Jason's Salvation

I have been a little reluctant to tell everyone, just because of the sheer fact that its such a personal and intimate subject...plus all the facts always seem to get mixed up in my head, but I shall do my best to recount the story....

"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

It was the Wednesday before the weekend me were to move. Rushing around organizing things, cleaning, and packing, I happened to walk out the back door to put something in the barn (it is adjoined to the house). I heard Jason by the animal stalls, singing. I started sweeping the back porch and steps, and listened to his little song.
"I love GOD...I love you JE-SUS...I want to ask you into my HEART...." These words caught my ear, and I paused to look at him. He saw me glance his way, and got immediately embarrassed and ran to me. I acted disinterested so he wouldn't be overly embarrassed, but he clearly was wanting me to know, as he said, "I was singing a song to Jesus, mom".
Curiosity got the best of me, so I said, "I heard! But, Jason, who told you that you are supposed to ask Jesus into your heart?"
"I can't remember really"
"Well, Did you know that you don't actually ask Jesus into your heart? The bible says that the Father God is in heaven, and Jesus is sitting at his right hand. And Jesus told us that he was going to go into heaven to prepare a place for us! And, Jesus said that he prays for us too. BUT, Jesus said that he would send up a helper...THE HOLY SPIRIT!"

Jason stood attentively to my every word, and his eyes sparkled with interest and understanding, so I went on....
"The bible says, that when we believe in our hearts that Jesus is the son of God, and confess it with our mouths, then we will be saved. We must ask forgiveness for all of our sins, and then ask for the Holy Spirit to come and live in our hearts. SOOOO....Jesus doesn't come to live in our hearts, but his Holy Spirit does!"

He was SO excited and started repeating back to me most of what I said, just to confirm what he was hearing was correct. He had a few questions that I answered to the best of my ability. All of the sudden, I could just hear the Lord say, "Heather, He's ready for me. He wants me."

"Jason, do you want to do that? Do you want to be saved?"
"YES" He excitedly said.
Sensing that this was a precious moment to be witnessed, I said "Jason, lets wait for Daddy to get home tonight, and we can talk to him some more about it, and he can explain more and then pray WITH you, okay?"
"Oh, okay!"

We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about God, Jesus, Salvation, Sin, Hell, Satan, and all things spiritual I guess you might say :)
That evening, Jason went to Jonny and said, "dad, I want to ask the Holy Spirit to come into my heart".

(Even now I just remember the quiet and beautiful peace of that night, and it makes me want to cry all over again....)

Jonathan took Jason into our room, and I followed a few minutes later, entering upon them as Jonny explained certain things in more detail, and finding that clearly, Jason KNEW. He knew what he wanted, he knew what he was asking.
We all three knelt next to the bed, and Jonathan led him in a sweet and precious prayer of repentance. Jonathan said, "Amen.", but Jason got quiet, then looked at Jonny and said, "But dad, I didn't ask the Holy Spirit to come live inside of me!" So, they quickly ammended that, after we tried not to laugh at our own silly forgetfulness, and marvel at Jason's understanding of what he was doing.

And I KNOW, I know, that the angels in heaven rejoiced at that moment with the Lord, because one lost soul had come home.

Praise the Lord :)

Jason funnies

Ah, I know you are ALL longing to get pictures!

I am SO sorry it has taken me so long. I still have pictures from Abby's birthday AND Micah's birthday, back in July that haven't been posted! I am horrible, I know.

But, I wanted to post about a couple of funny stories regarding Jason

So.................

"Add some water"

We were at Michelle and Cyle's house on our "Thursday" visit. The guys all have men's group, so to ward off the lonely bugs, me and the boys always go to Michelle's house for dinner (we both pitch in), and to play "Ticket to Ride" and watch girly movies.
We had been discussing how she had been working with Nick and Zoe on their memory verses, and I said I would love to get the boys to memorize verses too! So, while Michelle was getting Abby ready for bed, I had all the kids sit at my feet in the living room, and told them it was time to memorize and recite bible verses! All the kids were SO excited!!

The second verse we worked on, was "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you." Proverbs 25:21-22
Nicholas recited it BEAUTIFULLY! Zoe was able to recite the second half of each part, if you prompted her with the first part. Latching onto this method, I told Jason, "Now see if YOU can remember what comes next, and say it out loud."
"Okay" he said.
"If your enemy is hungry......"
"Give him food to eat!" Jason cried excitedly
"And if he is thirsty....."
First he paused, then with a classic *Jason Smirk*, and a *gotchya* finger pointing at me and wink, he said, "Add a little water"

SECOND STORY
I was going to pick up Michelle's kids for the afternoon/evening, so she could get some stuff done, and then when Cyle got home from work they could go on a date night, and pick up the kids afterward.
Unfortunately, our car can only safely hold 3 children in carseats/boosters at a time, so I had to leave my 3 boys at home with Timothy and Micah while I went to pick up her 3 little ones.

