came. When we got up, we had to get ready to go fishing. First we ate breakfast, then we got to go fishing. We caught a lot of fish. When John caught a fish called a ladyfish our guide whistled really loud, then a bald eagle came flying out of nowhere to get the fish. It was really neat! We fished a while longer, then it was time to go back. While we were coming back, we saw some dolphins. Our guide went the right speed so that the dolphins jumped in our waves. When we got back, we drove to our hotel and got ready to go home. The weather was nice especially compared to Colorado’s weather of 17 degrees. I thank God for giving us a family business.

Responsibility   By Melody Schamel

Responsibility is, knowing and doing what is expected of me.

Today I will be telling you about responsibility which we have been working on this month. Most children obey but we have to do more than that. We have to take responsibility. Here's an example, lets take our newsletters for the example we need responsibility to get it done. In school we heard a story of Nature about two eagles, and this is how it goes.


 


The Bald Eagle

A sound came from the sky in the morning air. There, flying in the sky, were two bald eagles, one a male, and one a female flying next to each other. In the female’s mouth was a stick. The stick was not too big, but big enough that you could see it. Then she dropped it on purpose to test the male. The male went flying down to catch the stick, but the stick kept going faster and faster. Then the male grabbed the stick and flew back into the morning air.

Then the male dropped the stick to test the female. She flew down and got the stick. That was their test to show each other responsibility. They showed that they would be faithful to one another and do their jobs of caring for one another and their eaglets.

There are many other stories like that about the bald eagle. Do your children take responsibility? If not, you could make a chart and write all the things that you see your children do with out telling them to. Happy new year!

Best Article Award!

The Widow's Might Movie Review   By David Schamel

In November, our whole family went to Texas. We went to visit our friends the Moores. At their house, we watched a movie that John Moore produced called “The Widow’s Might“. The movie is about Cinemablog Productions competing in the American Viewfinder Film Festival. In the movie, John and his friend Cameron, make short films mostly for posting on the internet. One of their short films competes in the film festival and Cinemablog Productions is able to compete at the state level. For the state competition, they need to create a 30 minute film.

John and Cameron find out that their widowed neighbor, Grace Jackson, is unable to pay her property taxes because they had been increased a lot because a new highway had been built next to her house. John and Cameron want to help Mrs. Jackson. They make their movie a western musical that will outline Mrs. Jackson’s case so that people will notice what’s happening.

In the meantime, the election for Wringer City mayor was coming up. They did not like the previous mayor because he made property taxes too high. So, who will they get to be mayor? And what will happen to Mrs. Jackson?

The movie is very funny and is still a Christian film. I liked the movie because it was very entertaining and made me laugh. I would recommend that you see the movie. You can see “The Widow‘s Might“ at the San Antonio Film Festival in January, or buy it from John Moore at his website after the premier in January.

Pheasant Hunting     By Ben Schamel

Hunting has always been one of my favorite hobbies, because of a few things, it is challenging, and it requires skill( being a good shot), knowledge ( knowing the parts of the firearm, and what they do) and patience ( the challenging part.)

On the fifteenth of November 2008, my Dad and I were going to go on a guided pheasant hunt near Kiowa with the Cupit boys, Joe, Luke, and Nathaniel and their Dad Mr. Gary Cupit, who are very good friends of ours.

At 6:00 O’clock my Dad and I left the house to meet up with the Cupits in Elizabeth at the Safeway. After that we drove to the ranch were we were going to hunt. When we got there we checked in and met our guide and drove to the section of property that we were going to hunt. It was almost time to hunt, but first we had to load our shotguns, and the guide had to get out two of his dogs, the Cupits also brought their German shorthaired pointer, Clark.

Hunting with the dogs was a ton of fun, to see those dogs point out a pheasant and just stand there motionless until we drew close enough to get set up, then we would make them fly and shoot them down… sometimes.

So at the end of the day, we got nine pheasants all together, had a lot of fun, and had lunch with some brothers of like precious faith. And that is the tale of going pheasant hunting!

The Schamel's Go to Texas   By John Schamel

Uncle Gene & Aunt Vivi Renew their wedding vows

From the 6th - 9th of November my family and I went to Texas ,when we arrived in Dallas Texas (on the 6th ) it was very late so we ate and went to our hotel. The next day we ate ,did bible study ,went to Wal-Mart ,and then went to the Moore’s house. I played football ,capture the flag ,swung on a rope, and watched a movie called the Widow’s Might. Dad fellowshipped with Mr. Moore throughout the day. Then we had pizza at 7:00 pm afterwards we played pool and at 11:30 pm we ate cheeseburgers. We left at 12:30! My favorite activity was playing football.

      On the 8th I ate, put our bags in the car, and then we started down Abilene. Then we did Bible study in the car. Afterwards I fell asleep until we arrived at our Aunt Vivian and Uncle Gene’s house. We went down to see them because they were renewing their wedding vows. Uncle Gene was at a CPR class, so we let Aunt Vivian watch the Widow’s Might. Then some of her family got there and Uncle Gene arrived too. We ate supper and then I played dominos, finally, it was time for bed.

      On the 9th we got up ate, went to Church. After service we went to lunch at a buffet. Then we said goodbyes and drove up to Dallas to get on a flight back home.

Baby Update   By Melody Schamel

A few weeks ago, my 7 month old brother, Gabriel, started learning how to crawl.

