To truly raise an Erickson, one must raise them taking pictures. We are doing a swell job! :-)
(Where is my winking face???)
As I stood at the farm watching a storm from far away, I wondered why they called it big sky (See? I need another winking face!) and I thought it was quite symbolic of my life, maybe some distance would give me some perspective? I hoped.
We couldn't fit everyone back here but it was quite nice for those who got the prime seats.
I just love the lack of anything behind them for miles and miles!
The next morning we went to the old farm house - by driving THROUGH the wheat fields! Yes, right through them. We aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto.
The rest of the Erickson story isn't so much about wheat but about oil. As it turned out, wells were incredibly hard to find - because they kept hitting bad water because there was just too much sulfur in them - a sign of oil. When they finally pumped the oil, they were able to single handedly support five of their sons as missionaries in Africa and two others as pastors in the US.
When Erick and Sina came to Montana and claimed a homestead, my guess is that they figured that they, along with their ten children (9 boys and 1 girl), would farm the land for the rest of their lives. Little did they know God had a different kind of harvest for their family - a harvest of souls. God knew He had picked the right couple when He handed them money and they handed it right back to Him. They gave up great riches and all they had the right to own to trade it, in the end, for the souls of countless thousands. We couldn't be more proud of our heritage!
We were missing a few for the picture, but in the end, we had 135 Ericksons get together to celebrate that heritage!
More cuteness!
We are back for one night, then headed to family camp with the church. Once we are back, updates will come quickly! God Bless!
