Our Debt Free Journey

If we are going to talk about a Debt Free Journey, we need to start at the beginning.  How did we get into this mess in the first place?  For me, it started in college.  Like many American students, I thought you just took out student loans.  That is how you go to college.  This is normal.  But YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE OUT LOANS TO GO TO SCHOOL!! (5 Ways to Pay for College Without Loans) Now, I know that.  It's not a pipe dream, people.  It just takes work and common sense.

Until Adam and I got married in December 2000, this school loan of $24,000 was my only debt, but it still weighed on me.  Our first step into combined debt slavery (Proverbs 22:7) was financing our wedding bands.  I walked into the mall jewelry store thinking, "I know we can't afford the rings.  What are we going to do?"  I was surprised to learn about "financing."  Get what you want immediately without having the cash.  The next slide into debt was putting our honeymoon, a Disney Cruise/Land Package on my credit card.  I remember saying, "Let's just pretend we are rich!" while on the ship.  The debt "hangover" that came when we returned to real life was oppressing.

Next came school loans we took out for Adam to finish off his bachelor degree all the while continuing to live on a couple credit cards because that was normal.


We bought a house when we moved to Minnesota from Rhode Island because that's just what you do.  Why throw money away renting?  I was pregnant with our first child when we moved.  We had no jobs.  We put zero down on a 30 year conventional mortgage.  I remember asking for Adam's family to co-sign the loan because it took a lot of work to get a mortgage company to give us a loan.  What were they thinking loaning a couple of broke, unemployed, newly married kids a home loan?  By God's grace we have never been late on a mortgage payment.

A year or two later, we refinanced and took out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) on our home to get rid of the PMI and lower the interest rate.  I used this HELOC like a credit card.  When we weren't going to make our credit card minimum payment, I pulled from the HELOC.  It also doubled as our emergency fund.  If I had only known why a HELOC is not a good idea (especially if you are broke).

During our time in Minnesota, Adam attended seminary full-time and got an awesome job working at UPS.  It was a part-time job with full family benefits, and he could attend seminary at the same time.  He loved the relationships that he made at that job and remains friends today.  He came home one night and said that this guy he heard on the radio really made sense talking about getting out of debt.  His boss Deb put The Dave Ramsey Show on the radio while the warehouse workers were there unloading and washing the trucks.  I replied, "Yeah, yeah.  I am doing fine paying all our minimum payments.  I don't want someone else telling me what to do.  I got this."

Fast forward to March 2013.  We had seen the promos for Financial Peace University (FPU) a couple times at Bethel Lutheran Church and also at Hope Lutheran Church.  They had been holding classes for a couple years, but I kept thinking, "What a waste of $100.  All he is going to say is 'Don't spend what you don't make'."  The promo came again in February 2013.  I remember exactly where we were sitting in church.  It was the very back row on the right side.  After the video, Ben and Jen got up to say that they were leading the class, and it was worth it.  They said that it is possible for you to be debt free.  I felt God's tug at my heart like they were speaking directly to me.  I looked at Adam, and he looked at me, and we signed up.

The class was better than I had imagined.  Dave did say, "Don't spend what you don't make," but the way he said it gave us hope.  Dave, first of all, loves the Lord.  That gave him a lot of credibility right off the bat for me.  Through the nine week course he showed us the Seven Baby Steps to take control of our money.  It was a bonding experience for us and the leaders and the class to share our stories and where we were in our financial lives.  There were about 5 or 6 regular couples, and we were all on the journey together.  FPU also had another surprising benefit.  It brought Adam and I closer together as a couple.  It was nine-weeks of date nights and marriage therapy classes.  The communication that the FPU plan fosters really helps heal communication issues in the marriage relationship.  It was definitely the best $100 we have spent.

So, we now had a plan, and we learned how to really budget.  Since college, I had been keeping a "budget."  Only it wasn't a budget, it was a Spending Tracker on an Excel spreadsheet.  We learned that you need to have a budget meeting with your spouse, write down on paper where every dollar that you earn is to go, and cut up the credit cards.  It wasn't a magic formula by any stretch of the imagination.  There were ups and downs during the next 39 months.  There were months that we "fell off the wagon" and didn't stop spending when the cash envelopes were empty.  I held tightly to my credit card because it gave me cash back rewards, and I had had it since 1995.  I had a GREAT FICO (I Love Debt) score.

