The Wilkes Team

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time… (Eccl. 3:11)."

How I rejoice over the faithful prayers of parents for their children. Oh the precious thoughts of a father and mother towards their newly born baby. The vision and desires they hold for this new life. Such love for the dear little one turns their hearts to fervent prayer – prayers for salvation, a tender heart, a love for God’s Word. These prayers continue as the baby grows. They realize the day will come when their precious son or daughter follows the leading of the Lord unto the establishment of the next generation. The day seems so distant, but the loving father & mother lift their hearts in prayer for the future spouse and children of this little one who now sits upon their lap.

The Scriptures say that, ‘Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it (Ps. 127:1).’ ‘For he established a testimony……that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them…. (Ps. 78:5-6).’

Several months ago, I had the joy of approaching a father and sharing with him my heart and how I believed it was the Lord’s will for me to marry his daughter. This began a season of waiting on the Lord’s direction and His perfect timing. His daughter – she had desires but rather than leaning upon her own understanding, she purposed to rest in the loving arms of her Savior. She was at peace with how the Lord would guide and direct.

In God’s timing, He makes everything beautiful. We rejoice to say that through the leading of the Lord and our precious parents, the Lord has confirmed that it is His will for Lisa Butler and I to be united together in marriage.

We are grateful for the way our parents fervently seek the will of the Lord and for the way they have faithfully prayed for their children and the generations to come.

Thank you for the legacy you are laying for the future generations.

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When a recent opportunity arose for Mom, Jennifer, and Sarah to attend a special course that amounted to 9 days of travel, Hannah was placed in the position of ‘lady of the Wilkes Team house.’ This came as a new experience to her but one for which she had been prepared by the loving and caring direction of our wonderful mother.

Through her faithfulness, joy, and submission, Hannah graciously stepped into the new role. All 7 young men in our home were blessed immensely by her diligence, organization, and scrum-dilly-licious meals. She was a true support and blessing to all seven of us! Thank you Mom, Jennifer, and Sarah for your beautiful examples and excellent job training Hannah. We were 7 blessed young men.

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Time was passing quickly by. The deadline fast approaching. We were less than two weeks away, yet the 2010 VA Family Encouragement Weekend had no conference location. Door after door closed. Many prayers were lifted up. Without a location, the conference would inevitably be canceled. Travel plans were being made….should the conference be canceled?

The Lord had lead us thus far – He was trustworthy.

"And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you…(Is. 30:18)." "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee… (Ps. 31:19)." His goodness and graciousness towards us is so undeserved.

His goodness and graciousness may involve more waiting or circumstances contrary to our desires but oh the joy of knowing we are in the center of His will though our emotions be unsettled.

Just in God’s time, He directed our steps and guided us to call a local church. Our phone call was answered by the man who we later discovered was the Pastor of the church. When he heard the vision behind the conference and of our pressing need, he graciously offered us the use of the faciliy, even before we had met face to face. This clear testimony of God’s direct action further confirmed the hand of the Lord upon the conference. In His perfect timing, he opened the doors of this precious church and so provided an avenue unto the needful encouragement of families.

He is trustworthy – praise be to God!

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On a wonderful Thursday morning an allotment of the Wilkes team headed down to Liberty Hill Farm for an enjoyable afternoon of  farm work. Liberty Hill Farm is run by our good friends the Matich family. Situated in Berryville VA they initiated this year into a full fledge agricultural enterprise. The enterprise is growing healthy, grass-fed chickens and taking them to farmer’s market to sell.

We arrived to a bustling team of workers preparing for a  productive day. After some hardy greetings we helped move some 100 chicks or so from the coop to a mobile chicken shelter.

Next we moved to the butchering station. Here the Matich family had set up a very efficient system for butchering their  chickens. First they were placed into cones, and the main arteries along their neck were cut. After the blood had drained the chickens were placed into boiling water to prepare for the plucking machine. After a minutes or so in the steamer the plucker was turned on and four chickens quickly became featherless.

Taken from the plucker, Mr. Matich gave clear instruction on how the dressing of them should be performed. Carefully following his lead we dressed the first batch of chicken and prepared them for the “quality control” station. At this station, the chickens were meticulously studied for any possible parts which needed cleaning.

