i have finally found it! great tasting water in Lynchburg! 
ONLY available at Sheetz
this water is definitely blog-worthy.
Monday, April 25, 2005
um...
our cafeteria considers this scalloped potatoes...
i'd rather they just call it what it is - a chunk of potato.
mom...dad...look at what they're feeding me here. please send food.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
cowbells - continued
i just realized i never explained why i labeled the last post "cowbells". well here's the explaination for all you curious minds out there. i love this song by Jack Johnson called "Flake" from his Brushfire Fairytales CD because it has cowbells in it that come in in the middle of the song and keep coming in 'til the end of it! it's awesome!! and it reminds me of the cowbell skit with will farrell. scrumptillacit.
i just asked kristen "aw, isn't this song beautiful"? (it's the Mesmerized song by Meredith Andrews) and she said "yes, but not as beautiful was your mom." awwwww! that was sweet. kristen, that was nice. punk.
today is Sunday, let us all rejoice.
i went to campus church this morning. i'm so hooked on this series that johnnie moore's doing. it's called "Holiness Means Wholeness". today he spoke on Galations 6:6-10. i'd like to entitle it "You Sow What You Reap" because that's what he kept saying. :) anyway, the following summary comes out of what he said, so i can't claim all of the following ideas as my own. i'm not that smart.
how many times in life do we start a ministry and then think "what good is this doing for anyone, anyway? this ministry isn't having an effect on anybody". or how many times do you go to do something that you know is wrong but you reason "this one time isn't going to have any consequence, i'm just going to do it this once." these are lies that mock our great God who is all-powerful.
believing our ministry is ineffective and useless proves how near-sighted we as Christians can be sometimes. we only see the "here and now" outcome, but we fail to look at the bigger picture. when we take the time to invest in people's lives, we get discouraged if they don't respond right away the way we want them to. we lack faith in believing God will use us for His glory and He will accomplish much through each of us. Galations 6:9-10 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
and then back to "how many times do you go to do something that you know is wrong but you reason 'this one time isn't going to have any consequence, i'm just going to do it this once.'" johnnie specifically brought up alcohol and porn right away but then he showed us how relationships can be ruined by 1 "tiny, little" choice to sin. with alcohol and porn, it was pretty obvious - the drunk at the bar probably didn't drink his 1st sip of alochol thinking, "this is it - with this one drink, i'm going to become a drunk for the rest of my life." of course not. but he took that first sip, and continued to allow the "poison" into his veins more and more until he couldn't get enough. those 2 areas are talked about a lot in the Christian-circle. but then he talked about a less-obvious area. all it takes is one or two times of losing our temper with somebody, or doing something unjust to somebody, and then we continue to do it more and more until we've hurt so many people so many times that people start distancing themselves from us. and when we come to a point where we need a friend to be there for us, no one is around to help. wow...talk about being nearsighted. and how is it mocking God? because it's like we're saying, "Look God, i know You don't like what i'm about to do and You've warned us against doing it in Your Word, but i really don't care right now - i'm going to do it anyway, just this once." it's like we're mocking God's authority, His commands, His desire for us to be pure.
i realized how often in life i am nearsighted with decisions i make. i don't think of the "down-the-road" consequences of decisions i make, even things i think are tiny and insignificant.
Galations 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
one point of application is this: this week at LU is "Unplugged Week". this group on campus is urging everyone to go unplugged from a part of media. you can take that extra time to spend in God's Word, preparing your "soil" to be in good condition to reap a harvest this summer while we're at home or wherever you're going.
alright, stepping down off the soapbox now. i just wanted to recap what i learned at church today so that, if for no other reason, i can read this later down the road and be reminded to stop being nearsighted. :)
keep it real.
