Reality Hit

Their are 3 girls in my life that are my cousins-- No actually they are my sisters.  God knew that these girls would become my little sisters.  On Friday night life changed very quickly, as their precious Granny had a heart attack and died during surgery.

My heart hurts for my little sisters as they have never dealt with losing a loved one!  

I am so thankful for Granny being at Kristen's wedding in May- the pictures are priceless, and Granny looked beautiful and was just beaming of happiness.

Then my heart hurts for Courtney as she is getting married in December.  But how sweet that Granny will be watching from Heaven.  This week will be a hard one their family, please be praying for them, especially traveling safety as they will be coming in from Bama.

Again, I have been reminded of how short life is and you never know how quickly it can change!

I'm reminded to:

•  live a life that builds a legacy for others to follow
• be bold and share Christ with others more
• take the time to tell my family and friends how blessed I am by having them in my life
• not to take life for granted
• to love more

Courtney(Coco), Kristen, and Kelli- I love yall so much and I know this week will be very hard.  I can not wait for yall to get to Texas so I can hug, love, and cry with y'all.

I will get back to recapping about Jamaica very soon-my video would not load.

Blessings and Love

Jenn

 

Jamaica Recap

Take 2

Sunday Best

Last Sunday morning we went to church at Hillview Baptist Church.  It sits on top of a hill, I didnt know if our bus would make it up the hill. They have Sunday School in different parts of their sanctuary (all ladies were teaching). The Choir had white blouses with blue flowered print-they looked so pretty.  Again there was no AC, just opened windows for the breeze to come in.  Kathi prepared us though by giving us all little fans to take into church. 

I looked up to notice that there speakers and sound system were caged up so no one would steal it. Doesnt that just make you sad??

The youth sat in the balcony and were so well behaved.  I loved seeing all of the women in their different hats.  We got to be apart of their Baby dedication service which was precious to see baby Javel with all of his parents and family standing around him.

We were sitting on the front left on the 2nd-4th pews.  In front of us sat two boys who were just precious.  In fact Kathi pointed out that one of them kept looking at me.  Well this little boys name was David.  He was very sweet, well mannered, and sitting with his friend. I never saw his parents.  

 We began to read a Psalms which I learned very quickly that my version of the bible they were reading from was very different(King James- I had ESV).  He kept turning around looking at me- like saying why arent you reading from your bible?  He did not have a bible to read from.

I picked up my small bible that has a cross on the front of it- and I felt a nudge to ask David if he would like to see it.  His eyes lit up and he just sat there with his friends looking at this little bible. David told me he had never seen a bible this little.  Also, he saw were I had written in my bible and I told him that I didnt want to forget what I had learned from that scripture.

I will never forget little David and I hope that a seed was planted for him to really cherish and love God's Word. 

Blessings and Love,

Jenn

Jamaica Recap

Take 1- Our Team

First of all, thank you for all of your prayers, emails, texts, and phone calls I can not even begin to express to you how much it has meant to me.  My brain is still processing the week, so I thought I would break down the week into different takes...(Basically more to come)

Back in November our team was formed, with monthly meetings to prepare for the trip.  Our team consisted of 13 women!  Julie Hill invited me to be apart of this group and join her teaching for Upper Reading, little did I know my life would be changed.  Julie is always a breath of fresh air to me, and like a mother to me. I love hearing Julie pray because she prays with such a passion and with amazing faith.  She is a complete JOY(we also work together at school).

I can not even begin to tell you how much I loves my teammates (my precious sisters in Christ).  I got to know them in a deeper level as we spent the last week together- I was beyond blessed to hear their stories, hearts, and most of all their LOVE for Christ.  We had 13 WOMEN who truly had a blast together.

Each team member was given a travel buddy--Well God knew Becky Walsh was the perfect fit. Little did I know we would have so many things in common and have dealt with some of the same life experiences.  We talked so much through out the week, and she totally inspired me with her faith and obedience in Christ.  Her heart is so precious and I'm beyond blessed to have her in my life now that we are back in the US...

Through out our week long adventure, our team bonded, laughed together, sweated together, spent alot of time together, cried together, but most importantly we saw GOD at WORK.  We saw First Hand- Gods hands were all over our trip!!  We saw the Lord use us for his GOOD to bless the Jamaican teachers.  We saw the Lord protect our bodies as it was VERY HOT and HUMID there.

Im so thankful for the friendships that were made on this trip.

The bonds that were formed and the experiences we made as a GROUP these memories will last a LIFE TIME.  

Of Course, I had to teach them a few songs during our trip.... 

(Cause you can have whatever you like..)

Blessings and Love,

Jenn

In Awe

I have not left for Jamaica but I sit here just in AWE of GOD.  

