It’s 2 am and the power is out. As I sit in my quiet, dark kitchen writing by candle light, I am acutely aware of all of the sounds of the house. I can hear four of the girls in their room giggling with nervous laughter as they try to reassure themselves that the storm is passing. I hear “The Chronicles of Narnia” playing in their CD player. I hear Lindsay dropping in on them for a few minutes to laugh with them and tell them goodnight. I’m tempted to tell them all to be quiet and settle down because I’m tired and want to go to bed. But, I stop myself. I am aware that this may be the last time they go through a storm like this together, along with all of the excitement and fear that comes along with it.
As I sit here listening to someone’s dog barking down the street I think about the passage of time. The reality that time flies all to quickly is pressing in on me. This has caused me to be extremely reflective, and to look back on my life with Lindsay. It has also caused me to savor every minute with all of my girls. I realize that time is fleeting and before I blink they will all be out of my door. I know many parents can’t wait for their children to leave, and I find that rather sad. I love spending time with my girls & look forward to spending time with them and their futures husbands and children when that time arrives.
The lights are back on, and the adventure of the power being out is over. For those who were fearful there is rejoicing. For me, it’s just an all too real reminder of how quickly time goes by.
This is the one year anniversary of Jim’s death and in memory of him I wanted to re-post my article about him from the time of his death. I hope that it will both encourage and convict you. Jim was an awesome brother in the Lord and is greatly missed.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.
This is a picture of Jim Jones doing what he loved, sharing the gospel with those that are perishing. Gene took this picture in Las Vegas as Jim preached in front of New York, New York and the MGM Grand. Thursday afternoon, the Lord took Jim home when he was hit by a tractor trailer while riding his bicycle. I want to share with you Jim’s testimony.
“Jim Who?
You’ve probably noticed, choosing a man that has grown up with the name of an infamous cult leader and calling him to evangelism shows our Lord has a sense of irony.
I was raised going to a Seventh-Day Adventist church, because that is what my family did. I also attended private church-run schools up through and including two years of college, where I gained a fair amount of knowledge in scripture and religion. I even studied for the ministry. However, a walk with a church as opposed to a walk with Christ wasn’t enough to sustain me. Eventually, I turned away and took a path that lead into drugs, the occult and other dark shadows.
I practiced Wicca as a solitaire for about three years. I flatly tell the Christians that think witchcraft and such are just make believe, they’re very mistaken. Things happened! I read Tarot cards, and from what both friends and strangers told me the readings were disturbingly accurate. Later, my wife & I joined a Druid grove where I initiated and became an understudy to the high priest. I went deeper into circle work, rituals and spell craft. When we moved to Oregon, it was my full intention to start a new coven or grove here.
Looking back, I don’t dwell on it too much, because I don’t want to glorify the enemy or give the demonic more attention than it is due. Praise God that our Savior redeems! I believe He permitted that experience so that I can witness and relate to a group and counter culture that most of the church either writes off or is outright frightened of. As Joseph told his brothers… “what you meant for evil, God has used for good.”
God took hold of me on February 29th, 2004. I was broken and sobbing; stripped of my self-righteousness. I realized the crimes I’d committed against God’s holy law. I’d lied, stolen, lusted, blasphemed His holy name and more. I deserved His wrath and judgment, and justice meant Hell. There was nothing I could do. I finally understood what Jesus had done, and it changed everything. As I faced the Judge of the Universe, Christ stepped in and paid the fine I could never hope to with His precious blood. I stood there, undeserving at the foot of the cross. I gave it all over to Him, and He handed back mercy and grace.
When I finally surrendered and passed through the narrow gate of repentance, other doors also swung open. Christ brought a teaching called Hell’s Best Kept Secret across my path. As I listened to it, I felt a missing puzzle piece fall into place. A spark of evangelism came to life and the Lord fanned it into a flame.
With the support of my wife, Kelly, I’ve begun a ministry of street witnessing and open air preaching. I’m a graduate of the School of Biblical Evangelism, and have also become the leader of a local evangelism team. Evangelism isn’t just a priority – it’s a necessity. The more I read of my Bible, I just can’t see it any other way. People are dying and souls are going to Hell.
This is my guiding scripture…
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2nd Timothy 4:3-5 (NASB)”
Jim’s ministry is A Fool Forgiven. While Jim may have given that title to himself, I say he was no fool. Jim was dedicated to the Lord and to the spreading of the gospel. He was willing to sacrifice material possessions, time, and energy to the passionate sharing of the cross. Please take a few minutes to watch this video of Jim preaching in front of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The guy next to him holding the speaker is my husband, Gene.
