Sarcastic-Who, Me? On Taming the Tongue

First of all, you might have noticed a few changes on the blog. Namely, my profile. The email I was using at first was my school email; I got a new email because that email was limiting what I could do on the blog (like post a profile picture). Unfortunately, that also means that my last name is now on display for all the world to see...there's some way to get rid of it, but it involves widgits and plain text and html codes and is way beyond me. If anyone understands that and wants to help me out, please let me know!

Now on to the real topic of today: taming the tongue. It's a theme throughout the Bible, and something that has been sticking out a lot to me lately. For example, a few weeks ago I was in Matthew, reading the Sermon on the Mount:

^" But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:22)

Jesus is comparing insulting your brother, to murder. Now I haven't murdered anybody, but I definitely have insulted someone. Or maybe it was a few people...or a lot of them. It's almost a part of American culture, isn't it? There are so many insults that aren't "bad" words, necessarily, but aren't building the person up or encouraging them in any way. Idiot. Dummy. Stupid. Just to name a few.

The Bible tells us that we are going to be judged, by God, for everything we do, hidden or unhidden (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Words are included in this, "for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). And just two verses later, in Matthew 12:36, Jesus says, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

So let's go back to insulting your brother. God's creation, made in His own image. I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that in insulting the creation, you insult the creator. And if your first defense is, "I'm just kidding," I guess we also never know when somebody is really feeling that they are ugly, or stupid, or worthless, and our "joke" only serves to confirm it.

I'm just as guilty of this as anybody else. As a Christian, I need to go out there and build people up, saved or not, because (as that somewhat cheesy but accurate Facebook picture says), my life may be the only Bible someone ever reads.

The second passage about taming the tongue I'd like to write about comes from one of my favorite books in the Bible, James. I just love what he has to say about wisdom, about how works are a result of faith, not a replacement...last night I was in James 3, which I've read several times before, but this time it seemed to stick out to me. I recommend that you go and read it in another version-ESV, or NIV 1984 like I use for other quotes, or whatever-but just because it seems to have more impact in "modern" language, here it is from The Message, which goes from about James 3:1-10:

"If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse.

A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!"

Wow.

It's easy to say, "I lost my temper," or, "I wasn't thinking" but that isn't an excuse in God's eyes, is it? We've already seen that we're held accountable for our words and actions, and I'm sure most forest fires start by accident after all. Like that one out in Colorado and New Mexico right now that's destroyed tens of thousands of acres and is still going strong, pretty much out of control.

We can't know the effect our words are going to have on those around us. Let's try and tame our tongues so any unexpected effect will be positive and glorify God!
So what do you think? Any tips on taming the tongue?

-Jenna

Is There Such a Thing As Guarding Your Heart Too Much?

First of all, I am by no means an expert on this.  I welcome, even ASK for, comments and other opinions, because I may be completely off base here!

Secondly, it's not that I'm saying the whole "guard your heart" principle is wrong.  I agree that it's very important, because as a woman, I'm essentially programed by society to long for a "perfect" relationship, being swept off my feet by Mr. Right, a happy ending, a perfect relationship.  What girl doesn't dream of meeting her Prince Charming?

But looking at it all logically...since I am far from perfect, how can I expect my future husband to be?  And life doesn't end at the end of the two-hour film-there are trials and disagreements and questions, even if you're having your "happy ending."

My question is, how do you know if it's the right person?  I mean, some married couples say "you'll just know" with these knowing little smiles, but I know that isn't true for everyone.  I mean, it's arguably the biggest decision you'll ever make in your life-don't like your major, switch it; don't like your job, look for another one; don't like your house, move.  But marriage is "for better or for worse...'till death do us part."

Nothing like a little pressure!

One of my favorites verses is Song of Solomon 2:7, which reads "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires."  It's one of the popular verses for youth and makes waiting for the right person seem feasible. But imagine my surprise when I was reading in my Spanish Bible and instead of having the "Beloved" warning her fellow women, it's Solomon speaking-and he's telling the women not to awaken HIS love until SHE so desires!

As dating isn't mentioned in the Bible, I think it's easy for young believers just to accept "guard your heart" as a principle (which they should), but without really considering what it means.

So as for guarding your heart...it's great not to fall head over heels for the first person who looks your way and pays you a bit of attention.  It can be so easy, so flattering, to be sucked in by pretty words...at least, for women.  And that can be very dangerous.  To quote Shannon Ethridge and Stephen Arterburn in Every Young Woman's Battle:

"While emotional attachment is natural and appropriate, it's unwise to emotionally attach to guys over and over, assuming that each boy you go out with must be The One" (148).

