The Walker's

Meghan and Jesse are Getting Married

2009-07-24T18:09:00.001-07:00

We were so excited when Meghan contacted us to do their engagement photos and photograph their big day in October. They weren't sure where they wanted their photos done, except they did not want the beach. If you aren't fans of the beach, why have your photos there? So we talked and agreed that a park would be perfect. We actually took them to the same park that we had our engagement photos done 5 years ago...memories!
When Jesse proposed to Meghan they had just recently gotten a puppy. When he asked her to marry him the puppy came out with the ring on its collar! We thought that it would be great to incorporate it in with the photos.

An early Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-09T17:44:00.001-07:00

Yes...my little man was swinging by himself and not strapped in...daddy's? What would we do without them? :-)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

So Behind...

2009-05-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

in my postings! Things have been incredibly busy and crazy lately so I haven't blogged about any of it. So here are a few quick catch up items of note:

Luke started walking! :-) He has decided he prefers to do it more in the afternoon and evening...which isn't so bad b/c he's been tiring himself out more.
I am receiving my Professional Contract with the County! another YAY! As of May 26th it will be official.
I am moving classrooms. This isn't too bad since I will no longer have a room that leaks. In fact it is one of the brand new 12 rooms that were built through out the year.
I was able to visit FBC of Fernandina on Monday night and hear Tony Nolan preach for their revival. It was awesome!
While at the church we ran into my daddy's old boss. It was great seeing him again and hearing all of the wonderful things about daddy...especially that everyone at the mill misses him still and it's so different now without him.
I will be working an extra few days this summer with our school. We have a stipend coming from our Title 1 funds that enable us to work a little bit more in the summer getting curriculum aligned and working on the school improvement plan.
Another group of our students at church will be graduating. Not quite as big of a group as last year, but I am still going to miss them being involved with us. But excited about the new group coming up.
Oh yeah...Luke is allergic to strawberries! Found this out during spring break but realized I never blogged about it. Keep them away from him...it is not a pretty sight to see. (I'll post pictures later.)

I'm sure I'll have more coming up soon!

Love ya!

My hubby!

2009-04-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

This month marks a lot of milestones in our lives. It was in May of 2006 that Jeff graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville KY. It was May of 2007 that Jeff was brought on as the full time student minister at Gray Gables. It was May of 2007 that Jeff was ordained. It was also May of 2007 that we found out we were expanding our family. I'm starting to think that May might be a good luck month for us...or just God's perfect timing...yeah I'll go with that one!

This photo was taken at Jeff's graduation ceremony in KY.

I am giving away...

2009-04-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

a free 31 gift for anyone who books and holds a 31 gifts party in the month of May or June. My team is hosting a booking blitz that ends Thursday evening. If you are interested please contact me before 5 PM b/c I will be doing a party that evening. You can even just leave me a comment below and I'll get back with you VERY soon.
Now some of you may not realize it but 31 Gifts have now started a kid line called 31kid and in June will start a teen/tween line called Direction. The new kids line has diaper bags, bibs, aprons and all sorts of super cute stuff! Check it out at my site www.mythirtyone.com/5287

May Customer Special Spend at least $20 (retail) and buy one of these four popular Julie Totes for just $10! (That’s an amazing $16 off the regular retail price.) Choose from: Brown with Burgundy Stripe, Animal Print, Black Floral Dot, or Pink with Julie Stripe Liner. (Perfect for carrying your bible and Sunday School lessons or paper work from your job.)

May Hostess Special: Earn rewards NOW and LATER! Hostess will earn the rewards as seen on pg 3 of the catalog but will also receive rew ards later when our new Direction catalog (teens and tweens) comes out in June!
For instance: Host a $350 party now in the month of May and get $20 in free products from our new teen line Direction in June! And the rewards keep adding up! If you have a $550 party then you will earn $40 free dollars and if you have an $850 party then you get $60 free dollars to use in June with the new catalog line.

