I just want to thank those who came by the former home of the Jarvis family this Sunday, brought us some lunch, helped my husband move furniture from our two-story apartment into a U-Haul in the bizarre pre-summer heatwave, packed my entire kitchen in no time flat, kept my grandson Ryan occupied, and just generally brought some cheer and relief into this stressful weekend of moving.
I'm happy to say we (and all our things - Janine's cup fetish and all) are in our new home (which is a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom, 1 car garage, with a place for a washer and dryer (hallelujah!!!!!! no more lugging laundry back and forth from the laundromat anymore!), a backyard for the munchkin to play in, and really just lots of room!). We have only to clean out a good part of the old apartment by the 1st and turn in our keys and we will be completely done with apartment living!
I'm going to post some pictures soon and will share more about this crazy, sudden, move into our new wonderful home! We are very blessed to have found this place - it's in a great neighborhood and our landlords are wonderful people. I'm very anxious to be a friend to our new neighbors, see what God has in store for us in this new community, and to make our new home really home. And, of course, have everyone over for a breaking in party!
Thanks to literature lover and her entire clan (by the way, I continue to be impressed by the maturity and initiative of your wonderful daughters - they are awesome, girl!), my very sweet friend Laura, and Chad (aka strong man) for pitching in and helping us out in such a big way - you have no idea just how much this pregnant woman and her family appreciate all you guys did for us on Sunday! Just your presence in my home that day decreased my own stress level by quite a few notches and brought a happiness to my heart I can't even explain. And, I know Jerry very much appreciated another strong body to help him with all the furniture. We honestly couldn't have done it without ya'll! THANKS, THANKS, AND THANKS!!!!!
*** On a final note, Jerry's even made a few resolutions about NOT living in two-story apartments and maybe selling all our stuff the next time we move and just buying all new things. We'll see.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
completely true
| You Are a Frappacino |
 At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low |
WOW! Now, if only it said Mocha Frappacino, this quiz would be exactly right about me!
I know there's been blog silence for several days on my end, but I've been saving up some good blogging material and will share it soon! Enjoy the quiz for now!
Friday, May 19, 2006
Happy Friday! and other thoughts
If you hadn't guessed it yet, I love celebrating Fridays! Not only is it the last day of the week before the weekend (which means two heavenly days without my current full-time job), but I always seem to be energized more on Fridays than any other day of the week and I always seem to get more done. It's just always pretty much a happy day for me, no matter what happens. Makes me think I need to pray for that same kind of energy every other day of the week - just think of all I could get done then!
Today, I am contemplating many ideas for blog posts. I just can't seem to find the time to do all that I want and need to do, including blogging. A friend was talking on his blog about being attentive to the ordinary, which has resurrected some thoughts in my own mind and I'm hoping to expand on more eventually. Another friend has been processing through some of her thoughts in relation to church, callings, and ideas that have been brought up recently in our community. I have to say, she's quite a thinker! I guess I am still processing all my thoughts and am hesitant to write them down. After Sunday night, I honestly feel a little overwhelmed and like my brain is close to being fried on the subject since I've participated in nearly four conversations about it.
I also have thoughts of my own that have been brewing in my heart and mind of late when I have been thinking about my upcoming entrance into full-blown motherhood as well as the situation I currently find myself in as a stepmom, stepgrandmom, and wife (not to mention all the other roles I'm currently in). I'll just be honest and say that even though it's been more wonderful than terrible, the introduction of two children into our home - ages 19 and 2 - has still been extremely hard and a lot for me to take in. Sometimes, I feel that the task God has placed before me is more than I can possibly handle, even knowing that I have God's help! And to be pregnant on top of still being in the process of adjusting to life with two more family members only adds to the stress. When I think of the four of us all sharing time and attention with each other, particularly the attention of my husband (which has been all mine for nearly three years as a married couple), and then think of adding another one to the mix in six months, there are times I just think - what could I have possibly been thinking?! I'll share more on this later, but this can give you an idea of what's been on my mind.
In the spirit of what I posted yesterday and how I'm feeling today - overwhelmed, like I just don't have time to do everything I feel I should and need to be doing, and that sometimes I honestly just don't know about this whole four-way stepmom, stepgrandmom, wife, and mother-to-be thing - I was reminded of this quote from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring -
Sometimes, the task God has given me seems overwhelming and impossible and I'm not always sure I really want it. I think it's meant to be that way - as were the tasks the characters in this incredible story faced. But, like Gandalf, I believe there is a Force - namely God - and a reason behind all the tasks we face. We are meant to be here for whatever purpose God has designed and in light of that, the only remaining choice we have is to decide what we will do with the time that is given to us. Sometimes it's a one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-thing, but it's those very steps by which God leads us and builds our faith, whether the steps seem to us ordinary or extraordinary. When I think that Frodo could not have completed his task had he not taken the steps to get to Mordor or given up in the process, that is an encouraging thought to me. One step, one day at a time, Janiners.
Maybe now I'm just rambling, but that's not anything new. I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy Friday - celebrate it in whatever way you wish because if nothing else, it's another day closer to our real Home!
UPDATE: In relation to this post, I just read this incredible blog about "plodding." Go here and read it. You will be encouraged and challenged! Thanks, Lindy!
