Working with the kids at the faith-based domestic violence shelter really has opened my eyes to how much I do have that I don't really need. The same thing happened last summer when I went to Australia for two weeks to do volunteer work--I was staying in a VERY shabby hotel, with no heat or bed (and it was negative 5 degrees!), and no computer or cell phone. When I first encountered my accomodations in Australia, I didn't know how I would manage to survive the next two weeks ahead of me! After the first couple days, it turns out I adjusted quite easily, and not only did I learn to manage but I actually LOVED my lack of luxuries! Not having constant distractions around me made me notice how wonderful life's moments can be if you take the time to relax and enjoy them.
Since I've been working with these kids who have been inflicted by domestic violence, I've had that same reminder that we don't need all that much to be happy and live wonderful lives. I suppose one would expect that these children would be angry or depressed or sad, but it's actually quite the opposite! They are so happy-even when living in a shelter with their past experiences still fresh in their minds. Sure, there are days that are harder emotionally than others, but for the most part the children are so happy just when a volunteer talks to them for two minutes! I think because of their experiences they extremely appreciate any tidbits of love they can get. It gave me that same reminder of how very blessed I am that I have a nice, safe apartment with my husband and kitty cat and even though money can get pretty tight here in California, we still always have plenty of food, and we both have a car, and I'm able to go to college--we have more than enough of the essentials! Which Garrett and I are very blessed and thankful for. Having these reminders of how little one needs to be happy are so beautiful. One, it helps you save money since it makes you be more mindful of only buying things you need, and two-it makes you realize that you can make so much out of life!
Thinking about the children at the shelter really make me think of this passage from the Bible:
"Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.' So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, 'Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.' As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, 'Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.' But she said, 'As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handfull of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.' Then Elijah said to her, 'Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, "The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of te earth."' So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah."--1 Kings 17:8-16 (NASB)
Other than making me think of the appreciation of even having seemingly little, I love this passage for a few other reasons. (1) It proves that the Lord will always provide, even if it seems our resources have almost run dry, (2) If you put all your faith in God, He will give you all that you need, and (3) We can discover from this passage that all we really need is just enough. For in this passage, they didn't even need to begin with enough bread for several days to fill their need for food, they just needed enough flour and oil to make enough bread for those days. All they had was enough-and it was still a great blessing to receive that! I hope that I am always able to keep that mentality about life!
I love how His Word is always living and changing! God is so good!
-Jessica
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold to those who walk uprightly. O Lord of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!"--Psalm 84:11-12 (NASB)
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Love So Amazing
I don't have a ton of time at the moment for I'm off to go teach Chapel on Wheels, but felt a great urge to write a quick post.
This morning, I really wanted to center myself and spend some quite time with God this morning to prepare me for teaching today and so I can get a relaxing start to another hectic week.
I turned on some relaxing music, and layed on my couch and just spoke to God in my head. Then, I really felt like picking up my Bible. However, I didn't feel the need to pick it up to read it, instead, I just picked it up and while I was talking with God I just ran my fingers across the pages and over His words and flipped through them. I kept doing this for a really long time-I was sort of in a trance.
Then I got teary eyed because I felt so much happiness from this and was very strongly feeling His love towards me. While I was holding my Bible, the reason I felt so mesmorized by His words were because I kept thinking "I can't believe how much He loves me...this book is His like His love letter to me. He didn't have to give us so much information about His promises, but He chose to out of His grace. I can't believe all the things He's done for me. I just can't believe someone I can't even see loves me so much."
It just seemed so amazing to me that the Bible...the best-selling book in the world...was written out of His love and with each and everyone of us in mind. THAT is pretty amazing.
And what's also pretty amazing, is that at church and Bible studies, so forth...you are surrounded by people who also know His amazingness. Thank you God, for your love!
This morning, I really wanted to center myself and spend some quite time with God this morning to prepare me for teaching today and so I can get a relaxing start to another hectic week.
I turned on some relaxing music, and layed on my couch and just spoke to God in my head. Then, I really felt like picking up my Bible. However, I didn't feel the need to pick it up to read it, instead, I just picked it up and while I was talking with God I just ran my fingers across the pages and over His words and flipped through them. I kept doing this for a really long time-I was sort of in a trance.
Then I got teary eyed because I felt so much happiness from this and was very strongly feeling His love towards me. While I was holding my Bible, the reason I felt so mesmorized by His words were because I kept thinking "I can't believe how much He loves me...this book is His like His love letter to me. He didn't have to give us so much information about His promises, but He chose to out of His grace. I can't believe all the things He's done for me. I just can't believe someone I can't even see loves me so much."
It just seemed so amazing to me that the Bible...the best-selling book in the world...was written out of His love and with each and everyone of us in mind. THAT is pretty amazing.
And what's also pretty amazing, is that at church and Bible studies, so forth...you are surrounded by people who also know His amazingness. Thank you God, for your love!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Getting in the Groove of Things
Hello everyone!
I'm so happy fall is here! We definitely needed some rain and cool weather-it was getting a little too hot in the summer! Also, it's my favorite time of year for the holidays and the closeness of family and friends during this season.
