California

At the end of June we got to take a trip to California to see Colin and Lela. We flew (which went pretty well) and my parents drove. My parents were kind enough to sponsor the whole trip, and it was really nice. The four of us stayed with Lela in their one bedroom apartment (they slept on a mattress in the living room while we took over the bedroom), and my parents stayed in a little hotel just up the street. We got to go to Long Beach Aquarium, Huntington Beach, and Downtown Disney. We didn't think Curtis was old enough to justify the cost of going to actual Disneyland. We'll go when they're old enough to appreciate the experience. Also, Curtis was sick toward the end of the trip, so there was a lot of hanging around the apartment to let him get some good napping in. We also ate a lot of Korean food since my sister and her husband live in a mostly Korean area. John Mark liked it, but I was more than happy to patronize places like Five Guys (my first time) and Rainforest Cafe.

Long Beach Aquarium

Wesley touching the stingrays

Not sure about meeting this Stingray...

but Wesley decided he could trust it enough to turn his back to it for a picture.

Huntington Beach

Wesley wasn't so sure about the water, but he was a huge fan of playing in the sand. He even got buried in it! Curtis, on the other hand, was more than ready to be set free in the ocean and take it on alone. It was pretty tough to hold onto his hands when the waves came! I had a death grip on that little guy.

Reading a book with Misha back at the apartment.

Curtis was still feeling pretty good at this point. :)

Lela and Colin got some fun video footage of the trip that is posted on her blog. If you watch it, notice how Curtis cautiously approaches the ocean from about 20 feet away in the second video. It's pretty hilarious.

Here is one last picture of Wesley with Lego Woody at Downtown Disney. The Lego Darth Vader scared him (it made deep breathing noises), but he perked up quite a bit upon seeing good ol' Woody in the corner.

June

June was a fun month for our family! Our local library had a petting zoo day for kids to try to get them involved in the summer reading program. The poor hot animals were very cooperative and tolerant of crazy kids running around messing with them.

One hot afternoon we turned on the sprinklers and filled up the little inflatable pool to cool off. We invited some friends over to enjoy it. They were more interested in other toys, like the tricycle. The last picture shows Wesley helping little Caroline get up the huge hill (ha) in our front yard.

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We also got to go to California to see my sister, Lela and her husband, Colin! Should be a post on that coming up soon.

Catching Up

Some of these pictures go back to January, but I wanted to include some oldies. Starting with our sweet friends from Kentucky that came through for a quick visit while "on their way" to Las Vegas. It was really good to see them!

This is about all Curtis wanted to do once he got reacquainted with his Zuzu. It was so funny to watch. :)

From our snow in February

Grandparent Time:

This is from a Misha and Gin-Gin visit in February. Wesley is GLUED to Misha's iPad and Curtis is enjoying some Gin-Gin back patting time.

With Granddad when we went for a visit in April. Curtis was antsy.

One of my favorite pictures ever of Curtis!

Marilyn (my dear high school friend) came for a quick visit as well in March. Wesley still talks about it.

This became pretty common during the winter and early spring:

Rasslin'

Our church teamed up with a church group from Germany as they did mission work here for two weeks. We hosted Bobo at our house. We look forward to their return next year!

More recent random pictures:

A common view of Curtis T:

And the rear view:

Another favorite:

We had another German visitor for an evening. Here's Matthew reading the David and Goliath story to Wesley (Wesley's favorite).

Yet another picture of Curtis in a hat.

Dancin'?

Curtis the Explorer

I thought this was a funny series of pics taken yesterday. Curtis was really digging the explorer hat.

Will Christians be judged by God?

A friend put a question to me that sparked some important reflection for me:
If we are forgiven for our sins when we confess them and God wipes them away, what are we going to be judged for on judgement day?

My answer:

1) She asked one of the toughest questions I have tried to answer. It's not tough because the Bible doesn't address it directly (like what happens to a baby who dies?) but because there is so much spread across different parts of the Bible addressed to difference original audiences.

2) I think the general focus of Scripture is on finishing this life faithfully in light of Jesus' high calling on us. This can be as basic as not giving up under hardships (this is the force of Hebrews 10:19-39, which applies the 'full forgiveness' we receive in Christ [Heb. 10:1-18] to perseverance, illustrating it with examples of persevering faith [Heb. 11]). It can be framed positively, pointing to disciples' responsibility to carry on the mission of our Master (parable of the talents Matt. 25:14-30, but all of Matt. 24-25 urges disciples to faithfulness as the way to be prepared for the end).

3) The lost will certainly be judged by their works, but it seems that followers of Jesus will be 'found in Christ' (Rev. 20:11-15; Phil. 3:2-16 is Paul's personal application of this idea). Christians' obedience is not a matter of indifference, as though a disciple need not try to follow the Master in order to enjoy eternal life. It seems more like we all must obey fully and to the end, regardless of when we start or of how our performance stacks up to one another. In the end our reward for obedience is infinitely greater than our good works deserve. We obey and spend our lives serving Jesus in starts and stops, but then the payoff at the end is the full reward of Jesus' perfect obedience and victory. For this idea, check out the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16), the prodigal son & his brother (Luke 15), how condemnation compares to eternal life (John 3:16-21), who gets a crown (2Tim. 4:6-8), and why Jesus will inflict vengeance on some but rescue others when he returns (2Thess. 1:3-12).