He uses his knees and he moves his hands a little bit, soon he will be able to crawl. He is very funny to watch, because he looks like an inch worm. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, then plops forward. Then he gets up and does it again.

Like Gabriel, we as Christians, fall over and over again, but we have to get up and try again. Because Satan deceives us and tells us it is all in vain, we need God to help us get up again. I am going get up again, you should to.

Philippians: 4:13 says

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

The Schamel Family is proud to present the November Schamel Good News Messenger! This time, we decided to do something special. We offered a "Best Article" Award for the best article written for the November newsletter! Next month, you, the readers will be able to vote for Best Article! So Stay tuned for the December Good News Messenger!

The Winner of this months Best Article Award is....

David Schamel for his review of the Widows Might. David worked very hard on his article, and despite being one of the younger authors, his was one of the longest.

Thank you for you work David, keep it up!!!

 

Schamel

Good

News

Messenger

Committed to sharing the good news of Christ's love and joy in our family.

Oct. issue

Josiah Job

By Melody Schamel

Job is now 17 months old. He has learned a lot in the past few months. Josiah now knows how to say the names of everyone in our family! He says "dada" for Dad, "mimi" for mommy, "Ma-Maw" for Grandma, "Steph", "Amba", "Ben", "On", for John, "Dadid", "Mel", "Gwace", and points to himself and says either "Dob", "baby" or "boy". The dogs are "woof-woof", the ducks are "wawa", "maow" for cat and "eehee" for horse.

Job also says "turch (Church) sing", and has been known to let out a few loud "Amen!"'s that everyone hears, in the middle of service! He prays with us before meals, and is always very polite. His favorite songs are: "men, Amen, Amen" "all We like Sheep have Gone Astray" (Is. 53:6), and "The Wise man Built his House on a Rock". (He calls that one "Rain a rain- SMASH!)

We have started potty-training Job. He's not well trained yet, but he's working on it. He still loves taking a bath, especially with dad. He is very much a daddy's boy!

Job is very fond of salsa. He actually drinks it! And he asks for it by name. His other favorites are cheese, meat, bread, and fruit. He's like his Dad : ). He doesn't want someone else to feed him; he wants to feed himself!

Job's favorite things to do are: play peek-a-boo, climb up on the top of our bunk bed, ride the "voom-voom's" (ATV's), and color.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us Job!

Fall

By David Schamel

September 23rd was the first day of fall. I like fall because you can rake up leaves and jump into the pile, and because I think all of the yellow and red leaves look very pretty.

Do you know why all of the leaves turn red and yellow? In the fall, God tells the trees to send all their sap to their roots. This causes the leaves to die, and turn yellow and red. If the trees didn't lose their leaves, the leaves would collect the snow and cause the limbs to break. Also, the sap in the trees would freeze, killing the tree.

In the fall I like to make leaf patterns on paper. I pick a leaf from outside and place it under a piece of paper, and then I use a crayon, with the wrapper taken off, to lightly color over the leaf.

At our house, we set up fall decorations. We have scarecrows, that we put down our driveway. We also put out fall candles, and fake leaves on our chandelier.

I thank God for making Fall and all the pretty trees.

Without fall, there would be no new life in the spring. And without dieing to ourselves, there would be no eternal life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.- John 12:24

Camping out

by John Schamel

On September 7-9 my family and I went camping with the Cupit family. We drove up to Marble, Colorado and met the Cox family and drove up to their cabins. Here was our dilemma, the only way we could get up to the cabins, was by four-wheel drive. We had nineteen people, plus food, sleeping gear and luggage, to fit onto two trucks, and five, 4-wheelers.

We finally managed to get up there, and unloaded all of the stuff from the trucks. Then the men practiced shooting their bows, while the boys gathered wood for the fire, and the girls finished the housework and set up sleeping assignments, then set to helping with dinner. We had hot dogs, brats and chili, with fresh fire-baked corn, followed by s'mores for dessert. Then we all went to bed. My two brothers and I had to share a king size air mattress, with only one sleeping bag because on the way up gas got on our other sleeping bags. I got up at five-thirty, and my dad was getting ready to go bow hunting. No one else was up, so I went back to bed.

When I woke up about an hour later, I went down to the Cupit's cabin and ate breakfast.

Later that afternoon, we went swimming in a waterfall nearby, it was freezing cold! When the men came back from hunting, we swam out to a ledge by the waterfall, and took a picture. We swam back to land, it was so cold, everyone was ready to go back.

Saturday night we went to the Cox's cabin to eat dinner together, afterward, we had homemade ice cream and sang hymns. Sunday morning, we all went on a hike together, to an old mine. We had to cross the river by a big log that had fallen across the river. We went up to the mill where there was lots of pyrite. Mr. Cox let us take some of the fools gold home to keep.

Then we went back to the cabins, packed our things and went home. Even though it was a short trip, we had a very enjoyable time and would love to do it again! Thank you Cox family, for sharing the beautiful place God's given you!!

What Atmosphere Do You Put Out?

