Monday, April 11, 2011

Church Outing

God blessed us this past weekend with a gorgeous day for our church picnic at a beautiful resort on the island of Florianopolis. There were all kinds of fun things to do and so much of God's wonderful creation to enjoy. With the exception of one lady who is traveling, all of our "regulars" were able to go and we had a couple visitors as well.


Our cabin was right across from this pond full of ducks and geese


Lots of fun things for the kids to do ...






Fun playground underneath a huge grove of bamboo


Friends


Lunch preparations


Mmmm ... churrasco!


Time to eat!


Gathering together to sing and have a devotional from the book of Psalms


The gang (except for James who is taking the picture)

Our littlest member. His parents professed faith in Christ shortly before his birth. How neat to think that this little guy was born into a Christian home and can grow up learning about Jesus.



This couple represents a couple of answers to prayer. The first one is that she professed faith in Christ several months ago, and then chose to leave our group to start attending a large church nearby that preaches the prosperity gospel. Even though we warned her about the doctrinal errors of this church, she joined them anyway. We cried tears over her and sent up many prayers for her. Just last week, she came back, saying she saw things at this church that she didn't agree with and that she will be rejoining us. The second answer to prayer is that her husband came along on this outing. This is the first time he has attended any of our church programs or events, and we pray that God will soften his heart so that he will join his wife in the Christian faith.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Juliana is 1!


On March 11, our baby girl turned 1. I know all parents say this, but time has gone by so fast. We are so thankful for this precious daughter that God has entrusted to us. She has brought so much joy to our little family with her sweet, calm, happy demeanor. I remember wondering before she was born how her birth would change our family dynamic. God knew just how well and easily she would find her place in our lives and now I can't imagine our family without her. My heart's desire for little Juliana Noelle (Juju) who can walk like a pro already and says "no, no"and "goal", who blows kisses and tries to growl at the dog, who right now is sitting in her high chair throwing her snack on the floor, who is so fascinated by everything she is discovering about this big world, is that she will love God and believe in Jesus at an early age. My prayer for her is that God will guard her heart and protect her from living a life that doesn't glorify Him. May God give us the wisdom we need to nurture and instruct her as she grows. We love you so much, baby girl!