Finding Joy in Him

Through Every Season

Month: October 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

Rainbow Mountain

October 30, 2009 / / 1 Comment
Rainbow Mountain is just a few miles South of us.  It’s a very popular place to climb.  
Josh and Joel went out today to take some pictures for my scrapbook.
They turned out great!
I know this photo should make me nervous…
but what really made me nervous was hearing that
they met some guys who were on the mountain smoking pot.
I’d rather my guys attempt great feats than do something that stupid.
Josh took off his shoes because.. “The rock’s too slippery.”
Great fall color!
I love fall!
J

Morning Trip

October 24, 2009 / / 1 Comment
Our debit card photos are over 10 years old,
and we have been getting some funny looks lately when trying to use them
for purchases, so we decided this morning that it was time to up date them.
The only catch was that the closest branch is in Tennessee.
We discovered that the border is only about half an hour away.

The fall colors are gorgeous. I love fall.
I took a photo of this Methodis church for Mom.

Davy Crockett was born not too far from here.
He has a state park near by. We’ll have to check it out next time.

We stopped at this store on the way back.

It had some awesome black bear quilts and beautiful antiques.

Our house has an address stone now. Yay!

Shelter, Food, Church.. Why go to church?

October 18, 2009 / / 2 Comments

A Bible Study
Whenever we move, there are three things on our immediate agenda. Find a house. Find a grocery store. Find a church.
As the kids have gotten older finding a church has been more difficult. Most churches have something for the kids.. but a good youth group is hard to find.. a good college group even harder.
I’ve been getting complaints from certain young people that I am too intense about church and have been asked, “Why go to church anyway?” My usual answer is that we need to encourage others and be encouraged.
They know the answer.. but they keep asking. Why do kids do that??
I decided that I would do some research and write a Bible study on it. (Should have made them do that.)
One of the most relevant answers I found was this comparison: Why go to church when you can worship God and read your Bible at home? Why go to a concert, when you can buy the CD’s or download the music on itunes? There is a BIG difference!
Some biblical reasons??
We are to learn of Jesus. Matthew 11:29
He told His parents that it was His duty to be in His Father’s house. Luke 2:49
He taught there regularly. Luke 21:37-38
It was his custom to go. Luke 4:14-16
My original answer: We Need Each Other
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
To be a part of what Jesus is building. Matthew 16:15-19
Jesus’ prayer is that we would be one. John 17: 20-23
It’s not good for us to be alone. Genesis 2:18
God puts the lonely in families. Psalm 68:6

Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

Jesus loves the church as a bride and gave Himself for her. Ephesians 5:25-33
We are part of the body of Christ. Each part needs the other parts. I Corinthians 12:12-27
If someone refuses to listen to the church, we are to treat them as a pagan.
If two agree, we will receive what we ask for.
If two or three come together in His name, He is there with us. Matthew 18:17-20
To be strengthened in faith and numbers. Acts 16:5
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
To admonish one another in all wisdom. Colossians 3:16
Can we have fellowship with each other, obey our leaders, love one another, and all the other one another commands if we aren’t actively involved in a local body? Hebrews 13:17
Food
To receive spiritual food. John 21:15-17
To hear the word of God to grow in faith.
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Matthew 4: Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Beware of LIONS and WOLVES! Oh, My!
We need overseers, shepherds, to serve as humble examples for us. The devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Which sheep do the lions eat? The weak ones who are off by themselves. 1 Peter 5:1-11
Wolves will not spare us. We need protection from the distortion of the truth. Acts 20:28-30
Jesus rejoices when he comes home with a lost sheep. Luke 15:4-7
1 Peter 2:25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
There will be terrible times in the last days.. have nothing to do with the people who love pleasure more than God.. all Scripture is God-breathed and useful … trained and equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:1-17
Many will turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other… Matthew 24:4-14
Church finding/attending tips:
Remember there are no perfect people, therefore there can not be any perfect churches.
Pray and ask God to show you what church to go to.
Look for a church that teaches from the Bible.
Look for a church that sees God as loving .. not as revengeful. Romans 8:1-4
Look for a church that teaches that faith in Jesus.. not works.. is the only way to heaven. Ephesians 2:1-10
Stick with that church until God tells you to go somewhere else.
If someone there hurts your feelings, pray for them and forgive them.
If you don’t like the music or something else about the church, pray for your fellow believers and listen to the music you like at home.
Remember church is a growing experience.
If God gives you an idea to improve the church, ask God how you can put it into action, then ask your pastor if you can try it out.
Don’t wait for other people to take the first step. Be friendly.
Get involved. Don’t be a bench warmer.
Loved by Jesus.. imperfections and all,
Jenny

Indian Creek Greenway

October 14, 2009 / / 1 Comment
Last Thursday we went to check out the nearest hiking trail.
It’s in a neighborhood with a bright purple house.

