Christmas 2022

Greetings from Paddler’s Creek Homestead! It’s been a minute since we’ve officially updated our family, friends, and followers on what’s new in our little corner of the world. As 2022 winds down and we enter the Christmas Season we have reflected the last several weeks on what the reason for the season is. Our home is filled with the hustle, bustle, and warmth of Christmas…the trees, the lights, the songs, the gifts…all so fun. But “why” do we celebrate Christmas? Jesus came to earth as a little baby in a manger many years ago. But it’s so much more than that! He came to seek and save those who are lost- every human that has ever lived…in desperate need of a Savior from our sin. This season we remember Jesus, God made flesh, the Incarnate One.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:29 “Behold, the Son of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The Kids…

As the year comes to a close we reflect back on all that 2022 held and the memories we will carry in our hearts. All six of our treasures are growing, maturing, and keeping things wild and alive.

Ava spent her summer months working many hours, saving money, and finally purchased her first vehicle this fall. She is now a senior at the local highschool and preparing for college next year. We’re so thankful for her diligence and the mature decisions we’ve seen her making over the last year. She made the A honor roll for first quarter…her hard work really is paying off. She recently was hired to work at a local assisted living home and she is thriving in the environment. She adores the elderly people she cares for. At this point her intentions are to attend Bob Jones University in the fall of 2023, where her mom graduated many years ago. We are enjoying every moment we still have her in our home, yet look forward to all that is in store for her future.

Pita turned 16 this year! He was hired for his first job at a local wax-worm company this summer. He liked his boss and it was a good experience for him. He came home smelly from worm picking most days. We quickly realized he was a “penny pincher” and was careful to tuck his money away. However, he thoroughly enjoyed spending his savings at the county fair on fair food at the end of the summer. Pita is succeeding in his first year of home educating at home with his auntie. We’re having a good time studying the US Constitution, physical health and nutrition, consumer math, and learning to write in cursive. He loves learning new magic tricks and showing the younger kids. He eats several eggs a day and has taken over the chicken chores to make up for all the egg consumption. Recently he has taken an interest in playing Chess and will challenge anyone who is up for a match…I must admit, he’s quite good at it.

Ethan is 9 years old and I’m not quite sure where my little boy has went. He has matured a great deal. Ethan is a hard worker and I have to hold him back from all the manly power tools he’d like to use. He had a great wrestling season and wrapped it up in April. For several weeks we heard about how much he missed wrestling. We’re looking forward to another great year of wrestling in 2023. Ethan loves spending time with his Papa in the wood-shop fashioning things with his hands. Recently he made his brother a wooden rifle for a birthday present. Throughout the summer months he was usually found in the woods with his BB gun hunting for squirrels and chipmunks. This fall he learned how to ride horse and was brave enough to go beyond a slow walk/trot. He loves winter and I can’t convince him any temperature is “too cold" to be outside. He keeps my front steps shoveled daily. When he gets the opportunity he loves taking his Dad’s four wheeler for a spin around our field. Snowmobiling and learning to snowboard are on his radar for the winter months.

Braelynn is 6 years old, soon to be 7, and endlessly trying to keep up with her brothers. She is in Gymnastics for her second year and really excelling. I often remind her she needs to keep her cartwheels for at home or in the gym. Brae was such a big help to me this summer in the gardens. She loved flower gardening and was always ready to pick me a bouquet. Her love for horses has grown immensely. Brae had a little pony named Biscuit she was in love with. Biscuit was so naughty and not the nicest little pony around- I made her a deal that if she sold Biscuit we would use her money to buy her a safer big horse she could ride. A few weeks after selling Biscuit we found the sweetest old horse named Bandit. Bandit was the perfect match for Brae (and her brothers). Everyone enjoyed riding Bandit and learned so many beginner lessons from caring and riding him. Sadly, in November, Brae’s horse Bandit suddenly died. He was very old and tired. It’s left a big gap in her heart and she reminds me often how she misses Bandit. We are praying for another sweet horse to fill her void.

