[life] Hello Friends

 

In the past week or so, I have gained a new amount of "followers" via a blog community on Facebook called The Blog Love Project. It's a group of women who support each other in their blog posts, Facebook pages, tweets, Instas, and pins. It really is a great community! If you haven't found a blogging community yet, I suggest heading over there!

Because of this new following, I want to give an overview of who I am, and who "Everyday with the Jays" is all about! If you have been around here before, most of this will be the same as usual. So to all of my new friends, I say welcome! If you're from The Blog Love Project, let me know in the comments so I can come say hello to you too!

I'm Chrissy, he's Nate. We have been a two-some since our marriage in June 2009. We met in college: he was the cute boy leading worship at a college retreat and I thought, "Oh yes, he WILL be mine." A month later and he was my boyfriend! After a year and a half of dating, he proposed in the most memorable way. He gifted me a Bible with my married name on the front cover. He is such a blessing to me and I can't thank God enough for him. He leads our household to love and fear the Lord and to follow His commandments. He treats me like a princess and comforts me. He keeps me safe and I feel secure in his presence. Love this fella!

We have no children, but have two fur-babies who we treat as such. Anyone else? Chloe is the spunky Jack Russell Terrier pictured below. We got her three months after we were married, so she's been with us since the beginning. She loves adventure, the outdoors, and likes to bark at cats. She keeps us on her toes: she's extremely smart AND stubborn! We adopted Oliver, a Shih-Tzu/Lhasa Apso (not sure) almost a year later. He is kind, tender-hearted, and loves Nate fiercely. He has grown to be a snuggler and always gives us a laugh with his goofy hair.

Nate is the Lead Pastor at our church. He has such a heart for God and His people. It is a true joy to hear him preach each Sunday! He also leads the worship music: Nate sings (amazingly well), plays guitar, and piano. Sometimes I will share snippets of his singing, seen below!

I also work part-time at the church: I am Nate's ministry assistant! I do basic office duties, and also create media publications for the church (weekly bulletins, monthly newsletters, website updates). I maintain communication with our small groups and accountant, and also plan church-wide events. I really enjoy my flexible schedule and working alongside Nate. I'm able to be creative and plan/organize events, but also work on my own in a quiet environment. We have our own work spaces, so we aren't all up in each other 24/7, but just across the hall from one another.

We love to travel: our favorite way to travel is by CRUISE SHIP. We have been on six cruises together (I traveled on two before we were married, and he traveled on one, so my total is eight and his is seven). We love to experience the culture, shopping, and food of the places we visit. We also love photography and capturing moments that we can treasure for a lifetime, but we also understand the importance of living IN the moment and soak it up as much as we can.

We were both born and raised Texans and still live here to this day. I was born/raised in Dallas, while he was born/raised in East Texas (Tyler region). Like I said, we met in college at Dallas Baptist University. We both loved our time there, but unfortunately DBU does not have a football program... so we are both STRONG University of Texas supporters. I was accepted there, but my brother (who graduated from UT) strongly encouraged me to attend DBU instead because he felt UT was too big for me. Boy was he right! But- we love our Longhorns! Hook 'em!

On the blog, you will see oodles of our everyday life (hence, "EVERYDAY" with the Jays). I don't blog everyday, but my schedule will (hopefully) continue to be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I enjoy sharing about our life and travels (seen above), but I love me a good craft, party, or recipe! Plus, fashion and beauty are things I am beginning to dip my toe into, so you will see bits of that as well!

I am so so SO glad you have decided to join us on our blog journey! Thank you for reading (AND getting to this point, ha! #longpost) and I hope you stick around with us! Leave me a comment sharing where you blog and I can stop by to say hello back! Have a great week!

[make] Tissue Wrapped Flower Pots

As the "pastor's wife" of our church, sometimes I take it upon myself to plan and coordinate holiday and special event functions for the church: a job I LOVE! If I could be a party planner or event coordinator, that would be my dream. job.

