Colleen James

Tag: family

  • A Year of Gratitude

    Picture of slips of paper with notes about the best of the year

    I did things a little differently this year. If you have been following this blog for some time, you know that I generally write a list of the best things about the year over the Thanksgiving weekend. It becomes a time for me to remember how gracious God has been to me and my family and to consider how much He has generously given to us throughout the year, which always causes my heart to well up with deep gratitude to Him.

    This year, I decided that I wanted to capture the best moment of each day, which I wrote down on little scraps of paper throughout the year. I must confess that I never quite got into the habit of writing down the best moment of each day every evening. I’m pretty sure I’ve skipped over a couple dozen days within the last 330 days or so that I have been doing this. At times, I wrote on several small scraps of paper at a time, trying to document the best of each day for several days at a time.

    Although remembering to do this activity in the evenings, and then also trying to determine or remember which moment was the best was a challenge, I’m really glad I stuck to it as best as I could.

    January was an especially beautiful month as I began this new routine. This otherwise dreary month turned into a vibrant 31 days for me as we enjoyed meaningful, often spontaneous moments together as a family, all orchestrated by God’s hand.

    I have yet to read the slips of paper from this past year and to see what all I have deemed as the best for each day. I plan to do so (or to at least start it) sometime this weekend. But I look forward to reading each one and remembering how good this year has been and how God has been so kind to us. While we have certainly had some triumphant moments to celebrate this year as a family, I have noticed more, in writing down the best of each day, how gracious God has been to us in the small moments. I saw it in the evening where I felt His presence close to me as I made dinner and the boys played peacefully together in the living room. Or in the cold, winter evening when we watched a movie together as a family that taught the importance of hard work and persistence. And a more recent moment, when, while the fire alarm was blaring in our apartment complex, the boys and I went to get something to drink on a whim at our local HEB (a grocery store here in Texas, for those of you not blessed enough to know! 😉). I’m really glad I chose to document the days of this year, because I would forget all the little ways in which God lavished His love upon me this year. I’m pretty sure I still don’t recognize half of it as it is.

    I don’t know what type of year this has been for you, but I pray that God will help you to remember how kind and faithful and gracious He has been to you throughout this year. In this world, we are not without troubles. However, Jesus has told us that He has overcome this world. I pray you can find comfort in Him and recognize that He has not forsaken you and is not withholding His love toward you. He is more generous to us that we’ll ever know—at least this side of heaven. The fact that He gives us each breath and sustains us and has provided a way for us to know Him personally is proof alone. May He bring to your memory all the little (and big) ways He has lavished His love upon you and generously given to you. Regardless of our personal circumstances, there is still so much to be thankful for, so may our hearts overflow with thankfulness to Him! Happy Thanksgiving!

    I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

    Psalm 9:1-2

  • Sweet Home Texas

    Photo by nagaraju gajula on Pexels.com of the blue bonnets in Texas

    We got out of Texas for a while. JJ, the boys, and I flew to the northeast in the summertime to visit his family for a few days, then we drove a couple states south with his mother and nephew to do some exploring. The idea was to visit a city that JJ had been researching online to see if we would potentially want to move there. It’s hard to find housing where we currently live, and with no family in town and a growing desire to experience the four seasons (as opposed to hot, hotter, and a small bout of cold in the winter), we’ve been considering getting out of Texas for a while.

    As we drove south with three young children in tow, the trip had its challenges. But it also had some great moments, too. Most of all, however, this trip was bittersweet—bittersweet, because I’ve grown to love Texas over the years.

    I never would have imagined to have become so fond of this state. As a teenager born and raised in Colorado, I vaguely remember scoffing at the idea of living here, alongside my two sisters, while watching a popular TV series that took place in Texas. Colorado has so much natural beauty, and I just couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world at the time.

    More than a decade later, however, God opened the door for me to study in Dallas, so I moved to the state. Ironically, I never finished that degree, but I stayed in Texas all the same, switching schools to study linguistics only 18 miles away. My idea was to finish my degree and go back overseas to pursue missions work. Nonetheless, God had other plans. The calling to missions that I had sensed over my life (and that I was able to fulfill in my twenties) was starting to fade, leaving me with a lot of questions and uncertainty about my future. Fortunately, God was planting a love for teaching English as a second language in my heart throughout that time, and several months after graduating, I was given the opportunity to teach ESL to Spanish speaking seminary students in south Texas.

    It was while living there that I met JJ, and plans changed once again. We married and moved to the west-most tip of the state soon after, where we experienced numerous highs and lows. There, we experienced the joy of welcoming our firstborn into our arms and buying our first home together. There, however, we also experienced the sorrow of dealing with personal health issues within our family, a pandemic, and personal loss. Nonetheless, treasures were forged throughout this time. Through these moments of grief, God was rekindling my love for writing that would develop into something more over time. I started blogging in that home in west Texas, and the sense that I could minister to others and encourage them through my words only grew in the months to follow.

    Six years after our initial move to west Texas, we packed our bags again and moved to a small town not too far from San Antonio, where we currently reside, and there have been plenty of joys and sorrows within our time here, too. We moved here on the heels of our own heartbreak right before the town was to experience its own tragedy. Several months after that, we experienced more heartbreak as our oldest son struggled in school.

