September Stuff

Here's a pic of Colton when he came to visit us......he likes to play guitar, sing, and dance!! Just like his Uncle Aaron! Me and Alicia, at her home in North Carolina! We had a great weekend.This is a picture from our balcony at the beach!! It was gorgeous!! And another view of the ocean.........ahhhhhhhhh



hello everyone, sorry it's been so long. Quick update, Aaron's break was great. He was able to go and shadow some doctors back in Knoxville. My mom came and kept me company that week which was really nice. Then we went to the beach for a few days and got to hang out with my best friend, Alicia, and her husband Eric. It was a great vacation, except for the jelly fish sting!! Don't worry, I have pictures! So now, school has started back for both of us. Aaron is now in his second year, and I'm still in 3rd grade as a counselor. Last weekend we were able to go home to TN and camp with my family for a few days, which was really nice. Aaron's grandmother has been moved to a Hospice care facility, where they are trying to keep her pain to a minimum. Please pray for his family as they stay with her 24/7.
We are excited that our new "bible fellowship" aka as Sunday School class is getting ready to start soon. We are having to wait for our church to purchase another trailor to have classes in because we have no more rooms available in the church!! Kind of a good problem I guess because we are growing so quickly. We are really looking forward to see how God is going to use this new class. Also, the girls bible study I started met again last week and we had a GREAT time. It was very encouraging to be in a bible study group again.
Oh, on a side note. I am proud to announce that my brother was ordained as a deacon tonight back at my home church in Dandridge. Their church is without a pastor right now, but I know God has exciting things planned for them.
Anyway, I guess that's about all for now. Hope everyone has a good week.

Hooray Hooray, 1 down, 3 to go

We are celebrating Aaron completing his first year of medical school!! 1 year down, 3 to go until graduation, then 3 years of residency. But he gets paid in residency :). We give God ALL the glory and praise for providing for all our needs this year and teaching Aaron all he needs to know to be a good doctor. So now Aaron has 3 weeks off to celebrate and relax before he starts again. He is now officiall a "second year" student. It's really exciting for us. Around here med students are referred mainly by there year.
So we had a great weekend hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law and nephew! i will add pictures soon. Colton entertained us mostly. My sister and I enjoyed bargain shopping at the Goodwill store. It is the BEST!! If you like to bargain shop, and don't mind spending some extra time rummaging through things, you can find some GREAT deals!!
Aaron is getting ready to head back to TN.....without me :(. But it's ok, he deserves it. And he's going to have some great opportunities to shadow some Dr's in Knoxville everyday. Meanwhile, I will be in VA with my mom who is coming to stay with me while Aaron is gone.
Next Sat. we are heading to NC to see my best friend, Alicia, and her husband Eric. I am soooo excited that we are going to finally get to see them!! THEN...on Sunday we are driving on to the beach, Myrtle Beach!!! God provided a GREAT deal on a condo place for us to go and relax a few days. We plan on being back home Thursday.
This week is my last week of our "summer program" at school. WHEW!! it's been a long 8 weeks! i am ready for a break. But i thank God so much for my job. He has really opened up some amazing opportunities for me to share Him and witness. He teaches me a lot through my job. ok, time to get ready for bed. hope everyone has a great week. and please continue to pray for Aaron's grandmother, she is still in the hospital and not doing well. and please pray for my dad's back, his ruptured disk. he is still having a lot of problems. thanks

Watch Out Here Come the Jones'

The "VCOM Dream Team"
We were named after the greatest athletic team ever assembled the 1992 USA olympic team. I was Clyde the Glide Drexler and I hate to brag but I think I made ol' Clyde proud. Sonya was a last minute add so she had to wear another shirt but after much consideration she would have been wearing the name "Air Jordan" because she gave such a stellar preformance!






What excellent form!!!!

















Saturday July 29th my school, VCOM, hosted a basketball tournament for all the students, spouses and staff. The first years had 4 teams, the second years had 1 team and the teachers had one team. Well, you had to have a girl on the floor at all time and one of our girls on our team was sick, but never fear I had a secret weapon I like to call "The Sonya".