It has a nice play ground and a dog park.

Right now the trail is about 2 miles long, but the city has plans to extend it to a road near our new house.
It will be 6 miles long in all when completed.

This parking area has a nice pavilion with picnic tables.
This would be an easy place to meet friends with little kids.

The trail is actually a long road that runs..

along Indian Creek.
We looked at a log cabin that was on Indian Creek when house hunting.
Don’t forget…

It’s nice living in the South again.

It has a disc golf course. We may have to buy some frisbees.

I had to sneak pictures of Joel and Judi.. Judi didn’t have her glam on.

We found a rope swing.

We thought the trail would have been more fun had it actually been a trail.

Next time we’ll have to bring bikes.

Cool spikey, fussy things growing on a vine.

Indian Creek

A little bit of sky.

The hill side.
Fall colors starting to show.

All my love,
Jenny

Some Photos from Around Our Lake

October 12, 2009 / / 3 Comments
Mike and I have been hanging out at the house/lake quite a bit lately.

Here we are at the gazebo. The lot next to us sold and I guess we’ll be getting a new neighbor soon.

Pretty sun set.

These kids were having a ball catching little perch.
Most were about 3″ long. One caught a “big”one that was about 8” long.

Sun set/moon rise.

These guys worked through a thunderstorm/tornado warning on our roof until the last possible minute. I was praying that none of them would die so I wouldn’t have to run over and raise them from the dead. Most of the storm went North, but at the last we heard the rain coming and quickly went for the car while our roofers jumped off the roof to find shelter in our window sills.

These ducks are very friendly.

They hang out at the lake most days.

Pretty sure these geese are on their way South.

It’s starting to look like fall.

I love this pict.

I love these water lilies.

Think I can get some to grow on our side of the lake?

Here’s the lake from our bathroom window…
When they put the block window in we won’t be able to see it any more.

Here it is from our back porch.
See the L shaped plot of mud. That’s basically our back yard.
Not a lot of grass to mow.. especially after they put in the 10×25 ft. back patio.
Happy Columbus Day!
Jenny

Supper Club Follow Up

October 12, 2009 / / 1 Comment


Judi and I had a great time in the kitchen. She was a wonderful help. She’s a way better cook than I.

The kids were VERY jealous that I was cooking for my small group and not for them. They’ve been asking me repeatedly if I am cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for them this year. Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday.
Food = Love
I don’t know what’s up with Thanksgiving this year. Hopefully we’ll be moving into our new house. I’ve thought about buying a brisket this year… maybe I could cook it in the crock pot? I don’t know if I could cook everything I normally cook in our little apartment kitchen without all my pans.. etc.
I thought about cooking a couple of things from our Thanksgiving menu each week from now ’till Thanksgiving… but I have a feeling that they’ll miss that stuffed feeling. Time for a family meeting.
Oh, back on subject… everything pretty much went wrong with my Supper Club food.
Cooking is still NOT my thing.
Good thing I planned on an extra batch of cookie bars for the kids… because I forgot the baking powder in the first batch.. The kids thought the oatmeal with all the other stuff in the cookies was too much texture. I agreed. I lost my focus on the last batch and forgot to push the quirky oven timer start button and by the time I noticed wasn’t sure how hot my oven was or how much longer the bars needed. They came out done on the outside but not on the inside.
I started the apple stuff around 7AM so that I could hang out with Mike mid-day. I miss the knives Mike got me for our anniversary. It took me forever (over 2 hrs.) to cut up all the apples and pears with the cheepy apartment knives.
I cooked the apple stuff on low (instead of on high) from 9:30 ’till around 2. It was looking pretty good at that point but we weren’t leaving for small group until 5:30 so I turned the pot to warm. By the time we ate it, it was more like bread pudding than apple crisp. It tasted good, but I wasn’t sure what to call it. Would have been better with walnuts.
The salad came out beautiful. It was pouring down rain, tornado sirens were going off and a there was a thunderstorm/flash flood warning when we left. The kids were great and helped carry the iced tea and everything to the car. I had a list; ice, napkins, salt, salad dressing, tea, water, cookies, crock pot.
We drove 20 minutes through the storm to the small group to set up and started unpacking everything. I got to the salad dressing and realized that we forgot the salad. I was MAD at this point. It was too far to drive back so Mike took me back out in the rain to the nearest grocery store and we bought a bowl plus $30 dollars worth of pre-washed/cut salad kits and threw together another salad.
I was thankful, mad, frustrated and had to work really hard to get over myself and enjoy the group. Mike was very sweet and supportive.
I have enough salad in the fridge for 30 people. Should make it easy for me to eat healthy this week. Glad I wasn’t in charge of the chicken alfrado (which turned out wonderful).. wouldn’t have been able to run to the store for that.
Still practicing.. nowhere near perfect,
Jenny

Recipes for Supper Club

October 7, 2009 / / 1 Comment

Today is gymnastics/ grocery day. I finally decided what I am making for Supper Club.

