She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain When She Comes (Pt. 1)

 

As I sit here and think about all the lesson plans I should be writing, I would much rather blog about my hiking trip. There has been an Appalachian Trail winter hiking trip in the works for a while now. The plan was to hike for 3 days a total of 12.7 miles and no more than 5.5 miles a day. Oooooh…how plans were changed.

 

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There is one particular shelter along our original route that is very popular. We called to reserve it too late, so we had to change the route. This one we were told would start with a 10.6 mile hike to a shelter the the first day, an 8.5 to the next shelter the next day, and finally a 5.6 miler back to the car on the last day. This was still more than we bargained for, but we were up for the challenge. We…oh! I haven’t explained “we”. Zach and I went with with some sweet friends, David Riem and Abbey Gregory. Abbey did ridiculously well on the hike, I must say.

We started out and began our first 10.6 mile hike. It was NOT easy, but it was stunningly beautiful. For the majority of the day we had a clear view and could see the beauty of the mountain and the snow covered trees. The day was over and night had come before we made it to the first shelter. The noises that we hardly noticed in the daytime all of a sudden became perfect material for a horror film. We were a bit on edge and began doubting our route. We thought we might have passed it. There was a lot of ice, and each step took that much longer in the dark because of the precision it required. I think we all had a tumble on the ice at some point or another. I had about three. Ha

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As soon as we were about to give up and make an emergency shelter or hike back to ensure that we had not missed it…we saw the sign. I had been telling God over and over again that I just needed a sign! We had not seen one for 6.2 miles. That’s a long time! My body did not want to go any longer. My feet didn’t want to pick up off the ground.

That was the longest 0.4 mile of our lives. That three-sided shelter looked like the Hilton when we got there.

I'm not sure why, but we did not take a picture of the shelter. This is one from the internet.

This was an incredibly long, cold, and sleepless night upon the wooden slab in my mummy bag. In all honesty, I probably got about one hour of sleep. I think Abbey related to this. I was a little bitter as I listened to my husband snore like a bear. We met a father and son in Peck’s Corner shelter. They are seasoned hikers, and they gave us lots of useful tips. He also clued us in that the hike planner that told us our hike to the next shelter was 8.5 miles was wrong. It was actually 10.6 miles. I was not very excited about an 8.5 mile hike after our hard first day, but I was REALLY unhappy about another 10.6er just to be at another freezing cold shelter. I’m just going to be honest, as Zach and I filtered our water in the snow at the water source I cried. I did. I really didn’t think my body could do it again. We walked back up, and we all decided that if we hiked another 10.6 it was going to be to the car. Then, I was a little more motivated. I made up songs of going to the car all along the way.

This is similar to what Abbey’s good ole Gertrude (her car’s name…don’t act like you didn’t name your car) looks like. This  picture danced through my mind continually with lights shining down from heaven upon it. Look, I am not ashamed to admit that I was the weakest link of this hiking quartet. My little body just did not want to do it. I hurt all over, and there were points when I seriously thought that I would be okay if a bear came out and mauled me. I couldn’t have done it without the encouraging words of my sweet husband and his hands to help me across the tough parts. 

Look at that snow all over us!

 

When we finally made it off the trail I began to sing hallelujahs until I nearly got knocked over by the wind. The only thing that saved me was that I was hanging on Zach’s arm. We celebrated as we looked at roughly 7 inches of snow surrounding Gertrude and the entire parking lot. You just don’t see this kind of stuff in Mississippi. We thought we might be sleeping in the car. There was a thick layer of ice that covered the vehicle. The doors were frozen shut, but they were finally tactfully opened. We sat for roughly 20 minutes to unthaw the windshield. It was 17 degrees. Buurrrr! We were fearful that once we got on the road it would be too slick, but there were many turn off sections on the side if that were the case. We got on the road, and it appeared that it had been previously plowed, but it was still covered in snow. It took us about an hour to drive 13 miles back to the visitor center where we found out that the road we had just traveled was closed. Our guys waddled like penguins 200 yards to the visitor center to call a ranger to unlock the gate for us as Abbey and I shared our thoughts of the trip and all of its adventures.

We hiked a total of 21.2 miles in two days. I think that’s worthy of a bumper sticker! We have lots of fun stories to tell and a couple new wounds to prove our trek. Ha ha We all waddled like penguins for a bit because of the pain. I sounded like my mom for a little while as I walked. If you know my mom that’s funny. If you don’t, meet her, spend 5 minutes with her, and then you’ll understand.

