people we love: talitha piper

I have wanted to highlight some special people in our lives from time to time on my blog as a way of honoring them and expressing our love and gratitude for their friendship.  One special person who has been on my mind a lot recently is this lovely lady…

{Talitha and Sam on the day we brought him home from the hospital}

Meet Sam’s more responsible, mature, favored mom…Talitha Piper.  My child loves her!  Every time she walks downstairs to come and play with Sam, he instantly lights up and starts smiling, with an occasional flapping of the arms and legs.  Sam tries to impress her and make her giggle, which he always succeeds in doing. He loves her and so do we.

Having lived with Talitha for the past four years, I have grown to respect this young woman of God in ways that I tend to respect older and wiser women in my life.  I am thirteen years her senior and wish I was more like her.  She is kind and thoughtful, very generous and has a faith that you don’t see in many fourteen year old girls today.

Staying home full-time with Sam has allowed me and Talitha to spend more time together during the day.  I can always count on her coming down at least once a day to visit with us and this blesses me more than she knows, especially when we are snowed in and can’t get out much.

Talitha continually serves me with a glad heart.  For instance, she will bring us our mail everyday so we don’t have to go out in the snow and freeze to death.  She also regularly brings us homemade treats that she just made in her kitchen.  Talitha will also ask if she can fold a load of Sam’s laundry or help with the dishes or clean up Sam’s highchair after a slightly messy meal.

Talitha is considerate of Sam’s nap schedule and always comes down to ask when would be a good time to play the piano since she plays right above Sam’s room.  Just simple, thoughtful, kindness.  I wish I would have been more like her when I was fourteen. (Confession: I was probably too busy being cool and checking messages on my pager from people I’m probably not even friends with today.)

It is an honor to know this intelligent, beautiful, humble, funny, talented, gracious young woman and to watch her grow up in the Lord.  Joe and I love her a lot, but we know someone who might love her just a little bit more…

heading to see my grandfather…

{Ryan and Pa-paw at my brother’s wedding}

I received a phone call from my dad this morning informing me that my grandfather’s health has taken a turn for the worse.  He has been in the hospital for some time now and is completely dependent upon the ventilator for breathing.  We do not know how much longer his life will last here on earth and our prayer is that my grandfather will come to faith in Jesus Christ before he dies.  Please join us in praying for him.

{Me and my grandfather at Ryan’s wedding}

Joe and I both felt that I should go and be with my grandfather this week.  My brother lives in Orlando, where my grandfather is being hospitalized, so I will get to spend some time with him and my mother as well, who will be flying into Florida tomorrow at the same time as me.  I think this will be a sweet time for our family to be together to love and minister to my grandfather.  My brother called me tonight and let me say a few things to my grandfather while he held the phone up to his ear, I was able to tell him that I would be coming to see him tomorrow.

The thought of leaving Sam for the first time and for five days was less than exciting for me.  Joe assured me that he would take care of everything and that Sam would be just fine (read: we called his mother as soon as possible and asked her to come stay with them for the week!)  So, thank you Gigi for coming to the rescue.  This way Joe won’t have to rock Sam to sleep in the stroller and teach his classes at the same time!

So, today has been filled with cleaning, making all of Sam’s baby food for the week, booking flights, doing laundry, packing, prepping meals for Joe and his mom, and typing out a ridiculously long and detailed list for Gigi on “all things Sam.”  Joe keeps reminding me, “She raised three boys, Jenny.”  I know, I know…but to be honest, the list is far more for myself than for her.  I think this is first-time-mother syndrome kicking into high gear.

Thank you for your prayers on my family’s behalf.  We greatly appreciate them.  Pray also for my sister-in-law who is due any day now with my grandfather’s first great-granddaughter, Rylee Jordan.  My grandfather has never met Sam and we pray that he will one day be able to meet the great-grandson he wanted so badly for Joe and I.

