Work From Home?

Hello to my friends out there! It's been a LONG time and I've been wanting to update for a while now, but literally haven't had the time! We've been BUSY!

Moriah started back to school on August 6 and so far, I'm not liking it one bit. We are NOT doing A Beka this year (sad, but true) due to finances being tight, so we went the route of K12, which is a virtual school, all online learning, with SOME book learning. It's hard to get used to and I am about to have a nervous breakdown over it. I have found myself praying that God will somehow make a way for me to get the stuff she needs from A Beka (which I am a HUGE fan of), but it hasn't happened yet.

Now, if that was all I had to deal with, I would probably deal with it. But with the transitioning to Youth Pastors an hour away, and Darren working mostly part time right now, he's been working overtime trying to find a full time job that will allow us to move closer to the church. It hasn't happened yet, but we are praying and wanting the will of God more than anything. I'm sure He has the best job and home lined out for us. Just being me, I am anxious for it all to come together real soon! Like yesterday! LOL!

We have a lot going on at church. We are planning a yard sale to raise money for the youth. The yard sale will be on Saturday, September 8, from 8 to 1, in Germantown. If you're in the area, stop by! We have revival coming up starting Sunday with Bro. Mike Switzer! We are looking forward to that! In November, a Youth Saturday is being planned! There will be Youth Rally on Friday night, the 16th of November, then the next day will be Youth Saturday! We are excited about that, too!

I've been doing some research on "Working From Home" advertisements and needless to say, most of them, if not ALL of them, are scams. What amazes me is, if they AREN'T scams, why aren't more people going for them???  It sounds too good to be true! Does anyone know of a legit "work from home" scheme that pays money? LOL!

We had our first choir practice with the youth group last night and I must say how happy I was that it turned out so well!!! There are only about ten young people that we are working with and I was amazed at how well they sang! It was amazing!!! They love to sing, so that helps! And I even have some who show interest in playing various instruments, so maybe I can get away from the piano some! It's hard to direct a choir from a piano, but I've done it! I'm not sure how I will act if I can actually get away and be out there where I can get the most from them! Singing away from the piano makes me feel, um, what's a politer word here for (naked)! LOL!!!

Well, I don't want to write a book right now, so I better get going. There's been so much more going on in our lives lately than I have time to write about! But I would love to hear from my friends when you all get a chance! I must say, I DO NOT miss Facebook! I felt trapped while on it, but now I feel free! Does anyone know what I mean? I feel safer!

Good day to all my friends and I hope your lives are happy and fulfilled! And blessed!
I am!
Jennifer

Transitioning

Hello friends! I hope you all remember who I am! It has been forever since I've blogged and for those of you who are interested, I am no longer in the Face Book crowd. Privacy really became an issue and I felt it best to leave. Surely there are better ways to keep up with friends.

Anyway, a lot has been transpiring in our lives in the last two to three months. Darren is almost done with his first semester of his new college, on his way to finishing his Bachelors! I will be glad when that's done, but something new is on our horizon! We have recently taken on a new position that will involve a move sometime in the near future. How near, I don't know yet. It will depend on Darren's work and if he gets the full-time position that he's been notified about. After he finds out, which will hopefully be in the next month, we will know when we can move. We are planning on moving to Ohio because we have taken on the Youth Pastor position at Bro. Bruce Maguire's church in Germantown, Ohio, Route 4 Holiness Church. We are excited about it! The thing that most awes me about this move is that I actually have a desire to do it! A year ago, I couldn't say that! I had been so wounded and laid open, so to speak, that I didn't think I would EVER want to work for God again, but with time and the love of God's family, I have healed inside and out (PTL!!) and feel ready to "sail on" and do something for the Lord. It's hard to imagine ever doing something for the Lord when you feel you've been shipwrecked and battered and scarred and bruised, but when you allow time and the Lord to heal you, you might be surprised at what you will do. I am thankful I serve a HEALER! Not only of the body, but of the mind, heart and spirit! So we start this coming Sunday at our new church! I shouldn't have any trouble remembering when we started attending Route 4 because it will be on my (GASP!!) 39th birthday! 39!!!!! AAAAGGHHH!!! It is hard to believe I am that old! I feel every bit of it, but when I look in the mirror, I look as young as ever! LOL!!! I can't tell that I've aged a bit since my teen years! LOL! Well, maybe a little! My daughter saw a picture of me when I was in my early twenties and she wanted to know what that "skinny" girl was! Now, that's bad, when she can't even recognize her own mom! But I have put on weight! I weigh about 50 pounds more now than then... (sigh...) Maybe now that I'm laying off of pop, I might lose some weight... sure would be nice before I get pregnant again!

