Getaway Pictures...

Our weekend getaway in the mountains. 

the whole crew...minus Rick who took the picture

the view from the back deck....ahhhh.

Mountain Tops....

I woke up today in the mountains, again.

The sun came up over the crest of the mountains out my window, and it was breathtaking.

I love being with my family here. The rest of the world goes on, and we are here in the peace of my favorite people.

Notice I didn't say peace and quiet. We have 4 very loud and fun-loving children here, and it's fabulous.

Lem and I were able to do a little shopping in the town of Highlands for a couple of hours yesterday--just the two of us.

It was perfect.

It was rainy and cold, but heavenly none the less.

Arm in arm, strolling the sidewalk. Yep, perfect.

My heart is in a state of gratitude. Exactly where it needs to be at this moment.

I think we are off to let the kids tube down the mountain today. We will be headed home after that, which makes me a little sad.

In everything give thanks and praise, right?

Ok, I will.

forever grateful to the Father,

jill


**i just noticed the irony of my last post being about valleys. here we are in the mountains, way up high. hmmm, God has a sense of humor. for real.

Valley girl....

It's funny how you can go from being on top of the mountain praising and singing--then completely in the valley of that mountain wondering how in the world you got here.

I'm kind of there at the moment. Not in a bad way, but in a "what in the world happened" kind of way.

Nothing dramatic has happened in my life, it's just part of this faith journey, I suppose.

As I was praying this morning for God to lead me back to the top...I heard Him tell me to notice how desperate I am when I am in the valley.

Oh my.

He's right on.

When I'm on top, I get a little self sufficient.

Yikes.

The funny thing is, I don't even realize my self-sufficiency until I land straight back down hitting hard on my bottom.

Suddenly, I am looking around going, "hey, wait a minute...what just happened?"

I'm in God's word like never before, and yet, I am still unfortunately 95% flesh.

It's this humbling experience that keeps me desperate for Him. I wrote in my journal that I literally am panting for Him. My soul is thirsty and parched.

He's filling me up, slowly. Just a little at a time, so that I don't get all "self-sufficient" again.

The good thing about the valley is that I am constantly looking up.

Exactly where my eyes need to be.


hiking that mountain,

jill

Happy Love Day...

Love is...

being loved for just being yourself.

no strings attached.

warts and all.

Happy Valentine's Day!
 ~Love, The Hills'

Love is....

Love is..

waking up to coffee and Jesus at 5:00 am.

the sound of Presley's feet coming into the den soon after at 5:30 am.

her kissing my cheek.

kissing Joseph's warm, pink cheeks in the morning as I wake him up.

hearing Lem's loud and booming voice..."good morning, Hill family!"

hearing my Joseph read the bible in the car on the way to school.

calling my momma and hearing her voice.

getting a text from my daddy because he hates to text.

vacation with just me and my three.

vacation with friends.

long car rides with Lem.

drive-thru dinners.

any holiday.

a clean house.

when Lem says, "this song is from me to you."

when Lem leaves me a random note.

pushing Presley on the swing.

going for a girls walk with Presley and having "girl talk".

remembering that Joseph still loves me.....even when he pushes me away.

remembering that it's all part of growing up.

literally feeling Jesus holding me at times when I am sad.

hearing Him whisper to me that He's there.

dinner at momma jane's.

dessert at momma jane's.

birthday parties.

my momma's green cake.

momma jane's strawberry cake.

a shower after being sick for 3 days.

chicken noodle soup from a friend.

a card in the mail.

i could go on....

Good people..

Wednesday...

lunch with my Lem.

pizza and greek salad at mellow mushroom.

my fave.

my fave place to eat with my fave man.

yippee!

dinner and bible study with my friends last night.

surrounded by kelly, ashley b., mari, and ashley m.

they inspire me.

i love to hear their stories.

i love to hear where they are in life.

i could literally just sit for hours listening about their precious lives.

they all make me want to be better.

i remember praying that the Lord would bring me some friends in this town.

not just any friends, but good friends.

it took Him a while, but He did.

and, oh did He.

the best kind of friends.

God has purposefully surrounded me with girls that spur me on to be better.

not only that, but that spur me on to just be myself.

no pretense, no formalities.

yep, i love these girls.

happy wednesday.

Today...

Today:

better than yesterday.

my cold is going away.

my brand new friend, Leslie, whom I met through SHINE, made me 3 BIG bowls of chicken noodle soup. she said it had healing powers. she was right.

i have a new BFF--see above.

i went to starbucks and got a grande chai tea latte.

i went to trader joe's with a chai latte in hand.

this made me happy.

i spent only $100.16 at TJ's,

that's a miracle.

i delivered my sis some chicken noodle soup and a brownie from chic-fil-a (she had a root canal today)

she still doesn't know i put it in her fridge, she was sleeping..and she is STILL sleeping.

one of her kids probably ate it already.

i still want to adopt a child...or two.

i am okay if we don't.

