truly j

grace and glory

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:01:41 GMT

I'm just now starting to catch up on my sleep from vacation. (Isn't that strange that most of our vacations include sleep deprivation and über excessive schedules?) Well, this getaway to the mountains did not have any set schedules. It did not include all day amusement park visits or early morning excursions. However, I was still tired coming back into the "real" world. I had laundry (which I hate) and grocery shopping and homeschool duties that I had put on hold for some much needed downtime.

7 full days in the North Carolina mountains with some of our closest friends. Scary? A little. Only because we've never actually vacationed with anyone. Other than visiting family in Texas or Tennessee, we normally treasure our time alone.

But... it met and exceeded our expectations.

We spent time watching movies, eating great food, playing games, roasting marshmallows, reading, shopping, more eating, and marveling at the beauty of God's majesty. Pure glory.

We had seven teenagers, one pre-teen, four adults, two dogs, and a lot of strong wills. Pure grace.

Each day we experienced sunrises and sunsets. Along with brilliant thunderstorms, roaring waterfalls, and splendid valleys of fog. Pure glory.

There were little spats here and there, and days when the estrogen levels far outweighed the testosterone. Pure grace.

God is His greatness reminded me that our time away was a time for refreshing and refocusing on things that really matter. Friends, family, and faith.

I came back to the rigorous schedule of homeschooling and working. My days are full of trying to manage my time between my husband, the Word, cooking, cleaning, washing the dog, working out, and the other hundreds of things on my never-ending list. But in the midst of it all are glory and grace. His Glory all around me in my kids' laughter and my husband's hugs. His Grace within me to remain still and quiet in the day to day routines.

And so, as spring blooms abound outside my window, I cannot see mountains and waterfalls, but I do see and hear God's presence. Truly full of glory and grace.

silence

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:30:36 GMT

Well, to say the least it's been a very long time since I have written. Almost a year, in fact.

I heard a great saying at a church in NYC a couple of months ago.

"God may be silent, but He is not absent."

So true. And as a result, I have been silent as well. Over the past few years, I have felt like I was in some kind of desert - a dry season. During the last year, it has seemed to kind of peak out. I felt myself moving closer to the edge of the desert and hopefully moving on. The place where I am is still dry and quiet. But I do see hints that most of the arid wasteland is behind me.

It has been a slow journey. Extremely slow.

And lonely.

Even in house with a work-at-home husband, four teenagers, and a dog. Even attending a huge church with a ton of fantastic friends. Even with awesome parents and incredible neighbors.

Lonely. And silent.

I do know that God is not absent. He is working in me and through me. Not sure what He's up to, but I do know He's here. The silence does continue, however, as I stand on the edge of this dry desert I feel a breeze blowing. My heart is stirring. My voice is returning.

the end?

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:14:24 GMT

Well, February 28th is finally here. I do say "finally" because even though I picked a short month to conduct my blogging project, it has ended up being quite a long 28 days. I guess that's what happens when you have a deadline hanging over your head... literally every day :)

I have enjoyed the challenge of writing. Each day I have had to stop and think back through the outings, the conversations, the events of each day. Whether they were monumental, memorable, or minuscule.

My kids are definitely the greatest storehouses of my muse. Their crazy and distinctive personalities give me so much good stuff. I am so thankful that God gave them to ME!

Some things I've learned...

it's easier than I thought to blog consistently
I can laugh rereading my own posts
my kids read my blog when it's about them :)
people I don't know are reading and watching
encouragement can be as easy as a comment with a smiley face
it's harder than I thought to blog consistently

Thanks for reading each day or each week or even if you read just once. I do appreciate my readers - YOU! I'm not sure that I added anything to your daily routine, but I hope that something over the past 28 days of blogging has encouraged or enriched you somehow.

Here's to writing more...

come on...

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:51:07 GMT

This will be a short post today. Read yesterday's post and comment!

I really do want to hear about your favorite places to drink, eat, and hangout. You don't have to make it long, just a note. Thanks to John for posting such great information and being so thorough (for a guy :)

Can't wait to hear from others!!!

your favorite?

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 01:43:12 GMT

Our family loves to eat out. In fact, Michael and I are a couple of foodies, and our kids are following suit. He travels for his job a lot, therefore, he has been in many a good restaurant (and some bad ones, too).

