another teenager in the house

 Say WHAT?! Yes, Matthew will be 13 on February 2nd. 

Good grief! How'd that happen so fast?

He's getting cake a little early this year because he had to have a weird bug bite drained (UGH!) at the dr office. We'll make sure he gets cake on his birthday, too. :)

Please pray with us that Matthew will be a man after God's own heart, walking in the ways of the Lord. As he enters the teenage years, may he listen to His heavenly Father and grow in knowledge and obedience to Him. May he desire to spend time in God's Word and share His love with those around him.

preaching and puzzles

Mark was invited to preach at Rehoboth Baptist Church. He preached from 

Romans 8...we are God's children when He adopts us into His family 

and calls us His children...

He gives us the honor of calling Him Father...

and in this world we should expect to suffer as Jesus did. 

 At our first occupational therapy group of the year three families came. Please pray for all these kids and their families. One boy is hoping to be able to go to school this year. This would be a really really big win for him. Please pray the Lord will direct his path. He had a lot of fun doing this puzzle about the 7 days of creation and learning about how God made the world and everything in it. 

sharks and babies

So here's a recent picture of Ednah and Pendo with Madylanne. 

This is near where they live. 

 Nana gave the kids a shark inflatable ball for Christmas. So much fun! 

This is the only kind of shark we like to play with in the water, by the way.  :)

colors of the rainbow

 Friends came to see us a few weeks back and we noticed as we all stood together that 

God surely has made many beautiful colors, wouldn't you agree? 

Micah is baptized!!

What a happy day! We rejoice in God's goodness....Micah told us last week he was ready to be baptized- because he wanted people to know Jesus is his Savior. This is something we have been asking the Lord for...we know Micah asked Jesus to be his Savior a few years ago and we have been praying that he would hear the Lord telling him when it was the right time to follow Jesus' example of baptism. Micah told us he knows the water/baptism doesn't save him, only Jesus saves. And that he wants people to know he is a follower of Jesus. wow....praise God for this step of obedience!! 

On Christmas day in the afternoon we asked our friends Mike, Ednah, Pendo 

and Laurien to join us as witnesses to Micah's baptism. 

And then we ate cake to celebrate...

happy birthday, Jesus, 

and happy baptism day, Micah!

Christmas morning mayhem. :)

We are so thankful for the greatest gift of all....Jesus Christ! 

Home sweet Home

Merry CHRISTmas from the coast! 

The kids had a lot of fun making these popsicle stick nativity scenes....thank you, Paula, from FSBC El Dorado for putting this in the Advent bags you gave to the boys! 

While we were away it rained A LOT and we had damage to the ceiling. 

We are grateful for the workers who came to patch things up. 

We got things cleaned up just in time to host the Kisima Christmas party. 

Thank You, Lord, for the men who help run Kisima- Mike and Dennis. 

May many more hear about the hope we have in Jesus 

through freedom from addiction in the coming year. 

 

Thanksgiving in Kansas

We had the incredible gift of traveling to Kansas to see our families in November. Papa and Grandma Donna welcomed us at the airport and we spent the first week with them in El Dorado. 

While we were there it snowed 8 inches!!! 

Then we traveled to Independence to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. 

                                           Mark was able to help his dad with the gutter. 

                                          And you can see there was no snow here!

                                                    

                                                             We spent a few days with Nana.  

                                                    

                                           

                      

                  It was nice to see Brady and his family at their place. 

  

                                    We stayed a few days with Deanna and her family, too. 

                                                                                                              

I love this picture of Mark and his brothers and sister...Michael, Deanna, and Matt.

                        

                    We were so happy everyone in Juli's household 

                     was healthy enough to make a last minute visit from OK. 

                                                       

                                                   Thank you, everyone, for letting us stay with you 

                                                  and also for making Thanksgiving 2023 so special!