What A Week

The week started with us going to Rockingham, NC, where we stayed all day Sunday, visiting family members of our friend, Norma, who died a week ago today. We attended our former church, surprising most with our appearance, and stayed for the calling hours Sunday night. The line was out to the street! If our son hadn't needed the bathroom, we would have been out there forever! But that is a testament to the type of person Norma was. We traveled back down Monday afternoon for her funeral and burial. It was a very emotional time for us. I sang in the choir, and had a hard time getting through the song we sang. But the most incredible thing happened after the funeral when I met up with Brian and William. William, who is 3 1/2, said to me, "I'm sorry Miss Norma died. It's okay. Your tears will go away." Well, needless to say, I was blown away by the wisdom of a 3 year old. I never knew God could speak through a little child, but He did on Monday. It was as if God opened his little mind for a brief time to realize what happened, and God was able to comfort us all through William. What a boy!
Life went back to our new normal Tuesday, and then Wednesday, my father in law was in a wreck, following too closely and rearending someone. The damage to his car has put it in the shop for a month; the utility truck he hit is fine. So we are driving a little more careful these days. Life is short, and anything can happen at anytime. My father in law walked away with out a scratch, so he was spared any physical harm. The rest of the week went as usual, busy with work, with William, and with doing our part to keep the house clean, the laundry done and the food bought. I made playdough - four batches - for the first time in my life with my children at work, and they loved it. I didn't tell the director I had never made it until it was done! I guess I just wanted to plunge into the unknown and see how it came out! Seems like that is the story of our life right now anyway. So tomorrow we go to Marbles, a place in Raleigh where little ones can play and explore, and we will meet my husband's cousin and her daughter there so she and William can play together. I am looking forward to seeing family we haven't seen in a while.
It is amazing all that life holds in just seven days - one week. In the blink of an eye, a friend can be ripped from your life. God can speak through a small child. Joy can be brought to children through playdough, and bring a sense of pride in the accomplishment. Plans to see family can be made - including the 34th annual Ivey Reunion in Benson, NC (my mother in law is an Ivey) on March 15th - visiting family we have never met!
I say all that to say this - treasure the little things, the little joys, so not to waste time, because it is short.

Love,
Jen

Faith & Tragedy

Today is one of the those days you want to go to bed and start over. It started with William crawling into bed with us and putting his sweet face right up in mine and looking at me with loving eyes; that heartwarming moment that makes the morning great. That part is what will get me through today. At 3pm today we were contacted by the church we just left that the Music Director, Mrs. Norma Jordan Chavis, was T-boned by a truck yesterday in Rockingham, North Carolina, and God took his daughter home. She stood by my husband's side for three years and led the worship. She was one of the most faithful churchgoers I have ever known, missing only one Sunday in the three years we were there. Norma loved our son William, and he loved her. She was the one person he has mentioned in three weeks that he misses. He was certainly special to her and the feeling was mutual. Norma leaves her husband Cole "Sonny" Chavis; they had no children. In a way, William was her little boy every time he was at church. Norma was 62 years old.
While this is a tragedy in and of itself, we have to remember in a time like this that as a child of God, when we die, it is our time to go. Our work on earth is done. No matter how we die, God is there to help us take the journey from our home here on earth to our new home in Heaven. We have to remember that God's timing is perfect, and that nothing happens that He does not know about. I believe that she is singing with the heavenly choir now, and that she and her mother, Nina Jordan, who died in September 2007, are catching up on the few months Nina has been gone. Perhaps God took Nina so she would not have to bury her daughter before herself. We will never know the reasons why, but we can take comfort that Norma is with Jesus Christ, her Savior and Lord. She has a new perfect body, a fantastic singing voice, and no longer suffers the trials of this sinful and fallen earth. We have much to be thankful for in the fact that God allowed her to be here 62 years, and that we had the privilege to know her. She will be sorely missed, and never forgotten. And I personally know that as she sees Jesus face to face, that she has seen my own son, Matthew, face to face, who went to be with Jesus in March 2007.
I hope that as you read this that when you die, you are able to see her one day. You can make the decision that she did so long ago, to trust Christ as her personal Savior and Lord. She knew she was a sinner condemned to hell for eternity, and that only Christ could save her from such a fate. She believed He died on that ugly cross to suffer her punishment for her sins, and that on the third day after His death, He rose to prove He was God, and that someday she and all of us who trust in Him for salvation will rise once again ourselves. You can pray today and turn from your sins and trust Christ as your Savior and Lord. You can believe that He died and took your punishment, and that He rose the third day, that He is the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords. Allow Him to take control of your life and turn it around for good. It won't always be easy, but God will be there to help you along. Don't waste another day. You could be T-boned too, and then where would you be?

In Christ's Love,
Jen

Life & Work

It seems that life never stops, and the only constant thing in life is change. Going from 3 years at home with a child to a full time job from 7am-4pm is quite an adjustment! Exhaustion has set in and I have not been the sharpest tool in the shed the last few days! But we are doing well despite the big adjustment; my internal clock seems to be setting itself to the new schedule. It is sometimes hard to go from a room of 14 very active 4 year olds and come home to a very active 3 year old without a break! But God is blessing and things are coming along. Brian is applying to three different places and we hope he finds employment by the 1st of March. Please pray for us that our needs would be met.

Jen, Brian & William

New Beginnings

2008 is only 7 weeks old, and it has been quite the year for myself and my family. My husband resigned as pastor on Feb 3, and we moved in with his parents the following day. In the last 15 days, I have gone from being a stay at home mom to a full time teacher, with my son at home with dad, and am adjusting to living with another family for the first time since college. My three year old son is still in the stage of confusion; wanting to stay but wanting to go back to our former home. In the midst of all this, I have seen the hand of God working in my life by providing me with a good job that is providing for our needs for the present time. We took a leap of faith by moving to a place where we knew no one but my in laws, and God is rewarding us for our obedience. On another happy note - my dad's mother turned 90 today, a huge milestone in a family that doesn't live past 75. God has blessed her with a long life, in which she is still sharp minded, mobile, and driving! These last 7 weeks have brought my little family of myself, my husband and our son closer together than what we had been since our second son died last year halfway through my pregnancy.
So here's to new beginnings, a new home and a new life, compliments of a God who loves us so much, and you too.

Grace & Peace,
Jen