What I learned from my pastor... 2-28-10

We spent our second week in Luke 15 and looked more closely at the older brother's response in the parable of the prodigal son. The older brother represented the "religious" people Jesus was teaching, and this brother's response redefines the concepts of sin and being lost. The father went to both sons, prodigal and older brother who did everything "right," and urged them to come in to join the celebration. Kevin reminded us that we are most in danger of being "outside the party," or outside God's will when we become more focused on what we are doing rather than for Whom we are doing it.

Independence

To Naomi, things just taste better when she can make them herself. Like this waffle with peanut butter and butter topping. Maybe with some practice she'll be ready to make breakfast for all of us by the time the baby arrives!

Still More Snow

I'm starting to feel a little silly posting about snow again. If we were still living in Wyoming, I guarantee every appearance of snow would not warrant a post. But here's my reasoning... From what we've been told, this snow thing in Southeast Texas is pretty rare. Kevin went to a high school graduation last year at which the graduating seniors cited "seeing snow for the first time in my life" as one of the highlights of their senior year. So I figure if we are having a few episodes of snow this year, I need to chronicle it for the sake of our kids, who may look back and remember this as one of the few snows of their growing-up years in Kurten. We'll see...

Anyway, this was the first snow that has actually accumulated on the ground, and Naomi and Johnathan were itching to get out in it. I have to confess, the pictures I took are from my viewing spot inside the front window! I was too wimpy to get cold and wet out there with them!

It was a beautiful snow, falling in huge globs all afternoon. It very considerately left the sidewalks and roads clear (no shoveling!). But I think the spingtime robins and other migratory birds were a little perplexed - they congregated in big flocks in the trees and looked consternated!

What I learned from my pastor... 2-21-10

Kevin spent this morning and will spend the next 3 weeks digging into Luke 15, primarily in the parable of the prodigal son. We learned that to the people who were listening to Jesus tell this story, the parable must have been considered completely outrageous. In the Mideast at that time, a "shame and honor" culture defined all of life's relationships and actions. So for a Jewish son to demand his inheritance while his father was still alive, to squander it away, to reduce himself to feeding pigs was outrageously shameful. Even more so, though, was it undignified for a father to run to his son and welcome him back extravagantly after being dishonored so deeply. Kevin asked us if there are people in our lives that we feel don't deserve God's grace - perhaps someone who has offended us or wounded our pride. We were challenged to study Luke 15 this week and consider God's love for people.

There are so many layers to this story, as well as the two shorter parables that precede it. Next week we're looking more deeply into the older son's reaction. Stay tuned!

Reacting to the News

So, how did Naomi and Johnathan react to the news that their new sibling is a boy? Anyone who has asked Naomi over the past few months what she thinks the baby is knows that she was strongly rooting for a girl. And Johnathan, too, has been saying he wants a girl (though he may have been influenced by his sister's opinion).

Johnathan was the first to get the news, because he was sitting with us while the ultrasound was performed. But we knew he didn't quite "get it" right away, because when we were all done and leaving the doctor's office, Kevin asked him, "So is the baby a boy or a girl?" he responded, "A gril." ("Gril" is not a typo - that's how he says it!) We had to explain it to him. I still get the sense that the whole gender thing is rather meaningless to him, anyway. But he did tell us later, "I'll share my fire station. I be the fireman, and he can be a policeman!" So it may be sinking in!

We decided to "sweeten" the news for Naomi by picking up a blue-colored chocolate candy for her to reveal the baby's gender. After school she opened it, said, "Oh," and ate the chocolate. A minute or two later, she looked at Daddy and said, "But it really is a girl, right?" We had to assure her we weren't joking around! She has thought about it more and is okay with it - as long as she still gets to help take care of the baby.

We celebrated that evening with a blue cake with chocolate frosting. Baby boy enjoyed it, too, if we can interpret vigorous kicking to be his approval!

Baby Boaz at 22 Weeks

Today was our long-awaited ultrasound! Baby Boaz is now at 22 weeks, and, as you can see, this baby is growing! Here's a picture of the baby's home from the outside.

And here is the inside view. We'll start with the big news first - It's a boy! The sonographer was 100% confident about that, from every angle.

As Baby Boy Boaz squirmed around, we got to see pictures of him sucking his thumb (as viewed from above his head)... so sweet!

He stretched out so we could see his legs.

And we got good views of his body, head, and face.

His heart rate was 158 today, and it looks like he is growing well. In fact, he measured a little larger than 22 weeks, so he may be a rather big guy (That should make labor extra-fun!). We were thankful that he looks healthy and that we can start working on his blue blanket and other fun boy-related preparations.

