Grandparent Visit

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit the past few days. They took advantage of the three day weekend (MLK day) - more time at home with the girls. And took advantage of the warmer weather here in Houston compared to St. Louis were they have enjoyed a lot of snow. It was planned to be a low-key time. We didn't have much of an agenda to follow.
It is quite rare for my Mom and Dad to see me preach. So I switched preaching dates with Pastor Ralph so I could preach while they were here. I had a good time doing so.
We played a lot of Uno while they were here. The girls really enjoy it and are actually quite good. It was fun playing with all six of us. I think the longest game lasted almost and hour and a half.
Thanks for visiting Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas 2010

A most merry Christmas from us to you! This photo was taken on Abby's new camera (though it's obvious she didn't take this photo.)

She brought it to church Christmas morning so she would have a chance to try out her camera.

Once again, may each of you have a most blessed celebration of the Christ child and a happy and healthy new year.

Jon, Sheri, Abby, and Emma Petering

Emma's Looses First Tooth

The headline tells the story. (And please, kindly ignore the "breakfast" around her mouth. We took the pic early in the morning.) Emma finally lost her first tooth. Unlike her sister, Emma lost it at school - in the library. She came home Tuesday proudly wearing a little tooth-shaped plastic case around her neck with said tooth inside. According to Emma, when you lose a tooth at school, they send you to the school nurse who issues the tooth case.
And yes, the Tooth Fairy left evidence of her arrival overnight.

Camping 2010

Camping has become an annual autumn vacation for us. For the past three years, we have journeyed to Garner State Park - about 2 hours northwest of San Antonio. The plan was to go with friends this year, but last-minute illness prevented that plan from happening. So, last Thursday morning, we began the 5 1/2 hour journey to Garner.
Once there, we set up camp in a new location for us, but quite close to where we have been before. This time, we added electricity to the mix. And I have to say, once you go electric, you never go back! It was great having a coffee maker, lights, and the ability to recharge devices.
The weather was not as good as was hoped. We encountered rain nearly every day. The longest it ever rained was about an hour, so that wasn't too bad. The ground was quite dry, so it soaked the rain up instead of making mud.
The girls 8th birthday took place the Friday we were there. So, we celebrated camping style - with gifts we brought plus peach cobbler made over an open fire as their "birthday cake."
We spent quite a bit of time exploring the Frio River. And I did convince Sheri to hike up a trail into the hills (almost mountains) to see the Crystal Cave. It wasn't too far only about a mile - but that's a hard climb up and a steep climb back down. It's not much of a cave, but it's something. I think what impressed her the most was the view.
We headed back on Sunday morning. Oh, and one more thing we did new: we visited Bucee's in Luling, TX on our way out and on our way back. For you Texas folk, you know what I'm talking about. But for those of you who don't know, check out the link. Let's just say it's the biggest Texas-sized gas station in Texas with 30 gas pumps, as big as a large grocery store inside, and some of the largest restrooms in the world. One recommendation - don't stop there on Sunday like we did. WAY to crowded!
Good trip, good times, and we will do it again.

Camping 2010 Photos

This Week in Our Household

Sheri had surgery on Monday. She has been suffering from chronic sinusitis and other sinus problems for a long time. An ENT recommended she have surgery to correct the problem: a deviated septum. Sheri came through surgery fine and is recovering well.

On Wednesday, our congregation has a number of activities such as Children's choirs and chimes and bells and iYouth and SWAT and worship at 7 pm. There's a meal thrown in there for everyone as well. Anyway, we are usually all there together as a family - the girls are in choir and chimes and I usually am scheduled to lead worship most Wednesdays. So, Sheri stayed at home - still recovering - leaving me to take care of the girls midst all the Wednesday evening stuff. We got thru it all okay.

Then it came time for worship. Usually, there are a couple of families with children in worship that my girls are familiar with or friends with. But that was not the case on this day. So, I put the girls in one of the back pews, gave them an order of worship, and went about my business. Abby and Emma did what they were supposed to do - be quiet, listen, sing, pray, etc. I only had to give them the evil daddy/pastor eye once. They worshipped as they have been trained. It has taken almost eight long years of hard work - mostly by Sheri - to get to this point. This Wednesday, the girls past the test. They have developed good worship habits. I could not have been more proud that day.

Persistent Love

Last week, around 2 am, Truman (one of our cats), started moaning and meowing really loud. And we know what that means: he's seen another cat outside a window. So Sheri got out of bed to see what was going on. She turned on the back porch light and saw Milo! Another one of our cats. He must have gotten out when we let the dogs outside to "take care of business" just before we went to bed. She saw him run and called out to me, "Milo's outside!" And I thought, "What???" and got out of bed and went outside with Sheri. We couldn't see him. So we got some flashlights and started looking around our yard and our neighbors'. Nothing. After about 15 minutes, I started thinking to myself: "You know, Milo's a street cat (he literally blew into our neighborhood and we adopted him.) He can take care of himself tonight. We can find him by daylight in the morning and he will probably be waiting right by the door." I told all that to Sheri and I went back to bed.
But Sheri kept at it. She just kept looking. She came back inside and got some cat food and took it outside and called for him to come. And a little while later, I heard her say, "I found him!" I jumped out of bed, went back outside, and saw Sheri with a flashlight trained on Milo, who was just sitting there crying. I said, "Don't move! Keep the flashlight on him!" And I walked around and picked him up.
I gave up, but Sheri was persistent. She had to get Milo that very night because of her love for him - a lot like the love our God has for us as he goes after and finds his lost sheep like you and me. A lot like the love God has shown us in Christ.