Go Rest High on that Mountain

As most of you know already, Robbie made it home from his deployment safely and we as a family have been adjusting back to somewhat of a normal routine. We took off for a mini-vacation last week for our anniversary and it was great to get away for a while. Sometimes I think it is best to get away from all the craziness is just to get away & enjoy what God has given us. I don't think I'll ever look at a mountain the way I did when we were in TN. I had such peace just standing in the middle of nowhere looking at God's masterpiece. How amazing!
When we came back Monday, I got a call from my mother to let me know about a dear friend of mine, also Emma's teacher at school, had been to the Dr. and found out she had colon cancer. I was crushed to hear the news and scared for her. She was too young....could this really be happening to her??? My mind wondered back & forth the rest of the day thinking on how so many things have changed over the last year. I keep going back to the book I'm reading "A New Kind of Normal" and how no matter what we are faced with in our lives, God is in control at all times and he knows what is best for us & what the future holds. I will ask you to keep my friend, Allyson, in your prayers. She is scheduled for surgery on the 26th.
Today, we are back to the drawing board. Robbie has leave from the military until March 8th, then it's back to job & truck hunting. He was an electrician for Power-Tech Electric before deployment, but as the enconomy proves, there are no electrician jobs open these days. We sold his Blazer while he was gone to help with finances. He is a jack of all trades though & I know something great will come along for him.
This morning, the real surprise came, I got a call from my boss saying there wasn't any way she could pay me to come back full-time, not even part-time at this point. Part of me was a little bitter, part of me knew it was coming, but most of me just thought well, you have to pick up the pieces & go on. God has a plan for you, for your husband, and for your family. So, that's just what I'm going to do. We are going to keep on, keeping on. Robbie & I talked this morning and he told me "Jenn, don't get mad at me, but I prayed God would make a way for you not to go back to work there". He said, "God will make a way, we've never gone without, we just have to let him". I love my husband, he always knows how to encourage me when I seem to need it the most. Most of all, I love my Saviour. I'm so glad to know that if I have nothing else I know I'll always have him, and that's all I need. I'm glad that he is my rock and my mountain and I can find rest in him. I never knew how much I would turn to my favorite bible verse this past year, but I'm so glad I have it and the Lord's promise.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Happy Anniversary!!

Today, 9 years ago, I married my best friend & love of my life. I want to thank God for leading Robbie & I together. We could definately tell some tales and have for sure had our moments of ups and downs, but the Lord has truely blessed us with a beautiful family and a marriage that only gets stronger with time. We've known each other for about 13 1/2 years. Robbie & I met in high school and we both were so called "nerds". He had the cutest poofy curly hair & glasses and I had permed hair & braces. Oh, gosh it was awful to go back to 9th grade and look at pics. But, that outspoken, class clown won my heart from the 1st day & I've loved him ever since! God has blessed us with 2 wonderful children and families & friends we can always say love & support us. I'm so proud of you Robbie and how far you have come & all your accomplishments. I've watched God use you and you grow in him and I couldn't ask for a better friend, husband & father to our kids. I love you with all my heart! I'm so glad to have you HOME!! Happy Anniversary!

PRAISE GOD!!!! HOMECOMING DAY IS HERE!!

Today is the day I have been waiting for for the past 14 mons! Robbie will get on a bus in a few hrs. in GA headed toward Charlotte, NC! My plans are to pick up the girls from school & head to the Charlotte Armory this afternoon! Today is a bittersweet day...it marks the 1 yr. mark since Robbie received his Title 10 orders for Iraq and today is also the anniversary of the date Maw Maw Yates left on her homecoming journey to spend the rest of eternity with the Lord! So, today is going to be filled with many emotions for me. I'm sure there will be many tears, laughs, hugs & kisses and of course BIG SMILES!! :)
Thank you all for your love, support & most of all your prayers throughout this deployment. Praise the Lord, it's almost over!!

Just a few pics of our last snow days....

Kayla & Emma's snowman they made at mom's.



I love the look of Old Glory in the snow!



Kayla resting after a lot of sledding!



And finally my monkey in the tree!

Georgia On My Mind....

Quick update for those of you who don't know already....MY HUSBAND LANDED IN GA WEDNESDAY!!! I got the long awaited phone call I had been waiting 14 mons. for! I was at the office and when the phone rang with his ringtone and I was so startled I nearly threw the phone across the office haha! But, he is safely back on US soil and has started the de-mobilization process. Hopefully, if things progress and go accordingly (rare in the military) he should be home mid-week this coming week! YAY!!! I can't tell you how happy & excited I am that this moment has almost arrived! I can't wait for that last phone call from him that says I'm on my way to NC!! I want to praise and thank the Lord for keeping a protective hedge around the 30th brigade. Please keep the families of the soldiers who lost their lives making the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom in your prayers. I can not imagine go to a welcome home ceremony and to not have my soldier walk off that bus. Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend...looks like it's going to be another messy snowed-in one, but that just means time to clean for me! I'll hopefully update again soon saying I'm going to get our soldier!!

What A Day....

Today has been one for the books..nothing really bad happened just every little thing that could happen, happened.