For those of you who are friends with my mother and check my blog regularly, I will try and post updates on how her father is doing.  Thank you again for praying, I know it means so much to her during this time.

random rigney recap

{Decorations from Molly’s 30th birthday party}

…this is my attempt to chronicle (for my own personal record), in little bite-sized snippets, the weekly happenings of our random life in the basement…

• Traveled back from Texas to Minneapolis with Sam for the fourth time since he has been born.

• Found out my husband has been washing all of our clothes with fabric softener for the past week.

• We started ECFE with Sam and loved it.

• Little Rig is now eating: peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, pears, and apples.

• Joe began teaching, The End for Which God Created the World, to the BCS seminary students.

• We began reading Keeping the Sabbath Wholly for family devotions.

• Sammers began crawling backwards, it’s just too cute to tell him he’s going the wrong way.

• Watched the last season premiere of LOST and couldn’t have been more confused.

• Half-way through with reading, “For the Children’s Sake”.

• Bought the BabyCook and will begin making Sam’s food tomorrow.

• Started a work-out class with a group of friends can no longer walk up the stairs without limping.

• Tried out the new Trader Joe’s in St. Paul and fell in love all over again.

• Trying to organize and clean out every nook and cranny in this basement of ours, starting with the kitchen.

• In the process of working on five different iPhoto book projects at the same time, too many photos- not enough time.

• Trying to prioritize going to bed earlier in the evenings, starting as soon as I publish this post…

becky’s baby shower: in pictures

I just returned to Minneapolis from a week long trip to Texas to help host Becky’s baby shower.  Becky and I go way back, we have been best friends for as long as I can remember.  Here we are when we were three having a tea party in my bedroom.

Not much has changed- she is still the cute little proper one and I am still the one that needs to learn how to sit up straight and run a comb through my hair every now and then.

I still can’t believe we are old enough to be moms.

Back to the baby shower!

Here are some of the pictures I snapped from her special day.  I love Becky and I love her baby, but I loved her shower cake…

BENNETT

RYAN

CROWELL

Poor girl didn’t have a single thing to open…

Baby Bennett,

We can’t wait for your arrival in March!  You have one incredible mommy who has wanted you for so long!

Hurry up and get here, Sam is getting impatient!

We love you.

The Rigneys

yes, we own bibs…

…but they were all in the washing machine, I promise!

Don’t let these pictures fool you…this kid LOVES to eat!  Watch the video below.

Happy 7 Month Birthday, Sam!

You are 7 months old today little man!  For some reason, 7 months sounds so old to me.  I tell you numerous times a day to get back in my belly or to stay a little baby forever.  You never listen.  You tell me that you are “too cool” to be a tiny baby anymore…

Ah, you will always be our little baby..

Month 7 has been full of changes for you, one of the funnest new milestones has been eating solids.  You weren’t a big fan of the rice or oatmeal cereal, but the day we introduced sweet potatoes to you…

…it was as if everything was right in your little world.

Now when you see the sweet potatoes, you begin flapping your arms and squealing with delight.

You love them!  Just like your momma and daddy.

Some things I want to remember about you at seven months…

We just had one of your well-child visits with the pediatrician and your stats are as follows:  You weigh 19 bs. 3 oz and are in the 71% for weight. You measured in the 69% for height and your head measures in the whopping 92%!  Needless to say, my right arm is becoming quite strong these days.

You love sitting up all by yourself, all the time.  You want to crawl so badly, but don’t know how yet.  You are becoming more frustrated these days because you aren’t able to crawl to the toy you want to play with, so you end up rolling and rolling until you get what you want.

You don’t have any teeth yet, but you are drooling constantly.  Rarely do I ever see you without you trying to put something in your mouth…teeth might not be too far off.

You have been sleeping on your tummy lately because you end up rolling over in the middle of the night- you seem to sleep much better that way.  You go to bed at 6:30 p.m. and wake-up at 7:00 the next morning.  (Keep that up by the way, please!)  You usually take two really good naps each day, one at 9:00 a.m. and the other at 1:00 p.m.

Daddy coming home is the highlight of your day.  Sweet potatoes pale in comparison to daddy!

We have begun teaching you some sign language, right now you are learning: “milk”, “more”, & “eat”.

