jenschuyler

Associate/Youth Pastor's Wife, Life Lessons, Teens

Will I be in the Ghetto in Heaven Someday?

Posted on January 19, 2011 by jenschuyler

If Heaven has a ghetto, I think I’ll be living there. There seems to be plenty of evidence of reward and responsibility when we get to Heaven, based upon our service and devotion to Christ here in this life. Yet, whenever I ponder my Christianity I seem to come up so short, that it’s shameful and pitiful view. I see how I try to love and serve Gene (our semi-homeless friend). Yet, he seems to push my buttons sometimes. Then there’s Larry (our “special teen” –changed name) who does the same to me.

Gene left socks for me to launder for him. This isn’t the problem exactly. I offered to him long ago that I’d be willing to wash his clothes for him. Hoping it would be all of his clothes. However, he only brings me socks. And it’s only like once every three months or so. Well, he left some last week for me to clean. I hung them right inside my front door as I was in a hurry that morning. When I got home that afternoon, the girls were going to have a friend come over. We were doing a quick clean up before she arrived when I passed through my front hallway. “What died!” I exclaimed. Then I realized it was Genes socks. I quickly threw the bag out on the front porch and tried to detox my entryway. Still don’t know if the mom of the girl smelled it or not. So, I finally got them laundered and had to run some extra cycles with vinegar to clean out my machine. I decided then, that I was just going to stock up on socks, so whenever he brings them, I’ll just give him new ones. Anyway, I told him they were ready and I’d just stick them in his front door so he wouldn’t have to carry them around town all day. He made sure I would put them inside the storm door so nobody would steal them….blink…blink. Everything in me wanted to say, “Gene, there isn’t a rat in town that would want these babies.” But I refrained.

Then there’s Larry. We were to pick him up for the teen activity Monday. Instead, he did his usual of just showing up at the house right during crunch time. He and Gene, both, were on my front porch wanting coffee and to talk. I, meanwhile still had wet hair, girls who were having wardrobe crisis, and a 4 year old boy who still wasn’t dressed, all with 15 minutes until departure. I looked at Larry and said, “we’ll pick you up soon.” And to Gene, “here’s your coffee, but I can’t chat this morning.” To which he said ok, but continued to tell me what was on his mind.

Poor Larry, we did pick him up, but the teens were ruthless to him that day. It’s a hard thing with people like him. I totally understand how the teens can get frustrated, because he talks incessantly. Big, bold talk that cannot possibly be true sometimes. As much as he can be annoying, 2^nd man and I still love him and appreciate the spice he adds to life, but the kids can’t seem to balance that. They unscrewed the cap on the crushed peppers at the pizza place. When he went to get some the whole jar ended up on his pizza. Oh, he was not happy at all…who could blame him? Even I got a little impatient in the car while we were waiting back at the church to go home. He was telling me that he remembered a time when he was 3 years old when their car slipped on an icy bridge into the guardrail. I could work with this story, but he lost me when he spoke of how they all jumped out of the car just in time for the car to fall off the bridge into the icy waters below. Uh huh. It was then I excused myself to get 2^nd man hurried along and into the car.

I get so disappointed with the teens and how impatient they are, but I wonder how bad I behave as well. I want to love these guys like the Lord would. Then, I get put in these situations where I wonder how the Lord could? Then I wonder how he could love me too? I read on a friend’s facebook today a quote that I love: “Everyone has wisdom enough to manage the affairs of his neighbors.” -Benjamin Franklin. Isn’t it true that we can see other’s faults so much easier than our own? Ahhh, will I ever please the Lord? Or will I just be put in the corner ghetto of Heaven someday?

Life Lessons, My Interests

Goodbye Mrs. Trout

Posted on January 15, 2011 by jenschuyler

Today is the funeral of my sweet neighbor lady. Wednesday night her children were about to leave the hospital for the night and talked to her saying, “ Mom if you need to go, then go. Don’t hold on for us.” They barely made it back to the house and the phone was ringing with the call from the hospital.