I want to get better about updating my blog, it's been pretty sparse since I started school, but I'm getting more adjusted to my new schedule, and I think it's important for me to update my blog since it makes me pause and remind myself I need to schedule fun/relaxation time too! Although I'm taking a lot of classes this semester, it's nice in a way because it is going by FAST! Without having a ton of time to lolligag with homework, my business is helping school zoom by a bit. I'm already 1/3rd through the semester! Keep praying that I get good grades in all my classes for the remaining 2/3rds!
I'm liking my classes this semester a lot better than previous semesters...I feel that in the 400 level classes you get to do classwork more creatively and from your point of view applied to the material being studied, and they challenge you to critically think-as opposed to the 100/200 level classes where you are pretty much copying down and memorizing questions and answers...not a lot of freedom with that.
I'm approaching the second session of the Seed Women's Bible Study. Even though we are only having our second meeting, I've still been journaling about it on my own time to pull out the spiritual principles in the verses we are studying. I already feel like I've grown so much in studying/journaling about the first session...I can't even imagine how amazing it will feel after I complete all six sessions! I've been gaining so much joy, inspiration, growth, and knowledge more than ever recently from going to church, the young marrieds ministry, Seeds, and the women's agape group...which is FANTASTIC, however, I feel like since I'm receiving so much from God, I really wanted to give to Him as well. As I think I may have mentioned before, I would really like to have a job where I am doing faith-based work, but I don't want to wait till ater graduation (nor should I) to give back. Although I don't have a ton of time at the moment after school and the Bible studies/minsitries I'm doing, I've found a couple small ways to give back-I'm very excited, I think it's a great start.
Starting Monday, Oct. 3rd, I'm going to be one of the Chapel on Wheels teachers for a Yorba LInda Elementary School. For those of you unfamiliar with Chapel on Wheels, it's basically a trailer that's like a mini church inside and once a week kids who have permission from their parents get to do 45 minutes of Bible study during the school day. It's really fun...I did it when I was in fourth grade. I think it's a great way to give back by spreading His Word, and plus I love kids! So I think love it. I'm a little nervous since I've never done it before, but I know I can do it with God by my side (Phil 4:13)!!!
I'm starting my domestic violence counseling training next Friday, so I'll blog about how that goes...until I finish it, I can't actually counsel DV victims, but I can still help them in other ways. So in the meantime till I get my 40 hours of training done, I'm going to be volunteering by working in the nursery for a faith-based domestic violence women & children's center in OC.
And to give you an update from my last post, my counseling session with students from my school went very well! The first session was mostly getting to understand the people I was working with, but the second session that was this past Thursday had great progress-I think it was pretty effective!
So, that's my life right now, and I'm loving it! Thank God for blessing me with so many rewarding opportunities! He is so good!
Love,
Jessica
P.S. A side note, if you haven't yet, check out the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, it's great! And check out this inspirational, sweet video: stservicemovie.com
I'm so happy fall is here! We definitely needed some rain and cool weather-it was getting a little too hot in the summer! Also, it's my favorite time of year for the holidays and the closeness of family and friends during this season.
I want to get better about updating my blog, it's been pretty sparse since I started school, but I'm getting more adjusted to my new schedule, and I think it's important for me to update my blog since it makes me pause and remind myself I need to schedule fun/relaxation time too! Although I'm taking a lot of classes this semester, it's nice in a way because it is going by FAST! Without having a ton of time to lolligag with homework, my business is helping school zoom by a bit. I'm already 1/3rd through the semester! Keep praying that I get good grades in all my classes for the remaining 2/3rds!
I'm liking my classes this semester a lot better than previous semesters...I feel that in the 400 level classes you get to do classwork more creatively and from your point of view applied to the material being studied, and they challenge you to critically think-as opposed to the 100/200 level classes where you are pretty much copying down and memorizing questions and answers...not a lot of freedom with that.
I'm approaching the second session of the Seed Women's Bible Study. Even though we are only having our second meeting, I've still been journaling about it on my own time to pull out the spiritual principles in the verses we are studying. I already feel like I've grown so much in studying/journaling about the first session...I can't even imagine how amazing it will feel after I complete all six sessions! I've been gaining so much joy, inspiration, growth, and knowledge more than ever recently from going to church, the young marrieds ministry, Seeds, and the women's agape group...which is FANTASTIC, however, I feel like since I'm receiving so much from God, I really wanted to give to Him as well. As I think I may have mentioned before, I would really like to have a job where I am doing faith-based work, but I don't want to wait till ater graduation (nor should I) to give back. Although I don't have a ton of time at the moment after school and the Bible studies/minsitries I'm doing, I've found a couple small ways to give back-I'm very excited, I think it's a great start.
Starting Monday, Oct. 3rd, I'm going to be one of the Chapel on Wheels teachers for a Yorba LInda Elementary School. For those of you unfamiliar with Chapel on Wheels, it's basically a trailer that's like a mini church inside and once a week kids who have permission from their parents get to do 45 minutes of Bible study during the school day. It's really fun...I did it when I was in fourth grade. I think it's a great way to give back by spreading His Word, and plus I love kids! So I think love it. I'm a little nervous since I've never done it before, but I know I can do it with God by my side (Phil 4:13)!!!
