It's the little things...

We drove into the driveway after Church and lunch yesterday and this was on our front door. Nate loves to brag about people in our community who are missional but would never brag on himself, so I'm going to.

Nate is the Director of Missional Community at Austin City Life and really teaches that being "missional" isn't only about going overseas and being a missionary but it's about being on mission in your own family, neighborhood and city. He loves to report stories back to Jonathan (ACL pastor)when he finds himself proud of someone in our city group who has touched, impacted or helped someone in the neighborhood or the city of Austin. Here are a few really cool stories he's gotten to share about people in our community who have lived out the gospel in a missional way, locally:

-We had a single mom, who doesn't go to ACL, move into our neighborhood and people from our city group reached out to her, having never met her, buying her flowers, a candle, and a cake. Nate even showed up and spent the whole day helping her move in.

-We have a girl in our group who works in a liquor store and who has connected with some of the every day regulars who come in to get their daily pint of vodka. She spent time talking with one and simply asked her her name and was kind to her. The woman showed up hours later with her pet that she wanted to show off. You could tell it made a huge impact on her that someone cared enough to talk to her about her kids and ask her what her name was.

-We have one family in our group who adopted two local children who were in the foster care system. One of the greatest examples of Christ's love for us.

-A group just did a makeover on the teen therapy room at Safeplace here in Austin. Safeplace is a local non-profit that houses women and their children who have fled from sexual and domestic violence. See the pictures here.

-A couple in our Church is hosting a garage sale and here is their blurb about it on facebook:

"Yard Sale Fundraiser benefiting Operation Turkey sponsored by Austin City Life Church, and hosted by The Nixons. Operation Turkey is an organization that provides a full Thanksgiving Meal to homeless families on Thanksgiving Day; as well as provide for many of their other needs.

Please consider cleaning out a closet, or your pantry and donating some of the items listed on the flyer. You can bring stuff over any time - DAY or NIGHT!

It will be an awesome morning as we pull together to serve the needs of our city. And please invite anyone and everyone to this event!

For info about Austin City Life (the best church ever), visit www.austincitylife.org

For info about Operation Turkey, visit www.operationturkey.com"

-We hosted a "neighbor night" at our house and had all of our neighbors over for pizza and beer. Since then, we have still made it a point to hang out with and love on our neighbors. In fact, one couple across the street, Bridgette and Chele, are moving and told me that when they made their "pros and cons list", we were the top thing on their pro's list. Wow...I don't think I've ever been on the top of anyone's pro's list.

-We visit this retirement home each month and spend time with the residents.

Austin City Life is all about these little things and I wish I could tell every encouraging story but there are just so many, you'd be reading until midnight.

Things like this sign just prove that showing Jesus' love in even very small ways, without an agenda, means a lot to people.

Check out this blog post written by Jonathan Dodson that tells you how to be missional in your every day life.

Here's to more Christians hanging with non-Christians.

Thanking God

I drove home from dropping Jess off at school this morning and I was overwhelmed with thankfulness. This came totally out of the blue because lately, I have been super selfish and have thought predominantly about things I don't have and feel that I need.

I paused in the car to just reflect on all of these things that were popping into my head that I was so lucky to have. My house, my car, my healthy kids, my husband, my family, my wonderful friends, my community at ACL, my dogs (sounds silly but I love them), too much food in my pantry, really great neighbors.

I began to repent for my selfishness and lack of recognition of just how great God is and how He has blessed my life.

So many times, I find that I get so caught up in "life" that I forget to stop and thank God for that "life" I'm all caught up in. I wish I could preserve mornings like this morning in a jar and open it up and pull some out on days that I don't feel so thankful.

Thank you God for my life and for the chance to live it for you.

Wednesday Mornings

Nate and I have such a tight schedule with work and non-profits and kids and school and city group that we have to be very deliberate about making time to spend together. Nate always works on his laptop at Thunderbird coffee shop at 6am, leaves and picks Jess up to take her to school at 7:15 (she likes to be there early...shocking), then goes back to Thunderbird and works until 9. On Wednesday mornings, we have a front porch coffee date instead of him going back to Thunderbird. I make a pot of coffee, he grabs the Bible and we hang out on the porch, talking, reading and praying.

This morning in praying a prayer of communion, I praised God for being so great and repented for not realizing or recognizing that nearly as much as I should. I prayed prayers of petition for my children; that God would protect them and lead them in their lives and I thanked Him for honoring us with the opportunity to parent them. I prayed for baby Betsy, that she would be healthy and strong. I prayed that God would lay it on our hearts to adopt some day if that's what He asks of us and wants from us.

Wednesday mornings are a very intimate time in the word, in conversation with my husband and in prayer with the Lord.

I'm thankful for Wednesday mornings.

A Few Things to Be Excited About...

There are so many things happening in the fall that I am super excited about. The picture above should say a lot about one of them. Here are some of the things listed out and I'm sure as these things begin to play out, you will hear more about them.