I took a cake over to them and was able to talk with her kids a little while. Her son looks just like the Christian author, Max Lucado. Well, I guess that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, I know her son is a saved man and asked him if he could tell me if she had a relationship with the Lord. He believed that she had gotten saved at some time, but she just seemed to get more and more negative with age. The hurts in her life made her question the goodness of God. He even mentioned having very pointed conversations with her about it.

So, today we say goodbye to Mrs. Trout. I’m so going to miss visiting with her. It’s a filling experience to get to know older people beyond their frailness. To see where they came from and who they were in their prime. It’s so easy to just look at a little frail older lady and see this generic sweet demure, person. Then, when you dive in and hear their story you see this strong, spunky, full-of-life woman; a woman who was a journalist in her youth and had traveled the world with her husband. A woman who had been hurt deeply when her brother, and only sibling, was shot down in WWII. A woman who had agreed to live in her father-in-law’s funeral home when she was first married, but didn’t enjoy cleaning all of the bathrooms or having to keep her babies quiet. And one last mystery I never found out, a woman whose name was Joel. Now -a -days we hear unusual names all of the time, but for her generation, I found this an interesting name.

I’m Thankful to her son, Bill and her daughter, Elodie for allowing me the privilage of checking in with her since they live out of town. They are such a nice family and came every weekend to care for their mother. I pray I can have the opportunity to show as much care to my own parents when they get older. I also pray for their comfort at this time.

Her family is keeping the house for a little while, and asked us to keep an eye on things. The first thing I’m going to do come February is go over to her yard and get some branch cuttings from her forsythia bushes and force them in my livingroom. Every spring her beautiful yellow forsyhtia’s are the first news bearers of the new season and new life. (My mom’s always been sentimental about flowers and who gave them to her. I guess she passed it on to me). Anyway, this will be my loving tribute to my dear Mrs. Trout.

Daily Musings, Life Lessons

The Great Imploding Weekend

Posted on January 12, 2011February 2, 2013 by jenschuyler

All I can say is that this turned into the great imploding weekend. I felt like how these little dirt babies at left, look. However, I’m hopeful for a quick recovery. It started Friday when my neighbor lady pulled her medical alert string and they called me to check on her. She’s 88 years old and her family is all out of town, so they put me on the list. They had asked me to check on her periodically anyway, but I hadn’t been over in a while. All through the Christmas and New Year she had family visiting so I figured she was alright. However, for several days I had been telling myself that I needed to get over there (part of my resolution to being a better friend and all). Arghhh, what failure! Anyway, I was able to help her get her things together to go to the hospital and call her family. I went up and sat with her for a while apologizing for not checking on her better. She’s so sweet and of course didn’t have any problems with me, but I still feel horrible. She’s since had a stroke and they’re not sure what’s going to happen, but it looks like she won’t be coming home to her house again. I think the biggest regret I have is that I could never get out of her a real admission of salvation. I tried broaching the subject several times and had given her books and tracts too, but she was never much for heartfelt talking. I hope I didn’t wimp out on this one. It leaves me questioning if I really cared enough, or tried hard enough. I hate that I can write well or teach a prepared lesson well, but face to face I’m so awkward with people. Lord, help me not to be awkward about the most important issue!

After a basketball game and lunch on Saturday, the girls had a friend over for the afternoon and I spent it joyfully having to be nowhere. I cooked for the upcoming week and did some much needed cleaning around the house. I was feeling so great about this. It was one of those afternoons that feel so productive…then 2^nd man came home. It wasn’t his arrival that was bad, but the news he brought with him. “Wonder what’s going on at the church tonight? I heard a lot of people in the Family Life Center.” Screeeeech! Halt! Quick camera close up! We were supposed to be at that party ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! A young woman in our church was having a going away party for her new husband before he leaves for Afghanastan. You know, no big deal or anything, just a young married couple having to part from each other as he leaves to go fight for our country and put his life on the line….that’s all. Can you say Boooo to me? I had completely forgotten to remember this party…ugh.

