Same Old Same Old

It really have been a while since I have sat down and blogged. Maybe it's because I am busy or I just dont feel like I have anything of value to say these days. 

Truth be told it's most likely because I am lazy. I have found that since being home from Czech

{goodness has my heart has been missing it a ton lately} 

I have been battling laziness. I use to be really disciplined in a large amount of areas in my life. Now I just have NO desire. It is really frustrating. I know that God has not created me to sit around and be some lazy bump on a log. I know he has designed me to do SO much more. 

I was sitting with a friend in the kitchen this morning. We started talking about our passions, what our purpose is in life, how we want to get there. 

{Purpose, Passions, Pursuit}

It was such a motivating conversation. One that I haven't been able to get our of my head all day. It was one of those conversation that I am sure God used to push my butt into gear and stop being lazy. I find that it is so easy to sit around and "wait for life to start". You ever hear that one before? Well guess what?! Life started that day you were born. What am I doing with my life right now? The
same old, same old" is what I find I am telling people. I feel like I am stuck that I am sitting around waiting. That my time here is being wasted when I could be doing other things. This leads me to be unmotivated, undisciplined and lazy. The  answer " the same old same old" just isn't cutting it for me anymore. Why? Because I don't want to me doing the "same old same old". I dont want to sit around and wait for life to happen. I don't want to sit around and waste what God has given me.

God sent Jesus here to this earth. The Earth that he so specifically created so his Son could come to it and die on the cross for the sins of the world. My God is a God who is specific and He WASTE NOTHING!  He isn't wasting my time here. He loves me too much to waste my time. So in the answer of "same old same old" I am convicted that these days may seem monotonous and routine. But what I am doing with them to bring glory and honor to the Lord? 

What are you doing with your day to day life, in the "same old same old", that is bring glory to God. He isn't wasting our time in these days. He loves us TOO MUCH!

That conversation in the kitchen stirred all this. Me back into blogging, pursuing that things I was designed for so I can bring glory to the Lord in the "same old same old". 

The Call To Adopt

Well, I'm back here on this blog. With this I want to share something so dear to my hear.

I graduated from high school about 6 years ago. My time in high school was spent being sheparded by two amazing people. Todd Roughton, who was my high school pastor, and his wonderful wife Summer. Who was my small group leader for about two years. I spent time loving on their children, soaking up truth and love from both Todd and Summer. I developed my love of crafting and scrapbooking from Summer herself. Spent countless house at their house. 

God took them to San Luis Obispo, Oregon, and now Idaho. They were missed and still are missed greatly.  Now God has called them to something even more exciting. Adoption. I would try to tell you their story but trust me Summer does a much better job at it. So I'll go a head and let you read it about here at www.joyfullyruined.com. Just click on the website I just typed and it should take you straight there. They also has a vidoe about their adoption story. I watched it and cried!  So go ahead and watch it here.

Todd, at the end of the video, reminds us that as followers of Christ we are called to help the orphans. He too does a much better of explaining this then I can. SO seriously go ahead and watch the video!  RIGHT HERE!

I would like to announce...

that on May 29th I will be stepping onto a Jet plane destined for  Prague, Czech Republic where I will spend the next 3 months as an intern with Josiah Venture (learn more about the organization here)  leading English camp and telling the Czech youth about the good news of Jesus Christ. I AM SO STIKIN EXCITED!!!!!! I got the call on December 20th and was invited to be a part of the Czech Republic Intern Team. I ecstatically accepted!

This has been something that I have been praying about for the last 6 months. God has so graciously allowed me to be apart of this amazing ministry. I could write for days and days about what I am thinking and what I am feeling. There is just so much to say! 

I will be a part of an intern team made up of about 5-7 other people and we will be leading English camps. That includes training teams that come and going with them to camps to teach conversational English classes, play games, lead discussion groups, lead night time programs, sing, dance, share about Jesus, and build relationships with these Czech students. I am not kidding this is what I was designed for! If you have followed any of my previous blog posts then you will know how near and dear this ministry, this country, and these students are to my heart.

I have many challenges ahead of me. For starters I have to raise support. I have never raised support on this level before and yes I am VERY nervous for it. But I have already seen God providing for me in this area in simple ways. Why should I doubt? I have to figure out how my leaving in May is going to affect my school that doesn't end till June. There is preparation I know that the Lord is going to be doing in my heart before I leave and so many other different things that have to come together, and by God's grace I know they will, before I leave.

