Merry Christmas!!!

May you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

I still celebrate FALL!!!

Hello Readers!!

Have any of you been to the stores lately?? I have, we went just last night and you know what I think is absolutely crazy???....the stores are already putting out Christmas stuff!! INSANE RIGHT!!?? I mean don't get me wrong, I LOVE CHRISTMAS, but really are we just going to totally pass up the Fall season? What's even crazier is we have even seen people who have Christmas stuff up in their yards already!! HELLO!! We haven't even celebrated THANKSGIVING!!!!!

No matter how many stores put up Christmas stuff or how many people decide to go ahead and start preparing their homes with Christmas decorations I have decided I will celebrate fall and all of it's beauty before I celebrate Christmas. My tree will not go up, I won't turn on Christmas music and as much as I want to...I won't watch ELF or any other Christmas movie till after Thanksgiving!!

May you all have a very happy Fall!!!
Jessica

Funny!

Hello readers!!!

Today I wanted to share with you a very funny email that a friend of mine sent me. I thought it was hilarious and hope you enjoy it. What makes it even funnier is that I am sure everyone has done something like the kid in this email, just to stay out of trouble...ok maybe not as extreme, but I am sure something nonetheless just to stay out of immediate trouble!

Read on and enjoy!!! Have a great day!

Why Parents Drink
A father passing by his son's room was astonished to see that his bed was nicely
made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope, propped up
prominently on the pillow that was addressed to "Dad."

With the worst premonition he opened the envelope With trembling hands and read
the letter..

Dear Dad:

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with
my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercing, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Dad she's pregnant.

Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter.

We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to
the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and meth.

In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get
better. She really deserves it.

Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that
we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love, Your Son John

PS. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house.

I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the Report Card that's in my center desk drawer.

I love you....Call me when it's safe to come home.

There Are Great Things In Lubbock (cont'd)

Hello readers.....so I am back to tell you all more about the great things there are in Lubbock!!! As I shared with you the other day, we attended the Women's Conference in Lubbock this last weekend and it was excellent! I shared with you what the conference speaker Margaret Feinburg shared with us in the opening session and a little bit about the first breakout session I went to. Today, I am going to share with you some points from the second breakout session and the closing words by Margaret. So here we go......

"This Side Of The Table"...
Have you ever thought of the importance of tables in our lives? You eat at them, maybe study at them, have family pictures (your heritage) on them and so much more. Tables were important in the Bible too. Psalms 128:3 "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house your children like olive plants ALL AROUND YOUR TABLE." She shared that precious family time is usually spent around the table which is the very heart of your home. In Matthew 26:7 Mary anointed Jesus as he sat at the TABLE. The very act of her pouring the oil over Jesus is significant, but when she did it she also wiped His feet with her hair. The act of her hair hanging down meant come to me my lover...her Lord! Jesus calls us to come to the table to be with Him (as Mary did) daily for intimacy and to be transparent before Him, like the alabaster jar that held the oil Mary anointed Jesus with. Alabaster is almost transparent.
The other table that most everyone thinks of (maybe you did too at the start of this) is the table that served for the Last Supper. Here's some very interesting facts about that table. The tables then were only 2 cubits (36 inches) tall, so everyone sat on the floor. Also everyone only sat on one long side and the two ends of the table. Think about the picture of the Last Supper...where is everyone sitting? Do you know why??? That is because the other long side is where they were served from. Also, the three sides of the table may represent: the trinity....Interesting facts for you the next time you are thinking about the Last Supper. Anyway, back to where I was......When people would serve their guests at the tables in those times, they would give EVERYTHING they had...not just food, but they gave of themselves too. And because they didn't have chairs, they reclined, relaxed, leaned on each other, even layed down. They were NEVER in a rush for anything, they just spent the time being together, being intimate with one another. Jesus invites us to meet him daily at the table of our hearts and share this same type of intimacy and fellowship with Him. That is why the heart of your home is at the table!
Psalms 23:5-"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over." Our speaker translated this to what it means in Hebrew: I will lavish hospitality on you; you will lack nothing and I will do it all before your enemies. I will provide ALL things to you both life and Godliness. I will provide ALL things to you both body and soul. I will be your bountiful benefactor.
He is preparing fresh manna for you daily if you will come to the table and be with Him. Go to the table, lean on Him, be intimate with Him and ask him, "What Lord are you going to serve me today on the long side of the table?" If you choose to sit with Him he will give you:provision, protection, confidence, renewal, grace, fellowship, hope, faith and the promise to sit at His table for eternity.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about this side of the table....will you ever think about tables in the same way?? I hope not, cause what she shared was REALLY good!