After praying about my failure to be a good friend in this area, I left it with the Lord. Upon waking Sunday morning, I was eager to start preparing a very “clean” and nutritious lunch. This involved a lot of dicing of onion and garlic. I did get this accomplished, but not without destroying every speck of clean kitchen I had fixed up the day before. I just can’t stand walking into a dirty house after Sunday morning services. I’d much rather walk in and be able to relax, but yeah, wouldn’t we all? Ha ha. I had to ask 2^nd man on the way to church if I smelled like a big onion. The smell had permeated my nasal cavity and my eyes wouldn’t stop watering. I think everyone at church thought I was very “moved in the Spirit” that morning.

Church was a funny story in and of itself. 2^nd man had a wonderful Sunday School class on prayer. God even showed himself true in answering prayer by bringing the kids to church that day. However, we perhaps failed to pray for the children’s church hour. That, or it was just a set up day for a perfect storm. 2^nd man didn’t know until after Sunday School that the woman who reads the missionary story was home with a sick child, so he had to scramble to get prepared for some extra game time. The rest of the hour went…well…just as chaotic. There were no birthday kids to sing to, nobody brought a visitor, so he couldn’t even go through his schpiel of welcoming visiting kids and rewarding them and the person who invited them with a giant candy bar. The lesson time seemed to go by extra fast so we were left with like an hour of game time! This just got wild. Bus kids were, literally, climbing posts in the gym and hiding behind every trashcan. Little girls were getting pushed and hurt every time we turned around. I was constantly going back and forth to the kitchen for ice packs. All of us workers had the twitching eye of trauma when it was all over.

I figured the mayhem was over when we got home. We ate lunch, cleaned house, and then, with a sigh of relief and satisfaction I decided to lie down and relax before doing my homeschool work for the week. I had been lying down for just a little while when my daughter brought it to my attention that I had completely forgotten to take her to her basketball practice.

Well, line up behind all of the other people I’ve let down this weekend.

Come Monday, I was glad the weekend was over. I had high hopes of a fresh start and staying on schedule. In the midst of getting 2^nd man ready for work, my son threw up all over the kitchen, himself and me! Oh, boy looks like another boring week in this homeschooling, ministry household….

Life Lessons

Resolved to Become a Better Friend

Posted on January 5, 2011 by jenschuyler

I’m not really into New Years Resolutions very much. I mean, I’ve done the umpteen years of “going to lose weight” stuff like everyone else, but I’ve never really explored the idea of making serious resolutions to change something…and stuck with it. However, I’m considering the idea very seriously right now. It’s kind of come up over the past few weeks in regards to something we’ve noted in one of our daughters. The resolution I’m considering is that of becoming a better friend.

2^nd man and I have been noticing a level of self-consciousness that seems to be brewing in our growing girls. I’ve defended it, considering it an age issue since they are coming up on their pre-teen years. However, I do see his point too. I do wish for my girls, well, all my kids to be confident. Not necessarily cocky, or proud in themselves, but confident in who they are in Christ and as our children. Confident that no matter what happens out in the world, they come home to a place where they are loved and appreciated for who God made them to be. But how does one create this in their child? You may wonder what this has to do with my resolution of being a better friend, but hang in here with me for a minute.

Just this morning it came up again in a conversation I had with my girls as we were preparing to start school. One of them mentioned that they are shy sometimes (trust me not all the time you should see this girl jabber on around her friends). That’s when I tried to share with them that shyness (as I understand it) is really a form of selfishness. It’s saying that, “I’m thinking only of myself and how I feel in this place or situation.” I went on to explain that their daddy and I are both kind of naturally shy. “But you don’t come across shy at church, Momma.” One of them responded. To which I explained that 2^nd man and I both work at being outgoing to others at church. If I had the luxury of only thinking of myself, I’d go sit in the pew and just soak in the quiet moments before the service. Instead, I try hard to go around the room and greet people. It’s not being a fake. It’s thinking of others before myself as Philippians 2:3 tells us to. “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” I’m not perfect at this. I know I still shy away from some uninviting faces, or those whose names I probably can’t remember, but I do try to be friendly to everyone.