This is obviously a recipe for heartbreak.  But what about the opposite extreme, if there is such a thing?  Can women be so intent upon waiting for the right guy that God has preordained for them that they are afraid to take that first step?

Again, I don't pretend to be some sort of expert on this.  But it seems to me that God guides relationships the same way He does every aspect of our lives.  Sometimes, we know exactly what He wants and are able to go forward in confidence.  But other times, He guides us with feelings and other, smaller clues and expects us to step out in faith.  The problem often is with this second case, how do you know if it's His will, or if it's yours?  (This is something I'm praying over about in another aspect of my life right now.)

In my own experiences, I can only think of two instances where I "knew" what God wanted-the night I got saved, and when I first heard about the missions trip to the Dominican Republic.  It's not that I don't pray over other situations in my life, but I think God speaks to me more the second way discussed above.  So I have to act based on these feelings sometimes, or else I would never do anything...as it is, I pray for more discernment so that I know if it's His voice or me just justifying my desires!

Is there such a thing as "stepping out in faith" in a relationship?  Not within the first 2 hours of talking to a guy-after you've been friends for a while and know where he stands with God, and if your plans are at all compatible, and after you've prayed for God to show you one way or the other His will.  It would be a lot easier to convince yourself that that is God's will if your emotions are already involved, but if you ask with an open mind (and heart!), God provides.  "Guard your heart," young people, especially girls, are told...but that implies at some point, you have to let somebody in.  If we just wait and wait for the neon lights to tell us that this is the perfect relationship, we might be waiting forever.

So what do you think?  Is there a balance between being hasty to fall in love and guarding your heart?  I think so...but then, how do you find it?

This is the first blog post I've made hoping for, anticipating, other's thoughts...please take a minute and let me know if you agree, or if you think I'm completely wrong!

-Jenna

And a few pictures I've saved to my computer that made me think...





Infused!

So I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth...I promise.

Back when I was thinking about starting a blog, I read some articles on blogging, and one thing that was repeated over and over was the importance of updating frequently.  I know, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last update, and I got home from my retreat Thursday morning at midnight, so it's not like I haven't had the time.  I've just been mulling things over a bit.

You know what one of my favorite verses is?  Luke 2:19, right after the birth of Jesus, when we're told "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  Mary couldn't possibly understand everything that was going on-that she'd actually given birth to a baby despite being a virgin, that this baby would be the Savior of the world, the shepherds coming with tales of angels appearing a praising God...but rather than getting overwhelmed and incredibly confused, she just pondered these events.  That's something I love doing, too-oftentimes I need time to think back and reflect on conversations and events, and Infusion was no exception.

I'll be honest-I almost decided not to go on Infusion.  I just knew I'd be exhausted, and maybe there wouldn't be anything to eat (I'm a vegetarian as well as a fussy eater).  But I said I'd go, so I went-and I'm glad I did!  Satan's going to do whatever he can to make sure that we don't have these kinds of experiences, so that we don't meet fellow believers and ultimately grow closer to God.  And I also have a stubborn streak-so I refuse to let him win.  I went with the attitude that I was going to have an awesome time of it, and I did.

Swing-dancing, a bonfire, hiking (through waterfalls!) ,canoe races, volleyball, catching fireflies, awesome worship, fellowship, relevant workshops and electives-that's Infusion in a nutshell!  I could write so much about it, but I'm just going to focus on a few things that really stood out.  By the way, the "theme" of the week was Jesus and His life-pretty awesome, huh?  We talked about relationships (the woman at the well), dealing with loss (planned months in advance, it was pretty incredible as you'll see), how God sees and loves each of us individually (Zacchaeus), and more.

This is one of the waterfalls

And this is me stepping under one :)

One was the sense of community.  Campus Ambassadors stretches across the United States-we had tons of people from New York, of course, but also from Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, and even from Oregon.  They say there 125 or so people there, maybe more-I never counted.  But it was great getting to talk to people and get different perspectives.

Community also stood out in the midst of tragedy.  I'm not going to go into a lot of details because I don't feel it's really my place, but one of the CA groups suffered a loss at another camp over the weekend, and some of them were really close to this person.  Each and every student chose to stick it out at Infusion, and the way they came together was just incredible.  The support they offered each other, the mingled tears and prayers, and the faith they have in God, without understanding His reasons...this is a true testament to the love of God that transcends even the grave, and something that I'll never be able to forget!

