Back Again,

Well if I haven't lost my entire readership... ;)

I would deserve it at this point too...

So I dropped off the blogging world for two months... ;) Now, finally, I'll be picking up on my other blog. And this blog will become an archive.

After this, you'll find me at http://atnighthissong.blogspot.com/

And now you ask; "Why two blogs?"

A legitimate question. :)

I actually started the Song in the Night blog because of a verse that spoke to me. After that, I had different "goals" for my two blogs. I intended for this blog to be more personal as far as "daily life" and the Song in the Night blog to be personal as well but more in the way of spiritual progress. Now the two will be merged. And it rather makes sense to me as well, because we are told "whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

So the routine, mundane day-to-day life can and should speak of His glory as well. Life should be LIVED in a way that brings Him glory, we should never think that we are only lifting Him up when we are in church or consciously studying His word. A quotation comes to mind, I think it was A. W. Tozer who said after a particularly convicting sermon: "Don't come up here to the altar and cry about it, go home and live it!"

It's true.

So I'll be back. It's a different location, but the same journey with the same Author of Joy - who gives us songs in the night.

:)

Quick Update

Just FYI... I need to take a blogging break for a month at least. I've enjoyed blogging, it's fun and I like to write, but I've been very busy lately and need to concentrate on other things. It's all in the priorities. :) I may pick it up later on, I'm not sure yet where this will go. But meanwhile, rather than just "disappear" I thought I would give the heads up. :) I will probably post an update in a month or so on whether or not I will continue blogging. I have very much appreciated all of your encouraging comments! Thank you for reading my blog! :)

God bless,
~Jen

SPRING! (It's coming... :) )

I always get so excited when I feel the first hints of spring. Yesterday was warm and sunny, and I had to announce to everyone I encountered that SPRING was coming. Just in case they hadn't noticed for themselves. ;) Something like this:

"SPRING is coming! Did you notice? Can you tell? It's warm out! And muddy! And the snow is melting! Oh, and did I tell you it's almost spring?!?! Oh, oh, isn't it NICE out? See! See! Spring is coming!"

:-D What can I say? :)

Now I know mud season comes first, but I welcome that too because it means the winter is coming to an end. Winter is beautiful too, but it just doesn't have the excitement spring has! Not to mention the fact that winter means cold... :)

I was looking at my old posts and found the following written March 28 a year ago. I don't think anything has changed, really! ;)




"Lo! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves is heard in our land."
-Song of Solomon 2:11-12

I just love spring! It's my favorite season. I like summer too but it just doesn't have the thrills that spring has. It's when the sun comes out after depriving us all winter long, it's when the snow melts - slowly, a little more each day. The crocuses come out, the daffodils begin to poke their heads out of the snow, and it's warm out!

It just energizes me and makes me realize that I can stick it out through the rest of the semester. I'm so glad that He gave us seasons. The winter sometimes seems so long you can't see the end of it... but He always sends spring. And it's His timing, not necessarily when I would want it. I might plead for spring in the middle of a cold dark January - but He sends us spring in His own timing... which is always perfect.

We are familiar with what Solomon says about a time for everything
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."
-Ecclesiasties 3:1
It's easy to remember this, it's harder to always keep in mind that all of our times and seasons are in His control.

"But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands."
-Psalm 31:14-15

All of my times and seasons are in His hand - and that's the safest place for them. :)

Don't Let Me Miss It...

I love this song:



I've been so very tired lately. Every day I look for signs of spring; I'm longing for it. At the end of a long difficult winter the hope of spring is so refreshing... especially since it usually comes at the end of a stressful semester! I am looking ahead, wistfully, but right now the season (and the weather!) is still winter. And I am living in the present. I don't want my exhaustion and down moods and wishes and burnout to cause me to miss out on savoring life now. I want to live life to the hilt... even in a long cold winter. I want to seize opportunities, and I want to enjoy the ones that may not be there later on. I'm in a season that is fleeting, and I refuse to allow myself to slowly drag through what is left of it. There's more to life than that.

No, I don't want to miss the glory. I'm tired, yes. I'm ready for spring, yes. But this cannot keep me from adding my voice to that of all creation praising to the honor of His name. With His strength, I won't miss it.

"Don't Let Me Miss the Glory"

-Carl Cartee

"In the view from the mountains

There's a story to be told
In the crashing of the ocean
There's a power that no man will ever hold.
All the stars in the heavens

Decorate your handiwork
And like a mighty choir

They come to celebrate Your work

Don't let me miss the glory
Don't let me miss the praise
That all creation is singing
To the honor of your name

Don't let me miss the wonder
Don't let me miss the grand design
In the lightning and the thunder
Lord, open up my eyes
Don't let me miss the glory

The cry of a baby
The laughter of love
In the dance of the faithful

You will find the greatness of our God above
In the prayer of the righteous
In the beauty of your grace
In a brand new morning's mercy
All your memories of my sin have been erased

Don't let me miss the glory
Don't let me miss the praise
That all creation is singing
To the honor of your name

Don't let me miss the wonder
Don't let me miss the grand design
In the lightning and the thunder
Lord, open up my eyes
Don't let me miss the glory"

Toddler Logic -- And Cookies! ;)

Let me recreate a recent conversation with Kevin:

Kevin sees Jen mixing dough: "Are you making cookies?"

Jen: "No, it's apple pie."

Kevin: "Well why not cookies?"

Jen: "Because we have apples to use today."

Kevin: "Well, THEN can you make cookies?"

Jen:"Not today, I'm already making pie today."

Kevin: "Oh." *big sigh* "I love it."

Jen: "You love what? Cookies?"