    Nonetheless, I clung onto Lamentations 3:22-24, as follows:

    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
        his mercies never come to an end;
     they are new every morning;
        great is your faithfulness.”

    Furthermore, as the year came to an end, He made a passage from the Psalms to become our reality.

    Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

    -Psalm 30:5b

    The following year, we welcomed a second son into our family and saw our oldest son grow in such wonderful ways. Since then, JJ has also had different opportunities to grow within his profession, and God has given me a greater sense of purpose through writing and publishing my first children’s book with more to come!

    Texas really has been such a blessing for my family and me. God has given us so many opportunities to see His goodness in our lives while also being stretched and molded to look more like Him. Our time here has been rich in so many ways, and the friendships we have formed throughout our years living here have been so precious that it’s hard to think about saying goodbye. Nonetheless, as we spend a few more seasons here, I want to remember that the good gifts that God has bestowed upon my family and me are not limited to this place. If He could make a place where I had no desire to live to become a blessing to me, then how much more could He do that wherever He may lead!

    As my family and I begin to prepare for what comes next, I pray we’ll keep that in mind, being expectant of the future but also living well in this moment and in all the extravagant gifts God continues to give us in our sweet home Texas.

  • Change of Plans

    Picture of a statue anchor outside a restaurant

    The heart of man plans his way,
        but the Lord establishes his steps.”

    Proverbs 16:9 ESV

    We would have been to the island and back by now. We would have enjoyed several sun-soaked days on the beach with my younger sister, been given an informal tour of the school where my brother-in-law is studying medicine, and enjoyed JJ’s birthday to the max, complete with the coconut cake that my sister was going to make him.

    Since it takes over an hour to get to the airport and our flight was scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. the following morning, we checked into a hotel that Saturday night. Everything was ready to go and we were about to turn off the lights. But then JJ saw a notification on his phone from the airline. Delayed. Our flight would leave three hours past the initial departure time, resulting in a missed connection and a flight to the island a day late. Neither JJ nor I were thrilled about the idea of such a long layover with two young children in tow, but just as we were trying to figure out what to do about it, JJ received a second notification. The flight was postponed altogether at this point. We would now be leaving at 5 a.m. on Monday.

    JJ and I were notably upset by the news, but we tried to make the most of the situation, taking care of some odds and ends the following day as we awaited our new flight. A new suitcase to swap with the one that was suddenly starting to tear. Some more sandwiches and snacks to replace the ones we already ate before our travel. And to end the day, an impromptu dinner with my parents in their cozy abode before another early night at a different hotel preparing ourselves yet again for a flight before dawn.

    We quickly got ready for bed and settled in for the night, and this time, the boys even fell asleep. Things were looking good. But then JJ thought to check his phone one more time, and the flight was once again delayed, resulting in what would now be an arrival to the island on Tuesday.

    Since we were only supposed to be on the island until that Thursday, we decided to cancel the trip altogether, and JJ quickly jumped online to finalize the cancelation with a travel agent and to try to recover our funds. It was a long, drawn-out process, and Liam woke up at some point throughout it all and bitterly cried when he realized we would no longer be taking our trip. We were all upset and perplexed by what had just happened.  Still, we were grateful to God in the midst of it all because we had asked Him to protect us on this trip, and we believed this was His way of answering that prayer.

    I told JJ that night that I would rather be disappointed than devastated. As sad as I was that evening and for several days later, I was so thankful that my family and I were safe and well and that God was protecting us from unknown dangers.

    With canceled plans, the promise of a refund in our bank account, and still a few free days for JJ from work, we ended up driving to a beach here in Texas, where we enjoyed a morning of ocean waves and sand and then ate a delicious seafood lunch overlooking the sea. It was a much simpler trip than the one we had originally envisioned, but the kids had fun, and JJ and I were content, too.

    I’ll probably always wonder the exact reason as to why we couldn’t take that trip to the island where my sister lives. What might have happened had we gone? But as those questions come to mind, I hope I forever remember the comment I made to Liam for instances such as these—the most important thing is that the four of us (in our nuclear family) are together. And as of now, we are.

  • Every Good Gift

    Liam made this painting for the neighbor boys earlier this year. It’s him (in the middle) with them. The picture is compliments of the neighbors, as I didn’t think to take one myself.

    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

    James 1:17 ESV

    Our neighbors left last week. They finished their teaching contract and moved back to Spain, where they are from. It was bittersweet having to say goodbye. Liam has cried about it at different times ever since we learned that they would be leaving earlier this year, asking me if I will miss them too through tears. I always tell him I will, but I’ve said goodbye so often that I didn’t expect this farewell to be so hard. It is only now that they are gone that I am recognizing how much they’ve left a void in our lives.

    Lately, I miss the pitter-patter of tiny feet as the young neighbor boys chased after each other in the apartment above us. JJ and I would often encourage Liam to follow suit and run around too, although he has always declined the suggestion until recently, as little CJ is becoming more mobile.