Something else awesome about Infusion was the workshops and electives.  Workshops were for an hour and half every day, while electives were just one day, for an hour and fifteen minutes.  My workshop was Social Justice, and it's really inspired me to get out there and do something (the problem being, I have no idea what as of yet!).  We learned that God hates injustice (Isaiah 1:10-17 and calls us as believers to do something about the injustice in the world.  Did you know that some of the forefront advocates for causes a hundred years ago were Christians?  And it just starts with one person...I may not be able to do everything, but I can do something, and I pray that God will show me what it is He has for me-I know He will provide the means because that's something else we talked about!

Here's a quote for you to ponder: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke

On a lighter note, swing-dancing was one of my favorite parts of the trip!  I'm not much for dancing, but I was fortunate to have a really good dancer for a partner, so by the end I had it down pretty well.  We were all laughing and just having a great time, and I hope I remember what I learned for next year!

To close, I'm going to share something I wrote last Monday, which I titled "Letter to God."  Some parts I'm cutting out simply because they'd require too much of a back-story, or to protect others, but this is genuine, unedited, and personal-you've been warned!

"Usually I read my Bible at this point of my "God-time" on this retreat.  But today I feel like doing this.  It's not like my prayer journal, but I guess it's just my thoughts about the week so far.

I feel so bad [for those who lost their friend].  19-he was my age, and now he's gone.  It's got me thinking about life and death.  Should I die tonight, I don't want to be insignificant.  I want to have mattered, to have made a difference, beyond that typical "oh she was such a nice person and so young" way.  No, I want to reach out.  In my Social Justice workshop we keep talking about how we don't need to go to another country, that there's so much to be done here.  But my heart is for Spanish-does that mean I'm called to go to another country?  I mean, I think so, but I don't know for sure.  But then again, a year ago I had no idea about the Spanish either.  [See first blog entry for explanation!]  Time will tell.

Time will tell.  Time is so relative, isn't it?...I definitely feel like I've been waiting forever to know what's going on there!  But Your ways aren't mine, and neither are Your thoughts.

What can I do, God?...I feel liked You have something for me to do right now, but I have no idea what it is.  So I pray that You open my heart and mind to Your will.  Show me what I need to do and make me unafraid to try.  I'm young, I'm small, I'm "innocent," but I'm not a child, or helpless, or stupid.  Let me matter, God, but not for my sake, but for Yours.  Let my life be a testimony and [a] legacy to You, Your love, and Your power."

Thoughts?  Comments?  Questions?  Please share!

-Jenna

Not Your Typical Freshman 15

Tonight I leave, because first thing tomorrow I'm going on a 6-day retreat for Campus Ambassadors, my college Christian group.  The retreat's called Infusion and everyone says it's really awesome.  Please be praying for us-safe travels, health, and that God speaks to us!  But I thought that I should get my entry about my first semester of college out of the way, because I have no idea if I'll have Internet access over the coming week.

So when I left off, it was the summer before I started college.  I had a week in between camp and college and I tried to spend it with my friends.  I was getting more and more nervous as the day to leave for college got closer.  It was funny because I'd been looking forward to college forever-getting out of the house and out of the sometimes repressive atmosphere of such a small high school.  But I hadn't gone to any orientation and literally knew nobody on campus. 

I attend a secular school, when all of the other seniors in my church went to Christian colleges, which I found too expensive.  A lot of people thought I wouldn't fit in there, but God provides! 

I was dropped off in my dorm room Thursday with my fish, Felipe, and was essentially on my own.  Everyone else who was on campus was there for one of the special programs, like Honors, so they had meetings and dinners and ways to connect with each other.

Rather than describe how it was at college those first few days, I'll talk about how I "plugged in."  I'll admit that I have a terrible sense of direction, and I was walking around campus my first or second full day there when I came across a bunch of tents set up for organizations and clubs on campus.  I decided to check it out-some of them were giving out free stuff! 

And one of them was Campus Ambassadors.  I filled out one of the little cards and talked to the people at the table, who seemed really nice.  I'd known from looking online that there were two Christian groups on campus-CA, and BASIC, but they both had their main meetings Tuesday nights, so I'd thought I was going to switch back and forth until I figured out which one I liked better.

