Jonas Willing McBrayer:

Jonas: One day, about 8 years ago, Scott found himself walking out to his car and having a conversation with God. These conversations with God had become more and more frequent as Scott had been falling in love with The One that saved him from a life of death and destruction. He had been given glimpses of what Genesis meant when it said that Adam would walk with God in the cool of the garden--and this reality of a friendship with God, had begun to change Scott's life drastically. He had been hearing the encouraging words from His heavenly father that were not only healing to his heart, but had begun to breathe Hope back into His soul. And, as Scott walked out of his house that day, 8 years ago, he was in mid conversation with God when he asked Him: "God, what do you have for me today?" God's response was clear, yet, unexpected. "You will be a a father to a son...His name will be Jonas." Unsure of what to do with a promise like that, Scott shelved it away in the back of his mind and went on with his day...quietly expecting the promises of God to come to pass, in His perfect time.

When we found out that we were pregnant we begin to have conversations with God about what we should name our first child. As we did, Scott was reminded of that one promise God had given him 8 years ago: Jonas. We looked up the name "Jonas," in a baby book to discover that the name derived from the biblical name Jonah. When researching Jonah we found that the name had two meanings: 1) Dove; which represents peace. 2) He will accomplish.

As I started reading back through the book of Jonah, I felt like God was highlighting a few different things to me in the story. Though God already knew what Jonah's response would be when He initially asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the people to turn from their evil ways,  Jonah's first response was to run! He didn't want to. He was scared, and wanted nothing to do with it, so Jonah ran away. However, God's call on Jonah's life was irrevocable (Rom 11:29), and God pursued Jonah still. After a horrific storm, being "man over board," and getting swallowed up by a fish--Jonah finally realizes that God is in fact Lord...and Good. He realizes, that by some miracle of God,  he is still alive. He realizes that his blatant disobedience and running from God should have resulted in death. Yet God, having mercy on Jonah and a plan for his life, had compassion on his son. And Jonah's response, was worship:

“I sank beneath the waves,

    and the waters closed over me.

 Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

^6 7 8 9 

I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.

    I was imprisoned in the earth,

    whose gates lock shut forever.

But you, O Lord my God,

    snatched me from the jaws of death!

As my life was slipping away,

    I remembered the Lord.

And my earnest prayer went out to you

    in your holy Temple.

Those who worship false gods

    turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,

    and I will fulfill all my vows.

    For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

                                               -Jonah 2:5-9

Willing: In the midst of despair, Jonah chooses to turn towards God. He could have sat in bitterness. He could have wallowed in victim mentality, but instead, He chose to "remember God" for who He really is: Good. Because God loves us, He gives everyone the opportunity to have free will. Though He loves each one of us immensely/unconditionally, He won't force us to love Him back, after all, what kind of love would that really be? Love is a choice; a willingness to choose to love someone. So God waits. He waits to see if the ones He so tenderly created would choose to love him back. And in Jonah's case, Jonah resolves that there is no one else that He would rather serve. Oh, he for sure had his days. He was human just like any one of us--but in the belly of a fish, Jonah's heart decided to love God no matter the cost--and at the end of everyday, He would choose to love God still and submit to God's will. Why? Because Jonah realized that his "salvation comes from the Lord alone."

Jonas Willing McBrayer: Years later when Jonas's friends ask our son what his name means, he will be able to respond with, "God will accomplish all things He has planned for me, because my heart is willing." Our son won't be perfect--that we know for sure. He will be born into sin--like us all (Rom 3:23), but our prayer is that Jonas would fall in love with the same God that we have. That our Jonas would be a man who chooses to love God and say "yes" to Him--even to "Nineveh," and to the ends of the earth. Our prayer is that no matter how many times he "runs," that at the end of the day, he would discover the kind pursuit of God and recognize His goodness towards him. Our prayer, is that Jonas would declare the word of God to all people so that he too may see nations saved (Jonah 3).  And our prayer, is that above all things, that Jonas would know without a shadow of doubt, that his salvation comes from the Lord alone. 

Gender Reveal Party

We could barely keep it in! We went straight to Target to begin to look for a present for baby boy! After purchasing our favorite item, we went back to the house, grabbed some lunch and dreamed about all that was to come with our favorite little man as we watched the DVD of the sonagram once again. Scott went back to work and I began working on our reveal party. As I cooked, I called my dad first to announce the news of our son! He was thrilled and we talked about how sweet it would be to have little baby boy added to our family! My mom was on her way to meet me and help me set up the party, but got stuck in traffic--which was torture since I wasn't going to tell until I saw her in person. Finally the traffic subsided and as she entered the door to my house I squealed and told her the gender of her first grandchild! She was so excited!

