Blessings and Raindrops

seeking joy in the midst of the ordinary

the wild and mundane.

I can’t help but laugh at the wild and mundane craziness of my life at the moment.

I mean, y’all. In this last week, we hosted Willie and Korie Robertson at our house (Korie is on the board of Help One Now and they are an amazing couple- so humble and generous and down to earth!), along with 360 friends at the Berry Farm, hosted six of our favorite out of town houseguests, announced the HGTV pilot we are launching on November 7th, and still have all of the normal parts of life like laundry, and wiping noses and carving pumpkins taking place.

My brain has been in overdrive preparing for the big Help One Now fundraising dinner we hosted at the farm on Thursday night. It sort of felt like planning a wedding. There were so many details and decor decisions and friends traveling in from afar…and then, the night came and went in a flash. I hugged so many necks and lost my voice from talking and my cheeks hurt from smiling so big. My heart is still FULL from the evening. The only way I can think to describe it is with one word: magical. The weather was perfect and the ambiance was perfect and we all gathered to learn more about loving our neighbors around the globe really, really well. I loved, loved, loved having so many friends and family in one place hearing about the good work being done by our dear friends at Help One Now. I just can’t stop smiling. We have an incredible community here in our little corner of the world – a community of people who are passionate about justice and are full of compassion and who realize that this life is not our own.

I didn’t take a single photo all night. My friend, Brennon, was the official photographer of the night and I just left the photo-taking up to him and soaked up the time with my people. He’s traveling now but as soon as he shares photos from the evening, I promise to share some here.

I took this the night before the event after we finished setting up the outside lights. More to come! 🙂

In the midst of the planning, we were given the green light to announce this giant secret Dave and I have been keeping for over a year. We filmed the pilot episode of “Almost Home” this past June and couldn’t talk about it online until now. It’s pretty wild. I don’t even know where to begin with this chapter of our lives. We have been working on the development of this potential show with HGTV for so long and then we filmed and now we’ve waited for an air date … so it’s just been a part of our lives this whole time and felt sort of normal. But, now we were allowed to tell people about it and we realized that it is, in fact, not normal. Ha!

We haven’t watched the episode yet – so we will be viewing it for the first time with everyone else on November 7th. My palms are sweating just thinking about it. (I’m going to be a nervous wreck that night).

Everyone has asked for the backstory about how on earth this happened. We were approached by the network last April. They were in search of unique small towns and a couple doing the work of renovation and restoration of homes. Through friends of friends, they were led to Dave and I. We went through an extensive “interview” process and were SO torn throughout it all as to whether or not this was even something we wanted to do. We went into it very prayerfully and did have close friends praying with us. Here’s the thing – yes, this is fun and exciting – BUT, if it is not God’s will for our family, we didn’t want to do it. Our first priority is following God’s path for us, not a television show.

This is tricky – I want to be careful not to make it sound like we aren’t grateful for this opportunity because, gracious, we are. We just didn’t want to get swept up in the excitement of it all without stopping to pray and be intentional about seeking wisdom before we decided to proceed.

Of course, God doesn’t comply with my requests for a detailed email explaining what we should do, SO, we resorted to just doing the next thing in front of us (my motto for all of life). We said yes to the conference call. We then said yes to the Skype interview. We then said yes to the crew flying in to film a “sizzle reel.” We then said yes to filming a pilot. We just keep on praying that God will guide us and He will close the door if it isn’t His will. We have ZERO expectations for all of this and have honestly been blown away by the kindness and encouragement and support of all of our friends (and strangers) when we made the announcement.

I have to share a few behind the scenes sneak peaks with y’all. Every so often, I would sneak away and grab my phone and take a photo to send to my mom and sisters. It most definitely felt surreal and I wanted photo proof that this was actually happening and not some strange practical joke. We had the absolute most fun, amazing, hilarious, and kind production team here with us. They’ve become like family and we even stopped by to see them and hug necks during our whirlwind family road trip this summer because we missed them all!

Dave Marrs in action. 🙂

 

Driving and being filmed at the same time is AWKWARD. Just saying.

