Free Book

I love to read and I especially love FREE books!!!

There's a fairly new web site www.symtio.com that you can download e-books and MP3's. When you register with their site you will get an e-mail with a code to get an MP3 copy of Karen Kingsbury's "Between Sundays" for free. Scroll down the page a tad and you will see a link.

If you haven't read this book it is awesome. All her books are but I especially liked this one because it really focuses on the life we need to live between Sundays.

I will warn you, if you have dial-up it will take a REALLY long time to download. I started my download at 5:00 and it isn't finished yet! And we're hooked to a T1 line. It's a 309 MB zip file, wow. But so worth it.

So check it out. You'll love this book!

A Difficult Task

Just a quick request for you to pray for us this weekend. It will be a hard one for us because of the task ahead, beginning tonight.

Details will come Monday, for now just PRAY! God knows:)

Sunshine is Good for the Soul!

I know I just recently said how much I miss the rain, and I do, BUT...I love the sunshine!!!!

Granted we get tons of sunshine in Nevada but when it's sunny and 12 degrees outside it doesn't count. These past few days however have been sunny and near 60, Tuesday was 62. Woot! I was able to get outside and clean up around the yard a bit.

I got the plastic flags out of the trees (those would be shopping bags, for those of you picturing little American flags waving:) I loaded the truck up with another load for the dump and today my shades are open to let the sun shine in while I finish up the last little bit of painting. Yes, I know it was a project I started many, many, many months ago. Better late than never.

Now if the wind would just quit....

I finally did it!

Months ago I began getting friend requests to join Facebook. I resisted because I had visions of MySpace but I finally broke down and decided to check it out.

It is so much fun. I have been able to connect with a lot of our youth kids (they're not kids anymore, yikes) back in Washington as well as other Village Missionaries and friends. And it is so much easier to use than MySpace. Think of it as the more "mature" version of online networking!

I've decided it is a great way, other than blogging, to just touch base with people. Don't worry, the blog will continue on! But it is easier to put photos in albums on Facebook, so I will post more of those there.

Anyway, you can go here to sign up for facebook then search for my name, Jennifer Hallenbeck, (I know if you are reading you know my name:). Then you can be my friend on Facebook.

Check it out!

Monopoly

So Grady and Becca started playing this game of Monopoly at 7:00 tonight. I was just on my way to the kitchen and had to laugh at the rest of the monoploy entourage! Apparently the cat and dog like monopoly too.

Cell Phone vs. The Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets? What if we flipped through it several time a day? What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it? What if we gave it to Kids as gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? What if we used it in case of emergency? This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think "where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

Grady came across this on a Christian Teen Forum he likes to read.

Will wonders never cease!

Sometimes when my children argue continually I wonder if they will ever actually get along and enjoy each others' company. The past 2 days have been peaceful ones:)

Sunday after church Grady and Becca played board games all afternoon until youth group. I was completely amazed that Grady chose to spend time with his sister instead of in front of the computer. Then yesterday pretty much all day after chores were done they again played board games all day. I think there was some Wii time in there too, but they were enjoying hanging out together.

Spencer of course hid out in his room for much of the time, coming out to eat and when I told him he couldn't hide anymore!

Several times I thought I should get the camera out and take their picture so I had proof that they could get along, but did I? NO! Maybe there will be another opportunity.

I think limited screen time is paying off:)

Canada's Double Portion

Everything worked out for the dinner and concert. I wasn't so sure how it would all come together:) The turn out was pretty low which was dissapointing but it is Valentine's Day, and there was a dance at the school tonight as well as a wrestling tournament in Winnemucca and basketball in Tonopah. A less busy weekend would have produced a better turn out.

The group, Canada's Double Portion were a fun group to listen to. The are a family group; mom, dad, 8 kids and a friend of the family who sings with them. Even the youngest who is 2 sings with the group. She was a cutie. They travel all over the states and Canada and you can tell they truly feel led by the Lord to do what they do. Their love for God shines through. At the end of the concert they gave a clear presentation of the gospel.

Happy valentine's Day

Butch and I don't do much for this day because we think every day should be a day to make each other feel special. So he's not even getting a card, partly because I didn't pick one up when we were in town and there aren't a lot of options in Round Mountain for that kind of thing. The store has limited supply of these things and nothing caught my eye!

Today is a working day anyway. Another Pastor in town arranged for a musical group to be here this evening and asked us to reserve the facility so we have to be around for set-up and clean-up of that event. And then the music department at school planned a fundraiser dinner to coincide with the concert so all three kids are involved in that.

In a way we will get to enjoy the evening out. $10 for Spaghetti Dinner for 2 and a free concert. Even though it's a working day it should fun.

Off to find out what the plan is:)

Ladies Dessert Night

Yum, Ganache-Topped Brownie Bites!

I used Maraschino Cherries to top mine.

Our theme was chocolate, our topic was Love. Appropriate for Valentine's Day. We didn't have many attend and I have to not let myself be discouraged by that. The ones who did come truly enjoyed themselves and low attendance just meant more dessert for the rest of us!

Finally some decent snow

We woke up this morning to a couple inches of decent snow. I say decent because this snow actually has a little moisture in it. It's only a couple of inches but we are forecasted to get snow everyday for the next week.

Mom, I bet you're glad you were here last week when it was warmer!

Winter Fun In Alaska

My brother and his wife live in Alaska year round. Someone like me would probably stay inside my house all winter long but not my brother. Several years ago they got into ice-racing. It looks like a lot of fun, but boy is it cold!

Go here and scroll down to Automotive Ice Capades for a glimpse at their winter recreation. My brother is Ralph and his wife is Roxy. There is a short video as well.

Just checking in...

Well, our week of rest is over and it's time to jump back in. We arrived home yesterday afternoon after spending a couple of extra days in Reno so we could get a little shopping done. If I never have to stay in another casino hotel I won't be dissappointed. Saturday night was sure loud, at 3 AM. So much for sleep.

The kids had a great time with Grandma, though I hear Spencer spent a lot of time in "the cave" as we have dubbed his room! That was his last hur-rah on the computer. We are imposing time limits beginning today. I should say enforcing time limits. We have set them in the past, but since there really is not much to do in Round Mountain for our boys who aren't into sports, we have been lax on the rules. Pray for us!

Won't they be excited to find a list of things to do waiting for them when they come home from school?!?! Actually today there isn't much to do around the house, but I'm sure I can think of something.

Please keep praying for our ministry here in Round Mountain and the people in the church.

We appreciate each of you. Thank you for your prayers and support.

A Time of Rest

This week we have the privilege of taking a few days from ministry and joining with other Village Missionaries in our district for a time of rest and renewal. We are enjoying sunny 70 degrees in Merced, CA!

We spent an extra day at the beginning of our trip in Reno and enjoyed a day to sleep in, with no agenda. We will spend 2 nights on our way home in Reno as well, giving Butch a Sunday off from preaching.

Over the past few weeks God has layed heavily on my heart to study the model for women in the bible from Titus 2 and apply that to my own life so that I can better come alongside women younger than me and encourage them in their faith and in how they live out that faith in their day to day lives.

This morning (and again tomorrow morning) we heard from a long time Pastor's wife and she encouraged us with several passages about women in the bible and how to be that godly example to women in our ministry. I guess that is confirmation that God is preparing me for this sort of ministry in the coming months. I pray that God will use me as a woman of influence in the lives of others, just as I had a woman come alongside me early in my walk with the Lord.

The blessing of a mentor is a wonderful thing. I hope to be a blessing as well.

And now, off to enjoy a tri-tip dinner that I didn't have to prepare, nor will I have to clean-up after! They feed us well:)