By Ben Schamel

"...You've seen people that you love to be around. You don't know why. Just that loving type of person. Have you seen that? Just as kind, there, you like to be around them. They create that atmosphere, by the life that they live, the way they talk, their conversation. Then, you've seen those that, you shun them. All the time, they want to talk about some thing evil, and talk about somebody. Say, 'oh, my!' There they come. they're going to criticize somebody there. He's in there now, he's going to talk about this man. All they're going to do is tell dirty jokes...or something like that. You just hate to be around them...seemingly, pretty nice people, but they create that atmosphere.

And the things that you think on, the things that you do, the actions, the things you talk about, creates an atmosphere."

-Bro. William Marrion Branham

So what atmosphere do you create? Do you release a good atmosphere? The atmosphere you have can easily influence your spouse, children, or your brothers or sisters, in a good way or a bad. Someone is always watching you, or you are watching someone else. And that's something we need to be careful of.

We need to invest our time with family, and our friends with a godly atmosphere, and not spend our time with people with evil ones. Because in 1 Timothy 6:20 it says:O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

(Bad atmosphere)

And I Thought

Changing

The Diaper was the

Hard

Part!

By Amber Schamel

Of course we've all heard about every little thing that can go wrong in changing the diaper, but have you ever heard of the struggle of throwing them away?

Growing up in a family of (going on) nine children, I have changed many diapers in my career. But until that fateful night on Sept. 25, 2007, I never thought disposing of the diaper could be so difficult.

My family has one of those nifty little canisters that are supposed to keep the smell down, and has special little bags you buy for them. Little did I know, changing the canister, would be a nightmare!

There I was, about to change my little brother's diaper when I realized Ben hadn't taken care of the last one he had changed. But as we tried to push it down into the can, it wouldn't budge. "Of course," I thought, "it's full. All we do is simply empty it." The problem was, my mother was out of town and I didn't know how to do it. "It can't be that hard. I can figure it out." I was thinking while I tried to remember how mom had done it. I now understand the importance of Titus 2:3-4 which instructs the older women to teach the younger women!

First I tried unsuccessfully to cut the endless bags so I could take out the ones being used. I did finally get them cut, but that was only the beginning of my tussle. After that, I proceeded to pulling the dirty bags up out of the canister. I hadn't realized how many diapers can fit into such a small can!! As I pulled diaper after diaper after diaper out the canister, Ben began to laugh hysterically at me. That's when Josiah began yelling "Amba, boo-poo! Boo-poo!" When I finally got to the last one, someone had put more than one diaper in before twisting the bag to keep them all in a row. The last pair was stuck and wouldn't come out! That's when I noticed the latch on the bottom of the pail. "I think your supposed to take them out through the bottom" Ben managed through his laughter. I opened the bottom and peered in. BIG MISTAKE! I recoiled at the overpowering smell that met my nose.

After recovering from the suffocating gas, I then began stuffing all of the diapers back into the can. That done, I pulled all of the diapers out of the bottom this time, and thought that I was finally almost done. Wrong again. During my struggle getting the diapers out, the canister had somehow disassembled itself. Now I had to figure out how to put the thing back together!

I started by latching the bottom, then tried to put the top part back together. You see there was this little white thing that is supposed to fit into this other little white collar thing and then is covered by the green little bags. (It didn't make sense to me either!) There, all done. I put the diapers that had fallen out of the used bags during the struggle into the canister, and began to twist. But the thing kept unraveling!

"That's easy to fix," I thought. "I'll just smash a little piece of the bag in between the latch and that will hold it still so that I can twist the little white thingy with no problem."

Once again battling the baby-gas-chamber, I began to pull the bag downward so I could fix the problem. AGAIN another problem arose! The bag wouldn't come down!

I opened the top again. "This doesn't look right. I must have done it wrong." I said to Ben, [who be the way was still laughing at me and calling the (almost) endless string of diapers sausages popping out of a machine.]

So I once again took the silly thing apart and tried again.

After fighting with the diaper canister for thirty minutes (Three-Zero, 30 minutes of my precious life!!!!) I finally managed to get it right.

"I am the champion!" I thought to myself. "Wait, of what? The diaper canister?!"

So if all things have a reason, and a lesson... what is the lesson here?

I am reminded of Romans 8:28 " And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Even if life gets messy and very stinky, in the end, we win. Because Jesus already played the game, all ready bore our struggles.

Thank you Lord, for using stinky diapers to strengthen and encourage me!

God Bless,

The Schamel

Family

Schamel Good

News

Messenger

Committed to sharing the good

news of Christ's love and joy in

our family.

Aug. issue

Baking Cookies

By Melody Schamel

This summer, mom made cookies with my sister, Grace and me. We were almost done with the dough when my sister and I tasted it. We expected to taste yummy cookie dough, but it tasted like baking powder! My mommy realized that someone put in too much baking soda. There is a big difference in a teaspoon and 1/2 a cup! So now what were we to do?!

We took 1/4th of the dough and added all the other ingredients called for in the recipe, but we had to add 5 times what the recipe called for of all the other ingredients! It was way too much dough for our bowl, so we found our blue apple-bobbing bucket to mix it in. When we got done, we weighed the dough. There was 10 pounds! We should have invited you all over for some cookies because most of the dough went bad before we could eat it all!

From this experience, I learned to follow the directions or else the cookies will be all messed up!