I'm starting my domestic violence counseling training next Friday, so I'll blog about how that goes...until I finish it, I can't actually counsel DV victims, but I can still help them in other ways. So in the meantime till I get my 40 hours of training done, I'm going to be volunteering by working in the nursery for a faith-based domestic violence women & children's center in OC.
And to give you an update from my last post, my counseling session with students from my school went very well! The first session was mostly getting to understand the people I was working with, but the second session that was this past Thursday had great progress-I think it was pretty effective!
So, that's my life right now, and I'm loving it! Thank God for blessing me with so many rewarding opportunities! He is so good!
Love,
Jessica
P.S. A side note, if you haven't yet, check out the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, it's great! And check out this inspirational, sweet video: stservicemovie.com
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
A Little Drained, But Still Wanted to Write!
Hello friends,
My blog tonight won't really be one that's super inspirational (or possibly not very intelligent0 since I am EXHAUSTED! This month I haven't been writing as much as usual since school has taken up much of my time and energy, however I felt a little spark of wanting to write tonight, so thought I would write a brief blog on what I've been up to.
For some reason my whole life I have always had to be extremely busy. I just don't like sitting still! Well, although it is a good thing to have lots of motivation and accomplish many things, I think this semester I have learned how that can sometimes be very bad! However, even though my calendar is full to the brim, I don't regret my decision to pack on a lot. Since I have been growing stronger than ever in my faith with the Lord this year and have been talking with Him and listening for His guidance for what I should do with my life, I feel like I am getting tons of messages from the Lord flooding into me everyday.
I think maybe I'm feeling so flooded with messages since I'm probably way overdue on listening to His guidance. lol It's as if I was out of town for years and not able to ever check my email, and then all of a sudden I got back and am trying to sift through everything and figure out how to best apply His guidance to my life and fit His plan for me. THe main reason I've been taking on a lot is because there are so many ways I want to serve the Lord using the guidance He has so graciously given me.
As I mentioned, I don't regret filling my calendar to the brim, although I am stressed sometimes, I am ulitmately proud for doing God's work and doing everything I am in His name. Right now, I'm taking 6, 400-level 3 unit classes. One of them is a peer counseling class (which I have taken before and quite enjoyed). I start my first counseing session with students tomorrow-it will be on positive body image. I think I am a great counselor, and I think counseling is the path God wants me to go on and I think given my skills, it's the best way for me to do His work. For another one of my classes, the whole entire class builds up to one BIG research project. It's sort of like an "undergrad thesis". We pick any topic we want (it has to apply to Women's studies of course), and we have to do a 20-page research paper then give a 30 minute presentation of our findings in late November. IF we don't want to do a research paper, we can choose to do something else as long as the amount of work put in is equivalent.
I wanted to do something different that I could possibly use for my future aspirations of being a counselor. So, I am going to write a grant proposal for a non-profit women's counseling center. But rather than having the center use the typical talking-listening approach to solve issues, I want to use a more active approach, for I feel turning an emotional past into something that can help prevent the same to happen to others is much more empowering for the clients and has more closure for their situation. For example, someone who was a victim of domestic violence would meet a counselor for a couple sessions and the counselor can understand the client's situation a little better and get a feel for their personality. Then, they would work together to develop an active approach to recovery--for example, the client and the counselor could collaborate together and develop a seminar that is taught to high school boys to teach them about domestic violence in order to help future generations from falling into the same harmful pattern of violence. As I get further along in the process, I'll write more about it on this blog.
So I have a lot on my plate with that--I'm going to need to do research on the effectiveness of this counseling approach, how it is different from other women's org. in the area, how the grant funds will be distributed, what staff members we need, and lots of other legal aspects. (THis grant isn't something I'm actually turning into the gov. for funding, it's a "fake" grant-yet has to be in the format for one that would actually be submitted). I think this "grant" project is going to be great for a portfolio of counseling work! And I think it'll be a lot of fun :)
I have this Saturday and next off from the Shea Center. We just finished the summer session, and now me, the horseys, and the other volunteers need a break! Bet in OCtober I'm back for the fall session! I'm wanting to also get more experience on the learning therapy aspect of the Center. (To fill those in who don't know what I'm talking about, the Shea Center is a therapeutic horseback riding center for children with disabilities. I'm a volunteer there and I assist the counseling staff with mostly physical therapy, but a little bit of cognititve learning too). I'm glad to have a bit of a break so I can sleep in on Saturday mornings, but I will miss the smell of the barn, Spy (the horse I work with), and of course the wonderful kids!
In two weeks, I'll be starting my 40-hour state required domestic violence training. I know to most it would sound like a drag, but I want so badly to work with and help victims of domestic violence. I truly feel it is my calling. I'm very excited to start, because the sooner I start the closer I am to making a difference in the lives of others!
I also just began doing a women's Bible study on Seed by Priscilla Shirer. The purpose of the study is to help you realize how every verse in the Bible is living, and to help you learn how to read Bible verses in a way that helps you figure out how to apply each and everyone to your life so you can better discover yourself and to better serve God. I'm only two days in, but so far am LOVING it!!!