Our “sizzle reel” crew.

WE ARE WATCHING! Ha!!! (See? AWKWARD).

These are the types of texts I would get from our producer throughout the day if we were in different places. Love her.

We can’t say enough about the people in this photo. We absolutely adore each one.

My girl, Rachelle. We think alike and complete each others sentences and working with her is a JOY.

Lori, our show runner, looked at me and asked, “Jenny, if this were happening in real life and we weren’t here filming, what would you do? Would you get up on the roof with Dave?” My reply: “No, no I would not.” I stayed safely on the ground and took a photo instead. (Refer back to my parachute ripping 13,000 feet above the earth story for the history of my fear of heights.)

Of course, our little helpers were at the house with us most of the time. 🙂 Here, they were finding “treasures” per the usual. We now have a new/old remote control, a bunch of wire, and masking tape. Awesome.

Don’t forget to watch the pilot next Tuesday, November 7th at 11 eastern/10 central. Also, we’re told it’s best to watch live, rather than recording and watching later as far as metrics are concerned. Because so many have asked, I want to clarify that this is a pilot episode and depending on the performance of this episode, the network will make a decision as to whether we will move forward to a full season. We’d love for you all to watch and tell your friends to do the same! We hope you like it… I have no idea what made the cut and what fell to the editing room floor but I’m sure there will be plenty of laughs involved. 🙂

Have an awesome week, friends!

 

** If you are looking to find the episode to schedule your DVR, it isn’t showing up just yet. The network is aware and the schedule will be updated by the end of this week! Thanks for being patient!

*** Also, folks have asked about watching online. The episode will not be online on the HGTV site (because of deals with cable companies..) but if you have a service that lets you stream HGTV (like DirectTV) you can watch that way. OR, just tell your friend you are coming over to watch and bring some wine and chocolate with you:). Perfect excuse for a girl’s night after the kiddos have gone to bed!!

a gathering place.

We’ve been busy preparing for an event we are hosting a month from today in the barn at The Berry Farm. The evening will benefit the work of Help One Now and there will be another event the next day specifically benefitting our partnership in Zimbabwe and the agricultural training program for the boys at Musha WeVana. The program is about to get underway there and we are SO excited to see years of hard work start to come to fruition. We are planning another trip this spring to visit Pastor John and the kiddos at Musha WeVana Village and can’t wait to see the new training program and farm up and running in Marondera!

We are expecting 300 guests next month at the farm and we have been having so much fun renovating our run-down, working barn to host this special evening. I’ve wanted to renovate the barn since day one so I couldn’t be more excited to get this underway.

When we first started the berry farm planting three years ago, we had no idea how God would use that little slice of land. We simply knew this was a part of His plan for our family and we kept our heads down and got to work. We trusted Him with the details and have been honestly been BLOWN AWAY by His good plans.

I never would have imagined we would be working in Zimbabwe or that our little farm would help pave a pathway to a better future for teenage boys there. Older, orphaned and at-risk boys are big on our hearts and we have always had a desire to give these boys a chance – to learn a skill, to build confidence, to lead, to restore communities – we know of (and ADORE) many programs for young girls or mommas looking to care for their babies (LOVE SO MUCH) but there are very few programs that come alongside young boys who are at risk. These boys will grow to be daddies and leaders of their families and in their communities and we want to empower them to lead well. What a joy it has been to watch this program’s idea form and begin to be realized. I am truly in awe of God’s goodness and the fact that He lets me and Dave and our family be a part of this work.

To be honest, this little berry farm felt like a bit of a failure during our first harvest. We were taken completely off guard when we lost a good portion of our blueberries to birds and storms. I couldn’t understand why God would have us commit to starting the agriculture program in Zimbabwe THIS year when He knew we wouldn’t even come close to our fundraising goal (let’s just say we were about 80% short). Why? Why would our crop be destroyed this first year when the kids needed this money right now? It made no sense to any of us.