Kevin: "No, apple pie."

Jen, surprised at his change of tune: "Oh, good."

Kevin: "Why are you making apple pie?"

Jen: "Because Kevin likes apple pie and I like Kevin."

Kevin: "Oh." *short pause* "Well I don't."

Jen: "You don't like apple pie?!?!?!"

Kevin: "Nope. Don't like it. I LOVE it!"

*very long pause*

Kevin: "So, how 'bout NOW make cookies?"

We went round and round and up and down this conversation - oh yes! ;) Toddler logic, must love! And with all this talk of cookies I've had this Veggie Tales' song running through my head:

"Larry: `Oh, Santa! I can`t wait for you to come, I just can`t wait for you to come, and I`ve got cookies! Two yummy cookies! Just for you for when you come, oh me, for you for when you come ... BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS!`"

And when warding off a pillaging viking:

"Larry: `I don`t have land ... I don`t have crops, my viking friend, but I have cookies--two yummy cookies. And I don`t have horses, but please take this my viking friend. Eat one of these my viking friend. They are for Santa, but you may have one.`"

I'm taking some cues from Kevin and Larry and when I'm running late to work I bring cookies! "I'm late -- but I have cookies!" I announced one day, with Larry the Cucumber's cookie song running through my head. I DID refrain from singing it for them. :) Perhaps next time.

And now, I'm going to make cookies. For Kevin, and the rest of my family, and not to mention that it is useful to have cookies in case of random bank robbers and pillaging vikings -- you never know when one might show up!

Content; Not Satisfied

"Don't settle for good enough. There is more to this life than the status quo."

"And I—in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied
with seeing your likeness."
-Psalm 17:15

A link to an article from YLCF that inspired me today. I am content - but I know how much I want more. More of His likeness, more of His joy, more of His love. I want more passion, I want more determination, I want more resolute energy, I want more focus. I think I just want more of Him...

because I see every day how much I need Him.

And, on another note:

Today is my sister Christina's 16th birthday!! :) Christina competes with her brothers in backyard hockey, is a 4-H horse bowler at the national level, helps me direct the children's choir at church, and is taking 2 college classes in addition to her 10th grade homeschool curriculum this year. (That was just an aside from a older sister :) )

Happy Birthday Christina!

What I Don't Want

I tend to sit quietly at the lunch table at work. Most of my coworkers are middle-aged and their conversations generally follow experiences that I don't have much input on. Along the lines of kitchen remodeling, car payments, house-flipping, and such. Just haven't "been there, done that." :)

The other day one woman was talking about the nerve of her husband to want a new truck two years into making payments on the last. Her words:
"I told him no. Definitely not... not unless he could find one that is the same monthly payment we are making now for the same number of months. He'll never find one."
She got up and left the table. The others exchanged knowing smiles and one spoke up:

"Yeah. He'll get his truck tomorrow."

"What?" I asked. "She sounded pretty definite...?"

"Oh, you don't know her husband. He gets whatever he wants and she pays for it. One time she told him not to buy a snowmobile and he bought six."

Sure enough, the next day the same woman came in and said, "Well, he bought the truck."

She looked directly at me and said "When you get married, make sure it's a man who will support you! Men just want us to make money for them to spend!"

Make sure it's a man who will support you... At work they call me a "lifer," my coworkers think they will marry me off and I will take my maternity leave for each child and come back after three months. They joke about me being there "forever!" They don't know that I have other ideas...

I honestly don't know where my Lord will have me in ten years, but I know for sure what I don't want.

I don't want to drop my kids off at daycare every morning and head off to work. I don't want them to cry for someone else when they get hurt, I don't want to miss out on their first steps and first words because I was on "another day, another dollar."

I don't want to argue with my husband over which one of us has to call in to take a child to the doctor. I don't want to frantically dial babysitter's numbers on a snow day because I just can't call in and end up missing the perfect attendance breakfast. I don't want any of that.

I don't want to be so stressed and frustrated from my day at work that I have nothing left to soothe my husband's stress away when he comes home. I don't want to divide up the household chores evenly between us. I don't want to be so backed up on laundry and dishes and housework that it's all I can think of once we are both home.

I don't want to convince myself that a second income is necessary because car payments and expensive vacations take priority over my family. I don't want to debate over whether I want another child because it would take so much time away from work.

I don't want my kids to remember me as not being there. I don't want school teachers to have more of an influence than I have. And while I'm on the subject, since I want to home educate, I don't want school teachers either!

That's what I don't want. And my latest working experiences haven't changed my mind. Whenever my coworker's little girl calls, and she picks up the phone and snaps "Well, whaddaya want. Can't. I'm at work." I think how I don't want that.

I just don't.

I think that our culture is irresponsible with money. We get on the plastic habit, end up in debt, and need a second income to pay it off. And what about the woman in the story I opened with? Well, I feel that when wives work, it takes away the husband's value as the provider and breadwinner. He is disillusioned and without a purpose, whether he realizes it or not. And, yeah, we're human; so why not just slide into irresponsibility and let your wife pay for everything? I mean, you're just not needed in the money making department so much anyway.

I'm not saying it's wrong to help out when it is necessary. I'm not saying a woman shouldn't be prepared to work if needed. I'm not saying education and training are pointless for a woman either. I'm currently working on my bachelor's degree in accounting. I may use it immediately, I may not, but since I am single it's not something that will allow my family's needs to slide in the meantime. And it's there if and when I need it.

Some say being a homemaker shows a lack of ambition. I disagree. To me there is no higher ambition than that of bringing up children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord." And none higher than that of helping a man to further His kingdom.

That's what I want.