However, this has me thinking of how my influence may be a help or a detriment to my kids. Not only that, how is it a detriment to my own friendships? As a child I was a people pleaser. I relished the times when my parents, friend, teachers etc. were pleased with something I had done. I even came to a time in my life where I questioned my salvation, wondering if I had just been trying to please my Sunday School teacher who I adored. This people pleasing quality is a hard characteristic to keep up with, however. When I didn’t please, I felt like a failure. And if I disagreed with someone else, I’d rather be hanged than to voice it. (a wimpy trait I know). Anyway, I worked hard through high school trying to please everyone. Leaving me with a shallow level of popularity, but a very poorly defined perspective of who I was or what I really stood for. My spiritual life was vague and nearly non-existent past the belief that I was a saved child of God.

When I finally surrendered my life to Christ in my early twenties, and determined to serve him, I was years behind where I should have been for my age. I’ve spent the better part of my adulthood honing the skills of standing for Christ and the Word even when it displeases people. I’ve learned so much from my husband and am in awe of his boldness with love.

However, all of this has left me gun shy in the area of friendship. With whom do I share my intimate thoughts? I’ve been pretty content with it being God and the 2^nd man. But, I can’t ignore the fact that God has sent some pretty special people across my path to who I should be a better friend. Honestly, it burdens me and scares me a little. I think it’s because of my scatterbrain. I can’t even keep up with my facebook birthday reminders. My cell phone is dead more times than not. And I am sometimes at a loss for conversation. How do I keep up? Will they forgive me when I don’t?

I think of Dalene, clear over in Germany who faithfully reads these posts of mine. I’m so bad about talking with you my dear sweet friend and missionary. I do love you and pray for you, but you wouldn’t really know that would you? Please forgive me. I’m gonna try to do better.

There’s Missy and Melanie, my wonderful friends from the past who knew me when I was so ugly, but still stuck with me. I don’t contact you nearly as often as I should.

Why, my own family suffers from my neglect. Mom, Dad and my brother, Jeff and his family, I maybe call once a week. Well, Jeffy gets it fewer times than that.

Ok, I’m stopping with the confessions. Sorry if I left you out of my list. The point is, Proverbs 18:24 says A man that hath friends must show himself friendly… I am resolved to show myself friendly to more people this year. To step outside myself and, with God confidence, put others at ease and make them feel welcome and know they are important. My prayer is that it will not only grow me as a person and Christian, but translate to my kids as well. I read a quote by someone (can’t remember who) that said something to the effect of…unspoken gratitude is of use to nobody. So, I’m gonna step out and speak up.

Starting with you, if you’re reading this post. Thank you for logging on and reading. It means more to me than you’ll ever know. I hope it will bless you in some way, even if it’s a good laugh.

Homeschooling, Life Lessons, Parenting

Appreciatin’ My Kids

Posted on January 4, 2011February 2, 2013 by jenschuyler

I really love the ages of my kiddos right now. Currently they are 10, 8 and 4. I just need to pause and reflect on this a little bit. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t do infancy very well. Oh, I bonded and adored each child. However, I never fully embraced the lack of sleep and, yes, I must confess, baby formula was my friend, (I know I know the horror! My children will all be doomed to poor health or something like that).

Truly, it’s a wonder I’ve come this far. I never really enjoyed babysitting while I was growing up. The money was great, but I’d rather wait tables. I just never got into it. I marvel at the girls in our youth department who enjoy babysitting and being around kids. I do wish I had been more like this. God did a work in me after we got married. It’s not that I never wanted kids. I just wasn’t sure when I would actually want them.

Now, here I am thirteen and half years later and adoring my kids, even though I sound like the worst mom ever. Oh, I’m no “Nineteen Kids and Counting” kind of mom, if you’ve ever seen that show. I wish I could smile that much and be that calm. That woman never seems gets her feathers ruffled. However, the Lord does continue working in me to appreciate the blessings he’s given.

This is currently on my mind because I’m stuck in the chair sick this week. Went to the doctor yesterday with a double ear infection and throat infection. 2^nd man came home for lunch after my appointment and told the kids to take care of me and call him if I got out of the chair to do any work. (He knows the mess of the kitchen can sometimes overpower the sickness in me). Anyway, they did a great job. I was hoping to start school yesterday, but have chosen to call in Home Ec. Day. The two older girls played with their brother and took care of his needs most of the afternoon. Then, about 4:30 they cleaned up the kitchen and made dinner…a good one to. Goulash, garlic bread and salad were on the menu. Little brother set the table. I was so thankful for that. 2^nd man was willing to come home and do all of this, but he didn’t have to…what a blessing!