I’ve been studying the sixth chapter of John this week, the story of the five loaves and the two fish. I loved how Jesus tested Philip by asking him where they would buy bread for the large crowd to eat. Philip solemnly responded with the fact that a years wages wouldn’t be enough to buy bread to feed everyone. I can only imagine Philip felt pretty defeated in that moment. {John 6:5-7}

I love what Jennie Allen says about this story in her Proven study:

“In these verses we see Jesus state the impossible task before Philip, testing him. It seems Jesus went out of his way to show Philip and the rest of the disciples it could not be done in their power… Jesus fully trusted in the exceeding abundance of His Father, God {and modeled this for the disciples}.”

SO good. So good.

Jesus certainly modeled this for our family with this farm of ours.

No way could we do this in our power. We couldn’t get the program off the ground in Zimbabwe this year with the small crop during our harvest. It seemed impossible. Until this event came along. And, we remembered, He doesn’t need us for this work. Yet, He graciously gives us a chance to come along for the ride. We simply need to trust in the exceeding abundance of our Father.

Just a little glimpse of the work being done. I cannot wait to show you guys the final renovated barn!!

The other really fun part of the farm that I’m loving see come together is the fact that God had whispered a phrase to me early on, before the fields were even planted:

A gathering place. 

I knew this farm of ours (did I mention we have ZERO farming experience? This whole thing felt a little bit out of left field at first) was meant to be a gathering place of some sort but I didn’t fully understand what that would look like.

My human vision is so finite and short-sighted. I assumed this meant we would gather families to harvest berries. That only made sense and seemed reasonable. I tucked the phrase in the back of my mind and forgot all about it.

Until very recently. As we started the initial planning for this upcoming fundraiser, the phrase came to mind again.

A gathering place. 

God made the farm a gathering place like I never would have anticipated. We have found ourselves gathering here on Sunday mornings. With a growing number of likeminded families. Families looking for a place where everything else is stripped away but the goodness of our Savior. We meet in a barn, kids often run amuck outside – slipping in for a song or to listen to the sermon and then running back out until we share communion together – dogs and lambs stop in for a visit, we have a little speaker for songs to be played off a phone – no worship team, no AC. Yet, God’s presence is so palpable and we have the most raw, authentic community of broken people who admittedly have zero answers and are learning to simply lean on the One who does. It’s beautiful and precious. And completely and wholly unexpected.

And, soon, we will gather in that same barn to celebrate good work being done around the globe and to raise money for continued community empowerment and family preservation and education and food and clean water.

While this world feels like it’s spinning faster and the chasm of division and hatred grows wider, what a joy it is to have this gathering place where we can step away from the chaos and rest in His mercy and graciousness and compassion. A place where we can collectively lift our eyes and see light still shining brightly into the darkness.

Love pours forth.

I grew up in central Florida – shielded from the coast by a mere 40 or so miles. My childhood memories of hurricane season include board games and stocked pantries while storms raged outside our living room window. Simple rainy day fun in my young mind. Yet, I distinctly remember the devastation to our neighbors in the south from Hurricane Andrew. I was thirteen years old. Old enough to join my parents and older sister, huddled around our television, watching the images in horror as the news anchors reported from the rubble. Fear rose inside my spirit and light-hearted rainy day board games were replaced with anxiety and an understanding of the devastating power of these massive storms.

As Beth Moore eloquently states in her recent Christianity Today article, “Every coastal city knows it could be next. We have to have our neighbors to survive.”

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I’ve been EXHAUSTED from social media in the past year (or couple of years, really). The tension and the viciousness are too much to take some days.

I want to shut it all down. I want to sign off and ignore everyone’s opinions and soapboxes. Even though a lot of the information shared is GOOD and knowledge is power… the responses are often laced with anger and hostility. (This may sound harsh but I wonder if I’m not the only one who has felt this way lately.)

But, oh my heart. I have been absolutely astounded by the posts these past few days.

Hurricane Harvey hit Houston with intense force and the aftermath has been absolutely horrific. I can barely look at photos or videos of the flooding and the victims without becoming teary.  YET. My social media feeds are turning to feeds of hope and love and support and a posture of humility and “how can I help?” responses are pouring forth.

