Ride

Currently, our family vehicle is a 2000 aqua Chevy Cavalier. It is TIGHT. I actually meant that figuratively in a sarcastic way, but in all reality, it's tight literally. With the two car seats in the back, there's barely room for a normal sized human to fit in the front passenger seat. Don't get me wrong, this car was great for me before I was a parent, but it is by no means a car for babies in Britax (read humongous) car seats.

Justin and I plan to have more children. At least one, no more than three. We have got to get another, bigger vehicle before reproduction occurs. We've been talking about getting a new vehicle for a while. We have been focusing on a variety of 3rd row SUVs, because I will never NEVER never drive a van. Cool parents drive SUVs, right?

But then, I talked to my mom, and she talked some sense into me. Yeah yeah, vans are more practical for families with small children. They get better gas mileage, blah blah. They're roomier and drive more smoothly, yadda yadda. But they just aren't COOL...

Give me a P.
Give me an R.
Give me an I, D, E!

What did you spell? Pride! Say it again. Pride! What do I want?

Humility. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. I want to show my children what it means to love and serve Christ. What it means to be set apart from the world - not to be transformed or controlled by it. I want my children to know and believe that material things don't matter. So, Lord forgive me for my pride.

A van it is. Well, will be, someday.

This video helps too. Maybe vans ARE cool!

Swagger Wagon

Stomach=Blech...Heart=Yea!

What a blessed day I had!

This morning, Mo came over so we could bake some food and hang out together. Except for Josie's meltdowns the first 15 minutes (I ended up putting her in the pack n play so she could whine by herself, and she ended up sleeping for 3 hours!), it was a great time! We made sugar cookies, cinnamon rolls and strawberry bread. Of the 3, the strawberry bread was the winner. Very very yummy! We totally ate cookies and strawberry bread for lunch.

My eating didn't get any better as the day went on.

My mother in law is in town, and she watched the kiddos while I went over to Kim's house to visit. Mo and Raven were there too. We ate more junk food. My nutritional intake was so poor today, salsa was my only vegetable. Seriously, how sad is that? But we really had a good visit. I have such wonderful friends! I am so blessed to have them in my life!

My tummy is finally starting to feel a little better, but junk food filled diets are BAD. Tomorrow is a new day to make healthy decisions, physically and spiritually!

Ketchup

It's been a few days since I've written in my blog, so I thought I would play a little catchup.


Monday: Labor Day. Holidays are kind of pointless for us based on Justin's schedule. This past year or so he's been either working or sleeping during holidays. So, they get treated like any other day for the most part. Monday was no exception. The kids and I met my friend, Sarah, and her baby, Carson at Panera for lunch. We had a nice, albeit short visit. That was as exciting as it got that day.

Tuesday: I worked out with Mo early at the Y. I definitely I haven't been using my membership as muc as I ought to. Later, Kim very generously watched Josie and Deuce for about an hour while I went to an appointment on the east side. I visited her for awhile afterward. That night I had bible study at my house. Since it starts at 9, I like to call it "Night Owl Bible Study." We had the most people ever: 4, including me! Maybe next week, we'll have 5?! Kim and Sarah, and her friend, Christina came and we studied Romans 3. It took us an hour to get through the chapter, and then chatted for another couple hours.

Wednesday: I took the kids to Wal-mart to pick up a few groceries and a couple other things. Then we went to visit Raven and Max and Silas. I love that Josie is talking a bit more and interacting with other kids a little better. Lately she's been showing unsolicited affection, which is sweet. Deuce is at the point where I can usually put him on the floor, and he's pretty content. This works great for Mommy, because then I get to have an adult conversation. We had lunch there, and stayed till nap time. Last night we had church. Justin had to work, so it was just the kids and me. I'm really glad that the kids go downstairs for a little program/play time while the adults have bible study. I didn't participate that much, partly because Deuce was a bit cranky and hard to keep content. We started a study on the book of 1 John. Who knows how long it'll last, but it should be good.

Today: I decided to make waffles for breakfast. It was nice sitting down for breakfast with the whole family. (Hey, does anyone know how to keep waffles crispy? Every time I make them they're crispy when I take them off the iron, but get chewy after a few minutes on the plate.) Josie had to get some blood drawn this morning to check for lead levels since we live in an older home. I was impressed with how well she took it. She didn't cry or whimper or move much at all. I let her have her pacifier (right now it's only for sleeping) and I sang her a couple songs during the process. I'm so happy that it went so smoothly. Shortly after we got home, I got the kids ready to leave again. We stopped at Target for a quick diaper purchase (126 for $19.53 - not bad), and then went to Sam's for a play date with her kiddos. I think Deuce got more attention from the girls than he'd prefer. He better get used to girls giving him a lot of attention haha.

Well, it's Josie's naptime, as soon as I get up. I have plenty to do, but an afternoon nap always sounds delightful. I don't have plans for tonight or tomorrow yet, but Justin's mom is coming into town on Saturday, and staying until Tuesday. This means 4 days of sleeping in if I want!

Okay, I smell poop.

Oh, one more thing: Deuce started crawling this week.

Faith, Family, Friends

Today was a good day, full of my 3 favorite things.