I'm just so thankful to be able to have so many opportunities in my life to do God's work and to follow His path for me, as well as all the little blessings He places in my life each day! I'm so thankful that Garrett and I have found a church we love with people we love who love God with us! I'm also thankful that no matter how hectic each day is, that at the end of it I can feel satisfied knowing I've made God proud, and that in between my busy schedule and bedtime I get to cook dinner with my wonderful husband and cuddle with my adorable kitty! Hehehe :)
Love,
Jess
My blog tonight won't really be one that's super inspirational (or possibly not very intelligent0 since I am EXHAUSTED! This month I haven't been writing as much as usual since school has taken up much of my time and energy, however I felt a little spark of wanting to write tonight, so thought I would write a brief blog on what I've been up to.
For some reason my whole life I have always had to be extremely busy. I just don't like sitting still! Well, although it is a good thing to have lots of motivation and accomplish many things, I think this semester I have learned how that can sometimes be very bad! However, even though my calendar is full to the brim, I don't regret my decision to pack on a lot. Since I have been growing stronger than ever in my faith with the Lord this year and have been talking with Him and listening for His guidance for what I should do with my life, I feel like I am getting tons of messages from the Lord flooding into me everyday.
I think maybe I'm feeling so flooded with messages since I'm probably way overdue on listening to His guidance. lol It's as if I was out of town for years and not able to ever check my email, and then all of a sudden I got back and am trying to sift through everything and figure out how to best apply His guidance to my life and fit His plan for me. THe main reason I've been taking on a lot is because there are so many ways I want to serve the Lord using the guidance He has so graciously given me.
As I mentioned, I don't regret filling my calendar to the brim, although I am stressed sometimes, I am ulitmately proud for doing God's work and doing everything I am in His name. Right now, I'm taking 6, 400-level 3 unit classes. One of them is a peer counseling class (which I have taken before and quite enjoyed). I start my first counseing session with students tomorrow-it will be on positive body image. I think I am a great counselor, and I think counseling is the path God wants me to go on and I think given my skills, it's the best way for me to do His work. For another one of my classes, the whole entire class builds up to one BIG research project. It's sort of like an "undergrad thesis". We pick any topic we want (it has to apply to Women's studies of course), and we have to do a 20-page research paper then give a 30 minute presentation of our findings in late November. IF we don't want to do a research paper, we can choose to do something else as long as the amount of work put in is equivalent.
I wanted to do something different that I could possibly use for my future aspirations of being a counselor. So, I am going to write a grant proposal for a non-profit women's counseling center. But rather than having the center use the typical talking-listening approach to solve issues, I want to use a more active approach, for I feel turning an emotional past into something that can help prevent the same to happen to others is much more empowering for the clients and has more closure for their situation. For example, someone who was a victim of domestic violence would meet a counselor for a couple sessions and the counselor can understand the client's situation a little better and get a feel for their personality. Then, they would work together to develop an active approach to recovery--for example, the client and the counselor could collaborate together and develop a seminar that is taught to high school boys to teach them about domestic violence in order to help future generations from falling into the same harmful pattern of violence. As I get further along in the process, I'll write more about it on this blog.
So I have a lot on my plate with that--I'm going to need to do research on the effectiveness of this counseling approach, how it is different from other women's org. in the area, how the grant funds will be distributed, what staff members we need, and lots of other legal aspects. (THis grant isn't something I'm actually turning into the gov. for funding, it's a "fake" grant-yet has to be in the format for one that would actually be submitted). I think this "grant" project is going to be great for a portfolio of counseling work! And I think it'll be a lot of fun :)
I have this Saturday and next off from the Shea Center. We just finished the summer session, and now me, the horseys, and the other volunteers need a break! Bet in OCtober I'm back for the fall session! I'm wanting to also get more experience on the learning therapy aspect of the Center. (To fill those in who don't know what I'm talking about, the Shea Center is a therapeutic horseback riding center for children with disabilities. I'm a volunteer there and I assist the counseling staff with mostly physical therapy, but a little bit of cognititve learning too). I'm glad to have a bit of a break so I can sleep in on Saturday mornings, but I will miss the smell of the barn, Spy (the horse I work with), and of course the wonderful kids!
In two weeks, I'll be starting my 40-hour state required domestic violence training. I know to most it would sound like a drag, but I want so badly to work with and help victims of domestic violence. I truly feel it is my calling. I'm very excited to start, because the sooner I start the closer I am to making a difference in the lives of others!
I also just began doing a women's Bible study on Seed by Priscilla Shirer. The purpose of the study is to help you realize how every verse in the Bible is living, and to help you learn how to read Bible verses in a way that helps you figure out how to apply each and everyone to your life so you can better discover yourself and to better serve God. I'm only two days in, but so far am LOVING it!!!
I'm just so thankful to be able to have so many opportunities in my life to do God's work and to follow His path for me, as well as all the little blessings He places in my life each day! I'm so thankful that Garrett and I have found a church we love with people we love who love God with us! I'm also thankful that no matter how hectic each day is, that at the end of it I can feel satisfied knowing I've made God proud, and that in between my busy schedule and bedtime I get to cook dinner with my wonderful husband and cuddle with my adorable kitty! Hehehe :)
Love,
Jess
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Much Motivation Needed, Please!
