Robert

Since I took a bit of a blog hiatus there, I'm thinking maybe I should get everything back up to speed one family member at a time.

We'll start with our ever loved patriarch, Robert Jones.

Well, he started back to class the last week of September, and he has been pretty much in the library since then. The man studies all the time. He's down there now as I type. He comes up for dinner, helps me get the girls in bed, and then usually goes back down for more study. I'm usually the Jezebel that says, "Well, hurry UP so you can come watch Downton Abbey with ME in an hour!!"

Yes, her legs look crooked because it's on completely backward... BUT she was happy!

I just couldn't be more proud of him. He's overwhelmed but learning lots. He frequently makes comments like "I'm just beginning to understand these things... Seminary hasn't given me all the answers, but given me lots of tools to study the never-ending depths of God's word..." It's like he's only peeked behind a little door leading to the Himalayans.

If there's one perk of being a pastor's wife, and there are many contrary to what my 20-year-old-self thought, it's that I get to watch this unfold. I get to be the one he comes home to and rehashes all the fascinating things he's been discussing. It's a privilege.

Putting up the Christmas tree with the big girls

He's also had preached several times, which has added to his academic burden, but has been encouraging to both the hearers and Robert. His sermon prep has been even more rigorous since starting seminary - maybe knowing more makes you more afraid of saying something heretical :)

Enjoying a muddy game of football with the LTS guys

And did I mention that in his spare time this man PASSED the UK driving test?! And ya'll, this thing is intense - there's a written examination and then a driving practical. We celebrated his passing with a trip to our favorite burger place. It's gooooood.

"D" for Driver!

The cruel irony is that we were car-less a week later when our car utterly failed the road worthy test. But, as I mentioned in our Thanksgiving post, God has been so gracious in providing the needed repairs and we are back up and running!

We've also been praying hard about the next step for our family, and we'd love for you to pray with us in this regard. We're praying for God to clearly guide us to the right position in the right place for next summer, and that we would wait well for God's direction with peace and thanksgiving.

He still has time for kisses

PS - He also turned 33. What a hunk. He really does get better looking with age (and I don't mean because I love him/know him more, I mean this in a totally surface way). I just don't think he's reached his peak yet!

Opening 8,000,000 birthday letters from his girls (they just have lots to say!)

We're so thankful for this man. What would we do without him??

Thanksgiving

We're into the Christmas season already, but I wanted to take a moment and reflect on our Thanksgiving.

So, though I know this will come as a shock, the fourth Thursday in November means nothing to anyone outside of North America :) This was honestly difficult for me to wrap my mind around last year.

Thankfully (hah!) for us, LTS had a Thanksgiving celebration last year and then another this year. Such good food, good friends and good fun - everything Thanksgiving should be.

I'm hungry again just thinking about it.

We also had planned for months to repeat our Bury St. Edmunds trip from last year. Then the Tuesday before we were to leave, Ellie Belle came down with a pretty high fever.... and it stayed for 6 days! So, we missed our big meal Friday night, but decided Ellie was well enough to salvage some of the weekend, and we drove down on Saturday. Somehow Kristen magically still managed to produce an AMAZING Thanksgiving lunch for us.

After lunch, Robert and I headed into town to enjoy some of the sights from the fair. It's just so very festive with lights and booths and food stalls blanketing the abbey grounds.

We enjoyed our time walking around while Kristen kept our big girls for us. We brought this little cutie along:

After Robert preached on Sunday morning we headed home to London, thankful for such a sweet time with good friends.

We've been memorizing a couple of Bible verses with the girls and we picked a passage for this month on - you guessed it - Thanksgiving. But, wouldn't you know it, it's amazing how these verses we're teaching our children come to bear so profoundly on our own hearts. Robert and I have struggled often this month to be thankful amidst the pressure of life compounded by car trouble. How quickly we can forget the Lord's mighty provision and turn our eyes inward and onto our circumstances! But God has been faithful to lead us into his courts with thanksgiving time and time again. And he mercifully answered our (and many of YOUR) prayers for us in providing the repairs needed through generous friends to get our car up and running again.

He IS good and his love DOES endure forever. Let us praise his name together!

Unca

My family is gathered today in Florida today to celebrate the life of a very special man, my Uncle James. There is so much to be said for the outstanding and influential life he led. To be sure, he was a great and gifted man.

But for me, even more than his community accolades, I knew him as the loving and generous uncle who made the best banana splits. The one who opened his heart and home to us and took a vested interest in each of our lives. The man who loved my aunt fiercely and joined her in spoiling us absolutely rotten when we came for visits.

He was a hard worker and he gave well. I have so many memories tied up with this caring, thoughtful, true gift of an uncle (or "Unca" as we called him) and I so wish I could have been there today to join in the crowds thanking God for him and celebrating his life.

 

I'm so thankful for those I know are praying for our family as we say good-bye.

Your Grace is Enough

It was emphasized in an LTS Wives Seminar last week...

It was sung with tears on Sunday morning...

It's come to mind OFTEN through car trouble, fevers & sick days, multiple night feeds (still), and waking up to dishes in the sink...

His Grace is enough.

Does that sound trite and dismissive? I don't mean for it to. It's just true. It's just exactly what I've needed to know and remember these last few weeks.

