What Just Happened??

Today I officially became a church planter’s wife. Wait, what?? What just happened? I’m inclined to ask for the thousandth time, how we got here. The answer is the Lord led and we followed. It’s crazy, right? To leave the comfort of a full-time job, move your family (again….after you JUST moved them two years ago!), and move to a community where you know no one and no one has invited you here. There was no welcoming committee here to greet us when we moved. No “meet the new pastor” fellowship will be happening.  This little community that we’ve come to minister to isn’t excited or rolling out any red carpets for the new pastor in town. We’ve moved out here to start a church that no one has even asked us to start. Seriously, it’s by far the craziest thing we’ve ever done and I’ve wondered more than once already what in the world we’re doing. But what we’re doing is following the Lord. We’re going when He’s said to go. We’re jumping off the cliff and trusting that He’s going to provide and use us to advance His kingdom. We’re going way out of our comfort zones and relying on Him to make it happen. To build a church from a handful of people who have also crazily decided to join us. We’re believing that He is going to provide and lead the way and make this plant succeed because we believe He desires this. There are and will be many who doubt that we have what it takes. Guess what? WE DOUBT IT TOO!! Ha! Some of you will think that Jay isn’t charismatic enough to get people to follow him. Guess what? He’s not! And we’re thankful for that because we really don’t want people to follow Jay, we want them to follow Jesus. What I know about my husband is that he loves the Lord and desires more than anything that the gospel message be spread and that lives be transformed. Jay can’t do that, but God can. Some of you will doubt my emotional stability to be the support I need to be for Jay and this kind of endeavor. Guess what? I do too!! But what I know is that the Lord has set His treasure in this jar of clay and He can use my weaknesses and work through me despite myself. HE can do this, we can’t. And what will be awesome is knowing that when He does draw people and transform lives and provide a building and funds to operate and chairs to sit in and everything that it takes to make church happen, we will know it was all Him. I won’t lie and say this isn’t scary. It may be the scariest thing this non-risk-taker has ever been a part of. But I won’t live in fear or let the worries and what-ifs consume me. What I’m going to try and do is live in thankfulness. I read a devotional not long ago that pointed out that Jesus knew what was coming when He was facing the cross and all that He was going to have to sacrifice for it. But He remained thankful…THANKFUL!! Isn’t that crazy? It is. But He’s not asking me to take on the cross again, or even asking me to sacrifice like Jesus did. He is asking for sacrifice though and I’m thankful He’s entrusted us with this task. I’m thankful for what He’s provided so far and the way He’s working. He’s called us to trust, not to fear. He’s called us to wholeheartedly abandon ourselves and just trust Him. So I am. “For Who Can Stop the Lord Almighty?” 

Christmas

Here are a few pictures from Christmas! Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday celebrating our Savior's birth!

Attention Grandma! I'm FINALLY posting pictures! :)

Ok, here are a few recent pictures. These kids keep me so busy that it's hard to keep up with everything. Ok, it's mainly Anna that keeps me so busy. :) You'll notice her face in the picture of her in the cowboy hat. She absolutely hated Halloween (except for they candy-she of course loved that) and refused to dress up. She wore this hat around the house but wouldn't wear anything when we went to the Fall Festival. Andrew's Batman costume terrified her as well. Andrew, however, loved everything except the candy! :)

Summer 11

Ok, it's been FOREVER, I know. So sorry. Here a few pictures from the summer. We spent some time in Dallas with Nana and Mindi for a few days and then went to the Great Wolf Lodge. All in all it was a great summer and we are now back in the swing of things in school. Andrew's doing great (in first grade again) and Anna is just growing and becoming more and more of a little girl all the time.

He is Risen!!

We serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today! Hallelujah! We had a wonderful time at church this morning celebrating His resurrection. The amazing pastor did such a wonderful job telling this story...I may be a little partial to him though. :) Here are a few pictures...Grandma, I got so many compliments on Anna's dress! I thought both of the kids looked super cute!

Anna Grace is 2!!!

Who can believe it? Well, with the tantrums she's capable of throwing these day, I can. :) She is such a spirited little girl. She can be so sweet, when she wants to be. She is totally independent (or really, really wants to be) and loves coloring and playing pretend more and more everyday. Going outside is one of her very favorite things and she's really happy when her brother (her hero) goes with her. She speaks in 4 or 5 word sentences and just amazes us with her vocabulary. At her check up this past Monday she weighed in at 34.3 lbs!!! She LOVES to eat, obviously. She is just a joy and Jay and I are are so blessed by her.
Her cowgirl birthday party was a success! It was supposed to be outside (and was set up there) but after the wind knocked down our decorations 5 TIMES, I, quite reluctantly, decided to move it indoors. It was a great day!

I thought my first attempt at cake decorating went pretty well! And it was edible and everything! :)

We started the party off by decorating ranch scenes!


She was NOT a fan of having the birthday song sung to her! But thoroughly enjoyed the cake once we stopped singing. :)




The bubble blower that we got her was a huge hit!
It really was a great day. I feel myself trying to cherish every moment with our precious kiddos....time just seems to be flying by. For instance, Andrew's 7TH BIRTHDAY is coming up!! Is there a way to put time in a bottle?? I feel like someone else has asked that before. :)

We love Texas!

Today we went down to the square to celebrate Texas's Independence, Haskell County Style. So much fun! I'm pretty sure it's probably the only place in the world you can play Cow Patty Bingo. What's the you ask? Well, just remember, you asked. You buy a cow patty for $10 and it will be placed in a pin where a cow will then (hopefully) poop on your patty thus making you the winner! Ha! We'll get back to you and let you know if our patty was the lucky one! :)







They actually shoot this cannon (sans the ball) every hour. It was extremely loud, but so neat. We had a great time. This is one of the things we love about small town life.