Did You Hear?!

They're Engaged!!!

Congratulations Matthias and Michelle! We are so thrilled for you both and excited about what God has in store for your future together.

"Many, O LORD my God,
are Your wonderful works which You have done!"
Ps 40:5

Lake Itasca Storybook

If you've kept up with our family for multiple years, you will notice there are a few annual events which have become highlights for our family. One such event is the Lake Itasca Family Music Festival.

It is a weekend filled with music, workshops, family activities, and wonderful friends!

Leading the Children's Storybook Theater is always a highlight for us -- and this year was no different. We sing songs, memorize a Bible verse and dramatize the biographical sketch of a historical figure who made an impact on the world.

This year we chose to bring the adventures of Mary Slessor to the stage! She was an incredible woman who worked hard, was joyful even in the hard circumstances, and had a sincere love for people which is rare in our culture today. I learned a lot and was inspired by studying the life of Mary Slessor and I hope others were as well. Our friends, the Stangl and Kopsa families, helped with all the acting again this year and made it so fun.

In Part One we showed her growing up years in Scotland. She was a spunky girl who fell in love with her Savior and made the most of every single moment.Working long days in the mill... teaching Sunday School... helping at home... She was one busy young lady!

When God placed the desire in her heart to be a missionary overseas she was pressured by other people not to go. But she did not let that stop her! After a lot of hard work and prayer the 28 year old Mary, with red hair and bright blue eyes sailed for Africa.

Part Two showed the impact that she had on the culture. Saving lives, helping the sick and needy, showing Christ's love everywhere she went. 

It is no wonder that she was called the "Queen of Calabar".

What a beautiful life lived out for the glory of God. 

May we live with that same passion and joy!

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, 

for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

Galatians 6:9

County Fair

After Dad and Mom got married they settled down in Seward County Nebraska. 13 children later we are still living in the same county and absolutely love it! The memories we've made, the friends we have, the small town atmosphere in this community is so special to us.

Singing at the county fair is always a treat for us. I remember years past when we would spend hours making goodies in the kitchen or working on some project to take to the fair. Then we would rush over as soon as possible to see if we won any ribbons. This year we were out of town for the days leading up to the fair. But we enjoyed being a part of the festivities for 2 evenings.

Thank you Seward County for all your support over the years. 

We are so blessed to be a part of this community.

"I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore." 

Psalms 86:12

A Field Trip with narration by Matthias

Hi! This is Matthias. I normally don't do the commentary for a blog post. But I thought I would offer my services for a post.

Here we have a picture of my siblings and some friends, the Stangls, hanging out at the Henry Doorly Zoo. I was not able to make it as you can see. But they had a blast together celebrating a birthday and the wonderful creatures of God's creation.

Elephants! A unique animal we don't find in Nebraska very often. But they're incredible creatures with amazing memories. At least that is what I am told.

Some of them had fun playing with a marble world on a water fountain. 

Hard to drink out of... but fun to play with!

Tigers were pretty cool. As you can see, their stripes were out today.

And yes, even kiddos get a break to sit down and eat ice cream! By the way, I have to mention my bro needs a little help with his choice of facial accessories... but I won't hold that against him!

An "us"ie picture under the cool fish aquarium. BTW the fish were a little camera shy but were really fun to look at. At least that's what I remember. You might find it helpful to know that going to this type of aquarium is like star gazing. A little sore on your neck, but cool!

So to wrap up this wonderful collage of pictures I want to do a big birthday shoutout to Chloe for making it another year and being a sweet little girl. We had a fun time doing the musicalwith her and her family this summer. And what would be more fitting to wrap this post up than with a good ol' pile on the gorilla pic?!

Thanks for reading if you made it to this point. We'd enjoy reading your comments and critiques on the commentary that has been provided!

Until next time! 

(if ever)

Matthias

Heart of Worship

Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace

Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

*photos by Naomi Knutson

Update on Elizabeth

For those of you that don't know, Elizabeth has been working at Bible camp in Sweden for the last 8 weeks. We've thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse into the culture over there through her stories, pictures and Skype. As I type this Elizabeth just sent a picture of herself boarding a plane to come home! So while we eagerly count down the hours until her arrival I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what her summer was like.

Elizabeth was on the housekeeping team at the camp and so she spent a lot of time in the kitchen getting ready for meals and doing dishes.

Throughout the summer the camp has hosted Family Groups, Bible School Students and Kids Camps. One of the themes was about not just being a "fan" of Jesus but an actual "follower". Elizabeth said she was able to have some really good conversations with the students that were there.

The weather in Sweden is always a bit chilly but the countryside is absolutely beautiful! She enjoyed being a part of Sweden's big Midsummer festival which celebrates the longest day of the year. She said it never did get completely dark that night. They had music, dancing. flower garlands, traditional costumes and lots of delicious food!

Making new friends.

Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Elizabeth while she was gone. We are looking forward to having her home and hearing more stories about her summer!

"Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to Your children. 

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, 

and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands!" 

Psalm 90:16-17

Summer Evenings

Our family really enjoys playing sports together. It builds character, skill, relationships, coordination, and is just plain fun! Thankfully, we usually have enough people for two teams of whatever game we decide to play.

The game for this particular summer evening... Whiffle Ball!

It had been a really long time since we played, so there were lots of laughs and good natured ribbing throughout the game. 

Oh course there has to be one big mashup during the game!

Summer is a perfect time to create some fun family memories... What activities do you enjoy doing together as a family?

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!"

Psalms 133:1

Corn Day!

Another corn day went down in Wissmann history! I don't know exactly how many quarts we froze because we did it in the middle of an extremely busy week, so it's all kind of a blur. But we are so grateful to have corn piled up in our freezer again. 

A huge thank you to our friend, Arnie, for all his work planting the corn. 

This is always a highlight of our year!

How many of you freeze your own sweet corn?

" I will give you rain in its season, 
the land shall yield its produce, 
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit."
Lev 26:4

Family Trip Day 3

A little music, a lot of food, a perfect start to day 3.

Morning smiles.

With 2 amazing photographers in the family we took a little time in the morning to get do a quick photo shoot for Alan & Rachel because they're going to have another baby!!!

Then we headed out for another hike.

Just the 27 of us (with 2 more on the way)

And back down the trail.

As a special treat Dad and Mom bought passes for us to enjoy some go-carts, bumper cars and bumper boats for a few hours. 

It was literally a blast!

Playing tag in bumper cars was seriously a highlight of the entire trip.

There may or may not have been a really competitive races on this course.

And we finished it off by getting soaked.

Talk about a perfect last day. God is so good. The couple days that we got to spend together singing, talking, and laughing was something we will all treasure forever. Our hearts are truly overflowing!

"This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord."
Psalms 102:18