Father/Son Retreat

By David Schamel

Two weekends ago, Dad took Ben, John and me to a father/son retreat in the mountains. Amber tagged along to help serve us our food. Our friends the Cupit's came too. Since we got to the resort early, the first day we helped show people where to park their cars. Then we played basketball, volleyball, went on the waterslides and the blob. The blob is like a big balloon shaped like a burrito that is in the pond. One person gets on the end, then someone jumps off the deck onto the blob and launches the other person off into the water. It was fun! We had one session that night after dinner.

We got special rooms because dad supports the Generations radio program and the people that work on that program did room assignments. Most people stayed in dorms where there were bunk beds and several other people. Our rooms had regular two beds. Us three boys got one room, and dad got his own.

The second day, we had a meeting after breakfast. Then we had some free time. After lunch we did the ropes course and the zip line. It was somewhat scary, but very fun. Then we watched a speaker who did a talk with his horse. His name was Lou. He talked about horses and fathers and sons. He said that the sons are like the horse and the father is to train them like Lou did the horse. Next was the Father /Son Olympics. We played with a medicine ball. We had two teams and we had to try to get the ball passed the goal line. We also played tug-of-war. Amber served us at our meals. She did a great job! Thanks Amber!

The next day was Sunday, so we had a church service, then we had some free time. During free time we played wombats. Wombats are PVC pipe with padding that we use for sword fights. After lunch, we had a special talk with Dad. We learned a lot about Dad. He told us about the past jobs he had and some stories about his life.

Monday we made our beds and other people's beds too because they had to leave early. Then we helped clean up our building. We also had another meeting in the morning. When we were ready to go and waiting for Amber, we helped Vision Forum pack up their store stuff. For helping ,we were able to get a knife and a broken pop gun that we could easily fix.

My favorite part of the retreat was playing with the wombats and spending time with my friends and family. Thanks Dad for taking us!



Our Chickens

John J. Schamel

On Feb. 5th my bothers and I got some chickens. They are 6 months old. The girl chickens are called hens, and the boy chickens are called roosters. The hens start laying in between 6 months to a year. The roosters start crowing in between 6 months to a year too. We have 12 chickens that are 6 months old. One rooster is crowing. The other 11 chickens we can not know if they are hens or roosters, because they are not laying or crowing yet.

There are lots of different types of chickens. We ordered a straight run which is a variety of chickens, so we don't even know what kind all of them are. The one that is crowing is black and has some brown and sometimes looks blue and green depending on how the sun shines on his feathers. We feed our chickens two times a day. We give them Layena, a special feed for chickens that are laying eggs. Although our chickens aren't laying yet, they should anytime. We also feed them our scraps from the house. The especially like the tops of strawberries and salad.

When they start laying, we expect to get 1/2 a dozen eggs a day. That will be more than we can eat, so we hope to sell the extras to help pay for the food. If you are interested in fresh eggs, let us know!



The Florissant Fossil Beds

By Ben Schamel

several weeks ago our family went to the Florissant fossil beds. At the fossil beds they found petrified red wood tree stumps. For a long time this was the only place where there was a mother tree and something happened to it and three other trees grew out of it. Florissant also has paper shale. In this layer they find, leaves, insects, twigs, seeds, cones from trees, flowers, and pollen grains. they even found the dust on a butterfly. The rangers there say that it sank to the bottom of a swampy area and that's how it got fossilized. They also teach you that things are millions of years old, and that's why we need more places in the world that gets the creation message out.



What God Has Joined Together

By Amber Schamel

Several weeks ago, we had the pleasure of going to a friend's wedding. We strolled down the petal-covered walkway, and were met by a breath taking view as we looked out over a beautiful prairie. After finding a place to stand under a group of trees we waited for the wedding to begin.

When we first met this lovely young woman, she was still only 12, and it was hard now to believe that only six years later she would be getting married! We hadn't heard from her in about a year, and last we knew she was planning on moving to Tennessee with her parents. However their plans in Tennessee fell through. So they stayed here, in Colorado, were the bride met her fiancee. They met at a youth gathering and only nine months later were getting married!

Suddenly the music changed, and everyone turned toward the aisle, to see the pastor, two groomsmen, and the groom come down the aisle and stand at the front. Next came the Bride's mother on the arm of her son. When they got to the front they exchanged a tight hug and both went to their places. Next came the groom's parents and the two bridesmaids.

Finally, here came the bride, her face radiant in virtue and purity, as she held to her father's arm. Seeing his gorgeous bride-to-be come down the aisle brought tears of joy and gratitude to the Groom's eyes.

At the end of the aisle, the pair stopped and her father turned over the brides hand to her husband-to-be, who carefully, with tears still in his eyes, escorted her to stand before the pastor.

The music stopped and over the sound of sniffles and birds, the pastor began the ceremony. He began by telling everyone how long he had known the couple and how overjoyed he was to see two people who had put God first in their lives come together to become one flesh.

He lined out the responsibilities of each of them starting with the bride. She is to respect, honor, obey and submit to her husband, and he in return is to lead, love and cherish and protect her.

One of the most awe-inspiring things that the pastor explained was how the husband edifies the wife. The husband can make the wife stronger in the Lord, and now is a tool in the hand of God to mold her into what the Lord wants her to be.

After vows were exchanged, they were pronounced "Man and Wife."

The pastor emphasized the fact that this was the couple's first kiss, and that they had stayed pure and unadulterated to each other.

Finally, he gave the couple a few minutes to take communion together for the first time.

It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen.

