Monday, June 25, 2007

I Needed That!!!!

Well, after a really hard week it ended much better than it began. I think my depression hit an all time high last week since moving here. It was compounded by the fact that Micah finally "got it" that we weren't in Texas anymore and proceeded to talk incessantly about how much he missed Texas and his "best buddy's", Carson and Calliegh. Michael and I had several conversations over the past few weeks about the church we had been going to and neither of us were completely settled on it. This was the worst of it because we just want to find a place where we can serve and be served. On Friday night at dinner we decided that we would take the kids to the Bourbonnais Friendship Festival, which includes a Fair and a parade(see pictures below). Then, on Sunday, try the only church in this area that we hadn't tried. The kids were so excited about the Fair and Parade. Well, the kids loved the fair and the parade and we loved that they loved it. The parade was great because we literally walked out our front door with our chairs and they came right by our house. Then Sunday we visited College Church at their satellite campus and really loved that too. Michael, my mom, and I all felt great about it. It is a bigger church so it has a lot of opportunities for everyone, including my mom because they have a singles ministry. And an added bonus is that it is only 10 minutes from our house (as opposed to the 30 we were driving to the other church). We feel great about this. Things are looking up. I still don't know what this means for my singing but like my beautiful friend said, it's not about me and I should just sing unto the Lord, even if no one is listening. Celeste-you'll be happy to know I turned my IPod up several times over the past few days and just worshipped my heart out. Thank you for your "tough love."

Enjoy the pictures of the fair and the parade.




Thursday, June 21, 2007

No more singing for Jen...at least not for a while :(

I know I am blogging a lot lately but I told you I would.



Last weekend at church I finally decided to talk to someone about singing on Sunday mornings. Because the church doesn't have a worship pastor I wasn't sure who to talk to so I approached the pastor's daughter who is the admin over that department. After introducing myself I told her I was interested in getting involved in the worship ministry. She asked me if I had a tape or CD that they could listen to since they have no way of auditioning people and no choir to pull people from. Of course I don't, so she told me to fill out a volunteer card and she would contact me as soon as she knew something.



Well, today I got a phone call from a lady from the church. She informed me that there are no available spots for worship team at this time and she was unable to tell me how long it would be before there would be. She recommended some other ministries to volunteer for and that was that. Unfortunately, my first reaction after hanging up was, "I don't WANT to do anything else, I want to sing." I was sad because when it comes to ministry singing and leading worship are my "first loves." But then I sat down and started to pray about what I should do. Should we go to a different church where I can sing? Should I give up on singing altogether? Should I find the head worship leader and talk to him directly? And I felt a question rise up in me. You said that you would do what you could do and let God do the rest, did you really mean that? Well, here's where the rubber meets the rode. Walk in faith and trust God to make this happen in His timing, under His circumstances, or get bitter. I've decided to trust in God and allow Him to direct my path from here on out. This is so hard for me because when you love something as much as I love leading worship you don't want to wait. What I really want is to pick up where I left off before we left Texas, and that is just impossible.



So, for now I am going to find another place to serve in the church where I know God has us. But sadly, there will be no more singing for Jen...at least not for a while. (God I miss Firewheel!!!) : )

