Events in the month of March...

Whew! What a week this has been! A busy, but absoultely wonderful week all the same! On Thursday through Friday the Serven family were at our house, and we enjoyed sweet, edifying fellowship with them! Much laughing, feasting, chatting, singing and walking ensued. What a blessing it was to have them over! Come again, Servens! :-)

Then on Saturday, the much anticipated Liberty Day conference/celebration took place!! We counted and 69 people from our community/Church came (Jared rode with us), which was pretty exciting!! Costumes were finished in time and everyone looked amazing! The speaker for this year, Mr. Marshall Foster, was an incredible historian/speaker! How fascinating it was to hear and be reminded of God's amazing sovereignty throughout history! There was also dancing, poetry, a skit, cookies (got to have those!), singing, and much, much more!

All in all, pictures seem to speak louder than words at times, so here you are...an entirely too long post of photos...but oh well. :-) Enjoy! Oh, and BE SURE TO ATTEND NEXT YEAR!

P.S. More photos of Liberty Day can be seen HERE and HERE.

Chatting in the living room!

Tiff and Elizabeth Serven!

The parents!!

Tiff and Rebecca engaged in sewing projects!

Nathan Serven, Dad and William chatting...well, William's sleeping, Nathan and Dad are chatting. :-D

We pause for a group picture on our walk!

Caleb and Nathan Serven engaged in a boffer battle!!

Rebecca Sanford looking absolutely adorable (as usual! *smile*)!!

Derek, William and Peter Sanford in their costumes!!

Elita Candler and Grace Evans at lunch in their adorable costumes! I love the mob caps! Too cute, girls! :-)

The Fiddler's Three (and their Dad) in full World War II uniform! I love it! That's my favorite military era in costume! :-) I really like the pilot's hat at the end with the goggles! Gottta get one of those for Caleb!

Mrs. Bandy and Ashton...and is that Grace's shirt? :-)

I love this picture! Tiff and Jared are like "why in the world do you keep getting our picture?" LOL!

Here's a good shot of the 1776 Marine Uniform that Tiff made for Garrison!

This is Joel Serven! :-) Too cute!

Jacob in his costume!!

Mom and a very sleepy Emma.

Dad and I.

Photo courtesy of Jared. I'm not sure what's up with David in this picture. LOL!

The Fiddler's Three were INCREDIBLE musicians! We had a ton of fun clapping to the beat of the jigs! What larks! :-)

In between talks we...talked. :-)

They look so...interested!! :-D lol.

Well, Jared does anyway. :-D
(Okay, so he kept trying to convince me to try this barbecue Tabasco sauce. So I finally did. It was good, but nothing I'd recommend. LOL!)

My date for dinner...at Chipotle! :-)

Mr. and Mrs. Candler and Tiffany! (Isn't his uniform stunning?)

Mr. Marshall Foster lecturing!

Josiah E. and Caleb perform their poem. Y'all did an amazing job, guys!! :-)

If you look closely at this picture you can see that Grace and I both have some ridiculous shoes on! ;-D

Don't they look so out of place amongst those modern coats? I think they look smashing in their 1700's garb! :-)

Grace and I pose for a quick photo in our white dresses!

Father and Son. Don't they look amazing?

Mr. Candler wore his full Coast Guard uniform...sword and all! We all agreed that he looked positively dashing!! Go deacon Candler! :-D

Photo Courtesy of Ashton Bandy! (thanks, Ashton!)
Myself, Lily and Grace in full costume! :-)

The soldiers are marching..."Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights, hurrah! Hurrah for the bonny blue flag that bears the single star!" ":-D

So a bunch of the young people at Church today decided to try on these...interesting sunglasses! :-D Here's a few of the models...

Peter

Samuel

Garrison

Victoria

Susanna

Lenna

Elana (the birthday girl, by the way! 11 yrs!)

Sarah

Garret decided they looked better on his head...? :-)

William tried on Tiff's reading glasses and doesn't he look adorable? :) I'm not sure what Mr. Keisner's thinking of them though...he looks a bit skeptical.


Nevermind. lol.

Caleb and Josiah enjoying their ice cream. :-)

William tries on his Colonial hat...he kinda likes it! :-)

Sierra, Lenna and I at McDonald's enjoying some ice cream after our monthly Pekin Manor hymn sing!