Jason was devestated! He wanted to go so badly, and was pleading and begging to let me take him. I finally said, "Jason, I want you to stop. I just CANNOT take you. I really want to, but I can't."
He said, "But Mo-om....the bible says that parents are Never supposed to leave their kids when they go places, and they are ALWAYS supposed to take their kids with them whenever they go places!"

Hmmm...sounds like we need to spend some more time with him in Proverbs........ ;)

Our New House

Here is the "big" boys' room :) They are quite crammed, but hopefully the knowledge that soon this whole trailer will be ALL THEIRS keeps them sane during cramped moments



Bathroom (Bathtub, Toilet, Washer)


Bathroom (Counter, Sink, Linen closet)


Boys bedroom door (next down the hall from the bathroom), dresser


Toy shelf/table, and Tyler's Bed


Jason's bed...up in the closet :) If you're wondering, YES...he loves it. Isn't it funny how kids love unique sleeping arrangements? :)


Hallway, from the "big" boys' bedroom door viewpoint (Bathroom first on left, little boys' room second door on left, and the Master bedroom/office/nursery/sewing room is the only door on the right, across from the bathroom


View of our bedroom from the door


View of our bedroom from the bed ;)


Walk down the hall and into the living room....


View from the kitchen, of the living room and hallway


Better view of the living room/hallway


Our kitchenette, complete with little table (which I use more for counterspace than an actual table)


Kitchenette stove, fridge, counters, etc


View from the kitchen...Our front door :)


Our covered porch/garage/storage space/dining room
(hee hee!)


To the left of the table, is our fridge


And look at all those boxes of storage stuff that just WON'T FIT!


Anyhoo darlings, that's it! The grand tour of our new little home. Cozy, isn't it? ;)

OH, did I forget to mention??

We have moved!
We are living out in the country still, but closer to Jon's extended family. We have moved onto a large farm with Jonathan's cousin, Snoball (i.e. Earl Wayne), and his wife Janice. They don't have any children of their own, and so we are kinda "subbing in" and hopefully can help them out with all of their responsibilities. They have accepted us AND all our goats and chickens (hee hee!) with open arms, and we are now renting one of their rental homes here on their property until we can find a bigger place (its a 2 bedroom trailer, actually).

What's so incredible, is I would never have accepted this as a blessing from the Lord while walking in his will, accept for the fact that I am coming from having NO toilet, NO automatic running washing machine, NO running water, and NO real stove and oven, and NO electrical outlets 'cept the ones down the road and across the road at the barn (And even there there was only one outlet free to charge things like Jon's cell phone and camera batteries.

This little home is turning out to be perfectly quaint and lovely, even with its flaws. Sweet Janice and Snoball insisted on getting me a cell phone, so I was added on to their family plan...and another perk is that Janice is a WONDERFUL cook!! I'm not sure if I should try and learn from her and steal her cooking secrets, or if I should just let her be the Queen around here, of good cookin' ;)

Well, I'll be posting pictures soon of this new place! I'll e-mail family and friends our new address and phone numbers!

3 months of my life

How could I possibly blog about everything that happened? Its like a blackout in my life, crammed full of stories and incidents! What to do?? It would take 3 MORE months to try and blog about them!

Children stepping on nails

Swings breaking

Rooster attacks

6 foot black snake eating beloved hatched chick

Micah blasting a small black snake

Spider bites

Bad days when EVERYTHING went wrong from 3 poop "accidents", to broken milk jars when we were already late for market, to waking up one morning with unbearable back pain and being out of commission for almost 5 days (bedridden by the way)

Good days, like when the Lord allowed everything to work together so we could visit our elderly uncle dean one Thursday morning, and it HAPPENED to be his 75th Birthday unbeknownst to us!!

And when our whole family went down to the big creek and had a HUGE water fight, then came home for a cook-out (they aren't called BBQ's down here...that is a shredded pork dish that has vinegar as a main ingredient)

Anyhoo...its just too much to pack in. Needless to say, it was a VERY rewarding 3 months and seems like it lasted a year! I praise the Lord that he was able to cover me with the grace to persevere in all the circumstances we were faced with.