Jerusalem Jackson Greer's Blog, page 30

mug-o-pie and a giveaway and thoughts on abundance

I am so excited to see A Homemade Year and my mug-o-pie being shared over at Heather Hamilton's Life Made Lovely blog ! Heather REALLY knows how to make my Wednesday as happy as a bunch of daisies.Hop on over to Life Made Lovely to see what Heather liked best about AHY and to enter to win a copy for yourself (or to give away as gift!) 

I took most of the summer off from book promotions and speaking, but this fall things will rev back up it. You can check out my events page to see if I will be visiting/speaking near you. Also, there is info there on how to contact me if you are interested in having me come speak or lead a workshop at your church or group.
I feel like I learned so much back in the Spring about what works best for our family and where my strengths lie in regards to speaking/sharing/appearances etc. In the beginning I said yes to everything no matter what it was because that's what you do when you have a new book right?  But as it turns out, not every idea is a good one. Or at least not a good fit for me and for us.
I have learned that what works best is when I get to speak about A Homemade Year and topics I am passionate about. Doing craft and cooking demo's or book signings without getting to share about my faith, my heart, and the questions I live in, just feels time-consuming and instead of life-giving.
Also, I have had to put a price tag on leaving my house and my family. I have had to really evaluate the trade-offs. Family comes first. Sanity and health come first. If I am going to tax those gifts and resources then there has to be a return, somewhere in the mix, to help balance out the weight of carrying an extra load of work and time away.
I am learning (again and again) that I am a finite being and that I cannot run myself into the ground, no matter how tempting the opportunities look.
I am learning the spiritual practice of living from a place of abundance (that I am enough, that what I have is enough, that what I have is worth caring for) instead of a place of scarcity (I need MORE MORE MORE of whatever-fill in the blank- to be whole.) Practicing this way of life means I can say "no" without fear. Fear that I am not enough unless I prove it. The fear that if I am not as busy or as popular or as successful as _______  then I must be failing. The fear that somehow I am missing "it" by not doing more, being more, chasing more.
Instead I am choosing to plant my feet and heart deep where I am at. To stop chasing so much and to start noticing what is in front of me instead.

cheers and blessings friends!
J

Homemade Sale!

My publisher is running their annual summer sale.Head on over to grab a copy of A Homemade Year at a crazy-low price! You won't find it at a better price.SHOP NOW
PS- Did you know that there are links for all the Homemade Year printables on the Paraclete Page??

sunday's challenge-look

if you take care of something

Things are coming along nicely at our little urban cottage farm.We have some herbs, the squash look like they might just fruit, the tomatoes are a little trickier because the birds REALLY love them (I am thinking we need a scarecrow?) The chicks seem happy, producing lots of eggs, and the windmill keeps turning, day after day.
Lately I have been overcome with a sense of gratefulness and peace regarding our little plot in the city. Seeing it flourish with all sorts of vegetation and life just makes my heart happy. 
Recently we have been working really hard to teach our kids that if you value something then you should work that much harder to take care of it.Lately, as I have been enjoying the fruits of all our hard work to be good stewards of what we have and as we settle in here where we are (instead of always wanting to be somewhere else,)  I am beginning to think that the opposite is also true.
If you really take care of something then you will come to value it.
Sometimes we want to fall in love with an idea/place/person/job  before we work hard to take care of it. Before we are willing to give our sweat, tears, best efforts too it, we want to feel motivated/engaged/bought in.More often, I am beginning to think, our call is to Do It Anyway, despite our feelings. We are to show up, work hard, give our best, and care for what and whom we have been given whether we feel like it or not.  Whether what we have been given is what we would choose or not.And if we can do this out of place of gratefulness and obedience to " do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory." rather than  from a place of resentment, then all the better. And I bet all the quicker our hearts will change as well.

peace and love friends,J

follow the yellow brick trend

As you can see I am having a bit of a yellow moment in the bedroom. Which means I have been taken in once again by the trend setters. Oh well, it is what it is. I am loving the yellow-y musterdy pops against my aquas and reds and whites. It feels so happy.Also I have started a bit of a plate thing in over our tv area. Which, yes, I know, it needs help,The dresser is really too small for Nathan and the tv. But for now it is fine. Ish.And yes, we have pillow issues too. But baby steps people. I just started this settling-back-in business.



In other news... Have you hopped over to Camp Lovely yet? I am blogging about my funny camping style today! Click here to read...
(PS- you can grab this button or the one on my sidebar if you want to be a Campy Lovely camper as well!)
Cheers & Blessings friends!
J

on Speck

If you follow me on Instagram you might notice something a little different around our casa. Something a little more pink.You might notice the hashtag #SpecialK from time to time.
The big smile.
The mischievous look in a certain pair of blue eyes.