How we're all kind of feeling....

(More to come soon!)

7X7's

So I was looking through some old blog posts and came across my "7x7" post and thought it might be fun to re-post it. :-D This is just kind of a place holder for the post that will be coming after Liberty Day, which is this weekend.

Oh, and some of my answers are new...seeing as views change, I suppose. :-) Enjoy!!

7 Things I’d like to do before I die:

Get married!

Have lots of beautiful children! :-)

Go to an Opera...any will do...just an opera!!! :)

Travel to Europe somewhere!!

Play violin like a professional. :-)

Get my courage up and learn how to drive...

7 things that I cannot do well:

Play Volleyball

Keep a straight face all day long.

Make Carrot Souffle without it falling.

Enjoy playing ping pong (Well, I used to like the game, but there are reasons that I don't anymore. *smile*)

Get up early in the morning.

Read a book slowly.

Read the bass clef.

7 Favorite Movies

Emma

Pride and Prejudice

Bringing Up Baby

The Village

Signs

Master And Commander

Twelfth Night

7 Things that I say often

"Very funny!"

"blink.blink."

"I have no idea!"

"This could be a problem..."

"I love you like the day is long! Like the sun and the moon together!!" (inside joke...quote from the movie The Village.)

"Totally!"
"Pardon me?"

7 Things that I’d like in a Husband

Loves the Lord more than he loves me.

Has a good sense of humor (and can take a joke)

Loves to dance!!!!

Enjoys conversation and being around people. (as we say, "a people-person" *grin*)

Is hospitable and loves to have people over!

Enjoys traveling...especially to places with history and culture!! (Paris, London, Scotland, Italy...ect...)

Enjoys Opera, Jane Austen and History. :-)

7 Favorite Books and Authors

The Holy, Inspired and Inherent Word of God

William Shakespeare
Jane Austen
Dragons in Our Midst Series by Bryan Davis
Alexandre Dumas

Baroness Emmuska Orczy
R.C. Sproul Sr.

7 People I tag are:

Tiffany McDonald
Nathan Davis
Megan Carlson
Ashton Bandy
Jesi Ryken
Elissa Pickle
Jessica Erber

He is Risen!

Here the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again
Here the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing, they're singing
Christ, He will reveal it now

The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus' power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah, hallelujah

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

19 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity


1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars.

2. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

3. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

4. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, a sk If They Want Fries with that.

5. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label it "In".

6. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

7. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks , Write " For Smuggling Diamonds".

8. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy".

9. Dont use any punctuation

10. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

11. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

12. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go".

13. Sing Along At The Opera.

14. Go To A Poetry Recital. And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme?

15. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.

16. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In the Mood.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

The Roy Rogers jr. Band

Hey Y'all,

I thought you might like a little peek at this "brand new" band!! :-) Seeing as no Fiddle's or Guitar's were available for this cowboy and cowgirl, wooden spoons seem to suffice. :-D

Enjoy!!

In Christ Alone,

Jessica

Emma- Fiddle

William- Guitar

"Gonna build a big fence around Texas..."

"...so they can't take my baby away..."

"There's a yellow rose from Texas I'm goin' home to see..."

P.S. Caleb FINALLY posted, so I promised him I'd announce it on my blog. :-) You can read his new post HERE.

So over the weekend we enjoyed a lovely visit from the Erber family; and not only that but they were able to to attend the Hymn Sing with us as well!!
We had a ton of fun chatting, exchanging hilarious stories, (mostly of plane rides! *grin*) listening to Josiah and Caleb work on their surprise for Liberty Day(!) and just plain visiting!! :-) It was really nice being able to "get to know" the Erbers a bit more and though it was a very short visit, it was delightful! Can't wait to do it again, Erbers!!! :-)

We didn't really get very many photos, unfortunately, but I'm going to try and salvage some from friends that attended the Hymn Sing that did get photos. :-) If I can get some, I'll be sure to post them soon!

And, since it's March 17th, you might enjoy watching THIS video today. :-) Quite humorous!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

-St. Patrick

Happy Birthday, Grace!

Guess who's seven years old today? :-) That's right, my sweet little sister Virginia Grace.

One thing Grace has always contributed to the household is immense energy! :-D She's usually on the go, loves to talk, laugh and play with her sisters (and brothers). What a joy she is!