In the Fall of 2013, Adam hurt his back at work and enrollment was down at the community college that I worked for.  I went from teaching six sections of online chemistry per year to one section for the year.  I was scared.  I was calling and emailing friends about possible online teaching jobs I could apply for.  I was pregnant with our sixth child, overwhelmed, sick, and tired.

Thankfully, workers' compensation continued while Adam was out of work.  Also, we had a financial plan since March of that year.  I often look back and praise God that He laid it on our hearts to take the class when He did.  I was scared during that season, but not as panicked as I would have been if we didn't have a plan.  Adam was terminated from his job due to injury, and he found a new job working for the local hospital in the business office.  His co-workers really made his work easy to go to in the mornings.  His three month temporary full-time job became a nine month temporary full-time job.  Then, he applied for a Health Information Management System Analyst position in the same office and got the new full-time permanent job.

On my end, it was really satisfying to see the debt numbers drop.  We started FPU with $43,000 in debt including school loans, a car loan, a credit card, a HELOC, and financed furniture.  The debt snowball plan really worked and helped keep us motivated to attack the debt with gazelle intensity (Proverbs 6:5).


In January 2015 we took a step backwards with paying off the debt.  From March 2014 we had been travelling everywhere in two vehicles (church, Inspiration Point Family Camp, Fargo, etc.) because our minivan only had seats for seven occupants.  Because we always had to take two cars, we didn't go anywhere outside of Fergus Falls unless we needed to pick someone up from the airport in Fargo, and then someone would have to stay home.

When I first found out I was pregnant with Elizabeth, I researched minivans that could hold eight.  The Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey were the only two.  I didn't want an SUV, and I really didn't want a 12-passenger van.  In January 2015, I saw a Honda Odyssey that was perfect for us.  After having a family meeting and explaining to the family that this would prolong getting out of debt, we bought the van with a loan from our credit union.  I wanted to be a family.  I wanted to drive to church together as a family.  These were all understandable justifications, but they were still justifications for obtaining more chains of debt.  Had we not done this, we would have been debt free one year later when we got our 2015 tax refund.

The final push for debt freedom was on.  Our final consumer debt was the Odyssey.  We still owed around $11,000.  It looked like it would be two more years before we would be debt free and able to do a debt free scream and visit our extended family in New England.

After we were down to one debt, I got fired up again.  I binge-listened to The Dave Ramsey Show podcasts, and started listening to his Christian radio counterpart Chris Brown on his show True Stewardship.  Hearing God's Word proclaimed daily in Chris Brown's conversations with callers how it relates to life and money was refreshing to the soul.  I use his daily broadcasts as part of my personal devotions.  I have also recently caught up listening to every one of his podcasts since he began on June 1, 2015.  My true desire for getting out of debt was shifting to be a good manager of "His blessings, His way, for His glory."

One of the questions that I have heard many callers ask Chris and Dave is, “How much should we tithe? Should we tithe gifts?  Should we tithe on net or gross income?”  I always shake my head because I know what they are going to say. “Tithing is not for God.  He doesn’t need our money.  It is for us.  It develops a joyful, giving heart when we realize the money is not ours, but we are managers of His resources.”

Also, a passage Chris often quotes is Malachi 3:8-10, “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.  You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

My family and I have always tithed at least 10%.  I have always tithed 10% of our net income, and then also tithed 10% of our tax refund figuring that “took care of it.”  I had the head knowledge of tithing, but was missing the heart knowledge.

“You are a manager of His money.” That truth kept playing through my head.  After praying and talking to my husband, we adjusted the budget to reflect tithing on our gross income.  Also, in order to “catch up” from January 1, I calculated what we “owed” God.

Sunday, April 24th, I put a check for $560 in the offering plate at church.  It felt good.  It felt right.  It felt like worship.

Wednesday evening the kids and I were out in the front yard playing; waiting for my husband to come home.  I saw one of my credit union managers pull up.  Then, another behind her.  Then, the rest in a truck behind her.  They had balloons, a guy dressed up as a debit card, and HUGE smiles on their faces.

They told us that we had won the monthly drawing for a savings program I had signed up for.  It was $100!!  We were so excited.  Then, he continued, “But we wouldn’t have come out here for just $100.  You also won the quarterly drawing of $500!!!”  We couldn’t believe it!  We won $600 for saving money!!