After this breakout session, we all headed back in for the closing words by Margaret...here's a couple things she shared with us. Exodus 3:1-4...what if Moses would have walked away from that burning bush? How would things have been different? We must listen to God's voice and if he is speaking do what he says. Too many times we choose to think that what he is thinking might just be a bit crazy, so we don't do it....be obedient to His voice.
Psalm 27:4--God's beauty is captivating. Be drawn into His beauty and seek him, dwell with him daily. God invites us to fix our eyes on Him, and not be swayed by the trends and things of this world. The final thing she asked us was: "What do you love about Jesus?"

So as you can see...there are great things in Lubbock!!

The conference was really good, and the van ride was EXTREMELY long, but it was soooo much fun. We stopped in Brownwood, both going and coming back, for a great meal, and we took the time for a photo op while we were on the way home!!


The van ride was tons of fun...I mean a little over 6 hours (each way) in a van ...what are you gonna do but entertain yourselves. We shared funny stories, laughed (a lot), had Missa sing us such "beautiful" songs (HAHAHA.....it was very humorous singing), took lots of crazy pictures, received up-to-the minute text message score updates of the UT/Tech game all the way home, and even had someone breakdance in the Humphrey Pete's parking lot (that's where we had dinner on the way home)....so all in all it was a FANTASTIC trip, lots of fun, learning and laughter!!!

May you have a great day!
Jessica

There are Great Things in Lubbock!!!

Yes, you read that title right...there are great things in Lubbock! Now if you have every been there you may be thinking....seriously, are you off your rocker here? Nope, I know there isn't much in Lubbock, TX, but this past weekend there were some really great things in Lubbock!! We had the privilege of attending Church On The Rock's Women's Conference and it was AMAZING!!



The conference speaker for the Weekend was: Margaret Feinburg. She is amazing and had so many wonderful things to share with us. If you have never heard of her or read any of her books, I highly suggest you search her up on YouTube or head out to the nearest Christian bookstore and purchase her book: Organic God....you will truly be blessed. The book is nothing like you may be thinking by that title...here is something she shared with us: "Organic means: natural, pure, and essential. God is natural, he is pure, and he is essential to our lives! So how do we know him organically?" She also shared this: "We give of many areas and God loves it when we give of ourselves in every way, because it is a reflection of Him. He is a generously outrageous God! God gives us so much more than we could ever want, need or expect. In Exodus 16:16-20--the Israelites were dependant upon God everyday for their manna. He provided for all their needs, no matter how much or how little they gathered. (check it out in Exodus...it is really good). We also had 2 different breakout sessions we could attend. The speakers for these were so awesome! The first one I attended was: Ordinary Women Living Out Loud For Jesus by a remarkable woman of God...Callie Boyd.

Here is just a brief breakdown of what she shared with us....we are all "just" women. "just" moms, "just" wives, "just" a teacher etc, but God can use us "just" women. For example Deborah and Jael...they were "just" ordinary women who God used in extraordinary ways (see Judges 4 for their story). If we are going to live out LOUD we must TAKE RISKS! Even if you fail at the time, you stepped out and did it and that is living out LOUD! Like Callie said, "I have laid hands on 7 dead people and none of them have come back to life yet, but God said I could lay hands on the sick and they would be healed and raise the dead, so even though I have taken a risk and it hasn't happened yet, I will keep doing it, because one day I know it will happen, because I took the risk and stepped out to do what His word says I can." And her last point was God lives inside of us, so anywhere you go or anything you do you are taking Christ with you. So, the next time you go to the grocery store, remember Christ is in the grocery store too, because he lives inside of you. The moment you enter in anywhere, the atmosphere has changed, because Christ is in you so that place will never be the same, because you and Christ were there! As Callie said...the moment you enter anywhere say to yourself..."Everything Changes!" And as Bill Johnson said (Callie quoted this)..."You are bigger on the inside than the whole world." and "God isn't looking for people who will invite him into a situation, but who will allow Him to be used in a situation."

