It's a Wonderful Life!

I posted a while back about reading the book by Terrie Chappell, "It's a Wonderful Life."  What a great book!  Katie commented that she has a favorite part, so I'm curious to know which is her favorite....it's been hard for me to narrow it down!!

This book is written with the ministry wife in mind.  I love Mrs. Terrie's style of writing, it's so easy to read, yet so encouraging and convicting to me personally.  She told many personal stories of being in the ministry and what has worked for her and her family.  I learned so much!  She emphasized the fact that we often get too caught up in ministry life that we substitute serving Christ for our daily walk and fellowship with Him.  When we do this, we will run dry and empty and have nothing to offer to the people we are called to minister to.  How easy it is to let this happen.  My time with Christ strengthens and enables me to be what I need to be for my family and those around me.

Her chapter on irritation was also quite convicting.  She said that irritation is a form of pride and that "pride can also be revealed by how we handle the trials that come in our lives.  When we think we don't deserve a trial and are annoyed by the inconvenience, we are allowing pride to take hold.  In humility, we must remember that God is in control.  He allows the trials so we can continue to humbly rely on Him for the strength and guidance we desperately need."  How true!  It's so easy as a busy momma and wife to be irritated when things don't go exactly how I had planned it for the day.  Interruptions do come.  I want to keep my heart right during those times, and look for the lessons God would have me to learn!

Another thing she mentioned, that I have found myself sharing with others is, "wishing for just 2 more hours a day is a revealing signal that we have taken on more than God ever desired for us to do."  Anyone else guilty of this?  My hand is raised because that is me on a daily basis!  I'm always wishing for more hours and energy to be able to do more in my day!  But, God has given me the exact amount of time to complete exactly what He would have me do...every single day.  That is a thought that has given me peace and the ability to look at my list and say, "Lord, what would YOU have me to do today?"  Mrs. Chappell says, "Over commitment causes us to hear only the loud noises of urgency and immediate crisis.  It deafens us to the quiet and highly important needs of our families, our hearts, our husbands, and our ministries."  "When I pillow my head at night, do I have the inner peace of a clear conscience, knowing that I invested my time and energy into the most important priorities in my life today?"

I highly recommend this book to any wife in the ministry.  It has been such a blessing!  And my favorite part?  Probably the carrot and coffee bean illustration at the end.  But, I'll let those that buy the book read that! ;o)

Family Flag Football

 We are enjoying a little bit of cooler weather and getting out and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.  Oh my, it's been a hot summer! Silas was excited to find a flag football set at our last yard saling adventure, so it was the perfect night to try it out!

 Patrick was the all time quarter back and tried to make things fair for the boys vs. girls competition.

 My kiddos sure are competitive.  Just like their Momma and Daddy!

 I do have to say, though, our boys have no idea what flag football means.  They failed to realize that you aren't supposed to tackle!  Or tickle!  Or grab onto someone's feet if they try to move!

This time the boys won.  Maybe not next time!!

"Momma, will you come to my store?"

 My Silas had been working hard at the "treehouse." (I know it's not a treehouse, that's just what they call it!) When his project was finally done, he asked if I would like to come to his store.

Silas, Callie and Micah had worked hard to have a good stock for their store.  They scoured our yard and had plenty of things for sale like pine needles (Patrick has claimed those), pinecones (maybe a craft item?), some neat weathered wood, and lots of fun odds and ends.

I liked these pieces of wood they had found.  Unfortunately, I didn't bring my money with me.  It was a quarter for the little piece.  I asked him if I could pay tomorrow, but take the wood today so I could start on my project.  His answer?  Nope.  I had to pay before pick up.  Little stinker!  He also wasn't too flexible on the price either!

 So, I ran back inside, got some quarters, and purchased my wood.  I'm ready for a cool project now!  I'll post soon!

 Then, this bench/shelf caught my eye.  What could I do with it? (still trying to figure that out).  But, I decided to buy it as well.  I asked him if he would deliver it to my house.  Nope on that, too.  But, he was willing to let his employee (Micah) deliver it for me.

Service with a smile!
We are loving the slightly cooler temps and being outside!

Fall....my favorite time of year!

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It's here!  It's here!  The weather is starting to slightly turn cooler.  You can just smell 'Autumn' in the air!  And you can smell lot of pumpkin candles in the house. That means it's time to bring out our Fall Decorations!  

 Beth decided to try a fun craft with Silas, Callie and Micah.  They gathered tons of acorns and painted them in beautiful fall colors.

 They turned out so cute!  Beth has been working on adding more and more and our little glass container is filling up!

 Not too long ago we painted our fireplace wall a pretty teal color.  There is so much brown and gray in our house that we needed a pop of color somewhere.  Once it was done we wondered it if would work for fall and Christmas decos.  So far I like it!

We also decided to put up our Thankful tree early this year and make it front and center.  We have so much to be thankful for! Each night we try to fill our a leaf and write what we are thankful for on it. The tree is starting to fill up and when we have guests, they fill out a leaf as well. Love this tradition!