At this exquisite wedding, I was reminded of the relationship between Christ and his bride. Someday, Christ will come back to take his bride away to the wedding supper, and he expects to find her pure, unadulterated and committed to him. Matthew 25 tells the story of 10 virgins, 5 were ready, and 5 were not.

Are you ready?

"Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." -Matt. 25:11-13

God Bless,

The Schamel Family

This is an E-mail to a brand new Christian Brother in our Church who ask my daughter to sing a special song with him, with out asking me first. It's something that I thought you would enjoy, regarding how we message believers have our children under our authority and protection, just as we should be under God's authority and protection and how God uses the situations that come up to train our children. This was my response.

Brother,

I love you so much and appreciate your spirit and desire to learn. As you are learning, we believe in the Biblical authority of a Fathers protection over his children and especially his daughters. The Bible instructs the daughters to be obedient, shamefaced, humble and contrite, and as such, our children are taught to involve their parents in all aspects of their life and authority. This way they do not have to even put themselves in a position to make the wrong choice and even more importantly, God gives us these opportunities, as parents to use all situation's such as this to teach our children to evaluate the motives and circumstances surrounding the other people involved. For example, if some single Man bragging to her about her talent, enticing her with words and wanting her to spend time "practicing" singing, she may not realize what the real motive is. Again, all of these situations allow us to teach them to think accurately and Biblically. I certainly wish I would have learned that as a child.

She, mentioned to me that you would like to sing a special with her and under the circumstances, I certainly do not see any harm. We do not want our daughters to "thrive" on being on stage for their own glory, but only to glorify God with the wonderful gift that God has blessed them with. In the future please feel free to discuss with me any issues good or bad regarding my children. I will look forward to hearing you both.

God Bless,

Dale Schamel

Schamel Good News

Messenger

Committed to sharing the

good news of Christ's love

and joy in our family.

Feb. 2007 Issue

School

By Melody Schamel

For our character study in February, we concentrated on diligence vs. slothfulness. Slothful people do not think they are slothful. Do you know what helps them become slothful? It's little surrenders like sleeping a little longer or thinking,"I'll clean that up later."

We studied the sloth. And do you know that some sloths can stay in one tree their whole lives? That's right! I don't want to live my whole life without seeing more and doing more!

Diligence is working like the ant or the beaver. The beaver works till the work gets done. That is like our family rule: Rule #1 The Work Gets Done!

A Stay at the Hospital

By David Schamel

One Monday at 3:00 a.m. I woke up. My knee was very painful and swelled up, so I woke up my brother. My knee hurt so badly that my brother gave me a piggyback ride to my mom. My mom gave me some medicine.

Later that day my mom took me to the doctor. They looked at my knee and sent me to the emergency room at the Parker Hospital. Then the Parker Hospital drew my blood and sent it to the lab at Children's hospital. After that, they took an x-ray and finally decided to send me downtown to The Children's Hospital (where I caught up with my blood)!

The next morning at 7:30 a.m., I went into surgery. They cut open my knee to drain out all the bacteria and gunk. My knee was very swollen! When we went down for the surgery, they gave me laughing gas to make me go to sleep and my dad made me giggle and it put me to sleep! When I woke up, I was in a room with dad and a doctor and we talked before they took me up to my regular room.

When my mom told the doctors that my cousin had shingles and I'd been exposed, I was put in a room by myself and couldn't go to the playroom! This got very boring! There was nothing to do but play legos (which made me miss John), watch animal planet, and watch movies.

The best part about being in the hospital was Stephani coming and giving me a whole duffle bag full of stuff! I also got flowers from my dad's business, and balloons and candy from my cousins, aunt and grandpa. Brother Ken also came to visit me.

On Friday night I finally got to go home. I never want to go to the hospital again!

GOD`s Animals

By John Schamel

Lately my brother and I have been taking care of our chicks.

When? Well, they were born on Saturday February 3rd and we received them in the mail on Monday February 5th when they were only 3 days old.

Did you know you can get live chicks in the mail? How can they stay alive when they are mailed? When the egg hatches, the chicks eat the egg white and they do not get hungry for 3 days. The 3rd day, they need fed, so we had everything ready when they arrived. Now they are 1 month old as of March 3rd.

How do they stay alive in the cold Colorado weather? Well, we had heat lamps that kept them warm, but they huddle together, and keep each other warm. When they become chickens, they have feathers, but when they are chicks they are fuzzy. Our chicks are getting their feathers. Chicks cheep until they are about three months, then they cluck. And you thought your voice changes!

I enjoy having chicks because they are cute and when they grow up, they give us good fresh eggs to eat! Taking care of chicks is hard work but they give us a chance to work on our diligence!

Travels to Tucson

By Ben Schamel

Our family flew to Arizona February 22nd - 25th. We went mainly to visit Brother Green in Tucson. Dad wanted to take us kids to spend time with him because of his experiences with Brother Branham. Brother Green was flying back from Germany when we arrived. He got back on Friday.

Thursday we flew into Phoenix and had dinner with some of our relatives. About 20 of dad's cousins met us at the Hometown Buffet to see us and their Aunt Carolyn (my grandma). I mostly talked with Stephani, which was nice since she works so much I don't get to sit and talk with her very often. I met about 3 cousins near my age. Since they are my dad's cousins kids, I guess that makes them my 3rd cousins.

