Tag: jessica r patch

Who Doesn’t Get Thirsty?

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Cookouts, staying in jammies longer, poolside. Fall is on the way. No more white shoes or pants. Black’s more slimming anyway.

So let me ask  you a question.
What does living by grace mean to you? 
For me, it means walking each day knowing I am weak, but He is strong. I get tired, He never does. I stumble, He holds me up. I make mistakes, He’s perfect.
 So many things pour into me every day. Responsibilities of being a wife, mother, employee, a writer, a woman (if you’re a woman you know what I’m saying). I wear many hats. I love each one. I love each responsibility, but they can all wear me out.
I need my thirsty soul, quenched. I need saturated with His love, with the washing of the water of His Word. I can’t be good at any of the things above, if I don’t first fill myself up with Him.
Can anyone relate?
And because I’m a woman, I like to share. Women love to share, don’t they? My husband is amazed at some of the things I’m willing to divulge to my girlfriends. I love it when a bunch of us get together and talk about life and most importantly the foundation of life. Jesus Christ.
It renews me, encourages me, revs me up, and gives me hope. We bond through friendship and faith. We care for each other, pray for each other, laugh together. It’s a wonderful experience, especially when coffee and chocolate are involved!
“…A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12
Doesn’t this sense of belonging, renewal, and friendship sound wonderful? Wish you could have it on a daily basis?
You can.
I’m honored to be partnering with some incredible women of faith who want to live by grace, together. We want a sense of community and camaraderie with other women. On September 12th, we’ll be launching a devotional facebook community. Living By Grace. We want to invite you to come by and let your souls be quenched, your minds and hearts challenged. Each day an amazing woman will bring the word through a devotional and feel free to mingle, chat, ask questions, and just have a good time.
We’re building bonds of sisterhood through faith and facebook! Come and join us.
“Like” our page by clicking the button on my sidebar and grab our button for your blog if you’d like!

I’m honored to be working with such talented writers. They all have wonderful personal blogs. You can find them by clicking on their names below.
Lynda Schultz
Joanne Sher
Jennifer Slattery
Maria Morgan
Patty Wysong

Top 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Child Watch Spongebob

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Ready? Here’s why you shouldn’t let your child watch Spongebob Squarepants based on experiences with my son…um..yeah.

5. His laugh is hideous. And your kids might try to copy it.

4.  Your child might want a pet squirrel named Sandy. He might ask over…and over…and over…and over…He might set traps in the backyard, a yard that has ZERO trees. He might beg you every time you pass a pet store, even though you’ve told him a billion times, they don’t. sell. squirrels.

3. When he watches the episode where Spongebob curses, and a dolphin voice is the censor, he might ask, “Which bad words is he saying?”
“It doesn’t matter. You don’t know any bad words.”
“Tell them all to me, then.”
“No.”
And then he might beg and plead and when you finally end it, he just makes dolphin noises instead. How will you discipline a kid for cussing in dolphin?
2. He might bend over in public and grab his behind, then say, “I ripped my pants.” A lot. A whole lot. And then refer to #5.
1. And the #1 reason you should not let your child watch Spongebob, he might say to you, “I want your booty.”
“What?” you’ll ask in total shock.
He might look at you as if you’re crazy and say, “I want your booty. You know…booty? Treasure?”
And you never know who else he’ll say that to.
Badamp bamp ching! Have a great weekend, watch whatever you want!

3 Ways to Respond to Detours in Life

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Okay, so some of you may have clicked on Dawn Alexander’s link yesterday and found someone else’s journey story. Yeah, I got my days wrong. I’m not telling my story until September. But she has a great blog, huh? I hope if you went, you followed. How’d you like that little detour?

And one other thing, how does Weight Watchers make their blueberry muffins so delish and moist at only 5 points? 

Okay, on with the show, this is it.

MONDAY morning, we headed for school.

We hopped in our mini-van and cruised the same route we take every morning. I turned right by City Hall, made the 4-way stop, and BAM!
DETOUR!
 I slowed down. Myles asked, “What’s going on?”
“Detour.”
“Are you going to get lost on this one?”
I ignored his above average sarcasm for a 7 year old. “No.” Please don’t let me get lost…again.
I turned right, and crept ahead. I came off auto-pilot and paid attention. Nervous and unsure, as I wound around streets and curves, hoping I’d get them to school on time and not end up somewhere unsafe. I saw the end of the Detour ahead, not far, I waited patiently to get out on the main road leading to school. Phew! We made it.
TUESDAY morning, we left later than usual, rushed and irritated. Maybe I broke up a fight or two over their shared sink. Mental note: When we move, kids must have separate bathrooms. Not because they’re spoiled, but I need morning sanity to last longer than the hour I spend with Jesus before they get up.
We took off on our normal route.
BAM! I forgot. Detour. 
I was not apprehensive or worried about where I was. I was in a rotten mood, a million things going on in my head. My internet was down. Imagine the anxiety. I growled, literally, when I saw the sign.
I whipped the wheel to the right and muttered under my breath, griping at drivers. I sat impatiently while traffic didn’t help me by making a space for me to pull onto the main road. I may have honked and shook a fist at a teenager or two. Possibly a senior adult driving Miss Daisy.
We arrived on time. But I was angry.

The Lord blew the clouds of aggravation away with His voice and reminded me of the day before and the moment we were in at the same time. Then He spoke to me about the way I handle detours and the way I should handle them.

1.                                           

Don’t be afraid of detours
  D
“I put what you like to call detours in your life to make you slow down, wake-up, and pay attention. I know you get scared. I know it makes you nervous.” I felt the nudge to look up. The sky was incredible, the colors of a baby shower. “You think I can’t control where you’re going, when I can make this? Don’t be afraid.”
2.    
Don’t be angry at detours
“You think being angry and impatient with others will get you there any sooner? It won’t. It’ll only delay you. Do you think those drivers saw you as loving, gentle person, while trying to plow them over and shaking angry fists? Did your children see an example of how to respond to an unannounced twist? Why are you in such a hurry anyway?” His tenderness didn’t sear me with conviction, but wooed me to repentance.
3.    
Expect detours, plan for them

“You haven’t failed. It’s not too late to be a better example to others, to your children. It may be there tomorrow. It may not. But it won’t be the last one. You’ll get your chance to do it right. Plan for it. Expect it. You won’t be alone.”

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…” 2 Corinthians 4:16-17
How do you handle detours in your life?