He is risen!

We are rejoicing on this beautiful Easter day
and thank the LORD for the victory of the
resurrection! Greetings to all near and far!

We are looking forward to the day when He will
raise us up again to praise, talk, laugh, play, discuss
and worship together with our
wonderful Christian brothers and sisters
all over the world. And it will never end.

 

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Spring has arrived in St. Louis! Since the Tiews kids are currently studying the "Space Race", it seemed appropriate to start the application of our knowledge by flying our first kite on seminary campus.

Stand by for reports of the first rocket launch... :)

"Mazel Tov, Lilly, on Your Baptism"

Today Lillian was "buried with Christ through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father" (Rom 6:4), she too may live a new life. We praise the Lord!

Rev. Kevin Parviz baptized her at Chai V' Shalom and Mary and Sophie represented the Stockton family, who are her sponsors. We are so thankful for the wonderful service and the warm reception by the congregation.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Crunchy Cons

Chuck Colson's Breakpoint made us aware of a new book that gives weird people like us a name:

"If you encountered someone who made his own granola, bought his veggies at a food co-op, wore Birkenstock sandals, and wanted to save the environment, if you're like me, you'd probably think, well, there goes a lefty, or a liberal, or maybe an aging hippie. But the author of a new book says someone like that is just as likely to be a conservative Republican. In his book, Crunchy Cons, journalist Rod Dreher writes about a group of people he calls "crunchy conservatives," a group that includes, among others, "hip homeschooling mamas," "Birkenstocked Burkeans," "gun-loving organic" farmers, and "right-wing nature lovers. What Dreher, a Dallas Morning News columnist, means by "crunchy conservative" is someone who rejects the "consumerist and individualistic mainstream of American life." This rejection distinguishes their worldview from that of mainstream liberalism or conservatism, which, in Dreher's estimation, are both "essentially materialist ideologies."
The result of this materialism is "a society dedicated to the multiplication of wants and the intensification of desire, not the improvement of character." What sets Dreher's "crunchy cons" apart is the extent to which they have recognized the corrosive effects of a culture that is both materialistic and pornographic, and they are prepared to do something about it.
They all start at the most basic level: marriage and family. Of course, the liberal and the conservative mainstream both affirm the centrality of the family. After all, apart from some radicals, everybody is for the family, right?
Well, not like the "crunchy cons" are. People like Caleb Stegall, a Kansas lawyer who is profiled in the book, don't just talk a good game when it comes to family their lives testify to its importance. They walk away from prestigious jobs and sacrifice a second income in order to make the time to raise families correctly.
This emphasis on family and instilling character is why many crunchy cons homeschool. As a Manhattan mother of five told Dreher, homeschooling shows her kids that their well-being is what's most important. Instead of working to give them more "stuff," she gave them more time instead.
This de-emphasizing of "stuff" is another hallmark of Dreher's Crunchy Cons. It's not because they reject capitalism or seek to appear "holier-than-thou." It's because they understand the importance of postponing gratification in building character. They know that people accustomed to satisfying every material want are not likely to exercise restraint in any area of their lives.
This emphasis on restraint cuts across the grain of a culture where people are taught to regard anything that stands between them and their desires as a kind of "tyranny." So it comes as no surprise that most of Dreher's "crunchy cons" are Christians.
That's because Christians understand or should, at least how pervasive what writer Dan Knauss calls the "porno-culture" is. This pervasiveness is why protecting our kids requires diligence and commitment. Dreher's "crunchy" conservatives—mostly "crunchy" Christians—are reminders of what the apostle Peter meant when he called followers of Christ a "peculiar people." And it's why these "hip homeschooling mamas" and "right-wing nature lovers" are worthy of our respect, no matter what they wear on their feet or how much granola they eat.
Get links to further information on today's topic "

C.F.W. Who?

The Tiews were exploring the area where Lutheran immigrants from Saxony settled in 1839. Looking for freedom to practice their faith, they left Germany and sailed to the port of New Orleans from whence they traveled upriver on the Mississippi. Some buildings here still have their German names, and a visit to the Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna was a historical and spiritual treat.In the background you can see a statue of C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

As part of his work at Concordia Historical Institute, Chris has been translating many Synod documents and we all learned a lot about our heritage - as Lutherans and Germans. Our immigration here was a lot easier ... we didn't have to build our own log home nor brew our own beer or wine. Even though the people in this neighborhood highly recommend it :)

Highlight of the day for J.J.: counting the number of outhouses we saw.

