Happy Halloween!

We dressed up at work today. I was a "southerner" because they make fun of me all the time for being from the south. I was also trying to represent UGA since they play Florida in a big game tomorrow. Below is a picture of me and my friend Brandi and then most of our office. Have a great weekend!

A Beautiful Day

Don't you just love those beautiful "Indian Summer" days that God gives us? It had started to get really chilly here - Michael and I finally had to turn our heat on at the first of last week. It was dreary and rainy yesterday, and then today has been GLORIOUS! I went for a walk earlier today and took some pictures. Some of them look fake, but they are all real, and this is where God has allowed me to live for this time in my life. How lucky am I??! Enjoy the pictures, and I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Baltimore Bound

As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, there is some crazy, exciting, scary news for the Jones family. My parents, after much thought and prayer, have decided to move to Baltimore. When my Mom and I were here earlier in the spring, I would have never imagined they would be living in the same city by the end of the year! I guess it just goes to show that we never know what God has in store for us.

My Dad has accepted a job with a printing company there, and he is very excited about the opportunities that he will have to impact a plant, get to know new people, and experience a new city and culture. I am thrilled for my parents as they embark on this adventure. When they were in their early 20's, they were raising me and my brothers, and we were much of their adventure. I am thankful that now that we're all out on our own and such great people :) they now have the opportunity to share some of those adventures together that they maybe couldn't do early in their marriage. I believe God is going to use this in great ways in their lives as they learn to trust Him in new ways and see their worlds expand.

Is it bittersweet? Yes, of course. Georgia has been all of our homes for most of our lives, and our family and dearest friends are there. There will be sadness as they leave, and there are many adjustments ahead. It's been a little hard for me to think about them not being there anymore. But if there's one thing I've learned in moving here, it's this: God is present all over the world, and when we're willing to follow wherever He leads - even if it's scary or difficult - He expands our worlds and changes our lives in ways we can't even imagine. As much as we want to hold on tightly to people or places or security in this world, He is the only One who will never change.

So in this time of transition, we would all appreciate your prayers. My dad will be living in Baltimore and he and my mom will take turns flying back and forth on the weekends. Michael and I will be coming home to GA for Christmas, and then my mom will join my dad full time in Baltimore after the first of the year. You can keep up with them and their story by following my mom's newly created blog: http://www.hampandjill.blogspot.com

Pa and Ma - I'm proud of you for following God into the unknown, and I look forward to all that is in store for our family. Greater things are yet to come.... I love you!

I Love Ma!

Today is my Mom's birthday! YAY!!! I love birthdays!!! :) Happy birthday, Mum! I hope that you have had a most fabulous day celebrating your birth.

I just wanted to take a moment on my blog to say how thankful I am for my Mom. God really outdid Himself when He gave me the two parents that He did. My mom has been my kindred spirit and closest friend for all of my life, and I count that to be a huge blessing. I thank God often for giving me a mom who can also be a friend. She's introduced me to some of my favorite things in life, she gives great hugs, and she "gets" me. We've shared the best of times and the worst of times, and I love knowing I can talk to her about anything.

So, Mum....on this day that is your birthday, thanks for being an incredible woman of God, for loving well and with your whole heart, and for encouraging me in this journey. Our relationship is one of the things that makes me long to have a daughter of my own. I can't wait to see all that God has in store for you as you go through this next year, as we continue to learn that even when it doesn't look like how we thought it always would....well, God knows what He's doing! And He always brings beauty out of ashes. I LOVE YOU! :)

I Love Pa!

I love my Pa! :) I think that he is an incredible man of integrity and character, and I'm thankful that God made him my dad. I am proud to be Daddy's girl!

I have discovered in life that new beginnings can only occur when something comes to an end. Sometimes we are desperate for the chapter we're currently in to end and sometimes an ending is wrapping up what has been a really nice story. Tomorrow is my dad's last day at his current job of many years. God is in the process of directing his path for what comes next - much more to come on that soon. For now, I just want to say - enjoy your party!!! I am excited for you, proud of you, and honored to be your daughter. I love you!