~jen~
i just asked kristen "aw, isn't this song beautiful"? (it's the Mesmerized song by Meredith Andrews) and she said "yes, but not as beautiful was your mom." awwwww! that was sweet. kristen, that was nice. punk.
today is Sunday, let us all rejoice.
i went to campus church this morning. i'm so hooked on this series that johnnie moore's doing. it's called "Holiness Means Wholeness". today he spoke on Galations 6:6-10. i'd like to entitle it "You Sow What You Reap" because that's what he kept saying. :) anyway, the following summary comes out of what he said, so i can't claim all of the following ideas as my own. i'm not that smart.
how many times in life do we start a ministry and then think "what good is this doing for anyone, anyway? this ministry isn't having an effect on anybody". or how many times do you go to do something that you know is wrong but you reason "this one time isn't going to have any consequence, i'm just going to do it this once." these are lies that mock our great God who is all-powerful.
believing our ministry is ineffective and useless proves how near-sighted we as Christians can be sometimes. we only see the "here and now" outcome, but we fail to look at the bigger picture. when we take the time to invest in people's lives, we get discouraged if they don't respond right away the way we want them to. we lack faith in believing God will use us for His glory and He will accomplish much through each of us. Galations 6:9-10 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
and then back to "how many times do you go to do something that you know is wrong but you reason 'this one time isn't going to have any consequence, i'm just going to do it this once.'" johnnie specifically brought up alcohol and porn right away but then he showed us how relationships can be ruined by 1 "tiny, little" choice to sin. with alcohol and porn, it was pretty obvious - the drunk at the bar probably didn't drink his 1st sip of alochol thinking, "this is it - with this one drink, i'm going to become a drunk for the rest of my life." of course not. but he took that first sip, and continued to allow the "poison" into his veins more and more until he couldn't get enough. those 2 areas are talked about a lot in the Christian-circle. but then he talked about a less-obvious area. all it takes is one or two times of losing our temper with somebody, or doing something unjust to somebody, and then we continue to do it more and more until we've hurt so many people so many times that people start distancing themselves from us. and when we come to a point where we need a friend to be there for us, no one is around to help. wow...talk about being nearsighted. and how is it mocking God? because it's like we're saying, "Look God, i know You don't like what i'm about to do and You've warned us against doing it in Your Word, but i really don't care right now - i'm going to do it anyway, just this once." it's like we're mocking God's authority, His commands, His desire for us to be pure.
i realized how often in life i am nearsighted with decisions i make. i don't think of the "down-the-road" consequences of decisions i make, even things i think are tiny and insignificant.
Galations 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
one point of application is this: this week at LU is "Unplugged Week". this group on campus is urging everyone to go unplugged from a part of media. you can take that extra time to spend in God's Word, preparing your "soil" to be in good condition to reap a harvest this summer while we're at home or wherever you're going.
alright, stepping down off the soapbox now. i just wanted to recap what i learned at church today so that, if for no other reason, i can read this later down the road and be reminded to stop being nearsighted. :)
keep it real.
~jen~
Thursday, April 21, 2005
cowbells
helloooooooo!
i think of things each day that i'm like "oooh, i want to write a post about that" and by the time i get back to my room, it's all i can do to keep my eyes open long enough to get emails. boo. it doesn't help that i'm fighting a stupid cold right now, which makes me even more tired.
man, this last month of school is so busy. work is making everyone work extended and overtime hours, and that means i'm working 32 hours a week (Tuesday-Saturday). sad. it's a nicer paycheck, but it's not worth the sacrifice of social time and homework time (which i really probably wouldn't do much of anyway, but that's not the point...). i hardly ever get to hang out with friends now, which is sad because the year is drawing to a close and some people won't be coming back (big j adams - LU's still accepting super seniors for next year, c'mon).
the worst part is that my quiet time with my Savior has been lacking the past week or so because i'm not making the time to get alone with Him. i love that time alone with Him and i do it out of pure desire to know Him more, not because of some "unspoken Christian law" that says you have to spend a set amount of time each day with God. but yet, if i desire that time so much, how come i have such a hard time making the time for it?
i don't even know if that last paragraph made sense, but i'm on the phone w/marissa so i'm going to just post this and get back to it later. so disregard any randomness or uncompleted thoughts.
