Jennifer Saake

It is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). I am adding to my YouTube channel again, and today told our story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AYPel0AHzA Here you will hear about our infertility, losses, and motherhood in the first 3 1/2 minutes. I said we had "3 children in 10 years". I actually meant 3 in 13 years.  I go on to tell a bit about parenthood and homeschooling, talk a lot about my strokes, then end up talking about brain training and Scripture memory.   All Scripture on this post is quoted from the  Legacy Standard Bible  (LSB). Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc.  LSBible.org  and  316publishing.com I would love to meet you through social media: author  page -  facebook.com/HarvestingHope Specialty pages:      infertility / loss  ...

 It had been my intent to share this guest post for Easter, but I didn't manage to get it done. Though I'm a couple of days late, you will find it to be a worthwhile read. I pray it blesses you! Guest post from  Jason Forbus : Greek mythology has fascinated me since childhood. By the time I read the Odyssey and tragedies like Oedipus the King in high school, I was hooked for life. Decades later, I still enjoy those stories. What has always intrigued me about these tales, however, is the portrayal of the gods. Or, to be picky in my translation, the immortals. Yes, they were powerful and lived on Mount Olympus (mostly) and threw thunderbolts and such. But the main distinction was that they—unlike humans—didn’t die. Humans, whether pawns, playthings, or puppets, were mortal. The gods were immortal. Yet, they weren’t benevolent, all-knowing, or even good—and certainly not holy. They offered no salvation, no sharing of eternity, no place on Olympus. They didn’t even claim to create...

I have wanted to write a blog post about this topic for several months, but have struggled and prayed, not wanting to sound presumptuous or self-aggrandizing. Honestly, I'm still not sure that my motives are as pure as they should be, but this message is burning too intensely within my heart to continue to remain silent any longer. There may well come a day, in our lifetimes, that physical Bibles are taken away.  But we cannot be rent from the Word carried within our hearts! I could neither read nor easily be read to after my strokes, having been struck legally blind and profoundly hearing impaired in an instant.  The reality of being without access to the life-giving Word of God is exceedingly personal to me. I had no access to Scripture beyond the handful of AWANAs, Sunday School, and homeschool Bible verses I had memorized. I am SO very thankful that he kids and I had spent the past school year memorizing James, chapter one together. Though I did not know it as well as I sh...

Is it OK for Christians to celebrate Hanukkah? Yes! Is it required for Christians to celebrate Hanukkah? (Or Christmas or Easter or the "tinsel and trappings" of any other holiday, according to the traditions and set dates our society associates with these?) Absolutely not. Is it required for a Jew to celebrate the Festival of Lights (Hanukkah)? Surprisingly, also no.  While Hanukkah is the most well-known Jewish holiday in American culture in the year 2021, it is not one of the seven  festivals and feasts  (“appointed times” or “holy convocations”) commanded by God that His people must observe! (See Leviticus 23.) Here is a neat article on how the appointed times each foreshadow the coming of the Messiah. (Since I'll also be referencing some of these holy convocations later in this article, you might wish to hop over and read about the feasts and festivals now.) GotQuestions notes that "Chanukkah [one of several acceptable spel...

I had a different post planned for today. Actually, I've been carefully researching, designing, and typinging on my laptop, two different posts, for the past four days. I'll likely still post those later within the next few weeks, but today I just don't have the heart to.  So I'm winging it from my telephone, laying on my back, holding the phone steady by threading the pop socket Rick recently bought me through my left hand that is resting on my tummy. My kids tease me about my texting methods, but I'm actually faster with just my right thumb or pointer finger on the phone keypad, than I am with my whole right hand on my computer keyboard. This won't be fancy, is likely to be rambly and unedited, but these are my two main thoughts today.  Ten years?  And overwhelming thankfulness ! Several months after getting home from the hospital, wheelchair-bound to ever leave my house, legally blind due to severe double vision (going to the movie theater was tri...

  What happened? I've given you the back story and the (long) update 10 years later . Now for the event itself. I ended my back story with, " Since 2-3 day migraines were part of my world as often as every few weeks, with the occasional 10+ day migraine a few times per year (my record had been over 30 day when hormones were adjusting after my daughter's birth), I let the headache and accompanying symptoms keep me down in bed for about a week before getting proactive and heading to my doctor for pain shots, then on to the ER again (at my doctor's insistence) for something even stronger. After trying all they knew to do, ER sent me home without relief on the evening of October 24, 2011.  My decision the next morning impacts my life and the lives of all who love me, to this day." So what was my decision? I did what is commonly done with headaches, one of the specific things their services are advertised to help. I went to a chiropractor. Yes, I had used chiropractic...

I'm taking a brief break from my stroke anniversary series because today is "Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day". I've prayed all day about what to post. I'm not into the 7pm candle lighting personally. (Not a sin, just not my thing!)  My parents attended the funeral of a 6-month-old today. I've prayed, but did not know what to post. Then I listened to this seminary podcast, for training pastors and counted at least 3 first-hand child loss stories, along with the comfort of the gospel.  Look for Season 1, episode 7. While there are multiple touching loss stories throughout the episode, starting 10 minutes from the end and going until 2 1/2 minutes from the end is especially powerful to me. Six minutes from the end is very comforting! (The last 60 seconds are a rainbow baby hope story, so you can specifically decide if that would encourage you tonight or not.)  While most of us are not training fo...