A Scolding!

So one of my friends turned 35 today, and to celebrate her husband treated several of us to lunch at Lola's here in Nixa last Saturday!! We were so excited to start celebrating early, and it is always fun to have lunch with a group of girls on a Saturday afternoon! :):) There were 5 of us girls and we had a BLAST!!! I was the youngest of the group and the oldest "girl" was 76! :) She was a dear friend of the birthday girl and we loved having her with us!! I hope that when I am 76 I am as joy-filled and happy as she is! :) Anyway, we were all so excited to have some girl time, we were chatting and laughing and really having a great time!! We didn't think we were being too loud or overly annoying, the restaurant was full of families and groups of friends!! It was a beautiful day and everyone was out enjoying it!! Well, I suppose we were enjoying ourselves too much!!! :) About halfway into our lunch, an older lady walked over to our table (several of us thought she was coming to talk with our 76 year old friend) and said in a very stern voice "Girls, you need to keep it down, you are all being too rowdy and loud!" WHAT?!?! We all just looked at each other in astonishment as she returned to her seat!! Did she really just scold a group of 30 year old women (plus one 76 year old???) We were in shock! My dear friend Amy (the birthday girl) was totally un-nerved! She called our waitress over to our table and asked her to add that lady's tab to our bill!! She said she wanted to spread some JOY to her life! :) I was so impressed with how my friend handled the situation, I was totally still shocked, and a little ticked off, BUT, Amy was calm, cool and collected! She wanted to shower her with JOY!! Needless to say, after she found out we had paid her bill, the lady came back over to our table and apologized for being too stern and thanked the table for paying for her meal!! That led us into an awesome conversation about how people really do need to SEE and FEEL people's JOY! Joy is indeed contagious and when you have true JOY, it shows!! It was an awesome lesson, totally unexpected, but great!! :) THANKS Amy, for a spunky fun lunch!! :)

12 1/2 Months

If you would have told me when I first got married I would have had 2 kids by the time Wyatt and I had been married for just 5 years, I might have laughed at you!! Not because I didn't want kiddos or because I was trying to be mean, Wyatt and I just had a "plan" for our life together!! He was getting ready to start at one of the top 10 accounting firms in the world and I was happy being a nanny full time!! We lived in a small (but lovely) duplex and were anxiously awaiting buying our first house! Kiddos were on the radar for year 5... or after!! :) Ha ha! God's certainly had other things in mind for the Jenkins family!! Of course many of you know our kiddos are only 12 1/2 months a part! When our precious little Maddie was just 3 months old, I found out I was pregnant again!! "Holy Moly" was all I could say for days, and I only told my closest friends that I was pregnant for about a month!!!

Today, I absolutely cannot imagine life being ANY different!! The first year was very difficult, but it wasn't just hard having two kiddos close in age, it was God working on my heart!! I had become SO complacent with my relationship with Him, He was using everything He could to draw my eyes back to Him! He taught me so much about my heart and how it was covered in yuck! He knocked me to my knee's and gently lifted my eyes to Him! There were some pretty intense days of me sobbing at His feet, wondering how I was going to get through another day as my husband worked 12-14 hours and I had two babies to care for!!! Oh, how I remember those days, and I am so thankful for how God pulled me through them kicking and screaming! :) Of course I still have days where I feel overwhelmed, but not nearly like those early days!! I praise God for His faithfulness and steadfastness!! :) THANK YOU Father for taking care of us and for never giving up on my heart!!!

I love my little M and Z! They are SO much fun! I absolutely LOVE the ages that they are at right now! We have so much fun together every single day...we can be hanging out at home having fun, playing at the park together having fun, eating out together having fun, enjoying a play date together having fun...you name it, we do it with joy-filled and happy hearts!! We are so bonded together, it is a wonderful blessing!! Wyatt took Friday off from work this past weekend so we had a 4 day weekend together and it was amazing!! We had the perfect mix of family time and friend time...AWESOME!! One evening Wyatt and I were sitting out on our deck and he asked me why I thought our little family was so close! I told him I think it is because he allows me to stay at home with our two kids!! Our life (finances) would look MUCH different if I worked, but we are willing to sacrifice for me to stay at home with them! I think that it is the key to the closeness of our family!! Maddie and Zack are truly the best of friends, they keep a close watch on each other and they love to laugh together!! They play together at home and when we are out a other peoples' homes! I think that is so special!! I wondered how they would feel about each other, being opposite sexes, but they couldn't be any closer!! It is Wyatt and my hope and prayer that they always stay close and involved in each others' lives!! This past weekend we were at the park with some friends and one of the husbands came over to me and said, "Do your kids always play this well together?" I said, "Yep, they really enjoy each others' company!" He said, "They are two of the most obedient and happy 2 and 3 year old I have ever seen!" My heart swelled with JOY (ok, ok and pride:):)) I am SO proud of them!! :):) God has a hold of their hearts and it is evident in the way they treat each other and their friends!!

*****Now, please do NOT get me wrong, they aren't perfect, we certainly have our days of dis-obedience and grumpi-ness, but they, like me are a work in progress! But I am thankful that God is continually working in their hearts and minds!!!******

I am so thankful for God's perfect timing in all areas of our lives!! He is SO good to us and we are continually humbled by the way He lavishes His love on us!!