exciting month of March

NATHAN TURNED 13!!

MAN NIGHT

Both of Nathan's grampas have passed away, but God

has brought other men into his life to fill

that role and be spiritual mentors.

Matt had a Man Night with Nathan and these men

to mark his transition from boyhood to becoming

a man of God.

Nathan knew something was planned but didn't know what.

Grace and I fixed one of Nathan's favorite meals, set

the table and left.

Then the men arrived and enjoyed the meal.

After the meal, they had a "ceremony" where

each man shared some wisdom and encouragement

with Nathan about becoming a man of God ...

giving him a "gift" which represented their message.

Our gift to Nathan was an adult study Bible,

leather cover with his name printed on it...

encouraging him to use it as his guide to

living for God.

After this time of encouragement, the men

all prayed over Nathan and then enjoyed

ice cream sundaes.

When Grace and I arrived home, Nathan was

glowing and couldn't wait to tell me what

all the men had shared.

(back row - Matt, Jerry Lamey, Bill Deets, Uncle George Kirik)

(Front Row - Pastor Roy, John Kurtich, and Nathan)

CELEBRATING NATHAN'S BIRTHDAY

A couple years ago, we decided that we would change our birthday

tradition of  birthday dinner with "grandparents" on

their birthday to a family day 

with Matt taking the day off work,  once they hit 13.

And since 13 is a big birthday, we made this year

an over night family trip.

We stayed at a hotel in State College PA.

(We rarely stay at a hotel so this was a big deal!)

For a special birthday treat, we took the kids

to Cold Stone Creamery.  They enjoyed

their first Cold Stone experience!

Then the next day, we went to Penn's Caves

for an amazing tour of God's creation.

(Nathan loves geology so this was super cool for him!)

We also started volunteering at our local soup kitchen ...more on that another time!