Liar, liar, pants on FIRE!!

"I just need you to know that I do not support this!" I said as I sat on the hillside, all three children in hand. I had watched my "beast" of a husband, (used in the best of terms) tear off our old barn roof and gather the one hundred year old cedar shakes, he placed these in a huge pile, flanked it with two evergreen trees and encircled it with lighter fluid!!! What started out as a friendly little fire, QUICKLY engulfed into 20 foot flames licking the sky and coming dangerously close to the barn! My dear husband was all the while trying to contain this monster with our garden hose! It was at that time that I thought I should speak my final words: (see first sentence). After several minutes he turns his gaze my way and says, "I think you better call them!" I needed no more words....I dashed for the house and anxiously dialed 911. My husband doesn't "freak out", see this story for greater evidence of that....so, when he "called in the troops" so to say, I knew it was serious! I also had an idea that it would possibly come to this after I watched him begin to spray AROUND the fire and onto the side of the barn so as to wet the area to keep the flames at bay!!

2 minutes later.....

the boys were in their glory: the firefighters and my children!!

The Police Officer was a HOOT! When he first arrived he walked straight to Jake and pulled out his handcuffs! We both looked at each other with eyes the size of marbles....."just kidding" said the officer! Later in the night I asked him to take out his handcuffs again so I could get a picture....all the while knowing this would make for quite the post....just like this other fire incident did last Summer!!

It all turned out great: Tyler got to sit in the fire truck, we got to meet our new police officer, the neighbors were entertained on what would have been a drab Tuesday evening and our tax dollars went to good use......oh, and our barn didn't burn down.

I love my brave husband for attempting such a great feat....
and admitting when he needed a little help!!!!

caught white handed!

Lately, Luke has really been into "helping" me with Paisley!

Here is what I found the other day:

CAUGHT white-handed!

Poor Baby! Covered in diaper cream and powder!
And here's the culpret:

The Crime Scene!

And the Victims!

Oh Brother.....

Our Wedding Day

"You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes." Song of Solomon 4:9
I spent countless hours writing out our invitations, getting the wording and each stroke just right. My most talented cousin Freiman painted lovely watercolors of Jake and I, used on our invitation and our program.

My parents front yard. They put so much hard work into making their home fit for a king!
I will never know all the hours they put into this day! THANK YOU SO MUCH DAD AND MOM!! (and everyone else that worked so hard). It did not go unnoticed!

the beautiful bridesmaids.

I will NEVER forget the feeling of floating down the aisle toward my man!
I walked to the song by Rita Springer, "Moving with the Lamb."
Bless him, he just cried and cried! I couldn't stop smiling....

TOGETHER AT LAST!!

"Perhaps it is waiting that transforms
an ordinary love into an exquisite one."
~Joyce Landorf~

We washed each others feet as a symbol of servanthood to one another.

SO handsome!

Our fourteen flowergirls....how was I to pick only a few of my darling nieces?
Why not have them all? It was so sweet. They all walked down together, sprinkling rose petals, the smaller ones being pulled along in a red wagon....

look how little?? Oh how seven years turns little girls into little ladies!!

so nervous before our first kiss....we just laughed....

and then finally....our lips met and we kissed for 20 seconds!
even now, when I watch our wedding video I get slightly uncomfortable at the length of the kiss....and it was me!! I guess that's what's happens when you wait until your wedding day to kiss for the first time....it just goes on and on and on..... this was the BEST part, he totally dipped me down....it was heavenly!!
we ran out to a song called, "Good Mornin' Life" by Dean Martin!

Our lovely wedding party! The program.... Looking back I realized I over-planned our ceremony...not something you want to do on a sweltering September day. There we were in the shade of the gazebo while our dear guests melted under the blazing sun. Sorry to all of you, if you're reading this now, for not having water for you to drink and shade for you to sleep...um, I mean sit under! Our lovely ceremony lasted a good two hours or more!! You can read this post to get another bloggers insight of our wedding day, well, he says it's not about our wedding day, but it very well could be!!!
I think it's hilarious!! Anyway, time was standing still for us.....

port-o-pots CAN be cute! the place cards hung on wash lines...
every time we kissed this guy would blow the shofar! it was GREAT!
look how young we look?? i love this picture....

we had our own little table so beautifully decorated. above us hung a gigantic grapevine wreath lit up with Christmas lights and dried hydrangea bunches....it still hangs in our living room today.