Sarah and James

2009-04-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

and baby makes 3...

2009-04-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had the great opportunity to shoot a maternity session for James and Sarah. We had a great time with them and they enjoyed getting to see and play with Luke as well. Little Ethan is very lucky that God chose James and Sarah to be his parents. God Bless ya'll!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T06:27:00.001-07:00

This was taken at the wedding we shot this past weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

Expect the Unexpected

2009-03-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

I have always believed that you are put in certain situations for a reason. I also believe that you are taken out of situations for a reason. Thus, I also believe about people being in your life for a reason, season or lifetime. I believe that when we are first put in a new situation that maybe we can't see the reasoning behind it, but eventually God shows us.

I received an e-mail from someone in my past from when I lived in Virginia. It was from a guy that I dated for a long time and it was not a pretty break up. We "found" each other again on Facebook through mutual friends. He is married with a little boy who was born three months after we had Luke. Anyways. We hadn't talked in at least 3 years. I thought that we were way past the break up by that point since we were both married in 2005. I know I was. (reason, season, lifetime kind of thing). We've had very little common conversation on facebook: you have a beautiful family! How's your mom and dad doing? That kind of conversation. But today I got a full message from him. He mentioned to begin with that this was possibly going to be looked at as stupid or silly but to just let him say it. He spoke of how after we broke up (8 years ago) that I had said I always belonged in Florida. He went on to say about how angry and upset that had made him and that he had held on to that for so long. He wanted to let me know that he was working on finding "the plank in his own eye" and that he needed to apologize for holding on to that anger and for being upset about it. I almost fell out of my chair when I read it. But I guess that I also owe him an explanation about what I meant by the fact that "I always belonged in Florida."

I believe that we moved to Virginia for a reason. There was purpose behind meeting all of the wonderful friends that I have from there. There is also purpose behind the relationship that I had with him while I was there. But all in all, none of those things were meant to be a lifetime event. Those were seasons. I met those people, had that relationship, and lived there for only a season and then God said it was time to move on to my lifetime. By saying that "I always belonged in Florida" was not meant to be hurtful...but looking back it was the truth. I have an amazing husband that I found here in Florida. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy here in Florida. I spent the last 8 years being close to my father here in Florida. I have a home, a great job and a wonderful church family here in Florida.

While yes, I believe that I belonged in Florida, I don't regret being in Virginia. What God has "put us through" or "brought us out of" is what makes us who we are today. So I feel very blessed that I was in that season because if not...I wouldn't be in my lifetime now.

Could this be...

2009-03-20T11:22:00.001-07:00

the longest week in history? Oh, wait, no that might have been the week leading up to our wedding! But seriously I really don't know how much longer the week could've gotten.

We had Stanford 10 testing this week for all 1st and 2nd graders in the county. Two weeks ago the state decided to spring a surprise on all of the teachers: instead of the usual two days of testing, we're gonna change it to 4 days of testing! :) Ok seriously?! Oh and there was more: we're going to add a whole new section and days worth of testing! WHAT?! Ok, ok...breathe...it's all good. And you know what? It was! I am very proud of my kids. I had a couple that did the typical add when they should've subtracted...but what do you expect when you are taking a test that all you have in front of you are answers and the teacher is only allowed to read the question 1 time?! (Not kidding here...really wish I was)

Anyways...Jeff has spent a lot of time up at Shand's this week as we had church family dealing with death. We haven't gotten to spend too much time together which is why we are having a date tonight...a REAL going out to dinner, do something, got a baby sitter date! YAY!

One week from today momma will be closing on her house in Callahan and will be only a few steps away from my front door. We really are happy about this as we are still mourning the loss of daddy and grandma...and anyone who has gone through something like this knows what some of the best medicine is: a baby! and Luke will be available for plenty of play dates with his Gammy.

