Elijah House
The Power of the Cross
Through the Spirit and the Word
Working to Heal and Restore Families
www.elijahhouse.org

A Call to Rejoice Part 2

by Paula Sandford

Ami was born when Loren was 17 months old. John was working at Midway Airport and couldn't get there on time, so a neighbor drove me to the hospital. No one in admitting was paying attention, so I asked in a louder-than-usual voice whether they wanted me to have the baby in the lobby or upstairs. That got their attention, and 15 minutes later Ami was delivered by a Polish woman doctor doing her American internship.

John's eyes were giving him trouble, and he had to drop out of school for a year. I earned some graduate credits through the seminary that year, and it was the first year my parents were able to help me with tuition. Again we shared watching the kids, and I studied after the little ones were in bed. The wife of the seminary president who lived next door offered to help me in whatever way she could, and I was blessed by her offer, but never took her up on it.

When I conceived Mark, the seminary suggested that John take a church and commute to finish his Master of Divinity. Many other married students were seeing that we had a family and were surviving, so they were following our lead. The Dean wanted to get us out of there to stop the population explosion. We had signed up to go as missionaries to Angola but, because of terrorists, they wouldn't let families go, so we accepted an offer to go to troubled churches. John commuted 100 miles and was home only on weekends.

That first church paid us $3000 a year - barely enough to live on, but more than we'd had at school. We planted a garden and we canned food. Some of our church members objected to John's working barefoot in the garden. The parsonage was a nice-looking, though very small, brick building, but had no insulation anywhere. In the winter we were fortunate to get the "heat" up to 55 degrees if we shoveled lots of coal. We finally applied the concept "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" and invited the trustees of the church to hold their monthly meeting at our house. It wasn't long before those shivering gentlemen saw to it that we had some insulation, at least in the attic!

It was during that pastorate that we received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Quite a few of the people thought we'd lost our minds, but we stayed there six years until the Lord Himself called us away. A few healing miracles happened, and the prayer group rejoiced, but others were frightened. Could God be that real? God told us He would vindicate us, and we wished it would happen before we left, but it didn't until twenty years later when we were invited to teach at another church in that city. Many of the people who had persecuted us were there with tears and warm welcome hugs. We learned to trust God's promises and his timing.

Mark and Johnny were both born there, Tim came later in Kansas, and Andrea in Idaho. We now have 6 children, 20 grandchildren, and the tenth great-grandchild on the way. Numbers eight and nine are twins, a boy and a girl, born January 2nd to Loren's oldest daughter, Charity.

Some people think they must have only one or two children, or the resulting tensions, responsibilities and financial burdens will rob them of the joys of life. Our experience is exactly the opposite. Our joys were mainly just in being together - camping, fishing, playing games, seeing America. Psalm 127:3-4 says, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."

We have experienced more joy and blessing because of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren than perhaps from any other source. Bruce Miles, our pastor for six or seven years, said to us many times that watching our children and their children relating to one another, serving the community, God, and the church, validated our ministry in his eyes.

John and I have had many adventures of all kinds around the world. We have been called to be forerunners in several ways in the Body of Christ, and we have taken a good bit of persecution from some sources. But the Lord has never failed to be there wherever and whenever we needed Him, and we have been amazed to see Him bring good out of what was for a while painful. Thanksgiving and joy rule our memories and our hearts. And almost daily we receive messages of thanks for ministry which people received from us years ago. We have learned to trust the Lord and there has been much joy in our lives. Now, even though troubles in the world may cause us, with the Lord, to feel burdened and sad, there is, deep in our hearts, a fullness of joy which originates with Him. The joy of the Lord is our strength, every day, wherever we are.

Psalm 91 assures us that God Himself is our fortress and refuge, and Psalm 95:1-3 (and I emphasize!) issues a call to those of us who call ourselves Christians:

"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms, for the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods."

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For more information about Elijah House...
Phone: (208) 773-1645; Fax: (208) 773-1647
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM pacific standard time, Mon-Fri.
General Email: ehinfo@elijahhouse.org

Elijah House
17397 W Laura Ln
Post Falls, ID, USA 83854
208-773-1645
fax 208-773-1647
http://www.elijahhouse.org