Merry Christmas

Today a Savior is born!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Proposal

Tim's wedding proposal was really creative. It was Valentine's Day 2006. We both worked full time so we decided to cook dinner together and then just watch a movie. He of course had different plans in mind for the evening, but me being completely oblivious to what the night held was in for a big surprise.

So I was suppose to be at his place at 6pm, but decided to freshen up by taking a shower and then started to cook the sides I was bringing. So I did not get to his place until 7pm. Whoops! :) So when I drove up to his place he pulled me into his house and gently told me to sit on the couch and watch this video. I had no idea what was going on because I did not think he would propose to me that night based on a conversation we had a few days before. So this video pops up. It was so sweet that I was crying and then at the end of the video, he gets in front of me and gets down on one knee and says a few sweet things and then proposes. So amazing!! So then we are hugging and then before he gave me the ring he makes me put on sunglasses just to be goofy. Then as he opens the box, this R&B song "Bling bling" comes on. It was so funny. Then we are hugging again and dancing to the music, Butch comes out with a video camera. He video taped the whole proposal! It was so great. I am thankful to have that on video.


I love him and am so thankful for the husband that he is.

So below is the video he showed me before he proposed.

Work in Progress

At our church we have been studying through the book of James. The name of our series is a Work in Progress. James focuses on our faith producing fruit in and through our lives.

Tim taught on James 5:13-18 which focuses on the power of prayer.

We need to pray in every circumstance because:
-God listens
-God moves

Click HERE to listen.

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."
James 5:13-18

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

This month Neela will 7 months old. Wow, how the time has flown by. I just can't hug and love on that girl enough!

So I attempted to take pictures of Neela during her 1st Christmas season!! Check them out!


This was the very first picture I took. She is such a natural. :)


Neela was very intrigued with the ornaments. Glitter!!


Perfect!


Just can't get enough of those Christmas balls!



We love you!

Matt responding well after long surgery

For continuous updates click HERE

Matt Chandler recognized his surgeon and was responding well after a seven-hour surgery to remove a brain tumor. The operation started at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

The tumor’s pathology report, originally thought to be available on Friday, is not expected until next week. Doctors were pleased with the surgery, especially after Matt responded to questions in recovery. He will remain in the hospital for a few days before being released. His wife, Lauren, is staying with him. Full recovery is expected to take several weeks.

On behalf of the church, we thank God for Dr. David Barnett, for his skill and thoroughness of the surgery.

Evidences of God’s grace abounded throughout the day, as people from all over the world prayed and fasted. A young woman came to faith through this situation, and time and time again, everyone responded with prayers and testimonies of God’s goodness and mercy.

We will continue to post updates as they become available. Thank you for your continued prayers. Praise God for His grace. Praise Him. Praise Him.

Matt Chandler

He is the pastor of the church Tim and I were involved in when we lived in Dallas. We are so thankful for the gift of teaching God has given him and how God has used him in our lives to live the gospel daily and taught us to submit everyday to God so that we may be used by him and glorify Him alone.

On Thanksgiving Day he had a seizure and found out he has a tumor on his frontal lobe. He is having surgery today that started at 10:45am. Please pray for him and his family during this difficult time. I know they are trusting in God's goodness and faithfulness which has been an encouragement to me. In all things God is our rock and I see this in their lives now.

Click here to read the blog he wrote before he went into surgery.

"For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever."
Psalm 117:2

Flyleaf's New Video- Beautiful Bride

Below is a "Journal Entry" from Flyleaf's new album, Memento Mori. It describes what this song is about. "Beautiful Bride" is reminding believers in Jesus Christ of the unity we have and how God has designed each of us to glorify Him with our lives.

Beautiful Bride

The Passerby Army's mission is to bring peace, faith, hope, freedom, and above all love to the entire world. Our mantra, is "Memento Mori". These words remind us that our mission is urgent, and that when death comes to anyone, at 18 or 80, a mortal life proves to be short. We are reminded by Memento Mori to never waste a moment without advancing the mission. The fate of our children and grandchildren depends on how we use the time we are given. At a recent gathering my heart broke as I looked over the Passerby Army. These men and women were ready to live and die for love, yet somehow they had gone from fighting the enemy to bickering and fighting each other. I thought through what I could say to encourage them again. Witha ll the stregnth of my voice and my heart I commanded: "Unified Diversity! Functioning as one Body..."