Our Baby Boy's first present! (From us!) 

Our reveal party was cleverly themed: "Baby It's Cold Outside!" With our house already decorated for Christmas, we decided to set up a hot cocoa bar in our living room with all sorts of treats to put in it; whip cream, chocolate fudge, salted carmel, marshmallows, cinnamon, peppermint, ect. Our friends made Christmas colored donuts, ginger men/women cookies, white chocolate covered pretzels and a banner to drape across our living room. It was perfect! 

The Spread!

As our friends filed into our house waiting anxiously to hear what we were having. Scott and I kept a pretty good poker race. We had two our friends make little bows that had either a hair clip or safety pin attached to them. The idea was, the guests would guess "Where does the bow go?" If they thought it was a boy, they would pin the bow to the collar of their shirt (like a bow tie) and if they thought it was a girl, they would clip it to their hair (as a hair bow). They were so cute and it was a blast seeing what everyone's guesses were. 

To reveal the gender of our baby, I handmade 39 miniature boxes that were wrapped in christmas ribbon and hiding white chocolate dipped marshmallows, dyed blue. Once each friend was handed a present, we told them to tear into them all at once. Shouts of joy echoed throughout the room at various times as the discovery was made about our little boy. We felt so celebrated and loved and received many hugs and "congratulations," from our dear friends! 

Right after Megs opened her present! Hugging me in excitement!

"It's a Boy!" "Yay!"

evite invitation

It's A Boy!

The moon hung delicately in the night sky as it laid waiting to switch shifts with the morning sun. Cold, winter air stunned Scott's face on his early morning run as he went jogging through our neighborhood.  His thoughts couldn't help but turn toward the long awaited day with eager anticipation. It was this very day, December 12, 2012, that we would find out whether our first born child would be a boy or a girl. As the air pumped out of his mouth and flooded into the sky, it made whisps of miniature clouds that quickly swam past him. As Scott' gaze turned upward, his eyes locked in on a shooting star that appeared for just a few split seconds, and then faded away. The delight and pleasure of The Lord filled Scott's soul and warmed his heart, "I placed a star in the sky to announce the birth of my son too." And as joy settled in, Scott smiled at God's kindness and in gladness, ran home.

We weren't in the waiting room long when our ultrasound technician came to get us for the screening. We told her that though we wanted to see our baby on her screen, we didn't want her to tell us what we were having quite yet. We went through the long screening and spotted one our baby's feet with it's five little toes. As she moved upward to the head, we saw a clear picture of one of his hands and five tiny little fingers waving all about. Most of the time, our baby remained curled up, snuggled towards me and away from the doctor--the image alone of my baby nestled toward me melted my heart, wanting to nuzzle the baby's face and shower it with kisses. But whether boy or girl, we were in suspense still and would be for the next hour!

The doctor gave us the gender reveal picture taped up in an envelope and handed it to us as we headed off to Common Grounds, our favorite local coffee shop. It was a surreal moment for me. Over the past 9 years, I had experienced many things at Common Grounds. My first visit to Baylor as a high school senior, many all nighters in college studying for exams, at least 3-4 full summers of hang out times, conversations and thousands of laughs with friends. Post college, it's where I went to disciple girls, attended some of my all time favorite concerts, and it's where Scott and I fell in love. It was where we had our first date, significant conversations, fun memories, and literally, hundreds of cups of coffee with each other, and our best friends. And now, it's where we were finding out about our first born--who would have thought 9 years ago, as a high school senior, I would be finding out the gender of my first child at the same place. 

We got our muffin and coffees and snuggled next to each other outside. We were nervous. I don't know why--we were so excited about either gender--but I guess the reality of everything settled in. We peeled back the envelope and pulled out the picture. "It's a boy!" 

Week 19

Newly borrowed clothes from Jessica Low! So thankful!

Week 18

Week 18!

Fruites and Veggies: 

-blueberry bagels

-chips and salsa (tomatoes) 

Alive and Kicking!

December 3: First Time the Baby kicked! We both got to feel it! And Scott got to see my stomach move as a result. 

Substitute Teaching stories: Kids say the darndest things: 

Quote 1: "Are you growing a baby in there?" (-Kindergardener)

Quote 2: Kindergardener: "What are you going to name your baby?" 

                 Me: "I don't know, what do you think I should name it?" 

                 K: "Nu-nu." (no hesitation. certainty.) 

Quote 3: "Shh! Y'all! You got to be quiet! (said when the class started becoming off task during   

                  Independent work) You'll wake the baby!" (-8th grader)

Quote 4: 6th grader: "Do you know it it's a boy or girl?" 

                 Me: "Not yet." 

                 6th grader: "You could check the Chinese calendar."

Date Night! "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!" Decorating for Christmas! 