After they had left, I was reflecting on this praising the Lord for the blessing He gave us.  We were going to put the whole thing on our last debt which was $10,629 at the time.  Then, I remembered that just three days earlier, we had freely, joyfully given “the whole tithe into the storehouse,” and God had seen fit to “throw open the floodgates of heaven” to our family.  Praise Jesus!!  We were down to FOUR DIGITS!

One month later, we received a settlement check for Adam's back injury.  This payment not only took care of our final debt on the minivan, but fully funded our emergency fund (Baby Step 3).

I told our credit union about our dream of being debt free and that with God's help it came true.  My friend Holly that works there helped me surprise the kids telling them that not only are we debt free, but we are flying to New England to visit the grandparents and meet our four youngest cousins, in person!

Holly put up a debt free sign in the credit union's entry, bought balloons and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake (!) to help us celebrate.  So, that was yesterday.  Debt Free Friday I call it.  Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!

Jesus said in Luke 16:10-13,  “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

With His grace we will continue to manage His blessings, His way, for His glory.

Christmas Letter 2014

What adventures did the Minnesota Ekelunds have this year?  Well, I am glad you asked.

Adam began working in the Revenue Cycle department of Lake Region Healthcare (our local hospital) in June, and loves the people that he works with.  His current position is temporary, but with his “foot in the door,” a permanent position is on the horizon.  I am still teaching chemistry online for M State, but my main job is juggling work and home life.  One of the things that is encouraged and supported at our church, Bethel Lutheran Church, is faith at home.  This idea that loving the Lord and developing our relationship with God starts in the home, and then is supported by our local church.  It has been very fun growing together and spending time with God with our family.  This year, I asked our whole family to write our Christmas update letter.  I posed the question, “If you could tell someone a fun thing that we did this year as a family, what would it be?”

There were five standout activities.  The first, and most exciting thing was that Elizabeth Elayne Ekelund was born at 2:41 am on March 8, 2014.  She was 7 pounds 1 ounce and 19.5 inches long.  She looks like a mini-Hannah and is adored by all of us.

The second was going to Inspiration Point Bible Camp for Family Camp over the July 4^th weekend.  This was our second year going, and there are tons of fun things to do like swimming, Gaslight Theater (talent show), Christ hike (a moving play about Jesus’ life), meals that we don’t have to cook or clean up, and worship times for all ages.  Now, we must be honest.  It is not all sunshine and roses 8 people (including a newborn) staying in one room for 3 nights.  It is a learning experience, and we are getting better at it.  We are already registered for next year, so we are going to have fun (and learning) all over again.

The third event was The Kirkbride Cycle.  This was another moving play in which Hannah and I were cast members.  There were 8 scenes situated around the big, beautiful grounds of the Regional Treatment Center (Kirkbride building) in Fergus Falls.   The audience moved to the different scenes using bicycles.  It was a really fun month that Hannah and I got to spend weekends practicing and recording songs and dialogue.  I wrote a brief blog post on my experience here.  Also, if you want to see some of the scenes, the production company has a few snippets on their website.  Hannah said the thing that she loved the most from this experience was Scene 2 when she got to come out and dance with mom.

The fourth memorable event was my dad coming to visit.  We watched football with Grampa, both Caleb’s team and an M State game.  We went to a mini concert of a band that featured one of The Kirkbride Cycle’s producers, and got to see the airplanes in Fargo when we were picking him up and dropping him off.  It is so much fun to have family visit us and introduce them to the Fergus life (hint, hint).

The final event that stuck out in the kids’ minds was a trip to the cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul), and yet another mobile theater experience.  This production was put on to bring awareness to the Green Line Metro Transit route and the communities that it travels through.  We started at one end of the Green Line with an opening scene, and then traveled to each of the scenes using the Green Line trains.  The kids had never been on a public transit train before so that was the excitement for them.  Timothy said that he liked the scene where they were talking about nuclear waste and clean water (that’s my boy).  Sarah said that the thing she likes the most was riding the trains, sitting next to mommy.  I liked the scene in the Rondo Public library.  When Joshua asked what he liked, he said, “Orange.”  (I don’t know.  I am just reporting the facts.)  We stayed two nights in the cities and made time for the Mall of America the next day.  Caleb’s most memorable moment from this trip was “the doughnuts” that we got for breakfast from the convenience store and brought back to the hotel.  “I just love doughnuts, “ he said.  He was also glad that we each got to do something that we wanted to do.

