Free from Flaws

Surveying the people this past Sunday in church before worship and staring at the people who make up our church I came again to the realization that people are not flawless. I do not mean this judgmentally. In all honesty, it's beautiful. To watch people in love with God allowing Him to change them and carry them through their struggles and hardships. To know that every inch of the way as we scurry on our knees that He is there carrying us. Changing us to be more like Him.

I have often heard people mention others as "perfect". They are not perfect. You are putting them on a pedestal that they can never achieve. With the title also comes pressure. Pressure to live up to something that has been assumed of them. Pressure to not mess up or disappoint anyone. Pressure to not truly live. In life, we will all mess up. We won't be perfect. Romans 3:23 tells us that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all sin. We miss our mark.

Perfection lies with God. He is perfect and sinless. He alone deserves that title. Not your parents, spouse, pastor, friends, or kids. No one else deserves it. God is holy. There are no flaws in His character. "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48 You see God who is perfect, couldn't set a lower standard for us. That is where Jesus comes in. Christ met that unattainable standard for us. He took it with Him on the cross. If you're in Christ, God sees you as perfect because of what Jesus did on the cross. Not because of you. Not because you're good. It's because He is.

Mixed in with Everything

Hey! It's been a little crazy over here. School started in our house. It's kind of messy. In a good way! My girl is learning and having fun! :) 

{My dining room table looks like this!}

{My girl is doing things like this though. 

Which makes it all worth it. This is letter "A".}

So last week I tried something new with my food. If you knew me you would know I don't like trying new things with my food. Ever. I kept seeing people eating sweet potatoes with almond butter. So I decided to eat try it one night with salmon and rice. 

As I sat there trying to make sure my foods didn't touch and scooting them around so they would avoid contact. I wondered if in my life -like on my plate, I treated Jesus that way? If I compartmentalize my faith moving Jesus around my life to avoid the places I didn't want Him to go. Yes, Lord you can have my church life, my married life, my parent life. No, Lord don't go there! That part is just a little too personal right now. I feel a little bit too much conviction if you go there. 

Have I given You my whole life or just a fraction? It's easy to say the answer I want to be true, but it is entirely different to actually live it out. As quickly I was thinking this question the most prominent area I don't let Him go came to mind. It's funny, whenever my foods even began to blend in the same direction it makes me nervous. However, the thought of Jesus not touching every part of my life didn't. 

Lord, I don't want to give you a fraction of my life. I don't want to try to sit on your lap as you lead my life and dictate where you should go. I want you to have all of it and all of me. I want you to be present in all areas of my life. Help me every day to give it all to you. I love you and live to praise you! Thank you for all you do in my life! 

Jennis

H54F!

Woohoo! My high five for the week!

1. Coffee dates with my daughter.

2. Homeschool curriculum came in!

3. Tried something new. {More on this later.}

4. Sweet Tea {Best if used by 10/15- my bday}

5. Rock the Universe with our sweet friends! 

Hope you all had a great week and have a great weekend! 

In His Amazing Love, 

Jennis

Pride

I don't say I'm a Christian as a matter of pride. Quite the opposite, in humility I realize that I will always be in need of Jesus. That I can't live with out Him. When I think I can live on my own strength things go crazy. Most times I let me attitude rule my day. Unfortunately, my attitude is as black and sinful as my heart.

My husband is amazing. He works incredibly hard. Some days I forget what the Bible says about how a wife is to treat her husband and only focus on how it says he should treat his wife.

What I focus on:

• Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. Ephesians 5:25
• Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7
• So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. Ephesians 5:28-29

What I should focus on:

•  Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Ephesians 5:22
• Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:24
• That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Titus 2:4-5

That last verse hits home, a lot. How do I show love to my husband? To my daughter? Can I show them the love of God if I take my focus off of Him? No. Never. I wasn't created to live without Him or to do things on my own. There are days I have to apologize to my husband. There are days that I have to apologize to my four year old. I have to apologize to God everyday, more than once. I am so grateful for His grace. {I am also thankful for my husband and daughter's forgiveness.} For the quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit even when I don't want to hear it. That He patiently teaches and changes me even if some lessons are on repeat.

Lord, help me to always keep my focus on You. Help me to love my family and friends the way you would have me love them Lord. Help me to focus less on me and more on You. Thank you for loving me even when I don't feel very lovable. You are an awesome God! Amen!

In His Love, 

Jennis

Winning

Ever had one of those days where you just feel like you're already on the ball? Today is one of those days for me! Praise God! :) Dinner is in the crock pot cooking, the little girl I babysit is napping for me today (woohoo!- moms you know!!), the grocery store has been conquered with two kids, and we get our new homeschool curriculum today! I am so excited! 

{Speaking of the grocery store... I picked this up today. I wish I could tell you it was for Kendall. It just  makes grocery shopping a little happier. For me anyway! :) }

We had a busy weekend! We went to Rock the Universe at Universal with some friends on Saturday! So fun! We ate here. Got to hear some great bands, but the fellowship was even better! Thank you Lord!

