Train Up A Child...

This morning, Joshua, Elisabeth, Brenna and I (Patrick) drove out to Grand Fond to pass out some "door hangers".  The hard part was of "where" we passed out the Gospel literature.  We walked down and then back up a really large, steep mountain while stopping to hang some "door hangers" next to mailboxes along the way. Okay...so maybe I also stopped along the way to catch my breathe!  What a climb!

On a side note, the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go..."  and Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tells us how to do this, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

We would be failures as Christian parents if we did not fill our home with Bible verses, singing, and praying!  We love teaching our children about our wonderful God and how real He is!  It is wonderful to pray and talk to a mighty God who answers our prayers and cares for us so wonderfully!  (It is sad how lost people who truly are not saved cannot experience this wonderful relationship we have with our Heavenly Father...they cannot understand why we teach our children to pray and memorize Bible verses...if only they would accept Christ, they to can have this wonderful relationship and know that God is real!)

Just this past week, we had a morning devotion time as we read a book together as a family.  This book gave Kami an incredible idea to help our younger kids (ie: Silas & Callie) to learn how to pray.

Kami came up with this great idea for a felt prayer journal for Silas & Callie.  This is Silas's.

This is Callie's.  Each has their own picture sewn on the front and the pages in-between are felt fabric.  Kami then printed out pictures of family members and glued them to felt fabric as well.  This way, they can "stick" the pictures of family members and words on different pages like a flannel graph board works.

Silas & Callie cannot read yet they love to pray for their family members, grandparents, friends and relatives when they see their pictures!  They love to grab their prayer "journals" and pray for people!

I challenge all parents to fill their homes with Bible versets, singing and praying...

News and Notes...from the French Island!

Little Micah turned 3 months old!  For the most part, he is a pretty content baby.  I love this age where he loves to stare at you and as soon as you make eye contact, he gives a big smile with his one dimple! 

- Our family is doing well.  Elisabeth, Brenna and I still have our bouts with allergies but they seem to be getting less and less as the trees here have stopped blooming for this spring season.  Silas and Callie started running fevers last night but seem to be doing well this morning.  (I still don't understand how they get up at 5:45 - 6:00 A.M. every morning!  It doesn't seem to matter how late they get to bed or if they are sick, they always seem to get up so early.

- We praise the Lord for the rain we have had lately.  After arriving back to St. Barths at the end of May, we haven't had any rain for 6 weeks.  We have had to keep adding water to our cistern from the "city water" that our landlord had connected to our property.  There is a spigot at the side of the road and we run a hose from it to our cistern and put in some water.  We haven't seen the bill for the water yet but we really don't have a choice...water is one thing we have to have every day!  Hopefully soon it will rain for several days to help fill our cistern.

- I have been trying to get someone at the post office (La Poste) here on St. Barths to answer my questions but to no avail.  There is a side door at the main office in town that you ring a doorbell and someone will come help you.  I have tried ringing and knocking at the door to no avail for several days in the past week.  I am trying to find out the price of sending a mail-out of our Gospel tracts & invitations to our Bible Study and also whether it is illegal according to French law to put stuff in mailboxes.  If anyone knows what the french law is concerning whether or not you can put flyers in or on mailboxes, please feel free to email me!  (patrickgimenez@mwbm.org)

Until next time.....

Happy Birthday Brenna!

Our Brenna turned 13 today!  That makes 3 teenagers in the same house....a 2-bedroom house...Yikes!

Brenna is our spunky girl.  She has always loved guns, rough & tumble wrestling, Daniel Boone & western movies and also packs a punch that is as good as any 13 year-old boy.  So, I have to admit that it was kind of sad when she got so excited about opening up presents which were earrings, necklaces, and colored lip-gloss.  I thought to myself..."What happened to my little gun toting girl that still wants to shoot her own deer?"  Then, momma had to remind me that she was blossoming into a young lady with young lady desires. 

We went out to breakfast this morning to our local bakery.  We ate chocolate croissants and brioche bread and just had a good time talking.  On the way there I told her that I was very proud of her.  You see, as her father, I have always appreciated the fact that when she has done wrong, she quickly confesses her sin, sincerely asks for forgiveness and works her hardest to not do it again.  Her tender heart has always been special and I love her attitude towards our Lord.  She wants to truly please her Heavenly Father and her mother and I as well. 

We love you Brenna!  You make our lives fun, special and with never a dull moment!  We praise the Lord for you and cherish our times together!  Happy Birthday!

Love, Daddy

Our Earthquake...and our day...

The last time we had an earthquake, it was a 4.7 at night and the kids slept through it.  (I always said our kids could sleep through an earthquake!)...

At least this time the kids were awake and felt their first earthquake which was a 5.2!  Apart from the feeling of being totally out of control, everything is perfectly fine. 

We had a great lunch with Maria today.  We ate lunch and then Kami, Maria, and the girls all worked at cutting out the material for our Christmas outreach gift this year.  Then, we gathered around the TV and watched a sermon by Pastor Jack Trieber titled "The Happy Life".  It was a great sermon and well worth listening to.  (You can find it  on North Valley Baptist Church's website and the sermon date was 4/29/12.)

So for now, we are going to eat dinner while thinking that every passing car that rumbles on by is an aftershock!