Welcome to 2008 !!!

Is it just me, or does it just seem like yesterday that we were all hunkering down with our bomb shelter quantities of supplies, just waiting for the world as we knew it to change dramatically when the clock clicked to 2000? Well, we've survived "Y2K", and soon will be far enough into the 2000's that we're no longer messing up on our checks. We're all a lot older, but are we any wiser?

My favorite part of the Christmas holidays are the letters and pictures that we receive from those that we never see enough. It never fails to amaze me how much can happen in a year that most describe as "uneventful". I love to curl up on the couch, with a good ( strong! ) cup of coffee and a blanket as I read and re-read your letters. It makes me happy to catch up, but sad at how much time I've missed away from you all.

I'm not really into New Years Resolutions as they are typically described, but I'm all for a personal debriefing, focusing, and adjusting priorities. Some look at this as a time to set yourself up for failure, as most "resolutions" are cast aside before they're barely off our lips. I figure, you've got to start somewhere! Who knows, something might stick this time. Perhaps this resolution will last a whole week.... it's better than nothing, right? Of course, most classic resolutions are based around our increased desire to maintain our health. We're either going to lose weight, eat healthier, get in shape, etc. ( If I were an investor, I'd certainly like to own an athletic club in the months of Jan and Feb. The new memberships alone must make you a bundle)

As I've taken stock of this year, I've seen several ways that I've not lived up to my own expectations ~ haven't we all, if we're honest? I've had other areas that I've been okay with. I'm far from perfect and I know it ~ and I know you know it as well. I've lived with the consequences of my failures, but I'm not going to live riddled in guilt and self flogging. I don't believe in that, and thankfully, neither does God. He's a God of "do overs".... and I usually need them.

So, what will 2008's goals be? I want to be more loving on a daily basis. I want to learn to let God handle the things that are in His job description and quit thinking they're in mine. I want to be kinder in spirit to those people who just infuriate me at times; to be more forgiving of others "faults" as I hope they are with mine. I'd like to be able to prioritize better ~ making sure that I don't have a meaningless "to-do" list, but have people and relationships at the top of my list. I need to remember to laugh more, forgive myself easier and trust that God knows exactly what He's doing in my life. I want the pace of my life to be God honoring.

I pray that each of you finds yourself enjoying God's grace, mercy and peace throughout 2008. Thankfully, He's a God of "do-overs", who loves us enough and is patient enough to forgive us ~ taking joy in us. He knows we're not perfect, but we're still the apple of his eye. He loves our company ~ perhaps that whole goal ~ spend more time with Him and the rest takes care of itself!

Quote of the Day !!

"Friends hear what you say ~
Good Friends listen to what you say ~
Best Friends listen to what you don't say"
Author Unknown

Christmas Storm Can't Hold 'Em Down!

After 20 inches of snow, 75 - 80 mph winds, rain and ice, 3 days with no planes coming in or out ~ FINALLY, Addie and her team got to leave and head to Juneau for the "Christmas Classic Tournament". ( She is the one on the left, facing the camera )Of course, since it took them 24 hours to get out of Kodiak, they unfortunately missed their first game against Redmond, Washington. However, they still have 2 to play ~ Juneau and Wrangell. There was supposed to have been a team from North Carolina, but they had to cancel, so Wrangell was a last minute add. There are boys and girls teams in this tournament, some from as far away as Australia! If you're anything like Alan and I, you're asking yourself ... "Who the heck is paying for this!!". Juneau paid our tickets, that's all we know. It should be a fun tournament with good competition, then she'll have 1 weekend off before the rest of the season keeps her busy, either home or away every weekend until mid-March. Please keep her in your prayers as she has a very difficult academic load this year, especially Chemistry, where most of the labs are on Thursdays or Fridays when she travels, so has to make those up all the time. This particular set of teachers are not at all empathetic to traveling students, so that makes it even more of a challenge. Add that to just being a very busy, hormonal teenage girl and you get the need for prayers. Sometimes I think she's burning the candle from several ends and I wonder why she doesn't crash and burn. Guess we were all like that back in our high energy teenage years!!!

Kids happenings

For some reason, this web stuff seems to want me to choose a picture that reflects my family. If you're a woman, you find yourself looking for the picture that shows you as skinny as you dare dream, and as young as you think you can pull off. Sadly, I realized that was not going to be possible, so I chose reality. Except for Alan, I've found that there are no pictures that correctly show anyone what our ever changing family looks like. The "family" picture that many of you saw in our last Christmas letter, showed what we looked like for a brief portion of that year. Because one of life's constants is change, here's a picture of what the kids look like, one year later.

Jones Clan Innaugural Update

So, who really cares what the Jones Clan is up to? Probably just family and friends, of which you can consider yourselves a part of. I don't claim to be a webmaster, or really even have a clear picture of what that would be, but thought this might be a great way to update our family and friends with the latest happenings. My wonderful family is scattered all over the place, each in different phases and stages of life. I'm not close enough to see them nearly as much as I'd like, but with this, perhaps I can still glean a bit of wisdom from them ~ share a laugh ~ a great picture ~ whatever!