Putting God First

Last week I opened up my copy of the book Desiring God by John Piper. I had decided that i really should try to read some more theological books that I can actually get some life lessons out of. I was surprisingly becoming a little tired of my fiction books, even if some of them were classics such as Les Miserables(which by the way is a difficult book to get through, it is VERY long!). I have had this book for years and have never gotten around to actually reading it. I think i had attempted once before, but didn't get through the first chapter. 

I have found that this book is very good. I am only two chapters into it, but I like it so far. I have decided to take it a chapter a week, like one would for a Bible study. The chapter I read today was very helpful to me. It talked about conversion but mostly about how our faith in God really should come first in our lives because of the great love that God gave us. I was reminded that "by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"(Ephesians 2:8). It was God's gift of salvation that makes me able to come to Him. Because of that I need to honor Him and give Him all the glory He deserves. I know I do not do that as often as I should, I am a sinner and putting God first is hard because of that. But I am thankful to God for this reminder today. I hope and Pray that God will remind me every day to keep Him first in everything. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Summer!

It has been a long time since i last posted here. A lot has happened over these past two months. Shortly after i last blogged, I went to visit my best friend Abby in Vancouver Canada. I stayed with her and her husband for a full week and really had a good time with them. It was my first time to Canada and I think I would enjoy going back someday, just as long as I can control my allergies! While there, I was able to experience Canadian shopping, Vancouver Island, camping next to the beach, sand castles/sculptures, and a very large very green park! (I don't remember the name of it) It was a lot of fun and I had such a good time with her.  

Just two days after returning to California, I went on a road trip with my friend Sarah and we drove all the way up the coast to San Fransisco. That trip was a lot of fun. On the first day, Thursday, we drove through Santa Barbara stopping many times to get pictures of the beautiful coast. We toured Santa Barbara for a while, got to see the Santa Barabara mission(outside only), found a park with a spectacular view, and walked through downtown. Later that evening we arrived in San Luis Obispo in time to walk through their Farmer's Market. we stayed there with one of my cousins and left the next morning.

We drove to Hearst Castle and took a tour. I had never been to see the castle before, and it was beautiful and so worth it! I really want to go again! I have heard some people say that they would not call it a castle, but I totally would. It is HUGE! I don't know why it would not be called a castle! It may be the only "castle" or one of the very few here in the United States. It is only half a days drive from my house, so I think I will try and take advantage of its location soon.

After that we made our way up the coast. We stopped and saw some large Elephant Seals, hiked a few small hikes in Big Sur and the surrounding area, and had dinner in Monterey before we made it to Livermoor where we stayed the weekend. We stayed with some friends of Sarah and I had a lot of fun getting to know them. We spent all of Saturday touring San Fransisco and enjoyed swimming in our friends' pool and jacuzzi later that night. On Sunday we went to church with them and in the afternoon we did some more touring of San Fransisco. We had not gotten to get close to the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday, so we went to see it on Sunday. It had been such a clear and beautiful day Saturday, that we were disappointed to find that it was rather foggy and overcast Sunday morning/afternoon. We still enjoyed the time we had there. On Monday we drove all the way down the I-5 back to Orange county. It was a long stretch, but did not seem that long because Sarah and I had some really good conversations about things going on in our lives. I really enjoyed spending that time with Sarah and getting to know her better through it. The conversations were healthy and helpful, I think, for both of us.

Here are a few pictures from our trip. I sadly  lost one of my memory cards and thus lost the majority of my photos. I did not realize this until after arriving home. It has not been found since. But I did have some pictures on my phone and some on my other memory card and got a few from Sarah. So even though I am sad I do not have a lot of pictures to prove I went on this trip, I still have the memories, and those are always better than pictures!!

 Santa Barbara Mission

Hearst Castle 

Hearst Castle 

Golden Gate Bridge 

 

Jennifer(me) and Sarah

 

 

The rest of my summer has been filled with doing fun things with friends and my work. Work hasn't been too hard and I have been picking up a few extra shifts, so it is going pretty well in that manner. It has been fun doing things with my friends, slack-lining, going to the beach, shopping, going to the movies, jacuzzi time, all of it has been wonderful. Summer may be over because school has started, but for me any time I get to spend time with my friends is like summer to me!