I will leave you with those thoughts for today. Tomorrow I will fill you in on my second breakout session, which was: This Side Of The Table and the closing words that Margaret Feinburg shared with us!! May you have a remarkably blessed day and always remember that "EVERYTHING CHANGES!" the moment you enter in ANYWHERE!!

So in closing I will repeat.....THERE ARE GREAT THINGS IN LUBBOCK!!!

Be blessed....and remember to come back tomorrow for more!!
Jessica

Happy Tuesday!

Hello to everyone out there in blog world!!! I just wanted to give a shout out to you all and say "HAPPY TUESDAY!!" I pray you have all been having a very blessed week so far and have a remarkable remainder of the week!

That's it, nothing else...just wanted to wish you a Happy Tuesday!!


Smile!! :)
Jessica

Ha Ha Ha!

Don't you just love to laugh? Love it when something just tickles your funny bone so much that you just can't help but laugh out loud. Laughter is good for you. It improves your health and it takes a lot less muscles to smile than it does to frown, so come on...let out a big old laugh....one of those deep down belly laughs that just makes your side hurt!!! Not a LOL typed on the screen or a ROFL (rolling on floor laughing) typed, a genuine deep down laugh. Having a hard time coming up with something to laugh about? Just repeat the following out loud...haha, hoho, hehe...say it again, faster this time....haha, hoho, hehe...keep going till just can't contain yourself and let out a big old laugh! Now, don't you feel so much better!!!

I talk about laughing today, because one it is great to remember to laugh at life! And also because I am in the process of helping my parents update their church website....www.newriverministries.net....and I just updated the Heavenly Humor section, which is just some cartoons that I found online, but they gave me a great laugh yesterday and even today when I looked at them again. I just wanted to share them with you and hope they give you a laugh too!!

May you have a blessed, joyful day full of laughter and rest this Labor Day weekend!
Jessica

Stop the World!

Hello fellow readers!

I just recently bought the Matthew West CD, Something To Say. I bought the CD because I needed the song "The Motions" for our Women's service this month, but the whole CD is AWESOME!! As I told Travis....man, sometimes you just gotta sacrifice for the ministry...hehehe!!!

Anyway as I was listening to the CD today while the kids were asleep one song, "Stop The World" really stood out to me and I wanted to share it with you today. May you too remember that sometimes the world needs to stop so you can be refreshed in His presence.

Have a great day!!

Enjoy!!

My First Blog EVER!!!!!!

Hey you guys. It's me Travis this time. Usually Jess is the one doing this blog, so I thought I would give it a shot. After all I am one member of the Greenwood family and so... why not.
Today is Jessica's birthday and I can't help but remind her that as of today she is two years older than me. Really she is only like a year and some months older than me, but for three months outa the year she is two years older than me. And I will not let her forget it. On a great side note it is also my parents thiry year anniversary. Wow! Thirty years! I can't believe my mom let my dad hang around that long. Okay not really! The two of them are crazy about one another. I mean they had five kids so it's not to hard to see what has kept them togather for thirty years. I feel so blessed to have found someone that I truly believe will still love me alot after thirty years. My wife is awesome!!!
I really can't wait to get old togather. Of course, I will always have a good reference to what is coming in old age. After all my wife is two years older than me and so I will just keep my eye on her. This way I can be ready for what is coming down the road. At least two years down the road anyway. I am happy to have a wife that doesn't mind getting older. She is not one of these girls that sits in her room and eats ice cream and cries all day because she is one year closer to death or something and goes through all the lists of things she wanted to have done by now and hasn't done and ect. Instead, she wants to party. I think birthdays are the biggest thing next to Christmas for my wife. I mean don't get my wrong I love me a good birthday, but my wifes family is so passionate about the day they were born. I think thats great...especially on my birthday. Anyway I got my wife a new B-B-Q grill and she loves it so I think it was a good birthday for her.
Okay, so lets recap, my first blog ever, Jessica is old, my parents will be togather forever, I love my wife and we got a new grill. Not bad for a first blog I don't think. And what have we learned today? Getting your wife a grill for her birthday is good for everyone.

While the Mom's away......

Hello to Everyone!!!