He put this desire to go, love, and share with others the knowledge he has given me to teach. 

I'm so excited that this trip that fell into my lap over 9 months ago is here.

Our team had our packing party on Wednesday and we are getting to take 40 bags of luggage not full of our clothes- but supplies for the teachers and kids. 

 I can not wait for the teachers to see the books we are bringing them.

God has answered every prayer our team has laid before him.

Question of Today

How am  I?
Im ready to be in Jamaica. 

My bag is packed(clothes for a week are in a carry on bag)!

I can not wait to meet the children and teachers.

My prayer is that GOD would just use me, that I would take every opportunity to love

 and to bring light to Jamaica!

My prayer for the past few weeks has God let me get out of your way, and use me to bring YOU all the GLORY!

The trip has not even started and I am so overwhelmed with God's Goodness and Blessings

(Yes, tears are falling as I type them)

I truly do not know what God has in store for me in Jamaica, but I can not wait.

I PRAISE God in ADVANCE for what he is Going to do in this trip, through this trip, and after this trip!

On a side note, I can not even begin to say THANK YOU for all of you who are praying, encouraging, and supporting me in this trip.  I am so thankful for my parents who have supported me in this trip and for their PRAYERS--

The Lord is the ONE who Goes Ahead of YOU,

He will be with YOU; 

He will not fail you or forsake YOU. 

Do not fear or be dismayed.

Deut 31:8

Blessings,

Jenn

Preparing for Jamaica

I can not tell you how excited I am about going on this trip!  But to be honest my heart is heavy for the children in the orphanges.  We will be going to two different orphanges( a private and a public).  In Jamaica if a child is born with special needs they go drop this precious child off at the public orphange.  They believe they have been cursed and dont want anything to do with this child.  Every day I have prayed that the Lord would just prepare my heart for this journey.  If you know me you know that I would love to bring all of these precious children home with me.  I am so ready to meet these precious children and just love on them. 

I am super excited to meet the teachers of Jamaica that we will be working with, please be in prayer as we do our final preparations this week.  I truly can not wait to go. My carry-on is packed and we have our packing party on Wednesday!!  

Again, I thank God for dropping this trip in my lap, it is something I have always dreamed of going out of the states to teach teachers how to teach!  

Believing, Expecting, and Trusting,

Jenn

The Heart

 A heart to love,

A Pure heart,

A heart of gold, 

A heart that loves my family and friends,

A Heart to reach out and to pour love over someone else,

A heart that wants to fix someone elses heart ache,

A heart that continues to go back for more after being hurt,

A heart that doesn't want to be rejected,

A heart that wants to do the right thing,

A heart that breaks when I mess up,

A heart that truly doesn't understand certain circumstances in Life,

A heart that continues to Trust God,

A heart that loves God 

A heart that is God Centered 

Blessings,

Jenn

You're Part of the Family

Over the past year my mom has gotten to meet and know cousins that have truly impacted our lives.  Every time I come home now I have to go see them.  As soon as I walk in the door I am greeted with hugs, kisses on the cheek, and embraced with an out pouring love. They are just such examples of what it will look like when we all get to Heaven. We are PART of an AMAZING Family of God but sometimes we get so caught up in the world that we miss out on incredible brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Every time I leave my cousins now, I leave wanting to be more like them-encouraging and loving every one I come in contact. Just being the real deal and authenic is what life if all about.  May we continue to embrace those who are put in our lives with unconditional love.  We never know the people that we may come in contact with that are broken and need a smile. 

Thankful and Blessed to be apart of an 

AMAZING FAMILY,

Jenn

A Prayer Answered
After my parents divorce my dad dated or remarried lots of different ladies. Yes, I met them all and being so young I got very attached to them.
Two very special ladies touched my life and I have never forgotten them.
One I talk to often when I come home the other one I haven't seen in years. Recently my aunt Shirley told me I should call her and I was like no that's Awkard. Well tonight God blessed me with a phone call from my mom. She called me from a summer wide bible study with different women from the community. A sweet lady came up to my mom and asked her if she was married to my dad. Then she preceded to tell my mom how much she loved and adored me( the feeling was mutual!!) After their conversation mom called and told me to come up there. I listened to Beth Moore simulcast, then walked up to Pam and reintroduced myself. Her first words were you look just like your daddy! These words melted my heart! I have been blessed to have characteristics of both parents and over the years I've become more like my Pop.

Since my dad has been dead for 12 years I don't think ppl remember him. She even said I can see not only his looks but his personality. Then Pam and I just got to chat! I was able to thank her for loving me. Again God answered a prayer of wanting to reconnect with Pam.

Keep praying and believing!
God does answer our PrAyers!
Jenn