wow!

We have a new baby!
I wanted to give it a day before I posted about Emma, so that I could truly see the change...
I'm telling you guys, that we have a NEW baby here! REALLY!
She is so peaceful and calm and happy, that everyone around here is amazed.
She slept for 6 hours straight last night!
Now, don't get me wrong, she still cries, she is a baby after all; but even her cry is different...
It's not a panicked screech full of pain...more of a fussy, pick-me-up, change me, feed me cry...
so gentle and sweet!

Those that joined us here in prayer and worship had a wonderful, beautiful time. And it was so incredible knowing that everyone else was in agreement at the same time!

We sang several songs from my Kathryn Scott CD "Satisfy"

Anyone who loves to worship, you HAVE to get this CD...

I embeded one of the songs on the blog, so hopefully it is playing now as you are reading...

It is about praising Him when things are good AND when things are bad...

I am going to write out the words at the bottom of this post...

ANYWAY!!!
I really am SO grateful for all the prayers, and MUST give glory where it is due:

In
Psa 30:2

David says:

O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.





In
Mar 5:23

Mark says:

And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: [I pray thee], come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

In
Jhn 14:10-14

JESUS says:
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Believe me that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

BLESSED BE YOUR NAME

Blessed be your name

In the land that is plentiful

Where the streams of abundance flow

Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,

I turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's all as it should be

Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be your name
Every blessing you pour out,

I turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say...

Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, Blessed be your name

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness. I do not claim to understand why you choose you heal some and not others, but I can only say thank you for healing my Emma...

but even if you didn't I would still say:

"BLESSED BE YOUR NAME!"

corporate prayer...

corporate prayer for emma tonight at

8 PM EST

here's some guidelines:
:)

PRAY FOR MORE OF THIS:

AND LESS OF THIS:

our latest e-mail plea

Dear all of our family and friends,
If everyone could please continue to keep Emma in your prayers...
She had to have 3 antibiotic shots this week, to try to get this ear infection dealt with, and she is still not doing better.
We had thought she was getting a little better at the end of last week, but when I went to her follow up, the doc said they were still infected, and she has become increasingly cranky and fussy since then...breaking out into hysterics at random from the pain...
It is really quite heartbreaking...
Next step if the shots don't work is to see a ENT specialist...
Just pray that we get some answers or some healing...
THANK you for all the prayers thus far.
We love each and every one of you.
Jen and Tim

Can you read this?

Olny srmat poelpe can.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

I tuohght you wluod all ejony tihs...petrty fnuny huh?
It's knid of fun too!

Lvoe,
Jnifener

valentines day...

"There is no remedy for love, but to love more"

-Henry David Thoreau

This was at our church Valentines Dance. We had such a ball. We danced the night away! Learned some swing moves from Jon and Noelle, learned the Virginia Reel from Elizabeth Coe, taught a few the Charleston, did the electric slide, the chicken dance, and quite a few mushy, gushy slow dances... :)

Favorites of the night:

Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice...

(the 80's moves that arose were a riot!)

and

I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

(all the ladies belted it out in unison,

quite humorous...)

Happy Love Day all!

a mess of pictures...

"Wait, Can't you see I'm having a bad hair day?!!"

milk...it does a baby good!

"okay, photo shoot's over, i need a nap..."

Chloe and her paper dolls...

Noelle and I at Maggie's party...

Timmy showing Brian his lego tank

Brian, the human jungle gym

chloe got a haircut!!

Well, we finally decided to cut Chloe's hair... She had been begging for weeks... We figured it was time when the sight of the "blue brush" brought on tears and squealings of

"NO, not the brush!!! Why do you HAVE to brush my hair?!!!!"

She looks sooo different now, much older...

Weird how hair does that.

before...

after...

so beautiful...

Feedback people, please...

Okay, I know by the hit counter that y'all are coming to the site...
But the comments I'm getting are mainly from my mom (who lives here)
and my best friend (who I talk to every day)!
So gimme something guys...
I fixed it so the comments show up on the main page now...so feed me!

;)

Rx complications...

I know some of you are probably tired of hearing about Emma's ears, but around here it's the center of everything!
So we went on a second antibiotic and she broke out in a rash!
Then, against our better judgement, we started a third, and the rash got worse...
So, after seeing the doc for a third time in a week, we decided to quit the antibiotic route, which we don't usually do anyway, and really aggresively pursue a more natural path to healing...
Keep in mind, she had, in ONE week, taken 3 antibiotics(for ears), Motrin(for pain), Diflucan(for thrush), Benadryl(for the rash),and a degongestant, antihistamine and cough suppressant(for the congestion)...
This in a family that truly prefers to use the most natural route...
ANYWAY!
We are now treating her with homeade garlic oil treatments in the ears (garlic is nature's antibiotic and it has eucalyptus oil and grapefruit seed extract which has antibiotic properties as well), multiple visits to the chiropractor (they do a procedure that can drain the eustachian tubes), acidophilus (helps with the thrush), saline spray and a nasal aspirator (AKA booger-sucker) for the congestion, and still giving the Motrin as needed for pain...
WHEW....
Nevermind the fact that I have to take a bunch of stuff too, that will get to her through the breastmilk, like acidophilus, echinachea, garlic, and multiple vitamins, minerals and enzymes...
What a week this has been!
I have to drive an hour to get to the chiropractor, so that is a deal in itself...

