Living Life

There just aren't enough hours in the day. At least for blogging anyway. Trying to find the balance. Thanks for stopping by...I'll be updating soon. When I find some time that is =). Have a blessed day! -jenna

To Dylan Rider, 18 Months

My second-born, sweet-spirited child,
You are 18 months now and such a delight to be around. Words can't even express the joy that you inspire within my heart each day. When you wake up in the morning you are so excited to see me or daddy, huge smile on your face and ready to go...jumping up and down in your crib like it's a trampoline (sometimes I think you're going to bounce right out!). I call you my bottomless pit because you LOVE to eat and you would eat all the time if I let you. Your favorite foods are eggs with cheese, yogurt, bananas, and applesauce and you can be quite demanding when you are hungry and want your food in front of you! The other day you decided that you love to spin in circles...so much that you spin...and you spin...and you spin until you are so dizzy that you can't even walk anymore. At first I was concerned, but I've accepted this hilarious little quirk and get a good laugh every time you run into the wall. =) There must be something about running into things that intrigues you because you also love to cover your head with your blanket and walk around the room, pulling it off and revealing an adorable grin to my "peek-a-boo". What a silly boy you are.

You adore your big brother (even though he steals toys from you constantly and likes to tackle you with a running start) and there is no one who makes you laugh quite like he can. You both love to run with each other, chasing back and forth and bouncing off the couches. We don't have much room in our humble home but you guys find a way to exert all of your energy in the space that we do have. I love seeing you run to-and-fro like crazy, laughing your heads off and rapidly becoming the best of friends. The other day Jude was gone for the day and you didn't know what to do with yourself...you missed him that much. You will never remember life without your big brother and my prayer is that you two always continue to be close friends. You have the sweetest little voice that I never want to forget. You say "Mama" (sounds like Ma-moo) and "Daddy" and "Gook" (book) and "Ju-Ju" (jude) and "Night-night". You love to snuggle and have your back scratched (you are like your Daddy that way!) and you love playing outside. You would go outside and spend hours out there regardless of weather if I let you.

You have a new baby sister and you have been doing really well with the transition. As your mama I worry that your not getting enough attention, but I think we're figuring that all out pretty well. We find little moments within each day where we can snuggle or read and I cherish those little pockets of time. You love to bring toys and drop them in Quinn's bouncy seat and you pet her head gently and say "awww". Already you are gentle and loving towards her and this tells me you will always be her doting, protective big brother. One of your favorite books is Goodnight Moon and we love to cuddle with you in your rocking chair and read this to you before you go to bed every night. Even now you have a love for reading and will sit contentedly for awhile and flip through all of your picture books. I pray this love for reading will continue for the rest of your life.

Our precious Dilly-Bar, you bless us constantly with your sweet belly laughs and mischievous smiles, your screams, and "sassy" attitude. Our love for you grows each day as we watch you grow, in awe of the person you are becoming. It's only been a year and a half, but it feels like a lifetime of love.

Lovingly, Mama

Sufficient Grace

"My grace is sufficient for you." He whispers to me deep in my spirit. I wake up and feel inadequate...unable to be everything that everyone needs me to be. I know that I don't have enough strength to fulfill all of the expectations thrown my way. The house is dirty...the kids need love and attention...friends need encouraging and conversation...the husband needs support. How can I do it all? The answer is that I can't. So I surrender my efforts and rest in this truth. His grace IS sufficient and His power IS made perfect in weakness. Christ died to set me free...and has called me to love. That is all and that is enough. Everything else will fall into place and I need not stress. All I can do is trust. 

Are you feeling inadequate today? How about stressed? Too weak to do it all? Allow this promise to whisper to your spirit today. His grace is sufficient for you. Below I've put a link to one of my favorite songs by artist Sara Groves. If you said yes to any of the above, listen to it and let it minister to you. May you be blessed as you surrender to God's love and grace. -jenna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7600gaRUAQ

Rest

Taking some time to rest and regroup today. May you be blessed as you spend your day under God's loving care. -jenna

A Reflection of the Heart

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

I received a card in the mail from one of my best friends today (yes, people are still sending mail via USPS and it's a refreshing thing in this hi-tech culture!). The verse on the card struck a chord: "Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another." Proverbs 27:19 (NRSV) All of humanity's hearts are the same...united in a way that begs for relationship and community. This is why social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger are now the norm. We long to be connected, to be recognized and needed. To be a part of something bigger and something grander than the life we've created for our selves. Human hearts communing together. The question begs to be asked: is it possible to truly find communion and relationship through social media like FB and Twitter? Or is our culture heading down a slippery slope where a computer screen sits between friends and face-to-face interaction rarely occurs?