 

I almost forgot to mention that I got to see another Broadway musical!! I got to see Les Miserables with my Mom while the show was here in San Diego. I am so glad I got to see it while it was here because the show was only in town for a week! I must admit that I believe I enjoy Les Mis more than I enjoyed Wicked. I did enjoy Wicked, but it was my first Broadway show to see, so it took a little bit to get used to it and I was not familiar with the music. I have been familiar with the music of Les Mis since I was a  young girl, plus we got closer seats for this show and it was easier to see the actors as a result. I was in a production of Les Mis when in high school so I am very familiar with the play and because it was and has been the only actual play that I have been in, that show has always been special to me. So  you could say I had a biased opinion coming into the show, but oh the music was wonderful and I loved some of the effects the used!! I thought these effects were better than what they had in Wicked. I just overall had a really good experience with that.

 

My Mom and I at Les Miserables

 

I hope you, my readers, had a wonderfully blessed summer such as I had. It may have been blessed in other ways, but I hope it was blessed nonetheless.



Birthday Festivities

So today was my 23rd birthday!! We didn't have a big celebration today, but that didn't bother me too much. Because I was anticipating that my family would not be doing much, I was able to treat myself to some fun yesterday.

I went to see the Broadway musical Wicked!!! I have always heard from my friends that it is a great show, but I have never seen it before. This was actually my first Broadway Musical show to see!! So I was able to get tickets online for a friend and I a few weeks ago. By the way, do NOT get tickets online. I ended up paying and extra $20 in fees!! If you get them at the booth at the theatre there are no extra fees. So just a heads up to anyone who would ever go see a show at the San Diego Civic Theatre.

Anyway, on with the play. I have read the book. Technically I listened to it on CD, but I think that still counts. I did find the show very different from the book, but it was still good. It followed the basic plot of the book, making the Wicked Witch of the West really a nice person and just misunderstood. Her story was changed a little in the play, but I didn't mind it. What I really enjoyed about the musical was the music and the theatrical effects. I was in a high school production of the musical Les Miserables during my senior year, and ever since then my interest in theatre increased greatly. I just like to pay attention to the details of the set and the tricks done on-stage. So I was pointing out small details that my friend had previously missed. She was impressed. :-P

Our seats were in the top-most section, at least we were not in the last row. So I couldn't see quite as good as I would have liked. Even with contacts in I could not see the actors faces that well. I enjoy watching the actors expressing themselves through their facial expressions. But of course the actors play to the last row, so we were able to see most body movements because there were more exaggerated. The lighting and effects were awesome and bright! The singers were so good!!! Man can they belt a note!! So basically we had a good time at the play.

After the play ended, we went to a friends house for dinner. They gave me a birthday dinner and even sang to me when I blew out the candles on the brownies. They were trick candles though, so it took a while to get them really blown out! But after dinner we swam in the jacuzzi where we ended up having a theological discussion about angels and demons and the existence of ghosts and supernatural things. It was a very good discussion, I enjoyed it. Then we watched a movie called The Number 23. I had to watch it for my 23rd birthday. Haha I really didn't have to, but wanted to. Its basically a psychological thriller about a guy obsessed with the number 23. I liked it.

So that was yesterday, and I feel that was my real birthday. Did not do anything out of the ordinary today. But because it was Sunday, I was able to spend the day with my church family. That was nice, a lot of people were wishing me a "Happy Birthday" all day. It was a good day because it was spent in fellowship with my Christian family. I enjoyed the fellowship and the sermon today was good as well. At youth group we were able to open up to each other about our struggles and a specific sin we each were dealing with. That was really helpful and encouraging to be able to share that among your brothers and sisters in Christ. That ended my day on a good note.