We can spend hours watching the Food Network or the Travel Channel. Our 2nd son, David's 16th birthday revolved around food and his father/son trip to Chicago for a food tour and eating at Lucky's, a place that was featured on Man vs. Food. Bryson, our 3rd born, would love to go to a world renown BBQ festival. Again, we love food and anything that has to do with tasting.

I'm going to list a few of our all-time favorite places to dine. Some of you (close family or friends) have heard us rave about one or more of the following:

Favorite BBQ = Sticky Fingers (founders are from Chattanooga, my hometown)
Best Ice Cream = Amy's Ice Cream (in Austin, TX where our 3 boys were born)
Coolest Coffee Cafe = Rembrandt's (downtown Chattanooga)

Our local favorites:

Chic Burger Joint = Flip Burger (mid-town Atlanta)
Best Date Night Restaurant = Aqua Terra (downtown Buford)
Favorite Family Eatery = Ted's Montana Grill

So... now, I need YOUR best food spots. Comment. Let me know what your favorite place is to take your family. What was your most-liked place in your hometown (and tell me where that is :)? Do you have a "go-to" place when you go on a date? Tell me!

Can't wait to hear from some of you... I'll be waiting.

at Sticky Fingers - the wings ROCK!

~ David outside of Lucky's in Chicago ~

sweet tweet

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:32:54 GMT

At this moment my 2nd born son, David, is flying back from Florida to Atlanta... four hours late! He went to visit some family friends of ours for a few days to help them move into their new home. I knew he had had a great time, and we were excited for him to come home.

David is an integral part in the dynamics of our family. He laughs at Nicolle's crazy performances. He's Bryson's loyal, but loud, roommate, and he is Reece's trusted sidekick at work in the mall. We definitely missed having him around this week. But amidst all his funness and funniness (read those two words again...), Dave has a serious and profound side to him.

He thoroughly enjoys debating, and he can write some deep thoughts or speak some intense words of wisdom. So, as I was checking Twitter tonight, I was moved by one of his tweets (which he is new at... @mrdavidnobles, in case you wanted to know). I don't know if this was his quote or something he repeated. It really doesn't matter; it has the same effect.

earthly prosperity is overrated.

That was it. Nothing else. Wow!

We live in a nice house, and my husband makes a really good living. Our kids know that they are beyond blessed. But we have always tried to teach them throughout their entire lives that nothing can bring them happiness or peace - no certain house, no amount of stuff, no huge success.

Our world is full of striving. Early on, we try to get the very best for our children at whatever cost. We exalt the best grades, the winning team, the most accomplishments. What if we sought contentment and taught charity? What if we emphasized love and laughter? What if we motivated others, moved out of the way, and made it our goal to see someone besides ourselves succeed.

We might prosper along the way. We might not. Glad my son realizes it doesn't matter.

homebody son

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:16:37 GMT

Today I had the privilege of going out with one of my sons shopping for a new comforter for his room. Usually this would be a fun thing, however, this particular son hates to go out anywhere. Bryson is a self-proclaimed homebody.

Bry is my third born son, and he has always been laid back and low maintenance. Always! Since the day he came out of the womb! But he's almost too low maintenance today.

I wanted to spend some time with him AND actually spend some money on him. I made sure that we went out to breakfast this morning, and I knew I needed to prepare him that we were going shopping for some bedroom stuff. He informed me that he didn't need anything for his bedroom.

Since our dog has become pregnant she has been chewing up everything she can get to in the middle of the night - a sweat jacket, shirts, his comforter! I have to say, being almost 10 years old, the comforts had become faded and worn. It was time for something new!

Or so I thought...

Our first stop was Target, and Bryson chose the plain blue comforter. I was like, "Let's try to find something with a pattern." He stood firm with the "plain-jane" look. So, after about 15 minutes in the bedding section he was exhausted. I said, "Let's go somewhere else and see if we can find something better." The look in his eyes said it all... "Are you kidding?"

He played along though and humored me through two more stores. We looked at a few bedding sets that might work. He didn't understand why we had to get something that matched the paint in his room. He also was perplexed as to why he and his brother's bed (which is in the same room :) had to have the same comforter. What was wrong with having two completely different designs?

We ended up coming home with no comfortor. I was thankful for my time with him. He was thankful to be coming home.

it's a small world after all

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 23:28:02 GMT

The Small World exhibit was always one of my favorites at Disney World. Still is. I love the song, the countries that you travel through, the dolls dressed in their cultural costumes... I love it all!