We started decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving this year.  When I pulled out our Veggie Tales Advent Calendar and put it up, the kids asked, “What is that for?”  We hadn’t done this Christmas tradition before.  I told them that we use it to count down to Christmas the “advent” of the birth of Jesus in the past, and it also serves as a reminder that our Savior will come again.  Here is the first stanza of one of my favorite hymns:

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

We pray that you also have great joy anticipating our Emmanuel’s second advent!

Love,

Rebekah Adam Caleb Hannah Timothy Sarah Joshua & Elizabeth

Christmas Letter 2013

My favorite time of the year has come upon us again.  Here is a recap of the MN Ekelunds’ 2013.

I am going to include a couple newspaper article links in this letter because we were in the news a couple times.  First time was in May when we decided to bike to school in May for “Bike or Walk to School or Work Week.”  You can read about it here.  It was a fun challenge and gave me a chance to spend longer quality time with the kiddos before school.

The summer brought the exciting news that baby #6 will be joining us in March 2014.  We had the ultrasound and…

…didn’t find out the sex because we love surprises.

We had some visitors from the east coast come to see us this summer.  What a fun time we had!  My dad came twice; my brother and sister-in-law came to see us for the first time; and my aunt Margery, uncle Kevin and cousin Sandra also travelled out to “the middle of nowhere Minnesota” as they put it.  We had fun showing them around our community and travelling to the Minneapolis for some city fun as well.

As far as employment goes, due to low enrollment across the state, my teaching assignment was greatly reduced this year, but I still taught one section this fall to keep my feet wet.  Adam began working as a personal care attendant (PCA) and just loves that aspect of helping people that need it.  It was a great fit for him.  He continued working at UPS as well.  The big news came in late September when he felt something bad happen to his back one day.  He went to the doctor and found out he had a couple herniated discs.  He was put on work restrictions for a month and is now on workman’s comp.  The good news is that the neurosurgeon thinks that he does not need surgery or steroids at this time.  He will hopefully heal with rest.  Unfortunately, we don’t know how long the healing process is going to take.  While all this stress was happening, some members of our church here got together and blessed us by cleaning, painting, re-purposing, re-organizing, and finishing projects that neither Adam nor I could do.  It is an amazing testimony of the body of Christ at work.  Here is the article from the paper about it, and I also wrote my version of the unexpected blessing in the post before this one.

Caleb will be turning double digits (10!) at the beginning of 2014.  Where did the time go?  He was #17 again in football this summer and loved it.  His team was one win away from another undefeated season.  In school, he began playing the violin and in a few short months he is doing really well!  He is also able to be a part of the Prairie Science Class held at Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.  This program is for 4^th and 5^th graders.  The students go out to the prairie for half the school day and they are in a traditional classroom for the other half.  After he came home from school on the first day, I asked him how it went.  He said, “Mom, it was AMAZING!”  We are very fortunate to have this program available to our students.

  

Hannah spent time this summer at an arts camp down at the local gallery.  They learned layering using different media and she even did a self-portrait made with “things that represented her” like photos, homework papers, other art she had created.  She is really quite the artist.  She has the same 2^nd grade teacher that Caleb had and is doing really well academically too.

  

Timothy is 6 now!  He has the same Kindergarten teacher that Hannah had and is loving being with his school friends.  He lost his first tooth the day before picture day at school and is loving his new room upstairs with his older brother.

Sarah will be 4 years old on Christmas.  She has a very sensitive heart and makes sure those around her are cared for.  Like when I am nauseated due to pregnancy, she will rub my back without me asking.  She also loves playing with her little brother while the kids are at school.  Of course there are frustrating times when he “ruins EVERYTHING,” but she is a great big sister.  She got her first haircut even though she was afraid it would hurt.  She was so excited to show her brothers and dad her "small hair."

Joshua turned 1 this year and had a birthday party with his Godmother and birthday buddy, Melissa.  He is now beginning to talk.  It is still one-word sentences now, but his vocabulary has increased so much these past couple months.  I have, once again, included a primer for posterity:

Caba – Caleb

‘Nah - Hannah

Timpy – Timothy

S’rah – Sarah

Herse – Horse

Gup - Get up (as in get up in our laps)

Strs – Stairs (his latest favorite activity)

Nug – Snuggle (my personal favorite)

After just recently receiving the blessing of our “new home,” I often find myself thinking, “How can I possibly receive such a gift?  How can I pay my friends back?”  The answer is that I can’t.  There were over 50 people involved in the whole weekend makeover doing various things.  It is very humbling to receive such a blessing.

