Burnett Family

A week ago, we were privileged to participate in Home Educators’ Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol. A dedicated crowd of 2,600 homeschoolers showed up to be a presence to our legislators at the Capitol who had just began the first week of the legislative session.

Oklahoma is special. We are the only state who, ever since our Constitution was written over 100 years ago, has recognized that parents may teach their children at home by providing other means of education! There is a lot of freedom to home school in Oklahoma. That’s something we don’t take for granted and that we want to continue to uphold and fight for.

I LOVE our country. The incredibly rich history of our nation never ceases to amaze me. Even just a simple trip to the state capitol and taking time to think about how all “this” came to be fills my heart with awe! There is just nothing like it. The freedom I live in every single day is HUGE.

 
Finding a slot in the crowd to see was not easy with the floor and the two surrounding balconies filled. :) Governor Mary Fallin, who is very supportive of home schooling, gave a speech, as well as several other people, including…

…Meet Representative Josh Cockcroft! Josh is a home school graduate who we attended church with for many years. When he got elected at age 22 in 2010, he was the second youngest person to get elected in history of the House of Representatives (beat by another home school graduate who was elected the same year and is slightly younger than him).

Josh is a great example of the fruit of home schooling! It was thrilling to listen as he addressed everyone at the rally and so encouraging to see a young man willing to step out and do big, hard things for God in our country!

Meet TJ Schmidt, Oklahoma’s HSLDA’s attorney. HSLDA does an incredible job of helping protect our liberty to home school that is constantly being attacked and challenged.

After the inspiring rally, we met with our representative and senator – both of whom have eaten our homemade peach ice cream at the Stratford Peach Festival. :) Representative Hilliard and Senator Paddack are great at listening to constituents and representing us well.

And if that wasn’t politically inspiring enough for one week, we had the unexpected opportunity a few days later to attend a rally for presidential candidate Rick Santorum!!

John-Clay, Charity, Carinna, and I walked into the hotel room with seating for 600 that was basically full, except for some back row seats and reserved seating. We were just about to claim the back row, when a lady gave us a red streamer to go get seats in the reserved section…on the sixth row from the front!! We weren’t about to turn that offer down. (That’s the second time we’ve gotten a really nice deal when four of us kids were together…hmmmm. Kinda like this.)

 
J-C ran over to the front corner of the room to take a quick panoramic picture of the full crowd that was there, when suddenly everyone started clapping and cheering, and Rick Santorum entered the room from that corner and stepped right in front of John-Clay! All the photographers began snapping away with a very shocked J-C in the background. *chuckle*
 

With a very enthusiastic audience of about 1,000 supporters, Rick gave a bold, timely speech to the issues facing our nation.

He is definitely not afraid to say what he believes, especially when it comes to his faith in God.

 
“If there are no rights that government needs to respect, then what we see with ObamaCare is just the beginning of what government will do to you.”

“The Constitution is there to do one thing: protect God-given rights. That’s what makes America different than every other country in the world.”
-Rick Santorum

Several of us managed to squeeze to the front to get his signature and shake his hand. :) Santorum went on to a rally of 4,000 people in Tulsa – the biggest crowd his campaign had had so far.

This is not an endorsement for Rick Santorum, by the way. There are still lots of issues we are weighing between candidates, but Rick Santorum’s value for faith and family as the key to our nation’s strength is something that we greatly appreciate! And since our family will have a total of 7 voters by November, these important issues are a daily topic of discussion for us. :)

This election is crucial to the future of our nation and our families and the world. Research, study, pray! We have a responsibility to protect our God-given freedom for the next generation – don’t take it lightly.

“You will never know how much it cost our present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” 
–John Quincy Adams

When you have this many people, I guess it takes ALOT of stuff. ;)

 

 

Notice their big smiles? They REALLY enjoyed their lunch! (smirk ;)

 

If ya’ll ever go camping, you HAVE to try this one! First, cut a big slit across the top of a banana, then fill it with butter, chocolate bar, nutella, peanut butter, and marshmellows, then roast it over the fire and consume.

Abbie and Hannah trying to come up with new roasted concoctions… :)

Gotta love singing your heart out around the campfire. =D

We enjoyed catching a lot of fish-perch, crappie, and bass.

      

Now that is what I call FRESH fish! This stuff was amazing!

Granny and Granddad (mom’s parents) joined us on Saturday, and greatly contributed to the loads of fun we had!

The hiking trail we went on was stunningly gorgeous! Near the end of the trail was this beautiful view of the lake.

