Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! I Chronicles 16:9-10
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4
Naomi is now 8 and in the second grade. She has had a fun year playing Upwards soccer, learning to swim this summer, going to Awana Sparks, and taking a ballet class at our local homeschool center. She is a voracious reader; she loves Boxcar Children mysteries, Ballet Shoes, and anything about dolphins. Her new goal is to become a dolphin trainer, so she is on the lookout for anything she can learn about dolphins – she even got to feed some at Sea World this fall! She has a big part in the Christmas musical at church this year, and she loves rehearsing.
Johnathan is 6 and started kindergarten, so he joins Naomi every morning in our little schoolroom. He is excited to be learning to read, because he has so many books he wants to read for himself, from Star Wars to anything about history! Johnathan also learned to swim this summer, goes to Awana Sparks, played Upwards football, and did some therapeutic horseback riding through a new program at Texas A&M. Johnathan has been earnestly practicing for a singing solo in the Christmas musical – he sings so sweetly!
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoicein your salvation. Psalm 13:5
Ezra is all 2, all the time these days! He is a barrel of boyish energy, scaling furniture, running and leaping, and experimenting with anything he can find. He is fascinated by school, and loves to do an “actitity” along with his older siblings – he’s learning a lot by osmosis! He loves trains, especially Thomas. Ezra keeps us laughing with his antics and busy keeping him out of trouble!
And we rejoice this year to introduce the newest member of the Boaz family, Abigail Hope. Abby was born on May 21 and weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz. She has been a sweet addition – her older siblings dote on her (with a tiny bit of jealousy mixed in from Ezra, followed immediately by kisses). Abby is now 7 months old. She is working hard on sitting up, rolling around to get where she wants to go, babbling, and growing some new hair after losing most of her newborn batch. She is a social and happy baby.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24
Rachel’s year has been packed with teaching Naomi and Johnathan, changing diapers, keeping the family organized (or a least relatively organized!), and bringing Abigail into the world. Because the pregnancy had some rough periods, she was blessed by a lot of help from Kevin as well as our church family. After Abby arrived, she was thankful to get back to full energy (minus sleep deprivation) and take some overnight “field trips” to see museums and aquariums in Houston, Galveston, and San Antonio. We loved having grandmas and grandpas, Uncle Randy, Aunt Erika, and cousins Kayla and Sarah come to visit us.
Kevin has had a busy year of pastoring at Zion. One of his big projects has been launching a ministry called MileStones, which partners with parents to train up the next generation to follow and serve Christ. You can check it out at www.kurtenchurch.org! He enjoyed preaching through the book of Ruth this summer, a special request of Naomi’s. He also took a small team of men to the Dominican Republic this fall, with hopes of building relationships with church leaders there to so that our church can partner with believers there to do future short-term missions trips. He had an amazing time.
Our blog is full of more details from the past year, so you’re invited to browse for more. We are so thankful for your friendship and support of the ministry to which God has called us. We rejoice in how God has worked in our hearts this year!
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love. Zephaniah 3:17
