Phil...

This is my nephew, Phil- 21yo. He has been living here in Indiana for almost three years.  My older brother's youngest son.  Are you amazed that he's lasted this long?  I am.  You see, every household does things differently.  It's easy to take it for granted that everybody does things the same way you do.  Then you drop a 19 year old boy in the mix... There's a lot of adjusting and he has done wonderfully.  He's developing into quite the young man.  He has his own flooring company.  He says pets are his job security. He likes wood working, and working on his van. He's basically thoughtful- he is a 21 year old man, after all, so we can't set the bar too high.  I don't think he likes sports, particularly. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how to describe him. He likes "Good Mythical Morning" and "The Red Green" show.  He gets really, really loud when he plays video games.  His favorite pastime is eating meat. A lot of meat. He does anything I ask of him and he's just an easy guy to love.


Phil's feast...

The older kids take care of their own feasts.  I might stir a pot for them here and there, but basically, they do all of the heavy lifting- including buying the groceries for their feast.  His theme was a cowboy ranch.  Bill was the rancher and I was the wife.  The kids were all cow pokes.  (Phil has been struggling with a cold- he's from Arizona and I'm thinking he doesn't have the same germs out there.  His poor lungs turn to soup whenever he gets sick. To prevent the spread of germs, we had an outlaw fixin' the vittles.  Phil tied a bandanna around his face.)  His appetizers were chunks of jerky and these cookie things that were shaped like cigars.  Apparently cow pokes smoke a lot of cigars.  He fixed two pot roasts- one venison and one beef.  This was our opportunity to compare the beef with the venison and figure out which one we liked beast.  It was unanimous. The venison had the best flavor, and the beef had the best texture.  But given the choice they'd all go with the venison.  Country kids, I guess.    Lots of potatoes, carrots and onions.  Baked beans cooked with bacon in a huge iron skillet. Cowboy bread(No knead bread that's cooked in a dutch oven.  Jacob's favorite.) Sweet tea for his beverage.  He fixed banana cream pies for dessert- that boy loves banana cream pie.  Our gifts were these really cool bandannas in a variety of colors so everyone had their own color. Came in handy as napkins, but Eva and Bekah immediately put them in their hair.  It was a wonderful feast- just homey and warm.

Bill reviewed the scriptures in the new testament that tell us to flee.  Some things you fight and some things you run away from.  Either way, there's a battle to be won.

 Eva...

This is Eva and she'll be 19 in a month and a half.  What a girl!  She's a real nurturer.  She takes care of her nieces and she takes care of an older gentleman from church.  And she talks to them the same.  No baby talk or patronizing.  She puts her whole heart into things- whether it's the dishes or her Bible study.  (Some people may not know this about Eva, but she had epilepsy for years and now she is symptom free, but it's put it's mark on her.  I'll never forget that first EEG.  The technician turned the lights down for Eva to go to sleep- she had no problem with that- she was exhausted from the seizures.  As soon as Eva fell asleep, the technician frowned at the screen, raised her hands to her lips and said, "Poor girl." Her eyes started to tear up and she went straight to the phone and connected to the Dr. directly and said he needed to see her, today.  After years of medication, Eva is physically healthy.  But when you have seizures almost every minute of every day, you forget what you just heard or were doing directly before and directly after each seizure.  So there were a lot of gaps for her.  To this day, she gets a little panicky if she doesn't understand your directions right away.  After she calms down and we go over it again, she does the job with confidence.)  She's sweet and thoughtful.  She loves to give gifts- mostly things she has made herself.  She's truly kind. Every one loves her. She's easy to love.


Eva's Feast...