If you have read this blog for awhile then you know about our families consideration of adoption.
Of how we have been curious about ways to grow our family in ways other than me growing my belly (not that I mind that part as much as my body seems to mind scaring all of us a bit.)
So we have considered foster care.We have looked into foreign and domestic and state (mostly state) adoption.
We have thought about sibling groups. We have thought about daughters.
One time, we even got THE big stack of paper work. And it looked daunting. And so did a lot of other things in our life. There seemed to be so many roadblocks. All the while I kept saying "why can't a baby/daughter/sibling group just be dropped on our doorstep?

So it all got put on the back burner. And I was frustrated.  Embarrassed that we hadn't made it work. Jealous of those who did. Disappointed and confused by what I thought what was a very good plan for our lives. A plan even God could get behind.



 Meanwhile, we began helping out a single mom with two daughters who was trying to juggle it all. A mom without any of her family close by. A mom trying to make a new life for her and her daughters. Daughters we had known since they were babies.Old neighbors. Friends.
So we gave rides to dances, and went shopping for Halloween costumes. We helped with after-school care, and homework. We cooked dinner together, and played, and laughed, and went Christmas shopping for their mom together. We went out for pizza and asked for a table of 6 instead of 4.
We had our bumps. We had to adjust to each others habits and expectations. To doing bits of life together-not as guest and host, but as family.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, Sweet Man and I looked at each other and our full house and said "huh. isn't that interesting?"

And then the girls got bigger. And their mom got re-married. And suddenly they didn't need so many rides home from school or so much help with homework anymore. There was someone else now to help.
Which is as it should be.

We still see them, we still give rides from time to time. Help whenever needed.
They are still part of our lives. Always will be. They have our hearts for all time, and our couch anytime they need it. But for the most part, we were back to being a party of 4 at the pizza joint.



And then by golly, just as we were settling in to our predictable quad-life, there was another one. Another single mom with no people of her own. Another little girl in need of a safe place to land while mom works a job at night and goes to school during the day. And sometimes its bumpy. We are learning to do life together, not as guest and host, but as family.
So friends, I would like you to meet  Special K (or Speck  as Sweet Man has now nicknamed her nickname.) She goes with us, for as long as needed. Which now brings our party up to 5 when we go out for pizza.


Going through the motions doesn’t please you,    a flawless performance is nothing to you.I learned God-worship    when my pride was shattered.Heart-shattered lives ready for love    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice
Psalm 51:16-17

louisiana summer

This time last weekend we were in Louisiana.Central Louisiana to be almost-exact. My in-laws moved there earlier this summer, through a series of fortunate events, returning my mother-in-law to her home state, and within close distance to two of her brothers and other family.Nathan and I both love Louisiana, but neither of us had not been back since our honeymoon seventeen years ago. We have now been twice in one month, and I think the road between Central Arkansas and there is about to get very familiar. Normally a five hour car ride would seem a little too far for a weekend jaunt for us, but somehow going to Louisiana is worth the miles and the sore hineys.Louisiana in the summertime seems about as authentic a southern experience as one can have. And we have not even scratched the surface of what the state has to offer.This last trip was for a family reunion. Relatives came from far (New Jersey) and wide (West Texas,) and we spent one very hot- but wonderful -day all piled around, inside and out, eating chips and dips and burgers and hot dogs and copious amounts of 4 Layer Dessert (my favorite church potluck dessert ever!) and fresh fruit galore.
One of these days we are going to get to stay for more than 48 hours and I think a trip to the coast is calling my name before all is said and done. Maybe for Christmas?
Oh, Louisiana, I love you.
Happy Weekend Friends!J

Gogo's House, Camp Lovely and the flu

First of all, my whole little family has had the flu this week. The nasty summertime flu. It has not been lovely at all. Today is the first day I have had enough energy to even open the laptop. I think we are on the mend, Miles actually is the best out of all of us since he had it mostly last week and went to school today. Hopefully this will all be over and done with by the weekend, but boy howdy, has it taken the wind out of my can-do sails. I don't remember us ever being hit this hard.Yuck.
Okay, on to sunnier things:First: Gogo's House! It's in progress!






Ian and Jenn were in a really bad car wreck a couple of months ago and that set the construction back some, but things are moving a head now, and  Jenn promises to send more pictures as things continue to improve. She reports that Gogo is extremely excited about her new house.I in turn suddenly feel foolish for ever complaining about having one indoor bathroom only. Sheesh.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to make this house a reality for Grandma Gogo!