Pictures From The Weekend

My Mum is safely home in Georgia, but we had a fantastic weekend together! It was a lot of fun, and while we got to enjoy many various activities, we also were able to relax some. We got to go to Maine, which I blogged about in an entry below. We went to Salem on Sat. and braved the Halloween madness to go to a knitting shop. We went to church and Rockport, and we even went shopping together and I found some new clothes!

I am so thankful for my Mom and the relationship that God has blessed us with. I love her so much and enjoy spending time with her. One of the hardest parts of living up here is being so far away from family and friends I have shared life with. I do appreciate the times we get to share much more now though. And we have so many ways we can stay connected! So come visit us anytime - we'd love to show you around! :) For now, here are some snapshots from our times together this past weekend. Love you Mum!

Learning To Knit

My Mom is teaching me to knit! Who knew?? :)

Here is a closeup of my new scarf that I am knitting for my brother in UGA colors.

I have had fun learning how to knit, and I'm looking forward to making some scarves and maybe learning how to make some socks and who knows what else. Something to do in the cold winter months, right?

My mom and I enjoyed hanging out in Rockport today after church and spending some time down on the rocks by my house. The weather has been perfect, and it's been such a treat to be able to spend time with her. There will be many pictures to come, but here's one from earlier this evening. Love you guys!

Portland In The Fall

Greetings from BEAUTIFUL New England where fall is in full swing. We are having gorgeous weather right now, which is a nice gift from God as Mum gets to enjoy her time hanging out with me and Ellie. Today, we decided to go try to look at leaves, and we were trying to decide whether we wanted to drive to Maine or New Hampshire for leaf peeping. We ended up driving up to Portland, Maine, and it was really cool. I didn't realize exactly how close I live to Maine, and it was fun to explore a new place. We spent most of our time on the coast, and the leaves weren't quite as bright there, but we did get to see absolutely amazing leaves on the drive up. Tons of reds, orange.... I wish you could all see it with your own eyes! Anyway, it's very nice to have some time to hang with my mom, and we're looking forward to the rest of the weekend. For now, here are some of the pictures from today.

Our first stop on the way to Portland was in York, ME.





We saw multiple lighthouses today, so here are some pictures of those.





Finally, I'll end with a few random pictures. The first is just a cliff I thought was pretty. Then we have a cute dog who was playing in the ocean. The last one is a picture we took while on the highway to try to convey what we got to see. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but maybe you can get an idea.



That's all for now. More to come soon!

Red Sox Playoff Game

I had an AWESOME time at the Red Sox game last night....even though they didn't clinch it while I was there. It was a lot of fun to be there and experience a playoff atmosphere in a park like that. If any of you are sports fans, you need to go to Fenway at some point in your lifetime. There is no ballpark like it.

I went with my friend (who is also my boss!) Leanne from work, and our seats were on the left field line, right by the green monster. We were in the front row, and the views were incredible. Here are a couple of them.


You'll have to pardon the fogginess of the photos. As it got later and later (yes, over a 5 hour game!!), it got colder and colder, and it was misty and fog rolled in. It was crazy. Our noses were running, and I figure sitting out in that for hours will either cure my cold or give me pneumonia.

I got in last night at 2am. :) I'm completely exhausted, and I hope this post makes sense, but I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to go experience a playoff game at Fenway. Maybe the Red Sox will reward my investment in them last night by clinching the Division Series tonight!!

My mom is coming for a visit on Thursday - yay! - so more posts will be forthcoming. Have a great week!

Go Red Sox!

Guess what??? Tomorrow night, I get to go to the Boston Red Sox playoff game!!! Because they won the first 2 games in Anaheim, if they win tomorrow, they will clinch the series and move on. So not only do I get to go to a playoff game at Fenway, but it could be a clinching game!! I am excited!