Eva is an artist.  Everything she does and sees is in comparison to something artistic.  So her feast had an "Art" theme.  As her gifts for her guests, she had painted the covers of little notebooks- different for each personality.  Her table was set with multi-colored lights. And lots of bottles of paint and markers and colored pencils.  She placed a couple white paper place mats at each seat for people to draw on.  She had drinks in every color scattered around her table.  She asked if maybe it was too much clutter- no it was perfectly "Eva."  Amid her art supplies, she had a build your own fruit salad thing going on. With the cold weather, everyone loved the fresh fruit. (She did use canned peaches- no way was I paying $1.50 for a hard peach.)  The fruit bowls were topped with a vanilla creme and brown sugar.  When she took the fruit bowls away she replaced them with bowls of fillings for tacos.  She made the soft taco shells herself and did a stellar job.  I know what I won't have to do the next time I make tacos! See?  She's capable. Everyone loved building their own tacos. For dessert she had crepes- chocolate, strawberry, or apple pie. Those were a huge hit.  The guys decided we should make a tradition of crepes every  Sunday evening after church. We had such a good time.  At the end of the meal, she gave us about 3 minutes to draw out our favorite part of the feast.  All the girls and Abe drew pictures of Eva.  Tim drew a fruit salad, but Phil and John drew crepes. John figured he needed to make his different from Phil's, so he added airplane wings and wrote "Go Places" on his paper. I'm not sure where the airplane idea came from.  That's John.  Joe judged the drawings and he choose John's.  The prize was a hat- it couldn't have gone to a more appreciative recipient- he loves hats.

Bill read 1 Tim 6:1-12. Be on guard against the love of money and worldliness. We are to flee from those things as men of God and pursue godliness and righteous things.

Her colorful palette

Feast days!!!!!

It's that time of year, again, for the Koen family to celebrate December with feasts.  Each child secretly prepares a feast for the rest of family. As you know or, as you'll learn, they put a lot of creativity in preparing and plotting and planning for this special opportunity to amaze their brothers and sisters.  I love how excited they are to be generous in their thoughtfulness towards their family. They would never choose a food that they knew someone didn't care for.  They are amazingly knowledgeable about each others' likes and dislikes.  It's a true feast.  Complete with decorations, food, food and more food, gifts, rowdy laughter and lots of thankfulness.  Nothing like having someone serve you to make you realize how blessed you are to have people who love you and care about you. 

This year, we've had to postpone our feasting to the month of January.  Bill and I work with an online gift shop and December is crazy busy. We wanted to be able to take our time and really waller in the fun and festivities of our feast days activities. Plus, we figure January needs a major boost in it's holiday appeal- no offense to Martin Luther King, Jr. So here we go!

Tim:  This is our nephew, Timothy. He's my older brother's son.  Tim is 24 and a big man. He's over 6' and is just big to boot. His grandfather calls him "the gentle giant."  And he is very gentle.  It's difficult to describe him as he's very quiet and not the easiest guy to get to know. (A little back story: he came to live here in May of this past year.  His brother, Phil, also lives here.  They work together in Phil's flooring business. They're from Arizona, but they're good sports about the cold weather.)  Tim likes to work.  Video games. Cook. He is one of those unusual guys who doesn't waste time trying to prove he's a man- he just is.  He has a funny way about him- he rarely answers questions- especially if he doesn't want to.  When asked, "What did you do, today?" and he spent the day playing video games, he doesn't want to be judged.  So he just keeps doing what he's doing and ignores the question all together.  While you stand there wondering if he's going to answer.  Nope, I guess not. If you don't expect a big conversation, he's very easy to spend time with. He's easy to love.

Curry House.  That was his theme for his feast.  I asked him if he had every been to a curry house, and he said no, but his sister had made curry for them a couple times.  He'd like to have a curry house, someday.  That's Tim.  I don't usually help the older guys with their feasts- much.  I'll stir for them while they work on something else.  Maybe make a suggestion or two.  But that's the sum of what I do. He had spent the day making these luminary wrappers for candles. Each one had a different letter for the words CURRY HOUSE. He lined them up across the table.  Added to the twinkle lights we already have in the room, the light was really very warm. He wasn't sure how much to make for 10 people.  The recipe he got off a manga website was for 4 people... so he made enough for 20, just to be safe.  No one minds leftovers around here. Now, believe it or not, I have a lot of big pots and bowls. He used every single one of them! The kitchen was like something from a movie- you know, the ones where they have every surface stacked high with messy pots and pans and the chef is at the oven cooking a masterpiece.  Once Tim added the curry to the pan, everyone in the house knew what he was up to in the kitchen.

