Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Thing I Love Wears.Me.Out

That title could actually apply to a lot things. Could it be my new puppy? Although, I'm not sure I love her quite yet - we may just be in like. Could it be my children, even the one that will turn 20 in 2 days. Yeah, it could be. What about my husband....ummm...nah!

What I love - and I do mean love, I am not exaggerating - is Bible study. I love the study of Matthew that Johnny and I just finished writing. It has been a blast and I will miss it. I remarked over dinner on Monday night that I was sad we are done. My kids (bless their little hearts) called me on the carpet. "I thought you said you couldn't wait for it to be over." (I can't believe I'm admitting this to you!) Ok, ok, I might've said it. And, I might've meant it. It was a lot of work. Sometimes it was stressful and I got behind on my deadlines. Sometimes I agonized way more than I should've about the words that were typed on the page or even if Johnny formatted his pages correctly. Sometimes I wondered about the people who didn't come to class instead of being blessed by those that did. Mostly, really mostly, I loved it. I love what I learned from my personal time of study. I love what I got out of the time Johnny and I spent studying and discussing the Word together. I loved seeing my man at work. I loved, loved meeting together with my sisters in Christ and talking about what God was doing in our lives and what He was teaching us.

I sent the last week of study off to the office staff yesterday so it could be printed for our classes today. My subject line was "last one" and the body of my email had only one word "tear." The reply came back that my husband was doing the happy dance. Celebrating an accoplishment, no doubt. He couldn't be happy that it's over. Surely not.

We'll meet together one last time next week to talk about the death and resurrection of our Lord as well as the Great Commission. Then, we will commission ourselves to be better followers of Jesus. To incorporate the lessons we've learned into our everyday life. I might cry a real tear or two. Just maybe. But, I won't say again that I'll be glad when it's over.

Because I won't be. Not even a little bit.

Serving the King,

Jeanette

Monday, February 22, 2010

Desperate to Be Desperate

A couple of weeks ago, between songs on a Sunday morning, our worship pastor said he was desperate to be desperate. I got it immediately. His words pierced my heart. My sentiments exactly. I am desperate to be desperate.

I know what it's like to be desperate for God. To not know if I can face the day without an overwhelming sense of His presence. To pour over the same psalm day after day because I hear Him (though not audibly) speaking to my soul through the words. To recognize that He loves me desperately and completely and it is enough. He is enough, more than enough.

I am desperate to be at that place again. To not be on autopilot or in a place of self-sufficiency. Oh, don't get me wrong, I want it without the hardship or without going through the valley. See, I believe I follow Him daily. I seek His guidance and direction and voice. I depend on Him. But, I fully know that there's a difference between this and desperation. Between the walking and following and the pursuit by a desperate soul.

My whole-hearted appeal is this: I want more of You, I want to know You more, I want to follow more closely...I want to be desperate. I won't take the next breath unless You give it. I won't write one more word, teach one more word, take one more step unless You go before me. I'll just be here, waiting...

and desperate.

Serving the King,

Jeanette

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Snow Days 2010





I'm about a week behind on blogging about all the fun of the snow days 2010. It snowed and snowed and snowed. The kids missed two days of school and we were without electricity for about 7 or 8 hours starting way early Friday morning. Thankfully, Johnny was able to start a fire in the fireplace and there was plenty of natural light to read by so I wrapped up in a blanket on my chaise and waited out the lack of power. The only bad thing about our snow days was the huge pile of wet clothes on my laundry room floor. Yep, everytime the kids went out into the snow they put wet clothes in the laundry room and opted for new, dry ones for the next time out. My mistake was not washing them Thursday night so when we woke up Friday with no electricity the clothes didn't get washed right away. Don't worry, the pile was still waiting for me later in the day and I finally got around to it.

We are finally completely finished with basketball season. Playoff games are over and we've settled into an offseason routine. I was out-of-town earlier in the week speaking to a mission group but I am excited about home-cooked meals and family time and a lack of chaos for a while.

Enjoy your weekend!

Serving the King,

Jeanette

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Love and Marriage

As I know that you know this Sunday is Valentines' Day. The day we focus on the one we love. Johnny sent an email out to our church family stating that he and I will answer questions about love and marriage this Sunday evening in our regular time of worship. He asked our folks to send him questions via email that we will address during that time. The first one he received asked about the origin of Valentines' Day. Not quite what we had in mind but I guess I'll do a little web research today to see what's up with that.