If you are reading this and you feel the Spirit tugging on your heart to pray for me I have a few request! =)

1. That I am diligent in my time and with the recourse that God is providing for me as I look ahead to fundraising.
2. That I will continually hand over to the Lord my anxiety and fear about raising money and that I can set aside my pride and humble myself to invite others into this ministry with me.
3. That I will not resist the preparation God will be doing in my heart
4. Unity of my intern team, softened hearts of the students we will meet, and provision for the other teams that churches will send over to serve with us.

I know and trust that God is working big in my life right now! If you would like to support me send me your e-mail address and address to my e-mail here : jacquelyn.thomson@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to send you a support letter and information on how to better support me. There will also be a few other things that I will be launching to raise support like my very own Etsy Shop , which is still in the works, and another secret event that I will just keep you guessing for!


God is doing great things!


His Hands & Feet

><>
Jackie

The Heart...

is a funny thing really. It hurts, it breaks, we follow it, and we say with all of it and we say to protect it. Well, tonight, my heart hurts. Not just a little but a deep deep hurt. Have you ever felt that? I want to run ,hide, sleep, and make it all go away. I pray that daily. Then I am reminded in the midst of that prayer that more than wanting this pain to go away I want God's will to do be done. I want God's way because it leads to life not my way. Let's be honest my way gets me nowhere. Actually my way just gets me into a bigger mess than I am already in.


I went to the High School group tonight. A friend of mine has been raving about the speaker and so I thought I would come and see what all the fuss is about. He was good! I really enjoyed him! He made me feel like I was sitting down with my Pastor having a cup of coffee and discussing life and looking at what the Bible had to say about it. I don't know, there was something really unique about him. Oh, did I mention that he is the PRESIDENT of Joshia Venture the Christian Organization that I am applying to be a 3 month missionary intern in the Czech Republic for? Yeah, Dave Patty! I get to meet him, no big deal =D Anyways, that's not the point! The point is that Dave talked about getting scammed tonight. He read from Genesis 3. You know, where Satan convinces Eve that she won't die if she eats the apple...yup she got scammed. We are all getting scammed by Satan. This made me think, " How have I been scammed in the past?" Well, when I asked this question of course if brought up A LOT of past and present pain all at once. I have been scammed by Satan in romantic relationships, in friendships, with school, work, family, daily simple life choices, my eating habits, work out habits, money, and so much more. I just haven't realized it. It is all because I choose to believe that Satan's way was better than God's way. I didn't think that at the time but now that I look back on it I can clearly see that.

When I think about these things my heart hurts and I am saddened. I have lost so much and so much has been damaged because of these scams. I asked myself tonight " How do I get back what has been taken from me?" You know what came to my mind immediately? THE CROSS! That's how I get back everything that was taken from me...the cross and recognizing that at the foot of the cross lies great hope and salvation. That at the foot of the cross is the blood that washes me clean and redeems me.  So, yeah, things have been taken from me and because I believe these lies and got scammed I have made some bad and sinful choices. But at the foot of the cross there is forgiveness. God sent his son to die on the cross and pay the ultimate penalty for our sins. So, because of that I am able to take back what was stolen from me. Now, I know that I can wake up tomorrow with new mercies. Will my heart still hurt? Yeah, but only because I am healing from the aftermath of the scams and the trying to do it my way thing. Will the pain go away right away? Probably not. But you know what? That's okay, because I have a God who is willing to forgive me for believing lies over His truth and a God who is willing to walk with me hand in hand, and sometimes even carry me, through the mess and the pain that I have created.

So much to tell...

about what has been going on in my life in the last month. Well, most of you know that  my parents are going through a divorce. Yes, that is right a divorce. =( My heart is broken in this situation because of the circumstances of it. But, my heart breaks the most because sin is what is driving the situation. I hate sin. I have cried countless nights because of this situation. But mostly I cry because of the sin. I hate sin. I will say that till the day that I die but I HATE SIN. Yet, because we live in a broken and fallen world sin is amongst us.

Here is the one thing that I can rejoice in. God is good! God is so so good. Let me just give you a few example of this because I am sure most of you are like " How do you see the good in a situation like this?"well let me tell you.

 Good Things From This Bad Situation

1. God's timing. He has been preparing us for this for a long time. I look back over the last few weeks, months, and years and can count endless moments that were used in preparation for this.

2. God's lessons. The Lord is just stretching all of us in this. Let me tell you, in a situation like this there is really nothing that you can do to control what is going on and what the outcome might be. If anyone of you know me well at all you know that I am a control freak! So, I am learning how to let go and let God because there is nothing that I can do about this and so I need to trust God and let him handle this.