He invited his guests in and they were suitably impressed with his table settings.  He had brought in a small table(a sewing machine cabinet- I don't know where that came from;-) into the dining room and sat the rice and chicken curry on it for people to help themselves. Eva and Bekah especially love curry and often ask for it for their birthday meal.  There were no complaints.  Apparently that Manga site knew what they were talking about. So we ate and ate.  It was funny- the meal was just like Tim.  There was no appetizer.  No side dishes.  No dessert.  No beverage- aside the iced tea I made at the last minute.  He said he figured everyone would get full on the curry.  And we did. 

Bill read Colossians 1: 24-29.  Christ is in us but we are also in Christ. 

John's Feast...

This is John. He's 20 and a real sweetheart. He has a sunny disposition and a twinkle in his eye. He does drive me bonkers, sometimes. He has the disconcerting habit of blowing things up, knocking things down, catching things on fire, cutting things... you get the picture. Most people don't know that John has dyslexia. While reading can be a real challenge- one he meets head on because he's just that determined, it also means that his brain looks at things differently. Amazingly. We go outside and think- it's windy. John goes outside, thinks it's windy and says, " A windmill would be cool. I'll make one." And he does. No YouTube or Google required. He just has it in his brain. He's a puzzle solver without realizing it was a puzzle to begin with. He's a real DaVinci engineer. John likes people and finds them entertaining. He's not easily offended. And he's a joy to be around.

His feast had a "Warfare" theme. Because nothing says "peace on earth" like war. The first room involved sitting on the floor in the dining room- a few kerosene lamps and some wood in the center to represent a camp fire. With theme music, we were transported to the Civil War. He served beanie weenies, hoe cakes and sliced peaches/pears for his appetizer. When we were finished that, we were bombarded(pun intended) with the sounds of gunfire and bomb blasts. John was screaming that we needed to evacuate as he handed us helmets. We were forced to duck through a tunnel into the living room where the couches were arranged like trenches. Yep, WWII. He served noodles and Balkan meatballs in cans- which he harvested from the peaches and pears. The sound of bullets whistling past. Ok, that was kind of fun. A band of brothers and all that. Next thing we know, helicopter noises are drowning us out and John's yelling at us to bug out. We had to belly crawl under razor wire to make it to a jungle of bamboo hanging from the ceiling. Jungle noises all around. Yep, Vietnam. We all crawled into a tent and ate cheesecake cupcakes with cherries and an army man on top. Shew. His feast was a real work out! He took most of the day rearranging furniture, constructing sets, cooking and finding his sound tracks- I think Sonia played a big part in all of that, too. Bless her heart. It really was a great feast.

Abraham's Feast...

This is our dear Abraham.  He is 13 years old and our youngest. He's shy, not awkwardly so.  Quiet.  He is an avid reader and gamer. Abraham is a big thinker, but unlike most deep thinkers, it doesn't seem to cause him angst. Harry Potter is very popular with him.  I think he's as attached to my chickens as I am- and that's saying something.  They love him and will perch on him any chance he gives them.  Most chickens aren't cuddlers, but they are around Abe.  He is a dedicated worker and doesn't give up until the job is done. Everyone enjoys his company.  He's peaceful, calm and even tempered.  Come to think of it... I don't think I've ever seen him angry. Maybe I should be worried.  But he is the least worrisome kid I've ever met. Abraham is a delight.  

He had an amazing feast.  Each year, I expect there to be a problem with the children coming up with something new, and each year, they bring it home.  Something new and imaginative.  People always ask me where they get their ideas from and I can honestly say, I have no idea.  Are you ready?  