It was a wonderful process to take part in. By noon we had taken care of 50 or so chickens all ready for freezing and then selling. Liberty Hills Farm has a growing reputation for very clean and nicely butchered chickens. They clearly deserved this reputation based on their butchering of the chickens in a very meticulous manner.

At the end of the day, the Matich family graciously gave us three of their chickens. Since then I believe we’ve enjoyed at least one of them. Therefore I can honestly recommend that all those who enjoy the meat of a chicken if you can possibly fit it into your schedule please go to the Liberty hills farm website. There you’ll find the means of contacting the Matich family and possible reap the benefit of meat that is grass-fed, healthy, and wonderfully delicious.

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…Come ye yourselves apart…and rest a while… (Mark 6:31). Oh the blessing of those times of rest and refreshment. They are needful. And when accompanied by abounding joy, ministry opportunities, and uplifting fellowship, the result is a season of refreshment. Such was the case when our family had the joy of spending a weekend in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia with the Staddons (click here for their report)!

Whether we were working together, ministering with each other, or planning for the upcoming FEW Conference, wholesome conversations, memorable moments, and joyous sounds abounded.

An unexpected blessing was the opportunity to meet and fellowship with the Fleshman family from southern West Virginia. Hearing the testimony of Christ at work in their family was of great encouragement.

What a joy it is to hear of every day families who take joy in following the leading of the Lord to be salt and light in the communities they have been called to live in.

3 Comments » | posted in Family News

The family is the building block of society. Undermine the family and society will grow unstable. Stability in family life comes from purposeful decisions to maintain relationships.

Grandpa and Grandma have long been an example of loyalty and faithfulness. They have helped to impart to their children the building blocks of strong, Biblical families.

We always enjoy the opportunity to be together with our extended family. Dad’s siblings have younger families. Watching them grow up and seeing their love for God grow is a blessing and truly a testimony to the grace of God and the faithful prayers of Grandma.

For the June birthdays, we had one large celebration here at the farmhouse. Two of Dad’s siblings with their families and Grandpa and Grandma made it out.

Our time together was truly precious. Just before opening gifts, there was a meaningful time of remembering God’s grace upon the Wilkes family in preserving Grandma from cancer. Through a series of miraculous events in 1991, the Lord halted the inevitable death that stage four cancer would have resulted. Now almost 20 years later (next year), the cancer has not returned. Grandma has lived a vibrant life these past 19 years, has had the joy of seeing the birth of her 20th grandchild, and abundantly blessed the lives of untold hundreds through her loving and servant’s heart.

As we counted our many blessings this year and celebrated the births of Grandma, Aunt Summer, Sarah, Kenan, and Joshua, there was also much joy over the preservation of Grandma’s life.

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The majority of the move was now complete. Thanks to our first class team of movers, the majority of our belongings now resided in Culpeper. And so as we looked towards turning our home over to the new owners and the dust began to settle, we realized that a significant cleaning operation was looming on the horizon. How could this be overcome? The answer – 12 Blessings from North Carolina. Though they had to of been wearied after a week of intense work in service to their Grandmother living in upstate New York, the Neely Team offered to invest themselves into our family. Furthermore, our home was lacking furniture and other usual comforts of hospitality but this did not bother the Neely Team. They arrived with gracious, energy giving spirits and hearts ready to serve.

Following a scrum-dilly-licious breakfast Saturday morning, vacuums roared to life, spray bottles began to discharge, paper towels scrubbed, and dust began to disappear. Dirty nooks and crannies from top to bottom were identified, attacked, and eliminated. Windows began to sparkle, trim to glisten, and bathrooms to squeak. A task of ponderous proportions was promptly performed with an overflowing abundance of joy, laughter, and fellowship.

After much diligence, the two teams rallied to the vans for a trip to Culpeper and a tour of the construction sight and our temporary housing.

Grandpa and Grandma along with a couple cousins, blessed us with their presence later on that evening when we had a birthday celebration for Kathryn, Jessica, Grandma, Joshua, Kenan, and Sarah.

The day came to a fitting close as everyone sang and praised our Lord and Savior around the pianos.

Thank you Neely Team for blessing our home!

Click here for the Neely Team’s report & more pictures

1 Comment » | posted in Family News