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!