On the Eve of a New Year

New Year's Eve 2010 - wow, what an eventful year. I started the year in Wyoming with my man - I love him more every year. We have such great times together. The next week we rescued my Pit Bull/Boxer mix from the animal shelter and I am absolutely crazy about that dog. I took a couple of mission trips to Laredo and went to Peru and India within just a few weeks of each other. That was crazy. I got my first gig as a paid writer and I will be published in 2011. Check that one off the bucket list, though I seriously hope to do it again. Johnny and I completed a 20-week study of the book of Matthew that we started in '09. In '11 we are digging into the book of Judges. We took a long road trip with our kids to Orlando and Georgia in the summer and remembered all the good times we've had on roadtrips as a family - although we parted with our memory-filled gold Suburban. The Black Pearl has been a fine substitution.

I've learned a lot in 2010. In some ways it was a hard year and in many ways a fabulous one! I'll send another one off to college in '11 and I have mixed emotions about that. All-in-all, I'm looking forward to a new year -- no resolutions this year because I never tend to keep them. But, I am anticipating what God has for my family and myself and am thankful for what He has already done in us and for us.

Blessings to you and yours and a very Happy New Year!

Serving the King,

Jeanette

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

It's Christmas Eve - one of my most favorite days of the entire year. We just had our first Christmas eve jam session - Jacob on drums, Josh on bass, Jessica on the cowbell, Johnny on tamborine, and me on the keyboard. It was totally fun for me. Yeah, we had the old Baptist hymnal out just playing those familiar Christmas caroles. We've been in the kitchen making our snacks for tonight and now the kids are upstairs watching a movie and Johnny and I are about to start getting ready for the Christmas eve service at church. The weather outside is frightful - cold, rainy and dreary - but inside it is truly delightful! I am super thankful for my family and all that God has provided for us. 2011 will bring some big changes to our household. We will soon have another person living here and we'll be thinking about moving our Jess off to college at the beginning of the fall semester. God is good, He is so good.

A couple of weeks ago, our church choir and sign (language) choir had our Christmas service at church. One of the songs had words something like this: one king brought the gold, one king brought the myrrh, one king brought the frankicense, and one King brought the hope of the world. Yeah, the hope of the world, that's why we celebrate. That's why we get upstairs in our music room and play music and spend time together and eat delicious food and share gifts with one another. (although, as time goes on, the gift receiving for me does not mean near as much as just spending time with my family - besides the gift of hope, it is the greatest gift)

Hey, have yourself a very, merry Christmas! God bless you and yours with His richest blessings!

Serving the King,

Jeanette

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

family pic from Christmas card photo day

It's Monday morning of Christmas week! woohoo!! We took our travel trailer, the Wildwood, out to the lake near our house for a few days so we've been camping, sort of, on and off since Thursday. It was nice to sit around the campfire and roast marshmallows and relax. The highlight of the camping trip, however, had to be when the girls' team came from behind to win bocce ball. Yeah, it was awesome! And yesterday we went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at American Airlines Center. Amazing!

Decorating done. check. The staff Christmas brunch was here at our house last week. check. Christmas cards have all been sent. check. Mostly done with shopping...just waiting on the UPS man for a couple of items. We have a couple of family tradition-type things to do this week and I do have to make one more trip (I hope only one more) to the grocery store. All-in-all, it should be a glorious week.

I am totally thankful for a great 2010. In some ways it has been a super, hard year. The fall turned out to be probably both one of the best and one of the most difficult in recent years. In fact, I tried to write a blog a couple of weeks ago about the fog (the only word I can think of to describe it) I seemed to be in. I didn't post it, or finish it for that matter, because it was just too depressing. I tried to describe it to a friend and she asked me if it was spiritual. I get so frustrated when people say they are "burned out" in ministry -- where is that in Scripture? Yet, we also see those times when Jesus retreated. He went to be alone with the Father. Listen, if the only Son of God needed that then we, as mere mortals, do too. Absolutely, without a doubt. So, I took a couple of weeks off from teaching my class - thankfully, I have a couple of ladies that I can count on to pinch hit for me on occasion. I rested both physically and in God's Word. I wasn't prepping for a class, a mission trip, or a study that I will be teaching. I just soaked it in for me. I've been doing a word study on the word rescue and it was been a breath of fresh air - maybe more like a resuscitating breath, actually. I'm ready for all the fun of Christmas and the celebration of the bringing in of the New Year. I'm looking forward to what 2011 has in store and am anticipating what God will bring for my family and myself.

Serving the King,

Jeanette