April Showers

The sweet ladies at Zion showered our soon-to-arrive baby with everything he'll need - and more! Naomi and I had such a fun time eating lots of yummy food and opening all the gifts for Baby Boaz. A huge THANK YOU to our Zion family!

Naomi with with buddies Gracie and Taylor

James 1:2-4 The Trials of Life

James !:2-4 are often quoted when we face trials, or outward circomstances in life that may threaten one's faithfulness to Christ. Kevin reminded us of verse 12, in which we are promised a crown of life when we've withstood those trials. The type of crown James is talking about is not the royal, bling-encrusted one we aften associate with the word "crown," but one more like the wreaths awarded in the ancient Olympic games, given for victory in a race. And since the life of following Christ is very much like a long race, I think this is a great picture.

Trials remind us that God is in control. They train us to put our dependence on Jesus alone. They strengthen our faith, because, unlike a popular saying, I think that God does give us more than we can handle - sometimes He lovingly gives us circumstances that we cannot handle without His grace and help. And trials continually point us toward a heavenly hope and eternal perspective.

Visiting Aunt Pauline

While we were in Dallas, we were able to visit my Great-aunt Pauline, my maternal grandfather's sister. We had such a sweet time reconnecting after probably over 20!? years. I have fond memories of visiting her home in Oklahoma for Gardner family reunions.

Johnathan's New Doctors

Last month we applied to have Johnathan seen at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. It is a hospital that specializes in children's orthopedic care, and we were thankful to discover that they accepted him right away and got him in for his first appointment almost immediately. Because we had an early morning appointment, we decided to drive up to Dallas the night before since the drive is about 3 hours.

We stayed at a hotel just a few minutes from the hospital in downtown Dallas and ate dinner in the West End (the kids were quite excited to be eating spaghetti in a trolley!).


The next morning we discovered the hotel was so close that we had plenty of time to check out the fantastic playground at the hospital. Look at those smiles - Naomi and Johnathan think this is a pretty cool place, between the playground, the really fun waiting rooms full of aquariums and activities, and the popcorn and stickers everyone gave them when we were done. Mommy and Daddy appreciated how organized everything was (barely any wait time to see the doctors!), how much time and care the doctors took with Johnathan, and that we were able to get Johnathan's AFO adjusted and tuned up right on the spot.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to have Johnathan cared for here. The orthopedic doctor said he is doing great - they were so pleased with the way he's responded to the first six months of treatment and said right now he's miles away from needing any more aggressive treatment like botox or surgery. We'll keep using his braces and working on physical therapy and stretching, and in nine months he'll come back for his next follow-up.

What a blessing when you can actually look forward to a visit to a hospital!

James: Live What you Believe

Kevin started his sermon series called Live What You Believe, from the book of James. He gave an introduction to the book this morning. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote the letter to a Jewish audience, probably in 44-49 AD. He wrote to encourage and inspire believers to live what they say they believe. I'm sure we'll be challenged a lot during thie series, because the book contains so much practical, personal application about how to make Jesus the Lord of every area of one's life.

You can listen to the sermon or download it at kurtenchurch.org

Start Your Engines!

Here are the proud racers after the Awana Grand Prix with their not-very-fast but very creative cars! This year we made:


Johnathan's fire truck


Naomi's "Flower Girl" car


And Kevin's version of "The Exodus."

As per family tradition, we won no prizes for speed (A few times we just barely crossed the finish line!). But Johnathan's fire truck placed second and Kevin's was third for creativity. Naomi recieved a lovely "Best in Flower Power" certificate. Most of all, we just had fun watching the races and snacking at the pit stop!

Hogs, Rodeo, and BBQ

Kevin and his buddy Gayle from Casper, who got to visit us this weeked, had a distinctively "Texas" time. They've been talking about going hog hunting even since we found out we were moving here, and thanks to Lane and Mark, they got to try it in a very well-equipped way (and yes, they did get at least one, but I'll spare you the lovely picture of that).

We also took the kids to their first ranch rodeo and went out for BBQ. I think that just about covers a well-rounded Texas experience! The kids were fascinated by the cutting, roping, and branding competitions. They got to see lots of close-up action!

It's a Small World

We'd like to introduce you to John and Lucy Ojode so that you can pray for them and their ministry. We met them this week because Kevin will be supporting them as they hope to plant an Evangelical Free church the the Third Ward community of Houston. In the EFCA, when a pastor begins the church-planting process, pastors and elders of established churches help form a church board that is replaced as the church plant trains and puts its own elder board in place and becomes self-sufficient. Lord willing, Kevin will be helping on the board for this church plant in an area that so needs the hope of the Gospel.