This past Friday night we had our monthly Women's Service (I'll come back to that). While I go to the WOD (our Women of Destiny) meetings, Travis stays home with the girls. This gives them some great time together and usually these are the nights that they order Chinese food (not on my list of favorite foods) or he takes the girls out to eat somewhere. On this Friday evening they decided to go to Taco Bueno and get a burrito. So Travis loaded them up and off they went...on the way there he taught them to say: "Oh yeah baby, burrito time baby!" They told me this Saturday morning and I laughed sooooo hard. I couldn't believe it. What is even funnier is just the way they say it and lots of times they will shake their hips when they say it too. It is just too cute!! So while the mom's away...the daddy teaches them things like...Oh yeah baby, burrito time baby and now the girls say it ALL the time!! HAHAHA....makes good memories and gives me a great laugh.

On the other hand, I was at the WOD service and it was AWESOME as it always is!! We have so many ladies who have such great words in them!! This time we talked about JOY and how even in our times of trials and heartaches we need to have JOY!! It was an awesome time in the word and P&W was so powerful. After the time in P&W and time in the word we had TONS of fun playing games!! Our theme this month was a luau....several ladies came dress in their best beach/Hawaiian outfits and they all looked marvelous!!!! We played a "guess the number of seashells in the jar game," a name game and then we had group Hulas. The group Hulas were the highlight of the evening and everyone had such a great time performing them. Lots of fun and laughter which is exactly what the ladies needed...especially after we had just talked about JOY!! All in all it was a wonderful night for all....the ladies at church and even daddy and the kids!! I love nights full of so much JOY!!

Have a great day full of JOY in everything!!

Here's one of the songs from our worship on Friday night!

Oh me oh my!!

Oh me, oh my things have been so very busy in the Greenwood household! Between regular everyday basics (the children, work for Travis etc) and all of the many opportunities we have at church to serve and with our upcoming Summer Fest I have found myself a bit busy. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE being able to be so very involved with all the different ministries at our church, but there are sometimes that when we just have to remember to stop, spend some time with God to build up our Spirit and then continue to serve. During these very, very busy days, I have just loved this song and wanted to share it with you.

May you too take the time to spend with God even during your busy days of serving others! He is a God of restoration and will restore your soul even in the long, busy and weary days!!

Enjoy!! (thanks Missa for sharing this with me!!!)

Family, Friends and Freedom...a Great Mix!

Hello to all my faithful followers!

Hope you all had a super awesome 4th of July weekend!!! My family and I had an excellent time together! (which I will share with you momentarily)

It has been some time since our last blog and since then here's an update for you on what all we have been doing!

We celebrated Father's Day with Travis, by letting him pick out the grill of his choice as his present from all us girls! :) Also on Father's Day we went out to one of the state parks in the area and took him fishing. This was the first time Haley and Emily had been fishing and they loved it! It was a very, very, very warm day when we were out there, but for DAD we will do anything and I know he enjoyed his day too!

The last weekend of July we had a family reunion! It was a great time and all but one brother was able to be there for our weekend, because he is serving somewhere in the Middle East right now. We went to Lake Brownwood, stayed in cabins, rode the boat, swam in the lake, BBQ and even had s'mores!! AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME time for everyone!!!

For the 4th of July, my (jessica) parents came into town with their boat and even though we are in a really, really bad drought, we headed out to the lake (yes, for all you Austin-area readers...there is still water in some of the lakes :)....)
Anywho, like I was saying, my parents were here, one of my sisters was here, and our very bestest friends were able to join us that day too! (and yes missa, we consider you and scott some our very bestest friends too)! :) We went out to the lake, swam, rode the tube (some people...not to mention any names..KRISTINA!) got thrown off of the tube, ate, then ate some more then left the lake to watch fireworks. We went back into Round Rock to watch the firework show and decided to avoid so much traffic we would park a little off the beaten path. Can you guess where we went? If you guessed the Wal-Mart parking lot, then you win!!! Yes folks, we watched 4th of July fireworks from the Wal-Mart parking lot!!! It was fun, and there were a couple hundred other people there with us...gotta love Wal-Mart....it's got it all, including great seats for watching fireworks!!!