I am going to be traveling to see my cousins and grandparents in Orange County tomorrow. I don't know if they will do anything for me, but even if they don't I will be happy to just see them and spend some time with them. I am so looking forward to this week because I am on vacation!! I am going to be flying to Vancouver to see my best friend Abby whom I haven't been able to spend time with in a while. I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with her. After I return from that trip, I am going on a short road trip up to San Fransisco that weekend with another friend! I am so excited for both trips, I will be sure to post about them.

Well I hope I haven't bored you completely. Have a wonderful summer and may the Lord bless you richly!  Until next time!

Birthday brownies.

Me, Kaelah, Lianna, Abby

 Tinker Bell (the dog)

Wicked!!!

The Lord provides.

So this last week I had a few different things happen to/for me that showed me that the Lord really provides for His people. Last Sunday when I was changing shifts with my co-worker, I breifly mentioned the possibility of changing shifts so that I wouldn't have to work every Saturday. She said she didn't see anything wrong with that because she prefers to have Thursdays and Fridays off. So on Monday I called my boss and asked her about it. She talked with the other caregiver and soon called me back. My schedule has now been officially changed so that I work a live-in shift Wednesday morning through Saturday morning! I was so excited, she even started my shift change that week. So I got to have Saturday off. I was so thankful! It has already been hard not having Saturdays off when a lot of my friends and family do things on Saturdays. With the summer break coming soon for most everyone I know, I knew Saturdays would be a big deal to have off. I wasn't really expecting my boss to even allow it! I am ever grateful to the Lord for that!

On Wednesday, before going to work on Thursday, I was able to have a Skype chat with my best friend Abby. We had a wonderful talk, one that helped us build each other up. She told me about how a couple weeks ago her husbands back-pack had been stolen and it had his keys and wallet in it along with all hig bank cards and ID. They had been having trouble getting all the cards cancelled and were having difficulty proving that one payment was not made by him and that it was a fraud. Abby told me that just earlier that week they were able to get that settled and they are already in the process of getting him new cards and ID. So I was very thankful for that. I remember Abby certainly giving the credit for all this to the Lord.

That Saturday was my first Saturday off. I was able to enjoy it and do some fun stuff, but wasnt sure about that at the start of the day. All day Friday, while at work, I had been cold with the chills and a bad headache. I didn't have anything to let me know if I had a fever or not, but am almost sure that I did. Saturday morning I didn't have the chills, but my head still hurt and I did not feel one hundred percent. I ran a few errands and tried to take it easy that morning. I decided to go to my younger cousins' dance recital that afternoon. Both girls did very well and I really enjoyed watching them. They are seven and nine years old and love to dance, you could tell they were enjoying it. Afterward we all went to their house to celebrate their younger brother's birthday. I stayed for that and enjoyed keeping company with the adults. I may have been the oldest of the cousins there, but all the children there were under the age of ten and were content playing with themselves.

I am very glad I was feeling alright to go with them that afternoon because when I got home I became very sick. I will spare the details, but I was so sick and not feeling well that I was afraid I would not be able to make it to church the next day. But after a surprisingly good night's sleep I felt very good the next morning. I still took it slow and easy, but I did not start feel ill again until later in the afternoon. So I was able to go to morning service, and was also able to teach my sunday school class. I have been absent from teaching that class for  the past few weeks and realized how much I missed them. After lunch I wasn't feeling too well, but after I laid down for a few hours I felt good enough to go to the evening service at our church. I feel that the Lord really blessed me and healed me overnight. When I woke up that morning I knew God had healed me because there was nothing I had done that could helped me in that way.

And that's not all of it! I was on my way to work this morning and I got a call from my boss. She told me that my patient didn't need me to come in today but that they still wanted to pay me. I don't know why they would pay me, maybe for being ready, or just because they are generous, but that meant that I had the day off! So I have spent the day cleaning the house and doing some chores that I wasnt sure I would have time for!

The Lord really has been with me this past week. He really has shown me His loving kindness to me. I am ever thankful for that. The Lord showed me a lesson that I needed to be reminded of.

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20b

Relationships

Relationships are always an interesting and sticky topic to discuss. But as a Christian I know that God created us to be relational people. We need our different levels of relationships because that is how we are made. As a Christian I look forward to one day meeting that one person that God has created for me. "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him ' "(Gen. 2:18) and that helper was woman. God created us to be together and become one. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh"(Gen 2:24). I do believe this to be true. Though it can be hard for a young, single woman to wait.