So Sonya showed up, and as you can see from the picture below she was not afraid to shoot, even though it was a guy's ball and she had hurt her knee in the 2nd of 5 games. She outscored me a few games and had a 3 in the staff/ student game that sparked a big run ( you can see I was awe-struck from her rain of threes). We ended up winning the whole tourney and accomplished something no team has ever accomplished, we beat the teachers but only by 4 ( they had payed the refs, and it was their 1st game and our 5th).
So we had a lot of fun and her knee is doing better. We were just excited to get to play on the same team. I wanted to dedicate this blog entry to my allstar!!!!

Answered prayers

Hello everyone, just wanted to share how God has been working and answering prayers in our lives this week. First, my neighbor, Brenda, who we have been inviting to church for over 6 months, came to church with us this morning for the first time! She has been active in church previously, but quit going for a long time. So, we just Praise the Lord that she was willing to go. Please pray that she will continue to have a desire to be involved in church and God's word.
Also, Aaron has had some good opportunities to encourage and befriend one of his fellow students who just recently became a Christian. He also came to church this morning. He is looking for a church home.
Also, we were discussing with our pastor last night about the need for a new sunday school class for our age group because there are so many new people coming in. And after talking about it, our pastor said that he had been praying about the same thing, and about Aaron and I leading it. So.........we are very excited about starting a new sunday school class in about a month that we will be able to invite other students from VCOM and other couples our age to come to! God just really worked it all out and confirmed it completely through all of us!
Also, our girls bible study at my house is progressing some and we have ordered a book to check out and see if that's what we want to use and there have been two more girls who want to come and be a part of it! It's been a slow process getting started, but I know it's all about God's timing and not mine.
Please just praise God for all of these answered prayers and encouraging things that are happening, and also pray that God would open up an outlet for me to be able to have a "Christian" influence at my school, whether it is by starting an FCA or something else. I'm not sure what I could do, but my heart is very heavy to be able to share Christ with all my kids. They need to hear it so bad, and I want to tell them. So please just pray God would work that out for this upcoming school year. THanks so much!!

My crazy husband

I just had to share this with all of you......Aaron does spend a lot of time at his desk......mostly studying, but what you might not know is that he is also practicing his kareoke routine for next year's VCOM Idol (like American Idol)!!! Here he is learning the words to Elvis' "A little less conversation". This is just one more reason I love my husband. He is one crazy guy!!

And this is just a picture I took at a park Sat. night. I like playing with our camera. Maybe someday I'll know what I'm doing and will be able to take really cool pictures.

Anyway, hope everyone has a good week. Please pray for Aaron's Grandmother Jones. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and has had surgery and is awaiting chemo, but has been put back in the hospital this past weekend because of complications. Pray that the doctors will have wisdom to treat her. Thanks. Sonya

July is here....

Playing put-put golf on our 2 year anniversary. Guess who won??? ME, sonya
WOW....I can't believe it is already July 9th! Aaron will be finished with his first year of med school on August 11th!! THAT is exciting. One year down, 3 to go until graduation.....then 3 more years of residency. Residency is exciting because he will actually get paid some :). It is just really amazing to see how God continues to enable us and provide for all of our needs each day. God is teaching Aaron so much about medicine and the human body. It's just amazing that he can learn so much in such a short period of time. Anyway, we just want to give God all the glory and praise for Aaron's good grades and continued motivation to keep studying.
Let's see.....since the last blog we have celebrated our 2 year anniversary, June 26th! We went to Winston-Salem and played around for the weekend. We also listened to our wedding on a cassette tape, which was really neat. Then we watched our wedding on the DVD when we got back home. Two years has gone by pretty fast, but it's exciting to look back at all the ways God has provided for us and stretched us to depend more on Him.
We were very excited to have a four day weekend last weekend and get to see a lot of friends and family back home. I was supposed to have to work on Monday, but it got cancelled. Praise the Lord!! So we drove to Dandridge and spent the night with my brother and my sister-in-law, Michael and Katy. Katy made the best Apple dumplings for breakfast!! They were so good. Then we were able to go to the lake and play around on the wave runners. Aaron's older brother, Clint, took us to see Superman Returns. I enjoyed it, and I noticed a lot of scenes and lines in the movie were symbolic of Christ. We also were able to hang out with our Sunday School class for a 4th of July cookout and pool party. It seemed like everyone there had a baby!!! Kids were everywhere! It was so nice to get to see everyone, but now it's back to Virginia.
We officially joined our church here in VA and became members this morning. We really like it and are excited to see how God wants us to get more involved there. Ok, well, I'm getting tired of typing so I think I'm going to download some pictures now. I have a lot more to talk about, but it will just have to wait. Hope you all have a good week.
Michael & Katy, my brother & sister-in-law. And their home... Aaron having fun on the lake at his Uncle Jerry's. Aaron was having lake withdrawals, so it's a good thing we were able to go. He's doing much better now. :)

