Following in His Steps
Getting acquainted with Laura, Skye, and Kara Erickson.
Please tell us about yourself, your interests, goals, and values.
Laura: My full name is Laura Sigrid Erickson and I will be seventeen in September. I am five feet 5 1/2 inches tall, have blond (now turning brown) hair, blue eyes, and freckles. This year I acquired a new dimension—glasses. It took me a little while to get used to them, but now they seem part of myself.
My interests are sewing, cooking, gardening, reading, art, animals, and planning. We make most of our clothes (dresses, nightgowns, slips) and so there is plenty of opportunity to sew. Often two of us work on it together which is much more enjoyable. Each of us children have a garden plot this year that we plant and take care of. Since I have been gardening longer than the rest, I am often asked to help or give information—though I don’t always know the answers, either! I am also employed in teaching school to Skye, Joel, and Kara which I enjoy most of the time. (smile)
The top priority goal for me is to love, obey, and trust my Lord and Savior. Lord willing, I would love to marry and raise a large family (I love children) and live in the country. I also enjoy simple living and farm life. The Lord might have other plans for me, so I shall not set my heart on dreams of the future.
I value highly those saints that have stayed true to the Lord all the way, but my master blueprint is Jesus Christ.
Skye: My full name is Skye Louise Erickson. I am 5’ tall and have brown, almost black hair and eyes. My birthday is January 2, 1982. (I can hardly believe that I will be turning 16 in January! I used to think l6 was so big, but I hardly think so now! Smile.) Some of my interests are: our animals—learning how to take care of them properly, card making, writing pen pals, gardening, and other odd things.
I am aspiring toward Biblical womanhood—to be all glorious within—and a Proverbs 31 woman. Lord willing, I would someday love to marry and raise a family. I would love to live on a farm or ranch, but this desire must be left in the hands of the Lord. In the meantime, I am trying to master homemaking skills. My goal is to build a strong, concrete foundation in the Lord and to grow in Him and like Him each day. My heart’s desire is to live a life completely yielded to His will. I value very much other saints who have walked in the light the Lord has given them and have lived a consecrated life before Him. It has inspired me very much!
Kara: My full name is Kara Maru Erickson. I am 5 ft. 4 in. tall and have blond hair and blue eyes. My birthday is February 28. I spend a lot of my time outdoors and enjoy all kinds of animals but I especially like chickens and goats. I also like playing the piano, especially hymns and pretty classical music. One of my joys is organizing. Sometimes it is hard for me to see things in the same place for a long time. Another thing I like to do is to be with younger children.
My first goal in life is to be more like Christ. If the Lord be willing, I would like to be a homemaker and live on a farm. I like the idea of using kerosene lamps instead of electricity, and a pump instead of running water (just as they did in the olden days). But all these things I leave in the bands of the Lord. I value living a life pleasing in the sight of the Lord. I believe that we should follow God’s leading instead of men’s. I value people who make the world a better place by living a life in the service of the Chief Shepherd.
What is a typical day at your home?
Skye: A typical day?! I truly believe that each day is different for us—there are never two of the same! So, why don’t I tell you about yesterday:
Thursday June 5, 1997…. My day started at 5 am, by taking a shower. After my shower (which is about 5:20-5:45), I had my personal devotions. If there’s any time between my devotions and family devotions, I like to jump on the computer and try to finish a letter or article. 6:30 am came around and everyone headed to the living room for family devotions. Uncle Rick being at work already, we all shared our personal devotions. At 7:10 we all headed to the table for breakfast. 7:30 am found us doing our chores and heading Out to take care of our animals. About 8:00 am, my dear aunt Becky from Mexico called and said that she sold the farm and was going to live up here for a year at least, Lord willing. 9:00 am we met at the table once again to pray for our school day. School followed, of course. We are learning sign language! 12:00 pm Uncle Rick came HOME!!! Yippeeeeee!! Because of being called into work at 3:00 am, he was able to leave for home early. We ate lunch shortly after he got home and then both he and Amanda took naps. I then jumped onto the computer once again to try and work on an article for our newsletter, but with everyone talking (because of another phone call, from Aunt Louise), I couldn’t think. Going into the bedroom, I finished up on a card order (all the time looking anxiously at my watch to see when 4:00, pm would come around. Why? You’ll see!) It was around 3:30 pm when I got on the computer once again to write a letter to an old pen friend who was on my mind. Sure enough, Uncle Rick was up and out at 4:00 pm, ready to call the Barcus family! We called in Laura—in the meantime, I was getting all nervous, I had butterflies in my stomach, my heart was racing, my blood pressure, I’m sure, was going up and up, for Laura and I were going to talk to Leah to tell her Happy Birthday! (“Ahhhh, what do I say?!”) We both got on the phone and had a nice conversation with Stephanie and Leah. About 10 minutes later, we left to Nichol’s nursery to pick up some plants and beans. By 6:00 pm we arrived at the Spinkses’ house for prayer meeting. At 9:00 pm we were found in bed; lights out and talking (as usual!). And thus, we ended our day.