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk i a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
Ephesians 4: 1-6

Allandale Food Drive

On November 21st we, North Village Church , are hosting a food driving for Capital Food Bank of Austin .

We placed "HEB" brown paper sacks on 100's of people's door in the Allandale area in hopes of them serving and loving our community by participating in this cause. There are so many people in need meals and this is a great way to help.

More information Below:

Saturday November 21st, 12-3pm

Where: Lucy Read Pre-K | 2608 Richcreek Rd Austin, TX 78757

Below is what Capital Area Food Bank needs most:

Nonperishable Food
* Canned meats like tuna, stew, and chili (pop-tops preferred)
* Canned vegetables
* Pasta and pasta sauce
* Beans
* Rice
* Healthy cereals
* Peanut butter
* Baby food and baby formula

Money
* With every $5 donated, the Food Bank can provide $25 worth of nutritious meals. Financial donations made to the Capital Area Food Bank are tax-deductible

For more information, visit our website

Neela is going to love football!

Neela's 1st Pumpkin Patch Experience!

Well, we had our first family experience at the Pumpkin Patch. It was so fun! Neela loved the pumpkins and was so excited to be there.

Random run in: The family in charge of the pumpkin patch was a family we met at our Dog Fair back in March. They were so sweet and remembered us. They helped us take our family picture. We love living in Austin!! :)


Neela was so intrigued by the pumpkins.



The Birdwell Family!



Neela and her Momma. I love this girl!!



Neela and her Daddy.




Neela loved her 1st Pumpkin Patch experience.

Fabulous Dog Service Company

Looking for dog services in the Austin area? Below is a great company I totally recommend.

Check out the website!

AustinDogWalking.com

Neela laughing with Nayan and Sanjay

This video was made just when Neela turned 4 months. It's so cute to see Neela playing with her cousins. I know she is excited for the day when she can crawl/walk/run around with them.

So cute!

Neela's Toes

So Neela is officially 5 months as of yesterday! Yay!! I can't believe how quickly the time has pasted by.

During her 4 months of life she picked up a really funny habit... chewing on her toes. :)

She started to discover her feet in the mornings when she woke up. She would entertain herself for a while just playing with her feet and then discovered her toes felt really good on her sore gums (that have teeth sprouting through) so she thought "Why not?". It's the cutest thing ever!

So one day I caught her in the action!

Missional Theology: Justification

I keep up with this fabulous website, www.missionalpeople.com

It's a great tool and resource to know what scripture teaches us about knowing Him and sharing His truth with others around us on a daily basis in our natural surroundings. Below is a great article about how important it is to know that we are Justified by Jesus Christ and we need to share this truth with others.

Below is an article from this website.

Knowing what is involved in justification and why it is necessary is extremely important, but it means nothing if it does not move us to mission. Realizing that we are justified by and before a holy God through Jesus should move us to invite others to experience the same justification. This should not be an aspect of theology that we casually graze over, but rather it should be a heart-felt mentality that we embrace deeply and live with consistently.

We can approach God confidently as a justified people because we are not coming to God based on our actions or ability to obey. Whether we are living in obedience, disobedience, good deeds, or bad deeds, we are still approaching God in the righteousness of Christ. On our best day we are unable to please God with our good deeds. In fact, God declares that our righteousness is like a filthy rag to God. While this belief of justification is common amongst evangelicals in theory, it is not usually lived out in practice. Most evangelicals, myself included, get so caught up in following moral checklists and rules that we forget the fact that if we are believers in Christ, we are standing in the righteousness of Christ. When we do all the right things, we are standing in the righteousness of Christ. When we fall into sin, we are standing in the righteousness of Christ.