And one other bit of news, some craft friends and I have gotten together to pursue another little dream called Camp Lovely. Much more coming on this new little crafty community endeavour soon- but for now, check out our website and make sure to "Like" us on FB so you can stay updated on our Camp news!
Okay, time for more fluids and meds for me as Operation Recovery continues!
much loveJ

At the Intersection (Vol. 3)- Alison Chino

Today I am so happy to have my very good friend, Alison Chino, sharing today about the intersection of art, faith, and parenthood in her life.

If you have a copy of A Homemade Year , and have read the Michaelmas chapter, then you know all about how Alison and the other gals of  the "playgroup," helped rescue me from the dragon of loneliness and therefore will always hold a very special place in my heart.
In just a few short weeks Alison and her family will embark on a three year adventure in Aberdeen, Scotland. I really can't wrap my brain around this, and pretty much tear up each and every time I try. This is one of those times when I am so very grateful that I live in the age of blogging. Over the years I have managed to record quite a few sweet memories that include all the Chinos here on my blog, and through Alison's blogging, I  will be able keep up with my friend and her sweet family during this next chapter of their story.

So without any more rambling on my part, let's get to it:



(photo by Whitney Loibner)
Name: Alison ChinoBlog: Chino HouseCreative Endeavors: Making Dinner Yummy and WritingChildren's Ages: 16,14,12,7Status: Married to Taido Chino, youth pastor turned PhD candidateJob other than afore mentioned creative endeavours: Free lance copywriter/CatererExpression of Faith: Home church will always be Fellowship North in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I love it like my family. We are a broken, but beautiful community, constantly evolving to be called out followers of Jesus, a racially unified body in a world divided. 
Moving from Arkansas to Aberdeen
Questions:
How did you find your creative niche? Was this something you have always done, or did you fall into it by accident?
I've always been a writer.  I started filling up notebooks as a little girl and I have boxes of journals saved from my need to write down Every Little Thing That Ever Happened.  I love memoirs because they are well-crafted journals.
Cooking did not come to me until I was married and had a home of my own.  I started writing down recipes when I was a young bride, working in a bookstore, and I fell in love with the process of creating fulfilling meals from scratch.  I love to start a meal all the way back to the most basic and natural of ingredients.  Somehow it makes me feel like I am creating something from nothing.  Or from very little. 

(photo by Whitney Loibner)
Where do you create? Office? Kitchen table? Do you create best in solitude or in the middle of chaos? I love most to be outside with my notebook or clipboard, but I can work almost anywhere that is quiet.  I prefer to be alone, and in silence.  I'm amazed by people who can study or work in the midst of a lot of noise.  Even when I'm cooking, I like for it to be quiet.  I can cook in chaos, but it's just not as fun to me.  Often I start dinner before my kids get home from school so I can enjoy the chopping or the kneading. 


How does your faith influence your creative process?How does that process influence or enrich your faith?
It is hard for me to separate faith from my writing process.  Over half of my journal entries are prayers or answers to prayers.  I find that even if I am not phrasing my words as a prayer, I am often still pleading with God in my writing.  Also, I feel like I wouldn't have anything to write about if God was not authoring my journey.  He leads me to the most amazing experiences and then I get to write about them.  I am overwhelmed when I think about all the gifts he's given me in my forty years on this earth.  If I never again left my house, I could write about all the ways God has been faithful to me so far.  



Sometimes I feel as if writing, parenting, and the practicing my faith are all drawing from the same well inside me, that they tax the same part of my heart. This means that quite often I find that I have depleted all of my resources pouring into just one of the three, leaving the other two wanting.  Do you have this same issue, or is it just me? What do you do to recharge, or refill the well,
In your creative process?
In writing, I just need time alone.  It's essential.  I get twitchy if I've been around people for too many days in a row. When I find that I am tired of cooking, it's time to try something new.  I go to a new restaurant and get inspired or look at magazines and cookbooks until I have a whole pile of new recipes I want to try.  I am fortunate to have a family that enjoys trying new foods! 
In your parenting?
When I am struggling as a parent, I need community.  Instead of being alone and all inside my own head, I need to be with other moms who understand what I am going through.  For as long as I've been a parent, I have had some other moms that I respect that I can go to and say, What about this?  I think I am doing it all wrong!  I remember one year that I was really struggling as a parent, I reached out to another mom with several children and asked her if she would study a parenting book with me?  I am not exaggerating when I say that the relationship with that mom has changed my life.  We have tons of practical, What Do You Do When...? conversations, but also, she reminds me that I am myself a child of God, covered in mercy and grace. And parenting is a journey.  When I fail, I can wake up and begin again tomorrow.  Often I need her to say out loud to me what I already know.