The second day, we waited on Stephani's bag because it got lost from our flight to Phoenix. When we finally got her bag, we found out that it went to Texas! Then, we went to a cowboy show at Rawhide, a replica western town. We watched a guy do tricks with his gun. It was really cool! Dad bought us his DVD on gun slinging and I�ve been practicing. Mom says I can now twirl my toy pistol almost as good as John Wayne! (Maybe you can ask for a demonstration next time you see me.)

After that, we drove down to Tucson and had the evening meal with the Petersons. The Petersons are a home school family that attend Brother Green's church. Brother Green had wanted us to get together with them last time we were in Tucson, but we ran out of time, so we got together with them this trip. Mrs. Peterson made us a really good Turkey dinner. It was fun to meet with another large family. They have 7 children, but the two older boys were gone. Enoch, their younger son is about my age. We had fun playing games. We both listen to Jonathon Park and had fun talking about that.

On Saturday morning, our family went to an airplane museum. We saw fighter jets and a replica of the Wright Brothers airplane. It was interesting to learn about how Orville and Wilber maneuvered and steered their plane. They had a control in their hand to move up and down, and moved their body to steer side to side. We also saw some old presidential planes. Another plane could fly higher and faster than any other aircraft. The military used it to take pictures. On one mission, pictures were taken of an island. One picture showed the entire island, the next showed the military camp, the next was of a group of people standing around, then it zoomed in on the name tag on one of the men! These were all taken from really high flying really fast.

That afternoon, Brother Peary Green took us on a tour of the city of Tucson. He showed us where he had just had a wreck. He took us up on a mountain outside of town and showed us the surrounding mountains. He said that the first letters of the Mountains surrounding Tucson spelled C-H-R-I-S-T. We saw finger rock where the cloud came down over Brother Branham. The cloud could be seen for miles and was photographed by many people. The University there studied the cloud and said it was too high in the atmosphere to be a cloud.

Sunday morning we went to church and heard Brother Green tell about his mission trip to Germany. After church, we drove up to Phoenix in our rented 12 passenger van and flew home. Visiting is nice, but there's "no place like home".

In the Multitude of

Counselors

By Amber Schamel

I Kings 12

Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you." He said to them, "Go away for three days, then come again to me." So the people went away.

Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, "How do you advise me to answer this people?" And they said to him, "If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever." But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. And he said to them, "What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your father put on us'?" And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, "Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,' thus shall you say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.'"

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, "Come to me again the third day." And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem

Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established.

Proverbs 15:22

1) We need counsel:

King Rehoboam's Father was the wisest man in the world, and yet he didn't heed the advise of his father's counselors. And look where it got him! Not only do we need to have mentors, but we need to choose them wisely. In most cases the best counselors are your parents. God put our parents in our lives to teach and protect us.

2) We need to pray for our mentors

No matter who it is, everyone needs prayer. As Christians we need to be praying for our leaders, our families, and our country. If the Christians aren't praying, then who is?

 I Thess. 5:17 says " Pray without ceasing." And I Timothy 2:1-2 says "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

3) We need to become good counselors: Just as we need to have good counselors we need to be good counselors. Jesus picked 12 men and became their mentor. Those twelve men in turn spread Christianity throughout the whole world, wrote several books of the bible and, overall, changed the world. If you were to Mentor 12 people who would mentor 12 people, then after 4 generations you would have won 20,736 people to Christ. Imagine what an influence that many people could have in the world! This is the way God designed it to be.

Recently, we had the honor of having our father's mentor, Jeff Moore, and his wife in our home. And as the adults, and some of the young people as well, were gathered around the table listening to him, it filled our home with a godly spirit of respect and honor. Mr. Moore had a very large effect on my Father's life. He introduced the idea of home schooling, gave him many ideas that have helped him immensely in his business, and also helped him to realize that children are a blessing from the Lord. The influence Mr. Moore had on my Dad, changed his entire life. Our whole family was thrilled to have him in our home.

In my life, my parents have been my mentors. God has given me a dream of becoming a mentor not only to my daughters, but also to girls around the world. I want to show them that marriage is not a "Prison" and children are the greatest thing that could happen to you. I want to show them that a woman belongs in the home caring for her household, and it is not a curse; it is a blessing. By gaining a position in the workplace, we have lost the greatest influence we have as daughters, wives, mothers and sisters. I want to show the world that the only way to be truly happy, is by being the family God designed us to be. I hope to fill my life with many mentors, and to become one as well.

Duet. 4:5-9

Our Family Vision

Behold I have taught you statutes and judgments; even as the Lord my God commanded me. That ye should do so, in the land wither ye go, to possess it.

Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom, and your understanding in the sight of the nations; Which shell hear all these statutes and say: Surely this great family is a wise and understanding people.

For what family is there so great that has God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all these things that we call upon him for.

And what family is there so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law that I set before you this day.

Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently; lest ye forget the things that thine eyes have seen and lest they depart from thine heart all the days of thy life. But teach them to thy sons, and thy son's sons.

 "Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap."

Lucy drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "What is taking the doctor so long?" she thought.

Lucy, and her Mom and Dad had been waiting in the emergency room for quite some time. It was hard for Lucy to wait. What was wrong with her Dad?

Finally the doctor came in. When she saw the look on the doctor's face, she began to worry.

