Life

Each step of life is a journey that you choose to walk.

Each moment of life is another line, sentence, paragraph and chapter of the book called your life.

Enjoy all that life has to offer, good friends, good food, good coffee and as always wisdom and a good laugh.

~Jen





24 December 2012

Christmas Eve 2012



It's so hard to believe that it's Christmas Eve 2012. So much has happened this year, and as I look back on all the events of the year, I am still just so amazed at God's Grace and Love. I am so glad that we came up to spend Christmas with my best friend, Tina, and her growing family! Right before we came up she found out that she is pregnant with twins! I'm so happy and excited for her, and it is going to be so much fun watching them grow up!




As we have spent the past few days in the Winston-Salem area I have met some extremely nice and caring people. We have gone to a real active church that seems to have a heart for God and I have loved taking my kids out to see new places and have fun.






Today we took them ice skating. They have been ice skating before, but it has been years. My daughter wanted to go, so we found an indoor rink (it was raining today) and they enjoyed skating for a couple of hours.



Over all it has been a good Christmas break, and when we get home we will have Christmas with the parents and enjoy family time with them before getting back to the routine of life. With that being said...New Years (2013) is right around the corner...so now is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and make new resolutions for the upcoming year. I'm sure I'll post mine when I have a list...and if you know me...you know I'll have a list! Merry Christmas.




~Peace & Blessings~
Jen

17 December 2012

Almost Midnight...

 and I'm still up. It has been an emotionally draining day. My emotions are still very raw from the tragedy in Connecticut. I don't have to know the children who died or their families to feel pain and shed tears. I have read so much about gun control and about the state of mind of the young man, but the fact of the matter is, those children and heroic adults are gone.





Death is all around us, everyday. It seems so senseless and it can be so crippling. I can remember being of a very young age when I lost my Grandmother, and so many more after her. Death is never easy. Many times we just don't know what to say or how to even respond to death.

I don't know if the parents will ever fully heal. Only God knows the answer. I don't know how many people will continue to curse God or not believe that there is a God or how many people will turn to God because of this, but I know as a Christ follower I have faith that God STILL control.

We will all suffer loss, we will all cry out because of death, we will all question the validity of life. Where will you go to look for answers? Who will you seek out to talk to?

I have walked down the road of emptiness, anger and bitterness towards God. I ran from Him for many years because of the death of a loved one. I now know that it is in Christ that I found peace...not understanding, but peace.

I am truly saddened by what has happened, but I know that I must equip my children, my family and my community for what is still to come and to give them God's Word, Truth and Future. I can't run and hide from the scary evils of this world. I'm not going to teach my children to run and hide either. We must face each day as if it is our last, live life to the fullest with joy, and run the race until the very end.


Jen

16 December 2012

My heart...


is just broken right now. And it's not just over the unforeseen death of so many young children. This past week has been riddled with death, and today has been my first day to really let it all sink in.

My week started with hearing about a shooting, no two shootings, a plane crash, and a homicide. I do not watch the news. I probably should, but it depresses me to the point that I just can't, and I don't read the paper, so when I hear of a tragedy, I know it is a tragedy, as they say good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster.

Mr. Poppell, an active community leader, took a private plane to Valdosta earlier this week, but never made it. He died in the accident. Then later that morning news came in that Commissioner Sublett, of Brunswick, was reported missing and later found dead and his death has been ruled a homicide. That is when I learned of two more shootings in our community. This was Tuesday. That afternoon we were having a station meeting and we were discussing the recent tragedies, and within a few hours we announced a prayer vigil for next Thursday...

Wednesday...that morning, Pastor Tim came into the station to share God's Word and to try and give our listeners peace, in light of all the dark. That evening, I read about the shootings at a mall in Portland (I have friends there).

Thursday we get the approval for the "City on Our Knees" Prayer Vigil, and we begin to share with everyone via email and Facebook...Prayer Vigil Info

Friday...we hear of the shooting and deaths at the elementary school, Sandy Hook. My heart broke when I heard the news. My thoughts were of loss, and fear, and of my own children. It just shocked me...almost as much as the day that the Twin Towers fell.

Here's where I must interject...all of these events, were "events". They "effected" me, but not in an immediate way, so I could and did brush them aside and place them on the back burner. I had too many other obligations and things that needed my attention, so I could not really take the time to focus on all the death around me. I...my children and I...were in the midst of Nutcracker rehearsal, and Benchmark tests, so I had not been home long enough to sit down and absorb all the news.

Now that my day has given me time to read and catch up on all the information that was given to me earlier in the week, I am just shocked, saddened, hurt and broken. I have teared up 20 different times in the past hour, and I teared up a dozen times at church today as we talked about HOPE, and where HOPE comes from and how now more than ever we NEED to bring HOPE to a dying world.


I went on to Facebook, to see what I could find as far as posts go, so I could get a better understanding of this Adam boy, and to learn about the adults who acted so bravely to save children, and to learn about the children who did not survive. I forget how angry people can become and how easy Facebook makes it for people to be vocal in a very hateful, mean-spirited and hurtful way. This too, broke my heart.

So I say all of this to say one thing...I am praying for the Poppell and Sublett families. I am praying for the 28 families that lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook murders, and for the remaining family of Adam, the young man who committed this horrific crime. My heart just hurts. I'm not sure what else there is to say, but I needed to post this. I know you are angry and I know that we don't have an answer to the question WHY, but I know that GOD is GOD, and HE alone is in control. We, Me...I am called to pray, forgive, love and give mercy, just as GOD has forgiven and loved me and has shown me mercy.


~Peace & Blessings~
Jen