Jen Russum

Lovely Little Things.

Lovely Little Things.

My whole family is in town, so I don't have much time to blog today. But here are some lovely little tidbits from the past week. Enjoy! Hello new adobe fire pit. We stole it from the neighbor's trash pile. No shame. {Oh, and my husband doused that log in gasoline which is why it's spewing flames from the top Harry Potter style. That's the type of thing men do... and then their wives turn their antics into Harry Potter allusions.} Hello summer reading. You are in French. We'll see how we get along. {I have to pass a foreign language test in the fall! Please start praying for me now!} Hello Paletas Betty. One of my new go-to places for a refreshing treat. Between you and the place that sells ice cream cookie sandwiches for $2.00, it's going to be a sweet, sweet summer. Hello lovely rosette necklaces that came in the mail from Seek First. Now I have to decide which one to keep and which one to giveaway! Hello pool that is finally clear of algae and maintaining proper chlorine levels. We had a tough month together in May, but I think we can really strengthen our relationship this month! Hello #shereadstruth journal {also check out #scripturedoodle}. I am loving the way I am so inspired to dig into the Word each day and really reflect on God's truth in my life. Here's to a lovely week, friends! My sister is here, so I know it's going to be lovely for me!!! {You can follow me on Instagram --- @jenrussum} *Linking up with Hello Hue and Life Rearranged* ... Read more

Flowers Fade Friday: The Hostess

Flowers Fade Friday: The Hostess

We are having a party at our house tonight. In fact, it starts in a couple of hours. This is not unusual. I am pretty sure we host parties at least once a month. If not more. And real parties too. Like 10, 20, 30+ guests. Cake makin' We also have a LOT of overnight visitors. Like all the time. Like a few every month at least. Sometimes overlapping. Sometimes we could use an extra guest room. We often borrow air mattresses from friends. And most of the time it's really, really fun. And quite the honor. But sometimes I get tired of it. Tired of changing sheets on the guest bed. Tired of stocking the guest bathroom with clean towels and toilet paper. Tired of organizing my grocery list around special events. Tired of sweeping crumbs off my floor after thirty guests leave. But you know what? I need an attitude adjustment. I need a heart change at the core. Because I keep stumbling across this one verse. And gets it me every time. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:13 Notice that one sneaky verb... SEEK. Seek to show hospitality. Sure. I'm hospitable. Everyone knows the Russums will host your party. Celebrate your birthday. Throw your baby shower. If you need a place to stay in Phoenix, we have a bed for you. If the real bed is taken, we will provide an air mattress, a hot shower, a towel for the pool and a hearty meal. I know how to be hospitable, but am I seeking to be hospitable? My actions pretend I am, but my heart is another story. Because I have a bit of anxiety in my heart each time I host a party. I have a smidgen of bitterness in my heart each time I clean up after said party. I feel a pang of annoyance each time I hear that an unexpected visitor will be dropping by for the night or the weekend. But this is not the way of the Lord. God tells us to seek hospitality. He doesn't say to offer up your home when no one else volunteers. He doesn't say to tolerate house guests with a false grin on your face. He doesn't say I can delight when my own friends come into my home, but harbor bitterness when I have to host people I don't know well or feel particularly close to. He says to seek hospitality. To delight in opening my home. To find joy in blessing my visitors whether I know them well or not. To provide food and shelter to the sojourner. It's always been His way. He said the same thing to the Israelites thousands of years ago as they wandered in the desert {Exodus 23, Leviticus 23}. They were poor and had not yet settled into their own territory, and yet He told them to host sojourners and bless visitors even in their nomadic community. And he says the same thing to me now. Seek to show hospitality. Hey, freaks. Come over to my house. {Totally kidding. You know I was in the front row of this chaos!} Seek it out. Gladly volunteer. Be the first to offer to host dinner. Warmly invite strangers and acquaintances into your home. I would continue to preach to myself, because the Lord knows my heart needs a good dose of this truth, but I have to go. I have a party to host. And I am going to host this bad boy with JOY. *Linking up with Casey Leigh* ... Read more

Date morning?

Date morning?

On our first anniversary, Micah and I decided we should get more intentional about carving out date nights. During our first year of marriage, we had plenty of date nights, but they were really just us hanging out together by default because we didn't have any friends in Arizona yet! Ha. But as we wrapped up our first year of marriage, we realized that since we were making friends in our new desert town and had a busier calendar than when we first moved, we should start getting more intentional about date nights. We also figured we should form good habits now, so that we can maintain a strong marriage when we throw kids into the mix who demand a lot of our time. Enter our date night plan. We each plan one date a month. Micah plans something for the 1st-15th and then I plan something for 16th-31st. We felt like trying to do a weekly date night would be a little overwhelming and forced for us... plus there are often random nights where we hang out just the two of us and other nights when we do double dates with friends. So there is plenty of dating going around here. We just try to set aside two special nights a month. And if I'm honest, we aren't always great about it. Especially since we have so many visitors, there are months that go by where we don't make a big, official deal out of date night. And if I'm really honest, that's hard for me at times, because I am a girl who loves a plan. When Micah plans out a thoughtful date in advance, I feel so cherished and honored. I still love the last minute, "hey, let's grab dinner or see a movie" too, but when he plans out something just for me, my heart thrives. I don't know what love language includes "I feel most loved when people plan out thoughtful events for me" but that one's mine. Maybe quality time... but planned quality time. Because no date is complete unless you take photos of your husband doing wheelies. So I was particularly happy when Micah and I went on a little morning date a few weeks ago. Micah even rescheduled hiking with a friend so we could have breakfast together on a Saturday morning. Love him. Ever since we moved to our new house last fall, I have been wanting to go to this little place down the road called The Farm at South Mountain. Basically, it's this big property that includes gardens, a venue for hosting parties, an art cottage and three restaurants: an outdoor breakfast place called Morning Glory Cafe, a lunch place for grab and go salads and sandwiches and a fancy, schmancy dinner place. Well, you know that the Morning Glory Cafe has been calling my name... I first thought that Micah and I could jog to breakfast {it's about 1.5 miles away}and then walk back. But when Micah bought us beautiful beach cruisers last month, it seemed like the perfect idea to ride them to the farm for our date. Who wants to jog to breakfast anyway? Not me. So that is exactly what we did. On one of the last mildly cool mornings before the full heat of Phoenix summer hit us, we rode our bikes to the farm, took lots of pictures, and ate the most amazing food on a tree covered patio. Love language spoken. *Linking up with Gussy Sews and The Hollie Rouge* ... Read more