Jake's creation!! I had seen a picture in a magazine similar to this and he, being the creative, visionary man he is, came up with this idea using pvc piping...he spray painted it brown, then it was wrapped with grapevine, Christmas lights and dried hydrangea bunches. I thought it looked like Cinderellas carriage!! I loved it!!
our fabulous cake! i loved the little white dots all over it....
My Dad in the background, Jake's Mom, (Annie) in the forefront...good friends since they were babies....literally! Annie's Mom died when she was a baby so my Dad's Mom helped take care of her.

our first dance to "At Last" by Etta James....still one of our favorite songs. Dancing the night away! JOY came down rain like.....My Mom is on the left, behind Jake, in the blue dress....I can almost FEEL the fun in this picture.... "My lover spoke and said to me,
ARISE my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
See!! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land."
Song of Solomon 2:10-13

L’amour de ma Vie (part 4)

If you need to catch up, here's part 1, part 2 and part 3...

Christmas, 2001
Indeed this Christmas has had its “merry” times, most of them spent with the man I’m falling in love with all over again! Yes, unafraid and shameless to write of this great welling up within my stomach and heart ~ together and at once.
I wanted to stay beside him and not get into my cold car and drive 20 minutes. But I left. He gave me a guitar for Christmas.

“We come to each other, gradually, but with love….with love and honesty, the embrace is inevitable.”
~Tennessee Williams~

January, 2002
An enjoyable weekend with the ones I love most and the one I’m coming to love more deeply. Jake joined my family at the cabin, a milestone to be sure. You don’t just bring anyone along to the cabin!! He adjusted well to everyone around him and all the noise we make! We took Lindsay and Tessa on a walk and found a little place in the woods that looked like “Narnia.” We took our blankets and laid under the moonlight amidst the perfectly lined trees and made up stories for each other. The trees blew and it sounded like the ocean’s tide. After our weekend together I felt scared….it’s scary to fall in love. But if I weren’t afraid I wouldn’t be completely aware of the commitment I’m entering to. Being scared shows me that I’m taking the time to really think about what’s next.

“People have two needs, one is to be intimate the other is to be independent. The greatest barrier to intimacy is the fear that closeness will get in the way of independence.”~Mildred Newman~

February 10th, 2002
The night began as usual. Comfortable silence and cozy cuddles in Jake’s apartment. After a short movie Jake went to the other room and returned with a soft pink shirt in hand. “This is your Valentine’s gift, but I couldn’t wait until then.” He placed it in my hand. I held it up, a bit confused….a large shirt with two teddy bears on it, they were eating honey and it read, “home is where your honey is.” I thought it was a bit tacky so I said, “it’s cute Jake, but I won’t be wearing it in public!” He laughed and we hugged. “Are you sure you like it?” he said. Holding it up a second time to inspect again, I said “yes” EXCEPT this time I noticed something shining on the tag. Could it be? No, not so soon, not here, not now!! I looked closer and yes, THERE IT WAS, my engagement ring, a beautiful diamond waiting for me on the tag…for ME!! I was in complete shock. My eyes blinked so rapidly, I squeezed them shut so tight and opened them so fast my CONTACT FELL OUT! “I’m so unromantic” I cried and ran to the bathroom to put it back in. With shaking hands I somehow managed to not poke my eye out and get the contact back in!! I floated back to the living room, oblivious to my surroundings. With both our hands shaking we got the ring off the tag, (it was taped on there quite well)! He slipped it on my finger and said those timeless words: “will you marry me?” My brain was thinking, this is where you say “yes”, but my mouth wasn’t working! Finally I said, “YES, a thousand times yes.” NO, just kidding….that’s what I WISH I would have said, like on Pride and Prejudice, remember? What I actually said was , “YES, YES, YES.” We hugged and I cried. He pushed play on the stereo, but the wrong song came on! It was some Mexican fiesta song instead of the song from our favorite movie, “Return to me.” Finally we got the right song on and it was all in order: my eyes, the ring, the yes and the music! He swept me off my feet and took me out on the deck, it was raining lightly as he spun me around!
SHOCK.
PEACE.
SHOCK.
We went to my Dad and Mom’s house to tell them….
When I told my Mom I said, “I still feel like I’m 5”, she said, “you’ll always be like that!” Dad was so calm about the whole thing. We ran into Von and Lin…literally, we sat opposite each other at an intersection. We pulled over and she asked what we were doing, I scratched my forehead with my left hand and said, “oh, not much!” She saw the ring and we hugged each other. Lin congratulated Jake.
I made a card for my sister Janet that said, “if you’re not doing something in the next few months…” (open up), “I’m wondering if you’d like to help me plan a wedding?” she cried.

I’m marrying Jacob K. Stoltzfus!!!

“Ah, love, let us be true to one another!For the world,

which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams,

so various, so beautiful, so new….”

~Arnold~

7 years on the 7th!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH,

IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY!!!!!!

L’amour de ma Vie (Part 3)

You can read part one here and part two here....