    I’ll also miss the conversations we had in passing at the bottom of the stairs or in the parking lot as either of us families were coming or going. Although these conversations never lasted for long, they certainly were never shallow. We shared about the joys and sorrows of life together, supporting each other through the hard times and celebrating the good ones.

    Just this year alone, the neighbors joined us for Liam’s birthday party, then we joined them for their oldest son’s party a month later. And then there were the times when the neighbor boys would play outside of the apartment complex under their parents’ watchful eye, and Liam would eagerly ask to join them, often resulting in me hoisting him over our patio railing so he could catch bugs with them or play chase. And when bubbles would lazily cascade down to our side of the patio from above, Liam was quick to step outside and have little conversations with the neighbor boys, who were playing on their own patio with their bubble machine.

    The best memories, however,  were all the meals we got to share together in their apartment or ours. JJ and I enjoyed an authentic Spanish meal at their house at one point (among other meals), and they seem to have enjoyed the meals we provided too.

    We shared a lot of life together as we dealt with similar challenges in raising young boys, and I immensely feel their absence in light of it all.

    Nonetheless, I know that God gave us the good gift of these sweet neighbors in the first place, and He is a generous God that still has many good gifts to give.

    A few days ago, as we were preparing to go out of town and I was lamenting over the loss of our neighbors to JJ while we were eating dinner, Liam surprised me by his own optimism and hopeful spirit.

    “Maybe we’ll have new neighbors when we get back!” he interjected.

    Maybe we will. Regardless, I trust God will continue to bless us with wonderful friendships just as He already has with so many beautiful people right here in our small town.

  • Argentina-Style Empanadas

    Crispy, savory pastry meets seasoned, slightly sweet beef in this dish, with extra bursts of sweetness from the raisins throughout, and a surprise bite of hard-boiled egg and a tangy green olive.

    Several months after JJ and I got married, we had the opportunity to visit his parents in the hometown where he grew up. Other than wanting to spend quality time with his immediate and extended family, we didn’t have a lot of expectations for our visit. We did have one main goal, however—to learn how to make empanadas from JJ’s father.

    JJ and I had very distinct reasons as to why we wanted to learn, although equally as strong desires. For JJ, it was a beloved dish reminiscent of special moments throughout his childhood. I wanted to learn, on the other hand, because making authentic empanadas from my Argentine father-in-law was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

    Although JJ’s father was not too excited about the long, laborious process of teaching us how to make this main course, he conceded to our request, and we were soon learning how to make this tasty dish.

    The empanadas that JJ and I formed that day were nothing near lovely, but they were delicious. Enough so, in fact, that JJ and I decided to try our hand at them again for our first Christmas together as a married couple several months later. JJ pulled up the short clips he had recorded from our empanada-making session with his dad, and I got out my notes with rough estimates of each ingredient used.

     It was quite the process for us to form and fry the empanadas, but several hours later, we had a heaping bowl full of these tasty, golden treats, and our tradition of making empanadas during the Christmas season began.

    Since learning how to make empanadas, I have noticed that there are other Argentine empanada recipes online. Some are similar to the ones that we make with a few additional ingredients, and some are different altogether. Nonetheless, the recipe below is what JJ’s father taught us, and it is the one that we love and that we will pass on to our son as he grows. We hope it will stay in the family for many generations to come.

    If you make these empanadas, please let me know how they turn out. I hope you like them as much as my family and I do. Who knows? Perhaps they will even become a new family tradition of your own.

    ARGENTINA-STYLE EMPANADAS

    Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 ½ t paprika
1 t crushed red pepper 
1½ T taco seasoning mix
1 to 1 ½ T sugar, according to desired sweetness
1/3 c raisins
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into small cubes (around 12-15 pieces per egg)
Small jar green olives (one green olive per empanada)
2 packages Discos Goya*(thawed in refrigerator overnight)
Oil for frying

    Instructions:

    Brown the beef and drain its grease.  Return to low heat and add the paprika, crushed red pepper, taco seasoning mix, and sugar and mix well. Stir in the raisins and remove from heat. Place a couple of tablespoons of the meat mixture into the middle of the disco Goya. Add a piece of hard-boiled egg and one olive to each, then fold the dough in half. Make a crease along the opened end, then pinch the dough along the crease line to ensure complete closure of the empanada.

    Heat up enough oil in a frying pan for the empanadas to float above the bottom of the pan. Flip each empanada after 30-60 seconds, or once the side submerged in oil is golden. Fry the other side until golden, then place on a plate lined with a paper towel to allow to cool slightly. Makes 20 empanadas.

    NOTES: If you are not familiar with discos Goya, I recommend searching for them in the frozen section of ethnic food at your local Walmart. If you do not have a local Walmart and/or simply do not have access to discos Goya where you live, the following website provides a fairly simple recipe for making them: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/how-to-make-empanada-dough/. Please keep in mind, however, that I cannot attest to the taste of these discos nor their similarity to discos Goya since I have always been fortunate enough to find discos Goya at the store.

    To make a healthier version of this dish, use lean ground beef, lightly brush the dough with oil, and bake until golden.

    AIR FRYER OPTION:

    Lightly brush each empanada with oil, then bake in the air fryer in segments at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes, flipping over when halfway through.