Anyway, I don't have a whole lot of time at the present to really catch up, but I thought I would share a bit of what's going on and GOING TO BE going on.... (hope you caught that..lol!) So hopefully I can write again soon! God bless you all and hopefully I can hear from my "listeners" soon!

His Servant,
Jennifer

Catching Up

Wow! It's been a while since I've been on here! We've been extremely busy with home school, Darren graduating from Ivy Tech (YEAH!), spring cleaning and everything else! I'm ready for a break, but I don't see one in sight yet!

A while back, a preacher had prophesied to me that there are many storms. He used the word "are" as if to say "right now", but I knew it wasn't "right now", but that it was in the future, whether sooner or later, I did not know, but I knew I was going to have to get a bulldog grip on God, if I was going to pull through. The man of God also said that I would need to walk by faith and not by feeling during those storms. Well, I thought I had a strong enough grip, but not long after the storms started coming did I realize I didn't have as strong a grip as I thought. In fact, I felt like I had lost ALL grip. I'm only now realizing that, although I feel like I've lost grip on Him and felt like a failure in the process, He never lost His grip on me. Talk about truly losing control of life! If there is one thing I've learned in the recent weeks, it's that God TRULY is in control of our lives and there will be times when we will have NO control and there is nothing we can do about it but stand still and let God do His work. There have been a couple of times I've even looked at Darren and said, "I've been saved for over 20 years and I've had some rough battles and fierce storms, but never had I felt like I was capable of losing faith in God over it. Somehow my faith sustained me and I was still able to trust in the middle of it all, but now, after all these years of being saved, you would think I would NEVER feel the way I'm feeling right now!" My faith in God, my trust in Him, my hope in His promises, were all shaken and honestly, I shied away from singing songs that talked about healing, that talked about how He keeps His promises! To my shame, I know, but I was so shaken, I didn't know for sure what I believed! I knew what my head was telling me and that someday I might pull out of it, but my heart REFUSED to believe anymore! Talk about losing grip, but thankfully God understood my anxieties and fears, my questions and my doubts and kept His grip on me when I felt like I had lost it ALL! He's spoken to me in dreams to comfort me and let me know that HE will STILL get glory in my life and He has a plan and that it will all work out! I don't know what God has up His sleeve, but one thing I know. He has never failed me. He is God alone. Even though I feel shaken to the core and wonder if I will survive the storm, He is NOT shaken. He has all things in control and I must surrender my will and what I want done to Him and let Him have complete control. I don't know what all the outcome will be, but I know He loves me!

 This is my sweetheart! He graduated on Saturday, May 5, 2012, from Ivy Tech Community College with an Associate Degree in Education. I'm so proud of him! I love him!

 And this is his happy and proud family! I hate having my picture taken! I can't believe people actually have to look at me like that! LOL! Of course, my little girl is beautiful! She's photogenic! Darren looks handsome

 ~ in his gown! ~

This past week, Darren and I celebrated being a couple for nine years! I remember a couple of weeks before I met him, I had a grandpa in the hospital hanging onto life and we got the call (I was at work) to come to the hospital because he was slipping away and I remember crying on the way to the hospital, talking to the Lord, telling Him that I hated going through something like this because I didn't have anyone. I had never lost anyone close to me before and I was finding it difficult to go through it alone. I told the Lord I wish I had someone to share the hurt with me, and be there for me. I got to the hospital and it looked bad for a while, but he stabilized! I was able to go home and Papa held on for days. The next weekend, a friend and I went to Bro. David Miller's meeting he has at the end of April and there I met Darren and we started talking. A week later, he came down and we went to a gym where the graduation banquet attendees were gathering and we had a wonderful time! About 4:30 in the morning, we left and made our way to the church, where Darren was staying and dropped him off. I had a couple of girls with me, and before we left, Darren handed me a letter to read. At the end of that letter, he asked if I would be his girlfriend! I thought it was so sweet. It made me think of being an elementary school kid! LOL! So, of course, I said YES! That was probably close to 5am, maybe. Me and the girls headed on home and I had no more gotten home and settled into bed, when the phone rang. It was the call I dreaded. My papa had passed away just a few minutes before. (This is making me cry...) I sat on the side of my bed in shock, and all I could think of was that God had given me my hearts' desire, giving me someone to share my grief with, just minutes before Papa passed away. Ever since then, Darren has been my shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh with, love, my reason to live. I know this is probably getting mushy to you all, but I stand in awe of God's goodness. He knows how to provide anchors in our lives. Darren is my anchor, given to me by God. Jesus is my ultimate anchor, but I am also thankful for the anchor he's given me in Darren. Moriah is icing on the cake. :) I love my family.