My boss at work has a brother that's a VP of some sort in the Red Sox organization. She got 2 free tickets from him and asked me if I wanted to go. Sick or not, how do you turn that down?? So tomorrow night, I'll be among the Fenway faithful cheering on the Red Sox. I'll take pictures and post them at the first of the week! Enjoy your weekend. :)

Thoughts To Ponder

Hi everyone. I am home sick today....bleh.... I had a fever yesterday - I think that is gone today, but I have a head cold and just feel pretty awful. I'm hoping a day of rest will help a lot!

Anyway, Michael and I have gotten very involved in our church here. He leads worship some, I play some and run sound, and we are both part of a leadership team for the worship team. I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to serve by doing things I love, and the people that I'm getting to share life with are awesome! We have a community group that meets once a week that is made of up those people who are involved in worship teams. I wanted to copy and paste the latest entry from that blog to show you what we are currently pondering and discussing. It's something that has been on my heart, and I'm curious as to your thoughts. It's kind of long, but I think you'll enjoy it. Leave a comment if you dare! :) Love you all....

"This week at Community Group, we are going to be answering a question that is similar but significantly different than the one we started with back in early September. Recall that we began with the Hebrews text that begins, "Let us throw off everything that hinders..." setting the stage for our conversation on barriers that keep us from experiencing a growing life with Christ.

We brainstormed together and came up with a number of barriers: time (or the lack thereof), priorities, lack of motivation, exhaustion, the need to "feel" close to God, the consumer culture in which we live, and more.

But in the few weeks that we have been discussing these issues, something else has emerged entirely... something that pushes us beyond these answers and towards something deeper and more significant. Each of these answers are real, yet while not meaning to diminish their importance or discount the extent to which they hinder our life with Christ, something deeper lays at the root of them all. It is a problem that I'd like to discuss with you all this week.

The problem is this: we all seem to know what we're supposed to do. We know we're supposed to spend time with Jesus in prayer, reading God's Word. We know we're supposed to stop sinning. We know we are supposed to get involved in God's great story of redemption, calling a broken world back to Him. We know we have to make time, set priorities, get motivated, devote energy, and resist the negative cultural influences around us. Look, studying more about setting priorities is not going to help. Discussing the mechanics of prayer will be fruitless. Even working through Bible Study techniques may be a waste of our time, for one simple but deeply disturbing reason: We all know what the answers are. We just don't want to do it.

Why the &*$%# not?

This Thursday, you are invited to a conversation behind the conversation. Our first attempts at discerning barriers to life with Christ were good and helpful in pointing us in the right direction, but (and you can kick back at me on this if you disagree) they were all on the surface. Something, perhaps many things, lay deeper in the murk of our souls; something that keeps us from living out and embracing life with Jesus to its full extent.

Are you satisfied with your current experience of life with Christ? Or do you find yourself wondering, "Is this all there is?" Do you find yourself doubting the validity of Christianity based on the dramatic lack of real world experience of the living God within you and among His people? Are you going through the motions, believing it to be true but failing to experience it in your life? Are you saved from sin and death, but while knowing what you've been saved from have you figured out how to grasp hold of what you're saved to ?

Here's our excerpt to discuss for this week. Short, but surprisingly revealing to those of us who have become overly-accustomed to this life of faith:

A happy Christian met a beggar one day, and said to him, "It's a grand thing to be saved."

"Aye," said the peddler, "It is. But I think I have something even better than that."

Incredulous, the Christian inquired, "What can you possibly have that is better than salvation?"

The beggar replied, "The companionship of He who hath saved me."

As I said, this week at Community Group, we are going to be answering a question that is similar but significantly different than the one we started with back in early September. The question we're asking is this: What's really going on that's keeping us from living with Jesus in the richness and fullness of faith? We all know what we're supposed to do; we just don't do it. Why not?"