Abe had a "midnight snack" feast.  We've had to celebrate our feasts later in the evening, this year.  Joe closes his store at 7pm and by the time he gets everything squared away, he usually doesn't get home until close to 8:30pm. We are all happy to wait as it just wouldn't be the same without him.  Our son Jacob gets up at 3:30am for work and so it's past his bedtime, but he's been a sport. Technically, it wasn't midnight, but it worked.  

When Abe invited his guests to his feast he told them that they had to wear their pajamas.  Everyone was more than happy to comply. The table was set with one of my favorite possessions- an old white enameled kettle- filled with poinsettia and berries.  Some twinkly lights. Other than that, the table was bare.  No one sets the table for a midnight snack.  He handed out fuzzy socks for the girls and thick wool socks for the guys.  Everyone knows your feet get cold when you sneak downstairs to satisfy those late night munchies.  They do around here, anyway.  His appetizer was cereals- the good stuff.  No bargain brands.  Golden Grahams, Cocoa Puffs, Reeses, and Apple Jack's. Kinda funny how much everyone enjoyed that. He used Styrofoam bowls so there wouldn't be any dishes to wash.  (That boy hates washing dishes.  But he does that chores one week out of every three.  I don't care how much of a "Betty Homemaker" you consider yourself, there's nothing fun about washing dishes- with no dishwasher- for 9 people.) He had milk as his beverage- with strawberry and chocolate Quick.  He walked his guests to the kitchen- in the dark- to retrieve their cold cut sandwiches from the frig.  Ham, roast beef, turkey.  Pre-made and individually wrapped.  He brought out a vegetable tray and condiments, chips to go with them.  The mood in the room was just the way it feels to raid the kitchen when you're hungry late at night. Relaxed and chill- just like Abe. Everyone was laughing- some to the point of tears. His dessert was ice cream, of course.  Chocolate chip cookie dough, death by chocolate, and Butterfinger.   Everyone was primed to climb into bed. 

This is where things get fuzzy.  I've had just a terrible head cold- is there any other kind?  But I can't remember Bill's talk. I hope this doesn't make me a bad person.  I'm sure it was something encouraging.  

Evabeth's Feast...

This is our sweet Evabeth.  She'll be 18 in a couple months and that seems hardly possible.  Eva is a dedicated artist- she draws and paints every day.  She loves to read.  Not as much as she likes to draw.  She's a hard worker and a big help to me and to others.  She is sensitive and kind. She's concerned about people and does what she can to make sure they're taken care of. She has a goofy sense of humor.  It's almost more than she can bear to pull up beside someone on the road and not make a silly face at them. I wish you could see some of the looks she gives people.  Adults bust out laughing and kids look completely shocked that someone her age would do that.  Eva skips through stores and across parking lots.  She's a joy to be around.

Eva started her feast with meatball appetizers.  Then she offered everyone appetizers... and then she offered them appetizers... She had a deja-vu feast.  We're all like, "Wait.  Didn't we just have appetizers?"  It took a little while for everyone to realize what was going on.  She kept repeating herself and had some people thinking we were having an Alzheimer's feast. She set the table with a cloth covered in wildflowers.  (I have quite a collection of table clothes thanks to my good friend, Sandy.)  She lit all of the oil lamps and there was a nice old fashioned feel to the room.  Eva is kind of like that.  Old-fashioned.  Her main dish was a thick venison stew in crusty bread bowls- no one minded the whole deja-vu theme when it came to getting seconds of the stew.  The weather has been quite nippy, so it really hit the spot.  She had banana punch for her drink. For dessert, she made a huge jumble berry trifle with both sponge cake and angel food cake and a cream cheese filling.  It was wonderful.  Her gifts were little squishy animals that would light up when you bounced them. 