I am coming close to the age of 23 now. Five years ago I thought my life would be much different than it is now. I pretty much expected to meet my husband at college, graduate college and marry my husband shortly after. But that never happened. I have never had a "boyfriend" or been in any relationship that had the future goal of marriage in it. I have been in friendship relationships with men that have helped me grow and learn more about myself and what it is I want in a guy. In this day and age, the fact of a single 22 year old  woman being single her whole life is rather inconceivable. But for me I am happy that I have not been in any relationships. Now that I look back to when there were guys that I was interested in, I see clearly that I was not ready for a relationship. I was not mature enough. I have grown in that factor, but still believe and will always believe that I need to grow more. God may not have sent me my future husband yet, but I know He is forming and creating that man and me so that we will be who He wants us to be for that other person. I may not be in a relationship now, but am growing to be content in my situation. Yes I do sometimes wish I was in a relationship, but I know that God has a bigger plan for me. But I have hope and "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts though the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."(Rom. 5:3-5) These few verses have helped me get through a lot and I thank God for that.

Until that day comes when God bring that man into my life, I have built a small list of attributes that I hope to find in my future husband. These are also non-negotiable.
1. A God-fearing Reformed Christian
2. A servant leader with compassion and humility.
3. Be loving, caring and respectful.
4. Be dependable and trustworthy,
5. And be wise in many aspects but especially have wisdom about God's word.

Time flies

So it has sadly been a month since I last posted. I have had little time to say something and have just been putting this off. The thing is that I don't really know what to write about. You could say many different things have happened, but you could also say nothing at all of great importance happened either. So here I am trying to make a decision on what to write about and how to say. I don't even know where to start.

Work has been steady and I am thankful for that. I regularly work on mondays, thursdays, fridays, and saturdays with two patients. It is nice to be able to go to the same patient on a regular schedule. When I first started working with this company I would get a few random shifts here and there. Would end up working with the patient for a few days and then my schedule would change because they didn't like me or the decided to cancel service with the company. So a lot of my work was short-lived and had not prior schedule set up. I would sometimes get a call asking if I could work the next morning or even later that day. Nothing seemed set in stone. I would sometimes be working a lot, and there were other times when I only worked one shift a week for about a month! It was hectic and stressed me out. So now that I have a regular schedule and regular patients I am really enjoying the fact that I have some decent pay checks and that I know I will have work for the next month or even a few months. Both patients and very nice and It is nice to be able to create a relationship with them. I don't always feel like I am doing much, but I know I am at least being a help to the families of these people. It surprises me that I have already been working with this company for 5 months now. Seems like yesterday when I didn't have a job.

My social life has been up and down. One good friend that I had who was able to do things with me at least once a week has now moved back home to Michigan. She has been living here in San Diego for 3 months helping her sister with the kids. But now she has moved back. The sad part is that she really loved it here and was devastated to be going home. But she had to go. I think it will be good for her to be back home, her family missed her and she was needed there. She does  plan on coming back sometime before the end of the year even if just for a quick visit. So now I have to be responsible with my free time and not waste it on movies. Not having someone to do things with will be different and possibly hard, but I can manage it. I was able to before, and I can do it again.
One other friend came here for her spring break from school. I was able to do some fun things with her. We went to the Carlsbad Flower Fields for a day. It was fun and I had never been there before. It is a field that they cover in flowers of all colors and they make it look like a rainbow because the different colors are seperated from each other. In the end it is a beautiful effect. It is sad that she had to go so soon, but duty calls her elsewhere. On thing that saddens me is that she does not want to stay in San Diego the rest of her life. She does not really want to move back here after she finishes school. I really dont know what I would do if i knew she was never coming back permanently. But that will happen in the future. Doesn't our Lord say "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself"? So I will try my best not to worry about it.
Here is a picture of me and my two friends at the flower fields.

Priscilla, Jennifer(me), Rachel



BTW I colored my hair darker. I like it and that's all that matters.



