Divine

Yesterday was one of the most God divine experiences in my life.

David called at 1:30pm from work (Freebirds) to ask if I had received any calls for a job offer from a place he interviewed with last Thursday. Since his phone had been turned off earlier in the month, all of his calls have been directed to my phone. I hated to tell him that I had not received any calls. I just envisioned his disappointed face and it broke my heart to hear the pain of rejection in his voice. We had been waiting for four days to hear from THE job we thought he was meant to have, but were starting to face reality that we must be wrong yet again! Another flawless interview without a callback. UGH!

In frustration, I wrote in my journal about the heartache we were feeling, but that we had just learned in the church sermon the day before that our attitude about the situation is more important than the reality of it. We had to look at this trial as the perfect opportunity for God to display his grace and love and power in our lives. So that's what I wrote. I wrote that I was excited for what God was going to do to turn around a nearly 3 month period of unemployment. I laughed to myself as I closed my journal, thinking positively about the amazing 'thing' God was going to do to reveal his hand.

I turned to my desktop computer, and opened up my blog. Then my phone rang. T-mobile wanted to extend him the job offer. I was shaking and could barely speak. I was so excited! The job that pays more than he's ever made, the job that allows him to have weekends off, the job that will have benefits, paid holidays, a possible company phone, and allow him to have his evenings free for going to church! Wow, God. Just...Wow.

I was so giddy that I couldn't contain myself. Since I was at work, I couldn't leave. Since David was at work, he couldn't take personal calls. SOOO...I did what any over zealous wife would do and I called all of our family and close friends to tell them that he had a job before he was even aware that it had been offered to him. It wasn't until 2 1/2 hours later that he checked his facebook messages and saw one from me that said: "THEY OFFERED YOU THE JOB..etc...." that he even realized what had happened.

I had begun my journal entry at 2:00pm. I trusted God, I looked forward to what he had in store. At 2:04...my husband got the job we had prayed for.

Divine.

A Tasty Passion

I'm ashamed.

I don't know how it happened. My mom was right........ and I always hate that.

I am a baker. *hangs head* I spent so many days of my child hood arguing with my female parental unit about not wanting to help out in the kitchen. I HATED cooking...and baking..and cleaning up afterward! Even during the summer, my mom would schedule days of the week where one of the three of us kids had to help make dinner because mom wanted us to be familiar with cooking. 7 year old me, 10 year old me, 15 year old me, and 20 year old me would stomp my foot and shout, "I HATE COOKING!" and then would go on to explain that I was going to marry a culinary chef just so I wouldn't have to step foot in the kitchen. My mother would calmly smile and say, "We'll see about that, honey. You'll like baking sooner or later. Now stir that stuff on the stove, thank you. "

HOW DID THAT CRAZY LADY KNOW?!?!

4 years later, I'm strongly considering starting in a field of baking. 1 Bachelor Degree in Human Development and Family Studies later, I'm thinking I want to open up a little pastry shoppe. What has the world come to?

I think it started whenever I made a dessert for David  while we were dating and it impressed him so much that I just couldn't stop myself! Sadly for him, he couldn't stop himself either and is now dieting to lose what 5 years of being together has added. heh heh heh.
So that's what it was. It was all a ploy to get a cute guy's attention. I'm a glutton for compliments I suppose.

Now it's like an addiction! Sometimes I can't even sleep at night thinking about a recipe that I HAVE to try. I want to see if I can do it! I want to see if it will look like the picture! I want to know if it will taste good! I want to know if I can eat my mistakes as I go along....*yep*

All this is to say...be expecting a few recipes or so to pop up around this blog. I'll try not to admit when my mom is right anymore. I always hate that.

Something I've Been Meaning To Do...

I have been furiously writing in my journal each morning, noon, and night over the past few months. Sometimes it feels like it's the only way to really figure out my emotions, document my issues, and then tackle them as they line up, one behind the other, and take turns not showing us any mercy.

