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.