September, 2001
We saw each other tonight….and talked until 5:30 a.m.

“Never think that God’s delays are God’s denials.
Hold on, Hold fast, Hold out.

Patience is genius.”
~Comte de Buffon~

“I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his refuge and trust."
Psalm 40:1-3


October, 2001

Jake asked me to go hiking with him today. We chose to ignore the awkward moments. We both agreed that being together again was a strange feeling. My mouth was so dry and I found myself desperately trying to think of something to say. Regardless, we had an enjoyable time together. I can’t explain it any other way then this: before now, I felt like I was clenched between his fist and I now I am simply standing in his plam ~ it’s my decision where to go from here….by his releasing me I am actually wanting to be with him.

Wait.
Be still.
Trust
Obey.


End of October, 2001
We haven’t talked for several weeks, but he called again last night! Conversation was comfortable! There is a new beginning!!! I do believe we’re starting over and I find myself not minding the thought of belonging to him.

“Look, I am making all things new.”
~Jesus~


November, 2001
Jake threw a surprise 23rd birthday party for me!!! We are together about once a week.
I think we’re getting ready for more. I long to be with him, but does he feel the same??
I came upon a letter from LAST November in which Jake wrote to me: “once you get inside of someone’s heart, it’s hard for the heart to let that someone out…”

You don’t have to tell me that twice…..

“Life is always a rich and steady time when you are waiting for something
to happen or to hatch.”
~E.B. White~


December, 2001
Jake and I are officially dating….again! My heart is overflowing with thankfulness….Thankfulness because the Lord has so faithfully kept Jake and I throughout these years….Thankfulness because His timing is supreme and sovereign. I am excited to embark on this new journey, this new chapter, phase, adventure, and destiny. He asked me if he could hold my hand, “yes” I said and our hands finally found their places again. That’s where my fingers fit, in between his. This will be a quick process I am sure ~ married by September?? Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I mean, that’s only nine months from now, but somehow it seems right and good and peaceful. I am not afraid or anxious. My insides feel like they’re lying on a hammock, stretched out in the warm sunshine, unafraid and restful.

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peach whose mind is stayed on You. So, trust in the Lord, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock, the Rock of Ages.” Isaiah 26:3-4

L’amour de ma Vie (part 2)

you can read the first part here....

August, 1999
Jake surprised me and MOVED to Lancaster County!!

I couldn’t believe it when I saw him drive in the lane. All he owned brimming over his pick-up truck! I totally freaked out. I don’t know if I’m ready for this.

We have so many unanswered questions about the future.

We just don’t know what to do next.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever….forsake not the works of Your own hands.”Psalm 138:8


December, 1999
We don’t see each other very often and only talk a few times each month, if that. All our past conversations have always been about “us” and “Jesus” and now one of those subjects in non-existent….us!! Things are so different now that we are near each other. It’s so weird how this all happened, all changed….so fast. Mom wrote me a note last night, it says:

“hang in there, the crooked path will become straight in God’s time

and it will be the very best.”

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect?

My hope and expectation are in You.”

Psalm 39:7

March, 2000
I still feel like Jake is the one I will marry! We have begun spending some time together with some other friends around as well. We really do have a lot of fun together, but what is beyond that? Today I looked into he eyes again, I really shouldn’t do that

because then I don’t want to look away ~ what should a woman do?

“This sense of being led by an unseen hand,

which takes mine

while another hand reaches ahead and prepares the way,

grows upon me daily.”
~Frank Laubach~


June, 2000
We’re still spending a lot of time together, yet not really “together.” We have such a close knit friendship. Friends are treasures to my heart. Jake continues to extend such kindness toward me. He’s exactly what I need and I know it. Lately, more than ever, I am feeling and knowing that he is the man I’ll grown old gracefully with, the man I’ll call “husband.”

Lord, please keep our hearts safe until it’s time.

Not too early.

Not too late.

You’re always right on time!

“Cherish yesterday.
Dream of tomorrow.Live today.”

~unknown author~

September, 2000-March, 2001

I went on a six month missions trip with YWAM, (Youth With A Mission) to North Carolina and India. During this time we had little to no contact….

although he certainly wasn’t far from my mind.

“Except the Lord builds the house,

they labor in vain who build it.”

Psalm 127:1


April, 2001
Jake and I are both dating other people! What will EVER become of all this?

I thought I was ready to start dating him again, but now he’s with someone else, and so am I for that matter.

“Being content is not pretending that everything is the way you wish it would be;
It is not acting as though you have no wishes.
Rather, it is no longer being ruled by your desires.”

~John Eldredge~

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my Salvation, My Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be greatly moved.
Trust in the Lord and have confidence in Him at all times,

pour out your hearts before Him, God is a refuge for us, a fortress, a high tower.”