Another thing that has happened to me is I have been reading the Hunger Games trilogy. I had heard they were good books and with all the hype about the movie coming out, I wanted to read at least the first book. Of course the first book is displayed in every bookstore now because of the movie. My mother reminded me that I could get it for my ereader. I havent been buying new books for it, so I decided to do it. I found the first book for $5 and started reading it the weekend the movie came out. I was working that weekend so I had a lot of time to read it and thus knew that I would not be seeing the movie that weekend. I liked the book so much, I was hooked. It's pretty much a story about a girl leading a rebellion against a government who likes to use the lower class people as a futuristic Gladiator form of entertainment. Through it all she has a romance between two boys and she cannot decide which one she has stronger feelings for. Honestly I feel like she throws kisses away way to much in the books. Yes it is mostly for show, but she gives them away almost as much as, if not more than her hugs! I find it a bit ridiculous and a little annoying, but that is my side-note opinion. I did see the movie and I thought it was very good and well done. They made it as close to the books as they could and I appreciate that. It is rather difficult to portray what a person is thinking in movies whereas in a book you know exactly what is running through their minds. So because they couldn't have her narrate her thoughts during the entire movie, I think they did a good job with what they could do. I personally believe it came out a much better movie than the movie Twilight did. Both movies are the first in a series of very popular books but in the movie the Hunger Games the acting was much better and it was obvious that the budget was bigger. Don't get me wrong, I do like the Twilight series, I just think the Hunger Games was done better. I could go on further about what I think of the book series, I am (according to my ereader) 75% through the last book of the Hunger Games trilogy. But I will save that for another post.

After looking over what I have written, I have come to the conclusion that yes, things have happened to me this last month. They  may not seem like big things at the moment, but in the long run I believe they are.
Until next time.

 So last Saturday on the 3rd, some of my friends from church got together for a fun night of bowling, pizza, movie, and mafia. I have been yearning for some more fellowship with people my age that are in the San Diego area. So I got talking with a few people in my church and in other churches I knew and people were interested in doing something. So some of us decided it would be good to have some time set aside at least once a month doing a cheap activity to bring people together.

 So for our first meeting we went bowling. It ended up being a lot of fun. We had 10 kids/young adults show and 3 adults (over the age of 40). Only 2 of the young adults were not from my church, but it was still good. We are hoping that as time progresses that we can bring more people in to join with us. So we were able to divide the group into 2 lanes and bowled for 2 hours. Afterward we went to my house, had pizza for dinner and watched the movie Men In Black. A lot of people in the group had not seen it before including myself. It was a good movie. We were at a loss of what to do next for a few minutes. But we finally resolved the awkwardness with a game of Mafia. We did only one round before people had to leave. Everybody seemed excited for us to do it again. So I think it turned out well. I now have some ideas about how it can go more smoothly next time. We are still thinking about what we will do next. I will let you know what we do next time we get together.

So here is a picture of the group. (minus one of my brothers) I thank God that it went well and that we were able to enjoy spending time to get to know each other better.

Hump day

So last weekend I was pretty busy working, I am glad I had a few good days this week. Monday I worked with a new patient, and the shift was good because we got along well. It is always good when your patient and their family is friendly and you work well together. Tuesday was Valentine's day and I spent most of the day home alone. I did some cleaning, organizing, and catching-up on TV shows I had missed over the weekend. I walked down the street in the afternoon to see a $5 movie. So that was a nice way to get exercise and relax at the movies.

Wednesday was a really good day for me. I woke up feeling well rested and have breakfast and coffee with my friend Priscilla. She has been going to my church for a little over a month and this was the first time we had hung out together outside of church. So it was really good to get to know each other just by talking nonstop for three hours!

After that I went to see my Chiropractor. I have a bad back and  go in to see him about every other week. So it was a good visit in general.

When I got home I had a lovely Skype chat with my best friend Abby. We live so far from each other so these Skype dates are really helpful. We found out conversation entertaining this time. Her computer was showing my camera feed at a slow pace, slower than what was really happening. So her picture was slower than what she heard me saying. It was fun, it made her laugh a few times.  :)
I am really thankful for my relationship with her. We have such an open relationship that we can share our struggles with each other and we try to help and encourage one another. I am always learning something from her and for that I feel very blessed to be her friend.

