Last Day of School - ugh!

I am a mix of emotions...I love the last day of school. School time is really hectic & I get so tired of asking, "Do you have homework tonight?" The kids seem to always be gone & on the run. Well, all of us do. Our summers are usually crazy and busy, but it's a different kind of busy. I love having my kids at home & with me. Today, however, I feel on the verge of tears. Johnny and I actually agreed this morning that we couldn't talk about it because we were both not wanting to get weepy. Next school year (just three short months from right now) our boy Josh will be a senior, Jess will be in high school, and Jacob will be in middle school. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN, darn it! I feel the time rushing by. Everyone says that once your kids get into high school that time seems to fly by...everyone is right.

So, tomorrow summer break starts. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL....whoopee!!

Paula Deen

Hey, ya'll! That sounds like a greeting I would say, but it's also one used by the famous cooking queen, Paula Deen! If you don't know, she has a cooking show on my favorite network, The Food Network. I'm a fan, I have to say. Last night I laughed my head off because a friend of mine gave me a gift as a thank you for a favor -- TICKETS TO SEE PAULA DEEN COOKING LIVE!! Can you believe it? It is probably one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. So, in August it will be me & Paula Deen in Dallas, Texas. In honor of the upcoming event, I decided to share one of my favorite Paula Deen appetizer recipes. It's super easy & really good!

Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps

1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lb. bacon cut into thirds
2/3 c. brown sugar mixed together with 2 tablespoons chili powder

Once you have the chicken cubed & the bacon cut, wrap a piece of bacon around each cube of chicken & secure each with a wooden pick. Roll the chicken/bacon in the brown sugar & chili powder mixture. (it sounded like an odd mixture to me, but it's really good!) Coat a broiler pan with non-stick cooking spray & put the chicken on it, then pop it into the oven at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp.

Enjoy!

Giddy with anticipation,

Jeanette

Confusion

I am pondering life and relationships. Relationships can be odd and changing. Even among church folks. It's not a new thing, however. Take, for example, Paul and Barnabas. They stuck together for a common purpose. They were called out and set apart to go on a missionary journey. (Acts 13:2). When it was time for the second journey, Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark & Paul said, "No way! He deserted us before!" (my interpretation from Acts 15:36-40) Actually, The Word says there was a "sharp disagreement" between Paul & Barnabas. I don't know about you, but that leaves me to believe that it wasn't a quite little argument they were having. The good news about the separation is that 2 teams were sent out instead of just one. Sometimes separation can be a good thing, I suppose. Paul later reconciled with John Mark. In Paul's last written letter that we have as Scripture, Paul realized his death was near. He wrote the letter to Timothy to encourage his young friend and to remind him to remain strong. In the last chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul requests that John Mark be sent to him. At some point they were reconciled.

The Bible study lesson we had at our church last Sunday was from Philippians 2. Paul wrote that, as believers & followers of Christ, we are to be humble, looking out for others as more important than ourselves, and keeping our focus on unity and our common task. And our common task is what? Bringing others to know Jesus and helping them to be better disciples. That is completely hard to do sometimes because we can really get focused on wanting our own way or letting petty personality differences get us off track.

So, why am I writing this? No, I am not in a disagreement with anyone -- well, not that I know of anyway. I was just thinking about how fickle teenagers can be. Fickleness (I thought I made up that word, but when I did spell check it didn't find it as a misspelled word!) is not limited to teenagers, however. I used to love Diet Coke and now I cannot stand it. Then I started drinking Dr. Pepper, but now I would just prefer to have sweet tea or limeade. Or, coffee of course! I'm fickle, I admit it. Relationships change...it happens. But, from the standpoint of Christ, I am not allowed the luxury of being hurtful towards people that I am in disagreement with and it is not my place to stand in judgment of them. What a relief, actually. Love people, love people, love people. Love God, love people. Love God, love God, love God. Love people. The greatest commandment and the second just like it. Love God, love people. That's it.

Serving the King,

Jeanette

David Crowder Band's

I found this video on another blog...I love this song!!

What I miss

I saw a video on another blog today that was awesome...I tried to post it on my blog, but obviously I still have a lot to learn about stuff like that! It is one of my favorite songs by one of my all time favorite bands. (I'll try to post a link later.) It reminded me of just about the only thing I miss about Odessa, Texas. Almost exactly one mile from my house in Odessa was a track around the University of Texas at the Permian Basin. It really was a paved road that went around the perimeter of the campus but it was like being out in the middle of nowhere. I used to go there all the time to run...with my headphones on, singing praises like crazy and praying out loud. No one could see me or hear me...it was just me and the prairie dogs, jack rabbits, some different kinds of birds, and the burrowing owls...owls in West Texas that live in holes in the ground. They were a sign to me of God's faithfulness.

It all started when I was going through a particularly rough spot. I used to jog in my neighborhood and I always thought I heard owls whoing. (you know, "who, who") I heard them but I could never see them. I started asking God to let me just see an owl. Then, my friend told me that the sound was not owls but another kind of bird. I was disappointed and stopped looking for the owls. I am very much a creature of habit and will always do things the same way. I rarely make changes, but one day I ran my usual route in the opposite direction. Guess what I saw...an owl! Ok, it was one of those fake owls that people put out to scare smaller birds away, but it was an owl. I laughed and laughed all the way down the street...I got the answer to my prayer.

Pretty soon after that I started jogging around the above mentioned track. After a little while, I noticed that the burrowing owls moved in at UTPB. I always thought of them as a little thing between me and God...like the owls were there just for me. I miss that...that special place -- man, the conversations I had out there with God. Perhaps it's not the place I miss so much but the uniqueness of what it meant to me...I long to find that place again.

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Psalm 95:1-6

In humble adoration of the King,

Jeanette