Meanwhile business is picking up with the photography company. We're getting ready to announce a great deal for sittings. It'll be good on senior sessions, family portraits, etc. Loving the new equipment we've been getting and am getting ready to order a shootsac (can't wait...got it picked out and everything!). Super excited that we have a wedding coming up in 2 weeks to shoot. It's going to be a great opportunity to try new things and to scratch the itch I've had since Charlene's wedding, with all of my mental notes I took. (Not stealing ideas from ya'll Chris and Ros...I promise! :-) just an over active mind at work!)

Until later...

Love ya!

Just because...

2009-03-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

After I cut all of MY hair off.

Praise the Lord!

2009-03-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

He has yet again answered prayers.

A close friend of mine at work, who is a breast cancer survivor, had to have tests ran on Tuesday for a growth on her back. She went back to the doctor today to get the results. We have all been very nervous because of her past history with cancer... But God has shown himself again. She just has a mass of fluid! We've been praying for her at church, especially in the youth group...and I am so thankful for those prayers and the answer that God has given.

Praise Him!

Love ya!

Exciting News!!

2009-03-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well...to me it is anyway!

My mom is going to be closing on her house in Callahan on March 27th! I can't believe how quickly it has gone up and how fast time has passed.

Some people have said "your mom is going to live across the street?!" I realize that might be hard for some people...but I believe it's going to be the best to help all of us through what has happened. We all live our own lives without interruption from each other.

Anyways...I'm really excited and I know that it is going to truly be a blessing in the long run. And there will be a baby sitter just a few steps away. :)

Love ya!

4 Things

2009-03-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

4 jobs I've had:
1. Student Assistant at FCCJ
2. Weight Loss Consultant
3. Teacher
4. Mommy and Wife

4 movies watched over and over:
1. Steel Magnolias
2. Veggie Tales
3. Diary of a Mad Black Woman
4. 13 Going on 30

4 places I've lived:
1. Jacksonville FL
2. Callahan, FL
3. Chester, VA
4. Jacksonville and Callahan again.

4shows I watch:
1. Friends
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. One Tree Hill
4. American Idol

4 places I've been:
1. Jamaica
2. New York
3. Virgin Islands
4. Cozumel Mexico

4people who e-mail me regularly:
1. My director Kim from 31 Gifts
2. Use to be my grandma til she passed.
3. Mom
4. Jeff

4favorite things to eat:
1. Mexican Food
2. Five Guy's Hamburgers
3. mom's chili
4. popcorn

4places I'd rather be:
1. in my bed snuggled up watching a movie
2. in the mountains
3. on a cruise
4. and any place with jeff and luke

4things I look forward to this year:
1. Growing in my relationship with jeff, luke and Christ
2. Continuing to grow both of our businesses
3. Rose's Wedding
4. Our trip to Orlando with Brandon and MacKenzie

4people to tag:
1. Rosalind
2. Melody
3. Shauna
4. Goldie

We're All Tourists

2009-02-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

This was in a book that I happened to look at today. It was just a book that had all these little sayings in it...nothing that would constitute the book as being religious or spiritual but it caused me to think that way a little and thus...this blog.
In the grand scheme of what we call life that's what we are: ALL Tourists. This world is just a place for us to visit for a short amount of time and then we return (hopefully if you know Christ) to the One who created us. In no way can I say that the last four months have been easy for me...but in no way can I say that it's the most difficult thing I will ever face in my life. Something I've learned is that you have no idea what the next five minutes hold, let alone the next day. If the last four months is the worse I will experience then Praise God! But if not, then in the end of it let me say Praise God! We come into this world knowing nothing and still in all honesty, leave it not knowing much more than when we started...this world is not our home. My home is with Christ. Christ allowed me to come to this world, be born to David and Pat Willwerth, grow up with a loving family, get an education, marry a fabulous husband, and have a beautiful baby...but in the grand scheme of God's Plan...this isn't it. God is allowing me to spend my days here with a loving family, educating little ones for their future, teaching students, and seeing my son grow on a daily basis... But it boils down to the fact that I am just a tourist here. My home is with Him. It has taken me these past four months to begin seeing that...and I'm still not as close as I want to be in understanding it.
I am going to enjoy the opporunity that God is giving me to look around and "take it all in" (so to speak, not literally). But I want to be reminded that in the end...He is my home.