After the kids and I woke up this morning, I realized that if I had a sense of urgency, we could go to Bible study before church. We made it just as it was starting. I let Josie play with the toys, while I attempted to sit and pay attention. I wasn't totally successful, but I'm glad I went. I will definitely make an effort to get out the door by 8:30 every Sunday.

Several people were out of town for the weekend, including two-thirds of worship leaders. Plus the keyboard was being serviced. Pastor Terry played the guitar, which is not what he normally does, and Greg played the drums. They seemed to manage pretty well. And I learned that "When The Saints Go Marching In" is actually a pretty good praise song. I never knew the lyrics! I really enjoyed service today. Maybe it had something to do with Kim and Emily taking care of my kids so I could worship and listen to the sermon undistracted.

We hung out and talked to some people after service, and then went home to eat lunch and take naps. I love family naptime, even if we are all in separate places. Well, Deuce and I usually snooze together. Anyway, I woke up after 5, and the kids were still out. Justin and I shared a nice conversation (I always like when we chat) while I prepared supper. The kids woke up, and we all sat at the table (Deuce sat in his exersaucer) and ate a late supper.

After church this morning, I had been invited by Matt and Bri Thundercloud to go over to their house with some other people for a fire. I ended up taking the kids over there around 8, but since it was drizzling, we stayed inside. I don't know exactly how many people were there, but I had some great conversations. Even though my besties weren't there, I was really comfortable talking and getting to know people. I'm looking forward to growing closer to my friends from church. 80)

We didn't get home until almost 11. And then I felt the need to stay up late watching TV and making strawberry lemonade. Now my kitchen is a disaster, and I just want to go to bed...

Family Time

It's been a great few days for the Jones Family!

We all went to Bible Study on Wednesday night. It's the first time we've been able to go to church together in several weeks. The discussion was good, but short. We stopped at Sonic on the way home, and I had some tots and a Sonic Blast! My kind of late night snack!

Thursday, we had a date night scheduled with another couple, but it ended up being just the two of us. I'm so thankful to my friend Kim for watching the kids so we could enjoy a quiet dinner together. Justin told me that he liked getting out with just me, because he was reminded how much he loves me. 80) We stopped in and visited with the Bessas (Raven and her boys were there too) for a while after dinner. After the kids were put to bed, we had a nice conversation about our kids and the future.

This evening, I prepared an experimental recipe, and it was a hit. I'm so glad that my Easy Cheesy Calzones turned out so well. Let me know if you want the recipe! I also made peanut butter cup cookies that were delicious! It's always so nice to have dinner together as a family at the kitchen table. Justin doesn't have to work tonight or tomorrow night either. So, we're going to watch a movie tonight. I'm not sure what tomorrow night has in store.

I'm just so blessed to have such a great husband and family!

Hone

Second Timothy 3:16-17 : All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Another way to say "God-breathed" is "inspired by God."  This got me thinking about the word "inspire."

According to the dictionary, inspire  means: to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration ; to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on; to spur on. It also has meant:: to breathe or blow into or upon and to infuse (as life) by breathing.

So, when we are inspired, it means that life has been breathed into us. Because Scripture is inspired by God, it will also give us life if we partake in it. What happens when we stop being inspired - when we are no longer moved, animated, or breathed into? The exact opposite of the word "inspire" is "expire." Expire means to breathe one's last breath. That is, it means to die. We must be inspired to live.


We should be inspiring each other in our daily walk with Jesus. I believe that God breathed life into the word so that we could receive it and then "breathe" it into other people. The word of God is useful, so we should use it! The Bible is good for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training.Without it we would not be prepared to do the good works God wants us to do.


Whatever is necessary for teaching and training regarding the Lord can be found in Scripture. In addition, when we rebuke and correct our brothers and sisters, both the reason for the exhortation and ways to correct the sin need to be backed up with Scripture. At the same time, we as believers ought to be open to learn, be rebuked, corrected and trained. This is how we become equipped.


Sometimes I think it's easy to use the Bible to point out another person's flaws, but we have to realize that there is a specific way to guide our brothers and sisters in Christ to make Godly decisions.

1. According to 1 Timothy 5:1, you do not harshly criticize believers just because you think they are in the wrong. Exhort older men and women as if they were your parents; be gracious and respectful. Exhort younger men and women as if they were your siblings; be kind and encouraging. Most importantly, make sure that you are pure in your exhortations. By that, I mean, be certain your intentions are good and you do not currently struggle with the same sins. It is never a good thing to be hypocritical. 

2. Jesus tells us how to respond when someone directly wrongs us. In Matthew 18:15-17, He says  ¹⁵"If your brother sins against you,go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

I believe that the church has a hard time receiving exhortation and correction. It is insulting and offensive for someone else to tell us when we're wrong. "Who do you think you are? You don't know me like that. Don't judge me." (Wow that sounds like it came straight from a Jerry Springer episode.) It has almost become cliche, but it is still so true: IRON SHARPENS IRON.

Be inspired by God's word to live righteously. And be inspired to encourage one another to live righteously as well. The day we stop being inspired is the day we start dying.