Prayer

I am about to step out on faith in a few days.  I am about to start a bible study (as before mentioned in another post) at my house.  For some people this would have been an easy decision to make but I have to admit, it wasn't for me.  Most of you that know me know that I have been active in our drama department at church, you've seen me act and sing on stage whether it was during a play or in choir.  I even get to do the "welcome" at our church from time to time. I will give all glory to God for all of that because if left up to me, it wouldn't happen.  I was taught by a dear youth pastor, Mr. Jim Carroll that God wanted me to stretch, he wanted to break me and mold me in His image.  Sometimes breaking and molding hurts and is scary but when it's over it's never regretted.
At first I wanted the goal of the bible study to be prayer then Satan started telling me that prayer may be too deep of a topic.  "Don't freak them out with that personal topic, what if they don't want to dive in like you do?  You don't have an awesome prayer life, what kind of encouragement can you give them?" The devil really threw it at me, and I caved, I changed the topic of bible study and I was okay with it but I wasn't excited about it.  Fast forward a week or two and I was sitting in church listening to Pastor Bill, we were finishing up a series on prayer and what he was saying to us as a congregation was eye opening to me.  He was stressing how important prayer was to our church and how important it was in our own individual lives.  I know prayer works, I have seen it with my own eyes.  I left the church that day with such an absolute message that I heard loud and clear, "Don't be safe Jessica, be obedient." So, I will be obedient and I will do my best to listen to Him.  I hope if you are reading this you are moved to come to my home and be a part of this very special time I really feel it has been placed before me "for such a time as this" I believe wonderful things are about to start happening in our church and in our town.  I want to be part of that don't you?
I will leave you with a quote from the book we will be using in our bible study, Stormy Omartian's "The Power Of A Praying Woman", she writes,  "Although it may often feel like it, there is never a time when nothing is happening in your life.  That's because whether you realize it or not, you are never standing still.  You are either going forward or you're sliding back. you are either becoming more like Christ everyday or you're becoming less like Him.  There is no neutral position in the Lord." Please pray for this time, if you can come please come, if you are unable to come please pray for this time.

Things Remembered

My mom and dad came by for breakfast yesterday and during their visit my mom got a phone call.  The call was from the realtor that is taking care of the sale of my grandparent's home.  He told her that a lady we all know that lives in the same town is looking to buy the house for her grandson.  I think Mom may go through with it and I know it will be sad for her but the woman that is wanting to buy it was a good friend of my Nana's.  Years ago after my aunt passed away, this woman would come get my Nana and take her places just to get out of the house, I think she was instrumental in helping Nana decide she still had a life and she needed to live it.
Anyway, as I prepare myself for the sale of this home I think of all the things I loved about it.  I know it doesn't compare to the memories my mom has of the house but they are vivid and wonderful memories to me.  I have lived in a total of seven houses from the time I was born till now.  That house never changed.  It was the island in the midst of change.  I can smell the smell of German sausage cooking on the gas stove and the sound of the television turned up in the living room.  The distinct smell of Nana's home, they say smell is the strongest sense to recall a memory.  She wore Channel No.5, Grandpa smelled like outside, like he had just come home from some adventure at the deer lease.  The sounds around that house are the sounds of dove and cicadas (not sure if I spelled that right).  All of these things were so special and so safe, however, the people that created most of these things aren't there anymore.  They are with ME and that is why I can let the house go.  I can conjure it up anytime I want, I often take a walk around the house in my mind and listen to the outside sounds.  Sometimes my favorite thing to remember is walking through that back door just to be assaulted with the smells and the hugs.  These are just a few things that have helped shape me as a person. My parent's  home is becoming, to my children, what my Nana's house was to me. Here they are met with hugs and good food and adventure.  My dad may be outside sitting on the porch trying to shoot squirrels but my kids want to sit out there with him and hear some fun Texas history fact he has thought to share.  What about you, are you creating an island for your family?

Affirmation

Sometimes as parents we worry that we are messing our kids up.  I sometimes have visions of my children sitting in a counselor's office pouring out their problems that all stem from their unfit mother.  (shiver!) Deep down though, I feel my girls are absolutely exceptional, so much so that I am in awe that God saw fit  for me to be their mother.  Not to mention their awesome dad, I feel I don't deserve him at times.  Thank you Jesus for your many blessings.
I titled this post "Affirmation" because even with all that I mentioned above, there ARE times I get to see through my daughters' eyes.  Maybe, just maybe we (Anthony and I ) are doing something right.  Maybe, just maybe our love for Christ IS spilling over and onto them?  Layla brought her journal to me the other day and wanted me to read her latest entry. I wanted to share it with you just in case some of you that read this blog ever feel insignificant, I really don't think you are and chances are those close to you don't think you are either.