Gone...

2009-02-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

Just a real quick note...grandma passed away early this morning around 2 AM...please be in prayer for our family.

Can I handle this???

2009-02-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

This is a question that I have been asking myself since about 11:40 AM yesterday (Monday). My vice principal, Amber, came in to my classroom and said "Your husband is on the phone. There has been a family emergency." First thoughts: mom's been in a wreck, something's happened to Luke. (I knew it wasn't Jeff since he was the one on the phone.) I answer the phone with a "what's happened!?" and Jeff tells me that my grandma has had a stroke and is being taken by ambulance to the hospital. I hang up and begin freaking out trying to figure out what to do. Amber told me to go and be with my family. Se we get to the hospital and she's in the emergency room having tests ran. When I go back to see her you could look at her face and tell it had been a stroke. The side of her face is very droopy and her words were slurred. When we got there this morning she was worse than yesterday...she can't speak at all right now. She's having trouble breathing. A test was ran to see if she'd had another stroke during the night...but we don't know anything yet. This is my moms mom...the one that I grew up living next to until we moved to VA. I can't go through this again... The past four years around this time something bad has happened...one year my poppa was in a horrific car accident, Luke had MRSA, and now grandma...We can't keep going through this...I know that God is taking care of it all...but that doesn't stop our earthly pain.

My baby can see!

2009-02-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

I know I am so behind in blogging that I haven't even posted pictures from Luke's birthday party but they are coming. However we had an opportunity this week to have Grace cut his hair. Now I battled all day and kept saying I was going to call and cancel it. Every time I though about how it would change him I'd start to tear up. But all in all...at least he can see now!

The Before Shot while waiting on Mrs. Grace.

Hey! I can see!

That tickles!

"That's what you look like!"

My handsome little man

Life changed...

2009-02-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

A year ago today...

I woke up around 4 AM
I made the "long" trip to St. Vincent's hospital at 6:00 AM.
I took 3 pills with one swallow of water.
I met the best nurse named Christy.
I had my closest family with me.
I walked into an OR as a family of two.
I heard my sons first cry at 10:19 AM.
I was rolled out of the OR as a family of three.
I received God's second biggest blessing in my life. (Jeff being my first)
I held my miracle for the first time...and never wanted to let him go.
I received news that my miracle had a heart murmur.
I felt God's loving, promising presence.

A year ago today we welcomed Lukas Bona Walker into our family. He has changed our lives for the better everyday. We love him more today than yesterday...but less than tomorrow.
God blessed us with him at His perfect timing. God knew that this past year would be a difficult one for us...and he allowed Luke to be a part of the bright side of the year. I really don't remember what life was like before him...and I don't think I want to.
<-- Minutes after you were born!

My baby boy was born weighing 8lbs 4 oz...and now at 12 months weighs 24 lbs 6 oz!
He is a crawlin, cruisin baby boy that likes to discover how things work.
He knows who his mama, dada, gammy, poppy, grandma and grandpa are.
He knows who Harley is (my moms dog) and calls her Dardy.
He smiles at you when you want to cry...and you can't help but smile back!

I am amazed at how God poured His love out to my family a year ago today. His timing is perfect and for that...I wish my little man a Happy First Birthday on today February 1st 2009.

Slowly am I...