1. UT Football season starts in two weeks. This is always such a fun time of year for us because we have season tickets and we also share a really fun tailgate with some of the most fun people in town. (Yes...Wheels and his buddies.) This year should be especially fun if the Horns can live up to the expectations of the many people who have predicted they will play in the National Championship game. This game also happens to land on the day that baby Betsy is scheduled to arrive. Nothing would make me happier than having one of my children born on the same day the Horns win ANOTHER National Championship. (Dad, does this make you proud?)

2. Ava's 4th Birthday. Ava's birthday falls on a Tuesday and we are having her "Princess Birthday Party" at our house on Friday night the 18th. I can't believe that my baby Ava is already four years old. I feel so blessed to be her mother and can't begin to count the many times that girl makes me laugh in a day. On another note, her party actually precedes the UT/Texas Tech revenge game on Saturday the 19th. Nate's dad is in town for that and will be going to the game with my parents. I have a few thoughts on the game as I think back to last year as we watched that game and that last play in complete horror. I think I will just let the game this year speak for itself.



3. Fall. This means cooler weather, cute decorations, school activites, Fall Festivals, pumpkins, hay rides with the kids, pumpkin spice coffee creamer (which my friend Ali Watson and I appreciate more than anyone else), chili on cool nights, pumpkin carving contests and still...football season.

4. Ava starts soccer. Ava has her first soccer game on October 4th. Her games are always on Sunday afternoons, if any of you are interested in coming to watch a bunch of three and four year olds try to play the game of soccer...better yet...to watch Wheels, Lucas and Nate try to coach a bunch of three and four year olds to play the game of soccer.

5. Jessica starts volleyball. Jessica has wanted to play volleyball for a while. She is starting on a 5th grade volleyball team at the end of the year and will play games through March. The tournament at the end of the season is held at UT, the last weekend in March. Her favorite teacher at her school, Ms. Shea, is the coach.

6. City Group Leader's Retreat. Nate is responsible for all City Groups at Austin City Life and to thank all of the Leaders for their time and dedication to leading these groups at our Church, he has planned a retreat for the leaders and their wives. We will be staying here and I am pretty excited about it. I LOVE our entire team of leaders and I can't wait to hang out with them, pray with them and celebrate the good things happening in our groups.



7. TX/OU weekend. This weekend last year topped all other football weekends in the season. We start the weekend out at a bash at the Smith's (Wheels' parent's)house in Dallas, on Friday night. This party goes on well into the night and if you're Wheels and his friends, until about an hour before the game. Then, the party starts back up at the fair at about 8am with beer and corn dogs. It's beautiful.

8. Natalie's getting married. This happens in November and I can't wait to see sweet Natalie get married to Ty. What I can wait for is standing up next to all of her 23 year old bridesmaids when I am 7 1/2 months pregnant. I mean...it's bad enough that I'm like 10 years older than they are in the first place...you gotta throw in that I'll be the fat pregnant girl up there making all of the pictures ugly. It didn't help that I had to order the bridesmaid dress in a size 12, just hoping it will fit at that time. What does help is that I love the bridesmaid dress and will find someone to take it in to a size 4 (that's right...I'm counting on weight watchers again) when I am back to normal. I WILL wear this dress again!! Thank you, Natalie, for loving me enough to want my pregnant butt in your pictures anyway... I love you too:)

9. Ashley's getting married. This isn't until spring BUT...the parties are starting this fall. I am, once again, a bridesmaid and LOVE my dress for this wedding too (it's all about the dress).

10. Music for the City. This is a Non-Profit that Nate has started and this fall is a majorly important time, as the fundraising begins. Here is the mission statement, in case you are interested in what Music For The City is all about:
MUSIC FOR THE CITY music.charity.austin.
MUSIC FOR THE CITY exists to encourage and enable artists to give back to the Austin community by partnering with organizations that are serving our city.
MUSIC FOR THE CITY produces benefit albums and concerts featuring Austin’s best artists. These albums and concerts directly benefit organizations that are serving our community.
MUSIC FOR THE CITY is a win for the entire community. Our artists gain goodwill and an opportunity to give back. The organizations we partner with receive exposure and funding to continue the work they are doing. The city itself benefits from a movement of artists who inspire an entire community to give to those that are serving the great city of Austin, Texas.
We are thrilled to be partnering with two organizations that are tirelessly serving our community. AUSTIN SAFE PLACE is working to end sexual and domestic violence and the AUSTIN CHILDRENS SHELTER is working to provide a safe haven for children in crisis. We are honored to be raising money and awareness for these amazing organizations.
MUSIC FOR THE CITY
is great music, for a great cause, in a great city.




11. Thanksgiving. I've got two words for Thanksgiving this year: MAN PORCH. I wish I had pictures of the new addition to the Johnson home, where we all celebrate Thanksgiving. Words won't do it justice. Let's just say...outside...HUGE flatscreen tv...outdoor fireplace...bar...comfy seating...WONDERFUL food...football games...heavenly. On another note for Thanksgiving, I love sharing a Thanksgiving meal with our City Group and I love that during that time of year, people tend to reflect more on the things they are truly thankful for. I wish we did this more often but I'm also glad there is a day designated to us setting time aside to do this. In America, we do have SO much to be thankful for and I am one of those people that forgets that way too often. God has blessed us with so much.



