How well do you know me?

It's sinking in for me that I'm 25 years old. I'll turn 26 in June and to me that seems like a big deal. So I started thinking.... what's something fun about being 25? I decided it's time to get to know me a little better. Therefore, I present to you

25 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I have 3 common nicknames... i think there are only 3... my family calls me "dar-dar", my close friends call me Jess and only 2-3 others call me Skeeter. We don't honestly know where the 3rd came from, but those who call me that are the only ones with the permission to use that name. :)

2. I have a dream of traveling to a foreign country and leading a group of believers in worship through song in some remote location. Just us, a guitar and the Lord with His creation.

3. I am not a morning person at all. Most of the time I don't think my brain can form words much less sentences until I've been up for at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

4. I loved high school. I wasn't popular or anything, but I just loved high school. I loved the events, the groups I was a part of, the random trips to the Chinese restaurant in town with friends after early senior release, the fact that my senior class started a lot of the "traditions" that are still going on today.

5. At this time in my life, the idea of having a mortgage payment scares me to death. Probably why i'm such a big fan of renting right now.

6. When I surrendered to the ministry in high school, I "bargained" with the Lord that I would greatly serve Him in ministry as long as He never called me to work on staff at a church.... the first job I had out of college (first big girl job) was working as the youth pastor at a church. Don't bargain with the Lord. :)

7. I'm not a girly girl, but I do hope the man the Lord has for me is a MAN and not a little boy. catch my drift?

8. I take things to heart a lot when I shouldn't.

9. I bottle up emotions whether they are anger, happiness, sadness, etc.

10. I love vintage prints and colors.

11. I have a big pet peeve when people call me "baby, sweetheart or honey". It's alright if you're my family or if we're in a relationship, but if you don't fit into that category then call me by my name. There are only a handful of people who I brush it off when they refer to me by one of those names and those individuals aren't family.

12. I love to travel.

13. I hate to unpack my suitcase.

14. I doodle when I study or take notes on subjects. You should have seen my notebooks in college and high school.

15. I want to adopt one day.

16. I want to have a house full of children. However, I don't want to have a big house.

17. In the last year, I have learned a lot about myself and who I am in the Lord.

18. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

19. That last statement/thought sometimes makes me feel inadequate and like I've failed.

20. I love black and white photography.

21. I like to make things.

22. I like to cook for people. Not for myself, but for others to enjoy.

23. I love Christmas year round!!

24. I can't be in a room when onions are cut up or cooked in a pan. I have a reaction. However, I can eat them.

25. I am a people watcher. With that being said, I am a very good reader of people. I believe that one of my spiritual gifts is discernment.

that's all. :)

oooo girl...did you see what she was wearing?!

Apparently I’ve reached that age. The one where people start asking questions... I’m a single girl in her mid-twenties who is not dating anyone nor has ever been married before. People start asking “when are you going to get married?”, “why aren’t you dating anyone?”. Or they speak to each other phrases like “she’s too picky”, “maybe there are some things she needs to change”, or my favorite “does she not want to be married?” I’m not making these lines up people… I’ve heard them all. I think the worst thing about all these thoughts, questions and comments are that the majority of them come from those who attend the local church.

See I’ve decided that all my Bibles I’ve ever owned left out the book of Jeraboim. See in the 7th chapter and 23rd verse of the book of Jeraboim it clearly states that a female must be married with 1.5 kids by the time she reaches her 25 birthday. Preferably with a second child but at least have a second child on the way. Please tell me where I can find this because I’m obviously missing something. ***Please note, I am not serious about my Bible missing books. My Bible is complete and no lacking in anything (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Now don’t get me wrong…I have a HUGE desire to be married and have a family, but in God’s time, not mine. For the time being I’m learning how He is my groom and my true heart’s desire and anything else He gives is just because He loves me. Song of Songs 7:10.

This blog is to talk about how we as people, creations of the Living God treat those He has created. We believe that our culture has created this mold in which others must fit into perfectly, yet when they don’t somehow it’s their fault. It’s their fault that no one has chosen to share their life with them. It’s their fault that a husband and wife cannot conceive. It’s their fault that a spouse chose to leave them because obviously they’re not getting what they WANT out of their husband or wife. It’s their fault if they feel uncomfortable when lessons are taught on loving parents just because both their parents passed away before they turned 30.

Why do we think that we have any right to try and criticize the life of a child of the Lord? A creation He formed with His hands. A son or daughter that He loves so much that He desires to give good. Do we truly believe our opinions and thoughts will bring them peace and love when they aren’t spoken from the Lord? Do we honestly believe that our looks and actions will show approval and grace to those who the rest of the world sees as worthless?
We find the faults in others and seek to pull them out in hopes to make them a better person. Rather, shouldn’t we cover those faults and blemishes with the love, grace and arms of the Lord and His extension through us? Won’t those “issues” that we see in others be turned into things the Lord can use to minister to others using that individual?

When I look at a girl who is broken because she comes from a family who doesn’t care if she eats from day to day, but I act like she is in my way and taking up precious time I have. What about the two kids who live in a home with their parents. However, their parents have one A/C unit that is in their bedroom and the children have free reign of the rest of the house and the parents never come out of the bedroom because they’re continuously cooking meth? (I am not making that one up). Do we cut our eyes at them in disgust when they walk in and just want someone to hug them because no one hugs in their family… they would rather hit or tell the individual how much they need to fix in their life… their version of loving and mending…

The love that the world has created comes when one meets the standards that the culture sets. The church today believes you must meet a certain physical appearance in order to be “accepted”. One must bath and have clothing from a high-end fashion store before stepping into the newly remodeled facility. What if an individual comes in who hasn’t bathed in 2 weeks? What if they are wearing the same clothes they’ve worn for 3 days? What if they sit beside me? Do I politely smile and ask “how are you doing?” but not really mean it? Do I tell them it was nice to see them as I leave the church but never offer them to come to lunch with me or ask them if there is any way I can help?

I remember growing up when my parents weren’t as involved in church as other parents in the youth group. Other kids would give me looks like it was my fault. Adults would ask questions because they felt it was my responsibility to make sure my parents were involved. I don’t remember one person coming to our house to visit just to see how we were doing. We weren’t “in the right circle”.

I’ve become so consumed with meeting my wants and not meeting the needs of others that Jesus puts in my path. I think as long as I tell them the story of the Gospel that they will want what I have…. But I show no love? People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Didn’t Jesus always meet the needs of others while also sharing His love…. Paul says in I Corinthians 13 “I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I am without love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy, and know every hidden truth; I may have faith strong enough to move mountains; but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may dole out all I possess, or even give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I am none the better.”

I want to be the person who sits in the nursery at church holding children even when they smell of smoke or dirt is caked on their face. I want to be the girl in Africa praying with mothers and fathers as they learn their child is terribly sick. I want to stand in the middle of a field in South America leading worship for the local church. I long to sit with a young girl as she cries and explains to me why she feels it necessary to cut herself to make the pain go away. I want to remind her of the one who created her and looks at her declaring her beauty day after day. I want to be the one who kneels to kiss the feet of the Father longing just to hear Him.