Back in VA

Colton LOVED running through the bubbles! This is a pic of my sister and the craft that we were working on for VBS.

Well, I'm back in VA again. My "vacation" seemed to fly by while I was running around in TN. I had a good time spending time with my sister and nephew. My Mom was and is busy preparing for Vacation Bible School. My sister will be teaching the 5 year olds and I got to help her get some of the crafts ready for that. My nephew is starting to say more words and communicate better. He loves to be outside and blow bubbles.
I also got to see my friend, Lindsey Stewart, who is getting married in August. I really miss all my friends back in Powell. On the way home, I was able to visit with another college friend, Stephanie Osborne, which was really nice too! So I was very thankful to get to spend some time with good friends.
Aaron sang at church this morning. He sang "Hungry". I wish that he had time to do more worship leading, but God has been good to open up opportunities here and there at church and at his CMDA meetings at school. (Christian medical & dental Assoc.). He is the vice president of the CMDA this year, which meets once a month.
Last night we watched "End of the Spear" on DVD. For those of you who haven't heard about it.... it is based on the true story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and a couple of other guys who as missionaries, were trying to make contact with a tribe of people in Ecuador. I don't want to tell the whole story, some of you probably know it, but it is really good. However, the movie does not really talk at all about God much, but that's what it is all about. We are going to try and find the documentary movie "Beyond the Gates of Splendor", which goes into more detail about their lives. It was just so good to remind us that our one true purpose here on earth is to share Jesus with others and bring him Glory, even if it means giving our lives, leaving or even losing our family, and living in uncomfortable places so that others might know Him. We waste so much time on things which have no eternal value. Aaron and I both were challenged to be more intentional in witnessing and sharing with those around us RIGHT NOW, at school and at work, and not to wait until we go to other countries. We are surrounded by lost people all around us, and it is our responsibility to tell them the good news. ok, well, i'll stop preaching now. I just get excited when I think about the power of God and all He desires to accomplish and work through us if we make ourselves available to Him.
Please say a prayer for Aaron this week, he will be having finals all week and then a week off. We praise God for enabling him daily and helping him understand and learn all of this material. Hope you all have a good Sunday, and Happy Fathers Day to both our dads! Thanks for all you have done and continue to do for us. We love you!

I'm on vacation!!

School is out and I have a week and two days of vacation. However, I was still working on paperwork this morning and had to go to our office to print it all out, and I still have an employee review that I need to do before we start back, but I'm putting that off until next week. I started making our DVD of our Kenya trip last night. It is so fun putting it together. I can't wait until it's finished, but it will take awhile.
Before I forget, Happy Anniversary to my mother & father-in-law. They are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary today. WOW! I am very thankful for them and their Godly example they set for us. Our friends here, KJ and Michelle also celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary! And Laura & David's (aaron's sister) anniversary is Wed. Happy Anniv. to them too!!!! And Happy Belated birthday to my dad, Laura, and Uncle Jerry. WHEW!!!! and there are a lot more to come in the next few weeks, including our anniversary..... June 26th!!
I am heading home to TN tomorrow. Aaron is still in school this week, so I figured I would go home and hang out with my family. Aaron is doing very well in school, Praise the Lord!! He got a 92 on his Anatomy test last Friday!!! I can see God enabling him daily to persevere in his studying and going to class each day. I know God is preparing him to be a great doctor for His Glory. I often wonder where God will take us and how he will use us in the future.
For those of you who don't know, my dad has a ruptured disk in his back and is experiencing tremendous pain and has been dealing with this for a long time now. It is hard for him to walk and get around at all right now. He is going to therapy, and they hope that will fix things without having to do surgery. Please pray that God will heal him soon and give him strength, patience, and wisdom to take care of himself as he waits. I know God has a purpose for this trial and that He works all things for the good. Romans 8:28
Well, I'll stop rambling now. I hope to have some good pictures to share when I get back from TN! Hope everyone has a good week.

