Thinking of others

My son turned five on Sunday. I can’t believe my baby is five. He wanted a star wars party and we went all out. We invited 16 kids, expected maybe 12, but got all 16. The house was crazy. The kids went through a star wars training camp to prove their readiness to become Jedi’s. My husband was the master Jedi, my older son was his apprentice, and my niece was Princess Leia. All the kids received tunics, light sabers, and certificates of completion. Great fun was had by all. [For a detailed description of this party and how we pulled it off, click here.]

It got me thinking of a couple of things though. While we were opening presents from 16 children I started feeling embarrassed or ashamed of how many “things” my son was getting. It was way too much. We are really blessed…to the point of spoiled some times. How many of us will ever experience true need. Truly be in a position of not having something we need or something our children need? I venture to say not many of us. I grew up with a father that worked in construction so the work was not always there. There were plenty times that we had to rely on places like the church or the Salvation Army to get us through, but I still don’t ever remember not being satisfied.

There have always been images on the news of people in need. But right now I am thinking of the kids in Haiti. My heart hurts for the children and the parents who can’t do anything about it. The story of the mother who could hear her child calling to her for a couple of days and she could not get to her, kills me. I can not imagine. Now, although I would love to adopt one of these children my husband isn’t quite ready for such a commitment. In the mean time, I want to teach my children a little bit about others in need. You see, mine have never been in need for anything. So, this weekend I am going to take the kids to the store and we are going to prepare a medical kit to send to Haiti. We will probably include some comforts as well. Hopefully this will bring comfort to one family. And hopefully my kids will begin to understand how blessed they are.

Do any of you have any ideas for helping others in need? How about sharing this with our younger generation? I’d love to hear some other ideas.

Jessie

Resolutions?

I came in to the new year with no specifically stated resolutions. To be honest I hate resolutions. How many people really follow them? I know where I am currently and where I’d like to be. Over the course of this year I hope to move closer to those goals.

I was listening to the radio on New Year’s Day. They were talking about resolutions and how if we put our focus on God all the other elements of our life will get on track. Then in church on Sunday I had one of those moments were you can hear God speaking and you look around to see if anyone else heard him. Well, my morning had been a typical church morning of running just to be late. And as I sat down I thought to myself, “why is all of this so hard? I am always running from one commitment to the next. I never have nothing to do.” Then God said—loudly—it is your own fault. You over commit to those things that are not important and then you have no time left for the important. It is the story of Mary and Martha.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

So, although I don’t like New Year’s resolutions, mine this year will be to draw closer to God. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but I do know that the Bible says “From there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

I pray that each of you will find God this year and grow close to Him. Share with all of us how you praise and worship Him. Tell us what He has done in your life that we may all give Him thanks.

I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you.

Jessie

Hello world!

Hmm, a blog. What does one write about in a blog? My boss writes for a couple of blogs. One is educational and the other is a bit artsy. I am neither. I guess some people write as a way to keep up with themselves (a diary perhaps) or to stay in touch with family. Since I am not telling anyone about this blog, I am not sure that is useful either. I guess my blog will be a way to look at my life and form an outsider’s point of view. Perhaps make some changes—better myself in 2010. Maybe some of you out there will help me in my journey. And maybe I might be able to help a few of you. We’ll take the journey together.

So, who am I? My name is Jessica, but I like Jessie. I just turned 30. I’m married with two kids—both boys. I go to church regularly, but I struggle with that daily relationship with God that I’d like to have. I have few friends, but many acquaintances. My best friend would have to be my husband. Awe…yah, yah, I know. But it is true. I’m overweight—need to lose about 60 pounds—I go to the gym several times a week. Something is not right here. I’m a graphic designer by day and a soccer mom by night—although my kids play basketball and baseball. Well, I guess that covers the basics. I hope that you will write in to tell me about yourself.