…take notice of the storm clouds rollin’ in…

There was a really cool water dam near the camp ground we climbed, it was pretty epic!

We sang from the top… :)

  

On Saturday afternoon/evening/night :), the big adventure came – in the form of a STORM. Thank the Lord, those of us who were out hiking made it back in time before it hit. Knowing that a storm was coming, and that our big tent leaks (from past experience :) Mom, and others took out some stuff and piled it in the van, so it wouldn’t get all wet.  As the storm quickly approached, we snarfed down our supper, finished filleting the fresh catch of fish, Granny and Granddad headed back, and we all piled in the vehicles to take refuge, all except for J-C and Caleb who stayed in their tent to hold it down.

This is a 15 second video, of a 30 minute time lapse to show you how quick this thing came!

As the rain poured, it lightening and thundered, we waited and waited, Dad checked the weather on his phone, we phoned called and walkie-talkied each other back and forth to give each other updates…and ate good comfort food like chips and cookies…:) As we watched the wind pick up, we started wondering if our big tent, which we’ve had since Charity was 6 weeks old,(17 1/2 years) was gonna survive, so we got out and put more stuff in the van, shortly after, the wind whisked it up, right in front of our eyes and blew it into a tree!!! …so glad we took that stuff out! We found out the wind probably got up to about 60 mph!

We were very thankful that the baseball size hail didn’t hit us! Meanwhile, Granny and Granddad were having a VERY difficult time getting home. With the Lord’s protection they finally made it.

Now that it was very dark (round 10:00) and 6 of our sleeping places were slightly unavailable   GONE, Mom and Dad decided that the girls should all sleep in the van and Mom sleep in the car.

A spur-of-the-moment sister sleep-over in the…VAN…of all places!!! What a night!

 

 

The ol’ tent gone kasplat. Guess it was time for a new tent anyway. =)

 

Sunday we attended this local church, did some more hiking and fishing, and a lot of rearranging and packing-up. Our stuff needed a lot of organizing after last night.

On our way home, those in the car barely missed having a head-on collision driving on a two-lane road. They topped a hill and saw a car coming from the other direction erratically drive in their lane, to the shoulder and grass, and back to their lane. Not knowing where the car was going to end up, mom didn’t know what to do. She stayed in her lane, and the car stayed on the shoulder coming the wrong way, passing within 6 inches of the car. They think they heard the other car scraping the guard rail, and then it zipped right back in with the line of cars that it came from.  We are praising the Lord for His hand of protection and guardian angels!

Needless to say, after such a dramatic weekend, it was a very good feeling to be home ALL TOGETHER, ALIVE, WELL, AND SAFE, and in our own beds again. :) I don’t think we’ll ever forget that memorable camping trip.

Until next time…

happy trails! =)

The Northwoods staff with Eric Ludy – we had such a fun time fellowshipping with the staff there! They are a great team with a servant’s heart.

On Saturday morning, Eric Ludy preached two more messages – Wrestling Prayer and Hero Training. The Lord especially used the one on prayer in a powerful way – we didn’t want to stop listening! Just imagine what would happen if each attendee got a true grasp on effectual, fervent prayer!

Eric graciously agreed to do Q & A during his last lunch with us before heading off to the airport. :)

Our family with Eric

More times of prayer…

By now ya’ll must realize, we played a lot of volleyball…on the very last night, we had 8 teams of speed volleyball going at once! It was a blast! =)

Saturday afternoon, we had break-out sessions. Mrs. Kathy Fagala shared with all the women…

…and Mr. Wayne Fagala shared with the guys. It was a blessing to be able to talk heart-to-heart and glean from their wisdom!

(Check out the convertible truck in the background. :)

That evening we all went down to the lake and had a cookout. I think the pictures will give you a nice idea of what a special and refreshing time we all had together.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Singing around the campfire was really special.

S’mores = YUM.

 
The NWCC director surprised us with fireworks at the end of the cookout! We just had to sing the Star Spangled Banner. :) We then moved to the Lodge to continue fellowship and … volleyball, of course!

Bob Norvell preached the final message on Sunday morning, encouraging us to live as the tabernacles of God.

Caleb did a great job managing the sound booth – thanks, bro. ;)

Hannah was very happy to have 2 of the young ladies from her Journey team there.

=D

Saying good-byes…

Journey Reunion 2011

To God be the glory!

