Josiah is 8yrs and is in the 3rd grade. He continues to be our premier entertainer - a good sense of humor, hilarious body movement, and devoid of the inhibitions that make most people unfunny. He does a good job of feeding the chickens and collecting their eggs. His most recent favorite activity is airsoft (plastic BB guns) battles with Caleb, his friend Sam, and me.
A couple of weeks ago our family enjoyed a walk at Bass Lake (Blowing Rock, NC), which has become somewhat of a Fall tradition.One favorite attraction is leaf sliding. Here's Nathaniel (4 yrs)
Hannah (6 yrs)
Samantha (4 months)
Here are some pictures of Samantha's first day.
OK, now I saved the most hilarious picture for last. This was an unbelievable fluke shot--she's not really smiling yet, of course. We have got a lot of laughs out of it. Maybe Samantha forgot, just for a millimoment, that she was supposed to act like a baby and blew her cover. Apparently, she knows something we don't.
Happy Mother's Day to Dana! I am so grateful to have a wife who loves to have and care for children. She is doing a great job! Here is a picture of her with her seven children (one born in three weeks!).
We enjoyed a picnic and hike yesterday at Jeffress Park on the Parkway, just a few minutes from our house. Here are some pictures.
The week before Christmas we had a big snow (for us - 15 inches)! Here are some pictures:
In the foreground is our almost buried Honda. Behind is Caleb shoveling the driveway!
This is Kathryn (almost 2 yrs) inserted into the snow.
Bethany, Caleb, and Hannah buried Josiah.
I had two very important early morning meetings on Friday in my office. They were not planned meetings. Soon after he got up my son Caleb (9 yrs) came into my office with a picture he had drawn. It was a replica of a drawing I had done for him several weeks ago that depicted the Gospel. But on his picture he drawn himself crossing the "Cross" bridge to get to God. He proceeded to explain that a couple of weeks back he had given his life to Christ, just as I had explained to him, but he just hadn't told me yet. Moments later Josiah (7 yrs) came into my office. He preempted his discussion with me by explaining that he wasn't coming to talk to me just because Caleb had. He explained that he and Caleb had been talking about their decision to give their lives to Christ and had been praying for each other about it. Josiah's main concern was that he was not old enough or didn't really understand it. One of his reasons for this was seeing what had happened with our daughter Bethany (10 yrs). She was baptized when she was six. It was not long after this that I questioned that decision and concluded we had jumped the gun. Last month Bethany came to us believing that she did not really understand what she was doing when she was six and was ready to give her life to Christ. So, I talked with Josiah about this and we both had peace that he indeed understood what he was doing.
Three kids trusting the Lord as their savior in two months! Very exciting. Leading our children to Christ is the most important thing we can do for them. We will continue to disciple them and help them learn to walk in his ways. We are thankful to God for drawing them to himself and for the privilege and responsibility of guiding them in this journey.
