The lake was a diamond in the valley's hand.

Found this old picture on my phone...a little cliche, but this was the dawn of the beginning.
Seven months ago today this was taken.
At the time my stomach had more butterflies than a pavilion.
It all started that day, and since then life has been a whirlwind not of time but of the blessings, joys, emotions, happiness', struggles, smiles, and grace.

The cold of winter has had us home bound a lot.
I think it has adverse side effects.
*note huge eyes*

Voyaging the land to go to a Martin wedding.

*note courage in snuggie, yes...a snuggie*
*No, Abigail did not steal her glasses from the set of "Big Purple Couch"*
*The effects run deep, warmth can't come soon enough =P *

*Smile*

And then the blizzards came.
12 inches of snow, the most snow in 60 some years!

Consequently we HAD to put a sled behind the truck and find a parking lot.
(And entirely new experience for everyone here!)
Yes, Mr. Vrazo you were right.

Did you know the phrase "Mardi Gras" is french for "fat Tuesday'?
Me either.
This is me and Lulu A. "Living it up"
Living it up consisted of twisting balloons
and laughing at how funny Jedediah looked with the masks on.
Good times.

Finished our big job this past week.
This is the new "kid room"

Kitchenette/bar area.

I love the ornate simplicity.

Got me a truck bed cover.
The only thing I don't like about it is not having had it a long time ago.
I love working out of it, it makes life a lot easier.

"Found: new "old" record shop
Wanted: Patrons to come, hang out, listen to music,
and generally enjoy the place"
*can do*

The look of concentrating on new music/lyrics.

Saffron yellow makes everything a happier place.

This is just a snippet of life, and all it's fullness. Fullness of grace, sometimes hard grace leaves stretch marks as it forces growth, but remaining in humble faithfulness, the end is worth the middle. It's in that middle, the "rough" spot, that our faith is tried and made true, and our story is written. I am thankful for the pain, I am thankful I am not left stagnate, thankful to be pushed to betterment, held accountable, given grace, to be fed at His table.

It is in these seven months that I have been shown mine inadequacies, taught, grown, loved, been loved, and had blessings undeserved showered upon me even in my foolishness.
It is in the last three months of being a "Texan", being near Abigail, dealing with a new set of difficulties, with out the safety net of my family beneath, behind me, but me on my own, that I have understood grace, seen His hand, and made to wonder why I would be entrusted with so much, and how, by all means I haven't screwed this up already!?
I have been made repeatedly shown to not put my trust in my arm, but in Him.
I'm not being all warm and spiritually cheesy here.
When I start to rely on my understanding is when I get overwhelmed with responsibility that lie unto me, but when I trust not in my strength, I have more strength to give...when I can stop looking at my belly button I can share a strength with others with Abigail that isn't my own.
Lord keep humble.

One thing at a time.

I realized the other day.
I am a grown up. (not "grown up")

When did that happen? When did I become the man behind the steering wheel with the window down and his hand touching the top of the window frame? Only my daddy could do that...he was a man...I was a boy...was.
When did the things you grow up hoping for start happening? The prayers you prayed for so long, God is answering.
Not sure when that happened.

I think the thing thing I like most about it, about the blessings that come with the responsibilities, is the little part where...I pull up to her house, it's been two days since I've seen her, and she comes out to greet me and then there half way across the lawn, her face concentrating on the ground beneath her she looks up to me smiling. It is gold.

We sing, we dance, we steal things.

Sometimes magic lies beneath the rock.


in the mud and sand.


and the coffee.


and we dance.

Death and resurection

You may have thought this was dead. It isn't. It was "just restin' a bit". Tried xanga for a while, didn't like it, got lazy, time passed, and here we are.

Where are we? time will tell, because I dont know. I currently live in Fort Worth, Texas. Yup. A Texan! Who'd a thunk, right?

A new Josh Ritter song fills my ears. My ears are happy.

Time is whacked. In an arguable sense it is flying by, and in that same sentence, it is crawling inexplicably slow.

Working. Which is a blessing. But the bigger picture is I am enjoying it immensely! I haven't had this much fun at work in a long time. In the past it's not from a lack of good company or affected by bad company, of which I have had a lot of both. The artistry that has come from my hand is something even I am surprised by, not that I am amazing or something the world hasn't seen before, but I built that...with my hands...I have an inflated pride in ownership. Lord keep me humble.

Speaking of whacked time, the rushed part is trying to hash out time for life, simple things like laundry, email, phone calls...it is harder than you might think. Working in the city is fun, the commute is small so I can work more which is good, but it makes time like gold...precious and hard to find. Most my evenings are spent learning...learning to love..learning to lead...learning to apply the tools I have learned all my youth to the application for which I was taught. You grow up learning principles, practices, ect.. but it is a whole different game when you have to use them, I want to do this with more care and attention to detail and handling than even my finest of work, but its like needing a pair of scissors and using a chain saw. I am thankful she is more patient with me than I ever deserve. The patience and encouragement she gives me is like none I have recieved from anyone before, I have known anyone this close, I have never been known this close...this vulnerable, but by exposing that vulnerability she know my weakness and builds on it, knows my strength and lets me rescue her. To be the knight with a sword of rescue I am not worthy, my hands are covered in filth, my garments tarnished with foolishness, but I realize my strength avails me not, and it is by HIS grace that I am covered, washed, and made worthy. Her colors on my flag and lace in my pocket (figuratively) I go, I build, I concquer. She makes me noble, not by the beauty of flesh, but the beauty of grace in her life, given to me...She is beautiful.
I catch my breath every time I see her, she doesn't know.

*breaths*

...
Well, I am back.. I think. I will be here more often. The tale is being told and I'll try to catch some of it down in words here.