It’s nice to have them this age for more than just the chores and cooking too. We are now at a place where we all enjoy the same humor (for the most part). I enjoy hearing their thoughts on friends, spiritual matters, and everyday happenings. I’m also relieved that we’ve turned a corner with our little guy. Last year I was worried sick that he’d never go to church without getting in trouble in class or something. Yet, the past five or six months have been so much more pleasant. He seems to have gotten the rules down finally. Of course they aren’t perfect and I worry incessantly about weaknesses I see. However, I enjoy watching them grow into people of their own. I don’t look forward to them totally growing up and leaving. Just wish we could freeze things here…well, maybe with a few more recipes in their repertoire.

Associate/Youth Pastor's Wife, Daily Musings, Teens

Back to the Grind

Posted on January 3, 2011February 2, 2013 by jenschuyler

So, I’m two cups of coffee into the day, and trying to rally myself back into the grind. I usually welcome the return to routine after long breaks, but I’m having trouble this time. I think it’s a sinus infection that I’ve been feeling coming on the past couple of days. Guess I’ll have to interrupt the first day back with a little trip to the urgent care office for some meds. Honestly, I think it’s my rebellious body’s way of putting off getting back into the workouts and clean eating. My sweet tooth has been in overdrive the past couple of weeks and I’m gonna have to tame it again. Think I’ll be visiting my favorite healthy websites like http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/ and http://www.cleaneating.com/ to get re-motivated. 2^nd man got me a dutch oven for Christmas this year. It was exactly what I wanted. It’s even green like the Pioneer Woman’s on the front cover of her cookbook. I often walk around with it posing and asking if I look like her…yea I wish. She doesn’t have maybe the healthiest recipes, but they sure are good and your family thanks you after attempting her stuff from http://www.pioneerwoman.com/ . Boy, I sure am plugging a lot of websites here huh?

I’m hoping my mom reads this post because I wanted to show her the church sanctuary. Saturday, Stacy (the head decorator) and I and some men of the church hung the new curtains for the baptistery and the banners our pastor ordered. Our church building is only two years old and we’ve been staring at blank walls all that time. The building is beautiful and we’re so excited to be in it. However, when you really enjoy decorating, the blank slate can almost be overwhelming. Stacy sewed like 24 hours straight or something on the curtains. She’s this wonderfully confident woman. We had a good laugh together, knowing that not everyone will like the new look. If it were me that had done all that sewing, I would burst into tears at the first little criticism just from shear exhaustion. That’s why she’s the head of the decorating committee, as she says it, “People don’t share their opinions with me.” I, on the other hand, you may remember, wear the sign on my head that says, “Please criticize me.” So, it’s all hung and decorated and I just love it. It finally feels like home.

I was considering quitting this committee for a while, but just can’t. I really do enjoy decorating at church. I know it’s not the most spiritual of jobs, but I feel like it helps set a mood for people when they enter the church. Just like any home, you want people to feel comfortable, welcome, and calm so they’ll stay and sit a while. I think it’s even more important for the house of God. So, I’m gonna stick with it.

We had our monthly GAP (Games And Pizza) night last night after the teen service. I love teen service nights. We usually have one of the young men who are called into ministry do the preaching. That or we invite a college student who is a ministerial major to come preach. The other young men sing or usher and the young ladies sing and greet people in the foyer. I wish I had been so bold as a teen or even encouraged to take part in the services. It’s great training for them to take part this way. We’ve been blessed with some really talented teens all these years either in singing or instruments.

I think I’m getting a little bit rambling here with my topics so I’d better wrap it up. The coffee is kicking in. Guess that’s my cue to get back to the grind.

