Beautiful Birthday...

...no way I could even come close to describing this day to you! Mickey lights up my world every time I'm around him! I feel so blessed that I was able to celebrate such a special day with such a beautiful soul! :)

Missio Dei...

In three short months I'll be on my way to the rural Guatemalan village of Magdalena to serve a local art school with my church. I feel so very blessed that I've been given such an awesome opportunity to travel somewhere so different from everything I'm used to. I can't wait to see how God uses this trip...not only to share Christ's love, but to completely shake up my world!   

(c) C.S. Love Photography

Please, please pray for me, those I will be traveling with, and those we will be serving in Guatemala! 

And That's All That Matters To Me...

I'm FREE! :) 

God's love has set me free! NOTHING else matters! This world, it's shallowness, the 'stuff', all of it...will be gone in the blink of an eye! But I am LOVED, really LOVED, by the one who made the stars...and so are you! What is better than that? Could anything else EVER come close to that? 

God, Your love IS all that matters to me!

All That Matters - Addison Road

I May Never Be The One That Gets A Second Glance
I May Never Be The One They Call The Prettiest
But That’s Alright With Me

And Maybe I Don't Follow Every Crazy Passion
Spend All My Time Trying To Get A Good Reaction
But That’s Ok With Me

This World Is Like A Trampoline
High And Low No In Between
Jumping At The Chance To Please
Everyone But That’s Not Me

Cause All That Matters Is
All That Matters Is
I Know Your Love Has Set Me Free
And That’s All That Matters To Me

Cause All That Matters Is
All That Matters Is
I Know Your Love Has Set Me Free
And That’s All That Matters To Me

Some People Tell Me To Step Out And Do My Own Thing
And Others Say I Got To Blend In Just To Be The Same
And Stop Being Me

But This Shallow World Is No Longer What I'm Made Of
I've Been Changed By Grace
I've Been Saved By Love
What More Do I Need

All That Matters Is
All That Matters Is
I Know Your Love Has Set Me Free
And That's All That Matters To Me

My Life Comes From The One
Who Made The Stars And Brought The Sun
He Loves Me More Than These
So I Don't Need Another Identity

All That Matters Is
All That Matters Is
I Know Your Love Has Set Me Free
And That's All That Matters To Me

BOLD...

What are they going to do?

Are they going to take away my stuff? It's not mine. It's God's, and you can't take from me what isn't mine.

What are they going to do?

Take away my repuation? I don't boast of one, and the one I have isn't all that good.

What are they going to do?

Manipulate me with guilt? Fat chance.

What are they going to do?

Kill me? Doesn't matter. I was going to die anyway.

What are they going to do?

Take away their love? I am loved by the One who will never take away His love.

...Real boldness is just another name for nothing left to lose. And Christians who have nothing left to lose are the world's worst nightmare!

- Steve Brown 'A Scandalous Freedom'

Semper Fi...

I've prayed that prayer so many times...the one that goes something like, "God, let my heart be broken for the things your heart breaks for..." and along with this I've prayed a TON of other prayers that sometimes may have just been things I 'thought' I should be praying for. So many times I've failed to grasp the words coming out of my mouth. And more than once, God has answered those prayers...the ones I hadn't the faintest idea what I was asking for. 

This is without a doubt one of the biggest, if not the biggest, situation my heart has been broken for. A childhood friend of mine lost her husband on March 24, 2010 while he was serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

I've never met Jake, and haven't seen my old friend for years...but I've shed so many tears over this death. My heart has honestly been broken again and again. I'll chalk part of that heart break and a few of those tears to the fact that I have a number of people in my life, who mean a lot to me, serving overseas or who have served in the past. But so much of it is God grabbing a hold of my heart and showing me what His heart is broken for. 

I really can't explain it.

You may know, I'm not the US Government's biggest fan and I HATE war. But not because I'm "political" or whatever comes to mind...but because it's all so far from the way Jesus lived...the was we are called to live. However, realistically, there will always be war...there HAS always been war. So, what do I do with that? Love? Let my heart continue to break? Cry? Pray? Love more? I guess so. I guess I'll love those that I am 'supposed' to hate. I guess I'll cry for the people being killed EVERYDAY. I guess I'll pray God will give me strength, that I could be strength to others. Because what else CAN I do, dammit!

Please, please pray for Jake's wife, Brittney, and his family and friends and those he served alongside!   

  

R.I.P. Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Ross

I am forever grateful!

SEMPER FI

A Garden ♥...

I am so very, very blessed with AWESOME friends! ♥

 

...and it won't be long until I'll be blessed with yummy food growing in my back yard! YAY! :)

Tessa...

