the test of grace

a friend recently commented that "the best friendships are those that stand the test of time."
i responded that "those friendships are wonderful indeed, but to me the best friendships are the ones that stand the test of grace.

i need grace.

too often my mouth takes off, spewing out words before i can catch them.

i'm working on self-control,
on mouth-control.

but in the meantime

i need grace.


i am a selfish creature. i like things my way.

i'm working on considering others before myself,
on trying things your way.

be patient with me,

I need grace.


i'm judgmental and prideful.
(i'm a recovering pharisee)

I'm working on humility.

don't be done with me.

i need grace.


i am insecure.

sadly my insecurity can cause me to be the ugliest version of myself.

i'm sorry.

I NEED GRACE!


the best friendships are those that stand the test of grace.

they stay.
see in me what i cannot see in myself.
love me,
and wait with great expectation as
the Potter shapes this clay...

With His Grace.


(photos of yarn taken during our weekend away).

beauty is a homeless man

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me...

I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.
Matthew 25:35-36 & 40

We met George Lucask in 2005. He had been a crippled, abused, toothless, homeless man living under a bridge in Fresno before a family from our church befriended him. They brought him to our mountain community, and arranged shelter for him at a local motel. They also made arrangements with a handful of families to visit with and provide one meal for George each day.

We signed up for Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

George struggled to adjust to a motel room as his home (long term arrangements were being pursued). Adjusting to sleeping in a bed, showering, using the toilet, and cleanliness did not come easily for George. The street had become his home. And though it was unsafe, he wanted to return to familiarity.

George battled demons (lies). He had a history of shame. At 18 he left his country of Hungary to avoid being enlisted in the military. He never saw his family again. This caused him much sadness. In addition he had been wounded shortly after arriving in the U.S., as a result he spent much of his adult life on crutches. The defeat caused him to seek comfort in alcohol.

George had become an outcast. His companions were loneliness and scorn.

BUT God...

The kids ( 3, 5 & 6) and I would arrive at his motel room with a meal, snacks, a bible, and EXPECTANCY.

We expected to see Jesus in George, and with George.

And we did.

EVERY. TIME.

As George sat to eat his meal, I'd read scripture, share my stories of battling lies, and coming into Truth. George received them. I saw the doors of grace opening in his dear life.

Each time we visited George, my sweet Emilie delighted in seeing him! She'd embrace him and hold his hand, nestle in close to him. Her genuine love made this untouchable, touchable.

The gray walls of George's motel room were quickly being transformed into a gallery. As a handful of children poured their love for him out in displays of art.

Washing George's feet became part of our visits. His feet caused him much pain, and had scaled over, increasing his pain. Tenderness, Compassion, and Love were invited into his room with each washing. I was humbled (a gift as i was coming out of the most prideful season of my life).

Once we brought George to our home. We had visited him many times in his home, but knew hospitality meant inviting him into our lives as well. He sat with the kids and I as we home schooled. And then we put George gladly to work, cutting strawberries for his favorite dessert- strawberry shortcake (he was adorable with whipped cream in his beard).

On another outing (which resulted in ice cream sandwiches and driving through a car wash) We were listening to hymns when George started singing loudly and clearly-

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Those words have had new meaning and power since hearing them flow from George's lips.

In George I saw that Beauty is a homeless man.

Before I met George I thought He was "the least of these," but during that season with George I discovered that I was the "least of these." I hadn't seen Jesus in ALL people, only in people that looked the part.

But George, a homeless man, was Jesus with skin on.

And Jesus was beautiful.

Where have you seen Beauty?
(George now lives in community, in a home for Senior Citizens,
where his physical, emotional, and medical needs are provide for).

To read more stories of Beauty or to share your own visit Best Days of Our Lives.

baby love

tutorial links:
cloth baby blocks
paper bows
paper flowers
(i used magazine pages, and scrapbooking paper for my paper flowers. i also used twigs for the stem)
applique onsies
(i used fusible fabric underneath, lined the top fabric to it, then stitched the perimeter with a zig zag stitch)

My Love Language

Psalm 139 is well known scripture for many mommies. Verses 14-17 resonate with us-

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

But it is Psalm 139:1 that takes my breath away, "O Lord, You have searched me and know me."

To me being known is being seen. Being seen is being loved.

That is my Love Language.

It is how I am best loved. It is how I love best.

The more I know Jesus, the more I believe this is His Love Language.

This is what I like most about Jesus.