{Taste of Jamaica appetizer}

{Shrimp Curry}

Sunday we had church and the Pastor did a little object lesson on the fiery furnace with the kids. Lots of fun. He played King Neb. 

{The "king" and I}

AWANA also started last night! So fun! My girl loves it. She started her second year of Cubbies. :) If you would like to find a program in your area go to the link! We love that she is already memorizing scripture and learning all about Jesus. 

Then we took her for ice cream at Caffe Chocolat's Hershey's Ice Cream Shoppe. She went for the rainbow sherbert with Reese's pieces. It's her ice cream! :)

How was your weekend? Sweet friends, I hope you were blessed this weekend! I pray you know how much Jesus loves you and desires a relationship with you! 

In His Amazing Love,

Jennis

H54F!

1. God giving me so many bright shiny new days! Thank you Lord!

2. My family got to hang out all together at a theme park on Monday. It was lovely. :)

3. The imagination of my child. She was a doctor. Gracie was her patient. Scooby was the nurse. 

4. For an ice cream date with my man. 

5. My whole world. 

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

In His Amazing Love, 

Jennis

Chocolate chip cookie heaven!

You ever have one of those days where all you want is an amazing chocolate chip cookie? Yeah, I had one of those. What's a girl to do but make some? It's probably this post that started it. We got a lot of rain that week after all. So I got out my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It was goooooooddddd! :)

Ingredients:

2 cups butter

2 cups brown sugar

6 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. water

4 tbsp. vanilla

2 tsp. milk

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream together butter and sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients except the flour and chocolate chips. Before adding the baking soda, microwave the water until hot and dissolve the baking soda in the water before adding it to the mixture. Add the flour a cup at a time. Stir in your 2 bags of chocolate chips. Bake for 350 for 10-14 minutes depending how big your scoops are. Remember it's better for them to be a little under done then over done. The more over done the drier the cookies tend to be. :) 

Eat and Enjoy!

Oh, and if you don't eat or bake all the dough- freeze it! I forgot to make dividing lines in mine so it's easier to break apart when I bake it. Don't be like me! 

I hope you enjoy them!

In His Amazing Love,

Jennis

Labor or Leisure?

So did you have a day of labor or leisure? We opted for the latter. Hubs works a lot and he had the day off of school so we spent the day at a theme park. We started the day off in my favorite fashion. :)

One word: Starbucks!

Hubs. HE loves arcades. He is really good at playing games! He won a game that got him $20,000 tickets. Last time he won a Wii. The time before that an iPod. I mean really!

This is how we ended our day! Followed by a movie and cheesecake at home! It was awe-some! What did you do with your day? Hope it was a blast! 

Last week I started running and working out again! It is so much fun and I forgot how much I enjoyed it! I just got done working out on the elliptical to Lecrae's new Gravity album. Seriously, so good! If you haven't bought it, whatcha waitin' for?

Also, I was on Gina's site last Friday. I know I am a nerd, but I was so excited. I love her site, the food posts, little Liv, and the workouts. :)

Hope you are having a great start to your week!

In His Love,
Jennis

It's Cleaning Day!

In honor of our cleaning day I decided to make my own laundry detergent. I found this "recipe" on Jillee's site and decided to give it a whirl. 

Somehow I missed the part about adding the Downy Unstopables to the detergent. This time I will just add them to my washer. I will try this out for the week and let you know how it goes! I'm excited! Someone on her site did the math for her and with the cost of these ingredients it cost about $0.17 a gallon! Sign me up! :) Any home made cleaners you make and love? I'd love to hear about them! Hope you're having a blessed weekend!

In His Amazing Love,

Jennis

Every once in a blue moon...

Have you seen the moon tonight? It is B-E-A-utiful! Plus it's a blue moon! How often do those come around? The next one won't be until 2015! Where ever you are go and check out God's amazing creation! His moon is gorgeous tonight!

IHAL. Jennis

H54F!

Woohoo! It's Friday! Here's my top 5 for the week!

1. The Hubs and I have a new tradition of going out to breakfast on Mondays as a family. I love it and I especially love pecan pancakes! :)

2. I started working out this week. I feel so much better when I work out. Kinda kick starts my day into a schedule. 

3. My princess. I love that she wants to wear her dress up clothes around to run errands.

4. Sweet text messages from my husband. Pay no attention to the headlight one. He fixed it. 

5. For spending time with family and not having a single photo that wasn't photo bombed. I love them!

Hope you had a great week! Praying for you and 

I hope you know how much God loves you! 

See ya tomorrow! Don't forget to do a quiet time today!

In His Amazing Love,

Jennis

Reading Rainbow

I love books. I remember my mom taking me to the library on Saturdays. It was always a special time for us! Now I carry on that tradition! Usually every week we go to the library and pick out new books for Kendall and I to read. She is just as excited every time we go for new books to read. Today was no exception! 

(This was not from today, but still from our library!) :)

 (This is from today!)

Any children's books you are loving right now?

Hope you're having a great week!

In His Amazing Love, 

Jennis