We were excited to meet the Ojodes, not just to hear about their heart for ministry in Houston, but also because they are originally from Kenya, where Kevin and I have both visited on different missions trips. As we talked and heard their story, we discovered that Kevin visited and spoke at the same high school from which Lucy graduated in Nakuru, Kenya! She is a college professor at Texas Southern University, but before that, she taught at Indiana University, Kevin's alumni! So we concluded that it is a small world. Please pray for them as Pastor John works through the process of ordination with the EFCA and begins the steps of church planting.

Spring Flowers

Two years ago, I attended a weekend conference in Colorado Springs featuring Beth Moore. The weather that weekend was pretty typical for Colorado this time of year; you never know if it will be warmish, cold, windy, or a snowstorm! As we waiting with thousands of other women outside the venue, the biting wind swirled around us. We were frigid by the time the doors opened.

When we finally got inside and the conference started, Beth's opening comments were about how much she loves springtime at her home in southeast Texas - the flowers, the chirping birds, the budding trees, sitting on her patio reading her Bible in the mornings. Then recalling the icy wind the audience stood in to get inside, she exclaimed, "You poor things! Do you even know what spring is?!!"

I can now say that I have experienced "what spring is" - at least, what it is here. And it is beautiful! My favorite thing right now is to sit on the front porch, listen to the birds chatter at the feeder, gaze at the beautiful flowers in bloom in the yard, and watch Naomi and Johnathan play.

Of course, I have to enjoy it now, because soon it will be too blisteringly hot to sit out there!

Quake! Romans 8:26-39

Kevin finished his series on Romans 8 this morning by pointing out that this amazing chapter of the Bible begins and ends with the same phrase: "for those who are in Christ Jesus." The last part of Romas 8 gives us 4 promises to stand on in a world of suffering, tragedy, and pain.

1. The Holy Spirit grieves with us and he intercedes for us, especially when we are in too much pain to even know what to pray. (8:26-27)
2. God is in control, even in the worst circumstances.
3. God works all things for good - if not here and now, then in an eternal perspective. All things are ordered and redeemed for our ultimate good and his glory. (8:28)
4. God's promises never fail. Read about them in verses 29-37.

It's hard to do this topic justice in a few sentences - I'm sure we'll spend our entire lives wrestling with this passage and understanding in deeper and deeper ways until one day we'll know fully.

To listen to this sermon, visit www.kurtenchurch.org

On the Bluebonnet Trail

This time of year, the roadways are filled with Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, and lots of other wildflowers. We went on a drive yesterday and saw thousands of of them. A beautiful day!

Happy Easter!

And a Different Kind of Easter Hunt

We wrapped our Saturday of hunting with a different kind of hunt altogether...


You may recall Johnathan's recent penchant for putting things in his nose. So when he wimpered to us after his nap that there was a nut in his nose, we took him seriously. Turns out it was a pinto bean. And it was way up there. So far, in fact, that the doctors in the ER didn't even think they could reach it. Johnathan's report when he returned with Daddy at 8:00 that evening was that he saw: "Two doctors and a nurse. But they didn't have tools. I gonna go to a doctor who has tools."


So after a sunrise service, church breakfast, and the main church service on Sunday, Daddy and Johnathan went back to town to visit the doctor with tools (an ENT specialist). The doctor used his (as Johnathan put it) "little tiny tools" to extricate the bean (which had swollen to twice its dried size).


An ice cream man, a bean... We hope that the bean episode closes this chapter of Johnathan's fascination with all things nostrilly (I'm sure that's not a real word). Time will tell!

More Easter Egg Hunting

The egg hunting didn't end there, though! We also had a fun afternoon fishing, hay riding, and egg hunting at the West's cabin. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

Easter Egg Hunting

Saturday morning was the day of egg hunting, starting off with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at church. Naomi and Johnathan had a great time listening to the Easter story...
Hunting for eggs...

Checking out their loot...

And eating it, of course!

But wait, the hunting isn't over!

Quake! Romans 8:18-25

Kevin continued his series on Romans 8 today and tackled the question about God's love and hope in a world filled with tragic natural disasters. Romans 8:18-25 shows that natural disasters are a result of sin entering the world, but that God is in control and allows them to happen - verse 20 teaches us that He subjected the world in hope. Just like giving birth to a baby (a thought that crosses my mind quite frequently these days!), the pain leading up to the birth is agonizing, but the joy on the other side is unimaginable. Because of Christ's redemption, we who believe him have this hope - that the "groaning" of the world around us will one day be completely restored to it's original condition - free of pain, death, and filled with amazing fruitfulness.

Our church website is up and running! If you want to listen to this sermon, you can download it at www.kurtenchurch.org

Living Last Supper

Kevin made his stage debut tonight in our church's depiction of a "living" Last Supper. The thirteen men wore costumes inspired by the famous DaVinci painting, and Kevin took the part of Simon the Zealot, sitting on the end of the table. Though he still maintains that preaching is more of his gift than acting, I think he did a great job!