And I better quit now. Sorry for a long blog. Haven't been on here for a while and making up for lost time. I'm listening to the song "I Trust You" by James Fortune. It's beautiful. God bless you, my friends.

~Jennifer~

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a good Easter. The weather sure was nicer than it has been in the past, where Easter is concerned! Thankful for Easter! To me, it is the most important day of the year to celebrate!

This past week has been the longest of my life, I think. I didn't realize it, but I see it now after the Lord was moving in our service last night. One of our lay preachers in the church was preaching our vesper service and he was preaching about getting a double portion of God! And he mentioned that he kept feeling like there was someone there who had been battling the devil all week, and how the devil has really been giving someone the run-around, and that's when I realized that was EXACTLY what had been going on! With me, at any rate. I'm sure there were others, but it's funny how you get into a battle and it's so easy to get confused and wondering what in the world is going on and not even sure which way to turn or go, and feeling LOST! I won't go into ALL the battles I've faced last week, but I will tell you this, I don't know if I've ever had an onslaught from the pits of Hell as heavy, hard and FAST as it hit last week! Now mind you, this is NOT a pity party I'm throwing here! I am just sitting here amazed that I did NOT know what was going on for the most part! I knew I was in a battle for my life, but there were some things going on that I thought was just LIFE when in fact it was the devil trying to make me THINK it was just LIFE! He has a way of making us as children of God ACCEPT the things he throws at us, when we need to realize he is just trying to rob us of our joy, peace and faith in our FAITHFUL GOD!!!! I would love to honestly say the battle's over, but it isn't. I will say though, I feel renewed and have a sense of direction, knowing what I need to do now to keep focused instead of being so confused. The devil is the author of confusion and I am so thankful for one young man who obeyed God and showed me that the devil is behind all the turmoil taking place right now.

I am so thankful to have my little family in church for Easter. What a blessing it is to go to the House of the Lord and celebrate His life in us!!! Because He got up, I have hope in this life AND in the one to come!

So glad He's alive! Hallelujah!

Surrendering Dreams

We all have dreams. We all have visions, desires, goals. I've been thinking. If you want to build a house, you must first consult an architect. He has the degree and the necessary know-how to bring about just what you need. At the consultation, you sit down with him or her, tell them what you desire in that house, and then you must TRUST him/her to draw up something that will at least MEET your expectations, and hopefully even EXCEED them. If you don't trust that architect, and want to try to do the work for him, you might leave out something very important or hinder his work so much, that he gets frustrated and gives up on you! You have to trust that he knows what you desire for your home, let him do the work, then he will show you what he drew up. You might be surprised at the things he might have drawn up, things you would have never dreamed possible, or even thought of at all! Because he is a master at what he does. He's drawn many homes and has experience in his field. He should be able to be trusted.

I said all that to say this: God is the master builder of our homes, our lives. I remember praying a while back about some dreams and desires I had and was wondering WHY I wasn't seeing them fulfilled! My heart was hurting and broken because inside, I knew I had to surrender them to Him if I was ever going to get peace of mind. I remember telling the Lord in that prayer, "God, I have dreams that are NOT sin, they are not bad! In fact, Your Word PROMISES these things! But I feel like I have to give them up! WHY??? Other people have their dreams fulfilled!! Why not me??? I don't want to give them up! I'm afraid I will never be happy! I'm afraid I will never see those dreams fulfilled if I surrender them!"

How little I knew... God is my Master Builder! He is building my home the way He wants it and I have to learn to trust that He will build it right, and most often build it better than I ever could have! And you know what else I have learned? We don't say we surrender our dreams, as to annihilate them, but give those dreams to God, let Him make something beautiful out of them, and place them in the "building plan" He has for you! Just like I would desire a huge kitchen in my new home, the architect knows what I want, but I have to let go, let him know my desire, then STEP BACK and let him do what he does best!!!! I could take the work from him, too scared to let him do it, because I'm afraid he won't make my kitchen right, and thus cheat myself out of a fabulous kitchen, all because of my FEAR of LETTING GO and trusting the builder.

I hope you understand my point. God CAN and  SHOULD be trusted as the builder of your home. He knows your desires, He knows what you have need of, and He's already got it all figured out in the 'plans', so please don't hinder His work by tying His hands with your doubt, fear, unbelief, and lack of trust! He can do the work, and He will do it better than you could ever imagine!

If you will trust Him.

Counting Blessings

Hallelujah! My beautiful, but often stubborn, daughter has finally mastered riding her bicycle without her training wheels. She's been trying to ride without those dumb wheels for a while now, but has been too scared to let go, but now, TODAY, she has decided to conquer it all on her own! What a shock to look out the window and see her just SAILING past the window like she's been riding for years! This mommy is proud and so thankful!