I think it's time that I stepped up in the world and started blogging. It is something I've been meaning to do, hints my title, but just didn't know why I should. I posted a note on facebook seeking advice on some financial issues, and I learned so much from the responses of unexpected friends, I was inspired! Realizing that blogging might allow others, and myself, to share a different point of view on the struggles and victories of life on Earth.

Everyone who reads this, I expect, already knows me. In the off chance I just happen to gain a handful of random followers, here is a tale about who I am:

I was raised in the Crooked I (Irving, TX) for most of my life. It was a good place to be while growing up. We were part of a small neighborhood, living in a house that my parents had deemed their, "starter home" in which to make babies and host birthday parties. My parents, Ava and Darell Jenkins, made three babies in a 6 year time frame and I was the first. They were, and still are, amazing parents who displayed high levels of teamwork, love, and respect toward each other and their children. Lauryn, the second baby of the bunch, was shoved into my spoiled little world when I was three. I reluctantly allowed this small monkey thing into my only-child, only-grandchild world, and now I just don't know what I would do without her. My sister is so many things I wish I was, and even though she told me countless times that I am her hero (and I still don't know why), the truth is that she is mine. Dalton came along and rocked my boat when I was 6 years old and I don't really remember how I handled having a small boy in the house. I do know, however, that I spent several nights, while washing the dishes, attempting to make him punch me so I could tattle and get him in trouble. It worked. My brother helped make me into a better person. His existence has made me more well rounded as a woman, a wife, a friend, and follower of Christ. Even though he's now 18 and taller than me, I still feel jealous when he has a girlfriend and an urge to protect him from evil floozy high school girls. The same will go for the evil floozy college girls, too. You've been warned.

So, that makes me a daughter, a sister, and a natural born leader. There's no way around it. What else am I?
As of August 8th, 2009 at 2:00 in the afternoon, I became a wife. I became a wife of the most wonderful, God fearing, talented man that has ever crossed my path. I can't imagine loving anyone as much as I love David Shurley. I met this crazy, guitar playin', long haired, skinny, nerdy, guy in the Christian Student Ministries group of Tarrant County College. I had seen him in the hallway outside of the pool hall earlier in the semester. He was playing guitar and surrounded by giggly girls on every side. Thinking he was way too popular for me, I walked right by him and thought, "Well....I'll never be getting to know THAT guy." God had a different plan. After dating for over three years, we were engaged on December 22nd, 2008 after I graduated from UNT. My whole life, I knew that the one thing in my life I HAD to be, was a wife. My interests in motherhood, careers, etc... have ebbed and flowed, but my desire to be a wife was steady all along. David makes everyday something that I can look forward to. Our first year of marriage was a breeze, but this second one is putting us through the fire with job loss, decisions about moving, lower income, hospital visits, and the like. Regardless of each of these trials, I still can't contain my excitement about just being near him at every spare moment. So...that makes me a wife.

Finally, out of the handful of things that I KNOW I am, I am a follower of the one and only savior, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to conquer death and break the barrier between God and me so that I may have eternal life. Never fear! He did the same thing for YOU, too! I was blessed enough to be raised in a household that loves God and actively participated in church. I found many talents in myself this way. Sometimes, I felt confusion about what it meant to "come to Christ" since I had always been there...or so I thought. I didn't have a testimony of substance abuse, or abortion, or addiction, or rebellion that God took from me and turned my life around, instead, I struggled to find what I believed, while still having friends that didn't have a belief at all. I fought what it REALLY meant to be a follower of Christ. It's a journey I'm still on and one that I don't anticipate ending until i breathe my last breath or the rapture happens. The good news is that I have an AMAZING church who would give up everything for anyone, a family who loves to give support and loyalty, and a husband that is always chasing after God's heart to the best of his ability.

Now that you know all about me, I'm ready to move beyond that! I'm ready to tackle the big stuff, to take the big steps, to do big things, and to please a big God! I'm ready to get away from "all about me" and make it "all about Him". I can only do this with his grace and mercy.

I look forward to learning more about all of you and discovering together what this planet has in store for us.

P.S. I love chocolate.