I remember the day she was born. The doctors decided that she had breathing problems so they kept her in the hospital for an entire week. We were crushed. The only time I saw her during that week was behind glass. I remember crying...I wanted to see my new little sister.
And then the day came and Dad and Mom were finally allowed to bring her home. Ever since she has lit up the McDonald home with joy, love and energy, among so many other things!
I've also been impressed with her love for Jesus. There have been times when I've found her reading her Bible, telling William and Emma about Jesus, and praying for her family and friends, all on her own.
And did I mention that she loves children? I'm reminded of what an amazing mother she'll make someday as I observe her playing with the babies at church and watching out for them.
Grace is such a blessing, and we are all so thankful to the Lord for her.

Happy Birthday, Virginia Grace! I love you.

Homie The Homeschooler :-)

This video is just TOO funny, so I had to share it! :D If you have time you should check out some of his other ones! They're hilarious! :-)

I'm Home!

Thank the Lord the flights went well, though there was a delayed flight to St Louis (where we flew to from Dallas) on account of the snow. So we got home today (Wednesday) instead of yesterday (when we were originally supposed to make it back.)

It was soooo nice to visit the South again...though, while we were there we got the disappointing news that Huckabee dropped out of the runnings. Apparently now McCain is the only Republican. So unless I want to vote for Obama or Hillary (yes, I'll be voting this year...wow...makes me feel so old), I'll be going with McCain.

Or.... maybe I'll just vote for my Dad...hmm...now there's an idea....

Oh and it was wonderful it was to see Daniel and Christa again; and Joshua for the first time! Joshua is adorable (of course), but I just thought I'd let y'all know. :-)

I have SO many things that I could type out here, just little stories of small events that happened both in MO and in TX, but those will have to wait for another time (or to be said in person).

God bless!!

In Christ Alone,

Jessica

Isn't he cute?

Here's what I'm doing in Texas - in case you were wondering! More photos and details to come!

The Baby Is Here!

Praise the Lord, Joshua's arrived!!!

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
-Psalm 127:3-5

God is so good!!! I'm an aunt!!!
Joshua James Gregory Blanchard was born at 4:30pm!! Christa and baby are healthy and doing wonderfully!

I'll get y'all the weight, measurements and maybe a photo or two as soon as I can!

In Christ Alone,

Jessica

P.S. Mom and I are flying to see Daniel, Christa and Joshua tomorrow morning and we won't be back till Tuesday, so if I don't reply to y'all's comments, that would be why. :-) God bless!

Happenings...

Let's see what has happened lately...

On Saturday, we attended the lovely wedding of Joshua Erber and Abbey Hill. The wedding (and the bride) were beautiful. It was so encouraging to see God's working in the lives of two young people! It brought to my mind a picture of Christ and the Church and the union that all Christians will someday experience - the Great Wedding, where Christ will come take His bride away to be with Him forever in Glory.

The church was lovely and the ceremony and reception went smoothly and beautifully! It was so wonderful to see old friends that we haven't seen in a long time!! Tiff got a few photos at the reception, so I'll try to post some soon.

Hmmm...otherwise I just finished reading R.C. Sproul's (he's one of my very favorite authors, by the way...) Surprised By Suffering. I didn't choose this book for any particular reason, save that I do so love a good theological book! He went through questions people ask about why they suffer and why "good" people experience pain and death. It was an extremely good book; well written and well presented - very thought provoking. I highly recommend it!

Now I've begun reading "Loving God With All Your Mind" by Elizabeth George. Very good as well (though I'm only on chapter two so far). Anybody have any good fiction/non-fiction suggestions? I'm always on the look-out for good books!!

We also watched the most entertaining movie the other day - "Dodge City" starring Errol Flynn and Olivia De Haviland. Completely clean and hilarious (well, if you're a Southerner anyway, or have Confederate leanings *grin*...). A good old western where the good guys chase the bad guys out of town. I'm not a big fan of westerns myself, but I happened to really enjoy this one.