Journey Reunion continued…

Each day right after breakfast, we had “God & I Time”, when everyone would find a place alone to spent time with the Lord. Some rose extra early and were out on the lake at sunrise…

    
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

I wish you could have heard the singing!! Triumphant, whole-hearted, worshipful praise to God…

Robert did a wonderful job leading the music. Our Journey Reunion theme song for the weekend was “Higher Ground”, which really expressed all of our hearts’ desires for being at the Reunion! We sang it at least once every day. :)

Dr. Gothard spoke on the holiness of God and what that means for us as His children, and the importance of feeding on the Word of God daily. His sessions were full of practical truth!

 
Eating another de-LI-cious meal!!

 
Upon request, Mr. Gothard did Q & A during lunch. :)

Afterward, Wayne Fagala led us in a prayer time. We took the words from the hymn “Day By Day”, discussed them, and prayed. It was unique and powerful!

Each afternoon, two hours were set aside for recreation and fellowship! As you can see, volley ball was the favorite, although a few went kayaking/canoeing, took walks, or spent more time alone with God.

Numbering off for SPEED volley ball!

Go, Carinna!!

Those guys really had it going!! =D

Another one of our featured speakers, Eric Ludy, arrived that evening. He and his wife, Leslie, have authored many books for Christian young people and have a discipleship ministry based in Colorado called Ellerslie. Eric’s books and sermons have made a tremendous impact on our family over the last couple of years, and we were SOOOO excited that God miraculously made a way for him to come! If you haven’t checked out the Ludys’ ministry, I would strongly encourage you to do so.

His first message was on the Costly Gospel – how God takes us to deeper and deeper places of surrender that result in us finding our all in Him.

Fortune ladies’ quartet – “Holy, Holy, Holy/Holy is the Lord”

HQ guys’ quartet – “Are You Washed in the Blood”

In his second message, Eric explained how we can reckon our old man dead and let Christ live His victorious life IN us. I’ve heard those truths all my life, but that night gave me a new perspective. Oh, may we not just know these things in theory but in actuality!

    

“But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin.” -Heb. 3:13

“…exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the Day
approaching.” -Heb. 10:25

Can’t wait to tell you about the next day! Stay tuned…

Here’s a go for a recap of our preparations and first night of the Journey Reunion!

Northwoods Conference Center (NWCC)

This place is stunningly beautiful in all seasons of the year…especially fall!

 
We arrived on Tuesday evening, ate chicken fajitas on the dock with the staff, got settled into our rooms, and loosened our stiff joints with invigorating volleyball…the first of many games to be played. :)

 

Wednesday: It was so nice to have a whole day to set up and prepare – everything was a “calm busy”.

 

There was LOTS of cleaning to be done, centerpieces to put together for the dining room tables, bouquet for the podium, and this and thats. :)

I loved how these centerpieces turned out = rustic elegance. :)

We even managed to squeeze in time to get our annual family pictures. Might as well take advantage of such a beautiful location while we’re there, right? We know from experience that it’s much more efficient to have someone else behind the camera, instead of using a tripod, running back and forth to check the pictures, etc., so we were grateful that Chad Paine helped us pose and snapped the pictures for us! Sorry, you don’t get to see any of them, yet. :)

Thursday: The cleaning crew worked hard to finish up all the last details, we set up the registration table, and people began arriving!!

***YEAH!!!****

By the way, John-Clay did an AMAZING job designing the website, name tags, schedules, and all our promotional materials!! Everything looked classy, professional, and fun. :) Thanks, J-C! We’ll definitely “hire” you again next time. ;)

It was rewarding for us to see the excitement on people’s faces as they arrived, so happy to be there! Several had stories of miracles God worked that allowed them to come. He is so good!! What a blessing to reunite with old friends.

After so much anticipation over the last months, weeks, and days, it’s hard to explain how thrilling it was for the Journey Reunion to BEGIN! =)
That evening, Bob Norvell preached for our first session of the weekend. His message was a fitting exhortation on evaluating whether we have active revelation of God in our lives, and to be Samuels (and Samuelas :) in this world.

God worked in special ways to allow the Fortune family to be there. They served in many capacities throughout the Reunion, including ministering to us in song.

Dr. Gothard, who began the Journey to the Heart ministry five years ago, led everyone in an hour of prayer. WOW! It was a precious time with the Lord and each other as we all knelt and communed with God.

We could sense immediately from this first night, a beautiful spirit of unity that lasted throughout the conference. This special group had invested their time and money to get away and seek God.

Everyone wanted to be there.
Everyone wanted to go deeper.
Everyone wanted to seek God with all their heart.

And as He promised, He richly rewarded us! (Hebrews 11:6)

 

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in
the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Jude 1:20-21

More to follow! :)