Associate/Youth Pastor's Wife, Teens

Back from the Youth Conference

Posted on December 30, 2010 by jenschuyler

Well, we’re back from the youth conference and, hopefully, rested. It went very well this year. We took a smaller than usual group of only 19 kids which was actually kind of nice. The group was, mostly, comprised of 7^th-8^th graders as well…also kind of nice. The only drawback to this age group is that they behave as if they’ve never been to a nice hotel and that they’ve never seen a phone in a hotel room. After about 20 prank calls for Chinese takeout between the boys and girls rooms, they finally seemed to get adjusted.

The preaching was top notch. Hopefully all the kids (and adults) walked out with something to work on in their lives. I know I did. He had a whole message on loving the Word of God. Can you believe it? The very thing I’ve been trying so hard to work on in my own life. So much for just the youth getting anything out of these conferences.

2^nd man did a fantastic job in his session to the Youth Pastors. I know I’m biased, but he was looking pretty tired that morning before the session. I was wondering if he was going to have it in him. But the Holy Spirit seemed to take over and energize him. The timing was perfect and the delivery superb. Here’s a little synopsis on what he said to encourage the others in youth ministry:

Title: Finding Grace to Stay in the Race!”

Hebrews 12:1-2

I. We will need the right Purpose.

a. John 4:34 our purpose is to serve God, not ourselves,or the teens. This should be our purpose for any ministry…not just youth ministry.

II. We will need the proper Perspective

III. We will need the correct Plan

IV. We must have the right Pursuit

a. Don’t compare with other ministries: “if only we had a gym or a better building, or a bigger town etc.”

Ok, so my notes aren’t the greatest. However, he shared testimony of how he had a hard time in those first few years of ministry. However, when he was just about at his end and taking it to the Lord it was as if God said, “look at how Jesus did with the disciples.” They were 12 grown men who were in the very presence of the savior and they still had lumps and bumps. We (in youth) are dealing with immature teens who aren’t in the direct physical presence of God. Why do we think we’re going to have it easier?

Even as I write this I know I’m doing 2^nd man a bit of a disservice by trying to relay his message. But I hope you can get the gist of his message. I think it was received well and encouraged some out in the crowd. It was really neat to have the Harris’s there who were in our youth department at that beginning time. They are now married and serving in youth ministry. It’s was nice to be able to point them out as an example of how we don’t always know how God is working through our ministries.

On a funny note, 2^nd man gave three girls permission to join us for one day of the conference, because they weren’t able to come to the entire event. They were going to just hang out with us for the day instead of getting a hotel room etc. One of them was my greatest critic who I’ve mentioned in previous posts. She seems to really hate me. I’m not guessing or assuming, no, she’s made it clear. Anyway, that morning my girls had gone down to breakfast and I was finishing up getting ready in the hotel room. I went over to open the curtains and there they were just pulling up into the parking lot. I thanked God for the heads up and said a quick prayer asking for grace and patience to show her love. Awkward as it was, the day went pretty well. Though we didn’t exactly carry on a one on one conversation, we were able to be in the same room and converse as a group. They made my room (of all rooms!) their home base for the day because of one of the girls with whom I was rooming. It was all going well, though they overtook the room and spent forever getting ready for the evening service. I needed to get into the bathroom and get myself ready, but I chose to try and be patient for their sakes. That’s when the toothbrush conversation occurred. Yes, a silly time filler of a conversation in which she shared some meaningless info. About some of her toothbrush habits. I simply responded with a “Huh.” When it came out…yes, my least favorite comment of all time, “Don’t judge me I don’t like to be judged.” Really? I know God was trying to grow me in the area of patience and who knows what else, but I reached my limit, asked if they were done with the bathroom and shooed them all downstairs. I didn’t rush to get ready. Though I was late to service, I just had to take the time to chuckle with the Lord. Sometimes I think he has such a sense of humor, just wanting to see how I’m going to respond. Or maybe it’s not humorous at all to him, and if that’s the case, I should be ashamed. I gave myself high points for putting up with her, but I wonder if he gave me any at all.

Anyway, it’s all over now, and time to get back to the grind. 2^nd man is playing video games at the church with all of the boys while I try to recover my house from all the events of the last week and a half. I love these days when you can accomplish so much without even getting dressed. I’ll enjoy it today and be on with the ministry move on tomorrow. Have a great day everyone!

