Musings About Brussel Sprouts

I have been doing a lot of serious thinking today...about brussel sprouts. (Ok, please don't laugh. I have been submerged up to my eyeballs in Algebra 1 preparation for next school year so I needed something a little less "brainy" to think about!) So if you care to know my deepest thoughts about brussel sprouts, then read on...

I can vividly remember my childhood exposure to those little round green things that my mom tried to convince me were little cabbages. All her prodding and coaxing never convinced me of that fact. Granted, I liked cabbage, but those little “look-a-likes”? Ugh, I just despised them. But none the less, my mom always insisted I had to eat at least one or two every time she served them. (She said they were good for me. Hmmm. Do all good things have to taste that bad?) No matter what I drowned them in—salt, salad dressing, etc.—I could never escape that unique brussel sprout flavor. It permeated through everything.

Well that was during my childhood. Thankfully now, mom doesn’t make me eat them. But they still frequent the dinner table. Especially in the last four months or so, my mom and sister have been having major cravings for brussel sprouts. (I know, I am still in shock and disbelief.) From what they have told me, they eat them at least once or more a week. But thankfully I haven’t been living at home to experience this latest craze at the Osterman house. But just in the nine days I have been home, they have already appeared on the table twice. Well, today, was one of those days. I decided to be brave and actually see if my childhood dislike has somehow morphed into at least a tolerance for the little “cabbages.” I had some leftover Italian dressing in my salad bowl, and thought that maybe it would help to at least drown out that brussel sprout flavor and make it somewhat tolerable. After making sure they were well drenched, I bravely faced the taste test. The result? Even after all that dressing, that pungent flavor still screamed at me—“I am a brussel sprout. You can’t get rid of me no matter how hard you try!” As I choked down the rest of the sprout in my bowl, the text came to mind, “Can a leopard change his spots or a brussel sprout its flavor.” (quoted from the Textus Autumnus)

My sister chided me and said that I should congratulate that sprout for maintaining its true identity and not letting anything change what it really is deep down inside. Well, I guess from that point of view, I will just have to concede that once a brussel sprout always a brussel sprout and I will just have to refrain from eating them.

Whirlwind!

Life has been a whirlwind since I got back from Broadview Academy on June 7th. I left for Ann Arbor on the 8th for my friend's wedding. I was there till the 11th. I then spent two days in Troy visiting my Bible study contacts. I came home on the 13th to unpack, do laundry, and then repack to go to campmeeting on the 14th. We just got back Sunday night and I immediately started sorting through all my belongings trying to decide what I will be taking to Canada. In addition, I have been on the phone a lot with the principal at Fountainview Academy trying to work out next years course schedule, finalizing what classes I will be teaching, looking over all the course outlines, objectives, etc. of the classes I will be taking over from other teachers, reviewing the provincial requirements for the courses I will be teaching, and getting all the immigration stuff squared away. Whew! I think I could use a summer break in the midst of all of this!

But somehow, I have been able to snatch a few minutes to post some long overdue entries! So here is another one of my time at campmeeting.

It was a wonderful week and a half of spiritual upliftment, Christian fellowship, and challenging messages. I went to a series on the Old and New Covenants by Skip McCarty. It was a wonderful, insightful lecture that takes a look at this issue from a whole new perspective. Although I spent a great deal of time studying this topic when I was in Troy (since that seemed to be the big topic with a lot of my contacts), I liked the new insights I learned in these lectures. If you ever get the chance, pick up McCarty's book titled In Granite or Ingrained. You will enjoy the read!

I also ventured out on a limb this year at campmeeting. For years, Staci has tried to get me involved in some major public speaking endeavors, but for those of you who know me well, that has always frightened me. This year she couldn't be on the Sabbath School panel for campmeeting like she was last year. She asked me to fill her place. My first response, you have got to be kidding! But I promised to pray about it and ask God to give me the courage to do it if I felt he was leading that way. Well, I finally agreed to do it and God blessed so much! Of course I was so nervous at first but God was good. This is a picture of us on the panel before we got started. All the ones of us during the discussion were out of focus.















Both Sabbaths, we were blessed with some great company. The first Sabbath, Diana Santos, Kyle Allen, and Sedric Benson came over for lunch. And the last Sabbath, Kyle and Michael Goetz. It was all so much fun!