Jesus is intentional about knowing people. He sees us. Doesn't judge at first glance, but gets to the heart of us, to our story, to all the stories that have come before ours. Stories good, bad, of defeat, and victory which were written into our stories, and He knows us. Knows us better than we know ourselves. Gets us. See's us. And ENTIRELY Loves us!

I want to know, see, and love like Jesus.

For too many years I have played loving because it was the "Christian" thing to do. But in too many circumstances I never really loved. I was just meeting my Christian requirements. I don't think that is entirely bad, sometimes we must "fake it till we make it." Obedience is the first step. But I've outgrown just being obedient. I want to love, from my inmost being I want to love.

I want to love:

My neighbor. Who is broken. She resides in a prison not made of visible bars, but of drugs, alcohol, and defeat.

My neighbor's children.

A friend, who has destroyed her life, and is living in lies.

A relative whose choices grieve me.

and too many more...

I want to love them.


This is a gift I can give daily.
What gift can you give daily?

Happy Twenty Ten!

The bright side of this New Year is that my hair doesn't look as hideous as it did 10 years ago on New Years !
Happy 2010

Expect-fully!!

Advent day 15- FREE HOT CHOCOLATE STAND!
Scripture- Zechariah 9:9-17
This was our 6th year giving free hot cocoa to our community at Christmas. Every year WE are blessed in the giving. We love to stand together as a family and give out up to 160 cups of Hot Cocoa.
The voices of my children shouting "free hot chocolate!" delights me. This has become our Jones family tradition, and I LOVE THAT!
This year (and every year) I prayed for all the individuals that took our free gift, and for those that that pass us by, that they would receive the FREE GIFT that God gave us that first Christmas- JESUS! I pray that Jesus would be born in each of them.

Advent day 16- Christmas Caroling
Scripture- Philippians 4: 10-13

Advent day 17- Bake Cookies
Scripture- 1 Thessalonians 2:19 & Romans 8:16-17a

Advent day 18- Cookie/Ornament Exchange PARTY!
Scripture- Luke 2:8-20
The kids invited 2 friends each to our house to join us for their very own Christmas party (Thanks for letting this adult crash the party kids). All the children brought cookies and an ornament to exchange. They also brought a non-perishable food item to give to our local MANNA HOUSE, and $1 to give to Charity Water.
We had a fun time playing a game, eating junk food, listening to a favorite story "The Tale of Three Trees," exchanging treats, decorating cookies, discussing a local charity, watching a video about Charity Water, and giving to both.

I LOVE that my kids are bigger, that we are at a stage where we can throw fun parties together.
I enjoyed listening to all the kids giggles. Listening to them share their own stories, including stories of how their families are serving Christ in the community this Christmas season was delicious! MY KIDS HAVE DELIGHTFUL FRIENDS!

Advent day 19- Our Christmas Eve.
Scripture- James 1:17
You read that right! it's our Christmas Eve. 9 years ago we moved our Christmas. Between Michael's family, and my families, we already have 3 Christmas' to attend on Christmas day!
That is a blessing! BUT in order to have our own family Christmas we'd have to wake before dawn and be sleep-deprived-in-the-car-for-too-many-hours-eaten-too-many-Christmas-cookies-zombies by the time we hit our final destination, my Aunt Mary and Uncle Joseph's house (i'm not kidding). So we moved our Christmas to the Sunday before Christmas, and WE LOVE IT! We love having our family all to our selves, enjoying each other, and making our own traditions.

So tonight we'll be reading the Story of Jesus' birth, enjoying the wonder of it all, Expect-fully waiting for JESUS!

I'm also glad to know that when my own kids are adults they will not have to squeeze us in on Christmas day, as our family Christmas will always be reserved for the weekend before.
DID YOU GET THAT KIDS! YOUR ALL MINE THE WEEKEND BEFORE CHRISTMAS FROM NOW UNTIL FOR.EV.ER!

Rachel & Norah

on our last day in portland, kristen nora (the video will explain why) and i (rachel) took in the saturday market, a bit of wading (it was RAINY), a gondola ride, and dinner at the melting pot.

btw- there is video footage i haven't shared from our trip- me discovering kristen doesn't like pesto! who doesn't like pesto? and did you know she makes, likes, and feed hers family tater-tot casserole!
the video footage i didn't share (to cut down on lengthier videos) is of me asking random people (of course) if they would eat tater-tot casserole. ICK!
so tell me would you (ingredients: hamburger, tater-tots, corn, cheeses, and cream of potato barf soup)?
and do you LOVE pesto?

