Happy Fathers Day

Words can't express how blessed I am to  have such great men in my life. 

My dad taught me the importance of family, to work hard, and to never take your self to seriously. He also taught me how to use a drill, and drive with my knees so I can eat a cheeseburger. Love and miss you lots daddy! 💗🍔🍟

I am so blessed to have my husband who loves our boys unconditionally. yesterday I took him out to celebrate him. We went to auto bahn and Fogo De Chao. 

I am also thankful that my husband had a wonderful man to look up too. I see so much of Jack in Brian. I see his tenderness and servants heart. 

God has dealt bountiful with me. God bless these men. 💗

My monkey

My kid who never sleeps past 7:30. Didn't get out of bed until 11am this morning. When I went to go check on him at 10, he looked at me and pulled the blanket over his head. 

Once he got up this kid has been going non-stop. 

We're eating breakfast and all the sudden he goes "oh I farted" ....."in my diaper."

I'm currently listening to him sing Twinkle little star like he's possessed and he's playing his shoe string like a guitar. 

Kings Dominion

Yesterday we took the youth group to Kings Dominion. It was good to get them out of their element one last time. 

A lot of people think it's just a fun break for The leaders. While it is fun, some of the most honest and transformative talks happen on "fun" trips. The teens feel free from their regular lives. Never miss an opertunity to reach a Kid for the Gospel. 

Today. However, the.struggle.is.real.

We also wanted to get JT something. But  since JT hates stuffed animals we opted for this. 

You laugh. That kid loves his cups. 

-j 

Texas

I've had a lot of people asking questions about Texas, and saying they wanted to keep in touch so they could see the boys grow. I figured I'd start blogging again, instead of clogging up Facebook.

If you don't care about our new adventure, you don't have to read it. But I know there are some that do. (Mostly our moms)

So here are my short thoughts on Texas (because nobody likes to read long boring blogs).

• I'm incredibly excited about this new adventure. 
• I'm Praising God for this opportunity and answer prayer
• Brian's job will be perfect for him. I would be a fool to say no to this.
• I'll get to stay home with the boys. Which I'm equally terrified and over joyed about. Missing milestones, or sacrificing quality time with my sweet boys has been increasingly hard.
• I'm going to miss our family.
• I'm scared I'm going to be lonely, even though I'm an introvert 
• I hate hot weather
• I also hate cold weather and Maryland had an identity crisis and thought it was Maine this winter.
• I'm heartbroken about leaving the teenagers.
• I'm excited about getting to love and minister to the teens in Texas. Brian and I have already been praying for them...

All in all, when we visited Texas a month ago, I knew thats where God wanted us to be. 

We'll be living in Richardson Texas in a two bedroom apartment. The church is called Woodcreek Church. We're having movers come and pack whatever I can't get done. Brian is driving the truck with one of his friends from college on July 7th. I'm flying with my parents on the 8th. 

Pray that stuff gets finalized with the apartment complex. We've (the leasing company and I) both (through email) confirmed everything but she keeps forgetting to send me the actual lease agreement. In maryland that means something shady is going on, so I'm hoping it's just a culture thing and we really do have an apartment to move into.

Pray as we finish up here, that we finish well. We are both exhausted and we have lots to do. 

Pray for teens, both here and there. That this transition will go smooth. That hearts are prepared.

you know you're a mom when....

you forget to get dressed in the morning.

I made it all the way to a baby shower in Bowie before I realized I was in shorts and a ratty t-shirt.

So classy.

ramblings

Nothing makes you appreciate time like having a baby.

You get less than 9 months to enjoy time with you and your spouse. Before you know everything is going to change.

The time it takes to get through one intense contraction, can feel like a life time.

I never appreciated sleep like I do now. Pretty sure I was asleep BEFORE 9pm last night.

Having time to not just take a shower, but wash one's hair and you can forget about shaved legs.

Mascara? Thats something singles wear.

Forget having the time to go to places like Chipotle, Panera, or any place without a drive through.

I can't even work as long as I'd like to in the office because of child care. So I spend a lot of nights working from home, once JT is down.

The average span of a life time is 3,744 weeks.  From birth to age 18 is just 936 weeks.

936

936

That's it. That's all. That's all I get.

Every moment counts. Every smile, and so does every tear.

And when he gets older, so will every prayer. Every chance to share The Gospel. Every teaching moment, to respond in love and grace.

 I couldn't imagine trying to spend these next 936 weeks without being in dedicated prayer. Not only is raising a child a literal matter of life and death, but also eternal life and death.

Time. We only get so much time to make a difference. To teach them about Jesus and the fact that he died so we could live. The fact that he was perfect and yet still died for OUR crap. Because THAT is the only the that matters.

I pray I use my time wisely.

I pray you will also.

I know absolutely nothing about parenting. But I know I can't do it without Christ.

Thats all for now
- J & and a sleepy little boo

It's a Baby, not a Baby Registry.

I was recently encouraged to start blogging again especially about being a new mother. Because we all know I can be painfully honest and sometimes people like that. Other times.. not so much. BUT I thought I'd go for it.

Most of my friends are either pregnant, just had a baby, or want babies. I guess I'm at that stage in my life. That and Bible college students do things 5 years earlier than the rest of society.

When Brian and I got married I tried hard to focus my attention on preparing for my marriage more than my wedding. And I Praise God I did.  I wish I had had enough brains to do the same when John Thomas came along. Instead I was more caught up in America's wonderful marketing lies that I needed  thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, and the beautiful art of denial that I was actually have a human being.

As long as I focused on what crib to buy, which car seat was safest and what outfit made me look less like a hippo, I didn't have to face the reality that one day I'd have to be a parent. I didn't have to think about my baggage and sin being passed on to my child. As long as I wore earrings that pulled the attention away from my belly (which works BTW) I didn't have to think that Brian and I would have to pray even harder against the Devi's attacks.

I wish I cared less about Babies R Us sales and more about preparing myself to be a Godly mother.

I think the Devil hides behind the dreams of perfect wedding photo's and cute cuddly babies. He takes our focus off of the seriousness of the life changes and puts it on cute little boy polos (I mean seriously is there anything cuter than a 3 month old in a polo).

Christ.

Christ needs to be my focus. Praying I allow him to chip away and make him the woman and mother of God he wants me to be.

I wish that was my prayer from the start of this journey, and praying it's yours.