And no, it is not the traditional Adventist haystacks. We had Korean food instead!















btw, that is not a worm in Kyle's mouth!















Craziness!















Oh, thanks Michael for the grilling session! Hope your mind is at ease now!

The Joining of Two Lives

On June 10, I had the awesome privilege of being in my friend Joe Lee's wedding. Joe has been a wonderful friend over the last several years. Some of my fond memories with him include hours spent at the registration table at the General Youth Conference, hours spent on the phone at all crazy hours of the night, long talks about his kids and my kids (students at our respective academies), and deep conversations about life, God, our respective plans and goals for the future, and a myriad of other things. When Joe asked me to be a part of his special day, I couldn't have been more excited! I have enjoyed getting to know Shannon through Joe and watch their friendship blossom and grow into a life-long love for one another. I couldn't wish a better partner for Joe. Shannon is wonderful for him.

To see two lives commit to one another is such an incredible event. To think that they will no longer go through life apart, but instead function as one unit with the same goals, thoughts, ideals, and aspirations is an amazing thing. It just shows the beauty of the institution God created in Eden. He saw that two lives knit together as one would be such a powerful, inspiring thing that together they could help one another grow in love, selfliness, and humility.

I remember having a conversation with a friend once and he told me something I don't think I will ever forget. In regards to lifelong singleness, he mentioned that it is one of those things that God calls only a few to take part in. He went on to explain that the development of a Christlike character is easier in a marriage setting because then you have two people rubbing against one another, softening and subduing each other's character and polishing each other's rough edges. But in singleness, you don't have all these encounters. Thus, it could be potentially more difficult to have your character brought to perfection. Thus, lifelong singleness is something that God only calls a few to share because he knows that for most of us, we need the love, affection, and yes, even correction that can be given through a spouse to help us have a character like Christ's. Interesting thought.

So, here are a few photos of my wonderful friends on their wedding day...



















Joe and Shannon. Don't they look happy!



















Joe and I. Joe, you have been such a great friend throughout the years!















Another one of Joe and I.















Shannon and I.















The newlyweds and I. I am so glad that now I have gained a new friend in Shannon. Shannon, I love you so much! You are awesome! I'm glad you married Joe!

And here are some other random pictures of the wedding party...















While the photographer was taking pictures of the bride and groom, we ladies were having fun posing the guys and taking our own photos! We are pretty good photographers, aren't we?
(From left to right: John Lee-Joe's brother and best man, Sebastien Braxton, Justin Prosser, and Albert Kim)















The three stooges--Albert, Sebastien, and Justin... these guys were having too much fun picking on me throughout the weekend! Thanks guys for making me laugh the entire time!















This was the ride in the limo with Shannon's brother, Justin--the mighty marine! Thanks, man, for being a great escort over the weekend! I don't think I have laughed that much in quite awhile!















The entire wedding party. It was such a fun weekend with everyone!



















And then of course, my wonderful sister!

News Break! Bandits break into principal's attic

Earlier this spring, a pair of masked bandits broke into the attic of Randy Siebold, principal of Broadview Academy. After hearing sounds of scurrying feet in the roof above their heads, he and his family decided to investigate. The identity of these masked bandits? A family of raccoons who had taken up residence in their attic. After the live capture and release of the mother, the Siebold's became the proud parents of a few squirming, screaming baby raccoons. Being very young, only one survived. Now a couple of months old, this little survivor has been given to a lady who has been raising another raccoon and will soon be transitioned to the wild.

Here are a few pictures of the little guy!
































Isn't he cute!





























This little guy started getting pretty frisky as he got older! He loved to explore your face with his hands. The bottoms of his feet felt so funny!

Holding this raccoon made me long for heaven when it won't be a novelty to hold a wild creature. Instead, all these wild creatures will be just like house pets! That will be so much fun! I think I might have my own zoo up there!

I still exist....!

**updated on Jun 24**

Hear ye, hear ye, O ye from the outside world! I know it has been forever since I posted, but I have a good excuse for that one! The internet access at Broadview Academy was annoying! Half the time my account didn't work, the other half the time I was connected to the student network which blocked a myriad of different sites including my blogsite, and then spattered somewhere in the middle of that was a crazy schedule that didn't allow for activities such as keeping the outside world up-to-date with the occurrences in the life of Autumn Osterman. And so, lo and behold, here is the latest in my life. I may have to post several along the way to get you all caught up, but at least here is a start...