Click on photo for source link.

From my sideline perspective, I’ve watched as the enemy tried his damnedest to divide us as a nation. He has shouted hatred and lies and had many of us believing we would never find our way back. We would be divided and downtrodden and fear would reign on our streets and in our homes. But, today, when suffering is rampant and hope should be dead and buried, light is pouring in. The stories of good, kind, selfless deeds are endless.

Please don’t hear me saying this storm was a good thing, no. It is horrific and the pain of loss and destruction and death is intense and real. Yet, I see us rising up.

Thank you, people of Houston. For inspiring us and reminding us that we can do better. We can go out into the storm and love recklessly. We can reach a hand out to our neighbors, and complete strangers; even the ones who look differently than us and believe differently than us. We can just pour out love.

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If you’re looking to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and don’t know where to turn, I wanted to share that our dear friends and partners at Help One Now will be working as a conduit to channel funds to those doing direct impact work on the ground. They will give away 100% of what is raised.  They will be partnering with local organizations in Houston and the surrounding areas who will be effectively serving their own people on the long road to recovery.

So, IF you want to give, there are 2 ways to do it … mail in a check or give online.

If you want to mail in a check, just make your check out to “Help One Now” and make sure to write “Texas Hurricane Relief” in the memo.  Then mail the check to:

Help One Now

P.O. Box 26716

Raleigh, NC 27611

If you prefer to give online, just FOLLOW THIS LINK, and once you are there:

  1. Enter your donation amount in the box on the left that says One-time Donation, and select General Donation in the drop-down box.
  2. Fill in your name, email and credit card info.
  3. Type “Texas Hurricane Relief” in the Notes section.  Make sure to do this, so that we know how to allocate the funds.  And then we will make sure that 100% of your donation makes a direct impact in southeast Texas!

blessed are the peacemakers.

This week, I’ve shuffled all four of my little loves off to a new school, full of new people and new routines and new places. They have been so very brave – not without slight trembling and butterflies – but, brave nonetheless.

After school, pick-up has been full of laughter and escalating voices as each little attempts to interject with their own tale from the day. New friends, new teachers, new schedules, new reward systems…the cause of tummy aches and sleepless nights are now fun and exciting in the light of day.

I watch the trepidation turn into joy and I find my heart full of peace.

And, I feel a gentle nudge. A reminder. A sweet whisper in the wind.

I will never leave or forsake you. In all things. I am here. 

I often find myself in mama-bear mode, questioning decisions like where to send my little people to school and how to protect them in this fallen world. I watch the news and read my social media feeds and feel overwhelmed. I am weary and exhausted from the strife and division and constant streaming negativity at every turn. I edge toward hopelessness. I wonder how any of us can possibly make a dent in the darkness. I want to move my people to a private island inside of a magical bubble and disconnect from it all.

That whisper.

In all things. 

He is here. God is not a distant, condemning figurehead, watching from afar as we mess up over and over again. He doesn’t wring his mighty hands, anxiously awaiting the next news story or Facebook post or rally or protest or terrorist attack. He is here. Among us. With us. Moving. Working. Breathing life. 

He is active. Even when this whole world threatens to move closer to the edge of darkness, He shines LIGHT. He works in and through us. His Kingdom is alive and well. Jesus taught us to pray for the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. We don’t have to sit here, stewing, helplessly waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven. We can go right ahead and bring the Kingdom to earth. We can shine light and love and peace right here, right where we are. Because, He is right here with us. Shining right through us.

I have to remember the words I proclaim over my children in the morning. The words I say to remind them who they are. The words to remind them they have nothing to fear. The words I prayed and prayed that first day as they walked into the new building, nerves and fear building and rumbling and threatening to overwhelm their precious souls.

You are daughters and sons of the King of kings. 

When you’re missing home or momma, you can close your eyes and take a deep breath and remember:

God is right here. 

When this whole world threatens to overwhelm and the fear and terror seep in through the night, we can remember: He is right here with us. We can do this. We can love abundantly. We can hope relentlessly. We can listen quietly. We can be peacemakers.