During the first week of classes I was determined to step outside of my comfort zone and meet new people.  One of the ways I did this was by asking to join tables at meals.  I made some great friends that way, but Monday or Tuesday I "happened" to sit with some girls who were leadership from Campus Ambassadors.  Having befriended them, I chose to go Campus Ambassadors that first week-besides, they were giving out free smoothies!-and loved it.  They brought up a missions trip they were doing to the Dominican Republic, but I never thought I could afford it...(my church ended up giving me half of the money :) ).


I could go on like this, but I think it would be more interesting if I made my own personal "Freshman 15" list of things I learned and/or enjoyed about my first year of college, in no particular order.

1. It's easier than I thought to "plug in."  I know that my personal experience is probably not typical, but God will provide a way for you to find the "right" people, if that's what you really want.
2. One of my pet peeves-people who leave their clothes overnight in the dryer and then turn it on the next morning for another 45 minutes.  Not necessary!
3. If you ever have the opportunity to take a missions trip, take it!  It changed my life in so many ways-I'm sure I'll end up blogging about it at some point, but to make a long story short, they blessed us way more than we did them and I miss them and think about them every day.
4. Professors are usually great about giving help if you take the time to ask.  I never learned the subjunctive tense in Spanish because we taught it every other year to the upper-level classes, but both of my professors gave me the extra help I needed to "get" it.
5. With greater independence comes greater responsibility-no parents means you're in charge of doing laundry, making sure you're up in time for class, etc. I did well with that but some people just can't handle it!
6. You learn if  your walk with God is really yours or your friends'/family's when there's nobody there to make sure you're up for church.
7. Sometimes people in the dining halls give you less food if you're a teenage girl.  Not fair!
8. Some people really will never grow up-might as well get used to them now!
9. Just because you're at a "party school" doesn't mean that everyone goes out and gets wasted on the weekends.  To quote my eighth grade history teacher, "Life is full of choices!"
10. There really is an albino squirrel at my college-I'd thought he was a myth!  (Of course, the picture won't upload.)
11. "Free" is my new favorite word as a poor college student!
12. People told me I'd never get through a semester of college without coffee-well I made it through two.
13. I've learned to have an open mind-just because something is different doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad or wrong.
14. Not necessarily because of college, but I've learned a lot about myself based on experiences with other people this past year-forgiveness and what it is to miss somebody, for example.
15. Life is full of awkward moments-sometimes you just have to let it go and hope everyone else does too!

Well that's it for now!

Edit:
The DR team (mi familia!)

Great Expectations

So I know I said that the next post would be about the past year-but I don't feel like writing about that right now, so I'm going to elaborate a bit on what I said in "header" of the blog: 

"They say a person doesn't become an adult until the age of 24, so I have 5 more years to discover myself, grow in my faith, and (I pray) ultimately make a difference, as I'm old enough to understand the issues, and still young enough not to be embittered or jaded by the past."

This is the article I reference in the first sentence: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/teenage-plus-the-new-adolescence-7676016.html, which says that the

"...adolescent brain is handicapped in the rational assessment of risk and prone to "hot cognitions" – decisions influenced by exciting or stressful conditions which adults are better able to resist."

In other words, part of the reason that people at this age act the way they do is because the decision-making parts of their brains aren't fully developed as of yet.  Having spent a year in a college dorm, I can agree that this is often true!  Being this age-the "extended adolescent," as I've seen it referred to-is difficult, because we're trapped between being rational and irrational, mature and immature, child and adult.

Don't get me wrong-I'm not justifying the actions of people my age, even though there may be scientific evidence to back them.  Going back to the Bible, God often uses young people to do great things for His kingdom.  Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the story of David, who wasn't even considered as being the potential future king.  My favorite verse from the story of David and Goliath is

"David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."" (1 Samuel 17:45)

Think about it-here's a young man, a boy, really, standing against this giant.  Older and stronger men refuse to take the stand against Goliath, and yet David knows God and is able to discern His will.  More than that, he steps out in faith, armed with just that sling and a stone, "in the name of the LORD Almighty"!

The story of David is a popular one even outside of the church.  Everybody loves an "underdog," after all.  But what I think many people fail to notice, even within the church, is that he didn't come armed with that sling and stone.  He didn't rely on his superior skills, honed by years of guarding the sheep.  He relied on God, trusting Him to do the work and make his aim true.  I bet that if David hadn't had the sling and the stone, he would have still gone up to that line, trusting in God to make a way!

I just finished up 1 Timothy the other night.  I actually read a bilingual Bible, translating the Spanish before reading the English, and it makes me really think about each word.  One of the most famous verses of this book is the ever-popular "Youth Group" verse, 1 Timothy 4:12

"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."