:)
keep it real.
~jen~
i think of things each day that i'm like "oooh, i want to write a post about that" and by the time i get back to my room, it's all i can do to keep my eyes open long enough to get emails. boo. it doesn't help that i'm fighting a stupid cold right now, which makes me even more tired.
man, this last month of school is so busy. work is making everyone work extended and overtime hours, and that means i'm working 32 hours a week (Tuesday-Saturday). sad. it's a nicer paycheck, but it's not worth the sacrifice of social time and homework time (which i really probably wouldn't do much of anyway, but that's not the point...). i hardly ever get to hang out with friends now, which is sad because the year is drawing to a close and some people won't be coming back (big j adams - LU's still accepting super seniors for next year, c'mon).
the worst part is that my quiet time with my Savior has been lacking the past week or so because i'm not making the time to get alone with Him. i love that time alone with Him and i do it out of pure desire to know Him more, not because of some "unspoken Christian law" that says you have to spend a set amount of time each day with God. but yet, if i desire that time so much, how come i have such a hard time making the time for it?
i don't even know if that last paragraph made sense, but i'm on the phone w/marissa so i'm going to just post this and get back to it later. so disregard any randomness or uncompleted thoughts.
:)
keep it real.
~jen~
Monday, April 11, 2005
ah, clean clothes
okay so let me apologize first for the disorganized pictures of my board. i still don't totally understand how to put pictures on this thing and have it be neat and tidy. i like neat and tidy. i know my parents probably don't think that, judging by my overwhelming clean room (HA!) that i have when i'm home. but i really do like things neat and tidy.
i am so proud of myself. i finally did my laundry today after a month of not doing it. AND!!! and i finally used up my first bottle of laundry detergent (or whatever the liquid stuff is called that you put in the washer). isn't laundry detergent the powdery stuff?
i was just going to post real quick 'cause i want to go to bed. then i realized my laundry's not done and i have to wait to put it in the dryer before i can go ten toes up on my bed. sad.
today's ted's birthday. i'm pretty sure he'll never see this in his life, but ted, if you ever do, happy birthday buddy. i had a party for you in my heart. okay not really.
on a more serious note, i read a really interesting (and good) book this past week. and what proves that it's a good book is the fact that i read it in under a week. i'm still working on other books that i started over a year ago. and those are really good ones too (like Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper - can i get an amen on that one, anyone?), i just don't finish them...haha :) but this one was short and totally what i am going through right now.
it's called Stop Dating the Church - Fall in Love with the Family of God by good ol' Joshua Harris. you know, the guy who wrote all the "i kissed dating goodbye", "boy meets girl"...all those relationship books. :) i saw this book in the LU bookstore about a month ago and wanted to read it so bad but didn't want to put up the money for it. it's really not expensive, it's like $10. but sometimes that just sounds like a lot more. anyway, i'd been thinking about it a lot since i saw it, and the other night i was waiting for friends to meet me at Barnes & Noble to get coffee and so i decided to find the book and sit down and read a few pages. but by the time people got there, i was too drawn in so i HAD to buy it. :) i like to justify it by thinking "well who really would want to buy that book now anyway, now that i've had my hands all over it?" good reasoning, i know.
okay so do you think i could just get on with this already? sorry. ANYWAY, this book totally summed up when i've been doing in regards to the church. well, not totally, but i could relate a lot to it and indeed label myself as a self-admitted church dater. i'm not going to summarize the whole book, but there's this point/question i want to bring up real quick. josh harris says you can boil down all the points you're looking for in a church into these 3 broad catagories. You want a church that: teaches God's Word, values God's Word, and lives God's Word. so i took that and looked at how my church back home matches up with that. it matches up pretty stinkin' well. and one thing this book brought up that made me thankful about my church back home is church discipline. a ton of churches have disregarded that. so that's something i learned to value in that church.