Associate/Youth Pastor's Wife

Ministry Move On

Posted on December 27, 2010 by jenschuyler

So Christmas is over and it’s time for the “ministry move on.” What I mean by that, is that in the life of a minister (an his family) you don’t get a whole lot of time to dwell on events. We had such a great time with my folks being in town (even 2^nd man…yes even with his in-laws) that it was hard to say goodbye yesterday. Part of me wanted them to stay just a little longer, but then we’re getting ready to leave town anyway.

I’m thankful for the seemingly slow week last week. Aside from doing dishes every five minutes and starting the next meal after every one we ate (note to self: buy many more paper plates next time), we were able to really enjoy each other. The eating was far from clean and healthy. 2^nd man and I will go into detox mode in a few days. However, we tried to mix healthy food with Christmas food…not an attainable goal. Christmas eve and day were fun, relaxing and spiritually moving times. I love extending the whole sense of the time from an evening through to the next day. I love worshipping our Lord and Savior together as an extended family. I would love it more if our church did a Christmas Eve service, but worshipping at home can be so sweet and moving as well.

Then, we woke up Sunday and had to get things moving along. Mom and Dad had to eat lunch and take off after morning services. Then commenced the recovery program. I only had one day for this and a little bit of time this morning. I started off really well with getting the bed sheets changed and the kitchen cleaned up, but the call of the Sunday nap overtook me and I gave in for a half hour. After evening services the kids (including the 2^nd man here) played with their new Wii and I attacked the bedrooms. It’s amazing how dirty a bedroom can get when you shove three kids into it for a week. I’m convinced that a bomb exploded in the clean clothing basket my girls were living out of all week.

Now, it’s Monday morning and we’re well into the “ministry move on” I spoke of previously. After lunch today, we’re loading the bus and heading for Tulsa for a three day youth conference. 2^nd man is speaking at a breakout session for the youth pastors tomorrow morning so he’s in his chair tweaking his stuff. I’m supposed to be working on rooming lists but, as you can see, I’m having a hard time getting into them mode. My main concern right now is how to pack the coffee pot. These conferences keep you going with activities and junk food until about 1am each night. “It’s only two nights,” you say? Well, they pack those days and nights full. No little rinky dink hotel coffee pot is going to do. It’s a nice hotel in which we stay, but they really lack in the coffee and more importantly the creamer. Yes, it’s not clean, but I love my coffee creamer.

I’m excited about the preaching and praying that the teens will be moved. I get the idea that when the kids are a little worn out, a little tired the tend to get a lot more tender. That’s when the Holy Spirit seems to be able to move in and get past the Christmas materialism and the teenage walls and do a work on the heart. Please pray along with me that He will do wonders these next few days. As tiring as it is, I’ve never been to one where it wasn’t worth it.

Hope everyone else out there had a terrific and Merry Christmas!

Life Lessons, My Interests, Parenting

Merry Christmas Eve

Posted on December 25, 2010 by jenschuyler

Merry Christmas everyone! I have been so over blessed this year. Haven’t had much time to post any new blogs this week because my folks came to town, from Ohio, for the week. I was so excited about this since Thanksgiving was such a quiet and uneventful time for us. We’ve truly enjoyed having them visit. The kids have just loved every minute.
      We decided to make Christmas Eve very special this year. We had our big dinner this evening with our “homeless” friend joining us. We then had gift time at Nana’s. However, we really celebrated the evening after that by watching “The Nativity”. I fully realize that this movie isn’t necessarily spot on in the details. Let’s face it we can’t get our facts from Hollywood. However, it does provide a visual illustration that gives us an idea of what it could have been like for Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus. The solemnity of that still night portrayed brought us all to tears. How precious to sit and dwell on the humble birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My heart was swollen with gratitude for what he did and the provisions he made even for his coming. From awing and inspiring the wise men, to reaching out with special attention to the shepherds. Even the sweet time for Mary to have the camaraderie of Elizabeth.
       We’ll spend tomorrow having more family time and opening gifts, and of course reading the actual Biblical account of Christ’s birth. But I pray that we’ll take the opportunity to be a blessing to God on His special day. Better yet, may we be that blessing everyday.
     This may seem like a rambling blog, it’s late and I”m tired, but I couldn’t resist publicly taking the opportunity to thank God for his sacrifice for me.