Isaiah just turned 5 and is endlessly keeping us on our toes. He is a very busy boy and “accident” should be his middle name. He started preschool work this fall and very reluctantly does his school work. He is physically very active. He loves everything legos. Isaiah endlessly repeats “mama, I love you” throughout the days and it melts his mama’s heart. We just hit the 4 year mark of his brain surgery and at this point you would never know there had been any health issues. We praise God for our little miracle boy. Isaiah loves his Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Zaren, and anticipates class time each week. He and his youngest brother are inseparable and often mistaken as twins.

Gideon is now 3! He is 100% the baby and is a little stuck on his Mom and asks all day long when Daddy will be home. He is very shy outside of our home and if we leave the house he asks insistently when we’ll return. When we are home he is all boy and always up to some sort of antic. Gidsy loves preschool and tries to play teacher’s pet because he knows his brother does not enjoy school. The competition is very real among the boys of the household.

Us…

February 2023 will be our ten year anniversary! We feel so thankful to have made it this far and look forward to all the Lord has in store for our future. 2022 was full of exciting opportunities along with growing pains. We purchased an additional 15 acres of land adjacent to the 5 acres we already owned. This was a “goal” we had on our radar and we had done a lot of praying concerning the possibility and so thankful for the opportunity. Dan’s Dad passed away after a long battle early spring. We grieved deeply his passing. Due to travel restrictions and other logistics we were unable to attend Dad Rakabikabi’s funeral service in person. We are so thankful for technology and we were able to share a word of testimony at his service remotely. We look forward to the day we will be reunited with Dad again in glory. This past year we have found ourselves growing closer to our church family and being challenged in our walks with the Lord. We’ve enjoyed deeper conversations together about how the Lord is at work in our marriage and family. I (Trisha) have enjoyed another year of homeschooling the kids. Each year we adjust more and learn along the way what works for our crew. Dan is on his 7th year employed at the USPS- the Christmas season is the busiest for him and he’s worked long hours the last several weeks. Our extended family is dear to us. Nieces, nephews, sisters, and nana often gather together and those times and the memories made are so priceless to us. We are hopeful to see at least some of our Fiji family soon.

The Homestead

This summer was our first big “hay day” on our field. We were blessed to hire a local farmer to cut and bale our field. We quickly formed a friendship with our farmer Bob and he has a special place in our hearts. We got over 600 bales off of our field- far more than we anticipated! We put most of the hay up in one day. It was the most back breaking work we had done in quite some time…thankfully Ma and Pa Berg jumped in to help along with a young man from our church. We haven’t forgotten how much work it was and we aren’t eager quite yet for hay day to come around again.

As of now, we are down to two horses. Ginger, is 3 years old and not “broke” yet. We still have our miniature horse, Bullseye. He has such a personality and keeps us laughing. We have two flocks of chickens…the younger flock we hatched from our own eggs this fall. We have intentions to expand in the farm animal world in the months ahead of us. While we’d love to jump all in, we have to remind ourselves that slow and steady wins the race!

We continue to evaluate what is/isn’t working for our family. While the veggie garden is great, we’ve realized we’re not too fabulous at preserving food. We’d like to work on getting better at that. But, we have found out we can really grow flowers and enjoy it a lot. We sold a lot of beautiful flower bouquets this past summer and we are planning on expanding again this coming summer in variety and quantity.

Trisha’s side business has grown. Once a month over the summer/fall we set up a booth in Grand Rapids at the Night Makers Market. We also did a monthly booth at a rural farmer’s market. It’s been fun to meet customers, build friendships, and serve others in this way. It’s also been a great outlet for the mother of the household to get out every now and then. We are excited to see how we’ll continue to grow.

We hope each of you reading this lengthy update has a Merry Christmas and truly a Happy New Year. We genuinely love hearing from you! Drop us a message @ paddlerscreekhomestead@gmail.com and keep in touch!

Love,
The Rakabikabi Tribe