Sunday, we had a powerful church service and Travis got to minister during our time of giving. He had such an amazing word about how just like our service men and women sacrifice a part of their lives for our freedom, Jesus too sacrificed for our freedom from sin! He talked about how there have been POW's who had been prisoner for so long, once they were freed from their cells they would just sit there. As if they weren't sure of the freedom they were being given, because they had been prisoner for so long. Just like us in our giving and lives Jesus is saying, the cell doors are open, captives you are FREE, but we are still sitting there as if we are prisoners. It's time for us to start taking those steps, walking out of those prison cells that have held us for so long and start rejoicing in our freedom!!!! Listening to Travis minister this was so amazing, especially when you think about all that our Lord has done for us and is doing for us every moment of every day! He wants to free you from anything that is holding you in your prison cell....the doors are open, you are free! Just like you celebrate the 4th of July as our nation's day of independance, don't you think that the freedom Christ gives us in EVERY area of our lives deserves to be celebrated everyday?! Everyday is Independance Day!!! Walk in your freedom!!! You need freedom in your marriage, finances, work, home etc??? Get up out of your cell, walk in faith, follow God's leading and give when he says to give. Whether you are giving of time, finances, compassion or even love, if you step out into that freedom, you will be amazed!!! Like the song we sing at church says:
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is: THERE IS FREEDOM!!!.....It is for freedom, I've been set free! It is for freedom, I've been set free! And I'm FREE!!!"

Be Free!! Have a happy, everyday Independance Day!!!
Jessica

Here's a few pictures of our weekend!

7 wonderful years!!

Hello to all!!

So yesterday Travis and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary! It was so awesome! In this day and age where more and more people don't stay together for more than a few years, being able to say I have been married for 7 years is great! We have had so much fun these past 7 years together, have some great memories, two beautiful girls and are looking forward to many, many more wonderful years together!!!

May you have a truly blessed day!
Jessica

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend!!!

So to this past weekend we had our Women of Destiny Retreat....and it was TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Our theme was: Shine-4-Jesus: Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend.

We had great words delivered, not only by all the pastor's wives, but by so many of the ladies attending the retreat too. It was so awesome to see God doing so much in everyone's lives. Basically the whole idea of the weekend was to learn to let your light shine and how we are all beautiful diamonds and God is doing new things in us everyday and bringing out more and more diamonds in our lives. Therefore, diamonds really are a girl's best friend!! We talked about how to let our lights shine in everything we do and how God is our master jewler and he is creating us to be the diamond he has called us to be. Sometimes the cutting process is not fun, but the result in the end is worth it all. It was so awesome to have so many ladies really just open up their hearts and share about what God is doing in their lives. We had lots of fun, laughter, food and great intimate times in worship with the Father. It was so awesome to get away with such amazing ladies for a weekend!

On Saturday night we had a Princess PJ party and an Italian dinner banquet. We all had pink crowns with our names and jewels on them that we wore for our banquet and for our group pictures. It was so fun to be able to be silly and cut loose and have such a fun time! We ended our weekend by going outside on the patio in total darkness, opening our cellphones (each of us was emitting light in the darkness) and singing "This little light of mine." It may have been a song that you usually only sing with little kids, but it summed up the weekend perfectly and really was powerful! All in all, we had such an amazing, awesome and wonderful time....words can never describe it all! Thanks to everyone who came and shared their hearts, to all the ladies who helped pour so much time and effort into pulling this retreat off (I couldn't have done it your help)...hopefully I wasn't too bossy for ya :).....and to our lovely hostess and her husband for opening their home to almost 30 ladies for the weekend!!

Here's a goofy picture of all of us who were still there late saturday night.......we are soooo CRAZY, but having sooo much FUN!!!!

So much......

Okay readers, so it has been a while since the Greenwoods have blogged. Life has just had so much going on. The calendars have been full, but it has been great. We've had company visit our new place, gone to 2 Express baseball games (which Haley LOVED!!), had a Women's Service...which always takes a lot of time and planning on my part, celebrated a birthday and Mother's Day, got to see our newest nephew, had more company over and recently have been planning and preparing for the women's retreat. Needless to say we have been to busy to stop and blog, but good news for all......WE ARE BACK!!! Woo Hoo!!!