Anyways, for Mother's Day, I knew Nate didn't want to make a big fuss during the actual church worship service because our focus is not on our mothers at church (yes, even on Mother's Day): our focus is on Christ and worshiping Him alone and making His name famous. Nate did have a small recognition where he had all of the mothers' stand up and he gave them a small commission on raising their children. But I knew I wanted to have at least a small token from the church's behalf to wish the mama's a Happy Mother's Day! So...

Enter $1.69 potted flowers from WalMart (not the best selection, but work with what ya got)
Pink tissue paper
Pink tulle
Scrapbook paper
Computer printed card
Craft scissors

With the help of my family who was visiting for the weekend, we were able to knock out 30 of these tissue wrapped flower pots in about 30 minutes. Time flies when you're having fun!

They are so easy to create: Wrap the tissue paper around the base of the flower pot (they were plastic), use tulle to tie around the tissue paper to hold it in place and to also make a fabulous bow, add the card created with scrapbook paper and craft scissors, and ta-da! Hard to tell in this picture, but they were pretty adorable. The ladies at church were very appreciative! I had my tween bible study girls pass them out to the moms as they walked into church on Sunday.

The card created for each plant and then adhered to colorful, floral scrapbook paper as a backing.

What did you give your mom for Mother's Day? Do tell, love to see all of the fun gifts! Not that gifts matter, but you know what I mean!

Happy Tuesday!

"Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Deuteronomy 5:16

See where I link up: Monday Made it @ 4th Grade Frolics, Blog Hop @ Naptime Review, What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar and Dots, Craft-O-Manic Monday @ Craft-O-Manic, Monday Funday @ C.R.A.F.T./Lines Across/Uncommon Designs/That's What {Che} Said/Creatively Living, Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party @ Not JUST A Housewife, {Wow Me Wednesday} @ Ginger Snap Crafts, Link Party @ Destination: Craft, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick, Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello, What I Wore Wednesday @ The Pleated Poppy 

[faith] Women's Bible Study #8

8. Regularly attend a Bible study with women (also in the works!)
Still ongoing from August to present, woot!

Over the summer, our church women's ministry began meeting to brainstorm a weekly Bible study for women ages 18 and older. I am so thankful for these group of ladies who meet weekly! They are a blessing to my life and it is such an encouragement to hear the wisdom, similar stories and struggles, and Godly insights from some fabulous Christian women. We follow a bible study and have such wonderful discussion on God's truths and lessons for our lives. Love it!

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but since my 30 before 30 says that I would REGULARLY attend a bible study, I wanted to give it some time before I shared. We have just started our third bible study (wow!), so I wanted to share all three studies with you so you know what we've been up to in case you are interested to start up a bible study at your church or with a group of friends!

The first bible study we completed was "Seed" by Priscilla Shirer. This bible study, DVD/workbook based, focused on various concepts and themes, but what I remembered most from the study was Priscilla's 5 P's method on how to study the bible:

• Position yourself to hear from God
• Pore over the passage and Paraphrase the major points
• Pull out the spiritual principles
• Pose the question
• Plan obedience and Pin down a date

It is so easy to skim a passage and not really understand what it is saying, but her 5 P's method definitely made us dig into the Word to truly grasp its meaning!

The next, and longest, study we have completed so far is Beth Moore's "So Long, Insecurity", which is book/workbook/DVD based. This was my favorite! Beth talks to you like you are best friends: her book is easy to read and understand, and her words are true and solid. She is an awesome woman of God and so incredibly wise! This bible study focused on insecurities we can have as women: looks, job status, marriage, anything! She discusses where our insecurities root from: maybe a childhood loss, a family crisis, etc. and teaches that it is God, not the world or others, who gives us our security and we are secure women in HIM. Such powerful words!

I have been insecure before and have felt those emotions creep up: what will happen if...? I'm going to be so embarrassed if....? God has us and we are His, no one can take that from us. When we feel insecure, we are to run to Him and His Word. I'm still finishing up the book (there is a book and a work book for the bible study) and I would highly recommend it to anyone!