This is also testament that your children will learn from you.  They will learn how to love from you, how to be joyous and how to grieve. But most importantly, they will learn how to have a relationship with Christ from you.  Parenting is not for the faint of heart, it's not easy. Thankfully Jesus says, " my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30  Let that verse be true in your relationships too whether it is with a spouse or a child.

Making Room Part 2

Here is where it began, Anthony and Trent left early in the morning on Friday and drove to Orange Grove.  They were met with icy temperatures but they would not be swayed.

I was sent this picture from my mom's phone with the caption, "they did it, it's out of the bedroom".  There's my dad probably gearing up for the next phase. I'm not sure if the next phase was lunch because I know mom made the boys homemade hamburgers and french fries.

This was the phase I was glad I wasn't a part of but they did it.  The piano was safely loaded into the trailer along with lots of other stuff.  Well, they came home late because of some really bad traffic and of course when I saw it I cried.  I do that  a lot.  Anyway, it made it and I am so proud of it.  I do wish I had taken it when my Nana offered but of course I was silly and didn't want to take the piano out of the "piano room".  I think she would love how it looks here.  I know I do.

Welcome

Nothing says, "welcome" like a screen door.  I just love them! We installed a screen door leading in to our kitchen last spring, no this is not a picture of MY screen door, I just really liked the look of this one.  A screen door says, "come on in", "you are welcome here."  That seems to be a constant theme in my head lately, how do I relate this message to my friends?  I want to start a bible study at my house that consists of scripture study/ discussion and then a good ol' fashion circle up prayer time.  I see it in my head, I can almost touch it.  I hope and pray that it will become a reality.  I would love to end every month with a dinner for my friends, I'm not the best cook but I can follow a recipe and I love to serve others~ I believe we need to serve others.  Anyway, I see myself serving dinner on the porch to some of the ladies that I pray God is already preparing to be a part of such a sweet precious time.What a wonderful scene from my screen door, a warm evening (no mosquitoes) sweet tea and a lovely meal set before each of my special friends, prayer warriors, sisters in Christ. What says, "welcome" to you? How are you planning on serving others?

Making Room

    This Friday Anthony and my brother-in-law  Trent, are taking a road trip to Orange Grove to bring home a long awaited piece of my childhood, my Nana's piano.  Nana left us almost a year ago, a bittersweet goodbye for us but a beautiful homecoming for her.  Such a beautiful lady, I will have to devote a whole post for just her one day, but today's post is all about this very special item that resided in her house for many years.  My Nana bought this piano for my mom when my mom was in the third grade, Mom wanted to learn to play but the local piano teacher told her her fingers were too short and she would never be able to perfect it. 

     Well, that's when Nana found a teacher all the way in Corpus Christi that would take her daughter in for lessons.  That's a big deal considering the drive was thirty minutes there and back but Nana knew my mom really wanted to play the piano so like any determined mother would, she made it happen.  To make sure mom got the practice in that she needed Nana found a piano that was being sold in San Antonio, she purchased it  and excitedly waited for it's delivery.  She told me that it was all black when she first got it so she stripped it and under the coat of paint she found a beautiful wood grain. Fast forward a few years and Mom became the pianist for First Baptist Church Orange Grove, Tx at the age of fifteen she even met my dad while stopping by the same  grocery store after every piano lesson where he packed up their groceries and probably walked my mom to her car. 

      Many visits to my Nana's house consisted of all of us gathering in the "piano room" to sing old hymns and laugh as we would try to harmonize.  All of us kids have sat at the key board and learned songs like "Jesus Loves Me", and "I Dropped My Dollie In The Dirt" such wonderful memories of when all was right with the world ...  that's what's coming home to my house this weekend. And not to forget any who sat at this nucleus of our family gatherings, I am planning on framing pictures of my family playing this piano so that others get to see just a little of what this piano means to us, to me, it's pretty crazy seeing pictures of me and my children around the same age smiling from the piano.  Come by if you can, to see it yourself, touch the keys, smell it, maybe it will help you remember the objects that don't replace the people by any means but  make you go back to those moments in time. I will post pictures when we get it all set up.

Here we go, ready or not!

Hello blogging world! It's been a while since I shared my little world with everyone outside of facebook.
I hope you enjoy your visit into my life, you may laugh, cry, think or pray feel free to do it all.