Happy Fall Y'all!!

"Let's Go Fishing" Missions Conference

 Mission's Conference is one of our favorite times of the year!  We were so excited as it drew closer.  VSIBC has had the theme of "Let's Go Fishing" for the year of 2016 to remind us to be looking for chances to witness.  We knew it would be a great theme for the Mission's Conference as well!

We decided to do a Saturday night International Dessert Fellowship to kickoff the conference.  We asked the members to bring desserts from other countries.  The instructions were to have the dish labeled with the country it was from and to make sure it was cut into small servings.  We wanted everyone to be able to sample as much as they could.

 As the conference drew closer and the sign up sheet filled up, I noticed some familiar handwriting at the bottom.  My Silas signed up to bring Boston Cream Donuts from Boston!  Well....I think we need to work on our geography and talk more about countries. ;o)  But, that will be for another time.  For now, we praised him for his creativeness and wanting to bring something!

Yummy Boston Cream Donuts....from Boston. ;o)

 My girls and I had fun decorating for the conference!

 We found many cute ideas on Pinterest.  When we saw these bobbers, we knew we had to try and make them!

 Our ladies made so many yummy desserts!  It was a feast, for sure!

 We were thankful to have Dr. Arlo Elam there to present Florida Baptist College.  He has been such a wealth of information and help to us as church planters!

 We were thankful to have Dr. Scott Caudill be the speaker for our Mission's Conference.  Our church loves to hear him sing and he always brings a stirring message that gets ahold of our hearts!  What a blessing!

 He preached a message on Sunday night called Grace in a Barrel.  How it spoke to so many hearts!  God's grace is without measure and always right on time!!

So thankful for VSIBC and the hearts our people have to reach the world.  We are excited to say that our Faith Promise Missions Giving for the church was increased!  Praise God!  We may be a small, new church, but the people have a Big heart!

In Control

 The past few days have been busy around the Gimenez Home!  As we learned that hurricane Matthew might give us some unpleasant weather, we began preparing, for the 3rd time this season, for a storm. We've gotten into a good routine of preparation.  We fill as many containers with water as possible, like trash cans, jugs and laundry hampers.  It's soooo nice to be able to brush your teeth and flush the toilet when the power goes out!

 Callie likes to be my helper and prepare all the candles.

 As the storm drew closer, we flipped on the news to see the latest.  Watching the news is something that we don't do all that often.  Have you noticed how biased it is?  We've found we would rather find the news that we would like to hear by internet sources.  But, every so often, we turn on the evening news.  As we watched the devastation that Matthew caused to Haiti, we didn't realize two cute little eyes were watching along with us.  Within minutes our Micah came to Patrick and I, in full tears, asking, "Is our roof going to come off of our house, too?"  Poor little guy.  His Daddy took him in his arms and comforted him.

I felt so bad for my little guy and his fears.  As I walked into the kitchen,  I heard my Beth singing as she was doing the dishes.  The song she had on her heart was the perfect words for the night of preparation.  Here are some of the words:

In Control though the storm around you be raging.
He's in control, in your life, no matter what you're facing.
Even in your darkest night, when there seems to be no light,
He's always with you, He'll never fail you,  
He's in control.

How true those words are.  So thankful for our Heavenly Father's love and watch care over us! So thankful that just like my husband did for Micah, our God is always ready and willing to take us in His arms, comfort us, and tell us it will be okay.

So, Matthew came and went.  We were far enough west to only have some wind and a little rain.  The power did go out for several hours.  My crazy kiddos cheered!  Now, it's time to dump out all the water and pick up some branches!

Homeschooling fun at the Police Department!

 It was fun to get back in the swing of things and start up our homeschooling activities.  We have a good group from area churches that meet together for our kids to have fun together.

  Our first one was at the Police Department.  The High Springs Police Department has been such a blessing to VSIBC as we've started the church.  We've had a couple of Police Officers stop by to let us know that they are keeping an eye on us, watching out for us and are there if we need them.  We often see a Police Officer parked near the church as we leave.  What a blessing!  So, it was nice to go for a visit and to personally tell them thank you for all they do!

 The Moms were locked in the jail.  The kids were happy! :o)

 The kids loved seeing the Police Car.  It was quite fancy!!

 Silas loved wearing a bullet proof vest!

 So thankful for this special group!

Boys of VSIBC

 What a blessing it has been to be a part of the ministries of VSIBC!  It's been exciting to watch children ride the van, accept Christ, and make this church their church!  These precious kiddos have such potential!  We are so happy to see them grow and serve the Lord.

 Joshua planned a boys activity not too long ago.  I love to see my boy interact with the little guys.  He has their full attention and their hearts as well.  Josh planned some fun sporting games, then the rain started.  He switched gears quickly and came up with some perfect games for on the porch....after they ate some burgers, of course!

 There were so much laughter and joy...I just love it!

 Then, Joshua and his friend, and coworker in the ministry, decided they would get in on the arm wrestling fun.  Boys will always be boys! ;o)

 It sure is a joy to serve Jesus!!