I didn’t even get to share all of the lessons God taught me through this hike or share the majority of the beauty that was seen. I’ll have to do a part two post, reader friends. Enjoy your last day of this 2012 year! Reflect on all that 2012 had to bring you. I know it was pretty eventful for me.  Until next time…

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica Hardy

Dear Jessica,

 

You’re 40 years old! Do you still look like a teenager? Do people still inform you that you look young as if you didn’t know? Enjoy your youthful look since you are now hiking up the infamous hill that is spoken of so often.

I only wish I could envision where you  are at this point in life? You married a crazy man with many possibilities. Wherever you are I just hope that you have not settled for the “American Dream” and/or complacency. Wherever you are and whatever it is you’re doing in life, I hope that you are doing it all for the glory of Jesus and making His name known with your life.

Right now I guess you could say that you and Zach are in the “honeymoon stage”. You won’t let him leave the house without giving him a smooch and letting him know that you love him. You miss each other when you’re apart, and you love to greet one another. You love to snuggle with him, and y’all make time to study the Word together and pray together. You have a date night once a week. Do you still do all of these things?

Do you still dance crazily around the kitchen with him when you’re cooking? Do you still laugh at all of his cheesy jokes? Do you still serve him joyfully? Does that heifer still ruffle the decorative towels? Continue to giggle it off. Take time to stop and simply enjoy him. Reflect on all of the reasons you love him, and make sure that he knows that you’re still head over heels. Go watch your proposal video. Go watch the wedding video. Go reflect on the way God wrote this very unique love story. You married an absolutely amazing man. He treats you with respect, and he leads you lovingly and Biblically. He is a wonderful husband, and he is going to be an amazing father. Go tell that silly man that you love him to pieces!

Speaking of children, how many do you have? If it’s up to Zach, we probably have ten. If we have girls, Zach is WRAPPED around their little fingers spends lot of great daddy-daughter time with them. Right now your heart is adoption. Have you adopted yet?!? I sure hope you have and that you are teaching them of the adoption we have through Christ. If you have not adopted you need to get to praying with Zach like right now!

I imagine being a mother is challenging at times. Practice patience. Drop your schedule, and make sure that you spend quality time with them. Listen to them. I’m sure that your little ones are not necessarily little anymore, but it is still so very important to spend quality time with them. I hope that their childhood memories include a clean house and a responsible , but make the memories they remember most those times when you dropped the schedule to love on them. Teach them to love Jesus. Pray over them every single day. Make sure that they know you make mistakes and that you know they will too. Tell them of your forgiveness, but more importantly tell them of Christ’s forgiveness. Let them hear how Mommy and Daddy fell in love, and let them see that love continue on years later. Be their example of a loving, Christ-centered relationship.

Rumor has it that teachers can become a little burned out over the years.You’re in your first year of teaching right now, and you can see how that rumor would be true. Remember why you went into teaching. Love on those children like crazy, especially the difficult ones. They’re the ones that need it the most. Your real purpose as a teacher is not to make sure they can pass a test. It’s to make a difference in their life. This is REALLY easy to forget in the midst of it all. Continue to write down all of the funny things that they say. Those children are so stinkin funny. Dwell on the positive and the sweet moments. Teaching is not the profession for a perfectionist. And stop taking so much home!

YOU have the most wonderful friends in the entire world! I bet you’re all scattered around the world, but you better get to Skyping. Surround yourself with the same type of people that encourage you to grow in your relationship with Jesus and those that bear burdens with you. Right now, as a 22 year-old woman, you call the best people on the planet your friends. They’ve have had many mascara stained shoulders. They have been the cause of the majority of your lifetime’s laughter, and they have been the encouragers for a lot of your spiritual growth. Make sure that those guys and gals know how precious they are to you!

Jessica, love life. Love your awesome husband and precious children, including those that walk into your classroom every day. Tell your friends how much you love them. Make a difference where you are. Be intentional about showing the love of Jesus to others.

{Stole this idea from Nicole Vinson , who stole it from another blogger.  You steal it, too! I want to know what you’d say to your 40 (or older) year old self.}

 

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica Hardy

The Unknown

What in life makes you happy? We all have those certain things. I love being around children and watching Disney movies. I’m actually a pretty excitable person, but my precious husband sure does have me beat!

I love you, dear!

