Life as I know it

Since I haven't written on here in forever, I thought I'd write a bit of an update, for those friends I rarely see and keep up with through their blogs! Though I'd much rather curl up at Starbucks with an iced coffee or on a walk on the Huck (like many of us have done together in the past! lots of great memories and conversations on that trail), this will have to suffice for now!

We are "home" from Australia now since December 12th. I write home in quotes because it feels a bit like we don't have a home at the moment (though I find myself calling wherever we're staying for any length of time "home"). We are living with Jordan's brother in the Short Pump area, which has been really nice. He has been really gracious to have us and it's been really fun - a time we probably won't have again. Usually when we're in Richmond we have lived with our parents (during support raising), but it's always a difficult place for us to get a lot of work done because it feels like we're reverting back to our childhood going back to our old rooms!

For those of you who don't know, we've now left staff with Campus Crusade - now Cru. We are pursuing opening up a restaurant in Blacksburg in the next few months. We're in the process of putting together a team of investors first, which is why we're here in Richmond! This has been an idea for a few years but now that it's happening, it's been a hard transition for me. We absolutely loved our time on staff with Cru, and I'm so glad it's now part of our life story and the experiences we had will influence our choices and ministry for the rest of our lives. But because there was no negative thing that happened that caused us to want to leave, it's really sad at times. I think it's probably because of re-entry stress, plus leaving staff, plus starting something new and really stressful, plus in a sense being homeless…I've been pretty down the past few months. Therefore blogging has definitely not been something I've been interested in doing.

However, this week was a really great one! With Anne Parker having her sweet baby Lucy this week, I have been so happy every day, just remembering how much more there is to life, and that this transition time that God has us in for the time being is so temporary. I don't know if any of you guys ever feel like this, but I have a tendency to get so wrapped up in wherever I am RIGHT now. Sometimes this is a good thing, like when I'm enjoying nature, or time with a good friend, and it's like there's nothing else in the world. But sometimes this can be very bad, like right now, when I see only difficulty, and risk, and gosh darn it, Lord, I did this whole instability thing for you for a year and now I just want normal! And I want my stuff back, too! And instead of embracing where I am right now, and just realizing this is a season, and that there is good and bad, I pout. A lot. Thankfully this week I've been realizing the err of my ways (or more like I've become willing to try and give over my ways to the Lord and correct them).

Anne Parker with baby Lucy!

Anyway, that was a lot of journal-blogging, which makes me nervous since this is a public blog! But I'm saying this so that you, women in my life who love me, know, and can hold me accountable! And can love me :) I know, I'm so needy!

On another note, since I usually just do recipes and things like that on here, I've been cooking a ton so we'll see if I can get around to posting some of those things! Maybe one day I'll get my act together and have a full-out cooking blog! Too much else going on though right now, so I'll leave it to sporadic posts and updates about life and the restaurant. I love reading you guys' blogs and hearing about where God's taking you in your lives!

Love, Jess