Green thumb?

Well here is what Aaron and I worked on today. We went to Lowe's last night and invested in some flowers. We decided these will be like our "pets". They will be less expensive and do not require a babysitter while we are out of town. I do not have a good history of taking care of plants and flowers, so hopefully these will turn out ok. And of course I couldn't resist another picture of my newphew, Colton, while we were in the mountains last weekend. He is starting to talk a little more now. He will be 2 in September.
It was a beautiful day today and it was nice to be outside. Tonight we went over to our friends, Derek & Tiffany to start a video bible study on The Song of Solomon. It is geared more toward singles, but has a lot of good wisdom and information about marriage and husband/wife relationships too. One of the things we discussed which actually came from our old Sunday School class in Powell was..."What if God created marriage to make us HOLY instead of to make us HAPPY??" Just something to reflect on. I am so thankful for my husband and I pray that our marriage brings glory to Him.

Aaron's Turn to Update

My best friend from Thailand Sem called last night and wanted to make sure Sonya and I were still alive because he hadn't heard from me via email or by the blog update for a long time. So this picture is me saying "Hey Sem, Thanks for the call, it made my week!" Not my best picture I must admit but well I didn't have much time to prep.

I wanted to update once to give this blog a manly feel for all you men out there that read it. Not sure how to do it better than showing to manly men throwing rocks into a creek in the Smoky Mountains. That's me and my nephew Colton this last weekend at Elkmont camp ground. I showed him how to throw a few rocks and ends up he likes it quite a bit. He proceeded to toss roughly 12,345 pieces of gravel into this creek. For all you environmentalist out there you are going to have to take it up with him. I told him to stop but he just kept going. I'm pretty sure more than half of those tosses were left handed. Sorry Scott, he's a natural lefty. We had a great time hanging out with all our family and just taking it easy.

This last pic was on Easter at my mom and dad's house. I thought sonya looked SO STUNNING that I had to post it let the world see my beautiful wife. I tried to crop me out of the picture but didn't succeed. I know having me in the picture is kindof an eye sore but my computer cropping skills just aren't quite up to par, sorry.

Well not much of an update but quickly... I'm at school everyday learning about the heart and lungs and looking forward to my break in 4 weeks. Sonya is working every day making an impact on the leaders of tomorrow and bringing in some money while she's at it. Other than that we are living on love... and her salary but mostly love and just started a TV fast yesterday for the next 2 weeks at least. We would turn it on for the news then it just never went off till bed time so no more tv for these Jones'. So for all of you trying to keep up with the Jones', i guess you'll have to turn off the TV for a while.
well until next time... Seek God!

Easter in Tennessee

So here are some pics from our weekend trip back to TN....keep scrolling down because there are a lot to look at. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Easter to the Jones'!! And the Johnson's and the Fern(singular because Martin, Sarah's husband, was unable to come). We really enjoyed spending time with our family and getting to hang out. It was a beautiful weekend. I'm really thankful that we are close enough to TN that we can make short trips home for the weekends. God is so good to us.








Here is a picture of Caryss in her Easter dress. Cute as always! She had fun trying to blow bubbles.

Here is a pic of Caryss removing the shell of the Easter eggs she dyed. Mainly I think she enjoyed making a mess. She is starting to talk a lot more now and is doing a great job learning how to share with little brother.









What a great picture of Gavin and Uncle Aaron!!! Two of the cutest boys I know(can't forget Colton)! Gavin seems like such a good baby. It seems like he only cried when he was sleepy or hungry. I had the privelege of rocking him to sleep once.......one of my favorite things to do with babies.

