on schools in a note to a friend

schools are a reflection of our human condition.  they are a petri dish of our world. they are beautiful and they are ugly..beautiful because in public and in private there are teachers that love children and want to serve kids and one another..but ugly because both have their problems and issues..both have flaws too numerous..and we can not fix them on our own..and when you really get into them and get dirty in them...teaching or volunteering...you will see them as they really are and they will make you long for Jesus.

the school puzzle is an unsolvable puzzle on this side of heaven...made me want to despair as an educator. and probably feels similar as a parent trying to find a place to send your child.

focus on the truth..the simple. there is no despair in Christ. He can take any bleak situation and make light..He can work all things for His glory.

remember our soul/sole purpose on this earth is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Reed

Jesus was a "reed in non-essentials--an iron pillar of essentials".--John Newton

non-essentials would include but certainly not be limited to:

Whether you decide to home school your child, send your child to be educated at the local public school or pay for your child to be educated at a private or parochial school.

getting a shower daily

Choosing to send your toddler to preschool, or choosing to keep your toddler home for early learning.

Owning or not owning an iphone.

Having a house with a basement or opting out of one..

putting your baby in cloth diapers or making the decision just use disposables 

choosing to wear or not to wear underwear.

putting your children in sports/other extra activities or keeping them at home in the evenings

shaving your legs or not shaving your legs

owning a mini-van or owning a compact car with two kids

our family was just put here in this place to help you practice your best "reed"...

acts 17

23 So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[c]

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

It just doesn't get much more clearly stated.

reflection

ok...so going over the last couple of posts in my mind as i fed my 8m old at 330a to try to get the teething boy to calm down..i thought..."i hope i am not giving off an 'ive got it all figured out' vibe to my reader...cute hair, fun activities with jackson, no struggles...etc.

please don't go there...and if you have already gone there, please repent.

cute hair because i was obsessing about myself...couldn't stop thinking about it getting too poofy..vanity.

fun activities because about a week ago jack asked if i thought jackson was bored at home and needed more structure...knife to chest motion...decided to amp up the activity level to one learning thing per day..nothing 'mom of the year' worthy.

no struggles? i wish...right now the one that is on my mind is the struggle of wanting to be 'easy to swallow' vs. wanting to be the bearer of the Gospel.  my struggle is, do i ever really speak truth?..and when i don't speak truth, i wonder if it was a correct time to hold back..then thinking that all of this gospel spreading is dependent on me..of course the Lord doesn't need me to speak His word, but He is choosing to use me...sinner me...imperfect me...scared me...so i ruin the joy that goes with friendships by over-analyzing some seconds and under-speaking other seconds..


Romans 12:11-13
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.

a week in the life

I don't normally write posts about daily life..but i had some great pictures so i thought it  would be a great opportunity to share some days with you...this is ryan j during playgroup...it is 30 degrees out and he has fallen asleep in the swing.

one night per week we go to a neighbor friend's house and have an evening playdate. both her and the other neighbor who comes work full time, so they have playdates at 6. We eat dinner together and then play. this is the 3 of them playing hide-and-go-seek. Jackson would keep popping up when we would come to look for them..lol

ryan j sleeping again at playgroup..this time we chose a diff swing that would support his head.

since we have chosen not to put jackson in any kind of preschool until 4 year old pre-k, i am working with him on his letters. this week we learned "J"..and he is starting to like writing/drawing, which is a big change from a month ago. my fave "j" picture is the "jumping man"..lol his legs are disconnected at the knee to show he is jumping.

my robin hood. we found the picture of robin hood on-line and we created a costume out of clothes in everyone's closet..he loved it..

until he looked in the mirror..and saw that he didn't look authentic enough...and then he had a tantrum. (just keeping it real folks..) and he didn't want me to take any pictures of him having a tantrum..so he did this.

another day we played in jack's shaving cream and made letters..well, i made letters and jackson made footprints and hand prints...hey, i tried...don't tell daddy we used his shaving cream..

this is my little drummer boy..lol

making banana bread for daddy..jackson's favorite thing to make. he knows what comes next without me reading the recipe.

we leave out the nuts and the sugar, and instead of butter use oil..and it is so yummy!

this is jackson reading to ryan j..telling him about dangerous bugs.

my job is the best job on the planet...not the easiest..probably the hardest..but the most rewarding!

the long and the short of it

the haircut is pretty great if you can go 5 months and it still looks pretty great!

wasn't crazy about this side..

the front was cute still though..

The back was horrible...

after the haircut..much better..

i.love.sarah.

love the back now too..

Ezekiel 16

4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”[a] 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.

