While We Wait

The Story sisters (back in the day) in our Easter finery!

Hello and Happy Holy Saturday! This day represents the hard day of waiting and wondering between the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and the glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. My bible study friends and I agree; we are thankful we wait in hope and know how the weekend's story ends.

 Last Easter we were in Spokane with most of our family and worshipped at Summit Church.

While we wait for the Coronavirus to stop spreading and the stay home order to lift, we wait in hope... hope for healing, vaccines, our economy's recovery, the simple gifts of going to the grocery without fear and attending church in person. Personally, I can't wait to spend lots of time with my grandbaby and her Mama and be allowed to travel so I can see my other three kiddos and my Indiana family.

Gracie and Grandma

Story sisters all grown up.

This Holy Week has been filled with sunshine here in the PNW and we've enjoyed our deck overlooking our Harbor town.  Slow mornings with coffee and the Word, walks with Sydney, puttering around the house and yard and connecting on Zoom have filled my days. I appreciated what I heard on Rachel and Dave Hollis's "Rise Together" podcast, where she talked about ten years from now and what memories her children would remember of this COVID-19 quarantine. They are working on making sweet memories with their four children. I will remember having lots of time with my normally-traveling-sales-manager hubby and Zoom happy hours with my four+ kids. I will remember waving to ALL the people walking by our house each day. I will remember attending church in the living room, and going to bed each night with a "Sleep on this" message from my pastor and a beautiful praise song on Instagram from Natalie Grant and her husband.

While we wait, be blessed and know that

"He is not here; HE IS RISEN, just as He said."

Matthew 28:6

Thank you very much for taking the time to read, "See Jane Learn." I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Easter!  We will get through this, together. Stay well and wash your hands!

In His Grip, 

xo Jane

P.S. Below are some of my favorite bloggers for you to check out. Enjoy!

Emily Lex

Thistlewood Farms

Nesting With Grace

Making it in the Mountains

The Inspired Room

My 100 Year Old Home

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

Proverbs 16:24

Life Lately and Some Favorites

Still no Grandbaby news... Our sweet Sarah is five days past her "due date" and we're all feeling a little impatient. We've been taking walks, getting pedicures, continuing to nest, and getting lots of suggestions on how to convice this baby to put her pretty Mama into active labor. We hope tonight's Cajun Tator Tots help!

We are all trying to wait patiently on the "little woman" which made me think of  the Brad Paisley song. We are also trying to wait patiently for our kitchen to be finished. It's looking doubtful that it will happen before Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow I'll be heading over to the "Festival of Hope," the fairtrade marketplace at our church. Please check it out! It's such a great way to shop and help others around the world.

Here are this week's favorite things:

Book: I finished The Bookshop at Water's End, by Patti Callahan Henry. It was SO enjoyable and delved into the relationships between friends, mother and daughter, love, and small town life in the South. The story went back and forth between the present and past. (Sort of like "This is Us" does.)

Worship Song: "The Breakup Song," by Francesca Battstelli. Fear you will never be welcome here, and yes, there is somebody out there like you!

Quick Campbell's Soup Recipes: Since our daughter and son-in-law live with us, he mentioned some favorite meals his Mom made him. I've done two of them this week (Easy chicken and rice, and beef stroganoff) and they were both a big hit although not super low-calorie. You can find the recipes here on their website.

Friendsgiving: What fun it was to join a lot of my girlfriends from bible study and their husbands for a delicious early Thanksgiving meal. The atmosphere and food were delicious and the company was fantastic. Thank you Lott family for your hospitality! Have you participated in a Friendsgiving before? We've also been hosted by dear friends in the past when we didn't have a working kitchen and/or were in transition. (Thanks Davis and MacIntosh families!)

