Fall Brunch

I love many things about being a Pastor's Wife. Many! But one of the things I love the most is being involved in the lives of the ladies of VSIBC. They really are the sweetest, most caring ladies you could ever meet!

We decided to have a Fall Brunch together. We ate so many yummy brunch foods! Egg and Sausage Casserole, Salted Caramel French Toast, fresh fruit....is your mouth watering yet??

Then, we enjoyed our Ponder Bible Study (I've been sharing it here on my blog.) My ladies listen so well and encourage me so much. We really are growing closer to the Lord together!

Then, we made a Fall craft together. Someone had donated a ton of burlap weavy ribbon....oh I don't know what it's called! But we put it on mini wreath forms (yay Dollar Tree!) and made a pretty autumn craft.

We laugh so much and share blessings together. I'm so thankful for sisters in Christ!

Great Grandparents again!

I asked my parents to come up for a visit for a Fall Ladies Brunch that I was hosting and also for VSIBC's Roundup Sunday.  I was so glad they could come!!  Joshua and Tabitha also used this time to tell them that they will be great grandparents again!  Yay!

They had my Dad read Liberty the book, "God gave us two."  It was so sweet.  My Dad read and read.  It was my Mom that caught on first. 

Liberty does look a little clueless like she didn't know the news!

It's always a wonderful time when my parents visit.  We treasure every moment!!

Wacky Sunday

My kiddos are having so much fun in Junior Church!  Josh has been planning a lot of really fun things for the kids to participate in.  Recently it was Wacky Sunday.  The kids were encouraged to wear their church clothes, but make them WACKY! 

My kiddos came up with some ideas...and I think they succeeded!  They looked pretty wacky!

Josh did pretty well, too.  His tie was so short and it sang Merry Christmas.  You can't tell in the picture, but his hair was parted very crazy and his glasses were taped. 

James is also a helper in our Junior Church.  The kids love him!  He looked pretty wacky, too.

But out of the 3 workers, my sweet, feminine, put together daughter in law won.  She looked....well, cute in an embarrassing sort of way.  Ha!  It was so fun!  Sure do love my church family!!

Pondering Justly

Have you ever been to a planetarium?  While we were on deputation we went to the planetarium at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.  It was amazing!  And my favorite one by far!
It started off showing the earth beautifully spinning around our sun.  Every so often I would spot the state of Florida.  Then, it zoomed out and showed our solar system with all of its planets.  I could no longer make out our state of Florida, but there was our blue earth.  Then, it zoomed out again to show our galaxy, The Milky Way.  It  contains over 200 billion stars and our star just looked like dust.  Then, it zoomed out again to show the many galaxies that can be seen by our Hubble telescope.  This telescope can actually see over 100 billion galaxies!  Amazing!  I could no longer see earth, our sun, or even our galaxy! It made me realize how small I am, and how amazing God is!  He created it all!  Our space is amazing, breathtaking and full of awe and wonder!

Yet, we have only 8 verses in the Bible on our Space, our solar system and our galaxy.

In comparison, hoow many verses that contain genealogies? Genesis, Numbers, Chronicles, Ruth, Matthew, Luke…  (ever get bogged down in Numbers?)  Verse after verse in our Bible contains names. What does this teach us?  

God is so much more interested in people than in our galaxy.

And this was the thought that I had while pondering the next word in my study on Philippians 4:8.  I covered thinking on what is true, and I studied on how to think on what is honest.  The next word in line was Just.  So, what exactly does Just mean?

Just-righteous, faultless, thinking, feeling and acting wholly conformed to the will of God.  Passing just judgement, fair and balanced.

Almost sounds like a law firm, doesn't it?

We should be thinking justly, as God thinks.  So the question is, 

“How is your view of YOU?”  Is it truthful, correct, fair and balanced?  Is it JUST? 

  Ladies tend to put themselves down and feel like they’re not good enough and not measuring up.  But, what does the Bible say about YOU?

   You are unique!  Nobody can be you or do what you do.  Absolutely no one else can fill the spot for which you were designed. 

There seems to be lots of talk about self esteem and self confidence, but  It’s not so much having a self-confidence…It’s more like having a God confidence; confident that God knew what He was doing when He made you!

