Thoughts on Prague

  Spring is upon us, and I have been so busy these past months. I recently added more hours to my work schedule so now I work a full five days a week. I am thankfully able to spend time on most weekends with friends, that is always a blessing to me.
  What has been really keeping me busy is the fact that I am going to Prague this summer. My church is a part of an English camp that happens there every year and this year I have the opportunity of being a teacher. I was very nervous when I started, still am, about creating lesson plans. I have never made lesson plans before. I do teach Sunday school at my church, but that barely ever requires preparation because it is already prepared and organized for you in the box you get at the beginning of the quarter. So I really had no idea what to do. I was able to talk to some teachers that I know and after reading and following the book given me for the lessons, I feel more confident. I actually have most of my lessons plans done so I am feeling good about this.
   I am especially looking forward to going back to Prague. The last time I went was nine years ago back in 2004. So I am really looking forward to seeing that beautiful city again. I am going with  my mom so that should be a nice trip, just the two of us. We are also planning on going down to see Rome for a few days after the camp. So this summer will be fun.
   I just pray I can be a good witness to those Czechs who come to our camp. It would be wonderful if many of those campers come to know God through this camp.

So just for fun, here is a picture of a painting I did last year of the spires in Prague.

New year, new me

    It is now 2013. A new year has begun and people have made their new year's resolutions, some may be doing well with that resolution, others may have already failed that resolution. For me, my resolution this year is to grow closer to God. I want to have a better relationship with my Lord and Savior and this year I really plan on doing that. I started a 40 day fast 11 days ago. It has been tough giving up sweets, some days I have "cheated" and other days I do really well. But the one thing I am feeling good about through this is my devotional time with God. I have been spending more time almost every day in God's word and in some theological books. I have learned so much about God's love, His faithfulness, His holiness, His justice and His mercy. I have also learned much about my own weakness and my unholiness. I am learning more about what it is to me more like God and to  grow in Him. So through this time of fasting I have seen some growth, and I pray and hope to see more.

    My holiday season was such a blessing to me. I was able to celebrate it with both sides of my family and with friends. It rained a lot but with the rain come rainbows. I was reminded even more of God's love and mercy towards us through the rain, snow and ice (yes we had snow and ice in San Diego). So here are a few pictures of my time with family and friends.

 Our Christmas tree.

 

Double rainbows!!

 

New Year's Eve in Los Angeles

Delicious food with family.

 

 Fun times at the Rose Parade.

 

 



Rose parade.

 

Frost on my car.

 

 

"I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

Genesis 9:11

 

 

P.S. It rained today!  :)

 

 

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.