A great definition!

Sabrina and I have had some great telephone conversations while she is driving (Sabrina!) ... yesterday was no different. She called me late morning while she was running some errands. Among other things, we were talking about working with children's ministries at church, particularly three-year-olds, because that's what I do Sunday morning, Tuesday morning, and every other Thursday morning. I was telling her that we have been talking a lot about obedience and trying to help the children understand what that means. And then the topic of sin arose and Sabrina gave me the best definition of sin to use with little children! As she was telling it to me, I could hear Jackson (age 4) and Karis (not yet 3) in the back seat of their mini-van ... and in their sweet voices, they were saying this: "Sin is anything we THINK, SAY or DO that makes God unhappy." And then Karis said, "And we don't want to make God sad!" Isn't that precious?

Hmmm. How wonderful to teach small children that amazing truth! And how important to teach them what sin is so that some day they can turn from their sin and embrace the One who came to save them from it!

"Praise the LORD ... He forgives all my sins ... and surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things!" PSALM 103:3-4 NLT

My very favorite lunch

I'm a pretty low-maintenance kind of person ... honest! Almost every single day, I have the very same lunch. Quick. Easy. Yummy. I love English Muffins with real butter (a must), peanut butter and preserves. A tiny handful of potato chips on the side is nice, as well as a cup of yogurt and a mug of juice or steaming hot (and very sweet) herbal tea. Perfect.

One small problem, however. This summer when Ruthanne and I took our sister's retreat to Traverse City, we walked into one of those really nice general stores that sell specialty products: jams, preserves, honey, salsa, peanut butters, and all kinds of other fattening stuff. I bought a tiny jar of cinnamon pear preserves. It was SO delicious on my English Muffin! But it was just a very tiny jar and now ... it's gone. But last month while we were in Texas, Sabrina took us back to the general store in Greune where I bought the very BEST tiny jar of preserves EVER ... peach pecan! It was 10x better than the cinnamon pear preserves ... but look ... it's almost gone! I've dumped the jar upside down hoping to get one more yummy lunch ...

... and then I guess I'll have to go back to just plain old grape or strawberry preserves ... can you feel my pain?!

Let's untie that yellow ribbon!

If I had it my way, trumpets would have been blasting, with people lining the streets, and a huge parade would be in progress to welcome my Jesse home. But this untying-the-ribbon-ceremony was a rather quiet one here at the Jones Junction.

Jesse said when they finally landed in the USA (Maine) there was a large group there to welcome his unit, mainly elderly veterans from WWII, all saying how proud they were of these guys getting off the plane. Jesse said it felt weird to have these brave men paying respect to him ... after all, THEY fought in a REAL war. Well, so did you Jesse. And so all of us thank you. To have you in harm's way for 15 months was a huge sacrifice for Diana, for Emma, Christopher and Matthew ~ it was a smaller one for the rest of your family, but it was difficult on all of us to have you that far away and not to know ...

So today, I lift my voice in praise to my Father in heaven who brought you home safely, watched over your life, guarded you, and never took His eyes off of you one single minute. It was wonderful, beyond words, to hear your voice today Jesse ... through the jumble of your little children squeeling and laughing and climbing all over you ... such joy!

WELCOME HOME, JESSE!

P.S. Check out Diana's blog (Di's Thoughts) and see pictures of Jesse's homecoming. It's almost as good as being there. I'm practically bursting with the joy of it!

I rearranged the refrigerator door ...

It's been an uneventful few days around here. I've been laid up with a nasty cold. I hate cold medicines and what they do to me. Plus, it's gotten real chilly here in Grand Rapids and I can't get warm for anything! Well, enough whining from Grandma Jones! I went over to Toys R Us this afternoon to do a little looking around, pre-Christmas like. While I was there, I bought another package of magnetic letters so that I could rearrange the names of the grandchildren on our refrigerator ... because I had to add Lottie. Nia is 14 months and I still have to get a name mug made for her ... now Lottie too! Nine grandchildren is a lot to keep up with. The girls are now in the lead: 5 to 4! Don't worry, we are not begging any of you to even up the score any time soon!

I miss these beautiful faces ...

During the last week or so, I've been attempting to edit the 3,000+ pictures Mr. Jones and I took while traveling during October to see all of the grandchildren. That's A LOT of pictures.

Olivia Diana (13)
Emma Joy (6)

Christopher James (almost 5!)

Jackson Drew (4)

Matthew John (3-1/2)

Nathan Paul (3)

Karis Danielle (2-1/2)

Nia Madelynn (14 months)

I think I have just about finished up the pictures with family in them. NOW I'm going to concentrate my efforts on editing some of the beautiful scenery we took in along the way. In case you think that's all I do around here ... sit at my computer and look at pictures (!), I have managed to get back to my volunteer schedule, raked a yardfull of leaves, and finished the design of my Christmas card yesterday too ... so there! Plus, if you look along the side of my blog, I have updated all of the pictures of the grandchildren, even adding a picture of Lottie Caroline (stolen off Rachel's blog).

I am not dismayed ...

The first week of October, I decided enough was enough! I was emotionally exhausted from listening to the political pundits and talking heads with all of their polls and predictions and gloom ... leaving for our Texas trip made it easy NOT to turn on the television or radio to receive the latest update. And even with reading the newspapers, I purposely avoided any articles that had anything at all to do with the upcoming election. Okay. I'll be honest. At about 9:35 pm last night, I did flick on the TV just to see how the election returns were going. I turned it back off at 9:45! What if this was my last night to be alive? I certainly didn't want to spend it all anguished with election returns, so I happily returned to my novel. I have a vague memory of Mr. Jones coming to bed, much later, and quietly telling me Senator McCain had given his concession speech and that Senator Obama was preparing to deliver his of victory. I tossed and turned throughout the night with a sense of unease and sadness; but with that, I remembered God's Word ...

"The LORD is my
LIGHT and my SALVATION ~

" ... so WHY should I be afraid?"

"The LORD protects me from danger ~

" ... so WHY should I tremble?" PSALM 27:1 NLT

" ... at the right time Christ will be
revealed from heaven
by the blessed and only
Almighty God,
the King of kings
and LORD of lords.
He alone can never die,
and He lives in LIGHT so brilliant
that no human can approach Him ...
to Him be honor and power forever. AMEN."
1 TIMOTHY 6:15-16 NLT

I realize this was a monumental election of grave importance, not only for our country but also for the world ... but it really pales when I remember the Kingdom of God, His unfailing love, His sure and tested promises ~ being part of that kingdom is such an amazing privilege.

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty.
Everything in the heavens and on earth
is yours.
O LORD, and this is your kingdom.
We adore you as the one who is over all things.
Riches and honor come from

you alone,
for you RULE OVER EVERYTHING.
Power and might are in your hand,
and it is at your discretion
that people are made great and given strength."
1 CHRONICLES 29:11-12 NLT

An early birth ...

Nicolas telephoned this morning to tell us Lottie Caroline had been born at 5:39 a.m. She wasn't really due until November 23! She is a tiny one, weighing five pounds 10 ounces. I asked how many inches she is, but Nicolas was out of the room when she was being measured, so he didn't know. He says she is small and perfectly beautiful. Nathan has declared Lottie is cute; but at fourteen months, Nia will probably not even realize there is another baby for awhile yet. We haven't seen any pictures of her yet, but when we do, we'll post them for everyone to enjoy.

Welcome to the world, granddaughter Lottie Caroline!

"Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are His.
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture."
Psalm 100:3 N:T