Bill spoke on Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."  It takes a conscious effort to lay aside encumbrances.  Things that drag us down when we're running a race.  Things that entangle us.  Reminds me of when I was a child.  We would go up on the mountain to pick blackberries.  You would pick one berry and then another, reaching ever deeper into the brambles for that one berry just beyond reach.  Before you knew it, you were entangled.  The thorns would grab a hold of you and it would take acrobatics to unwind yourself from their grasp.  Sin is like that. You drift closer to it without even realizing it and then it has a grip on you.  No way to get out without some pain and bloodshed.  But being free from it is so worth it. Lay it aside. Disentangle. Endure.

Bekah's Feast...

This is our sweet Rebekah. She's almost 16 and she's an introvert.  Most people assume she's shy.  She really isn't.  She just doesn't seek people out.  She likes people- if you take the time to start a conversation with her, you'll never find someone more personable.  She likes to read and draw. She draws pictures of fairies with antlers.  I'm not sure what that means. She isn't overly emotional- if the book has a sad ending, she's still likely to say it was a great book (where Eva wouldn't even want to talk about it.)  Bekah's my Barnabus.  She's full of encouragement.  If you're doing well, she cheers you on and when things aren't going so well, she'll put things in proper perspective and cheer you up. She's great at reassurance.  She's very grown up for her age- in spite of the whole girls with antlers thing.  She's a joy to be around.

Her feast was Saturday night.  She had a Jane Austin theme.  It was spectacular!  She was dressed for the part and had her hair swept up in a torrent of curls.  Borrowed my pearls.  The table was set with linen and lace, china and crystal.  She had candlesticks with white tapers.  The napkins were lacy handkerchiefs- Joe whispered to me during the meal if it was alright to use them.  She had the theme music from the Pride and Prejudice movie playing when she invited her guests in.  Upon each plate, sat copy of Captain Wentworth's legendary love letter, folded neatly and sealed with wax.  I can hear all of the women out there swooning!  Every male family members' copy had lines highlighted and they had to take turns around the table reading their lines, out loud.  Bekah figured a great love letter should be in every man's repertoire.  Hearing Phil get all poetical... now that was funny.  But he gave it a very good effort -as all of the guys did.  And with the candle light... yeah, it was very romantic.  

All of her dishes were set on the table- pretty bowls and platters. Her appetizer was scones- fresh cranberry and chocolate chip.  She had a variety of teas.  And I was surprised by how the guys jumped on that boat.  Abe has taken to drinking hot tea ever since.  Her main dish was a spiral sliced ham, boiled red jacket potatoes("What excellent boiled potatoes. Many years since I've had such an exemplary vegetable." ~Mr. Collins Pride and Prejudice),  steamed peas, steamed carrots, gravy(in a real bowl and gravy ladle.  I didn't even think I owned one!  Around here, gravy usually involves a soup ladle.) fresh pineapple and mandarin oranges, and buns. (Can I just take a moment and relate a reality that may only exist in the Koen household?  We don't pass dishes at the table.  Ever.  There are so many people, the dishes that hold that much food are just too heavy or ungainly to pass.  Plus, we have no dishwasher that doesn't sound an awful lot like someone's name. So we either set the pot in the middle of the table and a couple people help dish it out for everyone else or we eat buffet style from my Grandma's hutch.  On Bekah's feast night, we passed dishes.  How cool was that?  Like real people. Boy, did that girl have a lot of dishes to wash!)  She kept  everything replenished so we never ran out.  The food was excellent. She had sparkling punch for her beverage.  Dessert was orange sherbet and biscuits(Danish butter cookies.)  For her gifts, she gave pens with big feathers taped to them. I almost forgot, she had little quotes from some of Jane Austin's books written on slips of paper scattered around the table.  The kids had fun guessing which book the quotes were from. If you're considering reading a Jane Austin novel, we all agreed that Persuasion is the best. It was a magical night. 

Bill spoke on Philippians 4.  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,  whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 
 ~think on these things  ~do these things  ~not optional. 

Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne Eliot:

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.
"I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never."