Waiting To Be Discovered

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."

this video makes me laugh and smile.

kristen and i had no idea that our little adventure to portland would lead us to meet some interesting and wonderful people!

this adventure caused me to be in awe of God, of how He creates people. scripture says we are all made in the "image of God." there are so many sides, layers, colors, fragrances, tastes, personalities... to God, all displayed in people. each person like a portrait, painting, book, movie, song, waiting to be discovered. God waiting to be discovered.

i envy God, He KNOWS each one of us.
He knows home-schooling mommies, "know it alls" from arizona, and their sweet wives, dad's from miami, couch surfers from mexico and canada, and batalogists who say "app uh lach in."

Oh how i would love to sit with God, and have him tell me each of their stories. I'd watch His face light up as our Father told me about each of His children.
He would get out His wallet and show me pictures of the "know it all" and his wife from Arizona, He would show me how beautiful His children are.
He would tell me about bats (shiver). He would be enthusiastic to share every detail (shiver). He'd tell me how cool batologists are, and how He delights in seeing His children be passionate about His creation.
He would tell me about glen- quiet, thoughtful glen.
And He would tell me about mexico, germany, and couch surfing, and how it pleases Him to watch his children embrace new cultures, new people, new experiences.

Hearing him, and watching Him, tell me about His children and how He loves them, would cause me to love him more, and to better grasp how He knows and loves me.

i won a give away!

Enjoy the video above from the first day of my weekend getaway to portland, or. with blog friend kristen, from the blog idaho mom.

kristen would tell you that our friendship began through a give away i had on my blog. she left her first comment, and won a c.d containing one of my favorite mommy songs, "Sacred".

i would like to tell you that i was the real winner of that giveaway. i won a friend.
a laugh with, cry with, jump with, dream with, hope with, breath with, believe with, ride a gondola with...friend!


tell me which blog friend(s) would you most like to meet, and why?

where in the world is denise jones

guess where i am.

guess who i am with.

(it's not donald miller, but i am reading his new book)

so make sure you have popcorn in the house, and maybe a pair of depends,

because vlogs (video blogs) are coming, and you might laugh so hard you wet yourself!

going home

last week i went to my 18th high school reunion!

here is a long, yet ENTERTAINING video capturing a bit of the night, and reuniting with old friends (also includes hello's to my b.f.f.'s who were unable to attend).

i look back at high school and am so grateful for that time. i am grateful for the friends i made. i wouldn't be who i am today if it weren't for the wonderful ways God wrote them into my life. i miss their presence in my life.

ideally children have families that meet their needs. ideally children have a physical home as well as an emotional home in their families. but i didn't. my family became the close friends around me. these friends were the people i ate with, cried with, laughed with, dreamed with, questioned Life with, and sought Truth with. they were my emotional home, and the school became my physical home.

i recall how i dreaded weekends, school holidays, and agonized over summer vacations. i felt homeless, without a sense of belonging. unlike the other children, i counted down the days till breaks were over. wondering if i was the only one eager to return.thankfully in the past 18 yrs since i graduated from high school i have learned to find my Home in God. through him and by the mentoring of others, i am learning to make a home for my family.but you see for me a high school reunion isn't just a gathering of old classmates, it's a family reunion.

it is a reunion of faces that are familiar, a reunion of people who grew up alongside me for 13 yrs, a reunion of memories shared, a reunion filled with the people who i am endeared to and love.

What Song Would You Sing If You Were On American Idol?

so this is our last day of vacation!!!! (i am singing that as i type it)

there were many options for the title of this post (as you will see from the entertaining video)-
Fortune Cookie Pancakes
Man Enough To Be your Woman
My Butt Looks Good In These Jeans
I Do Not Have A Minnesotan Accent



so tell me What Song Would You Sing If You Were On American Idol?(btw- did you notice how spinner mentioned that my fortune cookie meant i'd have my chance on american idol. the statement is funny seeing now how the remainder of the day played out. spinner what else can you tell me about my future?).

we visited the holocaust museum, the smithsonian castle, and the capitol.if you are ever in d.c. you must visit the holocaust museum (not recommended for young children). it beautifully and honestly honors the lives of those who tragically lost theirs. as we walked through michael tenderly talked emilie and noah through the devastation they saw. it is unfathomable.
At one point in the museum there was a bridge to cross, on each side 4 story high walls were covered in beautiful, pre- holocaust, pre-hitler, life telling photos of those who had lost their lives.

as home schooling parents we feel fortunate that we have had (and have) the opportunity to walk through history with our children. we get to teach them the Truth on which our country was founded. we lead them through the many stories of victory, defeat, and perseverance. with honesty we explore how our history makes us laugh, cry, scream, and HOPE.
as we teach them we take into account that we are raising tomorrows leaders. we know that by looking at our past we are making an investment in our future.
and we hope, for the future of this nation- this "one nation UNDER GOD."

