The One Thing (that I am keeping in mind as I plan my New Years goals)

We bought an e-reader for Ella for her recent birthday. The girl is a reading fool and since we travel so much and would rather not go in debt to the local library for lost or overdue books (not that I have ever let that happen, of course) the Kindle was the way to go.

When we got to the checkout at the mega electronics store we bought it from we were asked if we wanted a 2 year or 1 year replacement plan on the reader. Not if we wanted the plan, but which plan we wanted.

We didn't want any plan.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that my Ella should be taught to be responsible for her things. And if the reader itself malfunctions within a reasonable amount of time, the manufacturer should replace it.

I know, I know,  I sound like a grumpy Grampa.

Almost anything electronic you buy today comes with a plan of replacement.

A guarantee.

But here's the thing I've been thinking about lately as I've been planning out some goals for the new year: Life isn't like an electronic toy. There is NO guarantee we can purchase that promise with certainty that we will be given even one more day.

We recently had friends of ours experience a terrible tragedy, a car accident that took the life of their two year old daughter.

A terrible and horrible tragedy that really hit home because the details of the night were something that could have so easily happened to us.

A terrible and horrible tragedy that made me pause and remember again that my life or my kids lives don't come with a guarantee. Tomorrow is not a certainty. And when I realize that, or remember that fact, I live life differently. My outlook and therefore my actions change with my new perspective.

Suddenly, all the unimportant (that seemed so terribly important) falls away and the important (that got buried under the unimportant) rises to the top.

So, yes, I've been planning out new goals for the upcoming year..a practice I have done since I was a teenager that provides focus and motivation for me. A practice that I believe is beneficial.

The difference comes in that this year I am planning with the perspective that I am not guaranteed even a single day in 2015 and I want my goals for this new year to reflect the important things.

The eternally important things.,,the big moments found in responding to a call to give or go or serve sacrificially as well as the equally important small moments found in raising my children, loving my husband, and caring for the needs God has put before me in my friends and neighbors.

Set your mind on things on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

Colossians 3:2-3

Not Me Monday: Christmas Edition

I did not do such a terrible job wrapping a few Christmas presents this year that I actually told the person I was giving them to that "the kids helped, hahaha!" in order to explain the sloppy wrapping.

I did not used to spend great lengths of time in the holiday paper aisle coordinating my bows and paper. Great lengths of time. Embarrassing lengths of time. (In that long ago world of life before kids.)

I do not fight the urge to undecorate, de-clutter, and rearrange my entire house the day after Christmas.

And I do not ban Christmas music from here on henceforth until the next Christmas season the day after Christmas.

I did not eat up all the leftover homemade cookies and treats in the house on a holiday binge last night because I knew that my normal healthy eating habits start back in effect today.

Jeremiah and I did not do a terrible job of not buying each other any presents this year.

Nope. 

I never lie, waste time on unimportant things, act scrooge-ish, lose my self-control, and never ever ever deviate from the agreed upon budget.

Not me!

on being right (and wrong)

As a Momma, I have a lot of "training" moments with my kids. Teachable moments, correcting moments...call it what you will, but we all know those moments.

The following are purely hypothetical situations that could happen in our house on any given day:

Zoe has screamed at her brother(s),
Ezra has punched his brother.
Eli has pouted in his bed after a situation didn't go his way.
Ella has been impatient with her sister.



Again, purely hypothetical scenarios that could happen.

(Ahem.)

When I step into a training moment, I know what would be the right choice for my kids to make. I am the mother, after all.

Bu here's the thing I am realizing: I am never closer to being completely wrong as when I know I am right.

(How's that for a tongue twister.)

It's not the being right part that is wrong, it's how I steward being right that can become terribly wrong. And not just wrong, but a wrong that forces the consequence of driving a wedge between me and my children...and their relationship with Jesus.

When I am convinced of my rightness, it is easy for me to justify a myriad of responses. All of a sudden anger, accusations, loss of self-control, harshness and berating become okay...because I am right. Right?

I judge my children based on their actions and myself based on my intentions.

I know, ouch.

All of a sudden my rightness justifies those same wrong reactions...and I become a modern day pharisee.

I am learning that being right doesn't give me the freedom to denounce in judgement harshly, but it does give me the authority to impart grace and mercy.

As usual, Jesus is the perfect example of how we do this: How he handled the adulteress woman brought to him for stoning in John 8 is a good place to start. The woman was obviously in the wrong, caught in the act, and the pharisees were technically in the right. However, Jesus draws the line in the sand for the pharisees and calls them out on their hypocrisy while he builds a bridge to the woman and offers her grace and forgiveness...along with the truth to "go and sin no more."

I too often offer lines in the sand when I should be focused on building bridges.

I have come to realize that this same confusion of lines instead of bridges and harsh judgement instead of grace applies not only to my parenting, but also my relationship with Jeremiah, my friends and family, and even my reactions to situations such as all the recent Ferguson happenings or my personal convictions on homosexuality and the sanctity of life to name a few. And honestly, even my reactions to bad customer service or that car that pulled out in front of me.

The next time I know I am right,
(which will be very soon as I am rarely wrong...) 
(you did pick up that I was being sarcastic in that sentence?!)
I want to be just as focused on acting right...not just being right.