You may look at this video and wonder to yourself, “What good is he really doing standing on a stool, sharing the gospel in such a way?” God’s Word does not return void, and we have no idea whose life may be impacted by the preaching of the cross. There were many times people would yell at Jim, curse at him, and probably even spit in his face. Yet time after time he would climb back on that stool and begin again. Not because he was some super hero, but because he understood the price that was paid for his salvation. Christ was cursed, mocked, beaten, and crucified that we might have life. Not because we ever did anything to deserve it, but because He loved us enough while we still sinners, to show us mercy and grace.
Have you ever had someone cut you off on the road to the point that you have to slam on your brakes to avoid hitting them? Doesn’t that just make you nuts?! Have you ever been falsely accused? Doesn’t that just seem unfair? Maybe you didn’t get the credit for something you did… that will really get your steam going! It really gets to us when we don’t feel we get the respect or honor we should, or when someone is unfair to us. Let me ask you something… do you believe that Jesus died on the cross? Do you believe that He is God’s Son? How do you show that? I have heard some people say they love God, but their life doesn’t reflect it. They seem to believe that being born into a “Christian” family gets them their golden ticket to heaven. They identify being Christian as if it’s an ethnicity, not a faith. 80% of all Americans will answer that they are Christians when they are surveyed, but they never darken the door of a church, never read their Bibles, and never share their faith. Do you fit into this category? This is an important question, and I challenge you to truly examine yourself and see if you are in the faith. Re-read Jim’s testimony; he has it all explained clearly, where there should be no doubt. Don’t wait until tomorrow… you may not have it. I’m sure that when Jim left his home to go on a bike ride, he never thought that would be the last thing he would do.
I originally posted this article in 2005, and it continues to bring in traffic to my blog today. I am surprised at how many people are searching about Christian femininity. Now that Lindsay will be getting married, I hope that I have taught her to have the balance that is needed to be a Christian woman & wife.
Lately I have been discussing with my 20 year old daughter, Lindsay, the image of womanhood being put forth by many in the homeschooling community. Being a homeschooling mother of five daughters, this is something that concerns me greatly. I am in no way a feminist; in fact I have a much more conservative view on the role of a young woman than most homeschoolers I know. Lindsay stays at home, ministering to her family and others as the opportunity arises. She does not go to college or take online courses. She does do independent studies here at home, following her interests. Our feeling is that we are preparing our daughters to be wives and mothers, and we try to develop the skills necessary for those roles. Though as any of our friends will tell you, we by no means have girls who are only interested in only “girlie” things. They love nature and the outdoors and love to explore God’s creation. At our house the yelling of, “Snake!” sends them running. Not away from the snake, but to it. They have a dad who loves his girls and loves sharing his knowledge of God’s creatures with them.
The vision of a Godly woman many seem to hold is that of a Victorian woman. The vision of tea parties with finger sandwiches, and sitting around doing embroidery while all the women talk. Some have even suggested that we should dress more like women of that time. They also promote little girls only doing “girl” things such as sewing, reading, playing instruments, cooking and such. The impression is given that they shouldn’t be exploring, hiking, digging in the mud or climbing a tree. I must confess, I have a hard time keeping our 20 year old out of a good climbing tree. I have even heard some say that we should act weak in order to make our men feel strong.
I have also seen rise to the idea that little girls should be dressed as “little ladies” all the time, with their frilly dresses. Any one of my girls will tell you that I prefer them to wear skirts, and that I think they look more feminine in a skirt, but it’s not appropriate all the time, nor necessary. This brings to mind the scene in the “Sound of Music” when Maria is in trouble for making play clothes for the children so they don’t have to play in their “straight jackets.” Many people who promote this idea are also of the dresses only mindset. That’s a whole other argument that I won’t get into; it’s enough that you know that we have been on both sides of this issue, and have peace about where we stand now.
A couple of years ago we were in a church that very much promoted many of the ideas I’ve been discussing. Being in that situation, I would tend to discuss with the women there only very surface issues. We discussed homeschooling, cleaning house, sewing and such. I was made aware that this was the norm by a church leader’s wife. I asked her a question about doctrine, and her answer was, “I don’t worry about such things, that’s for my husband to decide.” I won’t go into all that I felt at that time, but it greatly disturbed me to hear this statement. God gave me the Holy Spirit, just as He did my husband, and He wants me to understand and decide my feelings on doctrine and other issues as well. He did not call us unto Himself so that we could be mirrors of our husbands, or of an other person, we are to only mirror Christ. There are many times that Gene and I have disagreed on interpretation, but that doesn’t mean I don’t submit to his decision. God has used our differences to help me grow greatly. You have to put a great deal of trust in God and your husband in order to disagree in principle but be willing to submit in these instances. And no, I don’t always do a great job in this area, but God is growing me in it.