You wake up giggling in the morning and from your naps.  We want more than anything to know what you find so funny!

You are becoming so much more social and interested in everything around you…and you always want to play with the very thing that we don’t want you to play with.  I am already beginning to child-proof our house a bit in case you begin crawling sooner than expected!

You squeal really loud in church and I can’t help but laugh.

You are the happiest when we are holding you and walking around showing you new things, you start flapping your legs and squeeze us really tight.  You have started reaching for us and you lunge in to our arms to hug us when we bend over to pick you up from your crib.

Speaking of crib, we have had to lower your mattress because you are trying your hardest to pull up on the bars and fly over the edge.  To spare us the heart attack, we lowered it pretty low for safe measure. See what I mean…

You would choose to be naked and splashing in the bathtub 24/7 if we let you.  We don’t.  But since you love it so much, we do bathe you every night before bed.  It is fun for all of us!

You love reading time almost as much as I love it.  You are also loving music more and more, especially when we sing to you.  Daddy is especially gifted at turning anything into a song for you…

Nicknames we have for you: “Samma-Lamma”, “Sammers”, “Nugget”, “Nug-a-Noosh”, “Punkin”, “Sweet Potato”, “Squeaker”, “Sam Wise the Rigney”, “Riglet”, “My love”, “Drooler”, “Drool Master”, etc.

You speak fluent Spanish…

Happy 7 Month Birthday, my love!  Life gets better with you all the time…

Desiring God 2010 Conference for Pastors

This time last year, I was the Assistant to the Events Director at Desiring God. How has a year already passed?

I was five months pregnant and wasn’t nearly as much help to Scott Anderson as I had been at previous conferences.  I was mentally distracted about finding out the sex of our baby the day after the conference was expected to be over and I was beyond tired (the weeks leading up to conferences are exhausting and- like I said-I was five months pregnant). Oh, and we had a boy by the way!

Scott and the rest of the Events team were very gracious to me and picked up major slack so I could sit and rest…and take pictures with my favorite co-workers.

Exhibit A:

Oh, how I love Kate Martin!  If I could pick one person in the world to be like, it would be her.  If God has created a more Godly woman than Kate, I haven’t met her.  Anyways, back to the point- see how exhausted I was?  I was so lazy I didn’t even put my contacts on!  That is how you know I am really tired- I wear my glasses.

All that to say, this is a public apology to my dear friend, Scott.  I’m sorry I wasn’t a very good assistant to you at last year’s Pastor’s Conference.  Thankfully, God has moved me in to full-time mommy-hood (where I wear my glasses all the time!) and has ushered in new, wonderfully capable, non-pregnant males to assist you.  Win-Win for everyone!

And for ‘ole times sake…here is a flashback to Desiring God 2007 Conference for Pastors.  We liked to call ourselves: “Scott’s Angels” (and yes, we are as intimidating as we look.  Except for Kate, she is a faker).

Anyways, the theme for this year’s Conference for Pastors is:

If you really want to bless your pastor/s, I would highly recommend sending them to this conference.  Having worked at Desiring God for three years, I know how hard the team works behind the scenes to make this event a relaxing, spiritually refreshing time for the shepherds who attend.  So much prayer is poured into every little detail surrounding these three days.  If you would like more information about this event, here are all the details.

Here is the trailer:

If you or your pastor need a place to stay- contact us!  We live in a two bedroom basement and it is already starting to fill up with pastors, so let us know soon and we can try to make more room- it’ll just be cozy!

why I want to be like Verna…

My friend, Molly, called me today and asked if I could go pick up Verna from her apartment and drive her to the local food shelf in our neighborhood because the sidewalks were too icy for her to be walking on.  Verna is an elderly woman who has attended Bethlehem for years.

I have never met someone who talks, or walks, as fast as Verna.  One day I am going to video tape her walking down our sidewalk and post it on my blog.  It is a sight to see.  It is humbling actually- the woman has got some serious speed in those elderly legs of hers.  She could smoke me, all while carrying 4 bags of groceries.

I left Sam with Talitha and hopped in my car and headed to her apartment.