God Came Down

**This is a repost from last December, but it still rings true today. I still can't get over the fact that God came down. To me. To you. If you are hurting or filled with anxiety this Christmas, my prayer is that you will grasp the reality that God came to you. And HE is ENOUGH for you.**

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him, Immanuel, which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:22-23

I found Djouna sitting behind the coconut tree.

Crying.

The ugly-I-have-lost-complete-control kind of crying.

Some of our kids cry. A lot. Over anything or everything.

Djouna is not one of those...

"Sa ga la Djouna?" (what's wrong)

More tears. And more tears. So I just scooped her up in my lap (she's not bigger than a minute) and held her while she wet my shoulder. She managed to stutter out the reason for her tears after a few minutes.

"I miss my mom."

And then I joined her in her tears and we cried together.

The promise held in the name of Jesus as Immanuel, God with us, is something I have never grasped the depth of until this Christmas. Until I held a sobbing girl who misses her Mommy who hasn't come for her. The only comfort I can offer during these interactions (because sadly, this is not an isolated incident...) is the comfort that God is with them.

It's not a trite phrase I throw out without thinking or meaning. It is a powerful promise that I can offer to these precious children that no matter what happens in their life...their God is with them. He's not far removed, uninterested, and uncaring. He is involved, a comfort to the brokenhearted, and a father to the fatherless.

I know this because it is true in my life.
In the hardest adventure of my life here in Haiti he has been with me.
Every hard moment and every joy filled moment...

As he will be for Djouna.

Djouna on a happier day...getting her excellent report card from school last week!

Pray for the kids here at the mission (and all over Haiti) who live with the reality of abandonment every day. Pray for their little hearts, that they might come to know just how much God is with them.

island of misfit pictures

Better random than never, that's my motto today...

Windy days are perfect for flying kites.

The Hambrick Kids Tree Club, friends only.

Contemplative Ezra.

Cousin power.

tis' the season (for a time warp)

I'm up at my moms for a few days with just the kids this week doing some Christmasy stuff with her and the kids. I have mentioned that I love being only a few hours away from them, right?!

This time last December my mom actually came to visit us in Haiti...

Good memories.

Wow. It is hard to think that was only a year ago...and yet it seems like yesterday. 

Time is a crazy thing.

Speaking of time, I spoke at a Ladies Christmas Tea at the church I attended as a teenager this past weekend. What a crazy time warp! I saw friends there that I hadn't seen in over a decade. And then our family attended the church on Sunday and saw even more friends that we hadn't seen in forever. So fun. 

I was even able to show Ella the spot where her Daddy and I had our first kiss...ahem. 

I mean, of course I didn't show her that.

I showed her the spot where we had our first talk. 

That sounds better.

Crazy time. Wasn't that just yesterday?!

We were driving in the car recently listening to Christmas music and the song Baby I'ts Cold Outside comes on. About a minute into the song Ezra pipes up and says to me, "If they don't know if its cold outside they should just go outside!"

Me: "Huh?"

Ezra: "They should just go outside and see if its cold!"

Me: "Ezra, I don't know what you are talking about."

Ezra: "You know, the song, Maybe It's Cold Outside!"

There's that crazy time warp again...what happened to this 4 year old?!

I can't remember enjoying a Christmas season like I am this year! I am not stressed one bit but rather am having so much fun soaking in all the decorating, music, special events, sending cards, baking, and lights! Even the shopping has been fun for me...something that is not the norm. We have a very small budget this year, obviously, but I love how that has forced me to be very creative and homemade in my giving. Thank goodness for pinterest, ha!

And now a walk down memory lane of Christmas card photo's of the past...

Speaking of Christmas cards, because of our transient last few months, most people have lost track of our address. If you'd like to send us one (which we'd love!) email me at jennifer @ jenniferhambrick.com (no spaces) and I'll send our address to you.

Merry 15 days before Christmas everyone!

thursday thoughts (with i-phone photo dump)

We traveled down to Florida for Thanksgiving with Jeremiah's family last week. While I am not a fan of the almost 12 hours it took us to get there thanks to all the holiday traffic (thankfully the kids are traveling rock stars and did awesome!) it was so worth the effort for us all to be together this Thanksgiving!

We saw the movie Big Hero 6 (we all loved it!), took the boat to the Jacksonville Zoo, ate way too much food, decorated Gramma's tree, exchanged presents, did a teeny tiny little bit of black Friday shopping, rode go-carts, and had an all around blast.

Gramma and PawPaw with all 9 grandkids all together! This hasn't happened in almost 2 years!

Last Thanksgiving our entire family had a terrible stomach bug and we ate nothing but saltines and gatorade...so the memory of that made this year all the more sweet.

We had carefully planned out our return trip to try and avoid the traffic and another 12 hour car ride home...but that didn't quite work out as planned and so we overnighted in Charlotte (which just so happens to hold an Ikea so it really was a blessing in disguise...ahem) and turned it into a two day trip home.

Oh, but to be home! I love being home. And our tree is up and we are all decorated and in the Christmas spirit!

If we can only keep Zoe from un-decorating everything.

Me: Zoe, did you take the angel and star off the tree again?
Zoe: Yes, because dey are so cute and i jus wanted too. I wuv them.

Repeat and repeat.

The Lord knew who needed to be extra cute in this family.

                 

This week has been gloriously normal. I've really enjoyed this week...school and visits to the park, puddle jumping, and hot chocolate parties. 

Happy Thursday everyone!