I've always been pretty confident in my work as a student, but ever since this current semester started (it's only been 3 weeks, but I still feel this way!) I've been feeling doubtful in my capabilities to do good work. Maybe it's senioritis, maybe it's because I'm scared that I coming so close to the end of my undergrad college career since it means I have to have more of a direction with what I want to do with my life. All I know is that I feel SCARED!
I keep reading the Bible and keep going to church, and I am continuously praying to God to help give me more clear direction. I've been feeling like I was on the right path with counseling (which I still want to do), however I've been feeling like I'm not smart enough to complete this final year of school. Garrett of course, tells me that's ridiculous and that I'm very smart, and that I'm just letting my fears get in the way, but I can't help but feel like I'm not cut out to complete such emotionally and academically challenging classes. What's been scaring me is that if I feel this scared three weeks into my final year, how am I going to get through the 12 remaining weeks of this semester? Or the next semester for that matter?
I know the best solution is to keep trying my best and to keep praying to God to give me strength and have more faith and confidence in my capabilities, but for the time being I would still love words of encouragement! Every day I've been looking up various encouraging Bible verses, so if you have some faves, please share them with me!
Love,
Jess
I keep reading the Bible and keep going to church, and I am continuously praying to God to help give me more clear direction. I've been feeling like I was on the right path with counseling (which I still want to do), however I've been feeling like I'm not smart enough to complete this final year of school. Garrett of course, tells me that's ridiculous and that I'm very smart, and that I'm just letting my fears get in the way, but I can't help but feel like I'm not cut out to complete such emotionally and academically challenging classes. What's been scaring me is that if I feel this scared three weeks into my final year, how am I going to get through the 12 remaining weeks of this semester? Or the next semester for that matter?
I know the best solution is to keep trying my best and to keep praying to God to give me strength and have more faith and confidence in my capabilities, but for the time being I would still love words of encouragement! Every day I've been looking up various encouraging Bible verses, so if you have some faves, please share them with me!
Love,
Jess
Friday, September 9, 2011
Blessings
I've been pretty bad about updating my blog the past few weeks since I had finals for my summer classes, then got married the next week, then started my first week of my fall semester! So things have been a little crazy. Although I don't have a whole lot to write about at the moment, I did want to take the time to reflect on a few things.
What has been amazing me since this summer began are all the many ways God has blessed my life. I normally would focus on the major blessings in my life (i.e. how I'm able to afford school, how I have a loving family, Garrett being in my life, etc.), but I've been fortunate enough to notice the numerous amount of blessings in my life-even the seemingly small ones. I've been feeling so full of God's love lately, and have been feeling closer than ever to Him! I have little conversations with him constantly throughout the day, and have been thanking Him for when I notice a blessing in my life, which has been keeping me very happy and optimistic in these hectic times of my life!
Continually thanking Him and talking to Him everyday has been amazing-I now more than every realize He is my best friend. Even more recently, I've been so thankful to God for blessing mine and Garrett's marriage so much in just the two weeks we've been husband and wife. We've been financially stable, we've been praying together since we got married a lot more than ever before, we both have loving families, we have a great group of other married couples at church we get to have fun with and enjoy God with, and we have an amazing, very loving relationship with each other! Something Garrett and I have noticed are in short supply in the world today--especially in SoCal!
Garrett and I are very excited to experience the upcoming big journeys and changes in our lives, and are also very excited to find out more of what God has planned for our marriage. I have my college graduation coming up in 9 months, Garrett and I are planning on moving to North Idaho after my graduation, and we still have our big wedding celebration with our families next June, too! Until we get a little closer to going through those big journeys in our lives, in the meantime I'll be taking lots of classes, Garrett will still be going to work at Kaiser, we'll both get to spend time going to church and our church ministry (I'm gong to be part of an upcoming Priscilla Shrier women's Bible study in late Sep), I'm going to be going through the state-required domestic violence counseling training, and Garrett and I will continue to have many Disneyland date-nights!
God Bless!
Love, Jess
What has been amazing me since this summer began are all the many ways God has blessed my life. I normally would focus on the major blessings in my life (i.e. how I'm able to afford school, how I have a loving family, Garrett being in my life, etc.), but I've been fortunate enough to notice the numerous amount of blessings in my life-even the seemingly small ones. I've been feeling so full of God's love lately, and have been feeling closer than ever to Him! I have little conversations with him constantly throughout the day, and have been thanking Him for when I notice a blessing in my life, which has been keeping me very happy and optimistic in these hectic times of my life!
Continually thanking Him and talking to Him everyday has been amazing-I now more than every realize He is my best friend. Even more recently, I've been so thankful to God for blessing mine and Garrett's marriage so much in just the two weeks we've been husband and wife. We've been financially stable, we've been praying together since we got married a lot more than ever before, we both have loving families, we have a great group of other married couples at church we get to have fun with and enjoy God with, and we have an amazing, very loving relationship with each other! Something Garrett and I have noticed are in short supply in the world today--especially in SoCal!