3. God's Love. God loves us enough that he is allowing this situation to refine us and to grow closer as a family. This is time for us to grow closer and build a bond that not many families have. This is a time for us to really see and feel God's Love all around us. There are countless people praying for us specially  and God has provided an amazing community for us. So, I see him loving on this broken and hurting family.

Those are the good things. Trust me there are many more good things from this but if you want to know you can just e-mail me: captivatedbyonelove@gmail.com. It's hard to be joyous in this but I feel like God is just walking a through this. Yeah it hard. Yeah it hurts. Yeah there are days where I just want to give up... because let me tell you over the last 6 or 7 months I feel like I have just been put through the Gauntlet and this season in my life has been very tough. There are going to be highs and some low lows in this season of my life and my family's life. But guess what? God wants to and will fight this battle for me and for my family. I read this verse just a few days ago that truly encouraged me.  ⁷ "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. ⁸With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah." 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (I would read the whole thing because it's pretty cool!) HE WILL FIGHT FOR US!!! He will give us exactly what we need. At the end of this crappy season we will be able to look back and see how God brought us through this and see all the ways be provided and care and all the ways he fought for us and took care of us. We will be stronger in our relationship with him than every before. So I eagerly look forward to when this season is over. But I don't want to miss the lessons and opportunites that await me in this season.

So, that's my update. If you have questions seriously please e-mail me captivatedbyonelove@gmail.com. I am also going off facebook for awhile just to tune out some of the social networking stuff and focus on my family and tune up the voice of God. So if you want to stay in contact let me know. I'm gonna keep blogging and so if you still want my blog post send me your e-mail address and I'll send it to you or I think you can just subscribe to my blog. =D  If you think about it keep my family in your prayers.  I love you all!

I'll let you in on a secret...

one of my dreams is to travel the world. When I say travel the world I don't mean " I was at the airport, but never got to leave the terminal" travel the world but sit down and have a meal and explore the town travel the world. Meet someone take a picture with them  listen to their story travel the world. So I want this A Scrach Map! It's kind of like a scratch card but it is a map. When I have traveled somewhere, had a meal, listened to someone's story and gotten a picture with them then I can scratch off that country, that state, whatever or wherever that may have been. I wonder how many place I can go, people I can meet, and stories I can hear? So there I just let you all in on a little secret and a dream of mine :)

Lucy...

This BEAUTIFUL girl that I am with has a story to share. I was blessed to be a part of that story and blessed to be able to share her story with people back home. Now I am going to share it with you from her perspective. This is Lucy's story...

i'm not sure what you want hear so i wrote everything about me and God..about my way to faith and how everything changed my life...so take what to you want from that i hope it'll not be so long because when i start talk about it i can't stop
so....in past i thought that i believe in God.But i really didn't.I couldn't say ,,I love Jesus" or ,,I want follow my Lord" it was little bit weird for me to say.But E-camp changed everything.I saw people how they talk about God and about faith and about everything about they shared their problems and everyone listened to them.I was like ,,WAU!" there are so many people who are there for me and i know them only few days!it's so amazing..and all of them love Jesus and they are showing God's love and they are spreading love.And for the first time i saw so many kind people on one place.I didn't know many believers.My mum doesn't believe and my father neither.On camp one day i really felt God's love!This day was so awesome for me!it changed me totally.My opinions my outlook on life.and mainly my relationship to my mum.We have really bad relationship.She always loved my sister and every time she told me that she want me to be like my sister.In everything..i know that i'm more happy with my fathers family and my mum hate it.I always fought with her.But now...yes we have fights..but i learned love her despite all.I'm showing her my love to Jesus..but she doesn't understand.She always says to me that I'll grow up out of it.She never didn't support me.Never.And now neither.But it makes me stronger.Maybe God did this to me because he has something for me to do and i will not have these problems with my mum i will never trying find love from God.I found love in God.I found support in my brothers and sisters in Jesus and that makes me stronger.Everything is new for me and I'm still little bit scared about reaction my friends in my life there in Sokolov and in my school.But i know that I'm not alone.The most helped me e-camp.See you Jackie and John,Natalie,Ashley how you love each other how you're sharing your love with everybody when i listened you in discussion groups i heard how amazing people God makes.When i met Zack,when i talked to him for the first time and Vítek and Josh too.All of them are so kind young boys!I couldn't believe! Because i know only boys without any respect to girls i know maybe 2 boys but these guys Andrew and Jonathan too and every boy on e-camp..It was so beautiful see it.I'm so happy that i met them.I can only say thank you God that i met these people!!All of these things conficed me that only God can make people like them.Only when i will follow him only if i will leave him to lead me on the best way on my life,i can be happy and i can be maybe like these people one day.I Love my Lord!Now i can say that and it's not weird for me it's pleased to me say that i love him!He learned me love people around me be more kind.I wasn't sure with that but now i know that i want study psychology and i want help people with their problems i want help people find support and security.I want help people who were abuse or anything else.Because everyone should have chance to live beautiful live with love.I wish to everyone to find love in Jesus and recognize the feeling what i feel.