At this time of year when gifts are given and received, we celebrate a much bigger blessing, the blessing wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.  This baby was God’s Son sent to us to ultimately pay for our sins and make us blameless in God’s sight.  “How can I pay Him back?”  I can’t.  I just need to receive the free gift He gave.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—“  Ephesians 2:8

Thank you, Lord, for the amazing gift of Your Son.

Love,

Rebekah Adam Caleb Hannah Timothy Sarah Joshua & Baby

Our New Home

Standing alone in a room that had just been full of commotion that is now silent, the magnitude of what we had been given was beginning to hit us.  As we watched the last of the “welcome home” guests leave, Adam and I stood in an unbelievably beautiful living room, a room in a house that was radically different only 48 hours earlier.  “What… what just happened…?”  Adam said, dumbfounded. “I don’t know…” I replied.  And overwhelmed, I began to cry.

I don’t believe in coincidences.   Some people do -- random events that converge a surprisingly, sometimes astounding ways.  The chance meeting of an old friend when you were just thinking of them, receiving a “random” gift or hug or kind word when that is exactly what you needed.  Well, this kind of “coincidence” happened on Tuesday, November 12th when Christine Lawson picked up the phone after our family seemingly randomly popped into her mind.  “Can I bring over tacos tonight for dinner?” she asked. I happily accepted.   Dinner made for us by a friend?  Thank you Lord!  She didn’t know about how life was hitting us at this moment, she just wanted to bring over dinner.  But dinner made for us, was a calm that came in the midst of an emotional, spiritual, and physical storm.  Coincidence?  No way.  This is God’s provision for the needs of His children, expressed through the body of Christ.

Beginning late last year, I have been expecting and therefore preparing for some changes coming this fall.  I knew that due to factors beyond my control, my workload would be greatly reduced, and with it, my paycheck.  Part way through this year, I knew that even more changes would be coming, as we found out that Ekelund baby #6 was on the way.  A joyful time, true, but one which also brought with it fatigue and stress.  And most recently, as all these changes began unfolding, Adam hurt his back and was unable to work at his jobs, with a long recovery on the horizon.  With all of these changes happening at once, it seemed like a perfect storm was brewing, and despite our confidence that God *would* provide for his children, it was difficult to shake the fear of not knowing how an uncontrollable and difficult circumstance will be resolved.

So, Tuesday night we were treated to a yummy meal of tacos and all the fixin’s.  We, in turn, “treated” Christine to an hour or so of just sitting on our couch as we talked and ate.  Having four kids of her own back at home under the age of 5, she let us know that getting out for an hour and talking on our couch actually was a treat!  Yay!  J  We chatted about all sorts of different things.  Then, as she looked around our cluttered living room, she said, “Hey, would you ever be able to get away for a weekend so I could do “stuff” in your house?  Would it be alright if I just went through and put some things in totes for you?”  Those words were amazing and sweet words to my ears, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t afford time away with our current situation, but she could put anything she wanted into totes.  I just didn’t have the energy for anything.  She understood and said that she would think about it, but would love for me to come over to her house on Thursday morning for coffee/relaxation and the little kids could have a play date.

Thursday morning came, and Sarah, Joshua, and I went to her home.  She let us know that she had called her partner in crime, Mandy, and they were going to go over to my house that morning and “take some notes.”  Adam came over to Christine’s and we watched the kiddos while the girls “took notes.”  When they came back, we were told that we needed to pack a bag and vacate our home the next day at 4pm with an all-expense paid two-night stay in a local hotel.  Everything else was a closely guarded secret.  I was excited to think that my kitchen floor may finally be mopped!

Amazed, excited, and bewildered at what might be going on in our house, we arrived Friday afternoon at a hotel suite that was stocked with snacks and gift cards for meals, featuring a king size bed, pull-out couch, two TVs, and whirlpool in the room!  The kids were elated that one of the hotel amenities was a pool and hot tub.  They definitely would have slept in their bathing suits if the suits hadn’t been wet from already enjoying pool time right after we arrived.

We received sporadic phone calls throughout the weekend, asking about shoe sizes, favorite toys, or any needs we might have (!!) all the while hearing hammers pounding and many, many people talking in the background.  “We don’t deserve this,” we said to each other many times throughout the weekend.