The white bass are hitting down at the river now. It sure is early for them. They don't usually hit until late April til Early May. I think this whole world is messed up. But hey! It makes for nice family outings! After Darren got off work yesterday, he came home, loaded up the fishing gear, I loaded up the cooler and picnic supplies, and we headed down to the lake and ate sandwiches and fished, enjoying our rare family time together! So thankful for the day we had, making memories as a family. We caught a couple of bass last night and then Darren went fishing again early this morning and caught a couple more nice sized fish, but he had to go to work, so couldn't stay. He will go again tonight. I'm hoping for a good catch! Just wish I could go, but he won't get off work in time to come get us before it gets dark. I'm wanting some fish!

I'm going to try my hand at doing some fried chicken a bit different. I like the skin ON and my skin gets too hard sometimes. We will see what happens. If it looks as good as it's sounding to me right now, I will post pics later. (I came back and posted this pic.. Here is my chicken after it was done... Please overlook the towel under it.... It had to drain on SOMETHING! :) But the chicken was good!)

This woman is thankful for the warm weather we have been blessed with and looking forward to many more days of nice sunshine and warm air! So thankful for God and His promises! And His faithfulness! The verse that says 'the trying of your faith worketh patience'? It's been going through my mind a lot the last couple of days. I've been dealing with some health issues that are troubling me, and I feel like it's a trial of my faith! I will come out on top, with the Lord's help! I know what God has said and I know what He's promised, and He will hold to His promises! Of this I am confident!!!! This is a pic of what God told me to buy and pray over, so I bought TWO pairs! I'm praying for twins!!!! :)   Call me whatever you want! I believe God will move! I don't know when or how, or if it will even be by ME giving birth to them, but God has heard my desire, this I know, and He will move for me!

One last thing, this is what my sweet hubby bought for me for my birthday last year and I have loved this thang!!! I love primitive themes and wasn't real crazy about Americana until I saw this bedspread! I won't have any other! It is 'til death do us part' on this one! LOL!

Today, I am just counting my blessings and savoring them slowly. The days will come when I will feel challenged to STAY focused on them, so I want to take the time to soak it into my brain all the good things HE has done for me and how blessed I REALLY am.

I am blessed.

The Mark Lowery Influence

I'm trying to decide if Mark Lowery is having a positive influence on my 7 year old daughter or a negative one! She is good with one-liners, and she uses them liberally and often at all the wrong times! He often refers to his mother in his "speeches", alluding to his childhood, referring to himself as a hyper-active child. In his childhood, according to Mark, he had testing done to see if he had mental problems, only to find out he was very normal (I still think his mom needs to get a 3rd, 4th, and 5th opinion, or as many as necessary). According to him, his mother said, MARK! I was hoping you at least had brain damage! What an inspiration to my growing daughter! When she gets frustrated with me, she says, MOM! I was hoping you at least had brain damage! How can I correct my daughter when she is so plainly influenced by what WE call CHRISTIAN comedians? LOL!!! He often talks about his mother being a screamer. He asked the question - "Do you know what a SCREAMER is?" I hear those words ringing from the lips of my daughter, a healthy helping of air from her lungs accompanying them! In her way, she's telling me that I am screaming, or SHE is screaming and wants to make sure I know what a screamer is! We were going down the road the other day, and she made the remark that garage doors were going to fly open any minute. Again, referring to Mark Lowery 101, he said everyone knows when his mom hits that "certain pitch" when garage doors all over the neighborhood start flying open. Ugh.... And you know what? Mark isn't the only 'influence' in my darling daughter's life! No thanks to Rodney Rathbone from Adventures in Odyssey! He was carrying a jar of bees in his backpack and was seeking revenge on a teacher when another student discovered what he was going to do and threatened to tell! Rodney grabs him by the shirt collar and says, "If you tell Dr. H, I'm gonna POUND ya!!!!" One night, when Moriah was around three years old, she kept getting out of bed for some reason or another and I kept telling her to get back in bed. Finally, I told her if she got out of bed again, I was going to spank her and she said calmly, serenely, and SERIOUSLY, "If you DO, I'm gonna POUND ya!"
WHAT?
 Sorry.. But I had to laugh!!!
We had this conversation once: Moriah, doesn't it bother you that Mommy works her head off around here and you don't help? ~ Her answer: Mom, I'm just trying to get some use out of you!
Ugh!
What do you do with a daughter who is full of one-liners and is full of wit and grit? I must tell you...
Life is never dull around the Jones' home.