Starting Over

I've decided to start my blog over again. I'm not deleting old posts but I am starting to post again. I never get to post because I feel like I don't have things to say and I get bored with my own dribble. Whitney posts 3 Glimpses of Grace with every blog post and I think that's something I could do but I want to be more original (and not rip off my dear friend). So I'll explore things I do each day and how I think they contribute to my life and ministry. Not exactly the same but similar.

I got a gym membership. I'm not much of a gym-ie but there is something about working out that makes a person feel better. It feels like I actually did something today. Plus, bragging rights! What did you do today? Oh work, errands, GYM! I think having a healthy body helps have a more clear mind plus it inspired me to make a healthy dinner as well. It just set me off to a good fulfilling day.

I had a great talk with my parents this evening. I love talking to them but sometimes I feel like I don't have a lot to say and I'm boring. I also feel like when I'm boring they're not listening. Not that they're mean people at all (they're actually wonderful parents) but it's frustrating living in a place with no friends feeling like I don't have a lot of people to talk to. So tonight we had a great talk. I talked with them about everything going on in my life including sharing a bit about a guy I've been talking to. They both listened and had great insights. They're so smart when it comes to relationships and they always encourage my own natural instincts. it was so weird how they both picked up on the things I was thinking and feeling and confirmed them.

Another great chat with my sorority sister Marisa this evening as well. She knows so much about health (she's a nutritionist) and eating. I feel like every time we talk about food and health I come away with new ways to eat and live. It sounds cheesy but I know I can talk to her about just about anything and nothing surprises her. She also makes me laugh, a major plus.

Welcome back to blogging with me!

Movin' Out, Movin' In & Movin' On

Seminary is over! I can't believe these last three years have flown by as fast as they did. One minute I was clueless in Greek and the next I was walking across the stage to accept my beautiful diploma.

I accepted a job as an Associate Pastor in Tennessee and have moved out of my apartment in Atlanta and into an apartment in Tennessee. The weather has been beautiful and I am now the proud owner of a plant, haha! I can't have pets so I've decided to try out my green thumb. So far, so good, it's still alive after 3 days.

I miss Atlanta because there was so much to do as well as all my friends and favorite restaurants. I also miss Florida. Florida during the summer is like being spoiled rotten. The weather is so perfect and the beach is so close. Plus my wonderful family is there. I miss them but I'm just getting used to my new home.

Hopefully I'll be blogging a lot more often now about being a pastor and my plants of course.

Glimpses of Grace

Today is my dear friend Whitney's 500th post on her blog: Glimpses of Grace. Each day she posts 3 or so glimpses of the holy she sees in every day. I have envied her ability to see these beautiful moments each and every day and I have been flattered many times to be a part of them. In honor of her 500th post she made a list of her top 10 glimpses. I was thrilled to see that I was a part of several of her favorite moments over the last few years.

Another friend of ours, Erin, paid homage to Whitney today by making a list of her glimpses of grace so I would like to do the same. Congrats Whit, on your truly wonderful way of seeing the world.

-The beautiful yellow roses on each table at Laura Mendenhall's farewell BBQ. She is a very classy lady from Texas and the roses were meant to represent her.

-My favorite professor whom I idolize giving me a hug and congratulating me on accepting a call. She said "They're so lucky to get you!" I almost melted!!

-The ugly gray sky fading away to a gorgeous blue sky just in time for the BBQ this afternoon.

-Spending everyday of my Spring Break with my dad. I've been back in Atlanta for 2 days and called him just to say Hi today because I missed him. We had so much fun shopping for cars, shopping for groceries, cooking dinner, and just being lazy together.

-Coming back to my room after the BBQ and changing into my PJs and getting cozy under a blanket. Anyone who knows me knows that I could wear my PJs all day and I truly enjoy just laying around in them.

-Realizing that I'm going to New Jersey to see my bestest friends in only 16 days!

-When someone mentioned Grady hospital today I thought of Whitney and how dedicated she was to her work as a chaplin there. She brought comfort and the Spirit to so many people who truly needed her.

-Starting a question today and having Betsy Turner answer it before I even got to the end. We both laughed and she said "Yes I knew exactly what you were asking"

-Landing in the Atlanta airport Sunday to find Betsy Montgomery waiting for me in her bright green Easter dress. My flight was almost an hour late but she didn't even care. I must have apologized 10 times she finally said "Jess, I didn't even notice. Really, all I would have been doing was watching TV in my PJs." She's such a wonderful friend. I was sad to leave home and my family so it was wonderful to find someone I love waiting for me :)

Saying It Outloud

It amazing me sometimes the things we let fester within our hearts, minds, and souls. It amazes me every time I discover that I, myself, have done this again. My entire life I have needed to say it out loud. I have needed to let it out. What ever "it" might be I will allow it to say in me because I've always thought I might be doing it wrong. I might not know what I'm doing. I am so horrible at what I'm doing I may as well try something knew so this time I'll just bottle "it" up and not say a word. Others do this around me too and I am in awe of people when they finally "say it out loud."

Today I had the experience of listening to someone say it out loud. Anything I was feeling about that person before they said it changed the second after they said it. Not because of what they said but because did it. I kind of wanted to cheer for them. Even though what they said wasn't great and the truth that came out was a little ugly because it was about loss, it was about hurt, and somehow this involved me.