I love babies.

i miss having babies.

i cried in the car today by myself.

ugly cried.

all because of a steven curtis chapman song.

man, he gets me every time.

my mom called while i was in full cry mode.

she had no idea.

if  i told her, i would cry more.

i think i am hormonal today.

we are having japanese for dinner tonight.

joseph asked if we could have italian tomorrow night---pizza.

i love that kid.

i love my life.

Momma knows best...

I feel like crap today.

After being in bed for the last 2 hours, I had to go to the computer to answer an email that I had gotten.

I was just about to log off when I saw a new email from my Momma. She rarely sends me emails because we talk on the phone every single day. I'm so blessed.

When I read the RE: part of the email....tears started running down my cheeks.

 It was: "re: chicken soup from your Mom."

She spoke of how she wishes that we could go back in time to Rex, Ga (where I lived until first grade) and nurse me back to health. She said she would take me out of school for the week and take care of me.

Okay, crying again.

Note to self: crying with a head cold=painful.

The last line of her email is what put me over the edge...

"I could run find a bible verse, but instead I will say don't be weary in well doing, serve the Lord with all your heart and all the days of your life.  He won't let you be sad over things that everyday become your history, kids will grow up, things change, it is the continuance of his plan. xxooooxxxooo your momma


Yes, this is the part that pushed me overboard.

**composing myself and wiping my nose**

Ahem, okay.

I always say that I feel like the Lord has given me a double or even triple dose of realizing the importance of the moment that I am in. Sometimes this can be a hindrance to me though.

It makes me sad, on the verge of depression at times. I love these days with my family. I want to freeze time. In fact, there is a country song called, "You're gonna miss this". I cannot hear it anymore. It makes me cry.

Not just cry, but ugly cry.

I just cannot hear it anymore.

In my heart, I know that God does not want me to be sad about the future. He wants me to trust Him, completely. I want to believe and trust in the fact that every day will be the best day of my life.

But, oh it is so hard.

If I can humbly ask my readers for prayer in this area, I would be so grateful. Specifically that I will not dread the future, or my children growing up. I want to enjoy the moment AND look forward to what the Lord holds for our future.

Yes! That's what I want.

Thank you for your prayers.

How can I pray for you?


thankful for it all,

jill

A glimpse of hard...

Hard things...

watching my children grow up.

watching loved ones go through a valley.

making bad decisions.

having an unsaved family member.

dropping my kids off at school and not being able to see them for another 7 hours.

having lunch with my kids and then having to leave them.

conviction.

discernment.

disciplining my children.

seeing disappointment on my childrens' faces.

seeing my Joseph cry.

seeing my Lem cry.

seeing my Presley cry.

seeing anyone cry.

the beginning of another school year.

the end of another school year.

looking at scrapbooks of my children..and seeing just how fast time flies.

being rejected.

being misunderstood.

being truthful when you know it will be painful for the person to hear.

ending a blog post.

Where I'm at...

Things I love about my life right now....

taking my babies to school. the car ride is the best 20 minutes of my day.

hearing Joseph read the Bible on the way to school.

watching Presley in the rear view mirror when we pray. she always looks over at Joseph to see if he is peeking.

i am okay with being the size that i am. this has not always been the case.

i think good skincare is important.

i don't need a boob lift..yet.

my husband is my best friend.

i can still hold Presley in my arms, with her legs wrapped around me.

finding that God's will really is best.

i love our church.

God loves getting personal with me.

starting to enjoy the little things. (like having a good 15 minutes to sit down and blog.)

diet coke is not good for me.

neither is regular coke.

i just don't really care about having a tan anymore.

i like to smell good.

i wear perfume every.single.day.

i like to have a clean car. it never happens though.

i don't leave the house without makeup. not because i am vain, just because i don't want to scare the neighbors.

my favorite time of the day is 5 am.

my second favorite time of the day is 5:30 am when my Presley wakes up.

i love being the first one up.

meeting a friend for coffee is the best.

meeting 3 friends for coffee is the best ever.

a note in the mail.

mailing someone a note.

surprising my husband.

surprising my kids.

being okay with the face that my house will never be  clean enough.

being okay with wrinkles on my clothes. and on my face.

realizing it's okay to say no.. the world won't stop.

treating myself to a manicure every once in a while is a good, good thing.

running by myself, with no ipod, is a good way to talk to the Lord.

i prefer a quiet house while kids are at school. no t.v, no radio, just me and God talking.

i don't really watch t.v. anymore. Lem thinks this is so weird.

i love to sit next to Lem.

i love watching Lem in a crowd. he is so funny and always the cutest one. :)

watching Lem play basketball. he's so good lookin'. and he's really good.

being okay with not having an up-to-date scrapbook on my kids. they'll survive.

being okay with mis-matched dishes. it adds character.

realizing that God pursues me. wow.




blessed and then some,

jill