Later in the day I spent some time packing for my live-in shift over the weekend and had a good talk with my Mom. We talked about life and what I can possibly do in life and what I can do to help me figure out what I can do in life. Then we watched a show before we called it a night. That was a good ending to the day. Overall, it was a great day.

Theatre history

So i did indeed make it to the library today!! I feel rather good about that. Once I got my new card, i just started looking things up. I decided to look up the history of theatre. I found a few books and got started. I found one great book in the reference section that had so much on the topic! I didn't know where to start, it was so big.

I decided to look into British theatre in the sixteenth century. I learned a lot more about theatre in that era. I couldn't even finish the section because I had a time limit. I took notes so I will be sharing those. I hope you don't get too bored with my history lesson.

In that time actors travelled together in what were called troupes or even companies. There were adult companies and boys' companies that put on plays. Of all the companies there were during Queen Elizabeth I's reign, only the Admiral's Men and the Chamberlain's Men were the first companies to get their own playhouses. These companies grew and were able to monopolize the the rights to producing plays. In these troupes, some of the actors could buy a share of the company. Quite a few of them would be shareholders in the troupe and they would have responsibilities of conducting the business. But they also profited a little more than those actors who did not have a share, and the shareholders often got lead roles in the plays. For a troupe to get a play, they paid the playwright when he was finished with the play and in a sense then the play would be theirs to produce. They didn't have copyright then and I am sure they had problems with that, but this was how they tried to solve it. When the troupe travelled they had to give a preview performance to the city officials for it to be approved. Only if it was approved could they then create performances in the town. If approved, they were usually paid for their performance to the officials. Some times, if the performance was so bad and was not approved, they would be paid to get out of the town.

In the 1580's there was a group of playwrights who were called "the University of Wits" because of their style of writing and plays. They created plays that reached out to people who were learned and also to the common people. They used historical topics, mythical topics, and pastoral comedies in their plays. Christopher Marlowe is most known for his plays of Doctor Faustus (c. 1588) and Edward II (c. 1592). He was able to take an historical event and make it more relate-able and easily understandable to his audience.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote nearly forty plays. Only sixteen of those were published before his death. The rest of his works are mostly known because two of his fellow actors put together a collection of thirty-six of his plays in 1623. Shakespeare's fame was low in his time, but it began to grow in the late seventeenth century and was at its peak in the nineteenth century. His writings were different in how his many different characters actually seemed to be like real people instead of just a role on the stage. He used language in such a way to effectively bring emotions, moods, and ideas to his audience.

I find it interesting that both Shakespeare and Jane Austen became most popular for their works after their death. These two writers are considered some of the best authors today, but in their time they were not the most popular. It is interesting how things change over time.

Well I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson. I did. I am glad I went to do this at the library. I will have to do it again soon.

Not so good.

Had a really lazy day today. I did absolutely nothing except eat junk food and watch movies. That may sound ideal for someone who just broke-up with someone, but I have not broken up with anyone. In fact I have no special relationships to feel bad or lazy about, and that makes me feel all the more bad about my day. It felt OK in the moment, but now i feel rather crappy about it.

I NEED to get myself started on something to do with myself! How does one get motivated to workout, or to go to the library and look up things to just improve your mind. Someone suggested I do that and I really plan on doing it. The problem is getting started. I would try and make up for it tomorrow, but I work all day tomorrow. Maybe I will go to the library on Wednesday. No, I WILL go to the library and look up things I am interested in, and I  WILL walk the loop that is by my house to get some exercise. Make sure you check in Wednesday to see that I have done anything I have promised myself I will do.

I think I will go for a walk right now. Maybe that will help my motivation.

The sweet wine of Christ

Tonight I went to a local church that my brother and his girlfriend have been going to. It is reformed, but not in any particular denomination. It is called Kaleo and meets saturday nights in a baptist church. Anyway, I really enjoyed the sermon and wanted to share it with you.