Quiz & Give Away

One of the advantages to having friends Spinner & Ginger live near D.C. is that they can know the sweet spots that tourists don't know about. On our day together in the city they lead us to the Eastern Market! Here we enjoyed quaint neighborhoods, a delicious pancake breakfast, as well as local creativity, and culture. Another advantage is that Spinner knows all sorts of interesting facts about the city. He also volunteers as a docent at the American History Museum (yep, the museum with first trains, cars, Lincoln's hat, Jackie O's dresses, the ruby red slippers, and Seinfeld's puffy shirt!).

However, the biggest advantage is that they LOVE our family. I just can't thank them enough for having us, and for spilling generosity, kindness, playfulness, knowledge, and FUN onto all 5 of us (i could go on and on 'bout the ramp Spinner built, and the GINORMOUS crickets he saved us "dungeon" dwellers from, or fortune cookie pancakes, great conversation,laughter, and more)! As well as visiting the Eastern Market and American History Museum, we also made a stop at the National Archives to take a look at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Oh yeah, and you did read the title correctly! There IS a GIVE AWAY! Watch the video below and share with me something you learned, ANYTHING! and you could be the winner of the first ever $20 gift card to Starbucks!! Well the first one to ever be given away on this blog anyway.

(if you are reading this over at my facebook account and want to see the video and enter the give away than pop over to my blog at jonesidosio@blogspot.com and leave your comment).




Winner will be announced Monday Sept. 14th at 5:00 p.m.

sometimes i laugh so hard i wet myself!

lisa, julie, and i. that's how the days of my young life were spent, with them- sharing clothes, talking 'bout boys, sleep-overs, bad hair cuts, passing letters in class, school plays, break-up tears, sun bathing (after lathering up in mineral oil, or worse- butter!), summer camp, catering (julie's family owned a catering business that i worked at for 6 yrs), football games, school dances, sweet 16, getting our drivers licenses, prom, graduation, first apartments, fiances, weddings, babies...25 years.

i wouldn't be who i am today if it weren't for these two beautiful women. i KNOW that God wrote them both into my life.

i was in 6th grade the first time i felt delighted in, and it was lisa who delighted in me. she chose this quirky, insecure, broken, 10 yr old girl to be her friend. she didn't care that i got the "free cheese," she didn't seem to notice. she noticed ME. she WANTED me for a friend (just thinking about it makes me tear up). do you know what it is like to have someone want you, when for 10 yrs no one has wanted you? well let me just say i DANCED in our friendship! i came alive because of this friendship. i moved toward believing i was wanted, delighted in, and worthy.
4 yrs later lisa invited me to Hume Lake Christian Camp (tears)... and here i am now.it was in 7th grade music/drama class that i first met julie. i can tell you exactly where she was standing, how i took one look at her, and decided then and there we were going to be friends. i soon discovered that julie and i were so much alike. first, we had the same interests,which at that time were music, drama, and dance (i was a horrible dancer. julie would work with me after school to help me learn routines). we were both born to teenage parents (and by the same o.b.!) we both came from portuguese families (if you are portuguese you will understand the significance). we understood and empathized with the others family chaos, and we both longed for Jesus and a Life of victory in Him. in a season when life can feel so awkward and isolating, our friendship caused me to believe that i fit in simply because i fit in with her. i think we all need to feel like we belong, even to just one person.
i recall two times in our 25 years of friendship where God has used julie to speak Truth over my life. Truth that on both occasions saved my life.so enjoy this our final day together from this trip (this next video is a bit like watching the movie Ground Hog's Day, as i include 3 attempts to introduce the day).

and tell me have you ever laughed so hard you have wet yourself?

absolute JOY

while we were in d.c i had the opportunity to see my b.f.f.'s of 25 years lisa and julie. both have moved to virgina with their families, and now live so far, far, faaarrrrrrrr away from me.

it brought me absolute JOY to get to spend a couple of days with my dear friends, who after so many years and memories have really become my sisters. i especially enjoyed soaking up their sweet children (some now the ages that we were when we first met).

we spent the day together visiting the natural history museum -where we saw the hope diamond, lots of bones, minerals (some looked like kryptonite. it may have been kryptonite because i felt unusually weak near that cluster of rocks) and insects. we also visited the air & space museum, where we saw the voyager, space ship one, the lunar lander, and the wright brother's plane (the real one)!
(sorry, some of the images are a bit small. to enlarge photos below simply click on photo)

It's vlogging, duh!

today in video blogville you'll get to spend the day with us in balboa, followed by beach play with with sarah markley, and wrapped up with dinner in san clemente with good friends steve & melanie (cromwell) crutchfield.
enjoy!

heading for shore!

it was 113 degrees at my house earlier this week. the kids and i had been cooped up indoors for 5 days, and were on each others last heat-induced-cranky-nerve when the local weatherman spoke of cooling temperatures over the next few days. he promised "that the weather would drop, and instead of 113, temps would be down to 106."