Games of the II Boaz Olympiad

Ever since she watched the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Naomi has been quite intrigued by the whole Olympics thing. So we've been watching a little here and there lately - Naomi loves the skating and Johnathan thinks the ski jumping is pretty interesting. So while I was gone to Bible study the other evening, they staged their own Olympic games at home. They reenacted their favorite family event, "Rhythmic Speed Skating" for me... Here's a clip for you:

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Nap is Back...

... at least for now! For the past two weeks, Johnathan has taken a nap nearly every afternoon. We haven't seen a regular afternoon nap in over nine months, so this is an interesting development. Either he's growing, or he's not sleeping well (we've been trying with little success so far to wear both braces at night, but he's not tolerating it too well)... Whatever the case, it's been pretty quiet around here lately from 2-4! It would actually be a welcome development, but Mr. J is not the happiest waker-upper. But that's ok - Mommy joins him most afternoons in the napping, too!

Snow (Again?!)

We peeked out the door before bed last Thursday and were surprised by this! I read in the newspaper that on Thursday every state but Hawaii had some amount of snow in the air or on the ground (obviously we got the "very little" end of the spectrum). Ours was completely gone in the morning, though!

What I learned from my pastor... 2-14-10

Kevin preached from Acts 1:1-9 about the fourth component of the church's purpose - to go into all the world to share the Gospel. He shared some interesting facts about the dramatic shift that has happened in the world in the past 10 years. While the western world used to be the center of world Christianity, in the past ten years, of 300 million new Christians, only 10 million live in the United States and Europe. 290 million live in developing countries, especially Africa and China.

Acts 1 makes it clear that all believers are called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be disciple-makers and missionaries. We are called to live in such a way that we gain a hearing for the Gospel, be ready to share with those He brings into our life, and show the power of Jesus be servign one another and through genuine acts of love and service to those in need. Although the "go" part of our mission is often the most out of our comfort zone, it is also one of the most life-changing. Kevin and I have experienced that personally, both on our short-term trips to Africa, Europe, and elsewhere - even where we live!

What I learned from my pastor... 2-7-10

I didn't get to church this morning - Johnathan and I stayed home trying to get him to rest and drink juice to get over his cold. But I'm thankful for MP3 recordings! So this morning my "What I learned" post will be a little different - I'm listening to the sermon right now and typing notes as I listen...

Kevin's sermon topic this morning was about living for Christ, and how one of the church's purposes is to teach and encourage us to Live for Him.

We may have made Jesus part of our life, but not Lord of our life. If everything were taken away from you tonight, would Jesus be enough? Would you still worship Him?

Matthew 22:37 All your heart, soul, mind and strength

John 14:12, 21 Good illustration about obedience - Every afternoon we tell Naomi "After rest time, you need to clean your room." What does it look like to really obey? If she came back to us and said, "I memorized what you said to me - Go clean your room." Or if she said, "I invited my friends over to study what it looks like to clean my room." Or if she actually cleaned her room - and did it wholeheartedly?

Revelation 2:1-7 Jesus's message to the church in Ephesus: They have been busy doing many good works, and they have avoided the things in the world that are bad. But they had abandoned their first love for Him - understanding the Gospel and Christ's work on the cross.

How do we get there, because we know we are not capable of loving Him that way on our own? By taking the next step. The life of following Christ is about a thousand tiny steps, like climbing a mountain.

Family "Popcorn in a Fort" Night

A Yummy Birthday

For my birthday, my sweet husband created a feast of yummy Japanese food. The menu included gyoza, teriyaki chicken, rice, shrimp and veggie tempura, and sushi rolls (the fully cooked variety for mama and baby!). He logged many hours in the kitchen working on this one - Naomi even pitched in with wrapping the gyoza! We chowed down for dinner that evening with our friends Jason, Jenna, and Jackson. Everything was delicious, and Kevin's first attempt at rolling sushi was very impressive! Thank you, honey, for everything!

And thanks to Jenna, we had my favorite birthday dessert - carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I had prepared myself for my first birthday in a long time without enjoying the version that Fargo's pizzeria in Colorado Springs makes. I had it every year for my birthday, and my parents even delivered it to us while we lived in Wyoming. But Texas is a little far for that kind of delivery, so I figured I'd go without this year. But Jenna's version was pretty well identical, and I was one happy birthday girl!

What I learned from my pastor... 1-31-10

In part 2 of Kevin's series on the new vision statement, he spoke from I Corinthians 12 about serving. We are to serve the body of Christ first - serving one another builds up the body and demonstrates Christ's love. But we are also to serve our community and world - to tangibly show the Gospel with acts of kindness and genuine love. We watched a video clip called "Get Service." It's a good one! You can watch it on YouTube by clicking here.