My conversation with Verna went a little something like this:

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Jenny: Hey, Verna!  Are you ready to go?

Verna: (talking in lightning speed) Oh, yes! Oh, yes!  I’m ready.  The sidewalks are too icy and I am too frail and I will slip and fall if I don’t get a ride!

J: No problem, Verna!  I will help you.  Just hold on to me and I will walk with you to the car.

V: Ok, ok, thank you.  I’m 93 and I am too frail and I will hurt myself real bad if I fall.

J: You are 93 years old?

V: Oh no, I weigh 93 pounds and my legs are real frail because of my arthritis.

J: Oh wow, I wish I weighed 93 pounds!

V: Oh, but you are very healthy.

J: (wondering to myself what she meant by healthy) Ok Verna, hop in!  I will hold your arm until you are sitting down.

moments later…

J: So, Verna, aren’t you the woman who Pastor John says reads a gospel a day?

V: (again, lightning speed) Oh, yes! Oh, yes!  I love the gospels.  They are my favorite.  I read one every day.  I memorized the entire book of John and recited it for Bethlehem a while back.

J: (immediately humbled, convicted, embarrassed…repeat) Oh, wow!  Well, I know John 3:16. So, how long did that take you to memorize?

V: Well, I’ve been a follower of Jesus for over 50 years and I have been reading the gospels ever since.  I have read the Old Testament, but the gospels are my favorite. I’m working on memorizing Matthew and Mark right now and hopefully I will be able to recite all three books together very soon!

J: (Gulp)

V: Ok, here we are- thanks for the ride, be sure not to drive off until I am out of the car!

J: (smiling because she actually thought I might drive off while an elderly lady is trying to get out of my car) Don’t worry, I will wait for you, Verna!  Be careful and call if you need anything.

V: Ok, thanks!  Bye bye!

**********************************************************

I mean, who wouldn’t want to be like Verna?  93 pounds. Amazing!

Kidding.

25 of our favorite children’s books…

Is there anything better than children’s literature?  Sure.  But few things compare, in my opinion, to the look on Sam’s face when I read to him.  As soon as I open my mouth and begin reading the rhyming words flowing from the pages, his reaction is similar to when he sees a spoonful of sweet potatoes coming towards his mouth.  Utter amazement and excitement.

I’ve decided that from here on out, whenever a friend of mine has a baby, they will be receiving children’s books from us.  They will get plenty of wonderful clothes, diapers, toys, etc., so I want to make sure they get at least a couple of classic children’s books to add to their collection.

So after seven months of reading to Sam, here are 25 of our favorite recommendations:

What are some of your favorite children’s books?

I love recommendations from friends and am always looking for fun little books for kids…especially little boys!

we’re on a kick…

Joe and I tend to get on “kicks” from time to time.  We all do, I’m sure.  For instance, we’ve been on a “Lost” kick for about 5 seasons, we were on a “reading pregnancy books” kick for about 9 months, I’ve been on a “coupon cutting” kick with some of my friends for about 6 months, Sam’s been on a “loving sweet potatoes” kick for 1 night.  Some kicks come and go, and other kicks stay and turn into lifelong interests.

Right now we are on a “watching documentaries” kick.  And we are pretty sure that this one will stick around for a while.

We love them.  Good ones, that is.  There are some not-so-good ones out there, but thankfully we haven’t run in to many of those.

Roger and Haley, good friends of ours in our small group, share our love and interest in a good documentary every now and then- so, we started making a mental queue of the ones we plan to watch together in the upcoming year…

Here are the next two on the docket:

NO IMPACT MAN

BABIES

Here are some of the documentaries that Joe and I have already watched and would recommend to you if random things like food and font and bugs interest you:

FOOD, INC.

KING CORN

HELVETICA

PLANET EARTH

LIFE IN THE UNDERGROWTH

So, here is what I want from you….recommendations!  Comment and let me know some of your favorite documentaries and Joe and I will add them to our queue for 2010.  They can be about anything, obviously, I mean who watches a documentary on fonts…well, we do.