Dear Mr. Weatherman, 106 is NOT COOLER WEATHER!

we all know that as mommies we wear many hats. we are the resident cook, nurse, taxi, maid, teacher, seamstress, personal shopper, referee, etc.... well somehow i have also become the resident cruise director. i know my kids would be very happy if i began posting a weekly activities calendar. it's too bad for them (yet good for me) that i only post a weekly chore chart!

so monday, after 5 blazing HOT days cooped up inside with ms." i'm bored," ms. "i have nothing to do," and "mr. can i play wii" (for the 500,000 time), i was turning into,well, mrs. "don't mess with me." at some point mid afternoon i disappeared to mr. computer for a little company from the outside world. here i read my old friend jeff's facebook profile update stating that that he and his family were at sunset beach camping. i f.b. commented that i was "sorry to not be there" (they had invited us to join them sometime ago). at that moment good friends, 70 degree temps, and the beach sounded very appealing.

i returned to the real world, and to my job as cruise director, where i persuaded (forced) my unhappy kids to join me in a game of scrabble. somewhere between the words "felt" and "star," between the arguing and tears (5 days cooped up is not a good thing people), the phone rang... it was jeff, with the most beautiful words ever spoken to a mommy nearing insanity, "it's not too late for you to come and join us."

the questions of "could we go" and "should we go" quickly turned into "we have to go!"
so this cruise director instructed her cabin mates to pack up because we were
heading for shore!!
we enjoyed 24+ hours at Sunset Beach, 70 degree temps, and gracious friends. we topped it off with an evening at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!what a treat it was to discover that on mon. and tues. evenings santa cruz beach boardwalk returns to 1907 by cutting the cost of treats such as soda, hot dogs, and cotton candy to just 75 cents. to top it off each ride is the cost of one 1.00 ticket! noah and emilie were THRILLED to discover our spontaneous adventure to the beach included a ride on the 6th oldest roller coaster in the u.s., the 85 year old giant dipper!thank you "jeff n' kelly hayes" (f.b. name) for rescuing us from the pit of heat despair!
we are BLESSED to have you as friends.

How are you staying cool and sane this summer?

you can pre-order the book The Church of Facebook ,written by Jesse Rice (another old friend) here.

unpacking

i'm home. everything is unpacked and put away. but i'm still unpacking. i've realized that i have brought home an additional piece of luggage... the one that is in my heart.
the time away from our home and in bass lake was full. i feel as if i have packed each person, conversation, all the embraces, laughter, tears, wonder, every moment in a suitcase. this is a suitcase i won't be able to empty in a day. i don't know where it's contents go. but God does.
even as i write God has given me this beautiful image of a chest of drawers. each drawer being filled with sweet memories.
and here is the thing, at the end of this unpacking the drawers won't close neatly. no, they'll look more like my chest of drawers from high school (o.c.d. didn't set in till motherhood. my teenage drawers were a mess), with moments spilling out of them, into other drawers.
that is my God. my God causes me to have "life in the full." He blesses me with moments to cause my heart to spill over.


below are pix from some of my favorite moments-
jumping into real life friendship with blog friends sarah and kristen.at the f.o.t. campfire with sarah, squeezing in as many words as we could, desperate for more time together, followed by a good let-me-keep-you-longer hug.the feast of tents; heart stirring messages with al siebert, moving worship with chad markley, the song You Gave Your Life Away that still resonates in my soul, the cross covered in portraits signifying the intimacy we have with our Maker. conversations kristen and i shared. sharing the cracks in our armor, amazed by God's grace.

sharing kristen with lindsey.

watching the kids play and really enjoy each other.
my 3 on uncle pluto's lap. they LOVE uncle pluto.being rescued by the mole! ahhhhhh!! what we originally thought was a mouse turned out to be a big, furry, mole in the house!time with the hayes' family (jeff and i have been friends since jr.high). it is a joy to have a friend who is a brother. we delight in each other and in each others families.
be on the look out for a video highlighting our time.
can't wait to share more with you!