From John

 Dear Mamaw and Papaw Barnette & Nana and Papa Goff:

I want to show you my cool sling-shot that I bought with my own money in Tennessee in January.  It's warm enough outside now for me to go out in the yard and shoot at targets like toy soldiers and tin cans, and birds, raccoon and ducks.  Dad even bought me some Daisy steel sling-shot ammo.

A sling-shot isn't as cool as a gun
but at least I get to shoot at something.  

Love,

John

The Live Lord's Supper: A CPBC Drama

Special thanks to Ralph Farmer for writing and directing The Live Lord's Supper, which was performed Wednesday night at church.  The folks involved did a great job! My favorite character had to be John, the youngest disciple, played by my own Christopher.  Proud Mama.  :)

Kudos to Ralph's wife Becky for her outstanding job narrating the drama, and who had to read a whole bunch of Hebrew.  Everyone could tell that you had really studied-up, Becky!

CAST

Jesus: Daryl Gilliland

Simon Peter: Kade Jackson

Andrew: Steve Jackson

James, Son of Zebedee:  Al Adams

John: Christopher Barnette

Philip: Lou Schott

Bartholomew: Greg Maschmeier

Thomas: Daryl Bisig

Matthew: Tom Ratliff

James, Son of Alphaeus: Jeff Mahaffey

Thaddeus: Mike Geers

Simon the Zealot: Larry W. Harrell

Judas Iscariot: Ralph Farmer

CREW

Director: Kristen Marcum

Lighting Management: Jill Connor

Audio/Visual Management: Aaron Smith & Greg Campbell

Tallit Seamstress:  Becky Farmer

Playwright: Ralph Farmer

Warm and Happy Thoughts

Wouldn't you know that just when I'm itching for a little sunshine, I found a bunch of pictures on my camera phone today that I'd never uploaded from a warm afternoon last August in the garden of Betty and Hoby Howard.

OK.  So I'm not supposed to have favorites in my congregation.  But I'll be honest and tell you that Miss Betty and Mr. Hoby are definetly two of my favorites.  And not just because they make Tim's favorite homemade dill pickles, or because they always hold our hands when we pray with them,  or because they give us yummy stuff out of their garden... like brussel sprouts, tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, zuchini and squash, grapes, peaches and blackberries.

On this particular day, Betty called me and told me to bring the kids over for an hour so they could have a "shopping spree" in their garden before she and Hoby shut it down for the year.  John said, "Mama, this is even better than King's Island!"  :)

Hoby, if you're reading this, I am much in prayer for those lungs of yours to start working right again!  Here's hoping you're feeling well soon, before it's time to put seeds in the ground...

Snow Day

Well, they were forecasting 3" of snow yesterday, but we wound-up with a tad bit more.  

Ohio continues to defy the prophecy of a certain groundhog who told us last month to expect an early spring....

Add these inches of snow to the rest, and Cincinnati had an average winter, with a total of 21" this year.  (I say "total" because I assume we will not have any more, what with it being March 6th.)  Believe it or not, this is our children's very first snow day of the school year.  Our school systems do not often cancel.  I guess the powers-that-be figured that this one was just too pretty for the children to be stuck in a classroom, and graced them with a final sled-ride or two down a hill.

This morning our family took a nice long walk through the woods of the church grounds to enjoy what looks to be our last big snow for a while...

Below: I am certain that Anna has hands and eyes somewhere in there.  Just can't see 'em.

My angels.

Unfortunately, Anna Jean is not much of a fan of the snow or cold (as seen below).  After about 10 minutes outside, she's ready to pack it up and head inside to get warm.

"For He says to the snow, 'Fall to the earth,' and the torrential rains, His mighty torrential rains, serve as His signature to all mankind, so that all men may know His work." (Job 37: 6-7)