To start things off woke up at 6:48 and the bus comes at 7:00 so there was a mad dash to get clothes toothpaste & bookbags. I had to swing by West Caldwell to pick up a order & check for a 31 party I did Tues., then to work by 8:30...it was about 8:39 when I got there. Our office has been pretty slow lately due to the encomony, but today was the exception of the month. We had 3 purchases this morning @ 9, 10 & 11. It was unusually busy already with phones & clients and I was trying to multi-task as usual & put in that last order so I could get to the bank before 2:00. In the process of my multi-tasking I managed to cause an error and merge & delete parts of the 2 separate orders I had worked so hard on the night before to get ready. BLAH! I proceeding on with what I could @ work, then office errands which was the definate wrong time to be out. 11:30-12:30 on the eve of 10"+ snow is not the best time to be out trying to get to the banks. Got back to work & finally finished up there. Left @ 1:30 & ran to the DMV which was my second mistake...last business day before the end of the month!! Waited in line 15 mins. & finally got done there. (Just FYI: you have to take in your inspection sheet w/ your renewal now to get your sticker) Got home & still needed to finish my 31 order (and by finish I had to start all over & enter 35 orders in all over from scratch) & get back to the bank by 5:30, but I somehow had lost the envelope I picked up this morning with a check & info in it! Blah again! Went back to work & there it was in my desk. Back home, entered info & got girls off the bus. Went back to bank then to Walmart for a few things I needed & it wasn't bread or milk thank goodness! Then I had the bright idea to try Lowe's to see if they still had any snow shovels left. Wrong! Sold out! Finally, ran through McDonalds for some chicken nuggets & a gallon of sweet tea. Made it home safe & sound & had just sat down to enjoy my first bite of food/drink of the day and yuck, the tea was UNSWEET!! And, guess what?? The only thing I am completely out of is yep, you guessed it...SUGAR!! Oh, well! Haha! I just have to laugh, because even though my day was crazy, it was still a good day and I am blessed because of all the things I do have.

It's snowing outside now and it is so peaceful. God created such beautiful things as snowflakes and I love to see them fall & sparkle in the light. If I get snowed in all weekend, well that's just fine with me.

My hubby is due in the next week to arrive in GA and then soon thereafter I'll be going to finally pick up my best friend. I'm so glad this journey is almost over!

And, one last thing, I got the opportunity to meet & talk with Madison Bumgarner, the 18 yr. old South Caldwell baseball player turned Major League, now 20 yrs. old & just bought a house. We closed the loan & I was able to get 3 baseballs autographed for my favorite ball players at home. He said CA was definately not like home and when he finds himself missing home he thinks about all the people overseas & away from their families for whatever reason & he's thankful for what he has & is grateful for his life & opportunities he's been given. Somehow, that meant a lot to hear him say that. A lot of our young people don't think that way these days.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys some play time in the snow this weekend! Be safe & have fun!

Women's Conference

This past Friday night & Saturday I was privileged to attend the 1st ever Women's Conference at Calvary. I had been looking forward to going to this for weeks! I had attended the Greg Lentz and Ralph Sexton Ministry's Conferences before in the past, but this, this was just for women and the speakers I felt like gave us just what we as women needed to hear. We had several speakers including Nikki Carswell, who spoke about her sweet baby girl, Johanna, who is with our Lord now, and her journey with Trisomy 18. Nikki, you truely blessed my heart to hear you talk about your sweet baby girl and how the Lord has worked in your & Chad's life through her. And, just so you know, Robbie does the exact same thing to me. Everytime I get upset & flip out he just looks at me & says, "It will be ok". Just once, I wish he would flip out too, but that's just the way God made them! Christine Braidwood also spoke about her previous missions and journey with her husband in Haiti. What a wonderful way that God used her and touched us all when we found out that she would be speaking the very same week that the earthquake happened. God always has a plan. We also were able to support Haiti and took up an offering for Christine to send directly to people she knew there. We also heard from Lori James. Lori spoke to us about "The New Year" and Happiness through fellowship, fighting and following. She was a hoot too! Our main speaker was Mrs. Carol Kent and before the conference, to be perfectly honest, I had never heard of her or her story. To be as brief as possible, Mrs. Kent and her husband, Gene, had the so called "normal" life until the morning of Oct. 25 1999, when they received a call that their son, Jason, just recently married the year before had been arrested for the murder of his wife's ex-husband. I won't go into much more detail because I want you to go visit Carol's website. www.carolkent.org But, as I sat there listening to all the horrific things she had went through & had to face on a day to day basis from there on out, I couldn't help but think, "WOW, I don't know how she gets out of bed every day". Her & her husband moved to FL to be close to their son & visit him on every Sunday, and spend every Christmas thereafter together in the jail. But, instead of crying in her pity, she picked up the pieces and how at first she questioned why to God, she turned to him and let him use her and her son to reach others. I've only scratched the surface on what their family has experienced, but to go from a happy normal family one day, to never normal again, is something I though long & hard about. Any of us could go through this circumstance or anything just as tragic anytime. I thought to myself, could I do what she & so many others did?? Could I use something I had been through in my life to help others? I purchased one of Carol Kent's books and I've already read the first 3 chapters in it. It's called "A New Kind of Normal". I don't want to be normal, I want to be able to say that I've done what the Lord has had me to do. Needless to say, this weekend was great. All the speakers, the skits, the music, the food, all the Calvary ladies that put it together, it was all wonderful and I am blessed to have been a part of it. I encourage you, if nothing else, to do what Mrs. Kent wrote in my book..."Keep pointing people to hope". There is always hope if we just trust in HIM! "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths". Proverbs 3:5-6
I hope you all have a great week, and I'm going to nurse this sore throat & back ache I woke up with today and read some more in my book!