Lilly's First Friday Pictures

 

Praise the Lord For Lillian Esther Cisternas Tiews!

"Rocky" turned out to be a girl - she was born at 7:10 am on February 13th, 2006 at home on seminary campus with the help of wonderful Dr. Duhart. She is 19 inches long, weighs 7.8 lbs and is another beautiful Tiews girl. Mother and little Lilly are doing great.

To God be the Glory! 

We are counting down

The due date (2/6/2006) has passed. All our other babies have been 10 days late - the new 'target date' is 2/16, right before Chris' Winter quarter is over!

We are praying that Baby "Rocky" will arrive soon and everything will go well. God's timing is perfect.

Family Ministry

Chris is preparing for his first Divine Service presentation in front of his worship professor and class. The family has the great job of being the 'congregation'. We had always been grateful that he was our family pastor - so far we hadn't seen him wearing an alb at home.

Joshua fought the battle

... he stayed with the Tiews while visiting the Seminary this weekend. We had a great time with Joshua Miller from Troy Lutheran Church, especially when playing a game of Bible Outburst to test his knowledge ;)

We pray that our Lord will clearly show him which path he should take.

Lone Moose Cottage Christmas 2005

By Carlotta

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” – Jn 10:10

Departures of the Year:
Sunny and Scout, the horses. Sunny went to our dear friends, the Watkins, and Scout went back to his original owner. Orange, our orange cat ran away, After being with us for so many years, Pea (dog) is now with our good friend, Mr. Tom. Pea recently escaped from Mr. Tom because he wanted to go back to our old house, and he made it there, but the new owners had already moved in.

Supporters of the Year:
The wonderfully generous people in Texas (Magnolia, Cypress, Rockwall, Tomball, Rockport), Plymouth (WI), St. Louis (MO) and Germany, who bless us so much with their gifts. We also are so thankful for our great small group “family”, esp. the Stocktons and Watkins, with whom we have been together for over 6 years. They helped us so much with the move and put on a wonderful good-bye party at Salem Lutheran Church.

Song of the Year:
“We are the Juney Brothers”. J.J. made it up and that song is very popular!

Home Video of the Year:
J.J. built “Star Wars” Lego models and we shot a movie with our camera.
He also built models from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and shot a movie in the bathtub.

Trips of the Year:
We went to a little beach town called Rockport, Texas, to visit friends and we had a wonderful little trip coming up here to St. Louis. We also went to Germany to visit Mom’s family and to see Dad’s daughters, Alina and Amanda. Dad and Carlotta went to Berlin to visit Alina.

Move of the Year:
We moved out of our old house (“the Lone Moose Ranch”) to come here to the Seminary (see http://www.csl.edu/) and live in our “Lone Moose Cottage”.

Visitors of the Year:
The Stockton family came to St. Louis to visit Mrs. Stockton’s parents and visited with us.

Cutbacks of the Year:
We sold our pick-up truck and a lot of furniture at our garage sale and downsized from 3 acres to an 800 square foot apartment.

Newcomer of the Year:
The baby, but it still has to be born. Mom is doing fine. We call the baby “Rocky” because it kicks so much!

Ersatz Grandparents of the Year:
The Nebels, Mrs. Stockton’s parents, live here, and have really adopted us as their grandchildren.

Award of the Year:
Carlotta got the “Supreme Guild” rating again. It is the highest for her level! Guild is a national piano teachers association that assesses piano students.

New Jobs of the Year:
Dad has a job working for Concordia Historical Institute, translating very old German documents into English, and is now a full-time student in order to become a pastor. Mom is finally a full-time homeschooling Mom after working with HP-Compaq for 9 years. Praise the Lord!!

Toys of the Year:
J.J. is big on Legos and experiments; Carlotta is still big on office machines and MeMe really likes baby dolls.

Store of the Year:
The Re-Sale-It, a store where people donate things they don’t need, but other people might like them, and Trader Joe’s, a store where they have all kinds of organic and unusual foods.

Old Neighbors of the Year:
Pegi Stevens (moved to Neu Braunfels, after getting married to Mr. Tom Maggart, about the same time we moved to St. Louis) and Stan and Dorothy Daigle, who also hosted a wonderful good-bye party.