I must say though in all of our busyness it has been great to look back and see how truly blessed we are. To be able to have a nice home and have people come to visit us, and provide food and shelter to our family while they come in from out of town is so awesome!!! God has truly blessed us!! We also were able to take our girls to 2 Round Rock Express baseball games. For those who don't know, the Express is the triple-A affiliate team for the Houston Astros...basically they are one step down from the majors. Anyway, our girls love to watch baseball...especially Haley....so it was so nice to be able to take them and see them enjoy the game and all the activites there too. We haven't been able to do something like that with them in 2 yrs, because Travis was working overnights and it really put a halt on us being able to do some things with our girls as a family! We are really enjoying this time and season we are in and are very thankful that God is blessing us with times like this. Having time to do things as a family has also been great as our niece just had turned 3 and we were able to go as a family to her birthday party. We've even been able to have company come stay with us...even had our newest nephew and the rest of his family over this holdiay weekend (he's 3 weeks old..and adorable!!)....which last year with Travis working overnight we wouldn't have been able to just have company come over sit and fellowship and all, because he would have had to sleep during the day.

We are just so thankful to God and for blessing us with so much. Sometimes we don't always see the blessings that God is showering on us until we stop and look back on it. So maybe this time of no blogging has been exactly what God needed for us, so that we could look back just over the past couple weeks and see all of the things he has blessed us with in such a short amount of time. So many blessings in such a short time....think about all the blessings our Lord has showered over you. Some are obvious (cars, homes, jobs etc), and some like time may not be as obvious till you stop and think about it.

Take some time out today from everything to "Count Your Blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done" as the song so wonderfully says!!! It's okay to take time out of your day to just stop and reflect on the good things God blesses you with and then, be sure to take the time to thank him!!!

We serve an awesome God who loves us so much and I for one am thankful for the "so much...." he has blessed us with!!!

Have a blessed day of "so much...."!!
Jessica

Time to Move!!!

Guess what??? The Greenwood Family is moving again!!! This time we are going back to Round Rock. We really love that town, it is our favorite. Big enough to enjoy and still outside of the big city of Austin, but it has that great small town feel to it!! With over 100,000 people in the town there is a lot that this town offers, but like I say, still has the feel of a small town. We are really excited about our new place and really know that we will enjoy it here! Great thing about RR is that now it is baseball season and we will be closer to the ball fields so we can take the kids...Haley keeps asking to go to a game, so guess we better take her soon!!

Anyway, I hope to post a few pictures of the new place soon...keep checking back for them!!! My kitchen is my favorite!!!!!! Enough room in it to work, and LOTS of counter space too. If you want our new address, just let me know!!

Have a super blessed day!!!!!!
Jessica

Take the time to worship

Take the time to just worship our Father today! What an amazing video and worship time with the Father. This is from the New Hallelujah DVD by Michael W. Smith who has such terrific music anyway. Enjoy!

It was a date!!

Thanks so much to Scott and Melissa for stepping us to help us out the other night, because they just love kids so much, they volunteered to watch our girls for us while Travis and I went out!!! IT was so nice to be able to go out and get away, even just for a short time without kids!!! We had dinner...and didn't even have to look at the kids menu, went to the park and took a nice walk, then hit up the bookstore...which I just love!!! Anyway, we had a great evening together!! It has been a long time since we've had the chance to do that, not so much because we have the girls, but because Travis was working night shift for so long that we just didn't have the time in the opposite schedules to spend the time together. But we finally have and it was GREAT!!

While we were out, Scott and Melissa had the slip-n-slide out...which I heard they just loved!! Then they took them down to the pond to feed the ducks!! It was an evening of fun for everyone!!!





Make sure you take the time to enjoy a date for yourself too sometime soon....

Have a great day!!
Jessica

Spring Showers are Here!!

Hello to all!!!

So last week was Spring Break for all the kids in this area and the weather was
G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S for all of them and I am so glad that they did not have to deal with the spring showers that came upon us today! I love the rain, but not when it is the severe thunderstorms like today was. I know we need this rain to see the beautiful flowers, but the hail I could do without. Today we had some BIG....I mean BIG hail come with our fast moving thunderstorm. It was at least the size of golf balls....golf balls...how crazy. Thank goodness though we were indoors and perfectly safe. Our car is just fine too...nothing broken, unlike some others we heard about on the news. That is just God's great protection on us! Even though the wind was whipping hard, the hail came down and the rain pounded and pounded, God had us safe in his hands, just as he always does! I am so thankful for such a great God and for the great rain he brings to us so that very soon....the beautiful flowers will appear!!

May you have a super day!
Jessica

No Internet...but sunny days!!

Hello to all my fellow readers!!!

I hope this finds you all having an extremely blessed day!!! It has been a while since the last blog, but I just wanted to let you all know that I am still here!!! We just moved again (surprise, surprise)...this is becoming something we do often. Anyway, for the time I don't have internet, but that is okay because I love the sun shine so no internet means I get to get out in the sun and enjoy the wonderful weather God has been giving us.

Right now it is just me and Emily together as Travis is in Abilene on a work trip and Haley is also there, "on vacation" as she tells me. She is visiting her YiaYia and PaPa and of course her aunts. She is having a great time and Emily and I are getting in some great quality one-on-one time as well!!! it has been fun!!!


May you enjoy the time you have with your family too!!!

Have a great day!
Jessica

Rain and Cold....burrrrr!!

Okay, so my last post was about how much I really just love the sun. So I guess God is reading my blogs too, because it is rainy and really, really cold. He has such a great sense of humor. I look at it as his way of saying, so Jessica, you say you like the sun, how about the rain I send too?? Well, I must say first, "Thank you God for the rain!" We have not had any rain in so long it is such a welcome sight, but the cold...oh my goodness, God is just making Travis smile so big right now....remember from the last post...Travis LOVES the cold weather. So over the last week, we have both been extremley pleased with the weather. I've had my sun shine and he now has his cold days.



Even though I am not a fan of the cold, I do get to get in at least one last use (this season) of my leather jacket. Which is great, because I just LOVE my jacket!!! I know that this cold snap will help take care of some of the bugs that have decided to start setting up camp early and will also water our plants, grass and trees so that we can have a beautiful and green spring in a few weeks! I will praise God for the rain, and just have to stay bundled up from the cold and enjoy it while we have it, because I know the rain can't last forever.


May you stay warm and have many wonderful rainy days to keep your little piece of the world green too!!!

Have a super day!!!
Blessings!
Jessica

I love the Sun!!

Happy Sunday to everyone!!

I hope this finds you all having a blessed and fantastic day! I just wanted to say how much I love the sun!! Travis and I are such opposites when it comes to this. Not to say he doesn't enjoy the sun as much as I do, but he loves the colder weather better. I on the other hand am such a spring and summer person! I would rather be out in the sun doing something any day of the week, compared to being indoors on a cold day!!

So, as much as I love the sun, we took advantage of some beautiful weather this weekend! On Friday afternoon, Travis got of work early and we took the kids to the park for a picnic. It was wonderful! The food was good and then they got to go run around and play. On Saturday, we had another gorgeous day, so, once again we took advantage of the wonderful weather and we took the kids out window shopping, and just let them run outside and play here at home. The same goes for today, right now, the kids are outside playing and I am about to go join them!! Oh how I love to be out in the sun! It just makes you feel good, you can breathe in some fresh air, have fun with family and friends and you don't have to be all cooped up in your house!

So, it is off to the outdoors for me to go enjoy and bask in the sun for a while! I love that God gives us seasons like spring and summer to enjoy! May you enjoy your sun-shiny days too!!!


Have a great day!!
Jessica

Praise & Exercise...a Great Mix!!!

Good Afternoon to all!!!

So as I said previously, Travis and I are taking 2009 to become a year where we become healthier everyday. A great way to do this is exercise, so today I decided that I would crank up the music, so the kids could be entertained while I exercised. In the process of deciding what music to turn on, I opted for 2 different DVD's. First playing was: New Life Worship--My Savior Lives DVD. We turned up the music so loud, I am positive the whole neighborhood heard it. Well, they were so happy and jumping around and clapping to the music, I thought I would join them. Soon enough I was out of breath and I could feel my heart beating fast, so I thought...this is a good idea....why workout when I can just dance around the livingroom with the kids dancing and claping and singing. Well, the time came that the slow worship music started and the kids were beginning to lose interest, so instead of restarting the DVD I put in another one. This time it was: Hillsong-This is Our God. Now Haley & Emily know the words to most of these songs, so there we all were dancing, clapping, spinning, jumping and singing in the livingroom with the DVD blaring through the TV. We had such a good time I have decided that this is the best workout yet! Not only do the kids have fun, I have fun too, and we are all praising God with everything we have!!!

I feel like I have done as much exercise just worshipping as I would normally do in a typical workout. So next time you are ready for a change, crank up some good music, dance, jump and just spend some time praising God. You might be amazed at how good you feel physically and spiritually once you are done!! We see throughout scripture that dancing and praising were a part of people's lives, so maybe it is time we all get back to dancing and praising our God. May we become undignified in the eyes of the world, just to draw closer to God....He's the one that matters most anyway!!

Have a great Thursday!!!
Jessica

Fried Deliciousness!!!

Okay so Travis and I decided that in 2009 we would treat our bodies more like the temple of God that they are. We have gotten tons better at our eating habits and becoming more and more active. Though we are still not at the point we want to be, at least we are doing something.

Well.....last night that was all completely forgotten. You see we have this really great combo appliance, it can be a steamer, roaster and fryer and you guessed it....I opted for the fryer method last night! Oh, how I love the fried food.....so good, yet sooooo unhealthy!!! I get this stroke of genius to buy some meat for chicken fried steaks. As I'm shopping I am thinking, "this will be good, maybe we will do something baked or veggies or something for the sides, surely I've got something good at home." So, I think this thought, buy the meat and leave the store. Little did I know I did not have anything to go with the meat except potatoes. My little head got to thinking again and another stroke of genius occurs to me last night. "If I've got to heat up the fryer, why dirty any more dishes...take the potatoes, cut 'em up and make yourself some fries too!" So, that is just what I did. I fried up some potatoes into fries, then made us some delicious chicken fried steaks. Oh man....they were soooooooo yummy, but sooooo unhealthy!! The house this morning still smells of that fantastic fried food, but we have decided that we just can't do that anymore if we are going to be eating healthier.

I guess every once in a while won't hurt anything, but we really do want to cut it out altogether. We will get better and soon we will be feeling much healthier too! If you are on the journey to eat healthier or even dieting, I wish you the best of luck in all you do!!! And the willpower to stay away from all those delicious fried foods!!

Blessings!
Jessica

Prayers Answered!

Hello to All!!
I am so excited to say that after 2 1/2 years of fervent prayer, God has finally answered our prayers and Travis has a day job!!! HOORAY!! It has been a very trying and difficult few years running opposite schedules of each other, but God is faithful.
Matthew 21:22- "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
I know that God was listening to us and we kept on believing and now we have received our answer! The Lord is so good to us!

At the WOD meeting, Darlene (a sweet sister in Christ) was speaking about your testimony and how it has such power. One thing she said that has really stuck with me was that the Hebrew word for testimony literally means: "Do it again!" So I am proclaiming the testimony of answered prayers to everyone so that God can..."DO IT AGAIN!" Amazing to think what the power of your words can do. As Proverbs 18:21 puts it: "life and death are in the power of the tongue." Next time you begin to say something just remember that verse and that what you are saying is a part of your testimony. Speak life to produce life and produce a testimony that you will be excited to say: "Do it Again God, just do it again!" I am proclaiming today and everday that we serve an Awesome, Mighty and Faithful God! He is the same yesterday, today and forever and because he is, he is still faithful to hear us when we call and answers our prayers!

I know that I am looking forward to spending more time with Travis, since he will now only be working M-F and he now gets to be home in the evenings and on weekends. But more importantly I am excited that our precious girls will be able to spend more time with their Daddy. They are definitely Daddy's Girls and every little girl needs her daddy there for her!While Travis has to get accustomed to a day schedule again, we as a family will love being able to just be together more!

May you have a blessed day and remember God is listening.....what do you need to go to him in prayer about today?

Be Blessed!
Jessica

Strength Training for Life

Hello everyone!
So tonight was our Women of Destiny (or WOD as we like to call it) meeting! What an awesome time we had together tonight! The Lord moves in such amazing ways!

Tonight's topic was: Strength Training for Life. The crazy thing was that the 3 of us who were talking tonight all felt led to follow a different route than we had originally started and on top of that we all had very, very rough weeks! Imagine that, we are supposed to be talking to a group of ladies about building up strength and all we feel like is we are so weak! Isn't the way God works amazing???? Needless to say, God, as he always does, directed us to say the exact thing he needed us to say and do tonight. What a sweet time we all had in his presence.

I am looking forward to seeing more and more ladies become the stronger women that God is calling them to be in 2009! God has some amazing things in store for all of us, women especially and it is time for us to take our rightful places.

What an amazing and awesome God we serve!!!

Blessings!
Jessica

Welcome!

Welcome to the Greenwood Adventures!!! We live such a blessed life and are looking forward to sharing it with you!! May you be blessed! We look forward to sharing more with you in the future.


Blessings!
Travis & Jessica