Indulge...

Any excuse to indulge, right? I made this cake for my Mom's birthday & just had to share....to make you all extremely jealous!! It was very rich & yummy. I have to give credit to Amanda of www.kevinandamanda.com for the recipe. If you love peanut butter cups, this recipe is for you!!!

I would tell you I wish you had been here......but then I would have had to have a smaller piece!

Ice Skating 2010

Mallory wanted to go ice skating for her birthday & we all had a blast! Even MelissaJack in her teeny-tiny skates continues to want to go again......

Love like crazy…

My name is Jynelle Jacobsen & I am a control freak……maybe. I call it a “planner,” but others call it a control freak. I do appreciate being prepared…I mean, I would have been a great Girl Scout. My goal is to be prepared for whatever life brings my way. Need a kleenex? I have one right here. Need a drink…..here is my stocked fridge. Need some money? well…..I have some pocket lint. Until recently I just chalked all this up to appreciating being organized. Until recently, that is…..

In a Bible study I attend, we have been studying the book of Luke. Luke is one of the four Gospels at the very beginning of the New Testament. I remember where it is because of a song I learned a child, “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John….Acts & Letters to the Romans….” The book of Luke was written by a physician. His purpose in writing the book was to give an accurate account of what had happened with Jesus for his friend….he wanted his friend to be assured that it was all true & correct. He was fact-checking. Normally I would describe the job of “fact checking” as totally boring…..but imagine fact checking Jesus. He gave account of His conception, His birth, His ministry…..& His love. I love his accounts of the miracles Jesus did….Jesus ticked so many people off!! He healed so many people physically & spiritually. But why would this make some people mad? Wouldn’t humans with any sort of heart want to see other people healed, made whole & able to live the life they were given? Well….not exactly.

You see, Jesus wasn’t doing this all according to their rules. He was at the temple on the Sabbath & Jesus picked out a woman who was so bent over with sickness she couldn’t stand up. Imagine having to look at the ground & at people’s dirty feet all the time. She was like this because of a spirit….not the good kind…that had decided to take up residence in her. Jesus saw this, had compassion on her & changed her life completely. She got new life in more ways than one! What a time to praise God!!! But no…..there wasn’t any of that. Why? Apparently, the Son of God in human form wasn’t following the rules. How dare He doing something like this on the Sabbath!! They even had the gall to tell others around not to bother trying to get healed by Jesus on the Sabbath! I mean….wasn’t the Sabbath supposed to be God’s day? So shouldn’t he be able to do whatever He wants to? So why were these men…men who claimed to love God & the work of God so against Him showing his love?? Control. The rules of man let them keeps some semblance of control.

Isn’t that why I have some rules at my house? Control? Four kids running amok with no direction & boundaries would make even the most laid back person want to pull out their hair!!! But…my question has been, how does my desire for control inhibit God? I mean, obviously I am a small girl who lives in Greeley, CO….I can’t put God in a box. But I can ignore Him. I can ignore His cues. I can ignore His open doors. All in the name of control & planning. How much have I missed?? How many people have I ignored & gone by because I am busy? I mean, I have responsibilities! I have a two year old that rejects rejection! I can’t ignore her if I try…..& I have a husband….& other kids that I am helping to educate. I can’t just walk around aimlessly waiting to see what God is going to do! Or can I? Isn’t my family my ministry? Or is this just a lame excuse for me to keep the blinders on?

So here is a question for you….can you love & still be in control? I don’t mean just love…..but “LOVE!” Can you show compassion on a stranger while still trying to be in control? Doesn’t love get in the way of control? Being able to respond to a need or a desire out of nothing but love……that can be inconvenient. When is the last time one of my kids got hurt & needed my attention & love on MY schedule?! How many important conversations have I missed the opportunity to have because my thoughts were somewhere else? When is the last time a person decided to ask for help of me on my calendar? Or how about the stranger on the corner needing some assistance……I don’t think they checked with my secretary before needing help. (ok, I don’t really have a secretary, but a girl can dream). I wonder how many needs I have ignored or only partially committed to because I was too busy trying to be in control like the Pharisees? Looking at a woman I have known of before who has a HUGE need….a need only a Savior can meet, & not loving her enough like Christ does to rejoice in her salvation instead of criticize for the salvation’s timing. That is what the Pharisees did, isn’t it? How many times have I had a total lack of compassion because of all the other stuff I labeled as more important? Sadly, too many.

Chris Rice has a song called “Love like Crazy,” that I think sums it up. I don’t think the words ‘crazy’ & ‘control’ are friends. You can’t be both…..unless it’s something like “that lady is so crazy to try to stay in control!” I think God wants us to lose control….our own perceived control…..& give in to Him. Frankly, I don’t know how to do that. I’m not even sure it’s something I want to do…..it’s scary for a control-freak like me.