On Sunday around 4pm, we got the call that it was time to come home.  We pulled into the driveway to see a group of people in our garage and Christine at our front door with a big grin on her face.  She told us to come in and proceeded to shock us with a COMPLETE home makeover.  Everything had been de-cluttered, cleaned, painted, repurposed, and organized.  There were many new items and new-to-us items also installed.  Stop for a moment and think of a drawer or a closet or a room in your house that is so full of stuff that you just don’t think you can or want to organize it.  Now bring that to a grander scale of an entire 1300 square foot house that is a culmination of 10 years of living.  It is like this 10 year burden that all seemed to come to a head last week was lifted in 48 hours through the love of others.

After the incredible tour of our new home, some of the volunteers, or we like to say Bethel Church Missionaries, gathered in the living room with us.  We fumbled around for words that conveyed our thanks and gratitude when, in truth, words could not possibly express our hearts’ feelings.  Joel led a prayer that glorified our Father in heaven for what happened this weekend, and we were left alone in our new home.

Ultimately, we were given an incredible, awesome, unbelievable, and life-changing gift.  Our lives were changed because of what happened this weekend.  We were given a fresh start, a new home, a chance to breathe, relief from a burden that was hanging over our heads to which we saw no end.  The only thing we can say in response to this past weekend’s events is “Thank you, God.  Thank you for the body of Christ.  Thank you God for Your love that comes to and flows through us to one another.  Thank you for being the tie that binds us together; the Source of our love for each other.”

I feel so truly deeply touched an overwhelmed by what people have done here that I am daily brought to tears, because, what did I do to deserve this?  Nothing.  I did nothing (!), and frankly I don't deserve this.  It is too much for me to comprehend a gift like this.  How can I receive it?  How can I use any words to express how I feel, when they fall so vastly short of my deep gratitude in the face of this unbelievable love for us.  And my mind turns to our Savior.  I live every day in the peace, forgiveness, and salvation that came from another – and infinitely more undeserved – gift.  But how do I react to that?  Am I overcome to the point of tears?  Am I elated to the point of laughter and singing?  Am I humbled to the point of silent thankfulness?  Truly, what is my reaction to God’s ultimate gift of his Son? 

Lord, help me to be confronted daily with the magnitude of the gift of your Son, what He sacrificed for someone as undeserving as me.  Let my life be a light and a testimony of what forgiveness from God means, and truly shout from a mountaintop in my heart, “You, Lord, Your Name alone be praised!”

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”   -Ephesians 3:20-21

Christmas Letter 2012

Christmas is coming!  Christmas is coming!  Christmas is coming!  Christmas is coming!

So what is new with the Ekelund fam?  Once again, we traveled eastward to visit family, but mainly to see my brother Matthew get married on February 11th in NH.  In March, Ekelund #5 was born, Joshua Matthew, named after my brother.  On a sad note, my mom, Beverly passed away on April 19th after almost a 30 year struggle with depression.  She was 63 and is missed very much.  Two-week old Joshua and I flew home for the funeral.  While it is painful without her, I know she is happy, healthy, and with her Savior.

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Our family still attends Bethel Lutheran Church, and Adam teaches senior high Sunday School and 3rd grade Kidventure (1st-4th grade program on Wednesdays).  Bethel called Pastor Rich Iverson (yep! the former senior pastor in Barnesville) to be our Faith @Home Pastor.  Something really cool is happening at Bethel.  As a whole church, we began The Story which is a 31-week journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  It's the story of "God's great love for us, how far we have gone from that love, and the extent to which He will go to bring us back."  What's great about this is the pastor preaches on a passage of Scripture, the Sunday School classes teach the same passage, the youth groups learn the same passage, and the weekly Bible studies study the same passage.  So, there is a cohesiveness in what we are all learning and when we are learning it.  This really contributes to the Faith @Home model of studying God's Word.  As parents, we want to be the primary source pointing our children to Christ, but are blessed to be supported by the body of Christ.

If you have been following us on Facebook, you may have seen that we ripped up the carpet in our living room.  I could no longer keep up with the stains.  They won...or did they?  Now, thanks to Adam, we have beautiful hardwoods.