First, here are a few photos of my students. One of the senior sponsors wasn't able to go with the seniors on their senior trip, so I was elected to fill their spot. It was great fun! We stayed at a really nice lodge at the Adventist camp in Wisconsin. The seniors had a lot of different activities planned for the three-day-get-away. I think the best was the water park! I had such a blast! I also enjoyed the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum there. There were some pretty crazy things in there! Ok, so here are the photos...

Here are just a few other random photos of my Broadview days.

Some of my students

Dr. Siebold (my awesome principal), his wife Brenda, their son Fredy, and myself

A Starry Crown

“Everyone they have been the means of saving, adds stars to their crown in glory, and increases their eternal reward.” 1T 197

“It is their privilege to have stars in their crown because of souls saved through their instrumentality.” 3T 94

“There will be no one saved in heaven with a starless crown. If you enter, there will be some soul in the courts of glory that has found an entrance there through your instrumentality.” ST June 6, 1892.

I vividly remember as a young child my parents telling me that when we get to heaven, each of us will have a crown. Some crowns would be heavy with stars and jewels while others would have just a few. They went on to explain that these stars represented each of the people we had brought to Jesus. I always thought, “Wow! I want a crown heavy with stars! I want lots and lots of them! I want it to have so many that it glistens brightly in the sunshine.” It might sound like a prideful wish from a little child. After all, it seems very “unheavenlike” to go around showing others all your stars and how many people you had won to Jesus. But it wasn’t the pride and glamour that was going through my head. I guess I just couldn’t bear the thought of getting to heaven and when looking at my crown with few or no stars realize that I had done so little for Christ and His kingdom. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to tell Christ that I never shared His love with anyone, that I never shared with others what He meant to me, and that I had never brought someone to know Him. How could I really enjoy heaven to its fullest when I realized that though I had gotten there myself, I had brought no one with me? I resolved in my mind that in light of all that He had done for me, I wanted to do something for Him and the least I could do was to tell someone else about Him. But I didn’t know where to begin. Of course, I could witness in my own childish way, but I wanted to do something bigger and better. I wanted to be able to see that I had made a difference in someone’s life.

As I grew older, the thought of wanting to win someone to Christ never left my mind. I remember when my sister began doing Bible work and told me that the absolute best experience one could ever have was seeing someone you had studied the Bible with and prayed for make the stand to follow Christ is baptism. Oh, how I wanted that, but being rather timid of meeting strangers, feeling that I didn’t have the talents and skills of some, and realizing I didn’t always know the “right thing” to say, I wondered if I would ever be able to experience that childhood dream.

As most of you know, after graduating from college, I went to ARISE to attend their 3 ½ month Bible worker training program. I was determined in my mind that I wanted to be used by Christ to win souls—even if it was just one—to Christ. It wasn’t easy knocking on stranger’s doors. I realized that I didn’t always have the “right things” to say and I often wished I had the knowledge and skills of others. But I was determined to use whatever talents and gifts God had given me to His glory for the salvation of souls. The results? Well, they would just be up to God.

After the 3 ½ month course, I stayed on for a year to continue doing Bible work. Throughout the year, God led me to study with so many wonderful people. I began seeing that while not everyone was at the point in their life to make the full surrender to Christ in baptism, the little decisions along the way were just as important and were what was needed for that larger step. With many of my contacts, I saw those little steps that daily reminded me that God was working and that as long as I continued to allow God to use me, then He would bring about the results. But in the back of mind, I still had that childish dream—I wanted to see one soul make that full surrender to Christ in baptism. But that was something only God could do. I would just have to be patient.

In my last post, I wrote a lengthy section about Anne who I had been studying with over the past year. While I didn’t know it at the time, Anne would be the answer to my longtime, childish dream. She was the soul God had in mind to be the first star in my crown. I can honestly take no credit for what God did in her life. It was all Him that did it. The only thing I did was allow Christ to use me. Oh, what an awesome privilege.

