Deep South

Screenshot 2020-12-20 at 9.21.46 AM

Screenshot 2020-12-19 at 7.08.39 AM

Kate vs banks county

Game day

Bball pic

Thanks
Chris

First trip to the dog park for Riley and Jax

Contorting his face to show the gap

Jake lost his 2nd tooth (bottom left middle)

On the way to Jake's soccer game this morning...

"My tooth's about to come out."

A half second later...

"My tooth came out."

Jake's Salvation Story

Jake's Salvation Story 9/11/20

I had been praying for a while for Jake and his salvation. We were reading through the book "Leading Little Ones to God" and had just gone through the section about being reborn and trusting Jesus and Jake didn't really ask any questions. I have wondered for a while if he thought that he was 'saved' already because he believed in the Bible, so on 9/11/20, we were talking about how Jesus comes back again and raptures all of His believers to heaven before the tribulation. I told him about how some people think that at that time, cars will be left without drivers and planes without pilots. He just sat there with interest. I then asked him if he thought he was saved because that was the only way to go to heaven and be with Jesus. He said, "Yes, I mean I've been thinking about it. How do you do that?"

I told him that God makes it very simple (I had showed him the illustration of us standing on one side of the cliff with God on the other and how Jesus builds a bridge to God weeks before). God wants us to know that we are sinners. I asked Jake if he thought he was a sinner. He said yes. I asked him to tell me about some of his sins. He said not obeying, lying, I think he said being mean. I asked him how many times he thought he had sinned. He said, "Like 300" or I think he said "maybe even 3000".

I told him that the next part was to believe that Jesus was born on the earth and died on the cross and came back to life three days later. He said he believed all of those things.

I told him that the last part was that he had to decide that he wanted to put God in charge of his life and not Jake anymore – to the point of even persecution and suffering – that he needed to choose what God wants him to do instead of what Jake wants. He said he was willing and ready to do that.

I took him upstairs to pray because lots of people had been in and out of the room where we were talking. We sat on the bed in our room and I asked him the great question Beverly Keyes had asked Kate when she made at such a young age. I asked him if Jake, Chris, me, Pastor Marc, Jesus, and Steph Curry were on top of the church roof (he interrupted and asked if Giannis Antentakoumpo could be up there instead of Steph, so I said sure) and we all had a ball and there was a tiny bucket on the softball field, which of us could throw the ball into the bucket. He said "Jesus!" right away. Then he said, "But if the bucket was in the parking lot right by where we were, Giannis could just dunk it into the bucket."

I then went through the ABC steps again to make sure he was ready. He said he was and I had him repeat the prayer after me. His siblings – especially Drew and Ben were super excited – Ben came rushing up wanting to pray with him, but we had already prayed.

We talked about baptism and how that doesn't make you saved, but it's your witness to other people to get baptized. He's not too keen on getting his face wet, so he's not so sure about getting baptized yet. We'll work through that.

Kate, Chris, and I decided to get him a cake to celebrate his spiritual birthday.

 

A few days later...I was crying because of a decision we had to make regarding Kate and Covid. He told me later that when I was upset, he was over on the side praying for me to himself. I told him that the Holy Spirit had probably urged him to pray now that he has put God in charge of his life.

Screenshot 2020-08-30 at 9.41.37 AM

Thanks
Chris

Screenshot 2020-08-28 at 7.13.00 AM

Thanks
Chris

Screenshot 2020-08-26 at 7.26.30 AM

Thanks
Chris

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message is only intended for the addressed recipient and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or their representative, any form of disclosure, archiving or distribution of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please notify the sender of the error and delete all copies and attachments from your system.  ­­  

Kate’s name for varsity volleyball

Kate’s first newspaper entry for volleyball

Kate’s first newspaper entry for volleyball

Jake is 6!!!

North Atlanta Tournament

Both boys went 3-0 playing an age up!

First tennis tourney win

Won all three matches playing up in the U12 group

Kate’s first time driving outside of our neighborhood

We drove out of our NH to a NH diagonally across the street, then out the other side of the NH to drive on Dogwood, through another NH, on Mountain View, the back toward our house on Holly Brook. She was very nervous but did great!!

Jake Lost His First Tooth

Jake lost his first tooth today! He was eating leftover ribs from Shane's, but he said it came out when he pushed it with his tongue.

Jax and Kate

Kate got her learner’s permit!

She scored 100 on the signs portion and 85 on the rules.

Hi Jax

How a wiggle worm reads a chapter book

That leg was going up and down, up and down.

Jake’s first chapter book

This guy just finished his first chapter book. I assigned home 1-2 chapters per day, he read them quickly, and he answered comprehension questions to prove he understood what he was reading. He's been very capable for a while but was reluctant because of the lack of pictures. 

Jake doing his math. Jax just looked up at me like “help!”

Drew and Jake

Drew and Jake were cuddling at Drew's request (because Jake is a world class cuddler) and after a while, Jake said, "Drew, you smell like chicken fingers and green beans!"

Important note: We have consumed neither chicken fingers nor green beans today.

The things Jake asks in the car

Today's installment: How do you tell the difference between boy babies and girl babies? 

I clarified that he was talking about humans.

We circled him around to answer his own question and there was lots of embarrassed giggling. 

Jake's Marriage Plans

About a month ago: 

Jake: When I grow up, I'm going to marry Kate!

Us: Kate is in your family - you can't marry someone in your family!

Jake: Ok. I'll marry Annelise then.

Us: Annelise is in your family too!

Jake: Ok. I guess I'll marry Reagan.

Us: You can't marry a dog, Jake!

Jake: (sigh) I don't know who I'm going to marry!! 

Jake Quotes

Ben brought a game with questions for deep thinking. One of the questions was "What's the best/most important thing your parents have taught you?"

Ben asked this question on two separate days. Jake's first response (without hesitation): "How to shoot a basketball!" Jake's response on the second day: "Not to shoot with two hands!"

Mmmmm, meat