A day in the life of our church

I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.                                 ~Bob Goff   

CityLife Church serving an apartment near us

 setting up

"Spider man" captured my heart

repaired and painted court where kids can now play soccer

fun balloons given to all the kids

lunch prepared by men willing to cook in over 100 degree heat

willing to take time for others

raffle prizes for adults

and for kids too!

willing servants cleaning a lady's apartment

an awesome water slide

It was fun walking around capturing the day in pictures and talking to people that lived in the apartments.  I am so glad for this day and the smiles I saw. I am glad that as a church and as individuals we said yes, to God!

 

       

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!

 

She was the first to call me Nana!

Happy Birthday sweet 13 yr. old!

We love you!

A favorite pie...

Years ago when we lived in Oklahoma a friend gave me a pie recipe from the tea room where she worked. It is a Peanut Butter Cream Pie. I enjoy making and sharing it with family and friends. Yesterday I made one as a surprise for a friend's birthday and another one for Joshua, my nephew, who came home today from a mission trip to Guatemala. I hope he shares it with us later tonight. I loved blessing others with this pie this week end!


Does your family have a favorite pie?

She worked really hard for this...

Colette has been trying really hard to not suck her thumb.  Her reward was to be an American Girl doll.  She was so excited the day she told me she had stopped and would be getting the doll.  Her mom surprised her yesterday!

Pre-K graduations are so cute!

 

 

Yesterday our sweet granddaughter, Ashlynn Kate,

graduated from Pre-K from First Baptist Church 

Every child had a cupcake that looked like them, with their name. So cute!

43 wonderful years!

In 1956 our family moved to a new house. I was almost 9 at the time. After the movers left I walked outside to look around at our new neighborhood. I sat down on a little slope in our backyard and was looking towards our neighbor's house when two boys, close to my age, walked up. One of the boys looked at me and said, "Get off Phil's property!" Now I didn't know who Phil was and I sure didn't think I was on his property! Turns out there was a property line dispute and this 9 yr. old boy took it upon himself to defend his friend's property. I jumped up and ran in the house, crying to my mom, telling her what had been said to me. That was many years ago, but I will never forget that day. I had no idea that I had just met the boy that would one day be my husband! It is a story we still laugh about!

I am so thankful to God that our family moved into that house in Ohio so that I could meet a little boy who lived across the street from me, become his friend and later on in life, his wife! I can't imagine a more wonderful life than the one we have together! I am thankful for all the memories we have made over the years and look forward to making many more.

Happy Anniversary Jim!