Supper Club is the Marriage/Bible Study Small group that we are attending twice a month at our new church, Valley Fellowship. The small group isn’t very small; 12 or so couples. Every other week 2 couples prepare a meal for everyone.
The couple who’s helping us with the meal is bringing Chicken Alfredo and bread. Here is what I am bringing.. hopefully it will turn out.

Tossed Salad
Ingredients
• 2 hearts romaine lettuce
• 2 small plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 Kirby cucumber or 1/4 European seedless cucumber, diced
• 1 small yellow onion or 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
olives
shredded cheese
Salad dressings … ranch .. Italian
Crock Pot Winter Fruit Crisp
Nonstick cooking spray
6 C. peeled, cored and sliced Golden Delicious apples
6 C. peeled, cored and sliced pears
1 C. dried cherries
1/2 C. sugar
1 T. grated orange peel (colored part only)
3 t. ground cinnamon, divided
1 C. flour
1 C. uncooked oats, quick or regular
3/4 C. brown sugar
1 t. dried ginger
1/4 t. mace
3/4 C. butter, softened
Fresh whipped cream or ice cream

Spray the bowl of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, pears, dried cherries, sugar, orange peel and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; toss well.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ginger and mace. Crumble the butter with your fingers, add it to the flour mixture, and knead the mixture to incorporate the butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit, patting it down lightly.

Scrape the fruit mixture into the slow cooker. Cook at high temperature until the fruit is bubbly, about 4 hours.

Serve warm with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.

Makes 12 servings.

AND..
Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (You can use only all-purpose flour if you’re so inclined.)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. quick oats
1 (13 ounce) package chopped peanut butter cups
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Stir together melted butter and sugars and thoroughly combined. Add egg and mix well. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir to combine. Stir in oats.
Optional: fold in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Press mixture into a 9×13 pan (lightly greased).
Optional: press in peanut butter cups
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chopped candy cups and chocolate chips on top. Return to oven until golden brown and baked through, about 8-10 more minutes.
I am looking forward to spending time with Judi making it all.
J

Wade Mountain Preserve

October 3, 2009 / / 2 Comments
One thing I am loving about Huntsville is all the places to go hiking, canoeing, etc.

Josh met us at his secret place after school on Thursday.

Signs of Autumn

So many berries.

Don’t know the names.

But I think they are pretty.
The trail awaits.

What can we do? While we wait on Josh…

Skip rocks down the road.

Mine skipped 7 skips.

Don’t tell me I throw like a girl.

Whoo hoo! I hit the sign post.

I did it on purpose.

My love language? A walk through the woods… by a stream even better.

Must have water.
I was a little concerned when Josh chose the Devil’s Racetrack. But he promised that it was the easiest trail. Josh has been all over Wade Mountain.. even was lost for a couple hours there once.

Kids were great at walking slow for me.

Just a little further.

On top of Josh Hill.

Taking a breather.

Judi’s turn to snap a photo.

Ahh.. the view.

Getting ready for the hike back down.

Lovely flowers.

Purple’s my favorite color.

I tried to talk Josh into taking a back road short cut home.

The girls won the race for sure.. even though we raced to different homes.

My Birthday weekend in GA

October 3, 2009 / / 1 Comment
For my birthday Mike took us to GA to see our friends from IL who just moved back there and to visit our church in Montgomery. We had a great time. The kids stayed at my friend, Ranae’s house. We’ve known their family since I was pregnant with Judi and she was pregnant with Victoria. The kids get along great.
Mike and I stayed at Sugardoodle’s Playhouse, a cabin in Pine Mountain, GA. It was very nice. All their cabins had red heart shaped jacuzzi tubs and were decorated with fun antiques.

Our A frame cabin was surprisingly large inside.

Our neighbors were a little creepy.

We had a picnic at FD Roosevelt State Park.

The kids decided that the amphitheater was a great place for a sword fight.

Then on the trail they found even bigger sticks to play with.

All together now.

The park map was not to scale. After hiking for what seemed hours according to the map we were still only half way around the 3 mile loop. We got a little lost and decided that it was time to consult the map.

Found this beautiful view of the lake.. then discovered we were only about a block from Ranae’s van.. just in the other direction. Yay! a place to sit.
For dinner that night Scott grilled out for all of us tired hikers. The food and fellowship were great!

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