I am not making a case for anarchy or disobedience for believers once we are saved. God makes it clear that he expects us to follow him in faithful obedience and to walk in good deeds all the days of our lives. However, I am saying that because God through Christ justifies us in salvation, our access and approach to God is never dependent upon our righteous, but rather the perfect righteousness of Christ. This is the beauty of justification. This is the truth that should cause us to fall at the feet of Jesus daily, thanking him for this gift of righteous.

The truth of justification also enables us to focus on Jesus and point others to Him. So many of us are so consumed with our sin struggles and our own righteousness that we do not have the time or the energy to minister and serve others. We often feel this way because we are bearing all of our sin and grief and do not have any room left to bear the sin and grief of others. The problem with this mentality that plagues so many of us is that we cannot bear our own sin, much less others. However, the beauty of justification is that Jesus bore all of our sin and actually became sin for us so we could be declared righteous. If we truly get the idea of justification in our lives, we will be able to listen to others and equip others to know Jesus and experience the justification he offers.

North Village Church

So we have officially started having Sunday services at North Village Church!! Not that it is about a Sunday service, but it's cool to be able to worship God together with music and teaching. So September 13th was our official 1st Sunday and this past Sunday was our 2nd service.

It's been such an encouragement to see God provide and open doors in the community and in people's hearts. It just confirms for me that this is where God wants us to be. It's sad to say I could not just trust that this is where God wants us to be, I had to have him show me by providing earthly securities of a place to meet, people, finances, and much more. I love that God is so graciously loving that in this learning time he lead me so gently.

We have three different "neighborhood gatherings" every week which has been a fun time of eating together, hanging out, and looking at scripture. We talk about hard questions and have an open environment to ask questions. We are all ok with not being ok. We know none of us are perfect so why try to hide our imperfections. We know we all have hurts and struggles and we don't have to hide them.

Check out the website to learn about more ways you can get plugged in.

Up coming events:

Back to School Supply Drive - September 13th

Austin Dog Fair 2.0 - October 17th

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10

4 months!!

Ok, so Neela is officially 4 months! Crazy! I can't believe how quickly the time has pasted and how big she is. The other day I saw a 2 week old newborn and she was tiny! Neela was so much bigger. I just can't believe how she is growing and stealing my heart more everyday.

Fun New Deveopments:
- She started sucking her thumb.
- She puts her feet in her mouth. This is hilarious!
- She giggles a lot and sometimes I don't know what sets it off. The other day Tim and I took her on a walk outside and in the middle of our conversation she just started giggling so hard. It was so funny!
- She rolled over. (well, a little trouble with the top of her body :) )
- She likes to just watch me do things around the house.
- We starting to try to put her down at 8pm or 9pm and it works for the most part. She has trouble putting herself to sleep but once she is a sleep she sleeps until 7:30-8am.
- She is grabbing her "hanging toys"
- She loves to touch our faces.
- She loves the outdoors. She loves to look at trees. (she has loved the outdoors for awhile :) )
- When I pray with her she laughs. (i think she just thinks I am talking to her :) )

It has definitely been an adjustment for us to have a baby in our lives, but we wouldn't trade it for anything. To do date nights there has to be a lot more planning, nights can be unpredictable when putting her to bed, or going out to public places just takes a little more effort. But in the end, well worth it. She brings so much joy into our lives with every laugh and smile.

A few places she has been since she's been born:
- Dallas
- Nana and Nani's house
- Paw Paw and Mi Mi's house
- Chad Uncle and Shubhra Mausi's house
- The State Capitol
- The Almo
= The Riverwalk
- Dallas Cowboys Training Camp
- North Village Church (every Sunday :) )
- The City Church
- 6th Street (we are starting her young :) )
- Lake Austin
- Round Rock Baseball Team game
Just a few off the top of my head.

Yay for Neela's life. :)

Sameer and April's Wedding

Sameer and April were married on August 22nd in Belton, TX. It was a beautiful outside wedding.

Neela was such a champ. She made it through the hot ceremony and enjoyed the cool evening of catching up with old friends and celebrating the day. This was her first outside wedding. She was so happy for Sameer Mamu.