2009-01-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

going crazy! So much to do and the feeling of no time to do it in...ever felt that way? Luke's small birthday party is Saturday and the cake just got ordered today! It has really crept up on me. I knew that it was coming, had all of it planned...and then Tuesday afternoon my mom asks "so what kind of cake did you order?" Aw, crud! I forgot about the cake! Really?! How did I manage that? Oh, that's right...life happened! So Jeff and I went out to dinner and cake shopping. (On a side note the best Mexican restaraunt is Casa Maria on Main Street...AMAZING!!!) Back to the cake...we didn't really see anything that fit the "jungle animal" stuff that we had gotten...so back to square one on the cake situation. Anyways...a trip to WInn Dixie and a trip to Walmart sent us back to Publix. Luke will be having a "pull apart" (cupcakes) Monkey cake! It's the only thing that came closest to what we were looking for. Anyways...pictures will follow.

Love ya!

More peeks!

2009-01-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

Rose and Mitchell

2009-01-24T16:53:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I experienced a great blessing today. We spent the afternoon with one of my absolute best friends and her husband - to- be. We were asked to do their engagement pictures for them and then our awesome friends from Chris Reinolds Photography will be doing their wedding photos in September. (Keep your eye out for me...I'm a bridesmaid!) We have so many more pictures coming but I just couldn't help myself and had to post a couple! :-)

Honesty Scrap (Thanks Amy!)

2009-01-23T04:08:00.000-08:00

Honest Scrap

Thanks Amy!

The rules of the award:
1) Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
2) Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
3) List at least 10 honest things about yourself.
The honest things about me:

1. I constantly worry about what others think of me. I know that I shouldn't, but I do.

2. If you don't like me, I tend to want to know why. Not to get angry with you over it, but to improve myself.

3. I honestly don't know if I want to teach for the rest of my working life. I would like to go back to school but don't have the time, energy or finances for it.

4. I have A LOT of jobs: wife, mama, daughter, sister, teacher, at home sales rep, photographer and last but certainly not least are these two, which I consider to be major, Christian and minister's wife.

5. I cannot stop worrying about my mom since my dad passed. I feel like that's where the job of daughter comes in and is never ending.

6. Sometimes being a minister's wife is incredibly difficult but I would never change it. You never know what each day will hold on a normal basis, but multiply that times 100 and you have the life of a minister's wife.

7. I constantly put myself down (and Jeff hates it) and if you have ever met me, you know that I do...I am working on it though.

8. I knew at the age of 14 that I was going to be a minister's wife.

9. I'm beginning to feel very old. Luke will be 1 in a matter or a week and two days, kids who were just born when I started in the youth department at 14 are now IN the youth department under Jeff's guidance.

10. I wish that I had never made a comment the night daddy passed away...after hearing that he'd had a bad day I told God that I was not praying for another miracle because He wasn't going to heal him...and I will live with that guilt forever. (I know that it was God's time to take him, but it still hurts)

11. (I'm doing 11!) My family is the most important thing in my life. You mess with them, you mess with me! Especially now that I am a mama.

The 7 blogs I choose are:

Melody http://mammyx4.blogspot.com

Kris http://thetingalings.blogspot.com/

Goldie http://goldiesramblings.blogspot.com/

Rosalind http://workingonfivemaybe.blogspot.com/

Carrie http://hicksfamilyfour.blogspot.com/

Lyndsay http://pinkcoffeephotoart.blospot.com/

Katie http://katiedeese.blogspot.com/

A Big Step

2009-01-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I are about to do something pretty big...well in our eyes anyways. We had started a little photography business over a year ago and haven't had the time to really commit to it. We've been able to do that a little bit more now that Luke is bigger. Well...we just booked our first wedding! We'll be doing our first wedding shoot in April. I work with a wedding planner/decorator and this kind of fell in our lap. We are super excited and just wanted to share it!

Love ya!

Happy Birthday...

2009-01-20T06:41:00.000-08:00

To my daddy. Today is daddy's 53rd birthday and the first birthday since his passing in October. It's been 12 weeks since daddy went home to be with Jesus. I think we all miss him more today than yesterday. Momma, my brother and his wife, Jeff, Luke and myself are all going out to dinner tonight in celebration of the life daddy lived.

