Friday, November 30, 2012

Oh, Give Thanks

It's November for a few more hours! I still have time to do a Thanksgiving post, right?! ;) Just a little behind, as usual. =) Our Thanksgiving was spent in Fredricksburg with Tyler's mom and Gary, and, Ashly and Jason. We had a great visit with family, but unfortunately Wyatt was a little out of sorts... He's starting to come back around after a rough couple of weeks so it had to be teething. That teething stuff is no joke, whew.

Some pictures of our day....

Watching the train
 
Tree Swing 
 
Going across the street to see the sheep (only in Frederisckburg)
 
 Thanks Uncle Jason!
 
 Yummmm

Weeeeeeee


 
A trip to Gammy's isn't complete without a wheelbarrow ride!


Sweet Picture =) 


Love it

=) 
 
 
We got some good ones at the end!!
 
I loved this post over at SarahMarkley.com called "Fantasy and Reality." She talks about how we envision how holidays and certain events will go and it is usually "perfect" in our minds and that rarely matches up with reality. I've been particularly guilty of this now having Wyatt... but the truth is, little ones are so unpredictable and things aren't near as "perfect" as we plan for them to be! Wyatt screamed the majority of the night keeping us and Aunt Ashly and Uncle Jason awake... we felt SO bad, but we tried everything we could. LOL Such is life. And that doesn't mean those things aren't good... because they are! It's just real life, but there is still so much JOY to be had!
 
This year I am particularly thankful for our HEALTH (and the health of all of my family!)... we are all healthy, happy, and whole. I have been hearing so many stories of sickness, cancer, surgeries and even death. Health is something we take for granted until something happens. So I am giving lots of praise to God for blessing us with our health!
 
HAPPY (late) THANKSGIVING!
 


Sunday, November 18, 2012

A little off topic from the usual day-to-day posts, but I couldn't let this go by without writing a little something about it. Last week I finished up a bibly study at church as one of the small group leaders, which was a pretty big deal for me. So let me back up a little bit... I've grown up in church so, of course, I know all the common bible stories (Noah's Ark, Daniel in the Lion's Den, David and Goliath, Jesus!, ect, haha). I really haven't been involved in actual bible study since high school youth group though. At our last church in Florida, we didn't really get all that involved.. we didn't go to Sunday School, just church. And we didn't attend the women's/men's weeknight bible study. To many excuses I guess you could say.

So we move here to San Antonio a year and a half ago and find an awesome church that we join! I immediately feel the Lord's nudging on my heart to connect and get involved and really become a part of the church family. So one of the ways I do that is start attending the women's bible study. I started last fall in 2011 and did 1 study and then did 2 in the spring of this year. God ever so gently laid the idea on my mind of me leading one of the small groups for bible study. To which my inital response was, "NO WAY, God!" haha

Fast forward to July.... I get a voicemail one afternoon and it is from Sheila who is the leader/coordinator of women's bible studies. She just asks me to call her back. I KNEW that she was going to ask me to be a group leader. Insert - Freak out moment, ahhhhh!!!! Sure enough, I call her back and she says, "I need you to pray about being a bible study leader. I've been praying about it all summer and God has put you on my heart." Even though I knew it was coming I was still not any more prepared for it.... I was literally sick to my stomach the rest of the day. Not even joking. And here was my list of excuses, "I'm to shy, I don't even like talking in front of people." "I don't know the Bible well enough." "I've hardly ever even prayed in front of people." "I'm just not the right person! I'm introverted and keep my thoughts to myself." .... and the list goes on. I may not be a bible scholar, but I know enough to know that God always uses the least likely of characters and he never, ever leaves their side when He calls them to do something.

The rest is history and we just finished up the study last Wednesday. We did "The Patriarchs" by Beth Moore, Genesis 11-50. And if you just think that Genesis is just about the creation of the world, pick up a bible and read, because, WOW! It has love stories, wars, infertility, adultery, angels, death, miracles, family dysfunction and betrayal, stolen birthrights, famines, weddings, dreams coming true, and more!! And the most amazing thing of all is that it is history and it is true and we have it recorded for us in God's Word! It all took place in modern day Syria and Egypt and it is amazing to learn how it relates to a lot of what is happening in those countries even today.

I think my biggest "take away" from the study is the amazing sovereignty of our God. Just when the situation was looking bad and it seemed no way could it be fixed, God would step in and turn it around. Romans 8:28 says that "God works all things together for good" and it was true back then and it is still true today. He take impossible situations and makes them possible for the glory of His name. He told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and that a whole nation would come from him, yet he and Sarah struggled with infertility and couldn't even have 1 baby! Yet, God kept His promise and answered their prayers and blessed them with Isaac (which led to Jacob, which led to the nation of Israel). And there is story after story that testifies to His sovereignty.

My second "take away" is how personal God is with people. It will always continue to amaze me that the God of the universe pursues us, individually, into a relationship with Him. He did this in Genesis and He does it today. Sure, He doesn't speak audibly or send bright shining angels down to us but He sent His Son and the Spirit and now we have all access to the Creator of the universe. We can talk to Him and question Him and He hears us and answers us.

So, I didn't have to be a bible scholar or super outgoing or experienced in speaking to lead a bible study group.... He was with me the whole way and I am glad I took a step of faith. I would have missed out on experiencing yet another way that He has proved faithful in my life. (And now I am actually looking forward to leading the next study that we start on January 9th! That. is. a miracle. LOL)









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About Me

Hi, I'm Jenna! Wife of 9 years to my high school sweetheart, Tyler, and stay-at-home mama to our 3 year old, Wyatt, and 1 year old foster daughter. I blog about our extra-ordinary days to keep family updated and because I enjoy journaling and documenting the things that bring me joy... faith, family, and friends!

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