Sunroof: reminder that Jesus loves me!

Oh my goodness! Do you smell that? There's a fresh smell on the air, and I think it's spring! I don't know what it is, but there's just something different in the smell, and feel of the air when winter finally starts to loosen its grip, and spring slowly begins to tiptoe in.

It was so beautiful yesterday, I had a hard time not twirling and dancing everywhere I went. It was warm, and sunshiny; the sky was bright blue, and I got to drive around with my windows down, and my sunroof open. I absolutely love my sunroof. It's about as close as I'll ever get to a convertible, and there's something totally carefree about the sound of the wind rushing over my head as I drive, sun on my shoulders, music turned up, and bare feet on the gas pedal- oh yes!

What I love most about my sunroof is that every time I open it, I am reminded of just how very loved I am by Jesus. Last spring, the car I was driving started to die. Bless that little car- it was 18 years old, had almost 300,000 miles, sometimes stalled at red lights, and had trouble going up hills. It was quite the trooper. When I came to the sad realization that I needed a new car, I began my internet search. Craigslist and Google became my most-visited pages, and many a lunch break was spent pouring over classified ads. After months of searching and coming up empty, I was starting to get discouraged. I had a California road-trip planned, and did not relish the thought of braving the LA freeways in my little tired vehicle. One night, I decided to make a list of what I needed in a car, read the list to God, and see what happened from there (Yes, as if God didn't already know what I needed).

List of things I'm looking for in a car
1. It has to be within my budget
2. I'm going to need something with significantly less miles
3. I'd love to have a Toyota again (I'm a big fan of Toyota cars)
4. I love my sunroof, and it would make me beyond happy if my next car had a sunroof too.


As I looked at my list, I started to think how silly it was of me to include the sunroof. Obviously, having a sunroof doesn't affect the way a car drives, and if I'm being practical, the only thing that matters is whether the car gets me from point A to point B. "Well I guess the sunroof's not that important God, but that would be sweet!" 


Well guess what dear reader? A few weeks later, I bought a car that was $300 under my budget, had more than 100,000 fewer miles, happened to be a nicer Toyota model than the one I had, and yes... it had a sunroof! Every time I open that sunroof and feel the sun on my face, or watch the stars as I drive home, I am reminded of how very much my Jesus loves me! 


Think God doesn't care about the little things? Think again. I've got my sunroof!


~Jazzy

I took this picture at a red light, and I think the person next to me thought I was weird.

Go Pack, Go!

The theme of the day was cheese. Cheese and crackers, cheetos, chili cheese fritos, pigs-in-a-blanket with cheese, nacho cheese... you get the idea. It was a good day for the cheese heads yesterday! Is there anything sweeter than watching your team win the Superbowl? It was a happy day at my house last night- as the clock ticked down the last seconds of the game, we all stood up and cheered. There was dancing, high-fiving, jumping, screaming, and crying. Can you tell- we like us a little football? (And I'm just kidding about the crying...) We are one proud Green Bay Packer family today!

And guess what? Only 6 months left till football season starts again!

~Jazzy

 

 
 

Learning to jump...

For those of you who haven't heard, I went to New Zealand last fall, and while I was there, one of the epic things that I did was go skydiving. I don't consider myself much of a thrill-seeker, but skydiving has been on my bucket list for ages, so I was completely excited to be able to check it off in a country as gorgeous as  New Zealand. Oh my goodness! For a few seconds, I remember screaming- my mouth getting dry with the rush of air- and then realizing that I couldn't hear myself. It took me a bit to come to grips with the fact that I had just tumbled out of a plane- and lived! I had no idea how peaceful I would feel floating 12,000 feet above the ground. It was more spectacularly beautiful than I could've ever imagined, and it was so delightful and comforting to know that my instructor was taking care of everything, and I just got to enjoy the ride. 


Last year, the big thing that God taught me was that I could wait patiently, and know that he would provide for me just when I needed it. All year long, I practiced living in trust, and all year long, I saw Him supply my needs at just the right moment. Well, I have a feeling that this year is going to be building off of last year. This year, I think I will have to move beyond waiting. This year, I think I'm going to learn how to jump. This year, I want to learn to leap from the plane, and know that He's going to open the parachute. It's a scary feeling- getting ready to jump. But there's something peaceful about knowing that my Jesus is taking care of everything.  I don't know exactly what this means for me, or in what way it will apply to my life, but I'm excited to find out, and there's no one I'd rather free-fall with than Jesus!


