Just for Fun

These were some fun photos from our trip in Tennessee to meet with our China travel group. I recently made digital photo book of our trip so I thought I'd post some just for fun. Catherine was our primary photographer...hence the self portrait at the end. Ya'll have a great day and remember how loved you are. He has rescued you and given you hope and a future. Oh, you are so loved. Yours, JS

Tell Me the Stories....

Have I mentioned how much I'm loving my study on Joshua? Well, I do. I just love the stories of the old testament. They read like an amazing movie script and the main character is GOD! He is so facinating. In the first five chapters of Joshua He selects a new leader of the Israelites(Joshua), promises Joshua His guarenteed success, reminds Joshua of His history, uses a prostitute who shows great faith, leads His people THROUGH the parted Jordan river on the dry land, calls His people to make a memorial to Him on the land and on the bottom of a river....why? 4:21-24 "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' "For the Lord you God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, and so that you may fear the Lord your God forever." In chapter 5 all the men are circumcised and go through recovery in enemy territory, but the enemies have heard of God and so they are too afraid to attack them. Oh, and lastly, the captain of the host of the Lord pays Joshua a visit and says,'take off your shoes, this is holy ground'. Ya think???? Seriously, isn't that exciting stuff? And that's only the first 5 chapters!

I love the idea of telling our kids what God has done. Remembering and reciting the wondrous works He has done on our behalf. RIGHT NOW, TODAY! The God of Israel is my God today. He has not changed and has not stopped performing miracles! How many of you have a story of how God "parted the waters" for you? How He "held back the waves" for you? So many of my God stories have to do with our adoptions, but there are certainly others. One time about 2 years ago Matthew and I were coming around one of the bad curves that are out near our home at 10pm and we literally stopped in the road to watch the Disney fireworks. We had NEVER stopped in the road to do this before. Just moments after we stopped, when we should have been going around the bad curve, a huge truck came around the curve on our side of the road. We would have been hit head on. It was God that protected us. I can't explain it, but I know that is the case. It humbles me again to think about it. God is at work. Tell your kids the stories. Write them down. Blog for goodness sake :) Just tell the stories of His faithfulness over and over again, "that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty AND so that you may fear(reverence) the Lord your God forever". I love God stories. Why don't you share one with me in the comments? Much love and hoping you have LOTS of stories to tell, Jackie Sue

So boring...

My life is not this boring...but my blog sure is. Sorry to you folks who wait with baited breath for my most intimate thoughts to be revealed here...just haven't had the time. I can't seem to find a scheduled time to blog my life. Go figure. I am loving the Precept course I am taking on the book of Joshua. I really love it. Makes me feel like a student again except that I am studying something I really care about. David has been traveling a lot lately and brought back I heart NY tshirts for all the kids yesterday. We also celebrated his birthday when he got home. We bought him WiiFit. Sorta a family gift for his birthday, but it was something that I knew would be good for him too. It is fun and I must say that the kids couldn't wait for him to open his gifts! The kids did a great job on the musical at church last week. I want to put some video on here of Davie singing her solo and dancing along. She was just too cute. Maybe I can get Matt to help me with that. Speaking of Matt, he is doing well and seems to have had a spiritual revival in his life. It is such fun to listen to him talk. Does this momma's heart good. Now if he can just become gainfully employed I think he can stay. Just joking. I wouldn't give my boy/man up for anything. Having a bit of extended family drama that has been a bit of a struggle, but God is going to get me through it. Just want to honor Him in everything...even the hard stuff. I love me some........don't I? (that means dots...as in dot dot dot lest you think I was being suggestive which would be completely inappropriate and not to mention slightly vulgar, but when I read that sentence I must confess that my mind realized it needed some sort of explanation) Well, it's Sunday morning and sweet Ellie has a fever of 104.1 so we didn't make it to church. It is the funniest thing, she will show no symptoms of anything and just get a high fever. Weird. That's how it was last night. After David bathed her I realized she felt a little hot and then at dinner she wouldn't eat, but just sat there with my left hand pressed to her forehead. You know that precious time when they don't feel well, just before they get really whiny and they are just snugly...that was last night, but the whiny has come this morning, so I must go. Love to you all. I will try to be more interesting and prompt next post. Jackie Sue

My First MEME

A fun gal I met in San Antonio, Robyn tagged me to blog about the impact blogging has had on my life. I guess this is the post where I need to share how my blogging began and where it is headed.