The Spanish, when translated literally from my Bible and rearranged to fit English syntax, says "Let nobody disparage you for being young.  To the contrary, let the believers see in you an example to follow in the way of speech, in behavior, and in love, faith, and purity." 

See how the meaning changes just a bit?  The original English commands us to set an example, whereas the Spanish tells us to let them see an example in us.  They ultimately have the same result, but the English suggests being very deliberate about setting this example to me, whereas the Spanish tells us to let them see.  It reminds me of the verses where Jesus tells His followers not to pray as the hypocrites do, for all to hear, or not to let the one hand know what the other is doing.  If we're really living our faith out, people are going to notice on their own.

So how does this apply to me?  I'm not entirely sure yet.  In my experience, God doesn't give us the whole picture.  We're expected to go step by step, choice by choice, and obey Him and the road we are to take will gradually be made clear to us.  Like with my choice to try to interpret, or David's choice to refuse to allow Goliath to insult his God.

All my life, I've been told that I can be anything that I set my mind to.  I've grown up in one of the most prosperous nations of all time and have had many opportunities that others can only dream of.  I'm old enough now to understand that I can't literally be whatever I want-I'm too broke to run for President, for example, not that I'd want to try-but God has a plan for me, for each of His children, that goes far beyond what we might imagine for ourselves.

Right now, my dream is to live in a Spanish-speaking country.  I don't know which yet-my trip to the Dominican Republic was life-changing and I have an open invitation to go back whenever I want, but that's the only other country I've ever been to.  A really good friend of mine-remember Nelson from the interpreting story?-just went back to Chiapas, Mexico, about two months ago, and he said that he would pay for me to go visit someday.  Right now, my plan is to just work on learning as much Spanish as I can and wait for the opportunities to arise.

That's not much of a plan, is it?  Well, often times when we plan, things "don't work out."  I put this in quotes because of course they work out-God's plans are infinitely better than our own!-but oftentimes we're just too shortsighted to look at the bigger picture.  Going back to the article I mentioned at the beginning of my blog, I'm young, I'm changing, I'm growing.  I've a lot to learn, not only about Spanish, but also about the world-about relationships, about love, about God (not necessarily in that order!).  Little by little, day by day, I'm getting there.  God has great expectations for me, and I know He will see them through!

And So It All Begins!

To be honest, I have no idea how "successful" this blog will be.  How do you define "success?"  Is it popularity, having a lot of views and comments?  Or is it being able to influence a few people in a positive way?  I'm going for the second definition, and I hope that this blog will help you to think of things in a different way, to grow closer to God, and, at the very least, to understand that there are teenage girls out there who do think about things other than Justin Bieber or Teen Mom!

Honestly, this stage in my life seems to be the most...important, that I can remember.  That's not really the word I'm looking for, but how else do I describe it?  I've changed so much in the past year, the past 6 months, even-it's probably a lot like being a baby, only I don't remember that much at all.  But I want to remember this part of my life-the positive and the negative-so that's another reason for having this blog.

To start, I'll give a bit of a background on my life up until I started college.  If you're able to hang in there with me until the end, I should give you a cookie!

I've lived in a 6,000 population town all my life, and our biggest claim to fame is probably that we have more cows than people.  My first time outside of New York was a few days before I turned 13, when we drove down to Pennsylvania to buy a puppy.  Maybe it's because I didn't travel much as a kid, but I have this great love of seeing the world, experiencing new things with people I care about, and taking tons of pictures to record it all.  In high school, I went to Cleveland, Ohio, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Orlando, Florida, all on school trips, and I loved (almost) every second of them!  I graduated in a class of 64, where everybody knew everybody and it felt more like a giant extended family than a school.  So these trips were like I imagine extended family vacations might be.

The most defining day of my life wasn't the first time I saw the ocean, or meeting our representative on Capitol Hill.  It was the day after I turned 15-July 8, 2008, and it started out as any other day that summer.  My alarm went off at 5:45 (yeah, I don't understand why I set it that early either), and I got ready for the day.  I called a friend, Jess, to ask if she wanted to go swimming, but she was going up to a Christian camp with her family that afternoon to visit her brother David and sister Megan, who were working there.  (I might add that David was my boyfriend at the time!)  She invited me to come along-her family was doing worship that night.  My parents said it was okay.