Oh, and a dear friend from church let us borrow the *new* film version of Persuasion. It is far better than the old one (in my opinion), and if you love Jane Austen's works as much as I do, I think you'd enjoy this. The costumes were alright (better than the old one but not amazing), and though I have never read the book I hear it followed the story pretty well, also it was clean which was wonderful! :) The only thing that bothered me was the camera man was driving me crazy at times with the strange camera angles. Otherwise, I liked it. :)

Well, Tiff, some of the little ones and I are supposed to head over to JoAnn's today to pick up some fabric and notions and then to the library, so I'll go ahead and sign off.
Have a blessed day and may the Lord bless and keep you!

In the Service of my Lord and Savior,

Jessica Nicole

Here's the photos I promised! :)

The Bride and Groom!


Dad and Mom talking to Mrs. Serven

Jessica Erber, Anna Von Holten and I watching the goings-on.

Mrs. Erber and Joshua Erber dancing. :-)

Me...I know, you're thinking "what a crazy face" but Tiff kept chasing me with the camera (being the dear sister that she is. *GRIN* Love ya, Tiff! :D) so I decided to make a strange face and...well...it turned out kind of funny. At least, I happened to crack up when I saw it. :D lol. And those are hair sticks in my hair...not "bunny ears" as some of the little ones were inclined to think. :)

My sweet Father and Mother. Don't they look wonderful? :-)

Isn't William adorable? He decided he liked weddings very much and he told us the bride was "pretty" :) He was very well behaved during the ceremony, and loved every bit of it. (Now who says we can't have modern day Mr. Darcy's? *smile*)

One of the darling flower girls. She's so cute!!

We were thrilled to see some of the Hubers, Nathan DeLauderanty and the Servens there!

The wedding party watching the festivities!

A sweet little girl that attended, Anna Von Holten and Katherine Huber!

I'd post more photos that we have, but Tiff is going to post some as well so I'll leave the rest to her. :-)

Happy Birthday, Tiffany!

Tiffany and I with a Jamestown reenactor. Unfortunately, we forgot to take our name tags off, which takes away from the "historical-ness" of it, but it's a delightful memory, all the same. :)

Today is the birthday of one of my sister, Tiffany Faith, who turned twenty-two years old today.
It seems so strange to me how the years fly by. I remember the days when Christa, Tiffany, Melissa, and I were little girls running about, sliding down bannister's (I know, it's dangerous! *grin*), running through the sprinkler, eating Popsicles on hot days, and running in the sun. We were (and still are) as close as three sisters could possibly be. We did (and, thank the Lord, still do!) nearly everything together.

I just want to write and thank the Lord for the family that He has given me, and for sisters, some of the best friends that any girl could possibly have.

So, Happy Birthday, Tiffany! I love you!

Trí Chríost Amháin*,

Jessica

*Gaelic for- In Christ Alone

The Character of God

Last night some of the women from our Church (and one, not from our church) and their older daughters attended the Women's Meeting that our church puts together. The book we're reading though and discussing right now is "Damsels In Distress" by Martha Peace.

Some things really stood out at me last night in the book that I thought I'd share with y'all. The author mentioned how learning about the character of God and knowing what He is like helps us Christians to work through problems and issues that happen in life. So then she went on to give a list of scriptures on the character of God. I thought I'd write them out here for y'all.

I pray that y'all find them as encouraging as I do.


God Loves Us.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principlalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to seperate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. - 1 John 3:1

We love, because He first loved us. - 1 John 4:19


God is Compassionate.


Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you And there he waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. - Isaiah 30:18

Seeing the people, He [the Lord Jesus] felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. - Matthew 9:36

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. - Psalm 103:8


So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. - Romans 9:16

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ...- Ephesians 2:4-5


God is Faithful.


God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. - 1 Corinthians 1:9

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. - 2 Timothy 2:13

let us hold fast he confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. - Hebrews 10:23

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. - 1 Peter 4:19

And as a side note:

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

The other day the Candler family invited us over to spend an evening at their house. So Tiffany, Caleb and I made our way over with the game "Cranium" and a camera (of course!).
It was a wonderfully refreshing evening full of laughter, fellowship and delicious honey popcorn (courtesy of Mr. Candler). Here are some photos of the evening:


Some of us posed for a quick photo before the games began...


My team (and the other team...) watches as I draw a man walking on a tight rope blindfolded (I'm blindfolded, by the way, not the man on the tight rope. *smile*) They didn't actually end up guessing right but it was fun anyway! :)


I love Lenna's face in this one. She's looking at me and at the card like "How in the world am I going to do this?! You nut!" *grin* I'm smiling like "Oh sure...it'll be easy..." :D


Lenna and I again (she was on my team, by the way.) looking at some more cards (now I'm the one that's looking not so sure)...


