He is growing up!

Every mother comes to a point of realization that her children are growing up! Maybe it is when you move from diapers to big kid pants? Or maybe when they go to kindergarten for the first time? Or maybe when they go on their first date!?!?

I must be a slow learner! Torrey is in his senior year of high school and for some reason it is just now dawning on me that he is growing up! I think the realization that he will be leaving is just hitting home. I am a blubbering mom on any given day at any given event!

Last night was no different! We had parent's night at our youth group. Seems harmless enough and not necessairly a place for me to let the tears flow! But alas....

Torrey is a the leader of the the Youth Worship band and as they were leading us in worship last night I was overcome with the realization that not only was he going to be leaving us next year but what a fine young man he had become! I would like to take credit for it but since it seemed to happen in the blink of an eye...? I stood and watched himn sing and play guitar not only in front a large group of his peers but their parents as well. I was over come with emotion to the point that I could not sing! I was also aware that we do the best we can and thankfully the Lord is in charge! Jesus has made Torrey into the wonderfully talented young man he is!

I have a feeling it is going to be a long year for this mama! I will survive, but I think many tears will be shed and that is okay!

Hug your kids today! (for me!)

Headin' South

We're very excited as we head to Lexington SC this weekend, just outside Columbia for an Ultimate Date Night with The Harvest Church!

In the midst of the obvious turmoil our country is in...Election year, bailouts, and an economy that is in question, let's not forget to keep OUR priorities in order and focus on the Lord, your spouse and your kids...in that order :-)

God is in control!

Blessings~

J & L

Practicing what we preach and it's KILLING ME!

Laura and I are getting away for the weekend trying to practice the things we tell married people they need to do! We're heading to northern Michigan for some golf, sight-seeing and a couple of good restaurants!

BUT...Do you know what I gave UP this weekend? A free all expense paid trip to the Ryder Cup! For those of you that don't know golf...this is HUGE!HUGER!! HUGEST!!!

My friend Bill Hobson of Michigan Golf Live Radio had an extra press pass and room in his van for me to attend the entire Ryder Cup weekend...BUT I committed to go with Laura...

Yes she's worth it...no doubt more important than GOLF...but seriously this event only comes to the states every four years...it's like the Olympics only better because? IT'S GOLF!

Ok ok ok enough of my whining...can I just get a little credit for keeping my priorities straight?

Have a great weekend...we will :-)

Jay & Laura

Girlz Night Out!

Sometimes I feel like it isn't right to call what I do a "job"! We travel to really beautiful places like Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI. We meet tons and tons of people that warm our hearts! Take for instance last Friday night...I was asked to do "entertain and inspire" ladies at Girlz Night Out hosted by 99.7 Family Life Radio. We had a blast! The evening was located on the Bavarian Belle in Frankenmuth, MI. We had dinner on the boat and after my "entertaining and inspiring" time, we cruised down the Cass River on the boat.

It was a great night of meeting ladies from all around Michigan, laughing and having fun together! The privilege I have of being with people, laughing, encouraging, listening to their stories is one for which I am truly grateful!

A Best Seller!

Okay so I have to be honest...the other day, Jay sent me a "A Father's Reflections" via emai and asked me what I thought about it. I read it and replied back that I thought it was a bit on the sappy side but a good poem.

Now, understand what was going on inside my head as I read this poem: Jay frequently sends me stuff he finds on the internet and asks my opinion before we use them for something- blog, promotional news, etc. - I was surprised that he had "found" this poem and run it by me. I thought it was his "normal" find!

Come to find out- HE WROTE IT!

After, I responded that I thought it was a bit sappy, he went into this whole deal about how I don't understand him at all! He went on by saying that he could get sappier! I still did not get what he was trying to tell me! I just laughed...

Then as I am laughing...he says, " You know, when I die you can just take my journal and publish all my poems. You will probably make a lot of money off that book. After I am dead and gone."

THAT WAS WHEN IT HIT ME! HE WROTE "A FATHER'S REFLECTIONS" !!! Well that changed everyting...what a sensitive man I married! I was really and truly full of admiration for him and that fact that he wrote that poem! But it was too little too late.....

So I am trying to make amends for be insensitive in the first place by letting all of you know that Jay wrote that poem that he posted the other day. I am telling you all how proud I am of him and his ability to write his heart on paper!

I am also letting you know that the minute he dies...there will be a new bestseller on the shelves!

Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed "A Father's Reflections" let Jay know by commenting!

A Fathers Reflection

A Father’s Reflection

From starry skies to foaming seas
I see the signs – your love for me

A baby’s laugh a good friends grin
Your love displayed, it pulls me in

A wretched man, my sin, my shame
I’m only cleansed by Jesus Name

His name alone can calm the sea
His blood the Cross has set me free

I’m thankful for my wife and kids
And also for, what Jesus did

Lord hear my prayer that is my plea
What is the life you have for me?

"Hurry!"

How many times a day do you find yourself saying "hurry!" If you are like me, I say it at least several times each morning to a slow child not wanting to go to school. I say it every sunday morning when the preacher is not done and my stomach is growling! I say it to myself as I run each day and just want to be finished with the pain!

How much do we miss in life by living in a "hurry!"? It is like a good book. I always want to get to the end and see what happens that I skip over some important details of the story. When we live in a "hurry!" we are missing some important details of the story God has for us.

If we are always thinking we must "hurry!", we will live our lives in a "hurry!" and miss out on some of the journey. One of my favorite sayings is "Dance like no one is watching, love as though you have never been hurt, sing like no one is listening, and live as though heaven is on earth"

Slow down today and enjoy the journey!

Some people just don't GET IT!

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who is totally clueless? I don't mean to belittle or sound mean, but someone who truly can't see your point of view because it literally doesn't exist in their paradigm?

As someone who studies marriage, works with marriages, and yes struggles through this thing called marriage, it boggles my mind when someone who's been MARRIED for 20+ years can't understand some of the simplest truths about relationships. I'm not talking about an uneducated crack head here, I'm talking about people with a PHD for crying out loud.

Here's the truth: if you are married, everything that occurs in your marriage impacts the rest of your life. Also everything that occurs in the rest of your life impacts your marriage!

Now there are degrees of impact of course. If I have a good or bad day on the golf course, it is certainly not going to impact my marriage as much as if I have a heart attack, but the point is that "bad" golf game will have some spill over into my union with Laura because we are ONE!

For most people the problem comes in the fact that they "do their own thing" in marriage and never understand the beauty of becoming ONE with their spouse in every aspect of their lives.

Thanks for letting me RANT!

Jay