One thing that he gets excited about more than all of the other things is the Word. I think I can live with that. ;) He loves going through books of the Bible with me. Side note: We are currently going through Hosea, and it is some gooood stuff! He also loves to tell me about what he’s reading in his own personal time in the Word, and he loves to tell me the good stuff that he’s reading in all these marriage books. :) Every night that he comes back from night class at Mid America he goes ninety-to-nothing telling me about the nuggets of information he received from his Old Testament class. He also likes to beat me in games, but we don’t have to talk about that.

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He is a natural teacher, so as we have these discussions I can’t help but wonder where God will decide to use his talents. His desire is to either plant churches or be a campus minister. I personally think that he would ROCK as a campus minister! The unknown is scary and exciting all wrapped up in one. As I have imagined us in those scenarios I smile. Then, I think about how funny God is.

We could end up in neither of those situations. God is teaching me more and more about trusting Him. It’s a beautiful and constant lesson. As I think about our future and where we will be I am honestly excited about the unknown. This is new for me. I love my planner, and I love my plans. In this situation though I am just excited. I’m ready to see what’s next in this adventure we have begun.

 

We shall see in the years to come! :) The unknown doesn’t always have to be feared.

 

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica Hardy

Power

 

As I sit staring at a stack of classroom things that need to get taken care of, I say “I’m not doing it!”…yet. I need a break; I’m tired of looking at it. So, instead I shall write a blog that I have been mentally planning for a while.

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This summer I worked a recreation camp in my university town of Cleveland, Mississippi. In that time I attended a revival service at the little Delta church where Zach used to be youth minister. I might add that this was quite possibly the first place that he realized that he might be romantically interested in me, but that is beside the point. Rodney Jones, one of my favorite men in the entire world spoke, and I cannot remember honestly what the points were. I do remember though complete conviction as he spoke about power and how Jesus demonstrated power in his three year ministry on Earth.

Yes, I'm a Physics dork.

Zach likes to remind me that I am bit feisty, opinionated, and transparent. No worries, he NEVER says it in those ways, but he tries to keep me in check in a loving manner. He laughs, because I am indeed the Chihuahua that thinks she is a German Shepherd.

     

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In our twisted world we have come to think that vocalizing our opinion and saying what we want gives us power over others. We think that “telling someone off” showed the other person who’s boss. Sometimes, we just want our disagreement to be heard by anybody that will listen. We have justifications for everything, because we never want to appear as if we are at fault. Cutting or condescending comments might possibly make us appear smarter/above the other. I am guilty or have been guilty of every single bit of this. Our mouths can get us into some trouble.

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Enough about me. Let’s talk about Jesus. He holds all the power of the universe. So, how did he display it while he was on Earth? He told everyone that they were making the stupidest decision of their life for crucifying Him. He gave everyone threats, and gave every excuse in the world as to why he was innocent. WRONG! When he was being questioned by Pilate (Matthew 27:11 ff) He stood in silence. This was his chance to worm His way out of the most cruel deaths the Roman world had. This was his chance to plead His true innocence. He stood in silence! As He was being mocked and beaten He was silent! As He was being mocked as He was placed on the cross in OUR place He was silent. He is the only one who has a right to speak! He had every right to justify Himself, to fight his way down, to condemn, and to ridicule. He didn’t. I don’t know about you, but that speaks volumes to me. He displayed His power with silence, self control, and gentleness.

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Let’s return to the habits of my speech. What is the ultimate root? Arrogance, pride, and lack of self-control are the roots. I do not want to be powerful in my own eyes. I want to be powerful in the way that Jesus demonstrated. There is power in silence. There is power in restraint, and there is power in self-control. That is where ultimate power lies. May our speech be filled with truth and love or may it be nonexistent. May we follow the example that our Jesus gave us. How will you and I react to that mocking family member. How will we respond to the next nasty parent note, teachers? How will we respond to the next accusation? How will we respond to the next disrespectful comment? How will we respond to the next insult? It’s good to be back with you, reader friends! Happy Wednesday.

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica Hardy

Honeymoon

I am cheating and finishing my What I’m Loving Wednesday on Thursday. I have been blessed so much that it just must spill over. :) I want to use this post to shed some light on the humor that continued on from our ceremony to the honeymoon.

*I am loving Zach’s hiccups. I know that sounds silly, so I shall explain. When he gets hiccups they last forever! I remember a case he had in college that literally lasted days. The reason I love his hiccups is because they usually are a result of intense laughter. There was a considerable amount of time in our honeymoon in which Zach was drinking water upside down in order to get rid of hiccups. We laughed a LOT! It was wonderful.