Our Nut-tivity! Scott and I decided to make a miniature manger scene out of random items we could find around our house: acorns, pecans, scraps of fabric, an egg carton, toilet paper roll, tissue box and dryer lint! :)  

Our First Christmas Tree! $15 tree on Craig's list. Inherited lights, ornaments, and tree skirt. And one special handmade ornimate: a wedding picture from our first dance!

Our stockings! 

Week 17

Nausea #1: Still having spurts of nausea. I'll be feeling fine, then all of the sudden, with little to no warning, nausea will creep up. Last night we were at up a church worship service. Afterwards, Scott and I were hanging out and enjoying friends, laughing with everyone, until--all of the sudden, "Habibi! We have to leave now--" "Ok, well..." "As i start bolting for the door, with my empty water cup in hand," I walked into the fresh air and felt the nausea subside just long enough to say goodbye to one last friend. And as we turned to the car, i felt a kick of uncontrollable nausea--no bathroom. no daylight left. no one around. cup--yep, throwing up in a cup, in the middle of a parking lot with the afterglow of a massive public gathering. Rolling my eyes, i held up my cup with a smirk (what else could i do) and laughed at my lack of control over any of this.  #cheers.

Nausea #2: Feeling nauseas in the grocery store again, I opened up my unpaid for bag of goldfish and began to chomp on my favorite salty snack as I finished my shopping. As I approached the checkout aisle, I realized that I didn't have enough money to pay for all the groceries in my cart, so I had the clerk put back several items. I was about to leave with my "non paid for" goldfish in hand, when I realized, "Sir, I am so sorry! I opened these already and still need to pay for them--" I set them down to rummage through my coin purse to pay for the $1.64 bag that I knew I had--when the clerk picked up my bag and threw it in his trash can. My shoulders sunk in despair. Not what I had in mind. My poor fish! #lametrip


This past week was Thanksgiving. Maybe it's just pregnancy, maybe it's the virus that I caught earlier in the week---but I spent most of the week pretty sick. However, despite everything, I so enjoyed this Thanksgiving! I loved spending time with my family! I loved the Turkey Trot, Houston, pie and enjoying our family!

Houston Family at Lakeside Country Club

Walking 5 miles, 4 moths pregnant for the Turkey Trot!

The Memes!

Meme's Famous Pie!

Week 16

Craving: "Time Out For Burgers's" chocolate milkshake...Too bad they closed after 8th grade! Oh well,  I'll just make my favorite Blue Bell milkshake instead! 

Week 15

"Hi Baby!" 

15 Weeks!

Baylor Homecoming Parade

Baylor Football Game

Sorry Habibi!

Your First Piece of Mail! From Brittani Harnden

I went to the grocery store in my pajamas today. 

Halloween

The Stork: (holding a baby doll within it)

Scott with his: "Soon to be Daddy" shirt.

13 Weeks

Mommy and Daddy's Proposal Anniversary!

October 29. A year ago, from today--the most handsome man in the whole land came riding down in a 737 to surprise me, his fair maiden. I was already in North Carolina for a mission trip that I was leading. We had teamed up with the newly formed church planting team, consisting of 2 of my best friends. We had a great week together--connecting with my best friends and telling new friends about Jesus. On the Saturday of our trip, Amanda and Andria took me out to show me their "favorite spot," in North Carolina. As we meandered through the forest, we came to an opening--one that had been fully decorated with purple streamers and signs made just for me...and in the middle...my prince Charming, Scott McBrayer himself. As I ran to him, my heart fluttered in excitement, knowing this meant only one thing: him and me, for the rest of our lives. I watched through raining tears as my man kneeled down in majestic humility and proclaimed his love for me. My eyes soaked in every detail they could get their hands on as he asked me the one question I had been waiting to hear for 26 years, "Jenny, will you marry me?" With a "Yes!" that resounded throughout the whole forest, I found myself collapsing in his arms and embracing the warmth; the home, my heart had been searching for. And for the first time, we shared our first kiss. I spent the next 45 minutes laughing, crying and shrieking in excitement. 

Three months later we were married. Six months after that, we were pregnant. And another 3 months later, we had returned to that same spot, where everything had first started. We laughed at the roller coaster of events that had all happened within 12 months. Who would have thought! Who would have thought that we would be back here, just a year later--being so blissfully happy, and carrying our first child! Next year, baby, we'll show you all around! :) 

The night before, we just so happened to stumble upon the same cafe that Amanda and Andria took me to on the morning of the proposal.

Our Proposal Anniversary Date: Crepes and Coffee. Perfectly "us!" 

The Proposal Spot! 

And now, a year later, we have Baby! 

The Famous Lebanon Pillow

Reenacting the proposal!