I've written bits and pieces, a couple times, about this adorable little girl....This would be Tessa! She was my neighbor last summer and fall, but her family has since moved to New York. Tessa was a little blessing, but let me tell you...she was a TRIP! :) 

Before I had actually moved into my house, I spend sometime cleaning up outside and around the yard...that was when I first met Tessa. She was dyyyying to help, so she pulled weeds with me...and we talked about all kinds of stuff. She told me on more than one occasion how happy she was that I was moving in next door! It was so sweet! The day I actually moved in, she came running over to ask if she could help...and that she did. That girl carried stuff inside all afternoon...and even stuck around to eat pizza with us afterward. 

It wasn't long before I could count on a knock on my door  or a "Hey, Jen!" across the yard every couple days. She'd always come over in hopes of petting my bunny or playing with my dog or hanging out in my house. I spent some really great times with Tessa. My favorites, by far, were...Taking her to church for her first time, telling her about my homeless friends and  then having her come along to do street outreach with me one night, letting her finally hold my not-so-friendly bunny, and watching Matilda the night before she moved.

I don't think I'll be forgetting Tessa anytime soon... :)

 

(Neighborly Love & First Timer)

What Good Do 'What If's' Do...

Relient K - Forget And Not Slow Down

How Many Times
Can I Push It Aside
Is It Time I Befriended All The Ghosts Of All The Things That Haunt Me Most
So They Leave Me Alone
Move On With My Life
Be Certain The Steps Of Left And Right Don't Fight The Direction Of Upright

I'd Rather Forget And Not Slow Down
Than Gather Regret For The Things I Can't Change Now
If I Become What I Can't Accept
Resurrect The Saint From Within The Wretch
Pour Over Me And Wash My Hands Of It

It's Time To Decide
Which Is Out Of My Mind
Cause It'll Be Me Unless I Put Some Thoughts To Rest And Leave Some Faults Behind
I'll Watch The Glint In My Eye
Shine Off The Spring In My Step
And Could Be Blinding Depending On The Amount Of You That I Reflect

Cause I Could Spend My Life Just Trying To Sift Through
What I Could've Done Better But What Good Do What If's Do

There's Something I Should Tell You Now

I'd Rather Forget And Not Slow Down
Than Gather Regret For The Things I Can't Change Now
If I Become What I Can't Accept
Resurrect The Saint From Within The Wretch
Pour Over Me And Wash My Hands

Pour Over Me And Wash My Hands

Cause I Could Spend My Life Just Trying To Sift Through
What I Could've Done Better But What Good Do What If's Do

Closer In The End...

God's really been doing some serious, serious work on my heart recently! That 'work' He's doing doesn't always feel warm and fuzzy either...it's actually pretty darn painful at times.

But there isn't an ounce of me questioning the fact that God has got a plan. I don't, however, have a clue what that plan even remotely looks like...nor is it of any importance for me to try solve that puzzle. Things seem to work much, much better though when I leave the God-sized work up to God.

I guess what that leaves me with, then, would be...baby steps. Obedient, baby steps. Maybe some bigger steps, too. But nonetheless, careful, obedient steps. And sometimes He'll tell me to jump. So, I will have to obediently take that leap.

Honestly, though...those simple, little baby steps can sometimes feel like I'm running across the top of an enormous skyscraper and falling, feet kicking and arms flailing, into the middle of a fifthly city's obnoxious unruliness and screeching cars and screaming horns.

No, it's not always pretty...and it can be downright scary at times. As scary as plummeting off the top of a skyscraper. But, let me be the first to tell you, I did a whole heck of a lot to put myself in that 'not-so-pretty' spot. So, I've got no one else to blame. 

God IS going to rescue me from it, though. It's going to be in HIS time. According to HIS plan. Dependent on what will bring HIM the most glory. 

I'd say after all I've done in opposition to Him and all He's done in favor of me...it's more than fair. It's actually an amazing deal on my side of things. One I certainly don't deserve...one I could never, ever come close to earning.

So, for now, I need to be still. I need to listen. Listen for God telling me to take that step...to make that move. It won't be easy. It's going to hurt. There might be tears. But He's going to carry me through it. It's all going to bring me closer to Him. And regardless of the path it takes to get me there, it's the only place I ever want to be.      

Thank You For The Cross...

Man...Talk about something for which to be grateful!

Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

- Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT) 

Are these words not simply beautiful! He forgave ALL my sins! He CANCELED the record of charges against me! EVERYTHING was nailed to the cross! 

I'm not sure how I so often manage to let this perfect promise slip my mind! But those moments when I really 'get' it...when it all 'clicks'...those moments are the overwhelming, to say the least! God's love for me and for EVERYONE is unconditional! And nothing can ever change that, ever!

As much screwing up as I've done in the past and as much screwing up as I'll do in the future...Christ's blood has already covered it! That's is some seriously powerful LOVE!

Thank you for the CROSS!