Caleb played football for the first time this summer and found a new passion.  He learned a lot and hopes to play again next year.  He is in 3rd grade at Cleveland Elementary, and still loves "recess" the best.  During recess, he runs around the soccer field in a program called JAWS (Jogging And Walking Students).  Students can choose to run laps during recess instead of playing on the playground.  For each lap, they get a card punched.  Once they "finish" a card (25 laps), they get a sneaker-shaped charm on a chain.  Caleb hopes to run the most laps at school and get a trophy.  And of course(!) all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth. 

Hannah got an awesome present at the beginning of this summer.  Her friend Elise moved back to town!  I think both of them spent EVERY day from June 1st until the beginning of school together.  Praise the Lord for best friends!

For Timothy's 5th birthday, he wanted to go to the YMCA.  It just so happened that the night of the party, there was a Halloween party for the community in the gym.  We had cake and presents, and then played tons of games and jumped in a bouncy house in the gym.  So fun!  He is in his 2nd year of preschool and has even started to read.  It helps having older siblings to teach you.

Sarah is turning 3 years old on Christmas.  She is talking up a storm and asserting herself all over the place. She loves Dora the Explorer and dancing in her purple, Dora dress.  As she looks out the window of our van and sees Christmas lights, she says, "It's my birthday!" and "I see Christmas!"

Joshua turns 9 months on December 25th.  He is still toothless, but is very mobile.  He crawls everywhere and pulls up to a stand whenever and wherever he can.  He is definitely Mommy's little man, as he makes sure I am within arm's length (his!) at all times.  He loves his sibs, and we are blessed that he is part of our family.

During this season, we often hear the word "Advent," as in the coming of Christ into the world as an infant.  The Old Testament whets our appetites for a coming Savior in Isaiah 11.  God's chosen people waited for the Messiah.  Then, Joseph and Mary are both told by angels of the Messiah's coming birth (Matthew 1 & Luke 1).  And one night, in a lowly stable Jesus Christ, Immanuel (God with us) was born and placed in a manger. He came just as was foretold!

So now, we look forward to celebrating the First Noel later this month while continually anticipating Christ's Second Advent.  When he will "himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God...And so we will be with [our] Lord forever. (from I Thess. 4).  Now we say, "Christ is coming!  Christ is coming!  Christ is coming!  Christ is coming!"

We pray you find encouragement with these words and His peace this season.

Love,

Rebekah Adam Caleb Hannah Timothy Sarah & Joshua

Joshua Matthew's Birthday

Joshua Matthew Ekelund

Born 7:55pm March 25, 2012

7lbs. 4ozs. - 20.5in. long

Again, I want to write down Joshua's birth story before I forget. When I was 37 weeks pregnant, I felt HUGE. I was sure this baby was going to be either 10 pounds or 30 inches long. I started getting horizontal stretch marks! I saw the doctor on Tuesday the 20th and when he checked me for dilation, I was at a "0." The day that was chosen to be the birthday was Friday, March 30th.

Hannah was excited for the baby to have the birthday the day before hers. Little does she know that means joint birthday parties for the rest of their lives.

The day after my doctor's appointment, I just kept having a sharp, knife-like pain on the left side "down there." It hurt to walk. It hurt to sit. It hurt to get on the floor and change Sarah's diapers. It hurt to get up. All I could do for the weekend was lay on my right side in my bed. Because the pain was relieved when laying down, I figured the baby was laying on a nerve or something.

On Friday night, we had Hannah's 6th birthday party at the YMCA. As long as I sat down a lot and walked slowly, I could make it through. YMCA swimming parties are the way to go. For a fee, they set up, play games, organize gift giving, serve cake & juice, fill goodie bags, and clean up while guests are swimming. Perfect for a very pregnant mama.

Sunday came, and I just laid in bed. Adam went to teach confirmation during the Sunday school hour, and then came to relieve me. The pain was much worse. It was now on both sides and laying down didn't help. Around 5pm I finally gave in and called the OB floor at the hospital to ask if the pain was normal pregnancy pain. The nurse said that it could be a bladder infection and to come right in so they could prescribe antibiotics to take away the pain if necessary. I told Adam I was going in to check out the pain and drove to the hospital. By the way, driving the car with standard transmission hurt immensely every time I shifted. Thank goodness the hospital is only a few blocks away.

I had to stop at the ER before going up to OB, as that is policy, but the ER nurses said that a trauma had just come in, and there was no one available to take me up to OB in a wheelchair. OB said that it was ok with them, if it was ok for me to walk up there. I did...just reeeaaallly slowly.