*I soon found out that I married a sleep talker. I am loving his sleep talking. He talks to me every night. Ha I am a VERY light sleeper. My alarm clock is simply my phone ringing on vibrate, and I can wake up to it even if it is on the other side of the room. One of the funniest is when he sat up in the bed, shook me, and yelled, “THOMAS THE TRAIN?!? REALLY?!? HE’S SHOWING TONIGHT?!? YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!” Then he immediately fell back on his pillow in his deep sleep. It was quite hilarious.

*I am loving all of the fun things we got to do on our honeymoon.

We toured the Biltmore mansion.

It was HUGE!!! Guess that’s why they call it a mansion.

*We also went kayaking down the Nantahala River. I don’t have pictures of that yet, because they are on a waterproof camera that we have not yet developed. That was my second time down the Nantahala and Zach’s first. We both LOVED it! The weather was perfect, and it was beautiful. I also got a good little arm workout. ;)

We went to a zip line park.

It was loads of fun.

It began raining not too long into our adventure, and that just made the line rides much more quick and exciting. :)

I didn’t want to come home.

*I am loving our mugs that our wonderful friend Kyla got us! They make me smile.

The inside rim has a verse from Songs that says, “My heart has found the one it loves”, and they both have hearts on the inside bottom.

*I am loving that the first thing Zach has done every morning after his alarm goes off is says, “I love you so much!” It is literally the first thing he does before his eyes are open well. Some days he has even said it before he turns off his alarm. He wasn’t even aware that he did that until I told him about it. I hope that never stops. I like it. :)

*I am loving that he is my prayer warrior. He stops to pray over me constantly. He learned that from his precious Daddy who I now get to share with him. :) He knows how nervous I am about  my first year of teaching. I had my first workshop today, and before he walked out the door to his early Thursday morning men’s group he came over to pray over me. It blesses my heart. I LOVE him!

I hope you have enjoyed the short summary of my wedding weekend and honeymoon, and I hope that you got in some laughs yourself. I know that I will forever cherish the memories. Thanks again to all of those that helped make it so wonderful!

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica Hardy

Wedded Bliss!

It’s Wednesday! It’s Wednesday! It’s Wednesday! I get to link up with Jamie for WILW! This is kinda my favorite, and I am loving a LOT right now so hold on to your britches!

Well, most of you know that I am a newlywed. Planning a wedding can make you want to elope, but as I look back at the weekend and all of the wedding happenings it was all worth it. Laughter consumes me when I reflect on pretty much anything starting with my Thursday bachelorette party. I really do burst out in random laugher. Ask Zach. Let me fill you in on some of the things I LOVED about my wedding weekend.

*Well, it helps that I am REALLY loving this guy right here. If you haven’t met him, you need to. He is probably the goofiest, fun loving, excitable man you will ever meet. I also must mention that he is a walking jukebox. He is just…Zach Hardy.
*I loved when all of my friends and family began coming in town. My bachelorette party was HILARIOUS! My maids of honor dressed me up in a pink formal dress, flashing tiara, high heels with light up heels, and a sash that read “bachelorette”.

I had everyone’s attention. Heads were turning, and eyes were glued wherever I walked. So naturally, with the probing of my maids of honor, I began doing the beauty queen wave. T’was funny. The night was filled with jokes, laughter so good that it was coupled with tears, and love. I will share a few snaps of the night.









*I also received a text from one of Zach’s groomsmen informing me that Zach had hurt his ankle at Sky Zone (trampoline park) where he was having his bachelor party. I sent him back a playful text, because I thought he was joking. He was not. The next day Zach walked in the church to help decorate with his ankle HUGE and on ice. It was no joke. That cancelled our hiking plans. Ha

*Decorating was even fun. I LOVED all the help I had. Everyone was wonderful.

Thanks for all of your help, guys! Love ya, mean it!
*Rehearsal dinner was also full of laughter as well as tears. It was a sweet, sweet time.