Garrett and I are very excited to experience the upcoming big journeys and changes in our lives, and are also very excited to find out more of what God has planned for our marriage. I have my college graduation coming up in 9 months, Garrett and I are planning on moving to North Idaho after my graduation, and we still have our big wedding celebration with our families next June, too! Until we get a little closer to going through those big journeys in our lives, in the meantime I'll be taking lots of classes, Garrett will still be going to work at Kaiser, we'll both get to spend time going to church and our church ministry (I'm gong to be part of an upcoming Priscilla Shrier women's Bible study in late Sep), I'm going to be going through the state-required domestic violence counseling training, and Garrett and I will continue to have many Disneyland date-nights!
God Bless!
Love, Jess
Friday, September 2, 2011
Please Help Me Help Others!
As most of you know, I am in my last year of college and am wanting to pursue a career as a counselor (i.e. family counselor, victims of domestic violence, etc.). One of the first steps in becoming a counselor, as required by the state, is to attend a state-certified 40hrs domestic violence training. However, the training does cost $200 that I need to try to raise by Sep. 14th. THere are other training dates next year, but I am wanting to take the soonest possible one so I can start volunteering with victims of domestic violence, as this would be an invaluable experience, and this is an issue that is extremely close to my heart. Any amount of money to help me towards the $200 would be a huge help, or even positive words of encouragement are always nice! :) Here's the link to donate:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=WJ87sVvkYtDEx2_-qxVqTW6X5lgSmcMvSTd_-70x4RXfkbbi0vBnFCBwiIC&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d35d0e363192f28ea2a5d17702da0dbf0
Once you go to paypal, you can say you're going to donate to "friends and family", and then donate to my email address: j.ruthlynch@gmail.com. Or, if you know my address you can always send a check to if that preferable. :)
Thank you everyone and God bless!
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=WJ87sVvkYtDEx2_-qxVqTW6X5lgSmcMvSTd_-70x4RXfkbbi0vBnFCBwiIC&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d35d0e363192f28ea2a5d17702da0dbf0
Once you go to paypal, you can say you're going to donate to "friends and family", and then donate to my email address: j.ruthlynch@gmail.com. Or, if you know my address you can always send a check to if that preferable. :)
Thank you everyone and God bless!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Remembering to Count My Blessings
I read a sentence last week that’s been in my mind since I read it-it has just stuck with me. “Don’t stress about or doubt anything—instead, pray about everything.” Although there are some amazing life changes that I’m in the process of (i.e. in my last year of college, getting married, etc.), with these changes come also a lot of stress. Most of the time, it is good, motivating stress. However, sometimes all the excitement and work can take its toll and start making you doubt your capabilities—even make you doubt whether or not you even matter.
I know here and there everybody experiences these feelings of self-doubt and lack of capability, but I’ve always felt that in the past I’ve dwelled on these negative feelings more than the average person. I easily get discouraged or feel that I am unimportant. However, my continuous journey in building a stronger relationship with God has helped me more than anything else to overcome these barriers. I feel that now I’ve turned to God and am always praying and talking to Him about everything—just as that quote said—that I have felt more confident, important, and more capable of a person than I have ever felt—and I feel like my motivation and encouragement from God is growing every day.
I used to be pretty infrequent with praying, it just wouldn’t occur to me to do it since most of my life praying wasn’t something I was used to doing on a regular basis. Over the past years, Garrett has reminded me to pray and has continuously reminded me that God wants to hear from me, and wants to help me—I just need to ask. Garrett has helped me make praying more of a habit. However, now that we’ve been attending church and have been making more friends who also are excited to have relationships with the Lord, my “habit” has not only become even more frequent, but praying is something I’m eager and excited to do numerous times a day, I have a passionate want and desire to feel closer to God!
Since I have read that quote, it inspired me to do just that: Whenever I doubt myself, or whenever I am stressed (or thankful for something), I immediately turn to God for guidance rather than hold on to stress and doubt. As soon as I do talk to God about what’s on my mind, I instantly feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Not only do I feel this relief, but once my negative thoughts drift away, I immediately start to notice all the wonderful things God has brought into my life—the positive is then in clear focus. Even when I was sitting in traffic (which was adding onto my already stressed mood) one day, I was praying to God about what was troubling me, and I noticed not only how blessed I am in my life to be financially stable, able to go to college, and have a wonderful fiancé, but I even noticed how pretty the scenery was where I was sitting in traffic!
It is so amazing to know right away to talk to God about everything—and that the experience is amazing when you do so! I guess the major reason why in the past I had always held onto negative emotions so strongly was because I hadn’t discovered the beauty of the Lord to His fullest…I feel like a changed person since I have grown closer to Him! I am still always reminding myself that I can get through anything and accomplish anything, as long as I always have God beside me.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Next Chapter of My Life
From the very first day I went on a date with Garrett (4 years and 2 months ago tomorrow), I have always known without a single doubt that I was going to marry him and that we were soul mates. I knew that I would always love him madly, and that he was not only supposed to be my husband, but that we were each other's best friends. The other day I was talking with some girlfriends of mine and they were saying that they were feeling sad that they hadn't met their soul mate yet. I told one of the girls not to worry, because I think that God brings our soul mates into our lives at the most perfect time--whether it's early in life or later in life, I think that God knows the best timing for everyone. I was very fortunate to meet my soul mate at a very young age compared to most people (16 years old), and I don't think it was just a "lucky accident"--I truly believe that it was part of God's plan for us to meet when we did.
