And these two gorgeous little guys are my nephews. One of the greatest honors in my world is being an aunt. I adore these kiddos, I mean they have got my heart bad. I have learned so much about my relationship with God from loving them. I guess I'm showing them off, but I'm also asking today for your prayers that as I journey to Honduras to minister there that God will give us creative ways to stay close at heart. It will be hard to leave lots of folks I love a bunch but these three are the ones that might just break my heart. Pray for them to understand far beyond their childlike years and that God will use this to teach them about following Jesus with all their precious little hearts. Braydon, Cameron, and sweet Carley, your Aunt Jen thinks you are absolutely terrific, loves you so way much, and prays for you every single day. I adore you guys forever and always!!  

This is my beautiful little neice. She's the first girl in the family for a while so she's spoiled rotten. Adorable and delightful and wonderful and a gift from God.  

Update on Honduras Plans

Haven't written much about the Honduras plans for a while and so thought I would update you all on what's going on with all of that. I originally started this blog to address the hearts journey toward Honduras and God has just taught me so much in preparation that I sometimes get caught right there. It's been good and He's been faithful.

Technically speaking however, here are some of the plans as of now...

• GRAND OPENING of Casa de Esperanza (House of Hope) will be December 10,2005.
• We still need to raise approximately $100,000 to have it up and funded for the first year of operation.
• It will house 20 girls of all ages by early 2006.
• Departure date is October 25ish to be in Honduras permanently.
• The childrens home will be located on a piece of property about 30 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa called Santa Ana.
• It will be located within a village called Villa de Esperanza (which means village of hope) are you seeing a trend here? praying to offer a whole lot of hope. :)
• On the property there with the childrens home there will be a church building, a police post, a medical clinic, 20 concrete block houses, and a training center affiliated with Mi Esperanza which will train women to have a skill so that they can provide for their families. It is an exciting time to be a part of the vision for this project.

Think those might be the major updates for now. I have no idea why God is allowing me the honor of serving these precious people, but I so desire to always treat it as such...a tremendous honor! Thank you all for what you are doing to encourage, support, and love me in and through this!

All for Him, JEN

You ARE Welcome Here

Hey all...I so appreciate that a few of you have been checking out this blog and posting comments, it's so way fun to get on here and read your comments and know you're reading whatever God may be causing to rattle around between my ears and working out in the central processing unit in my chest. :)

Went to a Beth Moore conference this weekend and needless to say I am feeling pretty filled to the brim on this Sunday evening after a weekend with some terrific gals and a whole great big dose from God's word. So many things I heard that are worthy of being passed on and yet am still processing so much of what she said and attempting to make sense of it in my own mind, I am not sure I would be able to do justice to it here just yet.

One thing though that made absolutely perfect sense and needs no process time was this...sitting in this big arena, speaking to thousands of women, before she said much about anything else, Beth addressed an audience we sometimes overlook. She said, "I have no idea what you brought in here with you tonight. I have no idea what you think about this Jesus guy or how much you know about this great book I hold in my hand. But I want you to know you are welcome here. If right now you are tempted to look around and think, I do not belong here, please know that the God of the universe welcomes you here. You are welcome here. You belong right here." She never took for granted that there may be some there who didn't know where they stood on this whole loving Jesus business and I so appreciated her offering warm welcomes on God's behalf.

Just wanted to remind any of you who may be reading this who aren't sure exactly what you think about all this God stuff, that you ARE welcome here. You are welcome right here. I pray that somehow He will show you how welcome you are near His heart.

Blessings in abundance....

ran away for a little while...

In this little 25 verse book tucked in near the end of the New Testament there is a verse that has often jumped off the page as I've read through the book of Philemon. It's so simple yet it compels my heart and my mind to ponder... and in it's simplicity it reads, "Onesimus ran away for a little while, so you could have him back forever." Paul is pleading with Philemon and a few other "soldiers of the cross" to take in Onesimus as if Paul himself were coming to them. It's a beautiful, I believe in and love this guy and he is a changed man, passage.

It not only reminds me of how brokenness had to occur in my life as I walked away for a little while to realize that there was nowhere in this world that I would rather be than in the arms of Jesus, but about my responsibility to be a Paul and give broken people the freedom to fail and find God's love in my presence as they seek to be the people they really truly want to be. You have anyone you love who has walked away for a little while, perhaps a lot longer "while" than you ever thought possible. The waiting is so hard, I'm not dismissing that. I'm simply offering myself and anyone else who is graciously reading any of this, a reminder from the powerful life speaking word of God that I believe there are times when walking away for a little while allows us to come running back to Jesus forever. I've heard several testimonies lately that bear witness to this fact. Thank you to those of you who are sharing from deeper places than we sometimes offer to share.

Hang on my dear friends, pray your hearts out, continue to plead with God to claim places those we love are not allowing Him access to, but hold onto the hope this verse offers in the fact that running away for a while often only means we come running back fast for forever. Thank you Lord for being patient and for loving relentlessly and thank you to you "soldiers of the cross" who fought for my soul on this earth and loved with His heart.

From a heart that ran back for every day of FOREVER and pleads for those who will choose to do the same. Wait and trust....He yearns for their heart far more than we know how to.

