A random stop leads to a fleece laid out...

(Update: I didn't win, but I am still praying about going.)

Bright and early this morning I checked in on Big Mama's Blog ready for a morning smile. I was surprised that instead of a smile I received an invitation to something that I had been searching for in different people. A place and people who can help me develop as a speaker/writer!

When I received Jesus at 21, my life was a mess, and slowly He put it back together piece by piece. He put a wonderful lady in my life that taught me that His Word is everything. She spent countless hours teaching me to be a Godly wife, mother and more importantly a women who could rewrite her past with a vision of a different future.

Several years later, she is still at it, and I am still growing in each of those areas. Amazingly though God has allowed and given me a desire to help women who have a desire to be different but maybe are scared to death of what will have to change in their lives. Baby steps, practical steps that we can see results from today. Knowing that as we get our baby steps down we will be able to run the race!

I have been teaching Bible studies that I write even though it makes no sense considering that there are wonderful studies out there. For some reason I have this burning desire to write what He is telling me with their faces in my mind. Then turn around and teach it, and God has sent women who have benefited from it. The hard part is people always tell you what is good but not how to improve! I really didn't know that anything like this conference at She Speaks Conference even existed.

You know Monday is going to be stressfull when...

You walk in the kitchen for your first cup of coffee and notice there is a puddle in the floor right in front of the refrig. As I am pouring my coffee, after swiping up said puddle, I ask Chad did you spill something? Nope, BUT I NOTICED THE CREAMER WASN"T VERY COLD!

Now he noticed the creamer wasn't cold, there is water in the floor, and if he had taken hold of the freezer door and opened it, he would have also noticed that the ice was now water! As most of the freezer had defrosted and the other side as he did notice was no longer cold! All of this at 5:10 am before my first cup of coffee.

Now we have our spare refrig. in the entryway which is lovely, as you will be able to tell from the picture! Where will my Monday go from here???

My newest and bestest friend!

Isn't he the cutest? This was the best part of my Christmas present, a new friend. He shows up every day, as long as he has food. I can talk all I want and not worry about talking to much. Oh yea, if he tells any of my secrets it will be to his friends, so I don't have to be worried that it will somehow come out in the wrong place!

For some reason I LOVE looking out my kitchen and seeing him. Well actually it started with him, but the food is so good he thinks my house is perfect for him and all 6 of his friends! I kid you not the other day we had 7 squirrels on our deck while I had coffee.

Jenny

The snow came and went

The making of the snowman!




















The finished product!






Katie and Lauren were so excited by the snow, and the fact that there was enough to make a small snowman on the deck. Yep, if you look close his eyes are made of bottle caps from the coke in the kitchen! His mouth is made of left over candy canes! Frosty, may be melting from embarrassment at how he is made now days!

This morning all that is left is the bottom of him! Well the candy cane and bottle lids are on the bottom of the deck!

We are praying that the weather pattern is changing again and Georgia will start getting snow again. This was our biggest snow in 3 years, 3/4 of an inch! I was so proud, our schools didn't even close! The girls on the other hand thought the roads were to slick for buses!

Snow or Ice in the forecast...

I'm so excited that we have a chance of snow! Snow has always been one of those things that I love. Not to mention it would give us an extra day off! :)

Last night started out nerve racking, we had a couple over to talk with us about starting a small group. They were so nice it turned out to be painless. So I think we will start with Andy Stanley and see how that goes.

On the lighter side I made a dessert by Paula Deen, where you make upside down pineapple cake but you use a muffin pan and canned biscuits instead of cake mix. They are great! But I hadn't made them since we had moved, and you have to flip them out onto a dish or pan. Of course, as they sat around the table, I couldn't find anything big enough to flip it onto.

As I stood at the stove all I could think of was, I'll cover the top of the stove with aluminum foil and flip on it. I worked, but looked strange and there was no way I could transfer it to the table! The good news, it tasted great!

Why oh Why??

Chad is working on his Jeep again I might add! This morning bright and early he informs me that he would love to spend the day with me...at Junk Yards! Now what kind of date is that? 3 Junk Yards to be exact, needless to say, I declined. For a few minutes, I thought about it, but what do you wear to a junk yard?

As I pondered that out he walks in his junk yard outfit....brown overalls with a camo shirt under it. He was enough to steal my breath, because I was choking on my coffee!

I should have taken a picture to post here, but I'm not quite sure I can get it on here YET!

Anyway, if anyone knows what a female wears to the junk yard, let me know!

Jenny

Rough Day, It's to early in the year to say "Rough Year" but...

So far it has been a rough one. Why is it when you start picking your self up, someone is always right there to pull you down?

Today I was talking with someone who I don't know well, and I mentioned I was going to be teaching the youth at church. And she looks me over and says, "Jenny, I just don't think you have a heart for youth."

Ugh! Actually, my heart isn't for youth so much as God's Word. I'm praying that I can inspire them to open their Bibles up and seek God through His Word.

That brings up work today, I could write a book about the craziness that goes on there, but...maybe later I will. Anyway today Colleen said something that intrigued me. She said she was Catholic and they aren't encouraged to read their Bibles. Combine that with the latter incident and my wheels started turning...

Why do I think Bible Study is so important, why does that have my heart?

I called Chad on the way home and talked it over with him, but if you know Chad you would know he's not much into debates. So I had been thinking about starting a blog for a few days but didn't know what I would write about. All of a sudden I realized I could hold a debate with myself on why is Bible Study important and win no matter what, since I'm on both sides!

On the pros of Bible study, you have a couple of major ones:

If you are a Christian who believes in God, then it is His history with mankind. You can see how He interacted with people since forever. That will give you a good idea of how he will interact with you.

This one is the biggie, He talks to us through His Word, kinda like getting a letter. If you read it you know what the other person is saying, if you leave it in the envelope, you have no idea.

Lastly, as you study and learn the Bible you can see God there and recgonize Him in your own life.

That pretty much sums up why I think Bible study is important, but since this is a debate, here is the other side...

I can learn about God just by going to Church. Other people can tell me about God. I can think about God and He will respond??

This side is harder on me! Chad went to Korea for a year in the Army and we wrote letters back and forth, I could tell you all about that year but if you read the letters, you would feel like you knew us! That to me is the key, with Bible Study, we can know God, not just know of God.

Huge difference, knowing someone through second hand knowlede or actually getting to know them on a personal level.

Well I don't know if this was a good first post but at least I feel better!