Are there any special blessing you received from the Lord that you’d like to share?
Laura: God has so richly blessed us that I hardly know where to start! One special blessing for me has been my relationship with my sisters. Truly it is a gift of God to have a close friendship with the members of your family! I believe God meant that we should encourage, exhort, and cherish each other rather than complain, fight, and hate one another as, sadly, so many do. I am thankful that, by the grace of God, we have been able to look past the differences and learn to truly value and appreciate each other. It doesn’t happen overnight though, but only by humbly seeking God’s help and applying the verse “let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (James 1:19)
Skye: For many months now, I have been corresponding with many girls all across the United States. Just recently, the Lord has shown me—out of the blue—that this is the ministry that God has given me. He’s given me a gift of being able to write quickly and express my thoughts that would be helpful and encouraging on paper. I realize that not many people have this gift, and I see what a precious gift this can be, if used to His honor and glory! He has given me many precious sisters in the Lord, who are a big encouragement and blessing to me!
I also realize that it is easy to form outside friendships and forget to build a strong relationship with your own siblings, but the Lord has also had a hand in that. Many months ago, Laura, Kara, and I were constantly clashing—I guess this is a little exaggerated—but there wasn’t perfect harmony in our friendships. We all were trials to each other, but… out of these trials we have grown close, very close to each other as well as to the Lord. There has been many rich blessings from the Lord out of these trials and conflicts. Praise Him! Laura, Kara, and I, as well as Amanda, are all best friends. Each day, our love for each other grows stronger even amidst the trials!
Please tell us about your family.
Laura: Daddy is quiet and timid by nature, and the Lord has helped him greatly in being the spiritual leader and father of the home. His parents were missionaries in Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) when he was young. He is a good storyteller and remembers many interesting and amusing things about his boyhood. We each have an evening with Daddy once a week, which has helped us in developing a close relationship with him, and gives us a time to share our trials and victories, plans and disappointments. He is a very understanding and caring person. Though hoping sometime to be able to work at home, right now Daddy works for the state in Salem (about 25 minutes drive away).
Mommy is a good balance for him, being a little more outgoing and engaging person. She loves to plan ways to fix up the place, is a hard worker (getting that from Grandpa), and a perfectionist. She also grew up overseas in India where her father and mother were medical missionaries. Mommy has been a encouragement and help to me and is faithfully teaching us girls the skills of a homemaker.
(Skye writing about Laura:) Laura (16, almost 17) is a lot like Uncle Rick in her loving acts of kindness; always cheerfully ready to help out and learn; always teaching us new things and trying to make it interesting for her easily bored students! Smile. Through time, I have seen how the Lord has wonderfully worked in her life; perfecting and refining her. Her light has brightly shined before me and has been an inspiration to me. I go to Laura with all my “help me’s” and, “why is this?” and she’s always willing to answer my questions and help me out! She is very good with children—always patient in letting them “be involved” and has good judgment on how to deal with them. She often gets me up and going out of discouragements and God has used her many a time to cheer me up and comfort me with appropriate scriptures. I thank the Lord for my precious sister, Laura!
Skye (15) is bubbly and outgoing, but can also be quiet and reserved. Often she and Kara engage in lively games and plans together. From the first bummer lamb she has loved sheep and is diligent in overseeing that they are properly cared for. She is also our “van washer” and loves to have things very clean. With her bubbly disposition Skye has earned the nickname “Sparkles.” As she mentioned she has a great gift with letter writing and has recently begun a hobby of card making. With amazement I have watched interests in sewing, cooking, gardening, and “mothering” blossom in her where there were none before. She often says we are so alike that many times I say what she was thinking!
Joel (14, almost 15) is much like Daddy in quietness and slowness, but gets his perfectionist personality from Mommy. He adjusts amazingly well in a family with four sisters, though often shakes his head at our “absurd” ideas or notions. He likes to plan property improvements with Mommy to be carried out with perfection. Like Daddy, Joel is very good at math and computers and also enjoys carpentry. We often swamp him with things to be built, fixed, or helped with (he shares my feeling of being always needed). Growing up we always did things together, Kara tagging along of course. We planned, built, and played together and still do many things together.