It's amazing to me how things change when you say them out loud. And I'd like to marinate in that idea for awhile....

Stress Levels Are High

So as my last semester of seminary hits its mid-way point and begins to move to a close my stress levels have been through the roof. At a yearly doctors appointment a few weeks ago I was told my blood pressure was up (first time ever) and I was showing signs of early hypertension. I wanted to look at the doctor and say, "Remember your last semester of medical school? I'm so there." I've even started noticing that my vision is spotty because I'm pretty sure my eyes are tired from reading and starring at a computer screen.

The call process is not easy. It's like dating and playing the stock market at the same time. Needless to say I think I'm lucky to be escaping with slightly high blood pressure and fatigue.

Amidst all this my car is breathing its last breaths and is ready to retire.
You and me both Layla (car's name).

I was feeling the pressure so hard today that I had to take a long walk and ended up calling my sister at work and venting, something I've been doing a lot this week. This is mainly because my parents are on a cruise and I can't bug them. And then just as I collapsed on my couch (the wonderful couch I inherited from Whitney) my phone rang. It was my amazing parents who were at port on St. Thomas island. My dad asked how things were going and I said, "Dad I don't want to ruin your trip but I've had an awful week." I told him everything and then talked to mom and they assured me that everything would be alright they will help me figure out the car situation when they got home.

After I got off the phone with them I started to think about my stress. Sometimes I think I forget how lucky of a person I am. Of all the things I don't have, I DO have a wonderful family. I have amazing parents who will call me while on their vacation and talk me down off a ledge. I have a beautiful and smart sister who would walk through fire for me any day and who cheers me up when I'm feeling sad. I don't NEED a lot because I have a lot. I'm so lucky to have a wonderful place like Florida where I can go for Spring Break and spend quality time with my family and just relax.

During Lent we're supposed to reflect and think about the sacrifice that was made for us in Christ. I'd also like to reflect this year about the many things I have been blessed with in my life. I am also so lucky to have my wonderful friends who stand by me, support me, love me and understand me when I know its hard sometimes. Especially when they have their own stress. If Lent is about reflecting I'll happily reflect about all my blessings.

Reason's Why "Don't Stop Believin'" is NOT Making a Come Back...

**Disclaimer** I'd first like to say that I do not mean to insult anyone, I am a firm believer in music and how it touches the soul, I am not however, a fan of Journey. Sorry Journey-lovers.

I would also like to say that after a few enlightening blogs, I felt the need to voice my opinions about silly-ness. I needed a mental break.

And now my reasons:

1. The song is actually "Don't Stop Believing" with the 'g' on the end. Sorry folks, it actually loses about 10 catchy points for correct grammar.

2. It's about NOTHING. Don't stop believing in what??? Love? A small town girl and a city boy? The midnight train? What are we not believing?

3. This is not a love song people. I think it's actually being confused with a love song.

4. This is not a dance song either. It's an 80's song and trust me when I say there are far better 80's songs.

5. Just because VH1 claims its the 11th best 80's song (in 2006) does NOT mean it is. This is the same network that brought us Flavor of Love and Charm School.....need I say more?

6. This song does not get better the more times you play it. Playing it in different settings does not make it mean different things nor does it make the lyrics make sense.

7. It is not your "jam." If you claim a song by Journey as your "jam" you seriously need a music intervention. I would be glad to sit and listen to 80's music with you for 3 days straight if only to convince you that there are much better "jams" from the 80's.

So please dear friends stop making me listen to this song. I know you love it but I think it's about time for it to just die. Let it be buried in the vault of other 80's songs that need to fade away. You can bring it out on occasion like 80's night or karaoke but other then that its time to release it back into abyss. Bye bye Journey.

A New Lord's Prayer

In reading an article for my World Christianity class I came across this new version of the Lord's Prayer. It was rewritten and is used by a Recovery Center in Douglas, Arizona/ Agua Prieta, Mexico called CREEDA. I was amazed at the commitment to faith that this prayer implies yet the truth within the words that we, as Christians, can learn from.

The Lord's Prayer

Do not call me "Father" if everyday you do not behave as my child;
Do not say "Our" if you live isolated in your selfishness
Do not say "Who Art in Heaven" if you only think about earthly/material things;
Do not say, "Hallowed by thy name" if you invoke it with your lips but your heart is far from God
Do not say "Thy Kingdom Come" if you mistake it for your material success;
Do not say "Thy Will be Done" if you do not accept the will when it is painful;
Do not say "Give us this day our daily bread" if you do not worry about the hungry;
Do not say "Forgive us our debts/trespasses" if you bear your brother or sister a grudge
Do not say "Lead us not into temptation" if you do not avoid occasions to sin
Do not say "Deliver us from evil" if you do not fight evil
Do not say "Amen" if you have not taken seriously the words of the Lord's Prayer


While this isn't exactly reformed it does take on a whole new meaning in the setting of a place of recovery from addiction to alcohol or drugs. In these settings people develop new ways of living and new ways of looking at their pain and hurt. It gives us all a new way of looking at our commitment to our faith, to God, and to the world around us. My favorite line is "Give us this day our daily bread," it is the reason why I chose to type this up on my blog.

I would also like to dedicate this new version to my wonderful friend Whitney. Her dedication to working towards reconciliation and peace in the world inspires me and I know she will love this prayer because it calls us to action and it makes us aware that Christianity is a verb.