tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38813672009-06-24T20:30:32.403-04:00Words of encouragement from the author of The Princess and the Kiss and the founder of PurityWorksJennienoreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-27663022972524257582009-06-16T16:41:00.003-04:002009-06-16T17:00:07.083-04:00

After a trip home to Ohio, I'm always reflective. This has a lot to do with the cultural shift from major metropolitan area to farming community. In seminars I talk sometimes about trying to cultivate simplicity in our families' lives. Traveling to and from the farm reminds me to follow my own advice.A few months ago a tornado took the roof off Dad's ancient barn, and so he and the local nephews

Jennienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-30032697999818336092009-03-26T08:24:00.002-04:002009-03-26T08:49:35.775-04:00

Sometimes a vacation is just a vacation—and then sometimes it's much more.Our family headed to the Dallas area to stay with some new friends in Tyler. The weekend prior I had flown there to be present at a play based on my children's books on purity. The performance included Irish dancing, excellent swordplay (with sparks!), a smoke-breathing dragon … not to mention wonderful efforts by 70 home

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-49295987632386737132009-01-28T12:50:00.002-05:002009-01-28T13:21:01.670-05:00

Can I confess something as a mom? I struggle with putting my kids first. I don't imagine any of the rest of you do. (smile)But really—there are so many fun and exciting things to do, and we live in a country where it is so easily all about ME—I deserve this, I ought to take advantage of that—and sometimes walking kids through their personal "stuff" isn't too much fun. That's probably when I most

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-13878170893719961672008-11-27T09:16:00.002-05:002008-11-27T09:42:40.396-05:00

Visiting Ukraine for the fourth time felt a lot like coming home. Kiev is familiar and we don't feel as though we are so easily lost (misplaced, my husband calls it). I'm still stunned by the beauty of the ancient buildings and churches, and the statue of "Mother Russia" still takes my breath away, even though I know some of my Ukrainian friends have reason to wish it was gone.We stayed at the

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-28043292385763023122008-11-02T12:06:00.003-05:002008-11-02T13:34:32.623-05:00

Saturday is usually housecleaning day here, but with all the travel we've been doing lately, it hardly needs it every week. So this was a great time to help some friends who are starting a new season in life. A family with a tragic background, the grandmother had lived in a section of the house, shutting herself off and barely talking to the rest of the family for years. She had recently left,

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-82638080521217993562008-07-21T15:20:00.002-04:002008-07-21T15:42:29.220-04:00

Forgive my blog today if it's a little foggy. I'm still recovering from jet lag, and a 32-hour trip home - oh my goodness! I can't believe how long it takes to get to Namibia - it's one of those "you can't get there from here" things. I keep telling everyone that it's like having a baby—the day after you say you'll NEVER do it again, but then a few days later you start to reconsider. We had such

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-81263254157321188592008-06-17T12:55:00.002-04:002008-06-17T13:09:34.149-04:00

A winding, whirling vortex of suitcases, clothes, passports, gifts, teaching materials and power converters surround us. We're going back to Africa!If you don't know anything about Namibia, don't feel bad - neither did I. Go to your movie store and rent the Disney film "A Far-Off Place." That will give you a feel for the desert part of the country. We will see some of that, but most of our time

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-51649343695898963062008-05-11T13:22:00.005-04:002008-05-11T14:04:59.532-04:00

All right, girls, I just have to brag about my treatment this Mother's Day … I was awakened (twice, I fell asleep again) to a beautiful strawberries and whip cream'd waffle on the back porch with no less than a mimosa on the side, there to view my gorgeous gift, a beautiful bird feeder for the back yard (yes, Susan, you gave me the idea!). All was lovely until the community irrigation system

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-55380031762022312752008-04-11T17:13:00.002-04:002008-04-11T17:15:01.219-04:00

Note: I just found out you can see the fountain on the web site: www.canaaninthedesert.com! Just click around to find the info on the fountain, and there's a picture of it with running water on the front page!

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-36339899182927768292008-04-11T16:49:00.003-04:002008-04-11T17:10:36.064-04:00

A week in the desert—sounds lonely, but it's not bad when it's in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was beset with cold/allergy symptoms when I got there, and then realized that everything was in the height of its blooming season. So I got to SEE a lot, but I also sneezed a lot. (-=I grew up in the Midwest, so Saguaro cacti only existed in cartoons for me. I guess it takes about 100 years for one of those

Jennienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-82492531699318141782008-03-25T20:37:00.002-04:002008-03-25T21:01:58.733-04:00

Egad! What a rollercoaster lately. A sick child, a restless husband, a stubborn teenager, a picky editor (jk, Robin). AND my own issues, of course, up, down, all around. Too much in the schedule, not enough to keep me busy. When will I ever learn to be content?At the same time, I knew getting into the issue of purity was stepping onto the front line of a battlefield. At times we are definitely

Jennienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-91001946746047929392008-03-13T09:29:00.002-04:002008-03-13T09:40:28.141-04:00

In trekking to an new area of Orlando, we found another great opportunity to share the message of Planned Purity. Foundation Academy in Winter Garden hosted us for a conference with a group of parents of elementary children—exactly the demographic we look for—and it was great! Not only was the hospitality team amazing, taking care of our every need, but the parents responded very enthusiastically

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-81915295446674165252008-02-27T10:10:00.003-05:002008-02-27T10:37:58.178-05:00