Everyone's huddled over the game board planning their next move!


Sierra stands atop Caleb and Josiah. You can probably tell we were all in a pretty goofy mood! :)


More photos to come later! (I would put them all up now, but blogger is acting up and won't let me post anymore for the time being...)

Also, could I ask y'all to pray for my Mom? She had a fever of 102 yesterday, and it went up to 103.4! Thank the Lord, it went down again this morning, but she feels really dreadfully, and your prayers would be appreciated! Thank you!

In His Service,

Jessica


P.S. Tiffany posted about our thrilling sledding expedition with the Ryken family. You can view photos and read about it here: www.itsthesimplethings.blogspot.com

My Dear Friends,

Our dear brother in Christ, Mr. Davis, went home to Glory this afternoon. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Please continue to pray for the grieving ones left behind, specifically, Mrs. Davis and their six children. He will be sorely missed, but we look forward to a wonderful reunion when we can all worship, as he can now, before God's throne.
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
Praise His glorious name, now and forever and ever. Amen.

~~~~~~~~~

"We picture death as coming to destroy; let us rather picture Christ
as coming to save. We think of death as an ending; let us rather think
of life as a beginning, and that more abundantly. We think of losing;
let us think of gaining. We think of parting; let us think of meeting.
We think of going away; let us think of arriving. And as the voice of
death whispers, 'You must go from earth,' let us hear the voice of
Christ saying, 'You are but coming to me.'" (Norman Macleod)

~~~~~~

(c) 1994 Jerry D. Babb

Upon Death's bed I silently lie,
Shrouded by mists and hues of gray;
Chained within a body no longer my own,
Time ever passing, quietly I pray.

Thoughts of the present are best left behind,
Vision once clear, now clouded and blind;
For pain and discomfort are constant companions,
But with a joy filled soul and peace of mind.

Remembrances of parents and friends now long gone,
Thoughts of childhood, family and home;
Time's obstacles and barriers seem to collapse,
With winged spirit, free now to roam.

My father, mother, sister and brothers,
A childhood long past, of joy and fear;
While present has faded and reality blurred,
Days of old through a kaleidoscope appear.

No longer I dread the Angel of Death,
Nor the role I am destined to assume;
For my Heavenly Father is Lord of my life,
And blessed Jesus prepares for me a room.

Loved ones now visit with arms outstretched,
With loss and sorrow misplaced;
For the One who now comforts is no stranger to me,
And speaks tender words of love and grace.

Regrets I have for those loved and left,
For to them is sadness and sorrow;
Death be not afraid, for peace follows soon,
My reward is a brighter tomorrow.

We have loved, laughed, and faced life together,
So grieve not for me, beloved children and wife;
The One who now beckons awaits my arrival,
And freely offers, to all who will come, Eternal life.

Love knows no restrictions or boundaries,
Neither Time nor Eternity it may dim;
For our Lord and Savior is King of this Realm,
When called, we will be together again.

I have lived long and loved most richly,
Experienced great joy and great pain;
Weep not for me or my passing,
This rest I have earned, my reward I now claim.

Chilly Jordan awaits my crossing,
But alone I will not stray;
For He who has been since the beginning,
Holds my heart, my hand, and with love, lights my way.

Mourn not your loss nor regret my departure,
These vessels of clay were never designed to endure;
But to love and serve, both God and mankind,
With compassion and humility, His purpose to ensure.

I depart with tears of joy mixed with sorrow,
But alone you will never be;
For although I have loved you with all of my heart,
He who now calls, has loved you throughout eternity.

(From the book, A Love Eternal, by Jerry D. Babb
(c) 1996 White Buck Publishing)

Happy Birthday!

Today, 20 years ago, my sister Melissa was born. She has always been the sweetest sister a girl could ever hope for. From the time we were little we did everything together- playing, singing, getting into trouble...:) I remember days of sitting on the back porch with her eating popsicles, playing "igloo" in 90 degree weather, running through the sprinkler, amongst so many other things. Most of all I remember spending time with her that has resulted in funny, sweet and memorable memories. :) My wonderful Savior, has truly blessed me with Melissa as a sister. I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Happy 20th Birthday, Melissa! May God bless this new year of your life beyond measure. I love you!