During the time we were at that church, I had a conversation with a woman who would, as time went on, become like a sister to me. I remember telling her of one of my pet peeves about house cleaning and she made some comment about being more than just a housekeeper. I don’t remember the comment exactly, and she wasn’t being rude, she was just making a very good point. There is more to my life than how to wash clothes or teach science. God has much meatier issues for me to be discussing with my friends in order that I might be sharpened or that they might.
What should we then teach our daughters? To be Godly, must we all be Victorian women sitting back sipping tea? (Mind you, I love a good cup of tea.) To find the answer, I did what we should all do, and that is look at the scriptures. I’m not going to use the obvious ones. Yes, we should be keepers at home and try our level best to fit the Prov. 31 model, but let’s look at some real people. To just mention a few, in the Old Testament there was Zipporah, Rachel, Rebekah and Ruth. When Moses and Jacob met their future wives, the girls were tending their fathers’ sheep. Have you ever thought what it would be like to be tending sheep in the desert? These women were out in the elements, climbing rocks, chasing and watering sheep. Not exactly the Victorian image, is it? When Issac’s servant met Rebekkah, she watered his camels. Ruth met her second husband while gleaning in his fields. These were physically hard, dirty jobs. None of these women paint the picture that has been given us of femininity. Yes, there was Esther, and she spent a great deal of time preparing herself for the king. But she was the exception not the rule. Just as if you look at the Victorian period, those able to sit back, drink tea and embroider in their beautiful dresses were the exception, not the rule. Most women at that time had a very hard life. They worked from the time they arose until they went to bed. Their work was backbreaking, dirty and endless. Most of us would not have been among the elite if we had lived during that time. I believe it is wrong to give our daughters a romantic vision of what it is to be a woman. Being a Godly woman is too complex an issue to wrap up in the package of a single type of woman. To my husband, I want to be beautiful like Esther, have devotion like Ruth, to be able to fulfill the model of the Prov. 31 woman, and to be devoted to Christ like Mary Magdalene. I want my daughters to see me as able to handle whatever situation may arise with a cool head and confidence. I also want them to see me asking for help when it’s truly needed, not just for the sake of femininity. I desire for them to see my devotion to Christ and my husband on a daily basis. Above all of this, I want my daughters to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls and minds.
In several of my posts I have alluded to struggles that are occurring in my life at this time. I realize that the inference that could be taken is that these difficulties could be arising from Lindsay & Ryan’s courtship. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now, when we are in the throes of planning the wedding… well, there may be some stress then
In the end of July we received word that my father had been diagnosed with small cell carcinoma in his bladder. This is obviously weighing heavily on my heart. I want to keep most of the details off my blog, but if you want more information about what is happening in this area of my life, please feel free to e-mail me at Lora@keethfamily.com.
The other area that is causing me concern is the girls’ asthma. It has flared up again and I think we are all on edge hoping that it doesn’t last until March as it has in the past.
Your prayers about these areas of our lives are coveted and greatly appreciated.
I just finished reading Mrs. Miniver and greatly enjoyed it. I was surprised that the book was credited by both Churchill and F.D.R. in aiding the Allied effort. I felt that her thoughts on the war were quite poignant. Once the war began life seemed to have more meaning. I suppose when you are fighting for your life and your survival it must make every little thing seem much more tangible. Maybe that is why I enjoy reading writings from that time period so much. I like reading about how people overcame insurmountable obstacles and trials and were able to survive to tell the story. It also helps me to put into perspective the trials in my own life. It would be easy to dismiss the trials that we go through by thinking they are unimportant and just irritants in our lives, but in reality, they are like the refiner’s fire, and are here to remove the dross from our lives.
Mrs. Miniver’s hope was that the people of England would take the lessons of the war, the pulling together, the selfless serving of your neighbor, living more simply and modestly, and continue to live by them after the war. We should take on a similar thought process. After the hardship of a trial is over, too often we go back to living life as usual without applying the lessons that we have hopefully learned. I wonder how many times I have done just this thing. It seems that several areas are getting worked on at the same time in my life right now. My hope is that I take follow Mrs. Miniver’s lead and apply these things to my life, even once this trial is over.
