Jenn's Blog

"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray..." He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.'" Luke 11:1-2

The men upon whose shoulders rested the initial responsibility of Christianizing the world came to Jesus with one supreme request. They did not say, "Lord, teach us to preach": "Lord, teach us to do miracles"; or "Lord, teach us to be wise"... but they said, "Lord, teach us to pray."
- Billy Graham

If you've never been to Trader Joe's despite my constant jabbering about how much I love them then this video will sum it up nicely for you.

The lady we scraped up against in TX now wants to sue for medical damages! Please hold for a moment while I laugh so hard I wet myself. Seriously, there wasn't even an impact - our cars scraped up against each other. The best we can determine is that she's mad that there was an investigation to determine liability instead of the insurance company just writing her a fat check. Uh sorry, but San Antonio laws are stupid and you can't expect the rest of us to know your town's goofy little quirks. She got off on a technicality - in MO we would have been in the right. It was one lane and she pulled up beside us to make a right turn, it was determined to be our fault because in crazy land (ie San Antonio) that's considered legal if the other car is more to the left of the lane...ookaaayyyy then.

Luckily, our agent assures us that we are totally protected by our insurance because of the coverage we selected. Even though she tried to scare us by sending the letter directly to us, it's totally between her and the adjuster. Good luck lady!

I really like this site. Lots of freebies and it's LOCAL!

I've read/heard of so many recipes for detergents and cleaners, yada yada, but I've always hesitated to try them because I want to know they'll work! To my delight, my friend, Meg, was positively gloating about this detergent recipe that she and all the ladies in her homeschool group have been using. Meg has been using it for 3 months and has made several batches now. This bolsters my confidence. I bought all the ingredients at Schnucks the other day, just need to snag a bucket with lid at Lowe's. I already have Lavender essential oil from a co-op so I'm good to go there. I guess I just need to buy a bucket and see if this stuff lives up to it's name!

Here the link for the recipe: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

At the bottom of the page, the blogger gives the cost breakdown and I have to say it's pretty impressive - about 75cents per BATCH!! You cannot buy detergent that cheaply no matter where you shop!

I'm hoping to make a batch this week. I'll be sure to post what I think about it.

I know we are really slow to the game here, but Ben and I attended a Trivia Night last night for our neighbor's son's lacrosse team...and we had a great time! We had a table with a bunch of neighbors and we just had a blast. We had no idea we were supposed to bring cash for all of the little prizes, tickets, auctions, etc...but I'm glad we didn't because I can see how it would be really easy to spend a LOT of $$.

I have vacation pictures up on our gallery!

Everyone in our Lifegroup has been taking turns sharing their life story. As a guideline, we were asked to share our three key people, three key events and three key places. I decided to share it here because I think there are people on the list who maybe don't know I appreciate them or what they mean to me.

Three Key People:

1. My Mom
My mom was 19 and unmarried when she got pregnant with me. She was on her own and kept the pregnancy a secret because she knew her father would try to force an abortion on her. My sperm donor didn't want anything to do with her, either. She was broke and on her own. Despite those circumstances, she has always made me feel very loved and wanted. She loved me sacrificially from the beginning and has never made me feel like a burden.

2. Ben
I never thought I wanted to be married. I remember hearing a James Dobson radio show when I was in my early teens. Dr. Dobson made a general statement about how women tend to marry men who were like their fathers/father figures. I decided right then and there that I would never get married, and until Ben showed interest, I never dated or "went out" with anyone. I wanted to be a missionary and thought that's how I would live out my life. But God had other plans and I'm so grateful!

3. My Boys
Ben and I always knew that we would have two little girls. We just loved the idea of two girly-girls and were very sure that's what our lot in life would be. Once again, God had other plans and we have been blessed with two sweet and precious little boys that we adore. A wonderful reminder that God knows us better than we know ourselves and that even if we don't get what we want we get something better: what we need.

Three Key Events:

1. Salvation
I was about 4 years old when I was saved. My mom and stepdad where on a church kick and I went to the Sunday School. I learned a lot about Jesus and became saved during a puppet show, one Sunday morning. I remember they talked about salvation and about how Jesus would always be a friend and my little hand just shot right up and I said the prayer with a volunteer. And I've never looked back since.

2. Joining ALC.
Ben and I met, attended, and were married at Abundant Life Church in Union, MO. They've since changed their name, but it'll always be ALC to me. I had a wonderful group of friends there and, of course, met Ben and his family. I learned a lot about God and how to serve him at ALC. Most of my positive child/teen memories are in thanks to ALC.