But, when I was a little girl the world seemed huge! We only had three television stations growing up; now we can watch news from around the world 24/7. There was no Internet or cell phones. I didn't even know that you could call other countries; now, you can text and Skype and instantly communicate with people on the other side of the globe.

Still we sometimes get caught up in our own "little world" and don't feel connected. Then you meet someone that knows someone else you know and the very, big world we live in gets a little smaller.

I go to a rather large church in Atlanta (www.passioncitychurch.com) - we run about 1,800 weekly. Lots of people that I don't know.

At this point, we are renovating our permanent building, so we move around week-to-week in venues that we rent. Lots of transition that makes it hard to engage.

Our church does not have any additional groups or ministries (no children's, women's, or study groups). Lots of void making it hard to connect.

Until this past weekend.

I was volunteering at a conference our church had created. There were people from all over the country, thus making the world seem bigger. However, another volunteer and I started talking during a break. I have worked along side this guy, Stan, for a few different events, but we stay pretty busy so there has been no time for chit chat. He asked me how long I'd been in Atlanta, how did we end up here, and where I was from. I usually just say I'm from the south, but this time I actually said that I grew up in Chattanooga.

Stan said, "Me, too!" Seriously!

I then said, "Where did you go to school?" He replied with my rival school, but then I stated where I'd gone to high school. Stan said that he had gone there too until they rezoned his area. He even went to the same elementary school as I did (Bess T. Shepherd, if anyone wants to know :). That was crazy! We talked about the areas we hung out and why we both moved away. He still has family there, as well as me, so we talked about going back and loving that beautiful city now that we're adults.

So weird, and so typical of God to remind me how small the world truly is.

blink of an eye

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:22:46 GMT

Yesterday I was in the middle of an all day event in downtown Atlanta. My job was to serve over 900 attendees at a two day worship leader conference. Our small team of volunteers was focused and excited to be part of this event. However... my mind was somewhere else.

I had learned Saturday morning through several Facebook postings that a precious 18-year-old girl that was in our youth group for a couple of years had been in a terrible car accident. She was struck by a dump truck and had multiple life threatening injuries. By the time I had read the posts she had been in surgery and was now in ICU. Her prognosis was much better, but it was still a critical time in her recovery.

All day long I was meeting people from all over the country and hearing stories of how they came to this worship conference. But, my heart continued to hurt and pray for this intelligent young girl and her family. I have children her age. My son drives in the same area all the time. It could have easily been my child in that hospital bed. It wasn't, but that did not give me any comfort.

People lose loved every day in a multitude of ways - accidents, illnesses, random experiences. I know that we are not immune, and when something like this occurs close to home, it makes you stop, pray, and count your blessings once again. They are many.

I am so thankful that as of this morning this loved girl who graduates in just a few months is awake and asking for friends. I know that her family is ecsatic that it was not her time. I am also thankful that I get another day with each of my children. I don't know if I will have tomorrow. Things can change in the blink of an eye. But... I have now.

Thankful.

it's official

janelle@inhisimage.com (Administrator) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:54:49 GMT

Well, it was confirmed this morning with an ultrasound that we are having puppies. At least 3, maybe 4 or 5. It's going to be a very busy few months ahead.

Most of you may think we're crazy, but of course crazy is what we do best. It's not enough having four teens, homeschooling, husband that works from home, several graphic contracts I'm working on... let's throw breeding a yorkie in there, too.

We are super excited though. This was a planned venture. When we purchased her almost three years ago, we intended to breed her. She ended up having such a sweet temperment that even our vet said she was a great candidate to breed.

So... here we are. She is almost 6 weeks pregnant, so things will speed up fairly quickly. She will probably give birth in about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. My blogging journey may be over before the little yorkies arrive, but I'll keep you posted with her progress.

Today is a short post. Everyone in my household is tired, yet super busy this weekend. My husband and I will be volunteering at a conference for worship leaders in downtown Atlanta, so a couple of our kids are on "mama-dog" duty. Sophie has been extremely needy and cuddly, therefore someone always has to be nearby for her to snuggle with. She is a sweetheart, and I know she will make such a good mommy. Late nights and early mornings are ahead, but I'll get some rest later... in heaven.