Cherries, Anyone?

God has blessed us with such an abundant crop of cherries this year!
If you are in the area, come & help yourselves! :)
(just give us a call to make sure we're home, though)This is a picture of 1/3 of the tree....

"Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
the God of our salvation!"
Psalm 68:19


Thanks for picking so many, Steve!

Recommended Reading

Baby's First Photo Session :)

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.


...For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.


I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;


Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
Psalm 139: 1,13-14

Bethany's Smiling!

Track & Field

On Saturday, we had our co-op's annual Track & Field Day.
It was great being able to have the dads there this time!
Thanks for coming to help out & to share the fun, guys!
And a big thank you goes to Bruce & Elsa for hosting it,
as well as to Marcia & Jo for organizing everything!
We missed having Mark & Trish & their kids there...
too bad they had to miss, because of chicken pox & colds.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run,
but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable crown.

Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.
Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection...
1 Corinthians 9: 24-27









Congratulations, Joanna & Sarah, on your graduation!
BIG, sweet kisses from Jaden! :)

Thanks also for those amazing sundaes, Elsa!!

Bethany's Baptism

Yesterday, Bethany received the sign & seal of God's gracious covenant. How priviledged we are to be part of His Church,
to belong body & soul to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ --
from tiny newborns to gray-haired grandparents!

We were encouraged by our pastor's sermon on Deuteronomy 4, where Moses focuses on the Lord & on His wonderful works for His people. And most of all, God has displayed His love to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?
And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?
Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me,
‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
...For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.
Deuteronomy 4: 7-10, 32-35

Bethany slept peacefully in Louise's arms the entire service.

3 weeks ago...

"Your hands have made me and fashioned me;

Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD..."
Psalm 119:73, 156

Thanks!

We are so thankful for the many cards, gifts,
meals, & visits we've received since Bethany's birth!
Timothy said while enjoying someone's delicious meal last Sunday, "Everyone in our whole family gets so spoiled!
We get all the meals; Bethany gets all the clothes." :) Very true!

This gorgeous hibiscus plant from our kind next-door neighbours
has been blooming almost non-stop for a couple weeks.
Usually just one or two brilliant blossoms have been
open at a time, but one day last week, four opened at once!
Another glimpse of the power & beauty of our great Creator,
without Whom this world could not continue! (to echo our last post)


"Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all are Your servants."
Psalm 119: 90-91

Is Christianity Good for the World?

More and more people today answer this question with a resounding "no." (Never mind that without Christ, in whom all things consist and have their being, there can be no world.)

Be sure to read this debate with Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson on the question "Is Christianity Good for the World?"

Cousins

Enjoying popsicles with Betty's kids, during their visit yesterday :)Joanna is less than 3 months older than Bethany,
but she sure looks big already!