Max

So after much debate, we finally named our kitty. His name is Max. He has been such a sweet new addition to our family! He has been so playful and chill! He is the perfect kitten. He is still adjusting to his new home. We get a hiss here and there when we get him out from his hiding places, but he is getting more comfortable with us. He is currently playing with my hands as I type this. He's so much fun :)

Here are some new family pics:

Updates

Ignite
So I am pleased to announce that our first evening at Ignite was so much fun! I really really really enjoyed myself and know that Jordan did too. We have a really great group of kids and I am so excited to get to know each and every one of them! We are already so looking forward to seeing everyone next week :) Thank you to everyone for your prayers, God has definitely blessed us with this opportunity to minister and we are excited for what the future holds for these students!!!

New addition to the future Starks clan
We have a new family member!!! We got the most precious little kitten you could ever even imagine. He is so sweet and we love him so very much already. We brought him home last night, and he had a really good first night at home. Then tonight we brought Carter over to Jordan's apartment to meet his new kitty! (This is his birthday present...a little early). He LOVED it! Oh my goodness, it was the most precious thing to watch him with "his kitty" all night long. Adorable. It was quite the battle getting the little kitten home because Jordan was not a fan. But now, Jordan loves it probably more than all of us, go figure! We do not yet have a name for our lil' guy because I was dead set on letting Carter name him...but he want's to name it "Ellie the Camel" after the song "Sally the Camel" he learned at school. Well...Jordan refuses to call the "manly" cat a girl name...so we tried to convince Carter he was a boy kitty and he said he wanted to name him "Boy". Which Jordan also refused. So we will be announcing his name shortly. He is very picky with the suggested names but really does love the name "Ellie". Too cute. Here are some pictures that the awesome family that saved him posted of him, I will post more of ours later:

He is the gray tiger striped one on the right :)

So cute!

We love him so much already!!! 

One semester left until Graduation!!!!!!!!!
The most exciting thing of all is that I just finished my semester today and I only have one semester left until I graduate! This semester will probably the most challenging yet, but I can't wait to be done! Woo hoo! So close!

Prayer Request

Hello all!

I'm just writing a quick note to all of you who follow :)

Jordan and I start at Harvestland next Sunday, April 18th @ 6pm doing the youth service there! We are so very excited to see what God is going to do there and we can't wait to get started!

If you would be willing, we would really love and appreciate any prayers especially during this upcoming week and throughout our time there. We are both very new to youth ministry and are going into this expecting something from God but we have no clue what exactly to expect ourselves ;) We would so greatly appreciate prayer support during this exciting time!

My prayer is that God would prepare Jordan & I's hearts to serve these young people. That He would use us, annoint us, and that everything we do there would be of Him. That we would hear from Him on what we are supposed to do in this group. That the Spirit would move in these youth meetings each and every week. I pray that He would prepare the hearts of these young people that are already so faithful in being involved in the group and also for the future youth that will be coming there. I pray that He would help us build a foundation in this core group, that relationships would be built with them. I pray that He would give us the wisdom, guidance, and preparation that we need and that He would also continue to work in us to cultivate our relationship with Him so that we can be transparent and better serve others.

We are so thankful, Lord!

Thank you to all who are so supportive of this! We love you and will be keeping you updated!

"SPIDERS ON YOUR HEAD!"

So Carter just woke up from his sleep...crying. I try to avoid my natural maternal instinct to rush to his "rescue" and see if he'll fall back asleep (very unlike me). No such luck. I finally go in there to see what all the fuss is about and with snot all over his face he says,

"I just want to eat all my easter eggs!!!"

I of course am annoyed that this is why he is throwing such a fit. I tell him that he can play with them tomorrow and to go back to sleep.

"But MOM! I just wanted to lay with my Mommmmmyyyy!"

Okay. Let me clarify something-I do NOT get called Mommy anymore. It's Mom. Or even Jess if he pleases from time to time. Not Mommy. So this melts my heart.

"Mommy please can I come and lay with you. I want to sleep with you. Please."

Well what do you think I did? Gave in of course! So I carry him and his blanket and his "bubba" and his snot soaked pillow into my room. In my bed. Where I was so happily enjoying a book-that wasn't even a text book! Ugh. The joys of motherhood-2 nights in a row might I add.

Now don't let me fool you, I absolutely adore sleeping with Carter. He cuddles and kisses and loves on me in between the kicking and yelling at me to scoot over and talking in his sleep. But I really do enjoy it-no sarcasm there.