New Neighbors of the Year:
The Sundsvolds: Mr. Sundvold, Mrs. Sundvold, Hannah (2), and Julia (5 mounths); the Driskells: Mr. Driskell, Mrs. Driskell, and Tim (16); and the Scoles: Mr. Scole, Mrs. Scole, and Paul (9) and Jenny (13).

New Achievements of the Year:
J.J. learned how to ride a two-wheeler bicycle, and is reading. Me-Me is starting to talk a lot.

New Languages of the Year:
Carlotta has been learning Latin for two years now and Dad has learned elementary Hebrew (and now reads Hebrew about as fast as J.J. reads English).

Blog of the Year:
The Lutheran Moose – the adventure log of the Tiews

Merry Christmas to Y’all
Joy in the Birth of Jesus!

A real Christmas tree after all!

We didn't think we would get one this year. But the children thought long and hard, counted the money in their piggy banks and decided to buy the Christmas tree this year themselves. On Sunday they had to make the difficult choice and came home with a beautiful tree.

J.J. wrote a letter to Santa at the North Pole and, lo and behold, he received a personal letter back. That really made his day. 

First Snow

Wow - this was a great week for Texans, who have never seen snow in the U.S. A. The children couldn't wait to get outside, but quickly came back in. The thermomether really dropped - down to 4!

We are enjoying the winter quarter very much. Especially since it will only be three weeks until there will be another break for Christmas. Chris' studies are going very well!

Y'SHUA - Who do you say he is?

The break was wonderful, but now it's time to get back to work. Chris has a pretty full schedule,
which includes Biblical Hermeneutics (the science of interpreting the Bible correctly), History of the LCMS, Lutheran Worship as well as Lutheran Confessions and Theology of Missions. He is also taking Old Testament Lectionary reading (in Hebrew) as an elective, but the heavy load of having to study this language in detail has been lifted from his shoulders.

Chris also has been assigned to regularly visit an LCMS congregation that particularly ministers to Jewish people. It has been so interesting for all of us! And the people and their pastor are just wonderful (http://www.chaivshalom.com/ ). We love the experience of a Christian worship service in the Hebrew tradition - just as the first Christians had.

The picture at the left, by the way, depicts the Chapel of St. Timothy and Titus here at the Seminary.

One Seminary Quarter Down, Many To Go

What a blessing! We have our husband and father back!

Chris successfully finished his first quarter at the seminary. After so many hours of studying for final exams and papers, we really enjoy spending more time with him. Our most exciting first quarter celebration consisted of ordering pizza and watching 'Sound of Music' while eating. A rare treat at the Tiews house!

We also took family pictures in front of the old Bush stadium in downtown St. Louis, before it was torn down to make room for the new home of the Cardinals.

Exemplary Husbands

Chris has been successfully recruiting husbands to participate in small group bible study starting next quarter. The men want to investigate what God's word has to say about becoming a better husband and father. The wives don't have ANY problems with that kind of men's gathering ;), especially since Lula and some other ladies from the seminary had already started to look at the biblical principles for a Godly wife. May the Holy Spirit help us all!

"The Tiews Family Singers"

With the musical help of another homeschooling family at the seminary, the children gave a concert at Northview Nursing home on Kingshighway in St. Louis. During the quarter, Chris visited the people on the second floor as part of his field education. What a great blessing this afternoon was for everybody! 

Seminary Unit Celebration On a Budget

Chris has only two more weeks to go until his first quarter is over. He is doing so well and is already half a year ahead because he had tested out of the elementary Greek and Hebrew classes.

Carlotta, J.J. and MeMe already finished their first quarter of studies for this homeschool year. We were exploring the first part of the 20th century (1900-mid 1930). J.J. as Charlie Chaplin, MeMe as "The Kid" and Carlotta as the fancy presentation lady did a great job sharing their learning with the family and neighbors. And it was easy to prepare World War I food (Corn muffins, Mock Goose, Pop Corn, Honey Cakes and water) on a seminary budget!

A Shower for Baby

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

While the LORD is still knitting our new baby in Lula's womb, our wonderful neighbors already prepared a great baby shower. Now it becomes more "real" that we will have another precious child.

What a blessing this community is!

Stepping out tonight

Celebrating eleven years of marriage Lula and Chris got a chance to go out to dinner without children!

Thanks to the generous neighbors the Driskells we really enjoyed our meal at a very nice Thai restaurant in Clayton. It's hard to believe that it's already that long ago that we got married in Hamburg, Germany