I think that social media is okay in moderation, used as a tool to enrich already established relationships to some degree. But we need to be careful that it does not replace humanity's natural state of living together in person. Sitting down around the table and sharing a homemade meal...giving a hug that comforts a grieving friend...telling a story over a hot cup of tea...taking a walk together on a Spring day...picking up the telephone just to say hi...putting a card in the mail and encouraging a friend with tangible paper and words. We will always long for a heart-to-heart connection with others.

Today I challenge you to follow what your heart is saying and reach out to someone outside of the social media realm. Allow your heart to commune in person with another in a way that deepens your connection and brings richness to your day. As your heart reflects another's, you'll discover a joy that goes beyond the computer screen and physically touches someone's life with genuine human kindness. Being old-fashioned has never been so rewarding. May God be glorified in all the "good works" that you do today! -jenna

A Conquering Faith

"Our faith is the victory that has conquered the world. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:4-5

We encounter overwhelming situations everyday. What is it that will make the difference and allow us to rise above? A faith that can conquer. Not faith in the people surrounding us or in the things that we own. People just aren't dependable and possessions just clutter our lives. I'm talking about a faith that overcomes because it is grounded in The One who has already overcome this world and it's flaws. Faith in Jesus, the Son of God. 


Are you facing a situation today that requires you to rise above? Struggling to figure out how? Discover this man they call Jesus and put your faith in him. Take 5 minutes of your day and confess your struggle and surrender it to him. Believe that this Son of God can handle what you have given over to him for this day. 2 Timothy 1:12 says, "Yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." Be convinced that He is able and trust. If that's all that you can do today, that is enough. He is enough. -jenna

You Need Only Be Still

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people...but I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord...the Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Exodus 13:21-22;14:4;14

Wow. This passage is so chock full of God's wisdom I don't even know where to start! Perhaps there is no larger example of God exuding his mighty power than this complete passage (Exodus 13:17-14:28) where Moses and the Israelites are led through the bottom of the Red Sea. They were terrified. Trapped. Seemingly at death's door as Pharaoh's army approached seeking their destruction. They questioned Moses..."Why did you lead us here to die this way?". But their God had a plan. A plan they could not see or even comprehend. God would open up the sea and walk them through it's floor, delivering them from death and taking them to a land where prosperity reigned. 

We can draw several conclusions from this passage. First, God is always walking ahead of us and guiding us. We can count on this and follow his lead "day or night". As long as we remain in this position of dependence and of following, he will guide and reveal his plan. Second, God uses the darkness in our lives, the armies and battles, to reveal his glory and strength. If we are still and surrender to the fight, allowing the "army" to approach without losing our cool, God will fight and be glorified through us. This isn't always comfortable, is humbling, and often pretty darn difficult, but always the best place to be. Third, when God is glorified through us and when we can only see a vast ocean of "death" in front of us, God will reveal his mighty plan and open up the waterways...redeeming us in ways we never could imagine and bringing us a joy that blows everything else "out of the water" (ha!). 

What is the ocean in front of you today? Are you allowing God to lead or are you desperately trying to hold onto a situation that seems inevitably marked with destruction? Today's challenge is this: Be still. Let God lead. Allow Him to use whatever the situation is for his glory. Think you're going to drown in that ocean? Think again. He's going to open it wide and dry the land...and lead you to a place where you thought you'd never go. -jenna

Whose We Are: Exodus 13:1-16

We think we are in control. We think that we are our own...that our days are ordered by our decisions and actions and dreams. That our parents and families have inscribed a name upon us that identifies ourselves and the generations to come. We scurry and plan...we busy our day with what we deem important...we set in motion those ideals that we are passionate about. We surround ourselves with those who support and esteem us. This is our life.

I'm going to be bold and say that we have it wrong. We are not our own. Our days are not ultimately determined by our steps. The peace and prosperity that graces our lives blinds us from who we are...whose we are. My bible reading today took me to the book of Exodus chapter thirteen where God instructs Moses to lead his people to sacrifice and observation. To remember the mighty hand of God in the past and to commemorate where they had come from. How God had been faithful to His promise and that this was to inspire sacrifice in their lives. A giving back of the "firstfruits", demonstrating that all they were and all they owned was ultimately His. This was to be "a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."

This is a humbling endeavor. Acknowledging that who we are is not founded in our parents, our children, our possessions, our endeavors...who we are is rooted in Christ and his mission. We are made in his image and set free through his sacrifice on the cross. It's as simple as that. The challenge today? Surrender. Give everything back to our God who has promised freedom and victory, joy and love. Let go of what is rightfully His and what we have been led to believe is our own.

What symbol marks your forehead? That the Lord has brought you to where you are and is leading you into the future...or that you are still struggling to have all the control? It's time to let go and remember whose you are. -jenna

Welcome to my little slice of the internet. I hope you can put your feet up, savor that warm cup of tea, and sit alongside me as I blog the daily experience of becoming who I am in Christ. Hopefully I can point you towards who He is...our knees bent on the earth side-by-side, revering who He is and learning who we are together in community with Him.