The first time I blogged was on our first trip to China when we went to get Davie Anne. I kept a journal of our travel on a website David set up for that purpose. I posted photos of us, gotcha day and some thoughts God laid on my heart while there. When we got home I didn't do anything else with it. It's still out there somewhere in cyberspace. Actually, I need to print all of it for Davie. When we were led to adopt another baby from China I figured I'd do a travel blog like the first one, but as we were waiting on our little one things happened that were from the Lord and I decided then to make a record of the journey to her. Originally I named this blog, "Journey to Joy" and posted every once in a while. Well, that was over 2 years ago and now, "One Momma's Journey" is where I update folks on our life here at home. When I was in San Antonio and on the way home I felt led by God to redefine my "blog calling". When you see folks that have become sort of celebrities through their blog you realize that these things can take on a life of their own. As I thought about that I came to the conclusion that I was not really into that. I just want to be able to keep in touch with people I know face to face or have gotten to know (Karin)because of our mutual interests through the internet. All that said, I will now get to what Robyn tagged me for.

How blogging has impacted my life:

Fellow Adoptive Families: the relationships I have made through adoption have been such a sweet blessing from the Lord. Our last travel group has remained close primarily because nearly all of us blog and are able to stay up to date with eachother through the internet. That would not happen without this form of journaling I am sure. Life is so busy and I am thankful that if I want to know what is going on in their lives and with their precious little ones I can find out with the click of a button. (I realize that most folks don't post the hard stuff that is happening, so if you need me to pray for something hard, just email me, friends!)

I feel loved and connected to my friends here: When I post about the stuff that happens at home and my friends that I see weekly care to read what I write it makes me feel loved by them in a different way than before. Sometimes I can write my heart and share it all at once and have folks all over the place praying for me in the midst of a struggle. Do you know how much time that would take if I were calling my friends one by one? I just can't afford the cell minutes (I have teenagers I share minutes with, people!). Not only can they keep up with my heart, but if they blog, I can keep up with theirs. It's a beautiful thing!

I can share how God has impacted me and hopefully encourage others in their walk with Him: Enough said.

I get to record stuff for the Fam:When I'm partying in Heaven my kids can search through cyberspace and gather all kinds of info that I wrote for the viewing of all of creation. Not that I think all creation is reading this, mind you, but it is out there and someday they can read through it and call me a saint for caring to keep all these notes on their lives. Just think, they won't have to clean a garage and go through a bunch of junk to find this. Sort of thoughful parenting, don't cha think?

The negatives of blogging: I want to be funnier. I feel pressure to make my writing entertaining. I don't have a lot of time to manufacture that kind of entertainment. It's like scrapbooking...I enjoy the end results, but sometimes I just do it to fulfill a sense of responsibility. Every post is not what is could be, but it is done. Ring true for any other bloggers out there? And the techy stuff of blogging is just hard for me. I'm not very computer savvy. I'm sure you had no idea. And, last but not least, IT TAKES ALOT OF TIME!

So, here are the rules to this meme(what does that word mean anyway?)

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them(could not do this one, sorry, Meet me, Miss Rule Follower)

Here are the folks I'm tagging:

Jill I met this precious gal in San Antonio
StephPrecious friend and fellow adoptive momma
Juliemy young friend who used to babysit my kids and now has a heart for Ethiopia and writes wonderfully
Jenanother precious friend who moved away and needs to blog more :)
and last but not least:Phil and Juliecause they are such a funny couple and our daughters are Fu sisters!
Ok, this is an example of a long, timely(do you know how long it took me to do all these links? but look Ma, I did it!) and yet,fun post. Love to you all, Jackie Sue

Our Very Own Butterfly

Yes. It happened. I finally found one chrysalis from a Monarch butterfly. I put it in my butterfly habitat and it hatched a beautiful butterfly today. It was amazing! That is our success story. I had to take about 50 caterpillars off my now stripped Passion Vine and to a new vine at the nursery nearby. I don't have enough caterpillar food....how tragic. I'm doing ok though. I will miss the little buggars, but at least they won't starve to death. The eat ALOT. I mean ALOT. Here's a photo of the success story and a photo of my assistant. She's a cute little buggar too. Thank goodness I get to keep her and so far we have enough food around here to keep her fed. David shops at Sam's you know.

My Baby's Growin' Up!

This new development is just stinky. I know it is part of the deal, after all, I have been here before, but still, it just sorta sucks the wind out of my sails. Sometime in the last 24 hours Ellie has started calling Davie "Davie" instead of "Dadee". Oh the pain. I love babytalk FROM BABIES. I hate when somehow they start to "get it" and begin to change their adorable little words to grown up words. Just wanted to commemorate this big occasion in my life. My last baby is growing up. Waaaaa!

Ellie is headed for the Pro Bowling League

Last night at our friends Ellie showed us some amazing Wii skillz. She bowls all by herself. She even got a STRIKE! I so wish I had a video to show you the celebrating she did when she got that strike. It was priceless! We had a great Labor Day with very little labor involved, but tons of fun (unlike our typical Labor Day where David makes us Labor). Thank you sweet friends for making some fun memories with us! Hope you had a marvelous holiday too!!! Love, JS