One week ago today, I went back to Troy to experience Anne’s baptism. As can be expected, the devil was mad and did what he could to prevent her baptism. Anne’s husband Jay had been struggling at first with her decision for baptism. We postponed her baptism a couple of months to give him time to accept her decision and support her in what she felt God was calling. God is good and Jay finally agreed for her to go through with it. He even agreed to support her by being there Sabbath morning. However, early that morning, he got seriously ill and had to check himself into the emergency room. When I got to church, Anne and her children where there in spite of all the morning’s events. Her faith was strong and she insisted that she was going through with her decision. We only prayed that Jay would be released from the hospital in time to make it back to her baptism. Miraculously, he showed up in time for it and was there to support her. God is amazing!

The baptism was beautiful…one of the most incredible ones I have experienced. The look on Anne’s face was radiant—one filled with peace and happiness. After her baptism she told me, “Autumn, this was one of the best days of my life. I will never forget this day. I cannot begin to describe to you what it felt like to be in that water. It was amazing!” And it was truly amazing —not just for her, but for me as well. The pastor asked me after the baptism what it felt like to see someone you had studied with and prayed for make that decision. I told him it was incredible, but also very humbling. I realize I am not the most qualified individual out there. I realize I make mistakes. I realize there is so much need of growth in my own personal walk with Christ. But in spite of all these limitations, God saw it fit to use me to share the love of Jesus with someone else. That indeed is humbling!

As I have been writing this whole account, my eyes are filled with tears—tears of happiness. My childhood dream of seeing just one person come to know Jesus as the result of God using little ol’ me has come true. But I guess the dream has not completely come true…I still want a crown that is packed full of stars. Not so that I can go around and show them off. Oh, no! It is because I realize that as Paul says, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” And as Mrs. White states, “To save souls should be the life work of every one who professes Christ. We are debtors to the world for the grace given us of God, for the light which has shone upon us, and for the discovered beauty and power of the truth.” Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 53. I owe it to the world to share the love of Jesus. I don’t want to get to heaven and realize I have done nothing for Christ for the salvation of souls. That would not be heaven! Instead, I want to be able to cast my crown, filled with stars and jewels, at Jesus’ feet, and exclaim, “Worthy, worthy, is the Lamb that was slain. You did all this for me. This was the least that I could do for you.”

In closing, I want to leave you with just a few quotes that have inspired me and challenged me to keep pressing forward in sharing Christ’s love with others.

“God could have reached His object in saving sinners without our aid; but in order for us to develop a character like Christ's, we must share in His work. In order to enter into His joy—the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice—we must participate in His labors for their redemption.” —The Desire of Ages, p. 142.

“As His representatives among men, Christ does not choose angels who have never fallen, but human beings, men of like passions with those they seek to save. Christ took upon Himself humanity, that He might reach humanity. Divinity needed humanity; for it required both the divine and the human to bring salvation to the world. Divinity needed humanity, that humanity might afford a channel of communication between God and man.” —The Desire of Ages, p. 296.

“With almost impatient eagerness the angels wait for our co-operation; for man must be the channel to communicate with man. And when we give ourselves to Christ in whole-hearted devotion, angels rejoice that they may speak through our voices to reveal God's love.” —The Desire of Ages, p. 297.

“But those who live for God and heaven, pointing out the way of life to others, will find that the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And they will hear by and by the welcome invitation, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The joy of Christ was that of seeing souls saved in His glorious kingdom; and for this joy He "endured the cross, despising the shame." But soon "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." How happy will those be, who, having shared in His work, are permitted to share in His joy! —R. & H., June 23, 1885.

2006 in Review

It is hard to believe that 2006 is gone. It seems like it literally flew by. It was one filled with so many sweet memories. It will be one year I will never forget! After graduating from ARISE in December 2005, I agreed to join the Radiant Living team—a group of ARISE students that stayed in Troy to do Bible work for a year. Thinking I would start teaching in the fall of 2006, I intended to stay only through July. But when July came, I just couldn’t bear to leave. There were just too many drawing factors that enticed me to stay—wanting to continue studying with all the incredible individuals I met with on a weekly basis, anticipating the arrival of the new ARISE class that would come in the fall, wanting to be a part of the soon-to-be televised evangelistic meetings with David Asscherick and 3ABN—I just couldn’t say goodbye to it all. And so, I finished up the year there. I have absolutely no regrets! It was one of the best years of my life!