Holiday Blog Tours: OK, so if you know me, you know I'm kinda/sorta addicted to Hallmark Christmas Movies. While I watch them I am knitting baby girl's little blanket. If I have time to search around on the computer, you will find me getting decorating inspiration from bloggers. I love seeing their homes. Check out "Home Stories A to Z." At the bottom of Beth's post are 15 other homes you can peek into. I like how they often share where they found their products. I won't really need to purchase ANY decorations though, because last week my daughter and I went through ALL our Christmas boxes and took inventory. Then we had to put it all back in the garage because I live with a man who doesn't believe in decorating for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. I recommend everyone do this before heading out to any Holiday stores or to buy any new decorations. I realized I don't even have room in my home for what I own, let alone anything new! I do hope to switch up the way I use my sentimental collections of Santas, Nativity sets, Snowmen, trees and Nutcrackers.  

I am counting my blessings, and praying for California. I am trusting that God will show his faithfulness to all the victims and their families.

"To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory." Isaiah 61:3

Thank you for reading "See Jane Learn" and I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

In His Grip,
xo Jane

I will leave you with a photo of my happy husband in his brand new recliner chair that we named "Mr. Comfy." We haven't picked our couch, but at least HE is happy! It should be interesting to see all the guys "fighting" for a turn over the Thanksgiving weekend.

5 Favorites for Friday

Hello Friends and Happy Friday! Only two weeks until "Good Friday" and Easter weekend! We're hoping to head over to Spokane to celebrate Resurrection Sunday with most of our kids. The fact that our song-bird daughter will be helping to lead worship is definitely worth the drive East...

Our bible study table wine tasting adventure was a blast. I think this needs to be a yearly tradition.

Here are 5 of my favorites this week:

1. We love our stemless champagne glasses. We try to keep a bottle of our favorite Wycliff bubbly on hand (there's a Rose' now too!) and last weekend we were able to invite our next door neighbors over on the spur of the moment for a toast to Jacquie's new job. Cheers to new jobs, friends, and glasses that are affordable and don't tip! 

2. Check out the blog "True Worth." Maria Furlough is a Mommy of five (Gideon is in Heaven). She is currently writing a book about her experience of losing her son and she's just started doing occasional videos where she shares her peace from scripture. I learn so much from her and she's only 34~I could be her Mama!

We interrupt this blog post for a cat issue... Apparently Thor has been eating some Easter basket grass that he found downstairs. Why do I still have my adult children's baskets and have saved the fake grass? Anyway, poor little guy "got sick" on the kitchen floor. Thankful it was an easy spot to mop up, which made me decide what my third favorite is:

3. SWIFFERS! What did I do before they invented Swiffers? I need the dry ones to quickly get rid of the dog and cat hair (although my battery-charged Dyson does a fabulous job) and the wet ones to quickly mop the floor.

http://cdn.messenger.pgsitecore.com/en-us/-/media/Swiffer/Images/Products/Primary/Sweeper_hero_01_v3.png?h=940&la=en-US&w=940&v=1-201605191546

4.. My husband and I are hooked on the show "Designated Survivor" starring Kiefer Sutherland. Have you seen it? SO good! Love the cast. It's on ABC on Wednesday nights but of course we record and watch it whenever Mike is home...

http://televisionpromos.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Designated-Survivor-ABC-TV-series-artwork-Kiefer-Sutherland.jpg

5. The song Even If by Mercy Me. It's the one my head keeps singing when it isn't singing all the songs from "Beauty and the Beast!" The lyrics are powerful! I love to be reminded of God's faithfulness especially at times when I need to trust my loved ones to God's plan; my Mom had to be readmitted to the hospital. Praying the new meds will help her lung infection clear. It's hard to be so far from Indiana...

I do want to add a not my favorite to my list. In an attempt to be healthy and reduce toxins that might cause Cancer, I ordered some deodorant that a friend recommended called Piper Wai natural deodorant. Ick..the smell, feel, not to mention lack of feeling dry. No thank you. Guess the hunt is on or I'll stick to my Dove.

This weather report makes me smile. I'm off for a Spring Break with my two daughters on Sunday. We are looking forward to time together in Sunny, Southern California. Thanks for reading "See Jane Learn" and I hope you have a happy weekend!

Grateful for Grace and In His Grip,

xo Jane