Winter Rush was an awesome experience and I'll write about that later!

Love ya!

Winter Rush 09: The start...

2009-01-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Today began our first day of Winter Rush. We're in the freezing cold part of South Carolina, Myrtle Beach...on the beach but will probably not make it out onto the beach this year...
Jeff has been putting together this retreat for 4 years now. I missed last years because I was on bed rest about to PoP! But this year I am here and being put to work! (I really don't mind though...it's really a fun thing to be a part of!)
Anyways, Jeff and I came up last night (Thursday) to have an evening to ourselves and go ahead and start getting a few things ready. We woke up this morning ( I slept terrible! by the way) got ready and went out to breakfast. We're staying at the Avista Resort (amazing!) and their parking garage is across the street. I knew that it was going to be cold, but had no idea! It was 26 degrees this morning, and windy! Who would have thought that the year we leave freezing temperatures in Florida that it would also end up freezing in Myrtle Beach!
All of the churches finished arriving at about 9:30 PM. We had an intro to the weekend by having a worship time with a long time favorite band Room Enough. After Room Enough played a set our speaker Bobby McGraw spoke a short message about our theme for the weekend which is all about being unified. Our verses for the week come from Ephesians 4 vs 1-6. We're not only talking about being unified as a group in our church, but making sure that we are in unity with Christ first and foremost through our Salvation.
So, thus ends our first evening here in freezing Myrtle Beach...and I am off to bed. Tomorrow is a VeRy full day with lots of events...so I'm gonna try and get a good nights rest. Looking forward to what God is going to do! :)
By the way...I am missing my baby boy! But he's in good hands.

Booking Blitz

2009-01-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

The team that I work with for Thirty-One Gifts is having a challenge. Between tonight and Wednesday night we are trying to book as many parties as possible for January, February and March. The awesome thing about this is that our new Spring/Summer catalog will be out and available February 1st! Some of our Fall/Winter items will still be available but several are going to be discontinued. You could even hold a Fall/Winter party in January and then hold a Spring/Summer party in March!
We have amazing hostess rewards going on right now as well. If you have a qualifying party you will get money towards our new catalog!
If you are interested in helping me out during my challenge and booking a party please let me know and I will contact you between tonight and Wednesday night.

Jenn

Christmas...better late than never!

2009-01-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Where did my son go?

Opening a gift up with daddy

I managed to hide myself quite well!

Bitter Sweet

2008-12-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

That is the way I feel about the year 2008. We had an amazing, crazy, whirlwind of a year.

January: I was on bed rest so I did not get to go with our youth group to Myrtle Beach for Winter Rush. However, through that ministry 10 students came to know Christ, including a couple of adults...AWESOME!
February: On the first day of February Jeff and I, along with our families, welcomed our first child, Lukas Bona Walker, into the world. It was the sweetest point for me in the year and since it was at the beginning it allowed me to feel like the year would be great. I also ended up in the emergency room a week after Luke was born and diagnosed with Post Term Pre-eclampsia. However I also celebrated my 25th birthday in February!
I don't remember a whole lot of significance for March or April except that Luke's first girlfriend was born.
May: We started having church services in our fellowship hall because God was allowing us to extend and remodel our sanctuary. Being in the fellowship hall for services was an amazing experience!
June: We had youth camp at Blue Springs. It was also the first time I had left Luke...and it was hard! I didn't even sleep that well while I was gone... My parents celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary! They have been an amazing example for me. My brother also got married in June and I absolutely adore my new sister in law. Mom had major back surgery in June and would be recovering for the rest of the year.
July: Not much happened except we stayed with my parents for 2 weeks so that daddy could be at work and someone still take care of momma.
August: I started a wonderful new job...well, same job, new place. Jeff and I celebrated our 3rd year of wedded bliss! Jeff also had a birthday and turned the big 3 2.
September went by rather quickly without any major events. (That i can remember!)
October: Daddy lost his battle with Parkinsonisms MSA and Shy Draggers Disease. No, I changed my mind...he didn't lose a battle, God delivered him from his battle. It has been very difficult to accept that daddy is gone...It is a daily battle that I will struggle with for years to come.
November: My brother turned 29 on the 1st. Towards the end momma signed papers to build a house out here in Callahan down from us. It was something that she and daddy had planned on doing and she was going through with it.
December: Luke started crawling! ( I know, about time right!?) And we celebrated 2 firsts...Luke's first Christmas, and the first Christmas without daddy.

