Judgment House Continued

Judgment House Blessings

These past two days have been incredible!  3 members of my extended family made personal decision to invite Jesus into their hearts.  They all accepted the free gift that God offers to those that make that choice.

Salvation Is a Free Gift

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

The word grace means "undeserved favor." It means God is offering you something you could never provide for yourself: forgiveness of sins and eternal life, God's gift to you is free. You do not have to work for a gift. All you have to do is joyfully receive it, Believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ died for you!

What is most amazing is that one of those decisions came from my 8 year old nephew Alex.  He went through the Judgement House drama and then went forward and made a decision later telling us that “Jesus was calling me to him”.  This made for a very interesting ride home Friday night as his younger 6 year old sister Haley (who saw parts of the drama and heard about her brother’s decision) was full of questions about heaven and hell and who Satan is and how he became Satan.  This lead to a great discussion about Adam and Eve and Satan’s fall in which Spencer and Marizza both stepped in to help Haley understand these important questions.  We all decided that we would continue this discussion on Saturday at the picnic we had planned for the next day.

Pumpkin Patch and Family Picnic

Today, Saturday October 28th our bible study class went to the pumpkin patch for some family picture opportunities and then afterwards had a picnic. During our picnic we brought Spencer’s children’s bible and Melissa read to them the story of Adam and Eve. This sparked some discussion and it was a great teaching moment with a very captive audience. Below is a very interested group of young children eager to know more about God’s word.


The rest of the time in the park was dedicated to silliness, fun and pure playground madness. We thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather and took an opportunity to take lots of pictures!

La Colcha

la colcha (Spanish for blanket)

My mom gave us our Christmas gift early this year. It was truly a labor of love for her in creating this gift. She crocheted us an afghan and has put not only her time but an enormous amount of love into making this one of a kind gift. She called us this week to tell us she was finished with it and wanted to give to us both in person. We made arrangements to meet her after work at our house. She brought it over and we both waited with bated breath as she revealed her magnificent work of art and warmth. It was beautiful! We both remarked at the detailed pattern and the luxurious feel of the afghan.
My mom joked that she wanted us to sign a “afghan prenup” so that she would ensure that she would get it back if we ever ended up in “splitsville”. Nice one mom!
I have only been able to “use” the blanket at limited times due to someone always wrapping herself up in it before I can ever get a chance to see it. See for yourself.

Judgement House

Judgement House

Today was our second day of Judgement House at White Oak Baptist Church. The story behind how we got involved with Judgement House is a testimony to how God has used me and my family to serve. Judgement House is an eight-scene walk through drama which tells the story of several young people and their daily challenges. A guide leads small groups from scene-to-scene as the story unfolds. One teenager chooses to accept Jesus Christ and another chooses to reject Him. Dying in an unfortunate calamity such as a fatal kidnapping, the individuals are catapulted into their respective eternal destinations. The consequences of the choices they made are revealed as some are doomed for Hell and others are welcomed to Heaven by Jesus.
The main reason we are enjoying working with this church is the youth. They are a “sold out” group of students that Love Jesus and want to get the message out to their community. We are not members of this church but we were invited by a member, Emily Jackson, a 6th grader who goes to middle school with Marizza and she and her mother invited us to help out with their program. Our church, Second Baptist Church has put on Judgement House productions in the past but I have never participated in one.
This is a small 350 active member church that has a huge undertaking in putting on this drama. We had our first presentation yesterday Wednesday October 25th for church members. It was technically a dress rehearsal however; it was a full production and 4 people made decisions to accept Jesus as their savior. Tonight was for church member friends and family members and 3 more made decisions. What an incredible witness these youth are having on the people that are for the most part church friends and family!

Hispanic Heritage

Hispanic Heritage Program

This morning Spencer narrated the story of The Little Red Hen for his classroom’s performance as the other children acted it out on stage. In the tale, the little red hen finds a grain of wheat, and asks for help from the other farmyard animals to plant it. No one is willing to help. When the wheat matures, she asks for help to harvest it, then thresh it, then mill it, and bake the flour into bread. At each stage she gets no volunteers. Finally she asks who will help her eat the bread. All the previous non-participants eagerly volunteer, but she declines their help and eats it with her chicks, leaving none for others.
The story is applied in teaching children the virtues of good work ethics and personal initiative.