When we met, Garrett had just moved to California from Idaho and didn't know anyone-he was feeling very lonely, and not only was this a change in lifestyle since he was in a new state, but it was also the first time he had moved away from living with his parents....as one can imagine, these two major changes happening concurrently with no one to even keep you company in your new city would be very stressful. I had numerous, very serious issues with my family (I won't get into all of them right now), and I also felt like I had no one to talk to about what was going on in my life-my family wasn't talking to one another about what was going on, and I felt that I didn't feel that home was a safe place for me to be. I didn't want to lean on my friends since I often didn't want to talk about my family issues and I felt that they wouldn't understand, and I didn't want to burden them either.
We met each other when we were facing all these hardships in our lives, so I think God knew that we didn't just need a friend-we each needed an eternal best friend and soul mate. I couldn't have EVER faced all the challenges that came my way without the support Garrett provided for me-he made me feel so loved and safe. Even when I hardly knew him, I felt very comfortable talking to him about very personal things. Garrett needed my love, support, and encouragement to help him through his new endeavors.
Although I have always known during our dating that we were supposed to be husband and wife someday, it never really sunk in that it was actually going to happen. Since we were so young when we started dating, getting married just seemed like a distant dream nowhere in the near future. Then, on June 18th of this year, Garrett proposed to me! I was so ecstatic and thrilled to be able to call him my fiance since we are so much more than just "boyfriend and girlfriend". We decided we wanted our wedding to be June 16, 2012 (this day will be our fifth anniversary). However, a couple of weeks ago Garrett and I started to feel that something wasn't quite right in our lives--we fetl that God was trying to communicate with us but couldn't pinpoint what he was trying to say. We both prayed and talked to God together to help us figure out what it was he was trying to tell us. So, one afternoon while Garrett was at work I felt that the best thing for me to do was to take my Bible and go to the arboretum and have some alone time with God, and really clear my mind of all my other though processes and just open up myself to Him. After being there for an hour and a half, I felt that God was telling me that what was wrong was that we weren't married yet. Garrett and I know that we were always meant to be husband and wife, and that it wasn't quite right for us to wait till next year-because our love is too strong and deep for each other to not say our vows to one another and become each other's families. Once I realized God was telling me this, I called up Garrett and told him what I felt God was trying to communicate to me. Garrett didn't even hesitate or give it a second thought, he just said, "Then we should get married as soon as possible". I am so blessed to have a fiance who is so in sync with me and who loves the Lord!
So, we decided to have a civil ceremony (we are still going to have the big celebration next June). Which means, we are getting married August 25, 2011 at 2pm! I've been ecstatic over the past week, but for some reason today it really sunk in that we are going to get married...it seems very real and tangible now. It is thrilling to think that I am going to be beginning the whole next chapter of my life in just 10 days! Garrett and I will finally be a family! We are so excited to find out what this new chapter of our lives will bring, and excited to find out what the next chapter will be!
When we met, Garrett had just moved to California from Idaho and didn't know anyone-he was feeling very lonely, and not only was this a change in lifestyle since he was in a new state, but it was also the first time he had moved away from living with his parents....as one can imagine, these two major changes happening concurrently with no one to even keep you company in your new city would be very stressful. I had numerous, very serious issues with my family (I won't get into all of them right now), and I also felt like I had no one to talk to about what was going on in my life-my family wasn't talking to one another about what was going on, and I felt that I didn't feel that home was a safe place for me to be. I didn't want to lean on my friends since I often didn't want to talk about my family issues and I felt that they wouldn't understand, and I didn't want to burden them either.
We met each other when we were facing all these hardships in our lives, so I think God knew that we didn't just need a friend-we each needed an eternal best friend and soul mate. I couldn't have EVER faced all the challenges that came my way without the support Garrett provided for me-he made me feel so loved and safe. Even when I hardly knew him, I felt very comfortable talking to him about very personal things. Garrett needed my love, support, and encouragement to help him through his new endeavors.
Although I have always known during our dating that we were supposed to be husband and wife someday, it never really sunk in that it was actually going to happen. Since we were so young when we started dating, getting married just seemed like a distant dream nowhere in the near future. Then, on June 18th of this year, Garrett proposed to me! I was so ecstatic and thrilled to be able to call him my fiance since we are so much more than just "boyfriend and girlfriend". We decided we wanted our wedding to be June 16, 2012 (this day will be our fifth anniversary). However, a couple of weeks ago Garrett and I started to feel that something wasn't quite right in our lives--we fetl that God was trying to communicate with us but couldn't pinpoint what he was trying to say. We both prayed and talked to God together to help us figure out what it was he was trying to tell us. So, one afternoon while Garrett was at work I felt that the best thing for me to do was to take my Bible and go to the arboretum and have some alone time with God, and really clear my mind of all my other though processes and just open up myself to Him. After being there for an hour and a half, I felt that God was telling me that what was wrong was that we weren't married yet. Garrett and I know that we were always meant to be husband and wife, and that it wasn't quite right for us to wait till next year-because our love is too strong and deep for each other to not say our vows to one another and become each other's families. Once I realized God was telling me this, I called up Garrett and told him what I felt God was trying to communicate to me. Garrett didn't even hesitate or give it a second thought, he just said, "Then we should get married as soon as possible". I am so blessed to have a fiance who is so in sync with me and who loves the Lord!