This brings chills to me bones and a huge smile to my face. I love this girl and can't wait to see her again and be reunited with my segra (sister).

Wait Patiently...

{I was in need of some small reminders today.}

{I am a very impatient person.}

{Especially when I really want something.}

Remeber that last blog....

...that I wrote and I was talking about my purpose for now was to be Jesus to those two specific people in my life that my heart was breaking for? Well I ask one of them to dinner so I could talk with her and get to know her. Let me just tell you something... WALLS CAME DOWN! I shared my heart with her and how I long for her to know Jesus the way I do and to enjoy all the blessings he has to offer. She told me some of her story and shared with my why she doesn't follow Jesus.

I left dinner in tears. My heart was breaking for her. SHE KNOWS THE TRUTH, she choose not to believe it and follow it. We are gonna hang out more and build our relationship. Seeds are being planted. It is just time to allow the Lord to root them and grow them if he wills.

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR ME AND THIS PERSON....Let's call her Mary{I'm not using real names for the sake of her privacy}.


That's all for now!

Purpose

There is this girl. Her name is Megan Fate Marshman. Some of you may know her as "Spirit Girl" from Hume Lake. This morning I felt an urge, well more like a craving to listen to a seminar she did last year for camp. I knew I was gonna be in for a few good stories and a lot of laughs. But I was not expecting the words that God gave this girls to do to me what I have been praying about for a long time. I was not expecting it to answer prayers . Go ahead, listen to it. It's about a half hour long but probably one of the best way you can spend your half hour right now! :D

http://cast.humemedia.com/itunes/2011/2011-ponderosa-week-6/20110720-megan-fate-marshman-wed-sem.mp3

Did you listen to it? I hope you did!  

 I listened to it this morning and God just used it to give me the PERSPECTIVE change I know I have been needing. THE GOSPEL! How does it affect me daily? Does it affect me daily? This is the greatest story of all time and do I just let go in one ear and out the other every time with out affecting me in some way.  

SOMEONE DIED FOR ME!!! SOMEONE DIED FOR YOU!!!!

How does that not affect me daily? As Megan spoke I realized I am a lot like her. I too am a people pleaser. I worry if people will like me or not. I worry if people will accept me or not. With being a people pleaser I always feel the need to be happy and to be out there with people doing things because it is for my popularity and for people knowing me. The more things I do the more people I will know. If I do this or if I do that it will make me cool and people will like me more. I have been living for people. Honestly, I'm 23 and I still struggle with what people think of me. I need to be concerned with what JESUS thinks of me. But, is Jesus enough for me? Do I let Him be enough for me in my life? I want to. I try. But it doesn't happen daily. I need to be concerned about His business and His people and a whole heck of a lot less worried about my own business and my own pleasures.

The Gospel can change lives. People know who Jesus is but they don't really KNOW who He is and what He is about. He is about changing lives! I wonder what my life would look like if I cared enough about His people and His Business to talk to His people about who He is? Ask people their stories, ask them if they know Jesus.

All this running through my mind made me come to this conclusion. Since being home from Czech {yes I know I talk about Czech a lot but whatever} I have been looking for my purpose. What God wants me to do while I am home. I was thinking it was going to be something big and amazing{I still have big dreams and want to do big things for God but that's all for a different post}. Here is the simple truth about my purpose of being home. There are two people who I know and love. I love these people with all my heart. My heart breaks for them because Jesus is not evident in their lives. I want them to love Jesus as much as I do. I want them to have a relationship with Him like I do.  But, the hard honest truth is they aren't there. My PURPOSE here right now... Be Jesus to them. Ask them to share their stories with me, ask them if they do know Jesus.

Pray for me as I start to do this!

{ I'll keep you all post}

Let's be honest...