If you had asked me that morning, "What's your religion?", I would have told you that I was a Christian.  I was baptized as a baby, I had gone to church for a few months when I was 11, I tried to read the Teen Devotional Bible my grandmother got me for Christmas that same year, and it ticked me off when my teacher talked about evolution as a proven fact.  Now, I would describe that Jenna as a "head" believer, rather than a "heart" believer.  I knew that God existed, and I had said the "sinner's prayer" at the back of my Bible, but my goal in life wasn't to know Him or to carry out His will.

But everything changed that night.  The camp does two "chapels," one for younger kids and one for older campers.  The second chapel had a skit in which people were worshipping God in a different country, one where it was illegal to be a Christian.  Men came in with guns and told the believers that they had to spit on the Bible or they would be shot.  Some of them complied and were let go, but one girl refused.  Instead, she wiped off the Bible, and she was "shot" as the lights went out.  When they came back on, we were informed that this was a true story.

I don't really know how to describe what came over me, except to say that I "got" it.  It was as clear to me as the chapel when the lights came back on.  I said I was a Christian, but would I be ready to die for my faith that way?  Was it really a faith at all?  The answer to both of these questions was a resounding "no."  I didn't talk to anyone about what was going on inside of me-not Jess, not David, not their parents-but I was saved that night.

Not having grown up in the church, I didn't know that that was the word for what happened.  I didn't know that it was the Holy Spirit revealing the truth to me.  I honestly didn't even get that I wasn't saved before I went, and now I was.  All I knew was, I wanted to read the Bible, I wanted to know God.  I read it cover to cover in 2-3 weeks.  I wouldn't recommend speed-reading it now-quality over quantity-but I was just so thirsty to KNOW.  And I started listening to Christian music and finding that I actually enjoyed it!

About six months later, I started going to church with Jess and her family, and the rest, as they say, is history!  I mean, who but God would have worked it out that I was dating him and that I went that particular night, when they did that particular skit?  ""For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD" in Isaiah 55:8.

Fast-forward a few years.  Actually, to about a year ago right now, when my friend Sandi asked me if I would like to start going to a Bible study with her.  Not just any study-this one was in Spanish, for some of the guys from Mexico who worked on area farms.  I said sure-but only my 2nd week, the interpreter couldn't attend; would I be able to translate?

To say that I was nervous would be an understatement.  Sure, I'd taken Spanish since I was 11 (with the exception of my junior year of high school), but Kristy was miles ahead of me-and it's not like "the Bible" is a unit covered in school.  I had no idea how to say the word for "Jews," let alone "Holy Spirit," "resurrection," or anything else!  But I agreed to try it.  So, that Friday night, I showed up armed with a packet reviewing the different verb tenses, a Spanish-English dictionary, whatever chapter of John we were in printed off in Spanish, and my regular Bible.

"Luckily" for me, only two of the "amigos," as we called them, were there, along with the Bakers, who led the study, their daughter Bethany (one of the "jefes," or "bosses," at the farm), Sandi, and me.  Leo and Nelson were great about it-I have no idea if they understood a single word of what I said, but they didn't make me feel at all stupid, and Nelson knows quite a bit of English and was quick to offer a helping hand.

Something funny happened, though.  As more studies came, with more opportunities to interpret, the more I enjoyed it.  I knew I still had a lot to learn, but I was willing-talking with the guys to practice, learning the different words that they used versus the traditional "Spain" Spanish I'd been taught.  For example, in Mexico and Guatemala "what's up?" is "¿qué onda?" but the first time someone chatted me asking me this, I literally interpreted "onda" as "wave" and we were both very confused...but by the time July rolled around, just two months later, I added Spanish on to my Creative Writing major.  Without the study, I doubt that I would have so much as taken a single Spanish class in college!

"Spoiler" alert-I went on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic in January of this year (more on that next post).  Would I have been interested in going had I not added the Spanish major?  Would I have been able to help interpret for the team?  This is the best example I have in my (relatively) short walk with God of stepping out in faith.  God rewards us for going beyond our comfort zones to carry out His will, and there are countless examples of this in the Bible-Joshua was commanded to be "strong and courageous" in Joshua 1:9; in Exodus 4:10, Moses refers to himself as "slow of speech and tongue" when God commands him to lead the people out of Egypt...I could go on, but you can go check it out for yourself!

After a summer of working as a camp counselor and Bible studies, I was off to my first semester of college, ready...or not!

P.S.-Tried adding a picture, but it said I don't "have permission" ...still really new at this whole blog thing, so please have patience!

-Jenna

Edit: A picture of me with David and Jess