Not a Flannel Board Jesus

Here are a couple of the flannel boards I made for our Small Group. The first one is the Nativity, and the second is the Temptation in the Desert.

Coming up soon...The Feeding of the 5,000! That's a lot of little fish to cut out!!

The book we're reading continues to emphasize that Christ was not simply the meek, kind, flannel-clad figure we learned about in Sunday School. It's definitely challenging the way I think about Jesus and my relationship with Him.

Here are a few of the guys having an impromptu praise and worship session at the end of small group: Josh, Mike S., Chad and Phil.
And here are some of the girls I've been blessed to shepherd and fellowship with over the past 5 weeks: Cassie, Denise, myself & Becky.

Rescue Feline-1-1

So you may have heard that we have this cat, Rio, who is kind of quirky. He loves to sit up against the screen door and look outside at the trash blowing down our street and smell the fresh air.

This morning, Josh opened the window in the office, right next to the spot on the desk where Rio sits. The cat was enjoying the breeze, and then he realized that by batting the loose screen aside (another spring break non-project?), he could really get a taste of the great outdoors.

Before we knew it, Rio had his whole head, both front paws, and half of his sizable belly sticking out the window! He was hanging out over the side of the house, about 10 feet above the ground. Josh had to grab Rio's tail and then handfuls of fur to haul him back to safety.

Rio was yelling at Josh, Josh was yelling at Rio, and I...was laughing. I can't help it...at heart, I'm still a Detrich!

I am honestly growing to like our cat, and he's definitely proving valuable in the whole "practicing parenthood" thing. Note to self: Fix the screen before you have kids.

Things and things

How has it been almost a month since I last posted?? Apologies to those of you who still occasionally drop by this site to see if I have anything new to say.

Here are a few highlights from the past weeks:

*Josh and I celebrated our 1st "first sight" anniversary...February 25 was one year from the day we actually met in person. Praise to the Lord for allowing us to walk together in His presence and for His glory!

*My job at 500 Reach is going well. It's pretty rewarding to work with these people who are returning to school after facing some tough realities. I'm continually inspired and blessed by their personal stories and hard work.

*Small group continues to be awesome. We're through 3 chapters of The Jesus I Never Knew, and we're learning a lot! Good-bye, flannel-board Jesus!

This week we're trying live worship with Josh and Mike S on the guitar, and Phil on the violin. I'm sure it will be a joyful noise! We're anticipating adding two if not three new couples to the group...we're going to need more chairs!

I think everyone in our group is sort of surprised (or relieved?) to find that they enjoy hanging out with eachother outside of small group, too. It's like we knew we were all in it for Thursday Bible Study, but we've also had fun playing UNO and Speed Scrabble on the weekends, sharing meals and lots of laughter. What a blessing and a gift this fellowship is!

*Josh took a 4-day trip to Birmingham for Brice's wedding, and had many adventures including a St. Patrick's Day bachelor's party, karaoke, and probably a few stories that are better left in Alabama. The photographer referred to Josh as "the cute groomsman" which gave his ego a little boost.

*Husband-less for the first time in 4 months, I spent Friday night hanging out with BJ, Gail, Sharla, Donna, Emily, Tionna, Denise, and Tiffanie. What an amazing bunch of women! Southern comfort food, Friends quotes, silly stories, late-night Target runs...I felt like I was back in college. p.s. Girls...I'd love to see pictures of our adventures!

*Saturday I drove down to Inman, KS, (by McPherson) to visit my dear friend Jodi, and attend her sister's wedding shower. 30 women showed up for the "tea party" and to celebrate Melanie and Chuck. I love wearing hats and eating cucumber sandwiches!! Yay for marriage!!

Our wonderful friend Angie was back in the US (she's a missionary far-away), and several other college girls spent the night at the Lightner family farm. We giggled until after midnight.

*This week is Spring Break. I wish I could say I've been really productive and have completed many tasks like painting kitchen cabinet doors and grouting tile in our upstairs bathroom. However, much to Josh's dismay, I'm sure, I'm mostly catching up on lost sleep (see Busy Weekend, above) and distracting Josh while he's working from our home office. Tomorrow I'll head up to see Shar and her kids for the afternoon. The kitchen cabinets will still be there this summer, I'm sure.


*My sister Anna is spending the week in Lithuania, visiting the other country she loves.

*Next weekend we'll head up to Sioux Falls/The Farm for Schmeckfest. It will be so good to see my Aunt Linda and Uncle John, Grandma and Grandpa, and so many dear friends at The Crossing. Funny how the word "home" keeps redefining itself.

All in all, life is good...God is consistent and very real...