His Grace is enough. It reminds me that He hears me, He sees me, He knows my troubles, He cares and He is able. I remember He has brought me out of the depths, He has paid for and forgiven all the things I do wrong and He sees me in the goodness of Jesus. And it's good that I say in desperation "I CAN'T DO THIS! IT'S TOO HARD!" because He can, He's never tired, and He is carrying me.

His Grace is enough. And, as Mary Poppins says, "Enough is as good as a feast."

We studied Psalm 34 in our Life Group last night:

Psalm 34:8-10 & 15
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
    for those who fear him lack nothing.
¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry

His ears are attentive to my cry. How humbling -- God hears ME?! How comforting -- God HEARS me?! That's cause for real Thanksgiving.

We're still hanging in there - the blog silence hasn't all been due to the craziness around here :) A lot of it was letting it go a couple weeks and not knowing how to get back into it.

Updates on each member of the Jones clan coming soon. And I'll leave you with a giggle from the littlest Jones:

Conference & Oxford

It wasn't long after we came back from that preaching assignment out west that we were headed back west again - this time to attend a conference with our church.

We were challenged with lots of good teaching, were encouraged in worship and time with friends, and enjoyed lots of family fun in between.

The girls loved the bouncy castle...

...not to be confused with the Mickey Mouse bouncy slide.

There was face painting...

... and MORE face painting!

There were lots of nice chats with friends around meals.

And there was a movie... Frozen, of course!

We traveled with some of friends we've gained at LTS - Alex (Robert's classmate), Lucy and boys, Finn & Henry. They're just great people - the kind of people you'd want to brave a long journey of long days and little kids with. Lucy, wife and mother extraordinare, made lunch for ALL of us EVERY single day... and she has a 2 year old and a 4 month old... I'll rest my case right there.

So after leaving the conference, we went to our increasingly favorite UK destination: Oxford. We braved a rainy day (I'm sure no courage was needed for our companion family - see paragraph above!) and enjoyed a morning at the Natural History Museum.

Finn had a special connection with this stuffed pony - we kept finding him here!

Then Lucy and her sister-in-law watched all of their children plus my two big girls so that Robert and I could get an insider's tour of Christ College, Oxford from Alex who was a student there. It was beautiful and interesting and fancy and I felt smarter just being on the campus :)

Alex & Robert with the campus and cathedral in the background

The Harry Potter dining room! And also the Christ College dining facility apparently...

We had such a wonderful time at the conference and in Oxford... partially for the content of the trip, but mainly for the company!

On Preaching Assignment

I started this post weeks ago and am just now getting around to finishing it! It's been a busy summer and I've honestly felt a little scattered and frantic through it all. It's also been a great summer full of family memories - a few of which I want to record here over the next few posts.

The first week and a half of August we were in a little town near Bath while Robert was on preaching assignment. He was filling in for a pastor going on holiday. We stayed in the manse, made sure the church didn't burn down, and Robert preached in the Sunday morning and evening and midweek services.

It was lovely to say the least - lovely church, lovely people, and a lovely part of the country. Our time away was a mix of adventure and study time... I got most of the adventure and Robert got most of the studying =)

At the manse - Meg on a "rocking sheep"

At the manse - Samantha in her bed (we take this thing everywhere!)

We did venture out several afternoons - especially since we met the sweetest family (also with 3 girls) to tag along with! It was one of those magical times when you meet another family with similar humor and stage in life AND your kids just happen to instantly love each other!! When this happens, you make the most of it - and we did! One day we all went to Lacock, an English village with buildings preserved from as old as the 14th century. Lots of those beloved period pieces have been filmed here.

Inside Lacock Abbey, founded in 13th century

Picnic time at a nearby park

Another day we took the girls over to our new friends' house to play and for a long walk.

we found horses :)

I could have just eaten this little one up in one bite!

One night we got to have ALL the girls over while their mom & dad had a little date.

Lots of girls = lots of fun

Watching Frozen, of course!

Baby buddies!

At the end of our time there, we picked up some weary travelers:

Our long lost friends, Sarah and Tommy! Are they the cutest couple ever or what?! Notice Ellie in the picture... our girls couldn't get enough of these two!

We took Sarah and Tommy to our favorite places we found: The White Horse and Bradford on Avon.

The White Horse was just that... a huge white horse sculpted into the side of a mountain!

We felt on top of the world!

What a view!

Little picnic... in the wind and threatening rain!

Then on to Bradford on Avon, with 1,000 year old churches and just the most beautiful, historic tea room you've ever seen.

Then it was time to head back to the big city!

In front of Buckingham Palace

A little treat down by the river

All I can say is our time away was sweet and full. Robert was encouraged with the opportunity to preach and we were encouraged for the hearing. We loved making new friends and spending those precious moments with our old ones.

*** Quick edit - I wanted to record the passage Robert preached on:

Matthew 13:44-52

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had a bought the field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearly. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. 

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fisherman pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw then into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 'Have you understood all these things?' Jesus asked. 'Yes,' they replied. He said to them, 'Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.'"

It's a glorious and sobering reminder of the treasure we have!

Number 9, So Glad Your Mine!

Happy Anniversary to my main man!

... to my main squeeze!

... to my partner in crime for 9 short years!

From the top of the mountain...

... to the sandy shore...

... there's NO ONE I'd want to share life with more!

It's been a wild year, my love, and today we'd probably rather be catching up on sleep than on an adventure =) But in the highs and lows you've always been my steady.

Thank you for loving me so well.