So I'm all ready to cuddle him and sleep next to my baby and just as I start to relax...

SCREEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I jump up, startled of course. He did in fact, just scream in my ear and possibly damaged my ear drum.  I ask what's wrong?!

"A SPIDER JUST BIT ME ON THE FINGER! IT HURTS SO BAD MOM! HE BIT ME HARD! THERE IS A SPIDER!!!"

First of all, I am deathly afraid of spiders. Fortunately, I have done everything I can to hide this fear from Carter so I don't pass it on to him (or so I thought). Somewhat similar to how my Mom did for me :) So I am freaking out! Where the heck is the spider!?! I don't even want to get back in my bed...I inspect him, his fingers, the bed. And what does my little drama queen do? As I inspect his finger...

His entire body quivers. "Don't touch me Mom! A SPIDER just bit my finger!"

Whatever. There is no spider (at least I seriously hope not). I calm him down and try to get him to sleep. So as I think he's finally sleeping-

Another scream.

Ants! They apparently are everywhere and he cannot sleep with ants in the bed. Seriously? GO TO BED!

Wakes up in tears. Real ones. Tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Mom, there is a spider! ON YOUR SHIRT! LOOK MOM, IT'S ON YOUR SHIRT!!!" 

Freaky!!! There wasn't one, thankfully. I discovered this after jumping and squirming about inspecting my shirt. Next you ask? A butterfly. There is a butterfly in the bed. I had had enough creepy crawlies in my bed for one night. So I asked Carter if there were bugs in his bed.

"No. Just yours Mom."

And I even changed my sheets today! There couldn't possibly be bug infestation quite yet. Oh well...

Off to Carter's bed we go-where it is bug free! After new socks, prayer, and convincing him that there were no ants in his bed-he is sound asleep. For now. Hopefully I didn't just waste the little time  of peace on blogging and not sleeping :) Good night! 

 

 

 

 

Easter Festivities!

Such an awesome night with such an amazing boy!

He found more eggs!

So proud of his easter eggs :)

Where You Go I Go

 ¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-6

My prayer today is that though I may struggle when God gives me a new role, that He would help me to submit to the calling He has for me. That I would be able to live my life each day according to His will and His calling on my life. That He would continue to open my eyes to see which direction He has for me. That I would be more humble, gentle, patient, loving, and forgiving. That myself and others would know that we serve ONE God-who is Father of all things-He is in all, over all, and through everything that we do. Thank you God!!! 

This passage was such a good one this morning! I just desire to go where God wants for me and do what God wants for me. I want to continue to grow in Him each and every day and just want to glorify Him in everything that I do. 

Thank you Lord, for being there in everything that goes on in our lives. For leading us and guiding us in the direction of your calling so faithfully. For loving us no matter what and for your grace. You truly are an awesome God! I love you Lord!

Ignite!!!

Sooo...I've waited too long to blog about this because we have been SO EXCITED! There has just not been time to sit down and spill :) So to all of you waiting patiently-here...you...go!

The exciting news is...

Dun Dun Dunnn:

Jordan & I recently accepted a youth internship at Harvestland Open Bible Church in Clarkston, MI. We will be doing the youth service there every Sunday night starting April 18th until ??? We are going to do this internship until we feel God is telling us otherwise! The youth group is called "Ignite"-hence the blog title. They are a growing youth group and they have just recently moved services to Sunday nights which is amazing because that works perfectly into our schedule. God works out all the little details, doesn't He? So we are so extremely excited that God has provided us with this opportunity and we CANNOT WAIT to start working with the youth there.

Everything has happened so extremely fast...it's crazy! We received confirmation that ministry was what God had for Jordan and I, we accepted it, and prayed for God to open the right doors. And guess what? HE DID! And he did it sooner rather than later. It just goes to show how faithful and how awesome our God is! He reveals everything perfectly in His timing and this is what He has for us right now and we are so blessed to be apart of it :)

So please keep Jordan and I in your prayers as we start this new journey into youth ministry. We are nervous and excited all at the same time so we shall see what God has in store at Harvestland! WOO HOO!

 I Thessalonians 5:24 says, "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."

Mouthy much?