"We got the results of the blood test," the doctor said. "Mrs. Shodd, could I see you outside for just a minute."

Lucy's mom hesitated, then placed her delicate hand on Mr. Shodd's shoulder. "We would like to hear the news together."

"It's not good." the doctor warned. Then he sighed, "I don't know how or where you would've picked up this disease, it's really not very common anymore. The blood test shows that Polio has infected your nervous system. They call that paralytic polio." The doctor stopped and glanced at Mrs. Shodd. "There is no cure for polio. And...," The doctor sighed and glanced toward the door.

"What is it, doctor? How bad is it?" Mr. Shodd asked.

"You are paralyzed for life."

Lucy gasped and covered her mouth as she tried to hold back the tears and swollow the lump swelling in her throat.

"And," the doctor continued hesitantly, "There is a chance that the virus could do worse damage to your brain and even cause, death. There's nothing we can do, except send you home to take it easy."

At these words, all else seemed to disappear. Lucy stared at her father, her daddy! "Paralyzed?" Lucy thought. "For life? He could die? How could this have ever happened? We're good people! How could God let this happen?!" Lucy choked on her tears and collapsed into a chair.

She glanced up at her mother who was weeping and clinging tightly to her husband, who also had tears in his eyes.

"The good news is he can go home." the doctor said awkwardly.

Mrs. Shodd nodded and the doctor left the room.

A few minutes later, nurses came into the room to prepare Mr. Shodd for the ride home.

After they got home and everyone was settled, Mrs. Shodd went to the pharmacy, leaving Lucy alone with her dad.

Lucy sat down in the chair next to her dad's bed, and looked down at him. "How can he look so peaceful when he sleeps?" She asked herself. Then the tears came. "How could God be so cruel?! How could a loving God do something so, so, hateful?!"

Lucy buried her head in her hands and cried bitterly, until a stir came from her father's bed.

With a voice hoarse from sleep, He said tenderly, with just a hint of reproach, "Lucy, You know that God didn't do this. I raised you better than that."

"Then how could God let this happen?!" Lucy asked through her tears.

"God didn't bring death into the world, sin did. And man brought sin into the world. When God created man he gave him the freedom of choice. Man chose sin, and sin brings death. That's not God's fault."

"But how could he let this happen to us?! We're good people!"

"Honey, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Besides, what makes you think we're good people?"

"We go to church! We pay our tithes! We care for the poor! And we never stole anything, or killed anyone! We're good people!"

"Lucy, don't you remember the story of the rich young ruler? He came to Jesus and asked what good thing he had to do to get eternal life. But the Bible tells us that we are not saved by works that we do but by what Jesus did. So going to church and doing all those things doesn't make us good people. The Bible says, 'for ALL have sinned.' And that means that no one is a good person."

Lucy looked down at her hands, and her dad lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Lucy, if there is one thing I want you to have before I go, it's a strong walk with the Lord. We don't even know if I'll even die yet. But whatever God decides is fine with me."

Lucy nodded, and swallowed her tears.

"Your piano recital is in three days!" Mr. Shodd said beaming. "I know you'll make me proud."

Lucy gave him an odd look. "But I'm not going."

The smile on Mr. Shodd's face vanished instantly. "Why ever not?!"

"Because, Daddy, I couldn't play without you there! I want to spend all of my time with you!" Lucy said, her eyes watering once again.

"What makes you think I won't be there?"

"Daddy, the doctor said you should take it easy. Going would be too stressful."

"Well, I took the ride home O.K. didn't I? Besides, I don't care what the doctor thinks. I know that seeing you win the competition will be VERY good for me. You're going, and I'll be in the front row cheering you on." Mr. Shodd said decisively. "And that's that. Now, go practice. I want to hear you play."

Lucy tried to smile then walked over to the grand piano her dad had bought her only a few months ago for her sixteenth birthday.

She sat down and started to play her dad's favorite song, "It is Well with My Soul," the song she would play for the competition. As her skilled fingers danced across the keys, beautiful music filled the house and soon her dad was once again asleep.

On the night before the competition, the doctor came to check on Mr. Shodd. After completing his exam, he called Mrs. Shodd into the parlor.

"He doesn't look good." The doctor told her sadly.

"I know, but I'm sure he'll pull through. He won't leave Lucy and me alone," Mrs. Shodd assured him.

The next evening, Lucy came down from her bedroom to see her Dad in his wheelchair holding a dozen pink roses. "You look beautiful, Lucy."

Lucy blushed and accepted the roses. Then Lucy helped her mother get Mr. Shodd safely into their mini-van.

Lucy was nervous as a cat as her turn to play drew closer. There was so many people! But when she walked out onto the stage and saw her dad in the front row, all nervousness left her. She was no longer playing for a large crowd of people, she was playing for her daddy. Without even thinking about it, Lucy's fingers began their song. And as tears filled her eyes she played with a zeal she never had before.

"Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."

When she finished, the crowd was silent, then erupted into thunderous applause, and rose from their seats.

But Lucy didn't notice everyone else, she only noticed the man in the front row who had stood against his wheelchair. Her daddy.

Later that night as she and her dad framed her first place certificate, Lucy thought about what her dad had told her earlier. "Lord, I accept your will. If you must take him, I'll still love you."