...girls are a little crazy. Okay, some are a lot crazy. I am admitting this to you because I was driving the kids at work to school today and this Relient K song came on. Here listen to it in the video. But my cousin Abigail and I use to always listen to this song and make fun of it because we are both emotional people, sorry Abigail, and thought "Hey, if we just had mood rings it could be a warning to people!"  Then today it hit me that sometimes I don't even know what kind of a mood I am in. Not that a mood ring would help or anything. That can be frustrating. Sometimes I can cry at a drop of a hat and the next second I'm okay. I am totally aware of this! This song always makes me laugh because it makes me wonder " Huh, I bet if all girls wore mood rings it would totally help out the guys in our life. Because when they ask us what is wrong or how we are doing 1) They can tell if we are lying 2) They can just look at the ring and know." Such a silly thought I know. 

       But, check this out. There is this greater being. I think some of you know Him. His name is God. There is this book that He had other people write. It's called the Bible. In one of the books inside this book is called Psalms. I was reading it a few weeks ago when I felt like I couldn't figure out why I kept having overwhelming thought about life, relationships, what was next and you know all those " BIG LIFE QUESTIONS" that we have as college students and couldn't get a grip on my mood and why I was feeling the way I was.

** Side note: I didn't think that growing up was going to be this complicated. I thought it was much more galmours when I was a kid. I'm learning that is not always true and sometime I wish I was kid again**

     Anyways, right at the beginning of Psalms 139 it says " O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar." First of all there is excitement in David's voice. He is excited and over joyed that the Lord has searched his heart and that the Lord knows him. The Lord knows every aspect of him! What?! The God of the universe knows me! Fully knows me! Blows my mind. Which also means He knows what kind of moods I am in and why I am in them even if I don't know why. Yes, half of the time I am not sure why I am in the mood that I am in.  That second part of the verse is what I love " ... you discern my thoughts from afar." The God of the universe knows my thoughts. He knows where they stem from and He knows why I am thinking what I am think even when I don't. That includes my moods. I don't know about you but that brings me a lot of comfort to know that even thought I may have no idea where these thoughts are coming from or where this mood is coming from God knows and He understands. On top of that I have someone to turn to find comfort and find peace in those moments and times when I can't even explain what I am thinking or feeling. God, He already knows and I don't have to say a word. I can just rest in His arms.

     So let's be honest. Even though girls can be crazy with moods and sometimes you think that a mood ring will help. They won't! I honestly don't even think they work at all...but good to know that there is a God who still loves us crazy moody girls. =D

One Month Ago...

I stepped off a what seemed liked a never ending flight onto the grounds of LAX. I cried with every inch of the descent. I didn't it to be over but it was. I was back home in American and yet all I could think about was what the Lord was doing in the Czech Republic.

I spent 17 days doing the work of the Lord. Those are 17 days that I will never forget. 17 days that changed my life forever. Students learned some English, made some new lifetime friends, and heard about Jesus. The funny thing though, yeah their lives were changed, Jesus used them changed my life more than they will ever know. Now, being back home I am in heavyhearted season. I don't know what the Lord has for me next and I am such an impatient person that I just wanted to know what it is now. But the more I sit around wondering and stressing about what is next to come I might miss what Jesus has for me now!

I was on the Josiah Venture website, that was the organization we partnered with while we were in Czech, and I read a posting by Dave Patty who is the president of JV. It was titled Making This Year Count For Eternity. As I read it I wondered " What am I doing to make this season in my life count for eternity?" It doesn't have to be a big thing it could be something as simple as having conversations with people at work about who Jesus is or inviting them to come to church with me. There is so much that I can still be doing right here right now that will count for eternity and to further God's kingdom that by sitting here wait and wondering I might miss those opportunities.

This season will eventually be over and I will see brighter days. In every season He is still God and I still have a reason to worship and I still have a reason to make this time now count for eternity. If you are reading this and you want to pray for me pray that I doing things that count for eternity and that as the end of this season I will be more like me creator. Also, pray for the Czech students who we meet. That they will continue to grow closer to the Lord and that the leaders there in Czech will have wisdom and strength to be there for the students and walk with them.

Here is the link to the JV article I was reading.

http://www.josiahventure.com/blog/making-this-year-count-for-eternity/

Find your purpose and pursue your passions...

Well, it has been almost two years since my last post. What has come of those two years. I look at it quickly and say nothing. I got my AA, dated someone, broke-up with some, got a new job, and went to the Czech Republic and that is about it. That is just at a glance. You know, the materialistic apperance of what has come of my life over the last two years.