Here are some up close pics of the tulips at my mom and dad's house. They were so bright! I had a lot of fun taking pictures of them. Too bad they only bloom once a year. I was inspired to go back home and start planting my own flowers!! Hopefully I will follow through with that.

At my parents house the dogwood trees were in full bloom!! And they were beautiful!! Spring is a very refreshing time of year.

Here is my nephew Colton. He was not a big fan of the bunny ears, but prefers to be outside playing in the yard. Unfortunately he was having suffering from allergies this Easter and was not feeling as good as usual. We weren't able to travel to middle TN to see the rest of the Hasty family this Easter, but were thankful to get to be with Aaron's family.

Heading home for Easter

I am excited because I'm off tomorrow and Monday for Easter, and I am going to see my family. Aaron will be catching up with me sometime Saturday. He has to stay here in VA and study because his school does not take Easter weekend into consideration when scheduling tests!! He has 3 BIG tests next week....starting on Monday. I finally got some of our pictures ordered and printed! The first time I try and order digital prints online and the machine breaks down at Walgreens! And thanks to thier poor customer service and forgetfulness to call me back twice, I was able to get my pictures for half off the original price. A great deal :). But it did take almost two weeks to get them. Tonight I put them all in an album so now they are ready to travel to TN with me. I'm really excited about seeing my neice and nephews!!

I've included a picture of Aaron(just kidding, it didn't download).....this was one of his "winning" performances at his school's "VCOM Idol" kinda like "American Idol". Of course Aaron loves to sing karaoke so he was one of the first to sign up. And the best part was that there were CASH PRIZES!!! I told him he better sing his heart out and bring home some bacon. And he did!! He won second place, which was $50. WOOOhooooooooooo! Of course he had to bring me down front and sing a song to me, not to be romantic, just to entertain of course. It was a lot of fun.

The other pics are of my sunsets in our big field next door. It's one of my favorite parts of living here. God was so sweet to work that out......He knows I LOVE sunsets!

Hope you all have a great Easter celebration this weekend and that God draws us near to Him in a powerful way.

Look at this beautiful rainbow!!

hello everyone, just wanted to share with you the wonderful blessing I received this morning on my way to work! I just happened to grab the digital camera because I thought I might find something good to take a picture of today. Then as I pulled out onto the road I was filled with JOY and AWE and WONDER at the beautiful sight of this rainbow. The sun was shining still, but it was beginning to rain. I LOVED IT!! It was such a great way to start a Monday morning and be reminded of God's faithful promises to us. The weather has been much warmer lately, which is great, unless you are in med school and you have to study instead of going out to play :(. But Aaron will have a week off at the first of May. He has a long list of things he wants to do around the house. If anyone wants to come visit, that would be a good week (April 28-May 6th).
So I got my hair cut tonight at the mall.....people just really don't listen well!! Of course the girl cut it a bit shorter than I wanted, and it looks a little choppy right now in the back. But, the good thing is that hair grows, and mine grows pretty fast, so as I would tell my kids at school........
"There are some things that we can control and there are others we cannot."..... and this would be one of those we cannot :).
Oh, and Aaron and I had a good quiet time together Saturday morning just talking about our quiet times and God really opened my eyes to a lot of legalistic thinking I get pulled down by, mainly feeling like I need to spend a certain amount of time reading his word and really digging deep and honestly......I've just felt like it was more of a burden than a joy and sweet fellowship with God. So, this week, I'm just trying to read a few verses each morning and set my mind on God throughout the day, not just during my "quiet time". I would feel guilty about not having "good" quiet times every day, just because I feel like God deserves our best and deserves our best efforts. But God revealed to me in a new way that I can never give him what he deserves. He is too worthy. too wonderful. too amazing. and He doesn't even desire my "good" quiet times. He desires for me to delight myself in Him, to "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him" daily (Micah 6:8) and the bible also says that the Lord doesn't desire sacrifice, but mercy. "His yoke is easy, and His burden is light." So, it was refreshing and uplifting to see these truths in a new light and be able to apply them to my walk. I hope this encourages you too. Have a good week!