If we could all love the way Jesus loved….what would this all look like?

I heard a rumor
that love will make you crazy.
Well is it true?
Well that's no rumor;
Look at the crazy things
that love made Jesus do.
Well, the friends He chose
were thought to be outrageous (yes they were)
And you could even find Him
touching the contagious, yeah (yeah you could)
And the craziest is how
He chose to save us, save us-
He gave His life away.
Then He had to go and say
"Got to love the same way
that I love you."

Chorus:
Love like crazy, yeah
(love like crazy)
Gotta love like crazy
(love like crazy)
Gotta love like crazy
The way He loves you and me
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change
We gotta love like crazy.

What the world needs now
is for love to spread
as fast as the rumors do.
To make it
we gotta take this thing
from another whole point of view.
Start by keeping our vows
and not breaking promises.
And bring hope
to the Women at the Well,
and the Doubting Thomases.
And you kids,
you gotta cheerfully
do what your Pops and your Momma says.
'Cause He gave His life away.
Then He had to go and say
"Got to love the same way
that I love you."

'Cause if the world's ever gonna change.
You gotta love like crazy.
(love like crazy)
You gotta love like crazy.
(love like crazy)
You gotta love like crazy.
The way He loves you and me
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change,
If the world's ever gonna change,
If the world's ever gonna change,
We gotta love...

Ok, it doesn't get much cuter....

My makeup artist......

Better Watch Your Back....

So...you better watch yourself....watch your back......behave....because you NEVER know. For my birthday in November, I got myself one of these:

Do you know how useful this is for catching people unawares in funny moments? Check out my YouTube channel listed on this site.....

& maybe someday we can win 10,000 dollars?! Or maybe not.....but enjoy regardless!

Up to speed…….

Now that I am jumping back into this blog-world, I think you need to be brought up to speed on this small nation of ours. We are a busy nation. Since I last posted, we have had many age progressions…..Bergen is now 9, Mallory is now 7, Hatcher is now 5, MelissaJack is now VERY 2 & I am….well, I am older too. DJ’s progression won’t happen for a few months yet.

Last summer we had LOTS of fun. We set up an above-ground pool in the backyard that seemed to stay freezing cold no matter how hot it got outside. But kids don’t seem to notice the cold water…..what is up with that?

We took a road-trip with family to South Dakota & saw lots!! It was a very fast trip & one we’d like to repeat one day since there is still so much to see.

We took a “staycation” in our backyard….& I beat DJ at Mastermind……ha ha. We slept in our tent with a box fan hooked up to an extension cord.

We went to Boyd Lake in Loveland for the boys’ birthdays. That was a BLAST! We hope to extend our trip out there a bit this year.

We grew a garden that was being checked daily by the kids for sugar snap peas…..& our Topsy Turvy tomato growers STUNK!!!

Then Fall came….school started up again, & life got busy. & now here we are…..trying to stay warm & wishing for Spring……

Thank you to Rita at www.coffeeshop.com (see link at left) for these great storyboard templates to throw my pictures into. She does amazing stuff over there, so check her out!!!

Enjoy!

On again, off again……….well, mostly off

In my efforts to be a blogger, I have a noticed a funny relationship that I have with this so-called blog of mine. & in noticing this “hang-up” of mine, I have made the connection to many other areas of my life. In my head I have had pictured what I wanted our family blog to look like. I wanted it all figured out & put into place & of course, pretty…ha ha…..THEN, I would actually do what it was intended for….write. I have had MANY good intentions to write….great ideas, funny things that have happened, events to be celebrated, great recipe or idea finds….& even some very deep questions that I have wanted to get out of my brain & out “there” somewhere where maybe, just maybe I could get some feedback. But according to Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host that I love to listen to when I have a few quiet moments (www.pragerradio.com), good intentions don’t matter……not one iota! The only thing that ultimately matters is action. When your earthly end comes, do you think God is going to be satisfied with just your good intentions? Your intentions to someday follow Him? Your intentions to turn your life around? Your intentions to bear fruit? Nope. & although the comparison of our ultimate demise & my lack of blog-writing doesn’t really fit, that is where I am.

So, good intentions aside…..here I am again. Not only with the intentions this time, but the actions that follow. & if you haven’t noticed, a new look to this blog of ours (& I do think it’s pretty, if I say so myself). Time is short….life changes constantly….& I am wasting the “ample” time I have been given on good intentions. I hope to gain a few more readers….I hope to dig deep & have something worthwhile to mention…aside of course, from my beautiful children & all the funny & endearing things they do daily.

God has been moving in this heart & mind of mine. Wild to think the God of the universe cares what is in my confusing head….but He does. So, even if you don’t really care what is inside this head, I hope you give me a chance & check back every once in awhile to see what else I have put out here……

Thanks for reading….