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An ordinary day on your birthday, an extraordinary God

Today is my birthday! I haven’t done anything spectacular to celebrate it; in fact, it’s been a very ordinary day…primarily because I just had some dental work done and I’m on a soft food diet this week (which means, the hygienist said, no chips & salsa right now (or cake)…although I did buy a Sonic hot fudge sundae today to put in my coffee for a little chocolate, creamy treat!). I can’t have hot or cold drinks right now, so I had to let it cool first. But it was so good!

hot fudge sundae for my coffee

But my perspective (despite not being able to go out to eat for my birthday) is that each day and moment is a precious gift and sacred, whether you’re saving lives like my husband Ray does in his courageous career (Marines/Navy corpsman, paramedic, police chief, SWAT team medic, and currently a fire chief/paramedic); a doctor or nurse; a lawyer; a librarian; a homeschooling mom; a garbage truck worker; a scientist; a therapist; a radio show host; a stay at home mom changing diapers; or ____ (you fill in the blank).

Fire Chief Ray Jones
Central Cass County Fire Dept yellow-ribbon cutting ceremony

When I went to get Swiffer power mop cloths at Walmart this morning to mop the floors, I also bought myself some gorgeous yellow roses there. They are among my fave flowers, besides sunflowers, daisies, and wildflowers.

Yellow roses for my birthday

They go nicely with my t-shirt with the yellow inscription (with a cute heart!), which reads, “Choose Happy.” I believe that we do have to CHOOSE happiness, or joy, rather, no matter what our circumstances are. “The joy of the LORD is our strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

Choose Happy t-shirt

Today was a beautiful day with the sunshine streaming through the trees in our yard.

Sunlight through the trees

September 20, 2023 by Beth Jones

Blog, Faith, Family, Marriage, Parenting, prayer, Spiritual Gifts, worship/praise/music

When you’re looking for a new church home

Image: Edward Cisneros @ Unsplash

My husband Ray and I have been looking for a new church home for years. I’m excited about the new church that we’ve been attending, Hope City Church of Harrisonville, Missouri. Why? We’re among the 1/3 of people who used to attend church, but now stay away specifically because they “lost trust in God, the church, or Christians.” (According to a 2019 “Unchurched Report” by Billy Graham Center Institute and Lifeway Research, You Found Me, Rich Richardson, p. 47)

Image: Julian Florez at Unsplash

It’s a startling and scary fact that the number of youth (Americans ages 18-29) who have no religious affiliation has nearly quadrupled in the last 30 years, and 59% of millennials raised in a church have dropped out.

There are several reasons that Ray and I and our children were wounded that I won’t go into here, but we’ve had to walk through a LOT of forgiveness. Unfortunately, there are many people in the same boat. My hope is that this new church will be a safe haven for us of God’s agape (unconditional) love, truth, and forgiveness; that we can make new friends; and that we’ll be able to serve in the Body of Christ and use our spiritual gifts, talents, and skills for God’s glory there.

August 17, 2023 by Beth Jones

Blog, Family, prayer, worship/praise/music

Summer update

How is your summer going so far? Did you take a vacation or staycation or are you planning one for off-season?

Destin beach, Florida

I’m still praying to go back to Destin, Florida this year! The beach is my place of peace and refilling. God can make a way!

Our cat Silas

If you are a family member or a friend or you’re a subscriber on my website’s email list (for my newsletter and most recent updates), you know that I recently took in a stray cat. His name is Silas. I wrote a blog post about his story here.

Our new cat Silas

I also created a vlog about his recent surgery and other things here on my YouTube Channel. (Subscribe to get my newest vlogs and videos.) Silas is doing well since his surgery. He eats like a horse! He and my adopted black cat (she also has green eyes) still fight occasionally, but they also play and chase each other.

His loud yowling (the male mating call) and meowing have drastically decreased since he was neutered, and he doesn’t usually try to mate with Natalya. I couldn’t believe that he was trying to mate with her, even though she’s spayed and wasn’t in heat, but my husband Ray said it was just his instincts.

My prayer is that they can now become best friends! One day I came into our front entry room and they were both laying on the loveseat together. It was SO cute! It gave me hope that they can become pals!

Silas and Natalya laying on the loveseat

Silas and Natalya playing on the carpet together

August 8, 2023 by Beth Jones

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I'm an International Speaker, Author of 29 books (and still writing!), traveler, wife to fire chief/paramedic Ray, and a blessed mom of 3 beautiful daughters, Heather, Eden, and Leah. I encourage women to use their gifts for God's glory, fulfilling their great purpose, and living a life they love. I help aspiring Christian speakers & writers to share their hearts' unique, powerful messages. The ocean is my happy place and place of peace and refilling. I love Jesus, my family, my adopted cat Natalya and my new (stray taken in) cat Silas, traveling, chips & salsa, coffee, chocolate, nature, music, and art. My husband Ray calls me an enigma: I love to laugh and cry a lot. What about you? I'd love to connect more with you and hear how you desire to make more of an impact here for God's glory. Thanks for stopping by here. I pray you will find the hope, inspiration, and motivation you need to become all God created you to be. Dream big because we serve a big God!