My Favorite Birthday Girl

Let me think for a minute here . . How many years ago today was it?

Hmmmm....well, I guess it's more than I can hardly believe! (I also guess I'd have to get permission from Sherry to tell how many it is!)

Sherry Ann is my firstborn. I was only 20 years old, and married only 9 and a half months, when she took her first breath of fresh air and proclaimed her independence! (Yes, her "independence"!)

Marriage was still a brand new road for me when I rounded the corner into motherhood--another delightful learning curve in my joyful journey! And, what a delight she was in my life! I was barely done being a teenager, but I loved being a mother, and I loved this delightful little gift (6.5 lbs.) God just plopped into my arms!

From her earliest days she was my little pride and joy -- exhuberant, smart, inquisitive, adorable, full of fun, and just plain amazing to me! Perhaps this is just the way any loving mother feels about her child?
But, for me, it's all 100% absolutely true, and then some!

Those little fingers (though bigger than mine now) are still wrapped tightly around my heart, and I still enjoy spending time with her whenever we can get together, though now we're 10 hours apart!
I still adore her and feel so proud of her--as my daughter, as the mother of my two wonderful grandchildren, and as the person God created her to be in the lives of others. What a wonderful gift from God, this dearly-beloved daughter of mine!

Happy Birthday, Sherry! I love you!

Mom

Learning to see it...

How often do we miss what God has for us? This morning I woke up early. Sunshine was pouring in the bedroom windows and dropping down through the skylight, refusing to be ignored! It was impossible to hide from the daylight without suffocating under the blankets! So, I got up and enjoyed the early morning quietness--broken only by the singing of the birds and the begging of my cat for her breakfast.

I sat on the couch, deep in thought for a long time and then I saw it! We were meant to enjoy what we have, rather than pine for what we don't have! God has already provided tons of blessing, surrounding us, just waiting to be snatched up and enjoyed! But we get so caught up in the hum-drum, ho-hum of life that we miss it!

It's all there:

• Beauty in the blossoms
• Worship in the woods
• Majesty in the mountains
• Serenity in the sunset
• Creativity in the clouds
• Refreshment in the rain
• Wisdom in the walk
• Curiosity in the curves
• Simplicity in the silence
• Sweetness in the stillness
• Seasoning in the seasons
• Digging in the dirt (okay, so I've lost the continuity here!)
• Hope in the rainbow
• Newness in the sunrise
• Strength in the Rock

This list could go on and on...and it all adds up to joy in the journey!

Beauty in the Journey

(Click on pictures to enlarge)
This past weekend we got away--totally away! We've heard others talk about this incredibly beautiful area in Central Oregon (Sun River area, near Bend), but we hadn't been there yet. Usually, when we go away for the weekend (or even just for the day) we go to the ocean, but there was no sunshine in the forecast for the coast (nothin' but rain!), so we headed inland this time.
Oh,what a wonderful treat awaited us -- incredible beauty to fill up our senses and satisfy our souls!
We packed in as much fun and soaked up as much beautiful scenery and fresh air as we possibly could fit into one weekend!
We went canoeing (twice), hiking, and exploring remote wilderness areas, even navigating snow-covered, pot-hole infested dirt roads to find totally secluded, quiet mountain lakes -- sometimes with no one else around -- just God and us!
Here's just a little sampling of what we experienced.

This is the famed Deschuttes River --
well known in the Pacific Northwest for white-water rafting. It is also the river we canoed! Fortunately, we came to a log-jam and a warning sign just half a mile before it became white water rapids (probably class 5 or 6) and cascading water falls. It was beautiful to look at, but would have been a killer canoe ride!

What a trip!

Feeding the Birds - Why don't they eat?

This morning, as I was sitting on the couch, I heard a bird call to me-- that lovely sound that always captures my attention! I get so much enjoyment from feeding the birds and watching them eat at my feeders. I hung up several feeders, in various locations throughout my yard, hoping that whenever and wherever I happen to look out a window, I would catch sight of birds enjoying what I have provided for them.

However, the birds aren't at the feeders nearly as often as I would like. So frequently I hear their sweet sounds and hurry to the window to see them, but feel a bit of sadness that they aren't munching contentedly at the bird feeders. They're just enjoying what birds do--flying and flittering from perch to perch.

As my attention was drawn, once again, by the distinitive bird call close by, I quickly turned my head, expecting to see a bird at the feeder close by. But, once again, I felt such disappointment that there was no bird there, and I wondered why the birds don't avail themselves, more often, of the nourishment that is so readily available.

I said out loud, "Lord, I long to see the birds feeding at my feeders. Why aren't they taking advantage of what I have provided for them?"

Then God said to me, "Jeannie, I know how you feel, for that's what I wonder also, about my children -- Why don't they more frequently feed on the nourishment of my Word, that is so readily available for them? I have provided spiritual food for their welfare, but it is ignored more than it is enjoyed. Why aren't my children always gobbling it up, or at least nibbling on the nuggets that I have provided for their daily spiritual nourishment? It's all there for strengthening and comforting, for wise instruction and soundness of mind, for lasting peace and fullness of joy. Feed on my Word, Jeannie; drink deeply from my well of living water that never runs dry."

Joy in the Journey

Yesterday I spent three hours at a hair salon, getting my hair permed. What an interesting conversation I had with a total stranger! She was God's reminder to me to find joy in my journey through life!

We talked about the "empty nest syndrome" and the fact that life just doesn't stay the same for us. There's always another new stage--another segment of our journey--things change, yet there's always new joy to be experienced!

I don't know about you, but I do know this about me: I always want to hang onto whatever I enjoy, and I don't want it to change--ever! God is the same today as He was yesterday, and He will be the same tomorrow, so why does everything else that I hold near and dear to me have to go through stages of change? Change can suck the joy right out of me!

But, according to my hairdresser, it doesn't have to be that way. There is new joy to be found in every new day, in every new situation, and in every new stage of life. Finding joy in a new segment of my journey through life doesn't mean I have decided that this new stage is better than what brought me great joy before, and it doesn't mean that what I experienced before is now just to be forgotten as I move into the next stage of my life. It just means that my entire life should be a joyful journey--whatever stage I'm in --whatever segment of the journey I'm on -- there will always be new joys just waiting to be discovered!

God intended it be that way! My joy should not depend on my outward circumstances, but rather on what's in my heart. So, the title of my new blog is my reminder to keep my focus upon the "joy of the Lord" as He walks with me and I walk with Him, hand-in-hand, in my journey through life, because "The joy of the Lord is my strength!"

A New Day -- A New Look!

The sun has set on "Rascal Jack Stew" and the rooster has crowed it's "G'mornin'!" here on "Jeannie's Joyful Journey".

Stay tuned for more . . . I'll be back, hopefully, tomorrow or the next day --can't accomplish this complete change all in one day! No, I guess I probably won't be back on Tuesday -- I have a ladies' Bible study at my house in the morning, and then I'm getting a perm in the afternoon -- gotta have a new look to go with a new blog, dontcha know! (Then you can call me "Curly-Girly", but not "Dizzy-Frizzy"!)