nobody warned us about Texas Tarantulas

You know how people say everything in Texas is BIGGER?  It's true.  Even the spiders.  Let us tell you a story....

Luke and Ellie were playing peacefully in our front "yard."

When suddenly, {intense music crescendo} enter...the Tarantula.

See the bricks, those are normal-sized bricks.  And that behemoth is 2 feet from our front door!

So Luke and I put on our battle helmets and warrior gear.

And we (I) beat it to a pulp.  Yes, those are guts spilled out on the ground.

Goodbye hairy beast!!!

I googled Texas Tarantula and it's for real.  When I told Jeannette that they make good house pets because they eat beetles and cockroaches, she replied, "But they will also eat our children!"  So we exterminated it.

Why God doesn't answer prayer - a little help from Francis

Our friend Francis Chan offers some wise counsel about why God sometimes does not answer prayer the way we think He should.

Check out these Scriptures and then watch the video...

James 1:6 "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord."

1 Peter 3:7 "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."


James 4:3 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."

Isaiah 1:15 "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood."


Video link:
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/what-should-we-do-about-unanswered-prayer

Ok, so now what's the good news?

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer."

James 4:10 "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

Isaiah 58:9-10 "Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."

Psalm 34:17 "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."

If you want to read a great sermon by Jonathan Edwards called The Most High A Prayer-Hearing God preached in 1735 click here:  http://www.jonathan-edwards.org/Prayer-Hearing.html

New Dresses and Salsa Night

So I came home from school to find Kara and Ellie wearing these brand new adorable dresses.  They announce to me, "Mommy made these dresses for us!"  It's true.  Jeannette has become a seamstress.  (thank you ladies at Ventura for getting her started)

So then tonight my wife says, "Let's make some salsa."  And I says, "Yum!"  And my wife says, "here's a recipe for blender salsa."  And I says, "Yum!"

I think Jeannette is ready for Africa.  She can sew our clothes and make our salsa.  What more do we need??