  Even every one that is called by my name:  for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.  Isaiah 43:7

Now, reread that verse again and in place of "HIM"  put your name in there.  

for I have created Kami for my glory, I have formed Kami;   yea, I have made Kami!

What a thought!

Remember, we can often find if we are struggling in our thinking by looking at the negative sense and what wrong thoughts will produce.  If you are not thinking “Justly” then you are more than likely struggling with low self-esteem, putting yourself down and you don’t feel useful.  When you struggle with self-worth, it makes you feel inferior and wrecks your testimony and usefulness.  It limits accomplishments in life all because how we “think” about ourselves.

So how about a little test. You may be struggling with low self esteem and self worth if:

~When people compliment you or something you have done, you find the need to point out all the negative instead of a simple, “Thank you”.  I am forever pointing out mistakes in my quilting if someone sees my quilts.  I point out a mismatched seam here or a mistake I made there....What about saying "Thank You" and graciously taking a compliment.

~Your mind often wanders to your failures and you linger on them and wish you would’ve done things differently.  We ladies tend to focus on our regrets and failures instead of moving forward. 

~You second guess decisions that you need to make.  Even when you know what is the way God would have you to handle it.

~You are uncomfortable with things in your appearance that you cannot change.  Maybe a big nose or crooked teeth...we ladies are too often concerned with the unchangeables.

~You feel like you don’t measure up to your sisters, friends, famous people….

~You find yourself constantly comparing your accomplishments with other’s accomplishments.

~You feel that there is a voice inside your head that says, ““You are never good enough. You always . . . (blank). You didn’t . . . (blank). You won’t . . . (blank). You can’t . . . (blank).”

If we are honest, we can all admit at one time or another struggling with self worth. So, how do you turn this around?  It starts in your mind….Whatsoever things are just!  It is your choice how you think.  You are the only one who gets to train your mind!  We need to think as God thinks!  Just-thinking, feeling, and acting wholly conformed to the will of God.

What does God think about you?
You are God’s Masterpiece Ephesians 2:10

You are chosen 1 Peter 2:9

You are hand-picked Jeremiah 1:5

You are forgiven 1 John 1:9

You are set free Romans 6:18

You are precious Isaiah 43:4

You are loved 1 John 4:19

You are rejoiced over Zephaniah 3:17

You are healed by His stripes 1 Peter 2:24

You are wonderfully made Psalm 139:14

You are valuable 1 Corinthians 6:20

You are worth more than rubies Proverbs 31:10

You are a joint heir with Christ Romans 8:17

You are God’s Friend John 15:15

Now, reread that list and in place of "You", put "I."

Reread it again and put in your name in place of "You."  You really are special and you are loved!

Real Self-Worth and real love for yourself begins with knowing you are loved!  Agape love (the kind Christ has for us!) says, “I love you just because you are you.”  There is nothing we can ever do that would change God’s love for us.

 Does He love us when we fail? Yes.

 Does He love us when we disappoint Him?  Yes.

 Does He love us when we’ve had a day that we filled with wrong thoughts?  Yes!

 When we start thinking Justly, we have a sense of worth, we have direction in our lives.  We establish goals.  It’s a life with purpose!  

Wonderful News!

We really do have the best neighbors. ;o)  We love having Josh and Tabitha live so close.  It really is a mother's dream come true and I am just going to enjoy each moment it lasts.  Recently, Josh and Tabitha sold their old camper and got a newer one.  It is so beautiful!  We were invited over for muffins and coffee.  We loved every minute!  And I think Liberty was excited to have us over.

 Tabitha has done such a wonderful job making the camper home.  It's decorated beautifully and I know my boy loves the home she has created for him.   (I guess he's not such a little boy anymore, but saying man sounds strange to me! :o)  )

Not too long ago, Joshua and Tabitha came over and we were playing with Liberty.  I all of sudden noticed Liberty's shirt, it said, "Sisters make the best of friends"

We are so thankful to announce that baby Gimenez #2 is due in May! 

Fall is Here??

Fall is here!  Or is it?  We enjoyed 2 days of highs in the 80s last week.  It was absolutely wonderful!! After having a very warm....(who am I kidding, it was Hot!!) summer, the 80s felt marvelous.  But, today we are back to a high in the 90s.  I even started sweating while walking to the mailbox! North Florida is a little late to get on track with this season!