One major highlight of my year was the team that I lived with and worked with. Of the eight people on our team, five of us went through the ARISE program together the previous fall. It was really fun to come back together and work together for a year. I will always look fondly on the memories of our time with one another. We really became like family. We would pray together, cry together, study together, play together, encourage one another, challenge one another, and I guess like all families, we would occasionally annoy one another. But all that added to the bond that we feel with one another now. To say the least, I guess it is not surprising we had a crying session before we all parted. Here is a picture of the crew. Unfortunately, Sam is missing. He had to leave a day before the rest of us did.

The Gentlemen (l-r): Royce, Matt, Ezequiel, Dan

The Ladies: Chantelle, Sherise, and me


Another highlight of my time there included all the wonderful people I studied the Bible with. I felt so blessed every time I went to study the Bible with these people. Their dedication to God, their willingness to follow truth, their openness to follow what God revealed in his word was an inspiration to me in my own walk with Christ. One especially rich blessing for me was when one of them decided to make the step of baptism and give her life completely and fully to God. Let me just briefly recap the story…it still amazes me every time I tell it to see how God orchestrated the events.

I actually met Anne’s husband at the door in October 2005 during my studies at ARISE. He agreed to study the Bible indicating his wife would be very interested as well. Anne, having no idea her husband agreed to have studies with two complete strangers, was rather leery of us at our first meeting together. She drilled my partner and me with the all-so-familiar questions: who are you, who are you with, what is your purpose here, etc. But we soon built a strong friendship and began meeting together on a weekly basis to study the Bible. I was amazed at every study how Anne’s faith in the Bible began to grow and her desire to follow God became deeper and deeper. Due to her intense night work schedule as a paramedic, she was unable to attend the evangelistic meetings in the fall of 2005. We continued studying through 2006 and I kept hoping and praying that God would work something out for Anne to attend David’s meetings in the fall. God worked in an unusual and amazing way where Anne had to temporarily quit her job. Perfect, I thought, now she can come to the meetings! And come she did…missing only one or two nights from the whole series. As can be expected, some of the topics were very difficult for Anne to swallow. We sat together many late nights just going back to the Bible to answer the questions she had about what she was learning. But one thing Anne never wavered on—if the Bible said it, she would believe it no matter how difficult it was to accept. What faith! I was so encouraged every time we studied together! At the conclusion of the series, Anne told me she found what she had been looking for. She had never been happier in her life. In addition to her own growth in Christ, her two children loved the children’s meetings and began praying for the first time and singing Christian songs around the home. Anne was thrilled to see the impact the meetings made on her children as well. Anne has requested baptism and I plan to travel back to Troy in the next few months to experience her rebirth in Christ. I cannot express to you the joy of seeing someone make that decision for Christ. That is what made this past year all worth it!

Anne, Ben, Haley, and myself











After leaving Troy on Dec. 20, I came home and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with my family. I love my family! Then on the 27th, we flew to GYC. It was a wonderful conference this year! I especially enjoyed Peter Gregory's morning worship talks and David Asscherick's evening devotionals. It was an incredible way to end a power packed, spirit-filled year. It was also a blessing to see friends from old times. Here are just a few photos of some of the people I saw there.

Claus and Theresa, two of my friends from Sweden









Staci, myself, Reuben (an ARISE 2006 graduate from Sweden), and Dan (Reuben's cousin from Norway)






Dan and I (one of my team mates over the past year). Am I short or what?















Staci, Melanie (one of my best friends from Andrews University days), and myself.















Joe and Shannon, the soon to be newly weds!






2007 and beyond
On January 2, I moved just west of Chicago to start teaching at Broadview Academy. Thankfully, the second semester doesn't start till the 17th, so it has given me about 2 weeks to lesson plan. I am so excited to see what this next year is going to bring. God worked it out that a whole team of Bible workers have come to work with Broadview Academy. In addition to teaching, I will also be working with the new team. God is so good! Now I can do both things I love--teach and do Bible work! I feel very blessed.

I would like to think I can keep you posted during the new year, but the internet access at Broadview is very frustrating!! Because of the proxy server for the campus, all blogsites are blocked when using the wireless internet. It's sometimes impossible to do anything on it. (While I am at my parent's home this weekend, I am taking advantage of their internet just so I can post something...) So if you don't hear from me in a while, that is most likely why. But I can check my email, so you can always send me a note. I would love it!

Well, I do pray that God blesses each of you in 2007. May it be a year of spiritual growth and deeper commitment to God and his work. Let's make sure we live the year in such a way that Jesus can come quickly!