Mr. and Mrs. Sameer Bhattacharya


Neela keeping herself busy. :)



Neela saw everyone else eating food and decided she needed to grub as well.


Is she not the sweetest baby ever!


Our fun family!



Ok, so this is a funny story. So Shubhra and I did not know what each other's dresses looked like or even the color. I bought my dress like 2 days before the wedding and she had bought hers a few weeks ago, but we got dresses that were the exact same color. It was so funny. We felt like we were secret bridesmaids. hee! hee!



Here is the happy couple.

Random...

Neela's 1st trip to the state capitol.



Neela's 1st time at the lake! She loved the water and the sand in her toes. :)



Neela's 1st time at Dallas Cowboys Training Camp.



Neela LOVES her Daddy!!



Mommy and Neela hanging out. :)

Missing Esther

My special, beautiful, sweet cousin Esther passed away on July 3, 2009. I know there are so many of our friends who were constant prayer for her and I want to thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and love.

Esther's heart and complete desire was to know God and to make Him known. She was willing to follow His will even if it meant losing her life on this earth. She did not find her hope and identity on this earth but took every opportunity to share Christ with anyone who came in contact with her.

I am daily challenged with the life she lived and how she faced death. She truly had the peace, love, and gentleness of God.

I miss her so much. I hate that she had to suffer like this, but trust God was using her. I can now see the impact she continues to make in my life as well as the lives of so many others.

Here is a video she made a few months ago. It shares her heart full of despair, hope, and trust in God.

Book Club

On Friday nights I am a part of a ladies book club. We are going through a book called Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge. Tonight we talked about what it means to be romanced by God. "Romanced by God" sounded funny to me when I started to read this chapter, the thought of being "romanced" by God seemed a little weird to me. Because when I thought of being romanced, I thought in the worldly sense of being given flowers, written sweet cards, or given gifts. But the more I read this chapter and put aside my fleshly thoughts God opened my eyes to how beautiful and intimate being romanced by Him really is.

The book talks about when a woman is in love she becomes more beautiful which I totally agree with. Just think about it, when you meet someone who just got married there is a certain glow about them. It's because they are being loved well. They are sharing intimacy with someone and being vulnerable and still being loved as they are. In all their junk and imperfections, they are loved unconditionally.

This is how we are with God but in the most beautiful way. Because God is love and we can only love ourselves and others because of God, our relationship with Him makes us more lovely and beautiful. When we have intimacy with God, know Him deeply, we become more lovely. Jesus calls himself the Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15, Matthew 25:1-10, John 3:29) This is the most intimate of all the metaphors Jesus chose to describe his love and longing for us and the kind of relationship he invites us into. When I am "romanced" by God, this means the God of the universe loves me, knows me inside out (knows the # of hairs on my head Psalm 139) and is drawing me to intimacy with Him. I know this takes time like relationships do. God who is perfect, will slowly sanctify me and make me more into his image and reveal more of Himself to me. As I fall more in love with Him, He is unveiling beauty in me so He can shine and be glorified.

In the next chapter, Beauty to Unveil, she does a great job defining what a "gentle and quiet spirit" means. When I think about this verse (1 Peter) I always picture this lady who is quiet, soft spoken, and just smiles alot. :) But that is not what that means. :) She defines a "gentle and quiet spirit" as to have a heart of faith, a heart that trusts in God, a spirit that has been quieted by his love and filled with his peace. I love that! That is what I truly desire in my life.

Just my thoughts at the moment. All raw and unedited.

Have a good night!!

Neela 1st mini photo shoot

Neela had her first pictures taken a few weeks ago. She did a great job. She smiled alot in the beginning, was a little cranky because she was tired, and then fell asleep. It's funny how babies are so unpredictable. I let her sleep all morning so she would be rested for the picture time, but it actually just made her sleepier. Oh well, she still looked oh so cute. :)
Enjoy!