Psalm 62: 1-2, 8


July, 2001

Why can’t I just escape Jake and the possibility of a future with him? We try to date other people, but cannot escape one another! This is crazy! Lord, bring us together very soon or let this be over forever!

“And the effect of righteousness will be peace, (internal and external),

and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.

My people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation,

in safe dwellings and in quiet resting places.”

Isaiah 32:17-18

August, 2001
“Rest, peacefully rest on thy Savior’s breast,

breathe in His ear thy sacred high ambition,

and He will bring it forth in blest fruition.

The rest, rest, peacefully rest.”

~Mercy A. Gladwin~

“Blessed, happy, and spiritually prosperous is he who waits expectantly and earnestly…..”

Daniel 12:12

I'd like you to meet my newest blog friend

Her name is Stephanie. Just today, during lunch, my sister introduced me to her....I've been sitting on my butt for 2 hours now getting to "know" her. I think that's okay though because this morning my friend MaryJo and I did 260 ears of corn at my cousin Esther's house.

I hear my children waking up from their long naps, (thank you children). Anyway, I wanted you to meet her too. She is a young mother to four lovely children....she and her husband were in a horrible plane crash last August in which much of their bodies were burned. They lived and they tell the story of their beautiful lives here. And Von, did you know she had her babies at home?? I like her even more now! My friends, you will like her too:

this post will be a good place to start, she is full of courage.

Here is a quote I came across while reading her blog:

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(from the book "Loud and Clear").

L'amour de ma Vie

"The Love of my Life!!"

This month we celebrate 7 years of marriage!

I thought it's time I share a bit about how we met:

I love this story....

Jake and I met in March of 1998. Our parents had known one another for most of their lives, but had lost contact. They decided to meet again during our family vacation to Florida. It was at this time Jake and I were introduced. One month after we met, he left for a commitment he had made in Africa. He would be there for a total of one year. Throughout this time, Jake came home as often as he could and so our relationship blossomed….in the following timeline you will find my journal entries leading you through the path of our journey toward marriage….

we start with my first entry, the night we met….

March, 1998 ~ Tampa, Florida.
I feel such a bond with this man. I have been blessed and strengthened, but most of all, changed.
I could marry this man.
He is all I've ever prayed for and believed for. I feel so close to him, like he needs to be with me ~ a completion or something like that. Our last evening together was spent watching the sun go down over the ocean….conversation flowed almost effortlessly; it was gentle, yet serious, yet comfortable….always comfortable.

“But He knows the way that I take. He has concern for it and pays attention to it. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold, pure and luminous….For He performs that which He has planned for me.” Job 23:10, 14

June, 1998
Jake is in Africa now, I miss him terribly but we talk often. I just know there is a reason the Lord has brought us together. There must be something in store for us, how can anything this wonderful even be real? His will is all we want.

“For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield and no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

September, 1998 ~ Tampa, Florida.
Jake is home from Africa for a few weeks so I’m in Florida to be with him! He took me to a great restaurant called, “The Castaway.” The food was good, the company even better. It felt like a big dream being with him again. After our time together I don’t prefer walking alone any long. He gave me a card and it reads: “Dear Janelle, when I stop and think about our future and what it may hold I realize I don’t have to worry because if His plan is for us to be together, than so be it. We won’t make it happen.”

“My heart is like a singing bird.” ~Christina Rossetti~

December, 1998.
Today a Christmas gift arrived ~ Jake. He is here in Pennsylvania for a few days and then I’ll go to Florida with him before he leaves for Africa again. Guide our lives.
We trust You….we trust You!

“To be content in bliss without desire or insistence anywhere, this was heaven, to be together in happy stillness.” ~D.H. Lawrence~

March, 1999
This distance is really getting to me….to us. This is hard because we don’t know what is happening. If we ever get married, I want our world to be painted glorious colors unknown to many: colors of joy. colors of peace. colors of security. Could I ever be Janelle Stoltzfus?!?
Be anxious for nothing.

“Any they who know Your name will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” Psalm 9:10

April, 1999
I’m in Florida again to be with Jake. When I arrived I found this card,
“Janelle, this whole world could not contain the joy
you bring to me and if God had given me the whole world
I would still choose to be with you.”
I am falling deeply and strongly in love with this man.
I am noticing the incredible, abounding, overflow of kindness that pours out of him.
We went to “our” restaurant again, “The Castaway.” Jake and I recognized that we believe we are meant to be together! It was so hard to leave one another once again.
He won’t be home for four months.

“Somehow I know we’re not apart
for I still hold your love inside my heart.”
~Beth Chapman~

As Paul Harvey use to say, stay tuned for "the rest of the story..."