Christmas Salutations/New Year Blessings from the Roelfs-2011
Come,thou fount of every blessing,teach my heart to sing thy grace,streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise,
I am most comfortable when a project is finished in a timely manner and not left partially completed. This may also mean I have a desire to be in control of my environment. Having created 6 beautiful children with a wonderful man who also donated genetics that include independent thinking with strong leadership qualities, I often find myself uncomfortable. Matt recently declared he has discovered the burr that has been a year under my saddle. My Christmas salutations of a year ago were never delivered...
Those of you with whom we keep in touch primarily through Christmas greetings may not know that early in February of 2010 my dad, Tim Nielsen, was diagnosed with lung cancer. We had 9 months in which to say, “until we meet again”, which we lived with him to the fullest. He went to heaven on November 7, 2010 surrounded by his family. I started my Christmas letter many times, but my eyes kept leaking and my fingers kept slipping from the keys. The one thing that came of my dad’s illness was that I started writing about it to keep friends and family updated. These writings turned into a blog. If you can’t get enough of my ramblings here you can go there for updates during the year. pursuingtheprize.blogspot.com. has become a place I try to chronicle our journey, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philipians 3:14
We just commenced our 10th year on the acreage I have dubbed Sunny Toad Farm. My fascination with sunflowers hasn’t wilted in the 24 years I have been a collector and our toad population continues to increase at the same rate as our gardens continue to eat up the lawn. The human population is holding steady for now at 8, although we continue to pray that the Lord would bless us with a greater workforce to raise to His glory!
Madigan Kate is 11 ½ and proud of the fact that the sandals we purchased for next summer are a size 10. She continues in her study of the violin and is ready for a full size instrument. Who knew when she was 3 and wanted to play that we would be buying replacement violins like so many too small shoes?! Her sense of responsibility and willingness to help out make her indispensable to us. I’ll admit to acting a little put out when Matt takes her to help him work. She especially enjoys helping him by running the lift when he is roofing. It is not the machinery of which she is fond, but the tote of crocheting and books she packs along. She and Maliah enjoy a Bible study with a group of young ladies where they are in charge of craft time.
Maliah Joy turned 10 in November. If she hasn’t read a book on any given day we check her temperature. She never leaves the house with less than 3 in her bag. When our smiley free- spirited Maliah is ornery we can safely assume she has been up too late the night before reading. Maliah has created a painting studio in the basement in which she willingly welcomes guest artists. She is a natural on the piano and we enjoy listening to her energetic inflection. Maliah is a special favorite of all small children. Although, I recently found out she buys Merritt’s affections with gum...
Maxwell Willard turned 7 in August. He decided this year that he will graduate from Sunny Toad Academy when he is 13 so he can then go to work with his dad full time. Until then he bides his time taking out the trash, removing dead mice from the basement, and peeling potatoes. He is also studying violin and we have enjoyed hearing he and Madigan playing duets. Max is pulling for a bb gun this Christmas so he can keep the barn bird population in check around here. Instead he will be receiving books, for which he will be equally excited, believe it or not. Last week Max followed the Lord in believers baptism and became a member of Harvest Baptist Church.
Mitchell Wynn is 5 and also an avid reader. He and Max can most often be found reading aloud to their most loyal fans, Maielle and Merritt, when they aren’t running around outside brandishing sticks at one another. He also does a great imitation of a pirate. He is a very prolific artist and frequent guest in Maliah’s studio. It warms his mother’s heart to hear Mitch proclaim he shall play the trumpet. At last a brass instrumentalist I can instruct with some confidence. Mitchell has decided to follow Jesus and let the whole world know last week when he too was baptized and joined Harvest Baptist. He recently decided his occupation shall be as a plumber and that he will marry a woman who doesn’t care if she gets dirty, but then gets cleaned up on Sundays.
Maielle Rose just turned 4 and we are working at harnessing her spirit of self-confidence and leadership. She is very busy carrying out her various and many numbered plans, regardless of our efforts to thwart her! She loves to dress up and mother her many baby dolls. I haven’t decided if she and Merritt are destined to be tailors or supervisors of some sort, as they spend many hours sitting on my sewing table and in the windowsill it abuts critiquing my every stitch.
Merritt Wallace turned 2 at the beginning of December and we are excited that he has taken to potty training quite easily. It doesn’t hurt that he is a performer and loves the accolades we lavish on him when he makes his deposits in the preferred facilities. He is as easy going as Maielle is intense and one can’t help but smile when he is around. He loves to write with a pen and play with the kids and he takes to his crib for a nap easily to enjoy the comforts of his thumb and blankie.
Roelfs Enterprises continues to be as varied as the name describes. The two main arms being Roelfs Steel Roofing and Advanced Greenscapes. Last Spring the whole family plus my mom and sister and her 4 kids were in southern Iowa planting trees by day and camping at night. You can also on occasion hear Matt on WHO or read about him in the Spokesman or Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers newsletter (where he writes a regular feature article), as I call him the Coalition’s “poster boy”. When he is not landscaping Matt can most often be found on a roof. He claims it has no reference to the fractious woman found in the book of Proverbs! Matt also continues to make great strides in remodeling our home.
I keep busy looking for teachable moments with the kids while living and working alongside each other. We continue to spend a lot of time in the gardens as we strive each year to be better stewards of the harvest. We started in the greenhouse in April and the kids dug the last of the carrots last week. I am in a Bible study with a great group of edifying supportive gals that hold my feet to the fire. When I can work it in I am passionate about sewing, refashioning, and creating with fabric.
Our 10 year old Great Dane, Daisy, is still with us although she’s no longer the looker she once was. Our Mastiff, Duke, is 3 and we brought his baby brother, Turk, home to live with us last winter to keep him company in the case of Daisy’s demise. Unfortunately Turk tried to eat out of pecking order and Duke snapped at him. Turk lasted a week before his injuries were fatal. In May we got a milk cow Maielle dubbed Rosie. We enjoyed the milk products until she caught milk fever and died hours short of delivering her calf in October. We continue to ponder whether to get another cow. We also lost a few of our 50 chicken laying flock. People often ask how the kids have dealt with these set-backs. The Lord has given us these valuable teachable moments and we attempt to live Proverbs 3:5-6 through them. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.”
My grandfather, Ed Ericksen, died in January at the ripe old age of 94. In July the “Ericksen” clan broke the peaceful quietness of the Chippewa National Forest at Cass Lake in Minnesota. Though it had been quite a few years since Grandpa Ed had been able to join us at the lake I still miss his presence and the resulting fish fry. We spent a lovely week together reminiscing about past trips and making new memories with the kids. It was a special blessing to be surrounded by family as we marked the first lake vacation without Dad there to encourage the kids in knife throwing games, whittling, band-aid application, and snorkeling.
In June Matt and I celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss and in September we revisited Litchfield Beach, South Carolina, where we spent our honeymoon. This time around we rented a house on the beach with all the kids and our good friends Mark and Kate Ehresman and their brood of 4. Getting there is half the fun and we logged 24 hours each way in our 15 passenger van. Our time together was such a blessing and it was the most relaxing vacation on which I have ever been!
For us this has been an entire year of pausing and reflection. We have come to appreciate God’s gift of grace, made low and wrapped in human flesh in the form of his son, all the more. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter,bind my wandering heart to thee!
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