 

The bible study we have just started is Lysa TerKeurst's "Unglued". This bible study will focus on our raw emotions and how we react when life happens. Are we on God's side or on the world's side? Do we let our emotions get the best of us, or are we a light for God and show grace when we are ticked off? Lysa is another personable writer/teacher (this series is also book/workbook/DVD based) and makes it simple to follow her Biblical teachings. I'm excited to see where this study leads!

So there you have it! Do you attend a women's bible study at your church? Or do you have a group of fellow women that you can be open and real with as to what God is doing in your life? Moving four hours from home, almost three years ago, it was hard to connect and make friends with strangers when your entire world and all of your relationships were four hours away (SO thankful for Facebook, by the way!). But it was truly God's plan for Nate and I to be thrown out of our comfort zone to establish new relationships here and we are so blessed with the wonderful friends and relationships we have built since moving. God is good y'all, all the time.

Have a great week!

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 
1 Thessalonians 5:11

[love] Halloween Trunk or Treat

Better late than never, right?

Our church hosted a Trunk or Treat for Halloween, basically where cars park and decorate their trunks and pass out candy from the back of their cars. We also had bounce houses, cotton candy, and hot dogs with the fixin's! We had a great turn out!

My sweet pups: Oliver, the lion, and Chloe, the "tiger" (hmph: she doesn't "do" costumes)

Lions (Oliver) and tigers (Chloe) and bears (me), oh my (Nate)! 

 You can start to see how everyone's trunks are decorated and all lined up...

My trunk set up...

Other trunk set ups...

They were "banished" to the backseat for a bit... they were just too excited! And here, you can see a small glimpse of Chloe's tiger costume... yep, a bow.

 

This picture was a pure miracle... they're both laying down... still... looking at me. Crazy!

It was a great night had by all! We had a blast putting the event on and serving the community and it seems that everyone who came through had a blast too! Half of my students even came to the event: they all kept telling me, "Mrs. Johnson! I'm coming to your party tonight!" Hahaha gotta love Kindergarteners.

Have a wonderful week!

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men." Ephesians 6:7

[photoaday] Week Thirty Five

It has been a great week but an even greater start to my three day weekend because my parents are in town!!! Love when they come to visit!

[psst: if you take photos this week, use my button on your blog post and leave me a comment on THIS post with the link to YOUR blog post with your photos.... that's not confusing at all, is it? once you do that (and assuming you're a follower of mine), I will feature your blog with a few of your photos! remember ladies, sharing is caring :)]

[sunday]: Our usual Media Shout person for church was gone, so guess who got recruited to run the slides for the worship and sermon at church? #lifeofapastorswife I was so nervous but I survived! And it was fun, who would've thought?

[monday]: I already shared with you my fabulous capris courtesy of $10 and eBay. I just purchased two other shirts today, one from the Gap and one from Old Navy: one cost .91 (yep, cents!) and the other cost $6 with free shipping! May have a problem...

[tuesday]: High school sports are back! Tuesdays are volleyball and those games can get intense! I never played volleyball..... well, ever, but it's fun to watch!

[wednesday]: Cold pizza for dinner... youth and Bible Study at church can do this to a couple!

[thursday]: Tried a new Chinese restaurant nearby and this was my fortune! Predicting my fabulous weekend, perhaps? Ha!

[friday]: These two pups were ready to see their grandparents (aka my parents: yep, we're that family). I was getting the guest bedroom ready and the pups joined me. How kind of them!

[saturday]: (originally I had used a different picture for today but I changed it to this one because it is just too cute!) Shopping at Hobby Lobby! Two thirds of us are pleased with the trip. Oh Dad :)

Have a LOVELY weekend and an even more fabulous Labor Day holiday! Hoping you are all off and spend time with family or perhaps create a craft or two! I have a project up my sleeve that I'm so excited about: we will see how it goes!

"So in this hour, everything I do will be all for this moment, everything's for you. My heart is open and willing, so take it."- The Rocket Summer