8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck,12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Amazing Love! The Lord is always at work transforming His children.

a sunday morning reflection...

..and our christmas letter.

The status updates on each member of our family today:

Jack loves his teaching job at UGA and enjoys fathering his two boys.

Heather has so much joy in this season of her life as she mothers Ryan Jefferson and Jackson.

Jackson loves leafing through toy magazines and watching “Jake and the Never Land Pirates”.

Ryan Jefferson is a dream baby who loves to snuggle and eats/sleeps like a champ.

However, status updates can be so deceiving because life circumstances change; and how we feel about our lives is constantly shifting. By the time you read this letter, Jackson may think magazines are boring and Ryan J may be waking up 3 times at night. (we sure hope not!)

The intent of our Christmas letter this year is to focus on the things in life that never change. God spoke and the mountains appeared, separating the vast expanse of water...He is creator. God sent his Son to be born of a woman and walk the earth for 30 years loving and teaching His creation...He is Father. God called his son to die as a man on a cross and conquer death and the powers of hell on our behalf, so that we could live with Him in heaven forever...He is redeemer. God is living and active in our lives always loving us fiercely and fighting on our behalf to bring glory to Himself...He is sustainer. We wish for nothing more than for you and yours to know the unchanging God we serve.

Thank you for being a support to our family. Please join with the Morse family as we pray for hearts that would be less concerned with our always changing circumstances and more concerned with having a heart that is oriented towards God.

His Grace motivates,

Jack, Heather, Jackson and Ryan Jefferson

Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Heavenly Lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created.

James 1:16-18

spit up

yes, i am very aware of the spit up coming out of my ryan j's mouth in the picture above...that is why i posted it to my blog :)

a fun grocery list format..you just fill in the boxes..and this is the order that i walk through walmart on my grocery trip.

Non-Grocery Items/pharmacy/household	Produce
Cans and Boxes	Frozen foods
Crackers/Cookies/Coffees/Gum/Choc Syrup/Beer
Dairy	Special events/meals/foods:
Eggs/Butter
Meats	Other grocery stores:

testifying that a little order can go a long way

ok, so monday..let's just say that I wouldn't have gotten mom of the year...

Jackson still does room time (even though he doesn't sleep) and on monday room time ended poorly..I was mad at jackson for being bored and coming out every 30 seconds to ask me a question..i was mad at jack for not coming home the second he said he would be home...but most of all, i was mad at myself for getting NOTHING done during a 3 and a half hour room time. well, besides reading blogs and reading status updates..waste.of.time.

so, since Monday was a low point of my week, Jack asked a question that prompted me (the Holy Spirit) to make some changes. His question really didn't relate to the action plan..but it got me thinking..

his question: "do you think Jackson needs to go to some sort of structured program?"

my thoughts: no..surely jackson doesn't need to go to school..he will be in school his whole life..this is my time with him..but he is acting bored at home..for goodness sakes..i am a school teacher..surely i can figure out how to take the boredom out of his day and make him more stimulated...i think i need to shorten his room time..wait, i can't do that..i don't have enough time as it is..well you would have enough time if you didn't get on facebook at the beginning of the room time..well let's make a schedule for what I will do during room time and stick to it..

now notice how the Spirit used a question from my wise hubby to get me to a place of repentance..ie..turning from my sin (laziness)...

revised plan:
first i have been taking ryan j upstairs and putting him down, then i spend about 30 minutes with Jackson doing a craft (painting is what he has chosen the past few days)..then i read him a story and send him upstairs..I decided room time should be no more than 2 hours..so tues-thurs i have timed it...also decided to start my quiet time with a devotional time for 30 minutes then a workout with jillian time for 30 min..the other hour is flexible and most importantly, it is second.

this.has.been.revolutionary.

the time with jackson has been so rich for us..the time away from jackson has been so rich for me with the Lord and with my body and with our home...

the truth of the bible stands.
1cor 14:40 Everything must be done in a fitting and orderly way.
Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Eccl 8:5-6 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.

alive

i am alive over here..living life..

i have noticed a trend of having stuff to say..going to my blog reader...reading blogs for an hour...getting tired...no longer having anything to say.

needless to say, this doesn't help my blog posting aspirations.

i desire to blog more, work out every day, eat more fruits and veggies, and read more of my bible..oh and drink more water.

but until then, upstairs..i have a 3 year old banging on the walls...and an 8 month old whimpering to get breakfast, a dad on his way to see me from Florida, a mother-in-law on her way to deliver a new desk to my house..

and, most importantly, a Heavenly Father who is at work in the midst of all of this and loves me fiercely, unconditionally, and forever.