I got there and Nurse Pat took me to a room, told me to put the gown on, and hooked me up to the baby/contraction monitor. She said that the lab was backed up and it might take a while to get the test results. I just switched on the TV and waited while listening to the sweet sound of my baby's heartbeat. I wasn't feeling any contractions, but curiously looked at the monitor, and saw that there were a few here and there.

At about 7pm, I felt a little pressure release "down there." I prayed, "Oh no, Lord. Please not now. Please don't let my water break. It isn't Friday yet. Charlayne won't be here to help until Saturday." I called Adam on my cell phone, and amidst my tears of fear, I said, "I haven't told the nurses yet, but I think my water just broke." As I said the words, I felt the gushing of the fluid. I confirmed to Adam that my water definitely broke, and he should find a babysitter ASAP. Then, I pressed the call button for the nurse.

I told Pat that my water had broken. She looked at me in amazement, but helped me transfer to the drier bed next to me. I profusely apologized for "wetting the bed" even though I obviously couldn't help myself. Dr. P was on-call, and I asked if there was any way they could keep me from going into full blown labor so that Dr. N could deliver the baby. She said that she didn't know, and we could ask.

After that things started to move really fast. The Anesthetist Pat (A. Pat)came in, and I asked him if we could wait, and he said, "No. Once your water breaks, we must do an emergency c-section because the pain can go from manageable to unmanageable really quickly." He assured me that Dr. P was a good doctor as his wife and daughter go to him. You have to understand. It isn't that I don't think he is a capable doctor, as many of my friends have him deliver their babies. It is just that Dr. N has delivered my four kiddos, as well as performed surgery for my ectopic pregnancy. I just trust him.

(Side note on A. Pat: He was my anesthetist when I was in labor with Caleb. I just remember the epidural I had didn't relieve ALL the pain. I can remember saying, "WHERE'S PAT?? GET PAT!!" over and over in the wee hours of that January morning.)

I asked A. Pat how long it would be before I was in surgery. He said probably within 30 minutes. Yikes! I had told Adam to take his time. I called him quickly and said, "I don't want to stress you out or rush you, but you have to get here as soon as you can. They said surgery within 30 minutes." A. Pat assured me they would wait for him. It seemed like Adam showed up 2 minutes later, but it was probably the three people asking me all sorts of questions simultaneously that made me lose track of time.

I started crying because I was nervous. I had been calm before this, but seeing Adam, and realizing I was going into surgery again (and having that HUGE needle put in my back again) just made me scared. After all the people left to go up to the OR, God did something amazing. Adam prayed with me about the excitement of meeting our new little one, the fear we felt about the surgery, clarity for the surgeon, and all the other things that I needed to hear right at that moment. I can't describe the relief, calm, and peace that came over me during and after talking to our Savior.

Adam and A. Pat wheeled me down to the OR in a wheelchair. Adam went to put on his outfit (he loves when I call it that). I went in to get prepped for my 5th c-section. A. Pat was very comforting. The spinal anesthesia went a whole lot better (no moaning like an idiot) this time. Adam came in to hold my hand and snap more pictures than he has ever taken during the surgery.

I didn't feel a thing this time. I am laying there wondering if it was going to be a boy or a girl knowing we didn't have any boy's names we agreed on, thus solidifying my presumption that it was going to be a boy.

Then, I hear Adam say, "We have a baby boy! I can't believe it." Next, I hear a sound that I love...my baby's first cry.

Adam left with Nurse Pat and Baby Boy Ekelund to go back to the OB floor for tests and baby's first bath (I look forward to smelling that baby lotion smell when we are reunited). Dr. P sewed me up. The only bad thing that happened was I was really nauseous and gagging as he was putting my uterus back inside where it belonged. Apparently, it didn't want to go back in. Later, I laughed to myself because I liken it to assembling something for a long time only to be left with one lone screw. Hmmm...where was that supposed to go. But I digress...

I stayed in recovery for what seemed like FOREVER. It was about 30 minutes. I couldn't rejoin my husband and newest family member until I could wiggle my toes. I tried so hard, but there is just no rushing it.

Finally, A. Pat wheels me back down to the OB floor. I see Adam with the baby in the room behind the glass. Adam came out and said, "When I laid my hand on his chest, the first name that came to me was Joshua Matthew."

"Perfect," I thought.

The name Joshua means, "God is my salvation." Praise be to God our Savior for this precious blessing!

Joshua's verses (and song) are from Isaiah 40:28&29

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.