Today, I am contemplating many ideas for blog posts. I just can't seem to find the time to do all that I want and need to do, including blogging. A friend was talking on his blog about being attentive to the ordinary, which has resurrected some thoughts in my own mind and I'm hoping to expand on more eventually. Another friend has been processing through some of her thoughts in relation to church, callings, and ideas that have been brought up recently in our community. I have to say, she's quite a thinker! I guess I am still processing all my thoughts and am hesitant to write them down. After Sunday night, I honestly feel a little overwhelmed and like my brain is close to being fried on the subject since I've participated in nearly four conversations about it.
I also have thoughts of my own that have been brewing in my heart and mind of late when I have been thinking about my upcoming entrance into full-blown motherhood as well as the situation I currently find myself in as a stepmom, stepgrandmom, and wife (not to mention all the other roles I'm currently in). I'll just be honest and say that even though it's been more wonderful than terrible, the introduction of two children into our home - ages 19 and 2 - has still been extremely hard and a lot for me to take in. Sometimes, I feel that the task God has placed before me is more than I can possibly handle, even knowing that I have God's help! And to be pregnant on top of still being in the process of adjusting to life with two more family members only adds to the stress. When I think of the four of us all sharing time and attention with each other, particularly the attention of my husband (which has been all mine for nearly three years as a married couple), and then think of adding another one to the mix in six months, there are times I just think - what could I have possibly been thinking?! I'll share more on this later, but this can give you an idea of what's been on my mind.
In the spirit of what I posted yesterday and how I'm feeling today - overwhelmed, like I just don't have time to do everything I feel I should and need to be doing, and that sometimes I honestly just don't know about this whole four-way stepmom, stepgrandmom, wife, and mother-to-be thing - I was reminded of this quote from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring -
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
Sometimes, the task God has given me seems overwhelming and impossible and I'm not always sure I really want it. I think it's meant to be that way - as were the tasks the characters in this incredible story faced. But, like Gandalf, I believe there is a Force - namely God - and a reason behind all the tasks we face. We are meant to be here for whatever purpose God has designed and in light of that, the only remaining choice we have is to decide what we will do with the time that is given to us. Sometimes it's a one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-thing, but it's those very steps by which God leads us and builds our faith, whether the steps seem to us ordinary or extraordinary. When I think that Frodo could not have completed his task had he not taken the steps to get to Mordor or given up in the process, that is an encouraging thought to me. One step, one day at a time, Janiners.
Maybe now I'm just rambling, but that's not anything new. I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy Friday - celebrate it in whatever way you wish because if nothing else, it's another day closer to our real Home!
UPDATE: In relation to this post, I just read this incredible blog about "plodding." Go here and read it. You will be encouraged and challenged! Thanks, Lindy!
Thursday, May 18, 2006
encouragement for today
I was reading online this morning and was just so very encouraged by what I read -
When I read this, I think it’s very easy for me to lean one of two ways – either I can spend lots of time thinking of ways to minister to others or I can continually doubt what my life is really capable of accomplishing and what possible influence or impact I’m making on the lives of those around me.
The truth is, when I think in either of those terms, it’s really all about me and I’m failing to nurture and acknowledge the very relationship from which all hope and good works flow out of. It’s no good for me to try to think of ministering to others apart from nurturing my relationship with Christ properly (whatever that means between Him and I). And there is no reason for me to lose hope when it seems that my life is meaningless - without influence or impact - because in Christ, we are not without hope and our lives are not meaningless!
I really needed to be reminded of this today. Wherever you are today and whatever you are doing, I hope you will be encouraged.
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin"— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, "Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me." In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you "will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38 )……. If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live — yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.
When I read this, I think it’s very easy for me to lean one of two ways – either I can spend lots of time thinking of ways to minister to others or I can continually doubt what my life is really capable of accomplishing and what possible influence or impact I’m making on the lives of those around me.
The truth is, when I think in either of those terms, it’s really all about me and I’m failing to nurture and acknowledge the very relationship from which all hope and good works flow out of. It’s no good for me to try to think of ministering to others apart from nurturing my relationship with Christ properly (whatever that means between Him and I). And there is no reason for me to lose hope when it seems that my life is meaningless - without influence or impact - because in Christ, we are not without hope and our lives are not meaningless!
I really needed to be reminded of this today. Wherever you are today and whatever you are doing, I hope you will be encouraged.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
an answer to prayer
In a previous post, I mentioned that I had some tests run this week regarding my elevated blood pressure and the functioning of my kidneys. Well, I received a phone call on Friday from my doctor's office that my test results came back normal! This is indeed wonderful news, especially at such an early stage still in my pregnancy. I still have to go in for my scheduled appointment on Tuesday for follow-up, but there is most definitely a sense of relief over this happy news!
I have to acknowledge the faith in action of a good friend of mine and another girl who was pretty much a complete stranger to me, but who took the time to pray over me in the middle of a Starbucks Thursday night when I shared this concern with them. My good friend actually stopped by my office on her way to work on Friday afternoon - literally moments after I received the call that my tests had come back normal - and we celebrated right there in the lobby of my office building over God's answer to our prayers! Thank you, my dear friend, not only for your incredible faith to always believe for God's highest and best in every situation but then to act on it immediately by taking our requests right to the source.
I have to acknowledge the faith in action of a good friend of mine and another girl who was pretty much a complete stranger to me, but who took the time to pray over me in the middle of a Starbucks Thursday night when I shared this concern with them. My good friend actually stopped by my office on her way to work on Friday afternoon - literally moments after I received the call that my tests had come back normal - and we celebrated right there in the lobby of my office building over God's answer to our prayers! Thank you, my dear friend, not only for your incredible faith to always believe for God's highest and best in every situation but then to act on it immediately by taking our requests right to the source.
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