3. Stephen Ministries
This is the company I worked for prior to having children and I still do a bit of work for on the side. I learned a lot at SMy and made a lot of wonderful Christian friends. I felt like the people at SMy believed in me and helped me grow in so many ways. I learned a lot about caring for others and am still inspired by Stephen Ministries commitment to their vision.

Three Key Places:

1. Lambert Lane
This is where I grew up in Franklin County, MO. I lived there from the time I was in about 4th grade until I was 16. This was pretty much hell on earth for us. My stepdad was a miserable person who made us miserable, too. I hated everything about that place. Him, the rusted-out cars all over the property, the trash-strewn yard, the cramped, run-down trailer. Misery on wheels. This is where I also learned, first-hand, that God will never leave me or forsake me. Being a Christian doesn't mean that God waves his hand and all the bad stuff disappears. It just means that you can endure. And he'll be right there with you. That doesn't seem like it would be enough, but it is.

2. Abundant Life Church
If all the bad stuff of life happened at home, this is where most of the good happened. ALC was full of people who had good hearts and served God by loving others - specifically a shy girl with really big glasses. This is where I met my best friend, where I met Ben, and where I was married.

3. Home.
Growing up, every day when my stepdad got home, a cloud of gloom would descend on us. Sometimes downright panic. He loved to line us up and just start in on us - berating us, calling names, on and on. But God has blessed me and my home is the opposite. Every day, when Ben gets home, I hear the garage door start to rise and I feel such happiness! The boys hear it, too, and run to meet him. They hug and kiss him and tell him stories about their day. I love living out the life I would have loved to have had growing up. I love being able to give that to Ben and the boys.

So that's it, that's my story. If you've never tried something like this, I encourage you to do so. Ben read his story and it was so touching and sweet to hear what he had to say about me. We all need to take time to think about what and who has shaped us and to see how God has been present in our lives and how he's blessed us. It's also great to take a minute to thank the people who where used by God to bless us.

Monday

Today we went to IKEA. First we packed everything up and dumped it off at the front door, ready to be loaded up after shopping. I scrambled around stripping the linens, cleaning the bathrooms, and spraying everything with Lysol.

We got to IKEA and I was able to get just about everything on my list. They were out of a few things and the comforter I picked up ended up being too small for our bed. Grrr, hopefully I can sell it on Craigslist. It was a pretty quick trip since we needed to get on the road.

We dropped by Costco so Ben could exchange the GPS. It was acting up and was all buggy on the way down. While he did that, the rest of us ate a quick early dinner. Then we headed back to Brandon and Erin's, loaded up the van (Erin totally rocks at packing) and then we headed out.

We stayed the night in Eufala (sp?) OK

Tuesday

Today we ate our free breakfast, hopped in the van, and made our way home. Gabe started to get crabby toward the end. He was just so darn tired of his seat. Luke is a star traveler. He loves to ask, "Are we still in _______?" Other than that, he's perfectly content to watch movies, draw, play his DS, just whatever really. He's so easy-going.

We pulled in the driveway about 5:30pm and immediately unloaded everything out of the van. Totally cleaned it out. Ben put the cartop carrier away and everything. We just wanted to get it done. Ben shifted through our mountain of mail while I put EVERYTHING away. I hate suitcases and misc stuff just floating around for days and weeks. I'm ready to get back into our routines!

Fluffy seemed glad to see us. Our neighbors and Ben's parents took great care of him and kept the plants watered, which I'm really grateful for!

I enjoyed our trip, all things considered. I'm bummed we missed so many days due to sickness. I feel like we were away from home for a long time, but didn't get to do everything on our list. Oh well, there's always next time, I guess.

Now I'm tired as I sit here typing this so I'm going to go to bed early for once!

We actually got out and about today! Today we all felt well enough to do something so we went to Galveston to show the boys the ocean and see what we could see. The drive down wasn't too bad at all. We ate lunch at Joe's Crab Shack and then went to the aquarium at Moody's Gardens. We spent about 20 minutes at the beach. Took a couple of pictures and I picked up a handful of shells and rocks.

Brandon and Erin's 6th anniversary was today! Happy anniversary to them! They are such good friends to share their special day showing us around.

Tomorrow is our last day here. We have to pack up, hit IKEA, and then hit the road. Ben booked a hotel in OK, already so we'll be stopping for sure and making the return trip a two-day event. It just makes sense. We hope to arrive home with our sanity intact.