That was the last memory Lucy ever had with her dad. And as she placed the roses on his casket, she remembered Psalm 68:5 that says, "God is the father of the fatherless."

The End


(c) 2007 Amber D. Schamel

Schamel Good News
Messenger
Committed to sharing the

good news of Christ's love

and joy in our family.

Jan. issue

God's Hand on my Family

By John Schamel

On Sunday January 21st, my family was driving home from church when our back tire went off the road. We started to slide, but God's hand was on us. There were cars in front of us, behind us, and coming toward us on the 2 lane road. The car coming toward us slowed down enough that we were able to get across the road and to the side without them hitting us. We then were able to let the cars pass and get back on the road and home safely. Thank you Lord!

Gratefulness Expressions

By Melody Schamel

We would like to thank these people for their generosity toward us:

*Thanks to everyone who gave us Christmas gifts and cards! The gifts were all cool and it was great to hear from everyone!

*Thank you to Grandma Schamel for helping with the dishes and tidying up.

*Thanks to Great Grandma Hammon who gave the big girls several pairs of shoes, us younger kids a piano, dad cherry chocolate kisses, cookies for us all, and mom a can opener. She gave them to us for the bestest reason of all. No good reason!!

*Dad took us to Chinese dinner last Friday night. Thanks dad!

Up and Going Job

By David Schamel

Good job Job! Josiah Job is now 8 months old. He is learning many new "tricks". He recently has learned to crawl. He likes to crawl to mom and to toys and to little pieces of stuff on the floor.

Job's favorite word is "da da". He also says "mama" and "buba" , and "hi".  We are working on teaching him sign language for the words "please" and "more".

Josiah eats crackers and applesauce and soft foods. He especially likes Honey O's (organic of course!)

Job's favorite hobby is eating. He also enjoys bath time, especially with "da da".

Science

By Ben Schamel

For science class, we are listening to Jonathon Park from Vision Forum while driving in the car. This audio series takes the listener on adventures, dangers and excitement. Although the people and circumstances are fictitious, the places, scientific and historical information are true. Jonathon Park's father is a paleontologist who is fired from his job because of his creationist views. The adventures include discovering dinosaur fossils and how they were likely preserved through Noah's flood.

We have learned that there are many fossil deposits here in Colorado and I look forward to taking field trips to some of these places (when there is not 5 feet of snow on the ground)! The stories make learning fun and the whole family is really enjoying them.

Also, when we are at home, we are watching Moody science videos. On Voices of the Deep, it shows how the fish can communicate and make noises. The dolphins use sonar to tell shapes and sizes of objects. They can even tell the difference between copper and steel!

I am excited about science this year as we have such neat materials to learn from. Thanks Dad and Mom!

A Quiver Full of Arrows

By Amber Schamel

Robin Hood took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. He should've picked a lighter disguise! He had come to this archery competition undercover. The sheriff, his worst enemy, had forced him to do so. Even now he could hear him conversing with his friends. 

" We scarcely would've seen better competition if Robin Hood was here!" said one of his companions.

"Hmm, I thought he would be here, but even with his bravery he didn't dare." The sheriff boasted.

Robin could hardly contain his laughter. " You'll soon see, Sheriff, that Robin Hood is here." He laughed to himself.

The match had come down to William of York and himself. "Give up! Red Jacket!" William's friends shouted! " You can't beat our William!"

Robin glanced down at his red jacket. " It is rather ugly." He thought, " I'll have to buy a new one. No matter, their teasing will soon come to an end."

Fresh targets were set up, much farther away than they had been before. William of York shot first. His first arrow hit dead center of the bulls-eye. William smirked then drew another arrow from his quiver. His shot was not far from heart of the target. He turned to "Red Jacket" expectantly. Robin was not impressed.

Robin Hood stepped up to the marker. He eyed his target. Then he shot so quickly that the second arrow was in the air before the first hit the target. Both arrows hit dead center of the bulls-eye one on top of the other.

For a moment the throng was silent. Then the crowd roared! He had won the prize! Yet no one knew, that this hero was Robin Hood!

Ps. 127:4

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Let's take a close look at this scripture. There are several aspects to this verse.

1) Children are a blessing. In today's culture, Children are looked on as a curse, or a burden. But, this is not how God meant it to be! When God wanted to bless Abraham, his faithful servant, He promised him: Children! This verse shows us that children are one of the greatest miracles He can give! Where would Robin Hood have been if his quiver were empty?

2) God wants us to study. Arrows can be very deadly, But only if we know how and when to use them. "Mighty Men" must know how to hit their mark. This will take instruction and practice. God wants us to learn the best way to raise our "Arrows".

3) We have a responsibility. God wants us to know that along with the blessing comes a great responsibility. We will be held accountable not only for our own actions, but for the actions of our children. Eli was cursed for failing to properly raise his sons, even though he was in the service of the Lord. Our mistakes will affect our children possibly even more than it does us.

And finally God wants us to use our arrows. As in the parable of the talents, God does not want us to keep our children locked up in the house for safekeeping. Although we do need to protect our children, we should be using them to touch the lives of others. I had the opportunity to stay the night with my Great Grandmother after she had an operation on her eye. THUNK! My Father's arrow hit its mark. That's the way it is supposed to work. God designed it this way so that, the mighty man and the arrows working together, can win the prize for Christ. Who could ask for a higher calling?