Our Journey, His Work

Friday, December 7, 2012

Something to SMILE about...

I love God wink's - those special moments when you just know God is sitting on His throne in heaven just loving on you, lavishing His grace upon you, and you can't do anything but smile & acknowledge Father who is worthy to be PRAISED. I use to miss His grace constantly and I am SURE I still do but I began praying months ago to watch for HIS grace daily, to not miss the GRACE that I often times look past and it is simply astounding! It may be something as small as a parking spot on Black Friday (yes, true story) or something much, much bigger! Don't miss God's grace daily!

As I was rumbling through pictures from the last couple of weeks, I just wanted to share a few precious things...

Lindy - she's my little sister in Christ! Anyone who knows me know she's just a HUGE, precious part of my life. She stayed with Rance and I for a week just recently and our special moments every morning in the kitchen as her, Rance, and I were trying to get out the door for work/school were priceless. She gained the nickname 'coondog' from Rance which I informed her is a family name which means she really IS important (just in case she didn't already know she is)!

Did I mention she LOVES bagels?

Fun, thoughtful gifts through the mail! A dear friend of mine has such a special way of encouraging Rance and me and I am in awe of how thoughtful and gracious she truly is. She thinks of the most creative ways to let us know she is praying for us and thinking of us and IT MAKES MY HEART OVERFLOW AND BUST WIDE OPEN!!!

Work mail with FUN snacks! My sweet friend Susie keeps me stocked in Robbinsville with any office supplies I need and she also makes sure I get all my mail that is sent to the Raleigh office. I love how she "ADDS" to my box of mail with LOTS of fun snacks for my work day. She knows the way to my heart is through my tummy ;)

Random picture texts that make you laugh until you hurt! I'd like you to meet Brandon & Mandy's newest member of the family!!!

HAHAHAHAHA! Buckled up and ready to go home!

Special gifts - I love being surprised by random acts of kindness & thoughtful gifts that simply made someone think of you when they saw it! Mrs. Dana - the lovely friend that sends the most precious mail - she gave Rance and I these CHRISTmas coffee mugs which are such a sweet reminder of Our Savior! She knows our love for Jesus and coffee too ;)

Happiness vs. JOY
Happiness is based upon happenings!
JOY is eternal, everlasting, not based upon circumstances but
on our relationship with JESUS.

Miss Kenleigh - a picture of my sweet niece going to church for the first time!!!

Rare QT with my cousin (FRIEND) as of Sept. 29, 2012! Mandy and I ventured out EARLY last Saturday for some CHRISTmas shopping with a well planned, thought out stop at Dunkin Donuts. Our time together is rare but treasured when we get it!

Best friends - my brother & my husband! These two have a special bond and a bundle of fun when they are together. Farmin' - that's where I come from!

I love random pictures, special moments, and God wink's!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Thanksgiving Memories

I may have been slightly burnt out on traveling by the time Thanksgiving arrived but Rance's excitement to head to Nahunta, hang with the family and hunt morning & evening overpowered my desire to stay put! This year, we were SO blessed to have one of our favorite families in Robbinsville to join us in Nahunta for Thanksgiving!!! Charla, Trevor & Charlton Buchanan have been a very special part of Rance's life for quite some time considering Charlton was in Rance's very first Math class his first year of teaching. Not only that, Charla was with Rance in Trinidad when we met in 2009. In addition, the Buchanan family bonded with my family on their first few trips to Robbinsville over some 4-wheeler riding and Charla's good cookin' before Rance and I ever got married. It's a tradition now that when my family comes in - a part of the trip is seeing Charla, Trevor & Charlton!

We ALL were in Nahunta from Wednesday until Sunday and it was a BLESSING of a trip! The men/boys hunted and hung out on the farm and the women/girls cooked and hung out and shopped!

Charlton's 5 point on Thanksgiving Day!

Best buds

you should know BROOKE by now! :)

He cooks the best turkey!!!

Men talk

THANKSGIVING!!! Love my boo!

Charla making her speciality
HOT FUDGE CAKE with her SPECIAL chocolate syrup!

PIZZA INN!

We did lots of bonding over FOOD!

Charla & mom at cornhole!

Sweet baby Cade all bundled up

Of course there was CORNHOLE fun!

And I MUST share some pictures that I constantly get from Rance (through texts) that crack me up. I love that he makes me a part of his every outting through picture texts!

Drinking coffee in the deer stand

He always lets me know what he is seeing while hunting!

Picture THROUGH the binoculars from the deer stand

He's saying "Pookie, I miss you,
pray DADDY let's me shoot something!"

The infamous Rance picture - taking this himself while him,
Travis, and Trevor are watching some cotton being picked!

I was challenged so much over thanksgiving in my prayer time to not just PRAY, but listen. In other words, QUIT TALKING SO MUCH JENNIFER and LISTEN, let GOD speak back! Why would I not want to give HIM a chance to be a part of the conversation too? This seems like a 'duh' moment when really it may be easy to listen to others, but how often do we STOP and really listen & be still before God.