The pastor talked about Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Cana.(Found in John 2:1-12) I found it so good because he explained it in such a different way than I have ever heard before. At the wedding, they run out of wine before the party is over. Back in that day it was a BIG deal to not have enough wine. It would have brought shame on the groom for not providing for enough wine for the entire party. Mary, Jesus' mother, comes to him for help in solving this problem. Jesus replies "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). The pastor of Kaleo explained that the "hour" that Christ is talking about is His final hour on the cross. Before His death, Jesus prays "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you" (John 17:1b). His hour was going to be His ultimate victory on the cross. Jesus knew that by showing His power through this first miracle that it would not only display God's heart, but it woul lead Him down the path to the cross. His final goal is the cross and He knows that this miracle of turning the water into wine will lead Him down that path.

Another point the pastor said was about the jugs that Jesus had the servants fill with water. These large jugs were the jugs used in the Jewish ceremonial cleansing tradition. When the jugs are filled with water, they have not become wine yet. The problem itself of needing more wine cannot be fixed through the Jewish traditions. Jesus is showing the inadequacies of this cleansing ritual. In Jeremiah 2:22 it speaks about this cleansing ritual, but that it will never truly clean a person of their sin. Without Christ we cannot be cleaned of our sins. Without Christ, the water does not turn to wine. Christ is neccessary to fulfill and complete what is lacking in the Jewish purification.

Also, the fact that Jesus was the actual one who brought out the best wine and not the bridegroom shows that Jesus is ultimately the true bridegroom. He will be the bridegroom, and we the Church are His bride. At this wedding, in which He was a guest, Jesus supplies the wedding with more wine than anyone can ever use. It is such a huge amount of wine it amounts to almost 150 gallons of wine. That is what He provides while a guest, what more will He give His bride at the wedding when He is the groom?

There are two types of wine: good wine, and sour wine. Good wine for the Jews represented joy. It was that which made them glad. As Jesus' first miracle of creating wine, He was in a sense making His people happy/joyful/glad. God enjoys to make His people joyful, to make better something that was already good. He makes us better.
The bad/sour wine represents God's wrath and punishment that we deserve for being sinners. We deserve the wrath of God to be upon us, we do not deserve His sweet wine that is full of joy. Romans 6:23 says, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Christ paid the penatly for our sins so that we might have this gift of the bountiful wine. He bore our sins on the cross and tasted the sour wine of God's wrath. He was literally given sour wine while on the cross (John 19:29) and also experienced the wrath of God through His death on the cross. And because of His one sacrifice, it is able to cover all other sacrifices and save us from our sins.

Because of God's great gift of His Son, and because of His love for us we are able to experience and taste His sweet wine. Oh the deep deep love of Jesus that He would die for us so we would not endure the pain He suffered for us.
Thank you Lord. None can comprehend how great is your love!

Quick intro to my life.

My name is Jennifer.
Was born and raised in southern California. Went to school in Iowa for  four years to pursue a career in nursing. It did not turn out as I had hoped and am now living back at home working as a caregiver and trying to figure out what I am to do with my life.

I am a Christian. I believe that God, who created everything on this earth and everything around it, sent His Son to die for us wretched sinners. He came to Earth to bear the penalty for us all, and for that I can never be thankful enough. I can barely comprehend how God could sacrifice his own son so that we might live and be saved from the eternal punishment that we deserve. It is unfathomable the love of God.

With this in mind, I believe that God has a purpose for everyone. That includes me. I am having trouble finding out what that is presently. I have spent the past four years of my life going after what i thought was what I wanted to do in my life, but now God has shut that door on me. I do believe that God has plan for me and possibly another career in mind for me. I just need to take time to think on it, pray about it, and wait to see what God has in store for me.

So I am starting this blog because of a suggestion one of my mentors gave me. He told me to write about my thoughts and just write them down. He even said "write a blog" and that is what I intend to do. So I hope that those who will be reading my posts don't get too bored with me. I am trying to figure out my life as much as the next person is.
Though I am doing it with the Lord's help.