Nest, Apricot, And Good Times

On Friday we had a work day in the back yard.  The girls worked hard helping Daddy and Grandpa...

They discovered a nest in our barbecue.  What a grand nest.

Madi came running to the house to show me an apricot from our tree we planted last fall.  Apparently she accidently picked it.  She was excited that maybe we might have some this summer, as she then asked, "when are they due?"  I tried not to laugh too much. It was so cute.

Friday evening the girls and Grandma colored.  We have been reading, playing games, going to the park, and planting the garden with Grandma and Grandpa.

Spring Choir Concert

The girls just had their spring concert three Thursdays ago. Their concert was about Broadway Musicals. Madi even had a small speaking part.  Great job girls.

Note:  Emma is not the only student wearing white, she just happens to be surrounded by red.  They could wear red, white or blue (school colors); red was the dominate color out of 102 students.  There were even two girls that were wearing green.  I was wondering if they could be a shade of blue, nope, they were green.

Baptism

The girls decided they wanted to be baptized.  We had many family and friends there supporting them. 

What does it mean to be baptized? And why do Christians practice baptism?

 First it is important to understand what baptism is.  Our English word baptism comes from a Greek word baptizo, which means to dip, plunge, or submerge [into liquid or some sort, in our case water, but a piece of cloth could be baptized into dye].     Next we need to understand the Christian history of baptism:

John the Baptist baptized those who were serious about their walk with God.  Luke called it “a baptism of repentance” and it caused quite a stir among the spiritual leaders in Israel (Luke 3:3-16).

Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17).  Many have wondered why Jesus needed to be baptized since He is the sinless Son of God.  This question comes from the misunderstanding that baptism cleanses us from sin.  Baptism does not cleanse us from sin.  Jesus was baptized to identify with people who, like Him, were serious about righteousness (that is being right with God) and their walk with God.  Believer’s baptism is a way to identify with Jesus and those who, like Jesus, are serious about their relationship with God.

Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize others who are becoming His followers (Matthew 28:18-20: Also known as the Great Commission).  When a believer follows the Lord in believer’s baptism, both the one being baptized and the one baptizing are being obedient to Christ’s command.  The New Testament church prospered as it led people to Christ and baptized those new Christians. 

Believer’s baptism is an act of obedience to Christ’s command.  Believer’s baptism is a symbolic reminder of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-6).  It also portrays what happened in the life of a believer when he or she trusted Christ as Savior and Lord.  The placing of the believer under the water is a symbol that his old life is dead and that he has been raised up to walk a new life.  Baptism demonstrates to people what has already happened by faith in the life of a believer. 

This fourth point is critical, because it specifies that baptism is not a magical event, it is not what saves us, it is only by God’s grace (receiving God’s free gift that we do not deserve) that we are saved from our sin (sin: missing God’s perfect mark, His expectations for us) and separation from God: Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."  "Roman 3:23 reminds us that “all have sinned (accept Jesus) and fallen short of the glory of God.”  2 Peter 3:9b lets us know however that, “He is patient with you (us), not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (that is to turn away from the things that separate us from Him).”

God knows, however, that we are incapable of satisfying His requirements on our own “There is no one righteous, not even one;” Romans 3:10.  So Jesus came to offer Himself as the required sacrifice.  This message is summed up in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Ultimately we all have to deal with Jesus’ statement “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John  14:6) 

Each member of our family has come to the conclusion that we need God’s grace and as such have received His free gift and have given a public declaration of our belief in what He accomplished through His death, burial and resurrection through our baptisms.

AWANA Awards

This year was a big year for the girls.  Madi got her Three Year Book Award and Emma got her Excellence Award.  I can't believe that not only do I not have a Cubbie, I no longer have a Sparkie.  It feels like yesterday Emma walked into Cubbies.  Here are picks from Awards Night...

Sparkies that completed all three books.

Clubbers that received the Excellence Award.

I am so proud of my girls! 

Easter Activities

The day before Easter our church had a free Easter Egg Hunt.  This is our third time helping with this event.  This year we had over 100 kids hunting 2,000 eggs...

This picture shows an idea of how many people there were.  You can't see everyone, but there's a lot.

After we met we split into age groups.  I am in the same spot as last year, but this year I had 4-6th grade.

Emma hunting.

Madi hunting.  Madi, look to the right!

We invited three families to our Easter Egg Hunt.  We had two out of the three families come.  This picture shows Emma with a few of them.  This is a great outreach time as we have an Easter message, the eggs, along with candy, have verses inside and a time of fellowship.



After the egg hunt we went over to our neighbor's house to color eggs and eat dinner.  We had a great time...

The last time we colored eggs was in Oregon.  So it's been at least four Easter's ago.  That would put Madi at 4 yrs.or younger.  That explains why she didn't remember coloring eggs.  She had a great time!




Before I end this post, I have to say that I went to my first Good Friday Service.  It was a good remembering time.  Sunday we had a Sunrise Service.  Emma and I were in the nursery.  After breakfast and Sunday School we had our Easter Service.  It was a long morning, but a good morning.  After service we had a great time of fellowship with our friends.  We went to Ms. Joyce's house...

Oops!

We all have done something absentminded before.  Some of us more often then others.  I have two stories to tell.  The second one is more hilarious, but I told Chris I would combine it with my absentminded act that happened a few days after his.

My brother and niece were coming for a visit.  I was cleaning the house in preparation and grabed the Windex to clean the mirrors.  I start to spray and then notice it didn't look like Windex; it was Oxi Clean Stain Remover.  Oops!  I  quickly wiped it off and ran and got the Windex.

A few days before that, Chris and the girls were soon to leave for school/work.  The girls got ready before Chris and they ran out the door and got into the car in the garage.  Chris takes whatever car is in the garage because he usually leaves first and that way he doesn't have to deal with snow or ice.  Soon after the girls left to get into the car, Chris headed out the door.  I heard the garage door go down, then up then down again.  I wondered what happened.  Later, I heard the story.  Chris walked out the door, past the car with the girls inside and got into the car in the driveway, then he drove away.  He made it around the curve of our street, noticed that no other humans were inside the car and turned around.  Meanwhile, the girls wondered what he was doing.  Emma got out of the car and opened the garage door.  Chris soon was in the driveway and got into the correct car and drove the girls to school.  Oops!