Arkansas! I love it there. Not only because of the beautiful countryside, but because there are some folks in Fayetteville that I dearly love. They are passionate about parenting and purity, and we're watching the incredible effects of their efforts to bring Planned Purity to life in their congregation.Steve Alberts, the youth pastor I work with, loves to do drama. Last year they did The Princess

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-29538523518097328962008-02-04T12:25:00.000-05:002008-02-04T13:34:14.484-05:00

Have you thought lately about how every day of life is a gift?With some ups and downs emotionally for me lately (anxiety issues, raising a teen and a preteen, financial pressures, ya da, ya da …) I find that I need constant reminders of this. Sometimes it's as simple as watching a comical squirrel peek out from behind a tree, hanging by one arm, as I'm being a good girl and taking my morning

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-18885547332381894742007-07-12T13:17:00.001-04:002007-07-12T13:34:37.432-04:00

Well, I'm in Florida again after a month back home on the farm in Ohio. It was a packed trip, with lots of time with new and old friends, a couple of conferences (one rural, one in-city), and a number of speaking engagements, interviews, events, etc. There's a lot of interest in purity no matter where we go, and because this was my home setting, there a number of people interested in coming to

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-66514150220015905022007-04-25T09:24:00.000-04:002007-04-25T09:47:49.738-04:00

Thanks to all of you who have asked about our recovery from international travel and moving into the new house. We're happy to report that we're back with very few problems, despite the difficulty of reentry into American life. The girls did great (thanks to Mary and Tom!), our daughter's ballet performance was wonderful, and birthdays have been celebrated. Last night we hosted a dinner for all

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-14246010316464531102007-03-17T17:09:00.000-04:002007-03-17T17:23:47.969-04:00

Hello, folks … and see you later! We're on our way out of the country on Wednesday to Nigeria and will be counting on all of your prayers as we separate for a time as a family to do what God's asked us to.In the meantime, a great group of friends is moving us completely out of our rental and into our new house - exciting and VERY chaotic! But I think the peace of mind I feel in general is proof

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-4386735513310082362007-03-01T14:18:00.000-05:002007-03-01T14:36:32.946-05:00

I have an acquaintance who says she gets stir crazy when she has to visit family in Ohio, but for me, it's just what the doctor ordered. I was with my dad for a week, visiting friends and updating them on our lives and what's going on at PurityWorks, shopping with my sister (finding cute shoes for $10 a pair!), and generally "hanging out with the folks." Can't say I wasn't glad to get back to

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1171375704007996772007-02-13T08:43:00.000-05:002007-02-13T09:08:24.020-05:00

OK, so this week I learned a good lesson about the dangers of packing my schedule too tightly. I had been tracking some mood changes that seem to be appearing in connection with certain changes of life, and recognized that I was going to be in my "vulnerable time" (that's a nice way of saying it) during a week fully loaded with women's events, appointments with doctors, editors and business

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1170699438725964612007-02-05T13:01:00.000-05:002007-02-05T13:17:18.743-05:00

Well, back from Arkansas and into the laundry - whew! God was so good to us in that our flights were fairly smooth, even with the bad weather heading to the east and the terrible storms that hit about 50 miles north of us here in Florida. Please pray for those who lost family members - about 19 are dead.We spent a wonderful few days with a church family in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The youth pastor

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1170274203707795562007-01-31T14:47:00.000-05:002007-01-31T15:10:03.720-05:00

All I want to know is WHY it is as cold in Florida as it was in Atlanta this weekend! We headed up to the land of peaches and pecans to see a videotaping of our good friend, comedienne Anita Renfro (check out her web site - she's a hoot and a half), and froze to death!But it was a good girl trip. Our girls are big fans of Anita's - they met her at the Christian Booksellers Convention and have

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1169688960182551072007-01-24T20:19:00.000-05:002007-01-24T20:36:00.206-05:00

What an amazing weekend - we actually had a Mrs. America contestant at our home! If she's reading this she'll probably kill me because she hates me bringing up the pageant thing - but listen, this woman is worth knowing and she's not your regular every-day "Barbie" girl. Lonna is the person who's heading our upcoming trip to Nigeria. She has a story you wouldn't believe - of abuse, abandonment,

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1168711137278133432007-01-13T12:36:00.000-05:002007-01-13T12:58:57.296-05:00

Tonight's a big fundraising bash, and we're all up in arms about what to wear. Does anyone else feel that dressing up gets to be a whole lot more work as you get older? I sure do.My husband is deciding whether his suit will do or whether he ought to rent a tuxedo. I have two dresses I'm waffling between. The invitation says "black tie optional." I haven't been to enough frou-frou events to know

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1168355230253404672007-01-09T09:43:00.000-05:002007-01-09T10:07:10.263-05:00

Last night we did a presentation at a large Baptist church here locally. It was a great turnout, about 60 people. It's amazing how the Planned Purity message just catches like fire in a dry field. The people who came left so energized and excited that it was hard to get them to calm down and retrieve their kids from the nursery!The staff volunteers at the book table really worked themselves silly

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881367.post-1166808488781655122006-12-22T12:10:00.000-05:002006-12-22T12:28:08.793-05:00

Merry Christmas to all - our board members, our staff, our donors, our readers, our friends from all walks of life and all over the world. What an amazing year this has been!Before we moved from Michigan to Orlando, we had a dear friend and prayer partner share with us a picture that had come to her mind for us: it was a huge gift box with a big ribbon, and my husband and I being squashed

Jennienoreply@blogger.com0