Neela has such a sweet smile. This is the beautiful face I get to look at everyday. :)














This background is so great with her skin tone. :) She is beautiful if I do say so myself. :)

http://jeffersoncares.wordpress.com/

most of you probably know that we are involved in apartment life in Austin... we are basically the event coordinators at our apt. complex, serving and loving our neighbors.

we created a blog to post event details, photos, and updates....
http://jeffersoncares.wordpress.com/

1 Month Old!!

I can't believe it, Neela is more than a month old. Today marks 5 weeks and June 12th Neela hit a month old.. The time went by so fast!

She has been such a blessing in our life. Things are definitely different, but in a good way.

-Everyday when we wake up look at how much she has grown literally overnight.

-We laugh at the funny faces she makes when she is sleeping.

-We are in awe of how God creates life and we get to be in the mist of the process of our baby girl understanding and personally knowing our Life-giver and Sustainer of life.

-I love how she stares so intensely at Tim anytime he is in the room. She loves her Pops!

-We enjoy taking her places with us because she enjoys it so much and is so easy to please.

-We laugh at how she tries to cry but really is just making whining noises. It's so cute!

-I (Jaya) LOVE that at night she only wakes up for feedings and goes straight back to sleep. Also she sleeps longer between feedings at night. She knows what her Mama needs. :)

-It's a joy to give Neela a bath because she enjoys it so much and is so calm.


I am so thankful for her and the joy she brings to our life. It's funny how in a month our life has been so radically changed. I love our family!
More of Neela to come.

Neela's arrival

Neela's 1st Bath!

Well, Neela has had many baths before this post, but we did capture her first bath and had a great experience! She was a little over a week old. She loved taking a bath and did not cry! I was so impressed. At that point, she hardly cried at all and this just went along with the rest of our experience with her. She has been a sweet baby and fun!


Look at that sweet face after her 1st bath. No tears and No crying! What a great baby!


Neela finds so much comfort in her Daddy. When she was holding his hands, she was calm and content.



As long as she knew her Mommy was near by, she had no worries.


We are so proud of Neela!

Neela is here!!

Sorry I am so late with posting Neela pics! Things have been a little crazy on our end. We have been settled in Austin for almost a week. Neela was 2 1/2 weeks at the time of our move and did great! She slept almost the entire time. She woke up about 15 minutes out from our apt.

Neela has been a great baby and has made our adjustment to being parents a smooth transition. She is really content most of the time and fusses when she is hungry or is in need of some lovin. :)

I will be posting more soon! Neela is now 3 weeks old! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by! Tim and I are really noticing her getting bigger. It's crazy how each day she is growing and changing.

She had her first dr. appt last Friday and the doctor said she is doing great! She weighed 6lbs 9 oz. when she was born and now weighs 7lbs 12 oz. He said she is a good eater and is healthy. Praise God!




This is her first pic! (and the never stopped after this moment. :)
She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 in.



Neela's first outfit of course was a Dallas Cowboys onesie.



Neela's Daddy can not stop giving her kisses. :) I love watching them together.



This is the first time I am holding her. She was so quiet and content. Sweet and lovely from the beginning!



More of Neela Jill to come!

Embracing Accusation

Father of lies, coming to steal kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying, cursed are the ones who can't abide

He´s right, hallelujah, he´s right
The devil is preaching the song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

Could the father of lies be telling the truth of
God to me tonight?
That if the penalty of sin is death, then death is mine
I hear him saying, cursed are the ones who can´t abide

The devil´s singing over me an age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently over me
He´s forgotten the refrain.
JESUS SAVES!!!

Tim is officially a DTS Alumni

On May 9th Tim proudly walked across the stage and received his master's degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. I am so proud of his major accomplishment! He has worked hard at balancing marriage, school, leading a home group, starting a church, preparing to have a baby, and hang out time with friends. He is AMAZINGLY AWESOME. :)


This is a picture of Tim's official diploma!


Tim and his proud wife. ( me! :) )


This was one of Tim's favorite professors this semester. Dr. Hannah imparted theological and practical truth in class that Tim would always come home and share with me.


After graduation, we celebrated with a few friends.

Our time in Dallas has been memorable and we will miss it so!