But what has really come of these last two years are HUGE lessons that our Almighty God has taught me. Just take a minute and think about some of the lessons He has taught you over these last couple of months and praise Him for that. Thanks Him for what He is doing in your life. In my life He has shown me how discontent I am with having a Beige Life style. That's what my college pastor Ron Merrell would call it. A life that is lukewarm. A life style where you just settle for less then what you deserve and what you were designed for. A boring life style. Now, here me when I say this. Some people were designed to work a 9-5 job and have 2.5 kids and live the American Dream. That is not me. I do not desire those things. Yes, eventually I want kids and I want to get married. But, I know that my life is going to be anything but Beige.

Almost a month ago a step off a plane in LAX with tears filling my eyes. I had just experienced the BEST 3 weeks of my life in the Czech Republic. This was like no other trip I had been on. My heart was captured, my eyes were opened, the flame had been re-sparked, and all I could think about was discontent I was with my life here is California. Those 3 weeks is Czech where the farthest thing from Beige. They were colorful vibrant. I was doing the things that God had not only designed me for but gave me a passion for. My passions consist of this( this is in no specific order):

*Camp Ministires
*Teaching
*Learning new cultures
*Loving people like Jesus does
*Students
*Ministry
* Being apart of the bigger picture

That's a lot I know. But these are things that God reminded me of. The past 4 years I had been living a Beige life. I don't want to live that anymore. But for now I am in a waiting period. I am trying to figure out what my purpose is. God has a something for me here and now in Santa Clarita, California. At my job Sunshine Day Camps. Here with my family. I'm in pursuit of that purpose and I am in pursuit of the passions listed above. I have a good God, you have a good God. A God who will never fail us and never leave us in the dark. Right now I am in the midst of a storm. It is raining and there is thunder and lighting and it a bit dark. But praise be to God that my favorite smell is the smell after the rain. It is going to be a sweet sweet smell!

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The Real World: Santa Clarita

O.E. has been over for almost three weeks. That's super crazy considering we had four weeks of camp. Wow, time flies super fast. Well, O.E. ended very well. I was very excited for it to end because I knew that things back here at home would be crazy, and exciting, and fun, and that there would be so much to do.
I learned so much this season at O.E. I learned how to live with people who are tough to live with. I learned alot about myself and how God is changing my heart to desire specific things. I use to think that I was this girl who was never going to desire a relationship or anything like that. Over the past couple months God has changed my heart and I can't wait to start a family and be married and all those things. I learned that 5th and 6th graders are my favorite age group. I have learned that I like teaching and I am now on the pursing my Liberal Studies Degree. But, I learned a lot about my God. He wants to here specific prayers from me. He already knows my heart so why hold anything back from Him. He is faithful to provide and he is forever sustaining.
O.E. was great. I miss a few of the people, and I miss working with people and having a program job, and I miss teaching by the lake. God blessed me with that time and now I'm back here in the "real world" off the mountain.


This is by my favorite cabin of girls that I had had all season long. I spent a lot of time with them getting to know them and having fun with them. I actually just talk to a few of them the other day!

___________

Now, I'm back in Santa Clarita getting my life started up again. It's been quit the adventure. I got a job in less than 24hrs of applying for it. I am an official Starbucks partner now. This has been kind of overwhelming because there is so much to learn and with the Holidays just around the corner things are about to really busy. Plus, I work at the one at our mall and well we all know how those holiday shoppers can be! But, I have no doubt in my mind that this is where God has me and that he is going to use me there. My consistent prayer is that I am a light to all the employees and every person that walks through that door of our store. So , I know that this alone is going to be a great challegen and a great adventure. I have been there for about a week and already feel alittle bit overwhelmed but I know that as the weeks go on and I start to get the hang of everything it will all just become second nature to me.
I started back up at our College Group. I came back at the perfect time to. Ron Merrell is our new College Pastor and he is amazing. He was the Junior High Pastor when I was interning at Grace and now he is the new College Pastor. It has been amazing to sit under his teaching. God has just blessed up college students with an amazing pastor. I also have just joined a small group. I haven't been apart of a small group since my sophmore year of high school. So I'm really excited to have a place where I can has sister to talk to and be encourage by and to encourage and be accountable to. Myself and a few of these girl are going on a road trip in about a week to Poratland, Seattle and Coeur d'Alene. So needless to say I have been very busy. I'm definitely enjoying life off the hill. I know that this is join to be a big year and I am looking forward to the things that God has in store.


><> Jackie

Teddy Grahams and Dried Fruit

So this from awhile ago I just never posted it opps! lol


I have roommate from Mississippi and her name is Missi. She really liked to hunt animal deer, birds, ducks, raccoons and the list goes on. She has been really bummed out because she has missed a lot of the hunting season back in Mississippi so PK let her and Cheif, another instructor, take a few pellet guns and shoot them out in the range.