~Jasmine

Lessons from an onion

I so love lessons that are learned from random, everyday occurrences. Such was the case for me yesterday. I was planning dinner, and one of the items needed was an onion. I have a love/hate relationship with onions. I love the way they make food taste, but hate the way they make my breath and hands smell, and I absolutely hate to cut onions because of the way I can't stop crying while I'm cutting. Yesterday, I had the onion to top all onions. Tears were running down my face, my makeup was smearing, and as hard as I tried, I could not re-open my eyes once the toxic fumes had reached them. (Now that I think about it, it was probably a really bad idea to keep cutting at that point...) If someone could figure out how to turn the smell of onions into a weapon, it would be a discovery of epic proportions because I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could stand against it. 

 Anyway... My lesson from the onion is just this: sometimes in life, the things that make us cry the hardest, are the things that add the most flavor. Sometimes, the hardest circumstances produce the sweetest results. It's the lowest points of a story that make the ending all the happier. My soup wouldn't be as tasty without those onions that make me cry, and my life wouldn't be as rich without the things that make me cry either. 

So as I enjoy my soup today, I'm thankful for the onions, and thankful for the reminder that the hard things that I've gone through are the things that have made my life so much sweeter!


~Jazzy

You can't quite tell, but I'm really, really crying here

Wanna come?

It's 12:30 in the morning and I should be in bed. But instead of snuggling up under my down comforter, dreaming of summer, and vacation, and all things good, I'm about to pull my hair out because of homework! The clock is finally counting off its last few ticks in my countdown until graduation, but at this moment, it feels like time is crawling and the awaited day of February the 26th (my very last day of school) will never arrive. As I sit, lost in this never-ending moment, I mull over the dream that usually pops into my head every few months, but lately has been surfacing more and more frequently: I'm contemplating running away! When I start to get stressed, I always return to this back-up plan. I never "ran away" when I was young, so I think this desire must be delayed from when I was five. Recently, someone informed me that it's no longer considered running away if you're 21- it's called moving. Well moving isn't nearly as adventurous sounding as running away, and therefore "run away" remains on the list of things to do before I die, and the more homework I do, the higher up it moves on the list. I'm thinking the beach sounds nice. I can pack up a knapsack on a stick the way little kids do, point myself west, and keep walking till I hit ocean. 

Anyone care to come?

~Jazzy

Sweet wooden swing...

Yesterday was beautiful. The weather was clear and lovely, and maybe this is just wishful thinking- but it kinda felt like the smell of spring was floating on the breeze. (Ok, that's probably a bit of a stretch given the  fact that it's still January... but I can dream). I've been going slightly crazy with homework this week, and decided that the long hours in front of the computer have made me sunshine deficient, so I decided to go for a run and soak up the vitamin D in the rays. Oh my goodness! Is there anything better than sunshine, fresh air, and good music on my iPod? I love the feel of my lungs expanding when I start to breathe hard. I love the way late afternoon sunlight makes the world glow. I love feeling like my life has a soundtrack when I've got my earbuds in. After that lovely run, I came home and spent time on our amazing backyard swing. It's wooden, and it hangs from a ginormous cottonwood tree. There's nothing more peaceful than floating through the air on that swing. Sun on my face, the breeze running its fingers through my hair, leaning back and staring at branches towering above me. *Deep sigh* It's heavenly. Such a welcome break, and a great start to the weekend! 

~Jazzy

Better late than never...

My family has this thing for being last. We're often the last people to leave church, the last family to meander out of the theatre after a dance recital, and we're always the last people sitting in the seats after the credits have finished rolling in the movie theatre. That being said- you will understand why we are only now getting around to taking family pictures for our Christmas/New Year's card. (Ok, so we're way too late for Christmas, but I'm pretty sure it's still acceptable to send New Year's cards through the end of January.) Yes, I'm fairly certain it will be the last one most families have received this year. But like I said, we have a thing for being last...

With these pictures, we tried to emphasize the "nuttiness" of our family.

Half a dozen nuts!