So, we decided to have a civil ceremony (we are still going to have the big celebration next June). Which means, we are getting married August 25, 2011 at 2pm! I've been ecstatic over the past week, but for some reason today it really sunk in that we are going to get married...it seems very real and tangible now. It is thrilling to think that I am going to be beginning the whole next chapter of my life in just 10 days! Garrett and I will finally be a family! We are so excited to find out what this new chapter of our lives will bring, and excited to find out what the next chapter will be!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Learning to Listen
For the past couple weeks, I have been having so many thoughts running through my head. Not just the good kind of inspirational thoughts that cause that kind of excitement, but I've been having thoughts containing a huge range of topics and emotions. At first, it was exciting because it got me thinking about a lot of things, and was motivating me to accomplish more things in my daily life. Gradually, my head was getting full to the brim and it was driving me a little nuts! Today I started asking myself, what is going on here? I can control the speed of my own thoughts, can't I? So why am I making myself anxious and stressed out by taking a breather and putting many of these thoughts I have on hold so I don't overcrowd my brain?
Then, it hit me: It was God trying to talk to me! Although I feel like I have been becoming tremendously closer to God, I feel that a major thing I definitely need to work on in my relationship with Him is learning to listen to Him. Since so often my life is on hyper-drive, I forget to take moments throughout each day to listen to what God is telling me and look towards Him for guidance. I realized today that God kept trying to speak to me these past couple weeks, but me not realizing it, wasn't really paying attention and instead was focusing on my own thoughts...leading to me having all these thoughts and ideas tumbling through my head! I go on auto-pilot so often in my daily routines it sometimes becomes easy to lose grasp of the Lord's voice and end up trying to guide yourself.
Once I realized that all these mixed emotions was God trying to get through to me, I grabbed my NKJV Study Bible and went to the arboretum. I laid down a towel under the shade of a gorgeous tree by the stream at the arboretum, and then laid down on the towel and took a couple moments to just feel the nice summer breeze. Once I relaxed myself, I talked to God for a long time about many things that I needed guidance with. I then listened. Once I took that time to clear my mind and only allow myself to hear His voice, things became much clearer. Then, I looked up certain subjects in my Bible's index that had to do with the things I felt I needed guidance for in my life that I had talked to God about. I spent about an hour just reading different verses in the Bible, and I got my answers, and now my mind feels at ease. The verses I read clarified a lot of things for me, and the solutions seemed clear. How I felt after I remembered to turn to God when I need guidance and after I reminded myself to try to listen to His voice everyday, something Pastor Bob said was sticking in my mind: "When your values are clear, your decisions are easy."
This was so true for me! I know its so very hard in our hectic lives today to always try to listen to God and to remember to do so, but I hope this blog post was a helpful reminder that we all need and deserve quality alone time with the Lord. I'm so thankful for the joy and guidance He continuously brings to me and the other people in my life!
Then, it hit me: It was God trying to talk to me! Although I feel like I have been becoming tremendously closer to God, I feel that a major thing I definitely need to work on in my relationship with Him is learning to listen to Him. Since so often my life is on hyper-drive, I forget to take moments throughout each day to listen to what God is telling me and look towards Him for guidance. I realized today that God kept trying to speak to me these past couple weeks, but me not realizing it, wasn't really paying attention and instead was focusing on my own thoughts...leading to me having all these thoughts and ideas tumbling through my head! I go on auto-pilot so often in my daily routines it sometimes becomes easy to lose grasp of the Lord's voice and end up trying to guide yourself.
Once I realized that all these mixed emotions was God trying to get through to me, I grabbed my NKJV Study Bible and went to the arboretum. I laid down a towel under the shade of a gorgeous tree by the stream at the arboretum, and then laid down on the towel and took a couple moments to just feel the nice summer breeze. Once I relaxed myself, I talked to God for a long time about many things that I needed guidance with. I then listened. Once I took that time to clear my mind and only allow myself to hear His voice, things became much clearer. Then, I looked up certain subjects in my Bible's index that had to do with the things I felt I needed guidance for in my life that I had talked to God about. I spent about an hour just reading different verses in the Bible, and I got my answers, and now my mind feels at ease. The verses I read clarified a lot of things for me, and the solutions seemed clear. How I felt after I remembered to turn to God when I need guidance and after I reminded myself to try to listen to His voice everyday, something Pastor Bob said was sticking in my mind: "When your values are clear, your decisions are easy."
This was so true for me! I know its so very hard in our hectic lives today to always try to listen to God and to remember to do so, but I hope this blog post was a helpful reminder that we all need and deserve quality alone time with the Lord. I'm so thankful for the joy and guidance He continuously brings to me and the other people in my life!
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