the question is...so...okay, a church matches up with those 3 catagories. great, right? but like...what if the church lacks passion for Jesus Christ? is that a reason to leave a church? so the church has a ton of knowledge about the Word and about theological stands and doctrine. that's all important (well, to an extent)...but what if it doesn't have a passion for just simple yet profound things - like Jesus Christ and His desire for us and His desire for us to desire Him back? and the joy and excitement that comes along with that? is this a valid reason for leaving a church?
anyone who reads this, any thoughts/ideas/opinions/facts are welcome. :)
alright i'm going to check on that laundry. i want to go to bed. jack johnson rocks. he's playing in my room tonight and is keepin' the atmosphere laid back and relaxed. rock on, jack johnson.
keep it real.
~jen~
i am so proud of myself. i finally did my laundry today after a month of not doing it. AND!!! and i finally used up my first bottle of laundry detergent (or whatever the liquid stuff is called that you put in the washer). isn't laundry detergent the powdery stuff?
i was just going to post real quick 'cause i want to go to bed. then i realized my laundry's not done and i have to wait to put it in the dryer before i can go ten toes up on my bed. sad.
today's ted's birthday. i'm pretty sure he'll never see this in his life, but ted, if you ever do, happy birthday buddy. i had a party for you in my heart. okay not really.
on a more serious note, i read a really interesting (and good) book this past week. and what proves that it's a good book is the fact that i read it in under a week. i'm still working on other books that i started over a year ago. and those are really good ones too (like Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper - can i get an amen on that one, anyone?), i just don't finish them...haha :) but this one was short and totally what i am going through right now.
it's called Stop Dating the Church - Fall in Love with the Family of God by good ol' Joshua Harris. you know, the guy who wrote all the "i kissed dating goodbye", "boy meets girl"...all those relationship books. :) i saw this book in the LU bookstore about a month ago and wanted to read it so bad but didn't want to put up the money for it. it's really not expensive, it's like $10. but sometimes that just sounds like a lot more. anyway, i'd been thinking about it a lot since i saw it, and the other night i was waiting for friends to meet me at Barnes & Noble to get coffee and so i decided to find the book and sit down and read a few pages. but by the time people got there, i was too drawn in so i HAD to buy it. :) i like to justify it by thinking "well who really would want to buy that book now anyway, now that i've had my hands all over it?" good reasoning, i know.
okay so do you think i could just get on with this already? sorry. ANYWAY, this book totally summed up when i've been doing in regards to the church. well, not totally, but i could relate a lot to it and indeed label myself as a self-admitted church dater. i'm not going to summarize the whole book, but there's this point/question i want to bring up real quick. josh harris says you can boil down all the points you're looking for in a church into these 3 broad catagories. You want a church that: teaches God's Word, values God's Word, and lives God's Word. so i took that and looked at how my church back home matches up with that. it matches up pretty stinkin' well. and one thing this book brought up that made me thankful about my church back home is church discipline. a ton of churches have disregarded that. so that's something i learned to value in that church.
the question is...so...okay, a church matches up with those 3 catagories. great, right? but like...what if the church lacks passion for Jesus Christ? is that a reason to leave a church? so the church has a ton of knowledge about the Word and about theological stands and doctrine. that's all important (well, to an extent)...but what if it doesn't have a passion for just simple yet profound things - like Jesus Christ and His desire for us and His desire for us to desire Him back? and the joy and excitement that comes along with that? is this a valid reason for leaving a church?
anyone who reads this, any thoughts/ideas/opinions/facts are welcome. :)
alright i'm going to check on that laundry. i want to go to bed. jack johnson rocks. he's playing in my room tonight and is keepin' the atmosphere laid back and relaxed. rock on, jack johnson.
keep it real.
~jen~
Saturday, April 09, 2005
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