Goodbye Thanksgiving, HELLO CHRISTmas!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

2 Abundant Years of Marriage

TWO YEARS say WHAT?! Rance and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary Tuesday, November 20, 2012! Since the previous months leading up to this day were crazy busy with traveling, cross country, weddings, etc. and not much time together - BOTH of us wanted a day of QT (quality time). We both took the day off from work and we did just that - spent the entire day together. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Rance made pancakes for breakfast and after we ate we got ready and headed to Waynesville to buy a CHRISTmas tree and visit Barber's apple orchard!

Starbucks stop in Waynesville!
Breakfast #2

According to Rance, the 2 year traditional
anniversary gift is COTTON (I had no idea)
...so he had us t-shirts made!

PRAISE JESUS for a CHRIST centered marriage!

I LOVE THIS PLACE!

All sorts of APPLE goodies!

Every apple you can imagine!

Yes, we needed a shopping cart for the apple cider!

How far are you from the apple farm?

Eating an apple turnover outside!

We put up our CHRISTmas tree when we got home and enjoyed a rare evening with no interruptions! It was a perfect anniversary for us both especially the endless conversations reflecting back on all God did before we got married, His hand in us being together, along with the mountains He moved in providing for my move to Robbinsville, along with His constant blessings and lessons over the past 2 years. Psalm 77:11 reminds us to "REMEMBER THE DEEDS OF THE LORD!" I love looking back at God's answered & unanswered prayers, His perfect provision, and the work He was doing behind the scenes for our best interest. Neither of us are the same person we were 2 years ago! We have both changed so much but that is because our view and understanding of God has changed DRASTICALLY.

We also enjoyed watching the sneak peak of our wedding video here!

Finally, I am an acts of service kind of gal (my love language). I feel most loved when Rance does things for me (and also quality time hence wanting to spend a day together for our anniversary)! For a few weeks Rance has been working in our basement on a project that I had no idea about but literally made my heart overflow. Many of you would want diamonds and nice pocketbooks but that just isn't me (I'd prefer something for the yard, house or some outdoors/activewear gear/apparel). Anyways, we have some chairs on our side patio that are a mildewy (don't know if that's a word but it is now) green color and they just needed a little lovin' which is exactly what Rance did. He bought some black paint and went to town giving these chairs a new song to sing!

BEFORE

Somebody help me!

AFTER

Pretty & Black!

Ahhhhhh I love my husband! Just when I think marriage cannot get anymore abundant I am reminded that in Christ - it will continue to be more abundant as long as we are growing in our walk with Him and pursuing Him with our entire being!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Weekend Retreat

The weekend before Thanksgiving, our team (some of us pictured below) hosted a women's retreat in Robbinsville for some very special ladies from Indiana and Lagrange, NC! The purpose of this retreat was to encourage and strengthen the individual teams coming from these different locations. If only it was easy to sum up the weekend.

Words simply do not it justice.

We began planning for the retreat a few months ago - covering it in prayer and making sure we were obedient to the roles God would give us throughout the retreat - even if that meant roles that were out of our comfort zone or something we were not necessarily good at. We met every other week and eventually once a week and the way God bonded our team and united us as one is simply beautiful. Not to mention, the Spirit led us all to a different role so the day we revealed the roles we felt the Lord was leading us too - there was no conflict! I love Father's confirmation.

We rented a cabin for the retreat weekend (Friday - Monday) which is another complete God story (feel free to ask)! Our team arrived early Friday morning to begin the preparation for everyone's arrival when we absolutely could not get the HEAT to work. Was it freezing? Oh yes! Were we surprised by this test? Absolutely NOT! After calling our husbands and eventually the owner of the cabin - still NO heat. That evening we were informed that there was a hole in the furnace which meant the heat would NOT be fixed that entire weekend. REJOICE!!! That's what we did! We knew the evil one was not thrilled about a bunch of women that love the Lord gathering together for a weekend centered around Him. We expected to be tested and we had on our armor to REJOICE admist the fiery darts!

The weekend consisted of fun activities, lots of bonding time, tons of eating, individual quiet time in the Word, discussion time together, and praise & worship time. We studied the book of Philippians and even though I have been through several studies on this book before - God rocked my world and revealed SO many new things that I have missed so many times before and that I am still processing weeks later. That's why Hebrews 4:12 says His word is ALIVE AND ACTIVE. He is always revealing new things at the most perfect time.

What was so beautiful is having a bunch of women come together that don't even know each other yet have this instant bond & connection that is only possible through Christ Jesus! Like I said before, I cannot sum up this weekend into words.

Preparing brunch for the ladies' arrival!

Was it a coincidence that we had exactly 10 women total
and the table was made for 10! Nope, God's GRACE!

In order to have a HUGE ice breaker with everyone on Friday - we divided our group into 2 teams and went on a scavenger hunt which was loads of fun! It definitely bonded us all and we laughed until we hurt! Just a few pictures to share the craziness!