Spencer also “directed” some of the other kids who needed some help when they forgot their lines by whispering them from his chair across the stage. Unfortunately, with a live microphone in his hand the audience could hear him “whisper” the lines to the children. It was a very entertaining morning for us and Spencer later showed us his flag that he created for the program making sure that we took a picture of it.


There was a live Mariachi band, Mariachi Perla Tapatia, that played throughout the performances. They were very good and added a very festive flair to the morning. The kids cheered whenever they heard a band member do their "gritos" (shouts and cries given at certain times in a song and are essential to the character of the music). The picture below is of a former Mark Twain student that was in the band and was recognized by Mr. Lowry. It was very exciting for him to see his former student perform for the current students.

Texans vs Jaguars

Texans vs. Jaguars

Today we witnessed something that comes about as often as Haley’s comet. The Texans won another game! Ha ha, anyway we went to Reliant Stadium today with Melissa’s dad and brother-in-law. We had a great time and really enjoyed the beautiful weather God provided as the roof was open and their was a crispness in the air that when you breathed in deeply it made you really feel alive. One of the most memorable moments for us was at halftime when the place-kicker for the Jaguars came out early while the Katy Tiger Band known as the "Roarin band from Tigerland" was still on the field. Incredibly, he set up his tee at about the 35 yard line and proceeded to take kicking practice while the band was still on the field in the middle of their performance. As we watched, the band circled around and while the place-kicker began to step off to prepare to kick the band crossed right in front of the ball and he had to sidestep the instruments coming right at him!! The crowd loved it and began laughing and cheering that they “blocked” his attempt to kick the ball. The picture above was taken from with Melissa's cellphone so the quality is not that great. Enjoy!

Battle Red Run

Battle Red Run

Melissa and I participated in a 5K run today benefiting the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center. Melissa's longtime friend Jennifer also ran with us. Afterwards, there was a fun after party held inside the Methodist Training Center. There was food and beverages along with music, prize giveaways and the awards ceremony. We also got a chance to get on the astro turf inside the training center and participate in several fun activities. We enjoyed a fun game of "beanbag toss" and passed a football around. We wrapped up the event with body fat tests which the results only indicated that we needed more exercise... :-(

Arboretum & Yadda Yadda

Arboretum and Yadda Yadda

Today the girls attended a mother daughter retreat called "Yadda Yadda Junior". Yada Yada Jr. is a one-day Saturday event designed especially for 3rd-6th grade girls and their mothers. The main goal of Yada Yada Jr. is to help girls build a firm foundation in God's Truths regarding worth and healthy relationships before they are sent contradictory messages from society.

The boys had an adventurous time at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. We explored several trails and saw salamanders, wild berries, worms, a cardinal, moss, bees and beautiful butterflies. We also went into the discovery rooms where we made a leaf rubbing and put together a wooden snake puzzle. All in all it a very fun day for all of us!

Wedding Anniversary

2 Year Anniversary

Melissa and I celebrated a milestone together on Sunday October 8th. We have been married for two solid, action packed years. Melissa wants credit for the "dating years" to count towards our time together. I tried to tell her that was "bonus" time together but she was not amused. Melissa's parents, took us out for a nice steak dinner and we were joined by Erin and John Garza along with little Zachary. We had a very enjoyable time and have been extremely blessed by so many friends and family to share our memories with. Thank you Jesus for blessing our marriage convenant.    

Faith Houston - CityFest 2006

CityFest Houston 2006

Today was an amazing day for us. We witnessed changed lives and the power of Jesus Christ moving throughout the festival while we served. Everywhere you looked people were loving on each other, praying for one another, sharing the gospel with friends and strangers alike. One of the best moments happened while watching the extreme motorcross exhibition. When there was a time to make decisions for Jesus, they came forward in waves. It was so amazing to see so many decisions made for Christ... so many changes lives. They came here one way and left a better way.

Fish'n with Popose

Fish'n with Popose

Nikolas, Spencer and Marizza were out of school on Monday so we decided to go on a quick fishing trip to Sylvan Beach & Pier in La Porte, Texas. Joining us were Popose and Uncle Albert. We all enjoyed the nice weather and ate our lunch on the pier. We caught many fish though none were "keepers". We saw amazing things like an eel, a blowfish, and several jellyfish. Many thanks for God's wonderous creations.