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I Know I'm Crazy

Well, as some of you know, I am keeping a couple of kids a few days a week for a friend while she works. The little boy is two weeks older than Isabella and the little girl is a couple of months younger than Micah. So, it's like having two sets of twins and Aria, who is 17 months. Well, I thought a would share what happened today in the life of my enlarged family. The kids got here around 9am and immediately started playing and fighting. I thought keeping the peace with two kids was hard, well, five is nearly impossible. Someone is always either hurt physically or emotionally, or they are fighting over whose idea is better. Anyway, I put Aria down for her morning nap and sent the kids downstairs to play. After Aria woke up I piled all the kids in the van to venture out and run to the store (we were out of diapers and wipes otherwise I wouldn't have done this). On the way there the kids fought over who would sit where in the car, on the way back the kids fought over who was touching who or who was looking at who. Those of you with siblings or multiple children know the drill. Anyway, we get home and I send the two oldest to timeout for fighting. I had the great idea that I would fill up the pool and let the kids swim for a little while. So, we all go outside. I get my swimsuit on, I get my sunglasses, my drink, my book, towels for everyone, and I head to my chair to relax while the kids play in the pool. I haven't sat down for 5 minutes and everyone is hungry and wants a snack. So, I get out of my comfy chair and get ice cream sandwiches for everyone. When they are done, everyone gets back in pool and I sit down in my chair to resume my reading and relaxing. What was I thinking? All of sudden the little girl that I keep starts screaming and saying she got scratched. Well, it wasn't a scratch, she was stung by a bee. So, I calmly get everyone out of the pool and take her inside. I am tending to her when all the dripping wet children come in the kitchen to see what's happening. As soon as she is doctored up and everyone is wrapped in towels I take her to the living room to changed her clothes and I hear Aria hit the ground and start screaming. I go running in there and she is lying face down on the ground. I had wrapped a towel around her, arms and all. When she was leaving the kitchen she slipped on a wet spot and did not have her hands to catch her fall smacking her face on the floor. It took about 45 minutes for everyone to recover. Needless to say, after that I put Aria down for another nap and let the kids play a game. Now all is well. So, am I crazy? I KNOW am I!!!! Enjoy laughing at my crazy life!!!!! I DO!

Monday, June 18, 2007

WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!?!

I think when we moved to Illinois we brought Texas weather with us. It is hot and dry here, and mild and wet in Texas. The one thing that I looked forward to when I found out we were moving back here was the break from the HOT summers. Now it seems that we may have to endure it here this summer too. After talking to my friend Celeste who lives in southern California, moving there sounds great. Flip flops year round would be wonderful!!!!!! Oh well, such is life, huh? God does have a healthy sense of humor. Maybe I should have one too.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Some pics for you

Micah right after he lost his tooth riding his razor scooter.

Bella on her last day of Kindergarden.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Back in the saddle again

Well, after a few months of neglect my beautiful and very funny sister-in-law has motivated me to get back to blogging. I figure since most of the people I know do not live anywhere near me, I should probably stay on top of it so you all call see what's been going on here in the lives of the Smith family. So, here is another attempt. Check back often...I will be better at keeping up with it. I promise.

So, we are FINALLY, starting to feel settled here in Bourbonnais Illinois. It has only taken six months. Since I last wrote here's what's happened...

Aria has started talking up a storm, she has discovered swimming and loves it, and she tries to ride on Micah's skateboard whenever she gets the chance. She is growing up at a breakneck speed and weekly I get "baby fever". I can't imagine what it will be like NOT to have a baby in the house. My friends who have children who are older all say that I will love it, but there is an element of grief for me. Of course then I think about how much easier life is getting. She's down to one nap a day, eating regular table food, she sleeps through the night (most of the time), she plays on her own and with Isabella and Micah so I have time to clean up my house, and we feel for the first time in a year that we can take a 10 hour car trip with all three kids and be alright. So, am I crazy for wanting more? Probably so.

Micah...oh what can say about Micah. Well, since I last wrote he's knocked out his front tooth riding his Razor Scooter. He fell and the handle bar hit him in the mouth and knocked it out. Then a week later we were on some biking trails and he was riding his scooter and he got to going too fast down a hill and wiped out. Fortunately nothing was broken but he did have a nasty cut and bruise on his elbow. The great thing about it was that after he calmed down he said to me, "Mom that was so cool. You should have had your video camera." He's ALL boy.

Isabella is my beautiful drama queen. In the fall she will be auditioning for the first time for a part in Tom Sawyer at the Kankakee Valley Children's Theater and then next spring she wants to audition for Mulan. This excited me because this is something that I really want to do too but never had the courage. She is motivating me to audition this winter for Footloose, which was one of my favorite movies as a teenager.

Michael is doing really well and just loving his job. And while we miss Texas moving up here has been great for our family. Last night, Michael had to work late so he wasn't home for dinner and Aria stood at the front window calling "DAAADDDYYY!" It was so cute. Then Isabella said, "Daddy's not home yet. He missed dinner. What will he eat?" It's just great that because he's here so much now that they "expect" him, and when he's not here, they miss him. I just love it.

Well, that's all for now. Check back in a few days.

My Little Blessings

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