Associate/Youth Pastor's Wife, Daily Musings, Homeschooling, Teens

What do you do all day?

Posted on December 18, 2010 by jenschuyler

Boy, I haven’t even had time to sit and do much writing this week. Been getting the house ready for Momma and Dad to come visit for Christmas. It’s not that my house is a total wreck. However, the last time they visited was when our oldest daughter was in the hospital with a massive infection after having had her appendix removed. Let’s just say the house was not exactly a priority at that time. I know they didn’t mind, but there’s something in a daughter that has to somehow prove to her mother that the hard work was worth it and, yes, I got the lessons in cleaning down.

Anyway, this little introduction leads me to some recent statements that crack me up and irk me at the same time. You see, we’re in the middle of a crisis in the staff at church. Our song leader has accepted a job in another state. This is bad enough, but the fact that he’s married to the church secretary multiplies this crisis by a hundred. I don’t think she even knows how significant a role she plays in the office. Not only does she do the unending secretarial work, she also represents our church to outsiders, and has to stop what she’s doing about fifty times a day to talk to people who seem to treat her like she’s the eyes and ears of the church, only there to listen to us little people who need to talk while pastor is studying. I include myself in this, because I have come to realize how much she pauses her day just to give me a phone number or address or put me through to my own husband.

Pastor, semi-jokingly, asked 2^nd man and me to pray about my taking the job and putting my kids in school or doing video school. My first thought was flattered and excited. I’d love to do that job! Then reality set in.

What was I thinking? What do I do all day? I mean, I just had a meltdown two weeks ago about the amount of papers I had to grade and planning to do. Do I really think I want to add a full time job on top of that? These were some of the thoughts with which I played around for a while. 2^nd man and I both realized that our very first priority as a family is to honor God. By that we feel very strongly that it is necessary that I give these precious kids the very best foundation that we can think of. The girls are further down the road than our little guy, and we don’t want to cheat him. It really made me stop and take stock of our goals and where God would have me to be… an important fact that I’ve taken for granted. So, while I was sooooo tempted to get a “real” job, I think that God would not like me there. Just think how awful that would be for the whole church!

Anyway, this leads me to the part that irks me. Through all of this, I’ve had several comments come from young people that just make me shake my head. The first came from a young man that we took home from our teen Christmas party. He told us that he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it to church the next day since it was so late, (9:30 pm), and he was so tired. I replied quickly (and admittedly in the flesh) that when he had three kids and a spouse to help get ready and feed in the morning, that I’d listen to his excuses. Um yea, not the best response I know.

This comment was followed by another from a young woman at our Wednesday night teen program. She was trying to let me know that there was no way she could do memorization or reading because she was so busy. I suggested she read the homework sections to the little boy she babysits. Or practice memorizing while practicing basketball. “You just don’t understand how busy and tired I am.” She responded. I held my tongue on this one. I’m not so sure I was able to hide my facial expression though. I’m sure I looked something like a roll of the eyes or and attitude of “really?”

What do people think I do all day? Why is it that a teacher in a classroom is working a real job, while a mother in the bedroom teaching is just wasting time? Do other homeschoolers not grade their children or have to read their work? Am I the only 2nd mans wife who helps counsel teen girls, or be the “unofficial” teen secretary? Do they realize that the people in my family like to eat? Where does everyone else’s food come from? Was I left out of a meeting that told me how to get through life without doing laundry or having to clean a bathroom? Do other people not have to pay bills? Or listen to excrutiatingly long stories about a dream someone had last night? When do other people make their bank deposits or get their groceries done? Who tends their gardens, kitchens, living rooms, growing children, husbands? I’ve been jipped! When was this information given out? Arghhhhhh! Snort! Humph!

So, anyway, I’m not taking the job. Those shoes are too big and I already have trouble fitting into my own. I’m certain God will provide the perfect person eventually. Until then, I guess it’s back to my soaps and bon bons.