So yesterday morning after getting up with Carter, making him breakfast, and watching his morning cartoons with him I decided that I was keeping him home from school so that we could have a "Mommy & Carter Day". Now, those of you that know me know that my schedule sadly hasn't allowed for very many of these lately so I was very excited! So I called to let preschool know and it was official...I had him all to myself for the day :)

It was a wonderful day-we had so much fun. I was just enjoying him and all the things that 2 year olds bring to a Mom's life. Until about Noon-ish. Carter wanted a grilled cheese sandwich so I made him one, cut it into the shapes he wanted, got him his favorite "chocolate nilk" and we were enjoying our lunch together. Now I like to dip my grilled cheese in ketchup-so of course I passed that trait along to my son. So he too, likes do dip his grilled cheese into ketchup (along with just about everything else). So as he dipped his sandwich into the ketchup he got some on his cheek. The rest of the story goes something like this:

Carter: Mom, I need a napkin.
Me: Okay sweetie, let me get one for you. (Proceed to get him a napkin and hand it to him).
Carter: Mom! This is NOT a napkin.
Me: Yes it is Carter, wipe your face.
Carter: NO!!! Throws the napkin and slams his plate on the table.
Me: (Very firmly) Carter-we do not act that way! You don't tell Mommy "No" and you don't slam things down. That is not nice behavior. ( I get up and start doing the dishes from lunch).
Carter: (About 2 minutes later) MOM! YOU DON'T TALK TO CARTER THAT WAY!!! (With his finger pointed at me).
Me: Excuse me? What did you say?
Carter: Repeats above.
Me: Talk to you what way?
Carter: MEAN!
Me: Carter, YOU don't talk to ME that way! You go sit in time out RIGHT NOW!
(He goes over to time out and has a seat. As I sit him down he looks at me and as plain as day says...)
Carter: Mom, it's okay. I forgive you.
Me: (Silently to myself) ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HE FORGIVES ME??? WHAT A LITTLE BRAT! HOW DARE HE?! UGH! What am I supposed to say to that? Who does he think he is?
(Aloud) UGHH! Carter, Mommy won't say she is sorry for disciplining you...blah blah blah blah (don't even remember). All I know is that I was arguing with my 2 year old. Arguing with him. Really? Who does that? So I just trailed off saying who knows what in the kitchen as I finished the dishes.

After time out I tell Carter that he needs to tell Mommy he's sorry for talking to her that way...

Carter: No, it's okay Mom. I don't.

Where do I go wrong? He'll be 3 at the end of May. What's he going to say when he's 6? Or 16? Sheesh! Lord help me!

Wedding Website!

Hey everyone,

So it's been awhile since I posted but I've been a busy girl-what's new right? But I got a free second this past weekend to finally work on our wedding website. So here it is:

http://www.mywedding.com/jordanandjessicastarks.


It's still quite the work in progress and some more things I would like to add, but I wanted everyone to get a peek at it-I thought it was pretty cute. More pictures, details, etc. to come. 


In other news, I got to see my Grandma this past weekend. (For those of you that don't know I am extremely close with her. She is an amazing woman and I love her so much. She was diagnosed with cancer last year and then fell and broke her hip in November-so it's been a rough year but God has been getting us through :) ). Anyway, she is doing well. She is getting around much better since she broke her hip-even going a little bit without the walker which is awesome! She has been getting up and around and using her exercise bike as well. She is working so hard :) She is still undergoing chemo treatments and we aren't sure how long those will be lasting but we are just praying for healing in her body!!! The cancer is still "stabilized". It is not growing but it is not shrinking either. But I'm believing in a miracle! It is so nice to get to spend time with her. I love it more than anything. Such a good weekend-weekends with her are the best! Please keep praying!!! Our God is one that heals and performs miracles! 


I'm on spring break by the way!!! WOO HOO! Still not sure why it's at the end of Feb. and why there is a bunch of snow on the ground, but I'll take what I can get. Still a busy week, trying to get a dent in wedding planning (hence the website)...but I'm getting there! I'll post soon! Enjoy the website!!!

You better be in bed!

Funny story: 


After we tucked Carter in tonight he sneaked out of bed and was laying by his door. We knew he was there but were ignoring him in hopes he would return to his bed...he did not. So he kept sighing really loudly to get our attention. Finally, Jordan said to me (loudly), "Mommy, did you know that all the little boys that aren't in bed get spankings?" Carter didn't budge. "I'm going to have to spank all the little boys named Carter that aren't in their beds." After a few rounds of this we didn't hear Carter move so Jordan said, "Okay, I'm going to go spank any little boy that isn't in his bed." Carter yells from his room, "DADDY! I AM IN MY BED!!!" with annoyance. Sure enough, there was Carter in his bed. 


So cute.