Kara (12) is the animal lover, organizer, and surprise maker. Her first animals were chickens and goats and those are still her favorites, especially chickens. She was always curious to see things, and wants to help every injured animal. Her gift at organizing and surprising often go together. Kara loves things neat, and would rearrange everything often if she could. She has a similar personality to Mommy in many ways, one being she wants to help others and often has the neighbor children over to read a story to and play with. Kara is good with keeping children occupied and many times we rely on her for that.
Amanda (4) is a prayed-for sister and keeps us all young and playful (not that we naturally aren’t). She always wants to do what we are doing and likes us to do things with her. One trial for her is taking her afternoon nap (or rest), though she is doing better with that. She is a very helpful errand girl and we often ask for her assistance. Amanda completes our family very well and we enjoy her fun-loving personality.
Would you mind sharing a favorite book, poem or recipe?
Laura: For a main dish one of our favorites is a simple rice pilaf. It is made with seasoned rice, cooked ground beef or turkey, and peas mixed together.
I enjoy experimenting with new recipes, especially desserts made with fruit sweetener or honey. One book that has many delicious recipes is called Fruit-Sweet and Sugar-Fruit by Janice Feuer.
Here is a cookie recipe that I developed and Skye perfected.
Nut Butter Cookies
Mix:
- 1 c. honey
- 1 t. barley malt
- 1 1/4 c. ground nuts
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 c. oil
2 t. vanilla
1 c. mashed banana (1 medium size)
1/4 c. coconut
Add:
- 2 c. rice flour (or wheat)
- 1 t. soda
- 1/2 c. oat flour
- 1 t. salt
- 1 c. barley or oat flakes
carob chips (optional)
The batter will be softer than normal cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen medium sized cookies.
Skye: (Yikes!) OK, let me think I have many, many, many favorite verses, but I think the one that ranks the highest is “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) In our walk with the Lord, we need a lot of grace to bear up and love each other, to forgive, and not to get annoyed with little things. What a precious promise— “my grace is sufficient for thee.” He has abundant grace for us if we would only look to Him and ask for it.
I also have a poem, that I find very encouraging and feel blessed in sharing it.
As men seek for hidden treasure,
As for rain thirsts the drying sod,
As the hart pants after water,
So my heart pants after God.
I seek not for worldly pleasure,
I pray not for earthly store;
My whole soul goes after Jesus—
I am seeking nothing more.
Oh, to be holy, holy, holy,
Like my Savior every day,
To be filled with all His fullness,
’Tis for this I pray and pray.*
—Charles E. Orr
Kara: One of my favorite books is called Light from Heaven. It is about a boy named Joseph and his struggle in life with a father who didn’t love him. Without his mother living a godly life before him he would have let bitterness and resentment rule his life. The author of this book is Christmas Carol Kauffman.
One of my many favorite songs is:
This Is Why I Love My Savior
Shall I tell you why I ceased from folly?
Why I turned away from sin?
Twas because the love of my Redeemer
Fully won my heart to Him.
Do you ask me why I seek no pleasure
In the things I once did love?
’Tis because I’ve tasted life’s pure river,
Flowing from the throne above.
Would you bid me give to all a reason
Of the hope I now possess?
It is Christ in me, the hope of glory,
And His perfect holiness.
Though all men may look on me with wonder,
At the change that’s taken place;
I will walk the downward road no longer,
Bless the Lord for saving grace.
Refrain:
This is why I love my Savior,
Why I love to follow Him;
For He died my soul to ransom,
And He washed me from my sin.
In conclusion, is there something else you would like to add?
Laura: I hope this will be a blessing and encouragement to others who are seeking to follow the Lord all the way. I would love to write to any girl that has similar interests, but most importantly with a desire to share and encourage one another on the narrow way. May God bless you as you follow in His steps.
Skye: I am very thankful for how the Lord has been helping me; bringing me through many trials and bestowing many blessings! He has been very good to me; calling me, bringing me closer to Him and finally winning His way to my heart. I have never once regretted my choice to live for God—it is a great joy!
Kara: I have had two girls over at my house for a few days and the Lord laid a burden on my heart for their souls. Their names are Amanda and Heather Lyon. I have been reading a story before we play and it seems to bless them some but what they really need is help from the Lord. Please keep them in your prayers.