So, bitter sweet... I welcomed a new life into the world...and said goodbye to another life... I have hopes that 2009 will be great and I know that it will, because God's Sovreignty is an amazing thing...and He has shown me that greatly over this year...but that is a blog entry for another time.

3 years ago today

2008-12-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

I was in Virginia with my mom visiting my brother, niece and nephew. My husband and I had been married only 4 months and it was our first time away from each other. The following day on our way home would be terrible...but that's another story. No, three years ago today something happened that brought joy and assurance to my heart.
When I was 9 years old I started going to church at FBC of Jacksonville and began praying for people in my life to come to know the Lord. Even though I wouldn't really accept Christ until I was 14 years old at a church in Callahan. One person in particular I began praying for, little did I know would take 13 years before God would answer that prayer.
Three years ago this evening I received a phone call from my husband that made me realize prayer works...no matter how many times you have to ask for it. From the mouth of my husband in Florida to my ears in Chester Virginia I heard the answer to my prayers of 13 years: My father, at the age of 49 accepted Christ as his Savior. It is because of this, that I knew when my daddy passed away on October 25th of this year that the verse: "to be absent from the body is to be in the presence of Jesus" would ring true. I was able to walk into my parents house and through tears say "I wonder what beauty he sees?"
For so many reasons I see now why God chose for me to marry Jeff. Among all of the wonderful qualities God has shown me about Jeff, God chose my husband to lead my daddy to his son Jesus. How amazing!
Three years ago today, I was blessed by God with the assurance that I would spend eternity in heaven surrounded by my family. And I know that if something was to happen to me today, my Heavenly Father and my daddy would be there to welcome me with open arms.

Just Because

2008-12-17T18:39:00.001-08:00

My little man is growing way too fast! He is now 10 1/2 months old and I've realized that pretty soon I'm going to be sending out birthday invitations...oh gracious! I'm also wondering if we'll make it to the first birthday before getting his hair cut. It's really starting to get in his eyes, but I'm doing my best to hold off...not so much for him, but me!

Thirty-Onederful

2008-12-15T10:22:00.000-08:00

Through a wonderful friend of mine who now lives in TN, I got involved with a Christian based company called Thirty-One. I haven't shared too much about the experience and thought here would be a great place to do it. The company has just over 5,000 consultants nationwide! This was one of the reasons why I chose it over some of the other at home businesses that are out there. We sell everything from home decor to purses to totes to thermal items...definately not your typical home sales!
I really love working for them on top of being a teacher, wife and mother. It actually enables me to have a little extra time with my family and still get all of my school work done. How often do you get to go to a friends house, sit around talking and eating and sharing a few products. It's like having a shopping spree in your home with your friends around!
I've held several parties so far and feel that each of them have gone great. Each hostess has come away with several free products and a large percentage off of the rest.
If you are interested in hosting a party or would even like to hear a little bit more about Thirty-One Gifts please feel free to contact me. Take a look at my site as well: www.mythirtyone.com/5287

Now he's done it...