I pray our Lord bless and keep each of you this day and the next.

Lord keep me humble.

-J

Hello again

It may not be suffcient, but, I have a excuse for lack of blogging, actually two, 1:I have attained a full time job this summer and have been "that" busy. 2:I have in this job nearly removed the end of two fingers on my left(dominate)hand, with a circular saw, thus recieving 27 stitches, and rendering my hands unable to type.
3: and the "mother board" on the computer got fried last week and we just got it back today.
But, you may rest your minds, my hand is %90 healed, though it was an hideous event, they are healing beautifully.

Life right now is like a freight train going down a hill with no brakes, one thing after another.
Over the summer my truck broke down (semi permanently), and was going to cost me a LOT to get fixed, so I bought a new (used) truck, putting myself on the ever dreadful spot of a small amount of debt, oh do I hate it already, I can't imagine living a life of continous debt! But God has blessed me with a truck that works and a job that keeps it working.
This job that I have been given (literally, it came to me, and fell in my lap) is on a crew doing professional remodeling. We do anything from replacing a bathroom tub, to changing the floor plan of a home, to doubling the size of ones home. It has been really fun work, every little boys dream, demolition, making a huge mess(that someone else gets to clean up =), then rebuilding it to be a beautiful home! and I get to use (and own) some awsome tools, argh!, argh!, argh!
life in a nut shell.

I hope this peases, the throngs, enough, to, keep from recieving unpleasant melodies, and such.
May God bless, and keep you all!

Thoughts.....

It was recently posed to me, "why on earth would a man be compelled to buy his wife something(something, i.e. jewelry, clothes, or otherwise)....Men actually do that?". My response at the time was "I don't know you just DO"
(*disclaimer, writer claims no actual knowledge of giving gifts to wives, to please them or for neccesity, having himself never been married nor had a wife to give gifts to.)
but upon thinking about it, I thought there has to be a reason, beyond what physcological happiness tells us we want and desire...has to be something biblical, something we are called to by Christ...something...why?

Matthew 7:11, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Ephesians 5:28-29 So husbands ought to love there 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.

Genesis 24:53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah.

"Men are to be as strong and durable as redwood trees,
and as tender and fragrant as a field of clover—
unshakably rugged in the defense and confirmation of the truth,
and relentlessly humble and patient and merciful in dealing with people." ~Piper
"Men whose might is matched by his meekness."
"Men whose intellect is matched by his humility"
"Men who are known for the delight they have in God
and the joy in God that they bring to others".

It is not the neccesity of gift giving that I try to show, but more that men are to be the protectors of women(being the weaker vessel) and to love there wives as they love themselves, for no one ever hated his own flesh, many men are driven by there selfish desires, lusts...there flesh, and will go to great lengths to please there flesh, by this men are called to love there wives with such a regard as they inherently love themselves. When a man loves his wife and nourishes and cherishes her he seeks her well being and happiness, and when he lavishes upon her gifts that make her happy it brings him a joy

Return to sender, adress unknown, aint no such number

Blogger 404, user not found,

if you see this message, don't feel neglected, everybody got it.
No I'm not running away or hiding. I'm moving, packed up and gone, and forgot to leave a forwarding adress.
To protect the privacy of the innocent, my parents asked me to move, due to the exposure of my full name, and all the bozo's out there I moved.(to help prevent identity theft)

So to all you who suffered emotional trama(not mentioning any names) due to the lack of my communication, I'm sorry.
more to follow........................

.....A sharp dressed man

Pella Iowa, March 3rd, Anno Domini 2006,

The Tuxes Franky spoke of in his recent post about a "sharp dressed man", were for a formal ball that we were invited to attend and do the calling for.
We arrived there after a long drive on Thursday evening, where we were greeted by our hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Harlow, who immediatly made us at home in their home, as if we were family.
The next day we assisted in preperations for the Friday evening ball(all the while getting a high off of allergy medicine...but that's another story). As the after noon progressed the excitement grew, people from Cornerstone reformed in Ill., arrived, the fellowship was sweet, with friends old and new.

The evening beautiful (not only the evening), they opened with a prayer of thanksgiving to GOD for all he has so abundantly blessed us all with.

"Let Isreal rejoice in their maker; Let the childeren of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name with dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp" PSALM 149:2-3

OH the beauty! When God's people come together in His name to celebrate His gifts!

It all went superb! Then when they went to close, Mr. Rhoarda(spl?) thanked us for the calling, then He decided to volunteer us for an oncore/demonstration, ahh! on the spot! Luke, Micah, Katie, another young man, 2 more young ladies(whose names have been left out to protect the innocent), and I, did the Posties Jig to one on the fastest songs we own, I'm not sure I've ever danced that fast! We had a ball!!! ;)

After the ball we all went over the Harlow's (the pastor's) house(11:00 pm) for ice cream and fellowship. It was 1:30 before we got to bed.
The next morning we went out to breakfast at little cafe on the square in Pella, a dutch cafe (Pella is of Dutch decent) with a lot of the young people from there and some from Ill. Then spent the morning walking the square,freezing to death, trying to decide what to do.

The History of Pella is interesting, the Dutch settler's where primarily "reformed" so the whole city is primarily christian, and there was a placquet on the square that said: Pella, the city of refuge. Founded here by the Dutch in...... founded on the principle to follow God and all His precepts.

We embarked on our journey several hours earlier than planned, for fear of incliment weather.
But we were seen off by Rhoarda's, Harlow's, amongst others.
The journey was a blessed one.

"Behold how good and how pleasant it is when bretheren dwell together in unity"

Some 17 kids (and adults) crammed into a kitchen that was like 4x6 (I think we topped the vw bug record, for the most people in a small space)