Grandson's baptism

Sunday morning!

We went to New Heights in Fayetteville where Josh is on staff.  They meet at the Boys and Girls Club.  We took a family picture in front of the climbing rock wall.   I told Eli that it was appropriate since he was following the Rock!  (Josh was getting ready for service so he was not able to join us. for the picture.) 

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

• Refrain:
  On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
  All other ground is sinking sand,
  All other ground is sinking sand.

 Love this Rich Mullin's song!

Josh shared a little about Eli.  How he has been gifted with spiritual wisdom.  How he willingly and joyfully puts others first, like Christ.  Eli has been asking for some time to desire baptism.  He understands what it is about.  Even at his young age, I sense that God has something special for this boy!

 Do you believe Jesus died on the cross and was raised on the 3rd day?  Yes.
Do you trust Him to forgive your sins?  Yes.
Do you choose to follow Him the rest of your life?   Yes.

 I love this sweet picture that a friend took!

Afterwards, we went out to celebrate!

Later that afternoon, we went home.  But first, our family tradition - silly waves! 

 (Staci and Emeri had gone to a shower)

What a blessed weekend!

A full day

Saturday morning, Eli had another game.  On the way to the game, as I was sitting in the back seat, I noticed something.  Can you tell that my daughter-in-law is a pediatric nurse practitioner?





It's actually a good thing to be extra clean, yes?  Think of olden days when people didn't think washing hands was important to your health.  I love my daughter-in-law and am glad she takes good care of our grandchildren!

But even though cleanliness of the body is good, cleanliness of the mind is so much more important! There is just too much yuk out in this world - negative thoughts, envy, gossip, hate, improper thoughts...

 We encouraged Emeri to cheer her brother on.

 It was a good game!

 We went out to eat.  There was a whole lot of red in the restaurant as the Arkansas Hogs (Razorbacks) were going to have a game that afternoon.

  Sad for them, they got skunked.

We spent the afternoon painting Josh and Staci's bedroom.  It had been brown for long enough Staci said.  Time to lighten up the room with a pretty light blue.  I liked some of the names of the samples we saw; like light drizzle, stormy sky, icy waterfall, vast sky, billowy breeze....

 
The kids wanted to help too.

Emeri also gave us a private recital!

Joby wanted to listen too.

Sunday's coming....

On the road

This past weekend, we drove to Arkansas to be with our son's family.
A beautiful drive through Flint Hill country.

If this house could talk...

We listened to oldies.

The grands and I are memorizing verses each week.  This week I made them each personalized cards with their picture pasted on them.  This is the verse for this week:

Deuteronomy 31:8New International Version (NIV)

"The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; 

                 He will never leave you nor forsake you. 

           Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Al was tired and asked me to drive.  I wasn't tired so we traded.

My mother always told me that if you get tired when you are driving you should munch on snacks.  "As long as you are eating, you won't fall asleep." she said.
"Yea" Al told me, "You may arrive safely, but you'll be 2 sizes bigger!"

Al took a little nap.  

(no worries - I took this after I stopped the car).

When we approached Webb City, we could see airplanes doing loop de loops.  We watched but I couldn't get a picture since I was driving.  We pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store to take pictures but they were just finishing.  So no loopy pictures.

 Continuing into Arkansas.

 We drove straight to a new sports park area.  LOTS of games going on.  From little tykes who were barely walking, up to older kids.  We found the soccer field where Josh was coaching our grandson, Eli.

 Josh doesn't happen to have an assistant to help him yet, and Al couldn't help but fill in!

 Eli enjoyed being goalie.  All the kids took turns trading spots as they are still learning the sport.

Each of the kids had to take turns on the sidelines.
And it's even better if you get to sit on Papa's lap!

When we got home, Eli showed us pictures he painted.  He really enjoys painting!  These are an adult paint by numbers he did!

Emeri showed me her new fuzzy blanket.

More to come...