More pics of Kenya

When the students were not seeing patients, they were able to play with the kids also. Here Aaron was playing frisbee with a few new friends. The kids were very excited to jump rope with us and they were really good too!
I just thought this kid was the cutest thing!! He was so precious and sweet to us.
Here is one of the walls inside the pharmacy at the clinic. There were two walls like this lined with drugs and medicine.

More Kenya pics!

One of the things i found great joy in doing was giving away tennis shoes and clothes to some of the most needy people. This lady who is carrying a baby came through with only a pair of worn out flip flops on, which is better than nothing at all, but if you could see the land and remember that they walk everywhere they go, shoes are a great need for them. Even though this woman could not speak English hardly at all, the only thing she kept saying was "God bless you." She was so excited to get these tennis shoes and a new jacket! Below, Dr. Jones is hard at work :). I was so proud of him and it was so exciting to see him in his first real medical mission work. Each student had to use a translator to ask questions and find out what the problem was. The students were able to gain a lot of valuable experience and knowledge. God is teaching him, and growing him to be a great doctor for His glory!!

There were always children around and a lot of them. They were so excited to get candy from us. Some of them could speak some English, but most could not.
This is the line of people waiting to be seen at the clinic. As you can imagine, it was hard turning people away at the end of each day, but the people were always respectful and kind to us.

Pictures from Kenya

Hey everyone, here are a few pics from Kenya...... This is a picture of the Rift Valley, the area that we worked in. This picture was taken on our way there from Nairobi.
Aaron is sharing a track and the Gospel with these men while they were waiting to get in to the clinic. It was challenging with the language barrier, but some could speak English.
This picture was taken on top of a mountainside. It shows the back side of the clinic, the waiting tent, and out buses, and some of the people waiting.
This is a close-up of our "tent clinic". In this tent their were four stations of students and translators where patients were seen and questioned. It did get a little crowded at times, but worked well for the most part. If they needed to do anything specific for the patient, there were small rooms with tables inside the clinic building for those situations.

Home from KENYA!!!

WOW!! I can't believe how blessed we are to have been able to go to Kenya and meet and serve so many wonderful people! I have a lot to share, but I am still recovering from jet lag so tonight will be brief. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! God is so good to faithfully provide for all our needs, before...during....and after the trip. God has strengthened us each day, only by His power are we able to keep going this week. We got home around 8:30 Sunday night and both of us had to go to school and work Monday morning. (whew!) We are definitely ready for the weekend. I have tons of pictures to share, maybe I can put some up this weekend. The people and the land are so beautiful. The students and doctors saw around 900 people at the clinic in 4 days. We were able to pray for and share the gospel with many people. Most of these people seemed to know who Jesus was and many claimed to be Christians. There was some difficulty at times with the language barrier, but we know that the Holy Spirit was working it all out. Ok, I'm about to fall asleep at the computer. I must go to bed now.
I thank God for such an amazing opportunity. Whenever I have the chance to worship with believers from other countries and languages I always get excited and can't help but think of what it will be like someday when we all are gathered together in heaven, singing praises to OUR LORD, how beautiful it will sound.........from every tribe, nation, and tongue! I'm smiling just thinking about it. He loves us ALL, and there are SO MANY of us, He is truly AMAZING!
Goodnight.

Some random pics for you

Hello everyone, I just have so many pictures I want to share with everyone that I can't stay up to date....these pics are from about a month ago maybe. I just wanted everyone to see the snow and how beautiful it is!! The only hard part is getting up and down our driveway!
This is a picture of our church- Good Shepherd Baptist Church. We LOVE it and are so thankful that God has led us there. As you can see we have cleared a little pathway up to our house.....however it can still be very slippery :)
For those of you who will never get to come to VA and see Aaron's school, I thought I would bring it to you! This is where Aaron spends the majority of his time :)
It is only one building, which seems odd to me. I expected something huge after coming from UT in Knoxville. There are two huge auditoriums/lecture rooms for the 1st and 2nd year students. Then in their 3rd year they kick them out into the real world(clinicals). There is also an anatomy lab where they study the dead bodies and stuff, and there is a small library and study rooms and a cafeteria. So......if you ever drop by, we will give you the full tour.

Don't worry there are still many more random pictures yet to come!!