Last night we were all in our room minding our own business. I was shopping on-line and chatting to old friends on facebook, Kove was sleeping and Missi and Poppy where also on their computers when out of now where Poppy goes, " You guys, there are raccoons outside our window!!" These words sent our night into a raccoon stakeout.

Missi and I ran outside to see them and the things that they have gotten into. But, we scared them so they ran away. As we were outside the boy in the room next to us came out to see what all the commotion was. We told them there were raccoons hang out in the hallway. Bearcarver came running out the door with the pellet gun like a little kid jumping around yelling "Where are they? Where are they?" As he takes off running in the direction that Missi and I were pointing and the other boy shuffling in and out of the room.

I ran inside because it was incredibly cold. Poppy was safely watching all the action from the comfort of her bed through the window. Missi ran straight for her chocolate Teddy Grahams and ran quickly back out the door. When I peaked around the corner Missi was setting up the Teddy Grahams in the shape of an arrow pointing towards our doors. Boy were all inside their room staking out by their window.


Everytime the racoons would come and start eating the trail Missi would up in excitment and startlightly knocking, so she wouldn't scare the racoons away, on the boys wall in hopes that they would grab the gun and shoot it. Well, let me tell you this went on ALL night along. We all went to bed at around 1am only to be woken up two hours alter to the raccoons going through the trash and Missi having a fit because she wish she had the pellet gun. It was very much so an adventurous night!


Oh yeah, the next day Missi and I took the gun from the boys room and she was successful later that night in finally shooting a raccoon!

Half Way There!

Wow, we have finished our first two weeks of OE and I'm sitting here in my room waiting for week 3 to start! This is crazy. The last two weeks have been very draining but SO MUCH FUN! The kids have been so endearing. I am learning a few different things. First is that I love Elementary ages more than any other age. They are so into the interesting things that we have to tell them. They still listen to use because they think that we are soo cool , and we are soo cool, and they have very curious minds and ask a ton of questions! I love that so much.

Second thing that I am learning is that I love teaching. Before this, OE, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life and where I was going. But now, hopefully this wont change when I get home, I really want to pursue teaching elementary ages.

I just went home this last weekend to visit and just rest on my long weekend off and I didn't want to leave at the end of the weekend. I just wanted to stay and get stated with school. I wanted to stay home and reconnect with friends and find a job. I wanted to stay and dive into the college group and get to know new people. When the weekend came to an end I didn't want to leave. But, this is where God has me for now. Ministering to an age group that I love. If God is going to teach as much as he did in these last three week in these next two weeks then I'm stoked for it!


So just I have been talking about how I have been teaching this class on insect but I haven't posted any pictures. So here ya go!( NOTE: I only teach girl bu ton small weeks my partner, Chief, will each teach just one class instead of two and so most of the pictures are from his class when I didn't have to teach) When I start out my class we go on a hike and i hike them to a giant red wood ant hill. The ants have been building this hill for about three years!


I also use these insect glasses to explain the eye of an insect and I always have volunteers help me with this!
Then here are a couple pictures of the girls in my classes on their insect hunt!




Alright, hopefully I can update date you soon!

Ready To Go!

So here I am at the end of my week of orientation and training. Wow, I never thought that I would like putting together a class and teaching it so much. I have learned so much this week about being a teacher anda communicator of information to students. I worked all week on a simple outline for my one 45 minutes lecture, and to think that teachers do this kind of stuff everyday. I have a completly new respect for teachers.

I have had a blast this week getting comfortable with my class and all the materials that I am going to us with the students. But most of all I had a crazy week with God. He is teaching me patience, when is He not teaching me about patience, in different situations. For example just the simple aspect of having to catch and pins insect for display. Catching insects is no easy job and takes a lot of patience. Even with roommates and trying to get use to living with people that aren't like me at all. My whole life God has blessed with amazing roommates. Not that these roommates aren't amazing but I have never lived with three other people and we are so different and do things different and having patience with them is something that God is pressing on my right now. I am so greatful for these lessons. It might sound like I am complaining, but these are some great lessons to learn. Is it frustrating sometimes, yeah, but it is needed. I won't be made stronger in my love and my walk and my pactince if there is no friction and no conflict. So I am honestly grateful for it.