BUT, God is good... Tim and I have really been hearing from Him lately about alot of things, actually...
Tim has been seriously convicted to change his eating habits drastically! This is a big deal for him... and he has been obedient, and he is feeling so much better, in general!
I had some serious revelations about the way I view myself as a wife and mom, that I think are going to really change some things around here...
I'm really excited about it.

Soon, I am going to post about the bigger things that the Lord has told us, regarding our future as a family, a possible move from Georgia, and some stuff going on with my mom...

Later.

something funny....

HA HA HA HA!!!!!

earaches and aretha franklin...

Okay, so I took Emma BACK to the doctor yesterday, because she has been on amoxicillin for 7 days and is still hurting... We had decided to supplement the natural remedies that we were trying, like garlic oil, with the antibiotic, because she was just sooo miserable...
Dr. Rice said that her right ear is clear, but the left one is still very infected. So, she put her on a different antibiotic...
So, we woke up this morning and noticed that she has hives all over her torso! So, she must be allergic to this one! Go figure....
I'm waiting to hear from the doc, for what the next step is....
Those of you that pray....please pray that the Lord would cover her, we really feel that the enemy has been trying to keep her sick, even from birth...
We have been praying hard here, but could use some back-up!
Blessedly, she is not completely inconsolable, but still loves mommy's arms, and finds comfort there...
Sweet...
: )
Anyway, other news around here:
Summer found a job finally!
It is VERY difficult to find jobs here in Washington. She had put applications in everywhere, and finally got hired at Subway. She works the same hours as her best friend and loves it.
She told me yesterday that they were working with a lady that is kind of staunchy, and ...well, let me just quote:

S: "We need a radio in here"
Lady: "Nope, not allowed to have a radio...."
S: "Hmmm....well, we can improvise...." (she smiles as she glances at best friend, Morgan)
M : (Holds pretend microphone and bursts confidently into song)" WHAT YOU WANT..."
S: "BABY, I GOT IT"
M: "WHAT YOU NEED"
S: "YOU KNOW I GOT IT..."
and so forth...
they all proceeded to join in and sing RESPECT...... dancing included.
That is, until a customer arrived and those in the front stopped, leaving Morgan belting in the back room by herself, to her embarrassment.... :)

Fun Times...

what is church anyway?

"Ostensibly, we go to church to meet God. However, if we are greeted with building programs, softball, picnics, mom’s day out, etc. How can we be sure this is what God himself has intended? What relevance to *ME* is there in my search for a living God in my life? Why do I go to a building to seek my creator, yet come away more frustrated each time than the previous?"

-Jerald Sheets - 01/31/06 (Dead Guys Don't Worship God)

this is a quote from a blog that I came across the other day...this guy has some really cool thoughts on the traditional "church"....

for more... see his link on the right under the "cool blogs i read" heading.....

one of these days when i have some free time i will muse on the subject myself...
jen

too cute..

the kids out at the big griggs

about griping and complaining...

Okay, so where have I been?
Weeeellllll, let me tell you...
In the past few weeks,
one had the stomach flu(the one where you throw up every hour on the hour, for hours on end!, yeah, that one!)(Summer) ,
one has severly chapped little hands(Chloe),
one has thrush(a yeast infection in the mouth)Emma,
one has a double ear infection(Emma),
one has a single ear infection(Jen),
ummmm,
one had a severe toothache and had to have teeth pulled (Nana),
i guess that's all, ha!
Tim is just perpetually exhausted...
and Timmy and Nicole have made it unscathed thus far... :)

But we are all ALIVE!
I just want to thank the Lord for that... He is so faithful in keeping us right where we need to be, even when it hurts...
My dad sent me the neatest e-mail yesterday and I want to share it with all of you....

RIGHT WHERE WE BELONG

As you might know,

the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to answer the telephone

One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning,

took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.

That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone...

all the little things that annoy me.

I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to beat this very moment..

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong,

the children are slow getting dressed,

you can't seem to find the car keys,

you hit every traffic light,

don't get mad or frustrated;

God is at work watching over you.

May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and

may you remember their possible purpose.

May the Lord watch over every one of you today and provide exactly what you "need" today!

Love, Jen