Whew! It’s been awhile friends and family and I am sorry for that. But, alas, I am here again and hopefully you all haven’t given up on us or our story. Anyhoo, we were down for awhile but are back at it and fired up to keep on keepin’ on.
We have spent the last month hanging and rejuvenating. It is hard to break the cycle of habits. We have found ourselves in sunny Arizona but have also found ourselves in classic hibernation. We come from an area that has distinct seasons. With our migration to an area that does not have these same seasons we were a bit surprised to find that our body clocks still expect to experience seasons. Specifically, winter. Our mental process this last six weeks has been of people who retreat into their snowy dens waiting for the first signs of spring. We find ourselves slowly getting going in the morning and when we finally do we are pleasantly “surprised” by the sun shining bright. Every morning. Every morning we slowly get going and are surprised by the sun. Every morning. What is that about? It is a testimony to how our surroundings impact our core and we don’t even know it is happening. We are like the behavioral experiment of the bugs in the jar. Leave the lid on and watch them jump consistently into the lid only to find they can’t get out. Take the lid off and find that the same bugs can’t get out because of their mental training to respond to the limitations of their environment. Praise the Lord and His patience. We are done being bugs.
We are headed for New Mexico in April. Unless we end up with a spring contract, which could very well happen. But, for now we are headed to New Mexico to be part of Habitat for Humanity. We are officially signed on with a specific group of volunteers that travel the U.S. building houses for families. We have explored this avenue previously but only kept it in the back of our minds. The timing wasn’t right. The timing wasn’t God’s. We understand the details of some of the timing process but not all of the details so it isn’t really worth much discussion. The simple fact of the matter is the timing wasn’t right. In the past this has been Jeramie’s service ministry. He is the builder. We have already discussed in earlier posts that I am not the builder. However, it is my ministry as well in the simple fact that we are a family on the road to serve people so I am here to aid and assist my husband in any journey we venture on. Besides. I get to meet new people. And that makes me a happy servant.
People. I am happiest when I am around people. I LOVE meeting new people. In fact, my kids are completely in tune to my love to meet new people. We were in Starbucks the other day and I was having a conversation with another “new friend” a.k.a. the lady standing behind me, when I over heard my kids having their own conversation. “Mom made a new friend” Lexi shared with Andon, “I know. Mom makes new friends everywhere she goes” Andon piped back almost like it is a bit more of an annoyance than anything. It has begun. I officially irritate my kids in public. Don’t let them fool you though, I think they are secretly more irritated that they are not the ones having the conversation rather than having to stand by patiently. They are themselves giant people-people. I am a giant people person. It is who God made me to be. As I said earlier, Jeramie and I had been praying for a ministry to serve. Jeramie loves to build. He gets Habitat for Humanity. I love people. I get….
To go back to school? Yes friends and family, I am going back to school. I know, been there done that and now I am at home with my babies and why in the world do I want to go back to school? Why would I go back to school when I am not searching for a career? Because I want to explore this as a new ministry that God might have for me. I am going back to school for Massage Therapy. I am not going back to school to enhance my career. I am not even concerned if I ever earn any money for this service. I am not searching for a new skill set to prepare me for the work force and to be honest I don’t even really want to go to school at all. It gives me a reason to be one on one with people, specifically, women. It gives me an avenue to create relationships with women. It has been put on my heart to offer this service to women that I meet, other moms who need a little catering to, other women who need the chance to relax for just a moment and breathe. And it is something that will complement my husbands ministry. I wanted to go to school for it back before I met Jeramie and the timing wasn’t right. I have always held it in the back of my mind. You know, the “I have always wanted to do that” thought. Not the “I have always wanted to do that” thought that consumes you. This thought doesn’t even own any mental real estate on a very frequent level. But it has always been there.
We also hope to take part in a program that exchanges volunteer work on an organic farm for “housing” or in our case a place to stop the RV. It will give us the perfect experience for tangible practice of all of the plant life science that we have been learning in school lately. What an amazing experience to grow, cultivate and be surrounded by God’s creation. Oh, and we get to eat some of it to. I am a little excited. We aren’t exactly sure when that will manifest because we are planning only a few weeks out at a time (since our work gives us only 48 hours to arrive to our deployed destination) but it is on the list for sometime. The sometime is up to God and we are good with that. Because when God says now, than now will be the right time.
We have also penciled in a mission trip of service to Colombia. Our dates are fuzzy but to miss out on the opportunity to serve widows and orphans would be a severe dis-service to God, the remnants of these families, our friends and ourselves. Our dear friends back in Central Oregon have been called to serve in Colombia with their beautiful family of seven along with another entire family to organize, plant, manage and serve in an orphanage. Check out their blog at ColombiaGraceFoundation.blogspot.com. Stacy has assigned me 5 am goat milking and chicken coop cleaning which I will be happy to do! We will wait patiently for God to line up the dates but until then our suitcases are packed and stored in the coach basement for easy readiness when He does finalize the dates.
While on this mini period of rest I have had a moment of panic. We have had a few bullets regarding the socialization of our kids…again. And again I had to retreat and re-evaluate what our journey is all about. And again I entertained the thought that we might be denying our kids opportunities. And again I was reminded that I am not suppose to raise my kids the way our culture says we are suppose to raise our kids. And again it has been confirmed that we have been called to travel and serve people. I, for a moment, thought it might be time to go home and settle down. But….just for a moment. Again, praise the Lord for His mercy in dealing with me gently. One day we will settle again, but not today, probably not even this year.
Gods timing has given us a chance to hibernate and energize. We needed to be caught in the habit of wintering out so that we could be reminded why we are doing what we are doing. The winter season is, as we know it, a quiet season. It is during these quiet seasons that we are to rest because God is hard at work. He has been hard at work preparing our path so that we can hit the ground running.
Final lesson learned. We are the Jennings. We are not bugs. We do things Gods way, not the worlds. Even learning these simple lessons is all part of Gods timing. Our culture has us trained to expect immediate action but God's culture requires us to be still, listen deeply and wait for His answer. Sometimes it takes a few months, sometimes it takes a few years, sometimes the answer is instant and sometimes the answer is not now. No matter how long Gods timing takes, Gods timing is always perfect and until He reveals some of these answers we will keep on keepin'on.