In the practicing of your faith?
Faith journeys are long and winding roads.  I believe that what recharges my faith is always the same and always changing.  What reawakens me to faith is to see God.  What changes is the way that I see Him. Some days I see Him most by studying His Word.  Other seasons seem to me marked by how I experience God in nature or in music.  Community continues to be a significant way I see the face of God in someone else's eyes.  Serving does this as well.  Sometimes I can't seem to connect with God unless it is quiet, and I am in prayer or meditation.  I've had a lot of Come To Jesus moments on my yoga mat.  Different years of my life seem to be characterized by a stronger emphasis on one of the ways God shows me Himself.  It encourages me to see that He is always meeting me.



Do you have any advice for other mom's out there who are also trying to learn how to live out their callings as artist, mothers and followers of Christ? What is something you wish someone had told you earlier on?
People told me early on to go easy on myself, but I didn't listen.  I am truly trying to give up the addiction of being a perfectionist.  It's a miserable, dead end road.  If you can let go early on in parenting and in art, you'll be the healthier for it!  Also, this may sound kind of silly, but I wish I had known about blogs when my kids were little.  They weren't really a "thing" yet, but I would love to have the same kind of online record of my older kids as I do my youngest.  It's such an accessible treasure, complete with pictures!  Sometimes I will go back and blog something from an old journal, just because I want it to be part of the story I'm telling on my blog.  Even if you keep your blog private or just for your family, it's a wonderful way to record and mark your life as a child of God. 
What are some specific challenges you are facing right now in all three of these areas? 
Again, I struggle with wanting everything to be perfect before I can let others in on my life or my writing.  I want to let go of this so I can be more free to create.  I want to give myself freedom to let go of some obligations or expectations of myself that are keeping me from writing more.

As a parent, I am shifting seasons.  Two of my kids are in high school now, and I still want to treat them like they are little ducklings under my wing.  I am daily learning to let go.  Even now, both of them are off in the world somewhere, away from me.  When it keeps me up at night, I try to remember to drop to my knees instead of wringing my hands. 
How can I, and my readers, pray for you?
Honestly, our whole world is being framed by this giant move to Scotland right now.  Most days, I am struggling to believe that it is all going to work out.  We have only a few weeks left to sell/rent our house, procure visas and tickets, pack up and move to the other side of the world with just what we can carry in our suitcases.  And then, where will we live?  How will we live?   There are more unknowns than answers right now and while that is exactly where I think God wants us to be, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared. 
Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers regarding the interplay of art, faith, and parenthood in your life? Any experiences or practices you would like to share?
One thing that I haven't mentioned is that travel is a huge part of my creative process, my faith journey and my parenting.New places open up new parts of my brain and get my juices flowing.  It's great inspiration for writing and for cooking, because I try new things.  I also find that I have to rely more on God when I am pushed outside of my comfort zone and normal routines, and being dependent on God always grows my faith.

In parenting, travel provides the opportunity to be together as a family in a way that is completely different from being at home.  We are able to pay more attention to each other and we make these memories that are quintessentially us.  My strongest memories of my own childhood are the crazy trips we did with my family, so it's important to me to create those same experiences for my children.  Even when it seems impossible or crazy.  Like the summer we spent all together in a pop up camper traveling the Pacific Northwest or going backpacking in the Rocky Mountains this summer.  These journeys have not been without hiccups and challenges, but I hope that my kids are taking away that in faith and in life, what you learn and experience along the way is as important as the end result.  I'm praying that we will be able to say that about moving to Scotland as well!

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I am by no means a journalist so if there are questions you would like me to ask future interviewees please leave them in the comments on this post.

Also, if anything Alison said struck a chord in you, please say so! The great thing about blogging is that we can encourage each other, right here in this little online space, from wherever we are, no need to even put on make-up or brush our hair. So please, leave Alison some love in the comments!

sunday's challenge- we have to get our hands dirty

"The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has roots in earth and manure."- D. H. Lawrence
Being Christ hand's and feet here earth means that we must be of earth and not just of ideals.We must choose, over and over, to put our roots down in the dirtiest and stinkiest places of all. The places no one else wants to go because they are filled with waste and mess. Places that smell funny and look different and are completely repulsive to our American ideals of tidiness and order. We must dig deep, and loosen our bound-up standards of what are the right choices and what are the wrong ones. We must abandon any ideas we have of what a successful life looks like, what a human worth investing in looks like. We have to throw away the nice, safe containers of qualifications and merit.Instead we must allow ourselves to be planted with the dusty and struggling row crops, in the little strip of earth that  breaks through the cracks in the abandoned sidewalk, and on top of the compost pile behind the overflowing house. Only then will our hearts be undone, only then can we see that we receive and give back through the same process of photosynthesis as every other living thing. We all must look to the same sun and the same rain for our nourishment.  We are all, even the fairest of the flowers, meant to be rooted in, and grow out of,  earth and manure.