12. Christmas. Oh Christmas, how I love thee. I'm not sure where to even start with Christmas. Maybe I should start with the fact that I've already planned out Christmas decorations for my house this year. Things I love about Christmas: mistletoe, wreaths, cinnamon, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, blow up santa's in the front yard, ornaments, Christmas music, hot apple cider, Christmas movies, Christmas cookies, letters to Santa, holly, carols, shopping for other people, and most of all, remembering and reflecting on God sending his son to earth to live among us and die for us. What a precious gift. And...what an amazing time of year to reflect on that. Oh, I LOVE Christmas!!

It's a Girl (we think)

Nate and I got up this morning at 6:45 and got ready, grabbed a coffee at our usual hangout, Thunderbird, and headed to our Doctor's appointment to find out the sex of this baby.

Now, I think everyone knows that we were sort of pulling for a boy. I mean, Nate really wanted a boy (understandable) and I wanted a boy for Nate's sake. I never spoke these words outloud (for Nate's sake) but I secretly thought it would be cute to have three girls.

Anyway...we got in there and the nurse, Tamra (we LOVE her), immediately started looking for us. First we heard a "Oh! That looks like a little penis!" and then we heard "No, wait. Maybe not. I see three lines." (For those of you who have gone through this, you know what three lines means.) Then we heard "It sure does look like there's something there", followed by a "But gosh...sometimes it just looks like three lines when it turns over." Finally, Tamra said she was just going to get Dr. Cowan because he was much better at telling these things. So he came in and it didn't take him 30 seconds before he announced that he was 90% sure the alien was a girl. I think Nate was in shock...I was sort of excited.

I am giddy over thinking about having three girls and each one of my girls having two sisters. (Plus...I've been looking online and the girl's clothes are SO much cuter!)

I feel blessed today.

New things in the Navarro household...

I am sorry I have been so absent on here...things have been crazy! Here are a few things to catch you up on...

1. We added another member to the Navarro family...Sir Truckstop of Brentwood Austin... aka "Truck". This is Nate's dog and he LOVES him. He is a beautiful puppy and I love that Nate is getting to experience having a puppy from the beginning. He was never a dog person before we met...now...he is. Everyone, meet Truck.





2. Jessica went to summer camp this last week and LOVED it! She was there for a week and got to horseback ride, kayak, swim, play all sorts of different games and sports, meet a ton of new friends and learn more about Jesus. I could tell when picking her up that she was loved by both campers and counselors. Here are a few pics from her week. Thank you to everyone who wrote her letters!! She had the most mail of anyone else that week!:)





3. We had our first doctor's appointment and I am now almost 4 months along and everything is healty and the baby moves a ton and is "big" as the doctor put it. We have pictures but I'm not real sure how to post those and anyway, they look like aliens at this stage. Not cute.

We are continueing to pray for a healthy pregnancy and baby for the rest of the term.

More on life at the Navarro household coming up!

Community of Rescued People

We had a guest pastor give us a message yesterday on community. As I was listening, some of the things he was saying were sinking in. Today, those things have really resonated with me as I have meditated on them. He talked about how we need each other. How, God didn't design for man to be alone, but to be with others. He talked about how we are a community of rescued people...meaning we desperately needed rescuing (from ourselves). He also talked about how messy community can be, or actually, it is. We hurt each other, we let each other down, we betray each other. I have experienced these things on both ends. My natural reaction is to feel very angry with those who have hurt me and to feel shame and guilt for how I have hurt others. Jesus didn't go to the cross with my sin and other's sin so that I may walk around angry at others or ashamed of myself...he went to the cross with our sins so that I may forgive, and feel forgiven.

I am clinging to the words of my friend Jordan's song today...I'm not sure another song moves me to worship like this one does...

Fullness of God

The very image of the invisible God,
you were here before all creation.
By your hands we were made, and we see you today
through the things your hands hold together.

In you all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell forever.
Through you we are reconciled
by the blood of your cross.

So we sing to the name above all,
the name of Jesus.
The name by which we are saved.
So we sing to the King above all,
King Jesus.
You are worthy of our praise.
And so we sing, to you.

We were once far away
from the reality of grace.
We were sinners estranged from our Father.
But in love you came, to take away our shame.
To present us as clean sons and daughters.

In you all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell forever.
Through you we are reconciled
by the blood of your cross.

So we sing to the name above all,
the name of Jesus.
The name by which we are saved.
So we sing to the King above all,
King Jesus.
You are worthy of our praise.
And so we sing, to you.

We'll cling to the hope of glory, proclaimed in all the earth.
We'll cling to the hope of glory, proclaimed in all the earth.
We'll cling to the hope of glory, proclaimed in all the earth.

So we sing to the name above all,
the name of Jesus.
The name by which we are saved.
So we sing to the King above all,
King Jesus.
You are worthy of our praise.
You are worthy of our praise.

I might have butchered the words a little or the arrangement but you should go here and listen: www.myspace.com/austincitylifeworship


We might be a messy community but we rely on a perfect God and for that, I'm thankful.