* The wedding day was full of humor. I am loving looking back on it and smiling/laughing.  Zach, of course, had a couple of pranks planned for the actual ceremony. When it came time for our vows he pulled out a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket that unrolled to be about a mile long. Ha Then, he pulled out his actual vows on a single sheet. The next trick was mouth spray sprayed by his father (best man) before the kiss. I was unaware of this. I told him he could have allowed me to have fresh breath as well! Ha
The funniest part, though, was dancing down the aisle for our exit. We had planned ever since February that that is how it would happen and that our exit song would be “Dance” by David Crowder. We had never practiced what WE would do, though. Our first go at our dance was when we were doing it for the ceremony. My dress had a loooong train on it. He did not think this through. He spun me and wrapped me up in my train, so I kind of side stepped my way down the rest of the aisle. I laugh because I can remember the whole audience gasping at once when he spun me and the panicked look upon my wedding coordinator’s face. She was ready to pounce. The relief on her face when I danced my train out to normal was just as wonderful. I cannot wait to watch the video. Ha

*I don’t know that I am necessarily loving  the decoration that was on our car on the way out. Ha Our car was written on with shaving cream and car paint. We had the traditional cans. It was filled with Hawaiian leis, condoms, pregnancy tests, 5 hour energy drinks, peanut butter, nutella, and other random things that I’m not sure of the purpose. Ha Our first stop was the car wash. Ha It was very funny though.
I shall fill you in on the honeymoon humor tomorrow. I will break the rules a bit and finish my WILW on a Thursday. :) Reflect on all of your blessings and reasons to love, reader friends!

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica Hardy

Aaaaaaawww Snap!

Pure Joy

Have you ever had one of those days (or seasons) where one thing after another just seems to go wrong…or one stressor is piled onto another? I think we can all relate. I have a tendency to worry and stress. I am very much Type A personality, and I won’t things in order, and I want them in order way before it’s time to actually have whatever it is done. Wedding planning has driven me crazy, and I feel like I am at the point that nearly every bride gets to when they say, “I just want this all to be over. I just want to get married.” Yes, I am there.

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So, this is what I have realized recently. Satan wants to remind you of the things that are not going well, and he does not want you to see what God has done and is doing in your life. He wants to steer you as far away from God’s truth as possible and will make every attempt to make you feel without hope and keep you in a pit. He reminds you of what you do NOT have and points out the negative and never makes mention of God’s goodness and provision. He will completely steal your joy if you let him. I HAVE LET HIM! What am I going to do? Well, I’m glad you asked. I am appropriating God’s truth in my life, and I’m telling Satan to shut up. Did you know that in the name of Jesus he has to leave? We have that power through the Spirit. Pretty neat, huh? Only if we allow it to be so in our life.

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What truth have I brought back to the surface? Wow, y’all just ask all the right questions. I would love to tell ya.

(1) I have been in the situation many times where I tell God that I don’t feel like something is going to get taken care of financially or otherwise. You want to know how many times He has left it not taken care of? ZERO! Why am I at this point again? It’s craziness. Silly humanness.

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(2) God has written me one of the most beautiful love stories that could ever be imagined. My journey with Zach could make a pretty great movie if I say so myself. He is the most amazing man in the entire world! I might be a little biased, but you should be jealous. He’s pretty wonderful, and I love him a whole bunch. I never question if He is going to lead me Biblically. I never worry about whether or not my future children will have a good Daddy. They are going to have the most amazing Daddy there ever was! I never worry about being treated with respect. I never worry about any of those things. I know that our beautiful love story will continue on until one of us meets our Jesus. I am SO excited that he is going to be my partner for the Gospel. Again, I might be biased, but I think we make a pretty excellent team. I can’t wait to say “I do”.

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(3) My bridesmaids are some of the most amazing women in the world. That’s why they’re bridesmaids. Duh! They have been a HUUUUUGE help in all of this, and I am so blessed to have them. Even aside from them all of my wonderful friends and family are AMAZING. I can’t tell you how much support I have received not only through this wedding planning but through everything. I am soooo grateful for them. Again, I am marrying the best man in the entire world, and I have the best friends in the world. You should be even more jealous now.

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(4) I am marrying into an absolutely amazing family. I have never received so many hugs, kisses, and heard “I love you” so much until I walked into the  homes of this family. The support and encouragement that I have received from them has been overwhelming. I’ll ignore the fact that they’re already praying twins on us. Ha

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(5) God cares about my life more than I do. He has plans for it, and my worry masks those beautiful plans. Life is SOOOO much more full of joy when your eyes and heart are focused on God. He wipes all those little things that we can magnify in our lives and gives us a new perspective. I choose that new perspective. I choose joy!

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I know we all have those instances where we want to let our stressors take the wheel. I am number one, I promise. Let’s choose joy together, reader friends. Happy Thursday!

Shaped by Grace,

Jessica almost Hardy