The health of marriages weighs heavily on us. We've seen some dissolve recently. It breaks our hearts. God had a lot to say about relationships and marriage in His Word. God values marriage. He made it up. He wants marriages to succeed. So do Johnny and I. Hopefully, we'll get some good questions and, if not, we'll give Truth from God's Word. I think it will be fun and informative. And, a perfect way to spend the holiday focused on love.

And, I get to be with my own valentine...the one that still captures my heart and that I adore.

Serving the King,

Jeanette

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Amarillo today

I'm on for just a quick second (like I've been here so much lately...or not)while I wait for Jadee to come in from outside. Since she's just a baby and actually fell in the pool the other day I don't like to leave her out there too long by herself.

I'm headed to Amarillo in just a little bit. I'm flying - hallelujah! And, I'm not using that praise word flippantly. I mean it. Praise God for supplying me a way to fly instead of drive 6 hours, one way. The purpose of my trip is a basketball playoff game. The girls are in Amarillo tonight and the boys managed a home game for the first round, which is also tonight. Johnny and I will be texting scores back and forth during game time.

I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Though I actually think I might go into mourning when Fusion is over because I will miss it so much it has taken so much time since the beginning of the school year that it will be nice to be able to focus on another project. And, the kids have been doing extra-curricular activities since school started and I think they both decided not to play golf. I do love golf so if they decide to play it will be ok. It cannot possibly take as much time as basketball...

Ok, she's in and I've gotta run!

Happy Tuesday to ya!

Serving the King,

Jeanette

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Jadee


Pronounced Jade-ee, like lady with a j. That's cuz we all have j-names. And she is adorable. We "rescued" her from the Arlington Animal Shelter on January 6th of this year. She was just a day shy of 2 months old. Someone got her for a Christmas gift then decided they couldn't keep her so they had the animal control people pick her up. She was at the shelter for only a couple of hours when we saw her. She is a mutt - Boxer, Plott Hound & who knows what else, mix.

She is a people-loving dog. The first few nights were a little rough because we are making her stay in a kennel. She didn't whine, she howled. She pretty much sleeps through the night now and is almost perfectly house trained. She already knows how to sit and play fetch. However, getting her to let go of the ball when she brings it back is something we still gotta work on. But, come to find out, the Dog Whisperer of our area just happens to go to our church. We hope he will come work his magic on our little pup.

She thinks she's a lap dog, which may prove to be a challenge in just a few months time. I think she might outgrow my lap. She has definitely won the hearts of her new family, though, and I just wanted to introduce her to you!

Blessings,

Jeanette

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

New Years' Resolutions and Goals

I did something at the beginning of this year that I've never done before. Oh, it's just a little thing but today's the day that I was reminded of it. At the beginning of this year I had a particular statement on my mind that I really wanted to stick with me through this year. As I contemplated how I would really use it to make a difference in my life, I found a tool on our email where I could set a monthly reminder for myself. I know you techno-savvy people are rolling your eyes about now but I'm just not that bright. Anyway, this morning I got an email from "Yahoo! Reminders" that simply contained that one statement that's mine for the year. It's what I hope to do, what I desire to be about. Because, truth is, life is stinking busy. I run to those necessary things that are on my agenda and sometimes forget what's really important.

A couple of weeks ago in our Life Group our lesson was from Acts 15, the all-important Jerusalem Council. One verse kinda tucked into the story has really stuck with me. Paul and Barnabas had been out on their first missionary journey and returned to their home church in Antioch. Because of some disagreements (without going into it because it is not the purpose of this post but you can check it out for yourself in Acts 15) Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to the council meeting. Scripture records that as Paul and Barnabas were on their way to Jerusalem they passed through various regions and they were sharing good news and joy as they went.

Here's the message I got - sometimes I am so focused on the destination that I forget that there's ministry along the way. There are hurting people along the way. There are needs to be met along the way.

Johnny is more spontaneous than I am. I like to know where I'm going. Oh, I can be just fine without an agenda for each day and without a list of things to do to be checked off. The problem is, it seems, that most days my agenda is made for me. There are so many things that must be done. So, then, I am so focused on the must-be-dones that I am not open to spontaneity. If you have a need I'm sorry. It's not on the agenda.

But, that's completely in contrast to my statement for the year that came to me in a reminder from Yahoo! this morning.

Just like God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) it's not too late for me to have a new start. It's a brand new month and a great time to be reminded of who I want to be and what I hope to accomplish. Even if I failed miserably the entire month of January (I'm not necessarily saying I did but if so) then I'm making a commitment anew.

So, here goes. I'm getting back on track.

Blessings to ya,

Jeanette