Urgent Prayer Request

My Dear Friends,
Please keep Nathan's (a.k.a. "Goose") father, Mr Davis, in your prayers. He had a heart attack tonight and the doctors aren't sure if he'll make it. Please, please lift him up to the Lord.

God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
God is in control, oh God is in control

He has never let you down
Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father
Watching over you and me

-Twila Paris, God is In Control

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen...."

First of all I want to let y'all know how much I appreciate all y'all waiting so patiently for me to return to cyberspace! I am truly blessed in my friendships. And secondly...

Typing this blog post feels strange - so much has happened in the past three months! There are many things to report from Providence Church, as well as events in my own family. But before I fill you in with the happenings, I wanted to get your attention for a moment - or as Shakespeare so finely put it, "Sit a moment and let me sway you with my council..."

First of all, these past few months have been so rewarding for me in my walk with the Lord. I've found Him speaking to me in a way I never heard before! I've found more time to spend with my dear, dear family, more time to read the Word, more time to spend with the Lover of My Soul, My Precious Savior. God has really and truly done amazing things for me.

He has revealed His amazing grace and love to me and reminded me of how helpless I am without Him. Over the past three months, He has drawn me closer to Him, and through my being closer to Him I've become closer to my parents and my siblings. I'm not sure how, but I've realized that the Internet is a really incredible thing. It has the power to take a persons mind, hold it for hours on end, and before you know it the day has passed and you have wasted hours of your life - the life that God has given you.

That is what was happening to me, and I am so glad that God led me to take a break. I want to encourage you this day to seek the Lord and serve and love Him with all that you are. For that is our purpose in life - to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever! Life is so very short. You see it all around you! The siblings that were once the sweetest babies are now nearly 12 and you wonder where the time went; after all, you don't feel any older!

But life does fly by. God has given us this time to serve Him and seek Him each day by reading His Word and enjoying fellowship with Him through prayer. We should not - and as Christians we cannot waste life with mindless activities. We are called to take dominion! And we, as young people should start right here in our own homes - serving our families, serving God, and living life to its fullest. For what is life all about if it's not about loving, glorifying, and serving God?

I really enjoyed these quotes from John Piper's book, "Don't Waste Your Life:

"We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is."
"If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others."
And lastly:
“I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.” At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: “Look, Lord. See my shells.”

As a side note, if you haven't read Don’t Waste Your Life, I highly recommend that you do; you will not be disappointed.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." - Ecclesiastes 12:13

And now for the update I promised. :) Christmas, particularly was wonderful. Daniel, Christa, and Joshua (well, he didn't exactly come...Christa sort of brought him along. *grin*) came to visit us and we had a splendid time with them. We enjoyed sledding, decorating, and cleaning our shop, as well as officially setting up and enjoying our Home Theatre (for family movies nights), complete with projector, large blank wall and surround sound system (which Daniel so kindly set up for us!!) We're trying to convince Daniel that they need to move up....we'll see. :) Christmas day consisted of a time of fellowship, Bible reading, singing, opening gifts, and enjoying a huge gourmet dinner! God truly blessed us this Christmas with much joy, peace and love!! :)

New Years Eve consisted of food, historical DANCING, singing, and a final "To the New Year!" toast. It was simply marvelous! I pray everyone that came enjoyed themselves as much as I did!!

And now it's the New Year, and life is once again semi "normal" for the most part. Our Church moved into another building so now we're at a place in Peoria known as "The Christian Center."(the young people seem to be enjoying the ping pong tables anyway...*grin*)

Life is beautiful and God is good. To Him be all praise, honor and glory, now and forever!
And since I'm a Southerner from the inside out, I must close with...

SHALOM, Y'ALL!!!! :)

- jessica

P.S. More photos soon!!

All of the young people at our New Years Eve Party!

The people who memorized scripture on Sunday holding up our cards! :)

Tiff was pretty excited about her Mannequin!

My dear Father on Christmas morning.

Melinda, Myself, Sierra and Susanna getting a photo on New Years Eve.

The McDonald/Blanchard Families.

The "kids" :)

"The Sisters" :)

Lenna, Myself and Sierra on Thanksgiving Day.