Uninhibited Praise

I stood in the presence of several hundred young people this evening and I am absolutely knocked to my knees. I saw a new depth of worship that either I had forgotten existed or haven't fully experienced. I watched them be the church in ways we have become far too "grown up" for. Perhaps I shouldn't lump us all in the same category so I'll just place myself there. I have gotten far too mature to jump around and celebrate Christ. I've become far too controlled to kneel when I pray and by all means I must be guarded enough to not just hug and love on everybody because not everyone can be trusted and what if people reject me or don't like me or.... blah blah blah blah blah.

So I come humbly asking questions of my heart this evening...what did I see within them that I lack? What so touched my heart that I feel I've lost touch with? And this is my conclusion at this point...UNINHIBITED PRAISE!!! I've forgotten how good it felt to not base my worship or my response to God on anything else but God! I saw that tonight in some young people who renewed and refreshed my heart.

If they are any indication of all God has planned for the future I await the coming days in eager expectation! He's raising up some giants in the land!

OASIS

Last night was the first of a 5 part series that will happen for the sisters in our area. It's always so incredibly evident to me that we need each other. Can't tell you the number of times I have been so encouraged by a hug or a hand on my shoulder or a simultaneous tear running down a sisters cheek. We pray together well. :) We laugh together well. :) We worship together well. :) We do life together well. :) Well, we just do together well!! I'm so glad God gave us the privilege of being sisters. What a neat idea! Good one God. It was like He said, ok y'all listen up I'm gonna plant you all here together and give you all the opportunities in the world to realize how fun this being a family thing can be. So you guys just have a party and at moments we say OK!! We don't need much of an excuse for a party now do we??!!

It's like I feel like in some ways we're redeeming ourselves. Let's face it, it is no secret, we can be pretty caddy, sometimes extremely petty, and for a long time we've been labeled as having a hard time controlling our tongues and deciding when they should wag and when they shouldn't. Not that we've solved all of those problems by far, but I think we're figuring out more ways to be good to one another also. We're figuring out how to come alongside and encourage and draw out one anothers gifts and rejoice in them using them. We're choosing to "be there" for each other in true senses of the word not just when it's easy or convenient. We're learning how to help make each other better, really.

This wasn't at all what I intended this post to be about. When I sat down to write I thought I was going to give a recap on last night and the beautiful way God used it (and perhaps I have just in a different avenue.) Regardless I guess the thought of sisterhood just took over because it overjoys me sometimes. I think God must at moments sit up there and grin from ear to ear when He sees a room full of gals enjoying being His girls. That catches my heart and makes it leap because of all the pain I cause Him in my humanness, I love times when I think about Him looking and being able to just smile in sheer joy.

Lots of words I love...one of my favorites is definitely becoming SISTER!! I'll learn more about what it means as I add days and years of experience to my life, but right now it's such a sweet word to my heart. I've learned so much in the presence of my sisters as we've invited the Spirit to overtake us still more. We've discovered so much of God together, and I suppose that's my prayer. Which brings me back to this OASIS thing, I so pray in this time of fellowship and sharing together that we'll discover more of Him together.

And so my sisters...shine on!!!

This is the rough draft of the casa where some sweet little ninas will pillow their heads and be loved on and prayed over! What a dream come true this is, I cannot even tell you. I have NO words that do it justice. Keep us all in your prayers please.  

Happy Birthday Momma Grose :)

Today was a special day...it's Momma Grose's birthday and it gave me an opportunity to think about how much her presence has blessed my life! Difficult to put into words all that watching her life has done to help clarify what I want my own to look like but she has modeled and mentored and been such a huge beacon of light as I have attempted to walk towards Jesus.

So before I pillow my head tonight, I just felt the need to make an entry into this journal for this day about another one of the people who have most impacted my world and today seemed the right time to do it.

So here are the lessons I've learned from her that perhaps benefit far more than just me. Seems pretty selfish not to share.

1) I've learned that honor is something you give to those you love and it's demonstrated as you seek to make them look good (whether they are present or not) in front of others by both your words and actions.

2) I've learned that a faith that is lived out takes a Bible that is lived in.

3) I've learned that seeking out the one soul who needs loved on and encouraged most today is loving like Jesus loves.

4) I've learned that grace can be worth more than a million dollars when you forgive mistakes and help people forget them.

5) I've learned that quiet time in a prayer chair each morning produces wisdom from heaven.

6) I've learned that of all the accomplishments I may achieve in my life, being God's friend is the single solitary best undeserved one.

7) I've learned that we get the same number of hours each day and we can choose to go through life spending minutes or making moments and I prefer the latter.

8) I've learned that living with a purpose makes others want one too.

9) I've learned that loving God contagiously makes your sphere of influence absolutely huge, and that having a heart the size of Texas gives Him all sorts of opportunity to use it.

10) I've learned that when I grow up I want to be a lot like her cause she's a lot like Jesus!!!!

The list could go on and the lessons are many. Thank you Lord for this day and for the contribution of this lady to the lives of so many of us. You outdid yourself!!

Happy Birthday one more time. Your adopted daughter loves you!

"Goodbye status quo, I think I just let go, You make me wanna be brave. The way it always was is no longer good enough, You make me wanna be brave!!" -- Nicole Nordeman