Campers come Monday and I am so excited. I'm ready to be in there with them having fun, talking with students, teaching students, and sharing Jesus with them. I am finding more and more that heart are student in the Elementary age. They such open minds and hearts that are modalbe. I get super excited about it when I think about the ways that God can use me in the lives of these students if I allow Him. So if you think about me as the week goes on comes to an end and we start a new week I would love it if you would say a quick prayer for me, the staff and the students that are coming here. That God would prepare all our hearts and that as a staff we will be open to God's guiding when interacting with these students and looking for the teachable moments. I would really appreciate that! I promise to keep you updated on the week! Hopefully I will put up pictures to!


><>
Jackie

Philippians 2:1-3
¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

OE Thus Far

It has been 4 short days since I arrived back at the beautiful Hume Lake to start my job for the fall as on Outdoor Education Instructor. I was given the class of Entomology. For those of you who do not know what that is it the the Study of Insects, basically. I meet my partner and his name is Chief. He majored in outdoor Education and so he knows alot about our topic. So I have been hitting the books and studying any and everything about insects and catching them for the past three days. Let me tell you that these past few days have been anything less than boring. We have been getting up early and working on putting our material together, putting our classrooms together, and becoming experts on our topics. I have 3 roommates! One of them is from Mississippi and has the neatest accent ever. Her name is Boots and she is the youngest on our staff at 17. Then there is Poppy who is a teacher and she has a heart to convey the information as correctly and uniquley to the students. Then my bunkmate would be Kove. She just ha sthis fun and crazy spirit which I just love and feed off of. So needless to say our room has been less then boring, dance parties, late night chats, and pictures galore! The staff in general has been pretty amazing. A lot of us came off of summer staff together and so we have previous relationships so it is nice to know people in this new and crazy environment. It has been extra neat fo rme to have Boone and Koda here with me, I work with both of them at Wagon Train over the summer. It's just nice to have people here who know me and that i can openly and honestly talk with and confide in with out having to rebuild that relationship with others. But I'm looking forward to building those types of relationship with the girls on this staff. Speaking of building relationships. We had a team building activity the other day. I will always and forever refer to it as the day of the hike! We woke up at 5 am, ok first off I went to bed with the stars and woke up with the stars, and left for our destination at around 5:45 am. Getting up early is something that I don't do to often nor do I do well with getting up early, just ask any one who knows me. After an hour drive we headed off on our hike at 7 am. Pk, my boss, was kind enought to explain each third of the hike to us so we wouldn't have any surprises. we started at 8,000 ft and ended at 10, 375 ft. This was by far one of the hardest hike that I had ever done. I was tired, out of breath, my legs burned, my hip and knee hurt ,but in the end when I reached the top and steped onto the peak and looked out I was stunned by God's beauty. This was the highest I had every been hiking. By this time it was 8:45am and the sun was in just the right place and the sun hit the surrounding mountains in such a way that they sparkled. As Pk read from Matthew 6 about worry, I was thinking about how God has created all this and knew all thsi was here. I had NO idea that any of this existed but my God did. These mountains were so tall and so large but God yet still cares enough to love me and know me. So why in the world would I worry that I am not going to learn all my information before the students come or little things like that. God's got it. Needless to say it was totally worth waking up at 5am to see my God in a completely different way and enjoy the things that he has given me.

We ended the hike with pancakes at the top of this peak and a group photo. We headed back down and we we reached the vans we all crawled inside and fell asleep! It was one of the best days ever. Even today I am still really sore and I feel like I am 95 years old but I would do it again!

New Things

This is something new for me. I don't really blog, well I never blog. Since I am at a stage at my life where ever people are coming and going and so am I, I wanted a way for people who are interest or who I don't get to talk to day to be able to stay updated with what I am doing. Then enjoy a little random blog here and there. So hopefully this will serve that purpose and hopefully I will be diligent and stay up on it.

For starters I recently purchased my very first car! YAY!! =) It is a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS. I have been search for two years for a car. God, in those two years, was testing my patience and my ability to rely on him to provide me for my transportation. It was great! I find those times to be where I learn the most. When I am forced to rely on him and be patient. Am i perfect at it ABSOLUTELY NOT! It will always be a life struggle for me that's for sure. But, I feel that God has now proved me with a fabulous car! It has everything that I want in it and more! For example a SUNROOF! I knew that I wasn't gonna get a convertable and so the next best thing was a sunroof! It also has heating seats and defrosting side windows which will be really helpful when I am traveling to and from Hume Lake in the winter! It's really comfortable, drives well, great gas mileage, and all around a car fit for me! I go down to the dealership today to pick it up and drive it home. I'm gonna open that sunroof, roll down those windows, and listen to NickelCreek on the way back!

LOVE IT!