Regardless of the outside temps, we love fall!  I love the colors, the cooler weather (when it arrives), the yummy flavors, the bonfires, and decorating my home for the season.  There is always a sense of excitement as we unpack pumpkins and thankful signs.  We even decided to decorate Shadrack. Although, after Patrick realized we put a floral arrangement on his head, he took that down. ;o)  Now my home smells very yummy and has a warm-fuzzy feeling that comes with this time of year.  I love it!

To Meet A Friend

I began blogging about 10 years ago.  wow!  That's a long time!  Shortly after, I came in contact with another missionary lady that connected me with other missionary bloggers.  It was such a joy and encouragement to me to "meet" other ladies that had my passion and interests.  I formed several friendships, even though I had never met these ladies. 

When we started VSIBC, we knew we wanted to support missionaries right away.  And I knew the family we should start with, The Cormier Family, Missionaries to Kenya. She was a missionary blogger that had become my friend (even though we never met)  My hubby agreed, too, since he loved hearing the updates on this precious missionary family through Jessi's blog.  We began supporting them, but had still never met. When we heard they were taking a furlough, we knew we wanted them to come to our Missions weekend.  We were finally able to meet!  We were so excited and our church family was so excited too!!

We decided to have their family over for ice cream, first, so we could officially "meet."  Isn't it so neat that with some people you just hit it off right away, like you've always known each other?  It was that way when the Gimenez Crew met the Cormier family.  We were kindred spirits and our whole family loved getting to know them!

Missionary kids are so awesome!

Then, we decided to invite our church family over for a picnic and time to get to know the Cormier family.  It was a fun time with BBQ pulled pork, all the sides and wonderful fellowship!

We had several of our ladies make homemade ice cream.  Oh my it was good!!

Then, it was time for Missions Sunday.  I had been teaching in my class about "Building Up a Heart for Missions."  We had been learning all about the missionary families we support, praying for them and coloring their flag.

I love to see children's interest for other countries, how missionaries live and for spreading the gospel!

For the main service our choir sang, "That all may hear"  What a stirring song!

 Then, our youth choir sang, "The Next Generation."  We had been working on this song for weeks and weeks.  They did so good!  I got all teary eyed as they sang.  The words say, "We are the next generation to reach the world for Christ...we pledge to give our lives!"

 Then, the Cormiers played their recorders and sang a special in swahili.  It was soooo good!  I want to buy all of us recorders now!

Brother BJ preached.  You could just see his heart for the deaf in Kenya.  They are doing a mighty work there!  And we are so glad that VSIBC gets to get in on it!

Sunday night Jessi signed for our congregational singing.  I love to watch Sign Language!

It was a weekend I will never forget.  Not only did we get to meet some amazing missionaries, we met some heros, my children made great friends, we bonded with an amazing family that is such an encouragment, we heard about the precious people of Kenya, and our burden for them grew, but I also was privileged to meet my friend.  We had time to spend together (yard saling and lunch, two of my favorites!) and I enjoyed seeing a real Christian.  Her testimony is powerful and her love for Christ is so real.  She's a blessing to me!

So thankful for Jessi!

Kitchen Redo

 When we first bought our home, we knew we wanted to update the kitchen.  We painted cabinets and painted the countertops.  It was so fun planning everything out!  But, after 3 1/2 years the color of the counters was wearing on me.  And since it's soooo cheap to just buy some acrylic paint and polycrilic to redo the countertops...we decided to go for it!  Did you know that you can paint formica?  You can!  We did over 3 years ago and it has held up so well!!

I knew I wanted something lighter and without so much of a honey color.

 We started with a base of pewter.  Doesn't it look like concrete?

 Then, we started sponging away.  My goal was to have a very light countertop with just a hint of gray and beige peaking through.

And we did it!  I love it!  And my sweet hubby is so amazing.  As I started redoing the countertops, we realized that the tile that was there when we moved in was yellowed and needed to be replaced.  So, we decided to go ahead and put in new backsplash.  I love the little stone tiles we picked!  It really complements the counters, cabinets, and flooring!

I'm loving my new kitchen!  So clean, inviting, and ready for lots of meal prep! :o)

Out of all the rooms in the house, we spend the most in here somehow.  What about your family?  What is the room you spend the most time in?