Week-end of shower and friends...

Shawna and I had fun planning a brunch baby shower for our friend, Monica!  We were happy to have help from our friend, Teresa and Shawna's mother in law, Cheryl. Monica's nursery theme is Safari so we kept that in mind as we decorated.

P for Baby Preston

Every safari needs a jeep!

Thanks to my very talented son-in-law, Austin

Vanilla, Chocolate, and Lemon Cake balls!

Homemade...by Shawna

We also had donut holes.

And yes, that is the cutest diaper cake

that Shawna also made!

Aren't these little fruit cups and small spoons cute?

Monica received many nice gifts and baby Preston will look adorable in his cute outfits.

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In the evening our dear friends, Chad and Heather, along with three of their four children arrived for the night.  They live in Japan and are in the states visiting family and friends. We had a wonderful time with them.

Noa loved playing our piano

Lili's first time to break an egg...

She then cooked our scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Good bye till next summer

I am so grateful for the friends the Lord brings into our lives...

some close by and some far away...but all always in our hearts!

More than pancakes...

CityLife Church serves...

~by Jim

This summer, as we begin training for missional living, we are scheduling opportunities for our people to connect with the surrounding community. Saturday we had a group set up to feed a pancake breakfast for the families that would be served by 6Stones through New Hope Center. We planned, prepared, and conducted the entire event without any need for the team at New Hope to be involved…but we did have their approval and their blessing on our effort.

As we gathered early Saturday morning we took time to pray together and talk about what it means to be missional. Missional living has been defined in terms of realigning ourselves with the biblical narrative where we adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. Living on mission goes far beyond the “what” and “how” of being sent; it hinges on the “who” of other people. It’s about entering into life with other people and intentionally living the gospel wherever we are. What we do must be of value to the people that we encounter, but it is only the foil that gets us there. While we are there we must engage the people and join them on their journey…we must be willing to get outside of our assumptions about life and walk with people as Jesus did. It was our prayer God would circumcise our eyes and hearts allowing us to see what He sees as we served those that came.

As we departed we were aware that the “pancakes” may have met the immediate need…but we were greatly aware that encounters of significance could only happen by taking the first step to be where the people are. It remains our hope that the “ancient way” will be made new to us again.

Happy Birthday Molly Joy

Our sweet dog, Molly Joy, had a birthday Saturday.  She is 3 yr. old! Colette and her sister Sabrina brought Molly some gifts. Molly was so happy to see them and even happier when she realized what they brought her. We are thankful for our dog who brings us much happiness! We are also thankful for little girls who love our dog like we do.

Doggie Cookies! They smelled so good!

Every dog has to have a birthday card!

She was ready for her birthday bone!

YES! So good!

First born's 39th birthday

Every girl needs a pair of red shoes!

Hmmm! I don't think so!

Josh loves teasing Stacy!

We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER!