When You Say Nothing At All

My husband and I started dating when I was 15.  That sounds so insane when I think about it now.  But of course at the time I thought I knew all there was to know about life and I was just sure he was the one.  Well, at least I was halfway right. ;)  Our "song" was "When You Say Nothing At All" by Allison Krauss.  I loved it then and I love it now.  One of the most special moments was being able to sing that song while my Daddy played guitar at a recital in high school.  And another special moment was dancing with my husband to that song at our wedding.  Here it is if you haven't heard it.  By the way, watching that video makes me feel really old.  Ha!

I am a talker.  That comes as absolutely no surprise to those of you who know me.  But I have learned that sometimes words are not needed.  In my life of almost 31 years I have experienced a lot of moments where saying nothing at all seemed fitting.  And looking back, these times have been some of the most impactful, memorable moments of my life. 

Times like... 

When I said goodbye to my favorite uncle while he laid on his death bed.  I remember him trying to crack jokes like he always did.  I was scared.  I was confused.  I was heart broken.  I said nothing at all.

When my sister was preparing to leave home and move to Houston.  We were close but had spent most of our teenage years fighting.  We were just starting to have a genuinely close relationship and I was incredibly sad to have her gone when I needed her most.  So I said nothing at all.

When Garrett asked me to marry him and he went on and on with all these sweet words but I was so shocked and excited and nervous that I just stared at him.  And said nothing at all.  (Don't worry...I eventually said yes!)

When I left my wedding reception and hugged my parents extra tight not knowing when I would see them again.  I moved almost 2,000 miles away to become a Navy wife.  I remember just staring at them and trying to take it all in.  For fear of completely losing it, I said nothing at all.

When I went to the doctor after seeing what I thought was a positive result on a pregnancy test.  I had convinced myself it couldn't be possible.  I came out of the bathroom and the nurses were standing there smiling ear to ear and said, "Congrats, Mommy!"  I stared at them for a very long time and said nothing at all.

When I delivered my first son, Garrison, and finally...FINALLY got to hold that beautiful baby boy in my arms for the very first time.  I knew at that moment I was forever changed.  I stared at him for what seemed like eternity.  And said nothing at all.

When I met my youngest son, Ethan, for the very first time in the NICU and tried to absorb the overwhelming feelings that were flooding my heart.  I stared at the tubes covering this little miracle in the tiniest diaper I had ever seen.  My eyes filled with tears.  And I said nothing at all.


Sometimes silence is the greatest gift you can give someone or yourself.  I am learning to soak in moments like these and hold them close to my heart.  I am learning to listen more than I speak.  I find I am learning so much more about God, myself and life in general....when I say nothing at all.


~Jewels*

You Go Before Me and Follow Me

If I could sum my sister up in one word it would be "faithful".  She is truly an inspiration to me and so many others.  No matter what life throws at her she knows and believes to her very core that God is good ALL the time.  I have shared her story before on my blog (read it here).  I wanted to also share her perspective on her story, her journey, her life, below.  This is something she wrote for the Women with a Purpose newsletter at her church in Houston.   

My Story

 

"This is my story, this is my song

I want to be a part of something beautiful

If this is my journey, then show me Your road

Wherever you lead me in this world I want to go"

These beautiful lyrics from Addison Road's song "My Story" have truly been my comfort and a prayer for the past couple of years.

 

In 1980, I was born with Spina Bifida. This was before extensive ultrasounds were available, and there weren't as many medical developments then as there are now, especially in this area. My parents were young, but they had faith the size of a mustard seed. It didn't look good from the beginning, and doctors had little hope as to what my life expectancy would be. After a major 7 hour microscopic surgery at 9 days old, my parents waited and watched as I grew up doing all the "normal" things other children did. I never really had any huge problems until I turned 17, my senior year of high school. Long story short - we found out the hard way that my spinal cord was tethering, and life would never be the same. Slowly over the years that followed, my physical abilities have become more and more limited.

 

I've had 3 spinal surgeries, 12 foot surgeries, I've been told I'd never walk again, I can't feel from my waist down, there seems to be new complications arising all the time, and there are so many other medical issues that you wouldn't want to read about, but through it all God has been shaping me into the person He created me to be. (And I know I still have a long way to go!) At different times I have wondered why I am so different from everyone else. Sure, for the most part I may look the same on the outside, but there are so many reasons for me to feel different and broken - or so those were the lies the enemy wanted me to believe. Even now as a mom with 3 young children, there are times I look around and see other moms doing things that I could never do - simple things like running around with their kids, squatting down to their level to tie their shoe, jumping and dancing with them, and things that most people take for granted until they can't do them. But then I remember what God says: I am loved, He has a purpose, and everything is about Him and not me anyway. I am reminded by how truly full my life is. He has blessed me with 3 beautiful and HEALTHY children. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally even with all my "stuff." I have a church home and friends that I can be real with. I have a Heavenly Father who provides my every need and always has my back. What more could I want? Why would I want to be like everyone else? I have my own story that God is writing for me. So do you. I pray that you find joy in the story you are living and can see that God has a great plan for your life, as a mom, as a woman, as His daughter.

 

The Psalms say:

You go before me and follow me.

   You place Your hand of blessing on my head. -Psalm 139:5

 

Oh, how I pray we would hear and believe that the God of the Universe goes before us and behind us. He desires to bless us in every aspect of our lives. Know that this is His Promise to His children.

 

Kristin DePue

My sister and her beautiful family



I can honestly say I have never heard that scripture before (Psalm 139:5).  When I read it something really resonated in my heart.  What an amazing God we serve that goes before us and follows us.  He is with us at all times, every step of the way, even before we were born.  God "created your inmost being, knitting you together in your mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13).  He has a plan for you.  For me.  For all of us.  (Jeremiah 29:11) 

I want to have the same outlook on life that my sister has.  I want to wake up every day thankful that I am alive.  I don't want a day to go by where I don't thank God for my husband and partner in this life or my beautiful boys and for the privilege to be their mom.  I want to be everything God calls me to be.

My prayer today is for myself and anyone reading this.  I pray that we can realize how incredible the God we serve is.  I pray that we will be so in awe of His love for us that we can't help but to share that love with others.  I pray that we will be content with what we have in life and stop wanting more.  I pray that we realize God never changes.  He is good all the time, no matter what our life circumstances are.

~Jewels*




 

Love Isn't Enough

You know those cliché sayings like "Love is enough" or "Love is all you need"?  It has taken me a while to realize that those are completely false. 

Love may be enough to get you through a fight with your best friend or a rocky marriage for a little while but ultimately it is not enough. 

Will love get you through unfaithfulness? 
Will love get you through helping someone overcome addiction? 
Will love get you through a hurtful betrayal? 
Will love get you through trying to remain close to an inherently rebellious teenager? 

At some point we have to recognize that love is not enough.  As humans we do not have a never ending supply of love.  Eventually we run low or just completely run out.  This also goes for trust, grace, patience, peace, faithfulness, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness, self control...the list goes on and on.  And what a lot of people do when they run out is give up or just move on with their life.

Well, that didn't work out so I'll just move on. 
He didn't respect me enough or he is never going to change so I will just get on with my life.  
If she doesn't want me in her life I won't waste my time.
 
The common theme there is me, me, me.  Selfishness and pride get in the way of us truly working on relationships.  My pastor once said that "half of the problem in a relationship is you".  We all have faults and moving on to another relationship means you are taking half the problems with you.

No, love is not enough.  WE are not enough.  We need Jesus.  It's really that simple.

The amazing thing is that God fills us with whatever we need.  He knows what we need and He fills us with it. 

 

Today I encourage you to stop relying on yourself to fix a relationship, a person or a situation.  Rely on Him.  I promise if you give it up to Him, He will take it on as his own burden.  He may not give you the outcome that you want but He knows what is best for us. 

And He will give you peace through it.  And he will give you an endless supply of love, trust, grace, patience, peace, faithfulness, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness and self control. 

Trust Him!

 ~Jewels*

Easter Weekend 2014

I hope y'all had a great Easter!  We had such a nice, relaxing Easter weekend.  I am so glad we kept it low key and didn't try to squeeze too much in. 

It was nice to be home with both of my boys on Friday for a change.  We had fun dying Easter eggs!

Friday night we went to One Night to Unite in Wylie.  I am so in love with our town.  I love that all of the city's churches see the importance of coming together and uniting as one body to spread the gospel.  The music and speakers were great!  We went with our life group and had so much fun at the event and at dinner afterwards.

Garrison and his sweet friend, Tyler.

 

The girls (missing some of them)

Saturday we went to my in-laws' and had a delicious lunch followed by an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos.  We also got to meet my in-laws' sweet new puppy, Sochi.  SO cute!!!

Sunday we went to church and enjoyed an awesome service.  We didn't get a family picture but managed to get a couple of each of us with the boys.  This is the first year Garrison complained about me putting him in a matching sweater vest with his brother.  I'm enjoying it as long as I can find their sizes in the same one... even if that means until they're 24 and 30!  ;)

 

 

The big boys went to a Rangers game on Sunday afternoon.  Daddy spoiled Garrison by upgrading their seats and paying for him to be Junior Ranger.  He got lots of goodies and was able to run the bases first at the end of the game. 

 

Notice my completely clean shaven husband.  :( 

I'm SO glad he's growing it back out already.  Love my bearded, burly man!

Garrison told his daddy at the end of the game, "Daddy, that was the best day of my whole life!  Even better than Six Flags!"...Yep, definitely worth it!  :)

 





~Jewels*

 

The Words I Would Say

Why do we make things so complicated, particularly with religion?  I have been thinking a lot about this lately and no wonder people are so turned off from church/religion, which they directly associate with Jesus.

I think about a lot of the churches I have attended over the years and I can understand why people feel like they have to fit a certain mold to belong.  Taking that leap and attending a church for the first time takes courage.  The last thing these people need is to feel like they have to be sinless to be worthy of acceptance or love.  I'm not sinless.  Are you? 

God loves us just as much as he loves the addict who has been clean for 30 days.  God loves us just as much as he loves the man who wishes he could control his temper with his family.  God loves us just as much as he loves the woman who was unfaithful to her husband and is trying to put her marriage back together.  How we respond to someone who is broken, hurting or in pain can forever change the outcome of their relationship with Jesus.  How we look at them, how we talk to them, whether we acknowledge them at all - these are all things we must be aware of.  I am writing this to myself as much as I am to anyone who may be reading.  I often find myself seeking the comfortableness of close relationships.  I find myself holding back from talking to someone who may be going through hard times.  I doubt myself and my ability to help them.  What I am coming to realize though, is that it is not me that will help them.  God gives all of us the strength and tools we need to reach out to others in love.  We just have to be close enough to Him to feel that gentle push when the time (His time) is right. 

Accepting and loving others does not mean you are condoning their sins.  It just means you are not condemning them.  Does Jesus not do this for us?  And does he not expect the same from us (John 13:34)?

I am starting to learn that believing in and following Jesus is not as complicated as we tend to make it.  It's quite simple when you think about it.  I love this song, "These are the Words I Would Say" by Sidewalk Prophets.

Be strong in the Lord
Never give up hope
You're gonna' do great things
I already know
God's got His hand on you
So don't live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don't forget why you're here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would say


I love reading the blog from the pastor at my sister's church in Houston.  Today's post, titled "Freaks and Lunatics" was particularly good.  I hope you'll take a minute to read it.

How will you respond to the next person you meet who is struggling with something?  Will you share your own brokenness?  Will you tell them the impact God has had in your life?  Will you acknowledge them at all?

"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, " ~1 Peter 3:15


~Jewels*

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken and Corn on the Cob with Jalapeno Lime Aioli Sauce

Garrett and I are trying to cut out potatoes, bread and pasta.  We are starting with dinners since that is where I love to incorporate my oh so yummy potato recipes or full of flavor pasta recipes.  If y'all are anything like us bad carb loving people you probably had the same reaction I first did when he told me his brilliant plan.  What are we going to eat?!?!  Ha!

I have been on the hunt for some new recipes and this is the first one I tried last night.  Pretty damn good if I do say so myself. 

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar, divided
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (I used regular)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 3-pound chicken, cut into 2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs (I just used about 4 large chicken breasts and sliced them in half lengthwise so they would cook faster)
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of the salt, 1 teaspoon of the pepper, the paprika and the garlic powder to a small bowl. Stir to combine. Rub the mix on the chicken pieces.
3. Combine the ketchup, Worcestershire, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice and the remaining 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes.
4. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan. In batches, add the chicken to the hot pan and cook until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the browned chicken pieces to the prepared baking sheet. Add 1/2 cup of the prepared bbq sauce to a small bowl and brush over both sides of the chicken. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and brush with additional sauce and serve the remaining sauce for dipping.

This is not my photo but it turned out looking pretty similar!

Corn on the Cob with Jalapeno Lime Aioli Sauce

I made a lot of modifications to this to make it easier but I will list my modifications next to the original instructions.

Ingredients for the Corn:

• 4 ears of fresh corn, with both husk and threads removed (I bought the small frozen corn on the cob and used four which gave me extra aioli sauce for leftovers today with canned corn.  Since I did not grill my corn I did not need the remaining ingredients, for the corn.)
• Olive oil to brush
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• A pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Ingredients for the Aioli Sauce:

• 1 jalapeño chile, stem removed, deseeded, and chopped (I used 2 Tablespoons chopped jalapenos from a jar.  It was just spicy enough for us.)
• 1-1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• Salt to taste
• A pinch of  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (for smokiness)
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• Shredded Parmesan cheese (I did not use the cheese only because I forgot.)
• Chopped fresh cilantro to garnish (I did not use this because I did not have it but think it would be a great addition!)

Directions:

The recipe I followed had step by step directions on how to grill corn on the cob on the grill.  If you are interested you can click here for the directions.  I followed the directions on the package and just cooked the corn in the microwave - easy peasy!

For the sauce:

Place all the ingredients, except the cheese and cilantro, in a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth.  Drizzle aioli over the grilled corn cobs, and sprinkle on top with Parmesan cheese.  Garnish with the chopped cilantro, if desired.

Enjoy!

~Jewels*

Stand Firm

The closer you get to Jesus the more important you become to the enemy (Satan).  I have noticed this time and time again in my life and honestly, it has prevented me from wanting to deepen my relationship with God because I know that Satan will be right there to throw up a trial, an obstacle or a hardship. 

I can remember starting a devotional in the past and all of a sudden Garrett and I were fighting like crazy.  I put down the devotional and things got back to normal.  This happened on more than one occasion. 

I can remember all the lies that went through my head about why we shouldn't adopt Ethan...but that time I didn't give up.  Because God gave me confirmation that this is what He wanted for us and I soon realized those lies were not at all from God.  God showed me through the adoption process that the most important thing I could do was to trust Him and have faith.  I remember constantly coming across this scripture (Psalm 46:10) in the process.

Our pastor spoke about this specific topic at a class this past Sunday night and these are a couple of the verses he referenced.

Some of the most faithful Christians I know have been through trial after trial.  They have experienced abuse, death, major illness, addiction, depression, infidelity, poverty and loss.  And through it all they have stood firm in their faith.

 

I have learned to not be fearful of the enemy because God will always prevail!  Here are some of my favorite verses talking about the power God gives us to defeat the enemy.

 

“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” ~Luke 10:19

 

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” ~James 4:7

 

How do we stand firm in our faith?  We put on the full armour of God!

 

 

Today I encourage you to not let anything prevent you from deepening your relationship with God.  He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).  No matter what trial you face He will be with you every step of the way. 

 

I would rather go through a hundred trials with Jesus than none without Him.

 

I refuse to delay my spiritual growth because of fear.  I want to be the woman God calls me to be. 

 



~Jewels*