2008-12-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

My baby...10 months and 11 days old has hit a mile stone. It's not teeth, although we're up to 7 now. It's not pulling up...we've been doing that for a little while... No...he's crawling! We thought the day would never come because he seems more interested in walking...but he's doing it!
About 5 minutes before Jeff got home from the church Luke took about 3 "crawls." After Jeff got home he went around the corner to the bathroom and Luke tried following him!
My little stinker is growing so fast...of course someone told me he's making room for the next one...we'll see about that.
In the process of what happened today it has had me thinking a lot about my daddy. I called and told my mom about it, and normally would tell her don't tell daddy I want to tell him. But, now I can't even do that. I told Jeff that when it happened I had this thought of, "I have to go call daddy and tell him." So in honor of my little stinker hitting a mile stone and me feeling the sadness of not being able to share it with my dad, I'm going to post this photo of him and my dad from the day he was born.

Jennifer

It Finally Happened...Again!

2008-12-11T06:45:00.001-08:00

Luke has always been a good baby. (every now and then the nursery workers may disagree...) He started sleeping through the night at about 4 weeks, but then stopped when he started teething. He would wake up in the crib crying, lay down on the couch with his daddy and be back out for the night...but not if you put him back in his crib.
Well...last night...he went down at 9:30 and slept in his crib all night until about 5:50 this morning!!! YAY!!!
So we're gonna try and do everything the same way again tonight...which also means that daddy has officially lost his nice feather pillow!

Jennifer

Laughter and Orders

2008-12-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

We went out to dinner last night with two great new friends: Frank and Kris Ting. Frank and Kris, along with their wonderful family members Carrie and Johnathon have joined us in working with our youth department. Kris, Carrie and myself teach Sunday School girls together, and I'll speak for all of us when I say "we love it!"
We went out to Salsarita's at the airport and it was wonderful! Yummy in the tummy! (The only food that didn't make me sick while I was pregnant...mexican!) We originally had met up so that Kris could finish out her orders from her 31 party I held for her, but we ended up laughing and just talking through most of it...it was a lot of fun!

By the way, Kris and Frank, I hope you were able to "exchange" your fish!

New Home

2008-11-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

Through everything that has happened one of my parents' dreams are coming true. They had been looking to move back to Callahan ever since we came back from Virginia. They kept putting it off because daddy was closer to the Mill where they lived now. However, momma is following that dream now and moving closer to all of her family. She signed papers today to start building a home in our neighborhood (the exact home she and daddy had picked out), across the street and two lots down from us. :-)
Now, some of you may say "oh no!" But that's not the case here. I don't have a mom that wants to constantly be in my business. And I know that my son will help her through this so much and being closer to her side of the family will make a huge difference in the long run. However, I do ask you to pray for her. This is a big deal for all of us. I don't want her to feel like leaving that house is leaving daddy behind. We're going to be going through a lot of his possessions and packing things up and figuring out what to do with it all. Pray that this be a happy time full of wonderful, everlasting memories.

Normal is just a setting on the washing machine...

2008-11-25T08:38:00.000-08:00

At work today I noticed that there is a book for the teachers in the library called "Normal is just a setting on the washing machine." You have no idea how true that is to me right now.

I have found that I do not feel normal anymore... There seems to be a massive hole in my body and soul. I always knew that losing my dad would be hard, but I honestly never thought it would be this difficult... I always knew that when the time came, he would be in a better place and not in pain anymore...but the truth is, it still hurts. I feel that he was taken too suddenly...I expected the time to come after he had stopped working, couldn't do anything for himself...but he was still working, doing everything for himself.

I honestly do not know what normal feels like anymore...I don't know what it feels like to go to bed at night with a smile on my face, or go into my mom's house and not feel like my dad will come around the corner and ask Luke if he is ready for some groceries. I can't walk into the church without seeing my father's casket laying at the front. I drive to my parent's house and see daddy's truck in the driveway and think daddy's home early.

How do you go back to the way life was...or do you? Do you just accept that everything is different and go about your business?

The reality is that life goes on...no one else's stopped the day daddy died. So I guess the title of the book is right...Normal really is just a setting on the washing machine.