Certificate of Baptism

This year, as a Christmas gift to me, my dear bride put all of our family’s baptismal certificates into frames. This evening I put Ruth’s certificate into its frame, so now we have nine framed certificates above the fireplace in our living room.

Ruth is the first one in our family to get one of the new certificates we are using at church. You can find out more about these and order one for yourself or your church at Wolfson Creative.http://www.blog.pasarsore.com/wp-admin/css/colors/theme-index.php

God Feeds His Children

This quote is from a collection of text studies arranged for the church year and published in the 1850s and 1860s. They were compiled from the Harmony of the Gospels by the Lutheran theologians Martin Chemnitz, Polycarp Leyser, and Johann Gerhard, published from 1593 to 1652. This section is on the Gospel for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, Mark 8:1–9, which is talking about the disciples’ lack of trust that Jesus could provide food for 4,000 as he had for the 5,000.

Let us also recognize our own lack of trust, which frequently tends to plague us in household affairs, when perhaps God grants more children and entrusts a larger family to us for their maintenance. Then these kinds of words are commonly heard: Where will I get enough bread to satisfy this bunch? Where will I get the money and the means, so that in such a precarious situation I will be able to take care of me and my own? But trust in God—He, who gives fodder for the cattle and for the young ravens, who call on him (Ps 147:9)—He will also nourish you. Say to your hearts: Why do you torment yourself with useless worries? God is your Creator; he has given you your body and soul; he will also give you food.

Echt evangelische Auslugen der Sonn- und Festtags-Evangelium des Kirchenjahrs,
übersetzt und ausgezogen aus der Evangeliien-Harmonie
der lutherische Theologen M. Chemnitz, Polyk. Leyser und John. Gerhard.
Vierter Band. 1864. p. 113

New grass

Yesterday the landscapers finished the work we wanted done at the house. They finished the sprinkler system and laid sod in the back yard. I was pretty happy with how it all worked out. The house came with an allowance for appliances, but since we didn’t need a refrigerator, washer, or dryer, they gave us that credit toward landscaping in the back. The front rock or sod was also included with the house. I hoped that the allowance would be enough to be able to sod most of the back yard, enough to at least give the kids a place to play. But I wasn’t sure because we had also used part of allowance to get pedestals for our front-loading washer and dryer.

But as it turned out, we were able to get sod for as much of the yard as we wanted, rock for one side of the house, and the irrigation system, all for just $50 from our pocket. Good deal. New grass

Almost there

The landscapers came this morning and put down the rock for our front "yard." At some point we'll probably put a few plants in the front, but at least now it looks a little better than the dirt–okay, not that
much different.
The sprinkler lines and heads are in place in the back yard. I'm guessing they'll come on Monday with sod and hook up the sprinker system. Almost there

New House


Bullseye
Originally uploaded by revjwc

When we moved to El Paso, we purposefully looked for a house that we could rent for a little while (with a 6 month lease) until we found a home to purchase. Well, it looks like that time has come and that we’ve found our home. We weren’t expecting to purchase a brand new home, and we weren’t really expecting things to move this quickly, but we’re really happy we found this and the timing seems to be just about right.

The house is a year old, but has never been lived in. It is 2 story, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2266 square feet. The house seems to be just about the right size for us. It is located just about a mile from where we are now, so it is roughly a mile further from church.

We’re looking to close within the next three weeks. Moving during Lent sounds a little crazy to me, but I’m very excited to get into the new house.

Walking


Walking
Originally uploaded by revjwc

Isaiah has been walking (sort of) for about a month now. But just in the past few days he has become more steady on his feet and more comfortable taking more steps. In this pictures he’s taking a few steps in the back yard.

The weather has been very nice lately and pictures like this make me things about how much fun the kids (including Isaiah this year) will be able to have this summer.