a little life update

HEY FRIENDS!

Wow. I wrote those really honest posts and then disappeared for a bit. Sorry about that. I have been super busy with life stuff for the past week. So let me just fill you in on some of what's going on in this girl's life. 

-I started the She Reads Truth Hosea plan. Y'all. It has been SO GOOD. It is such a beautiful picture of grace and redemption. But also a picture of what happens when we turn our backs on our Father. It has been such a good reminder that, even when I am faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself.

-I've been hearing some amazing sermons! As some of you know, who follow Mom's blog or are personal friends, we left our church. We've been attending CBC of Savannah. IT IS AMAZING. The worship, the sermons, the people...everything. I recommend going to the churches website and listening to the sermons that Bill has been preaching for the past few weeks. There are incredible. 

-I've been realizing how darn lucky I am to have my older brothers. Seriously, y'all. They blow my mind. Here's example a:

That boy. I love him. He knew what I needed to hear that night. Blew me away. Blog post about that conversation coming sometime soon. 

And now example b:

That boy. He's my boss. And my hero. And my best friend. And he called me yesterday while I was in Wal-Mart. We talked about work stuff. And then he asked me how many days I was going to be gone to Slovakia. I told him and asked why he wanted to know. He wanted to know because he's writing me a note for every day I'm gone!! I melted into a puddle on the floor in Wal-Mart. Sweetest thing ever. (He's the same guy that texted me on Valentine's Day). :) I love that dude. 

-addressing, stamping, stuffing and sealing lots of envelopes. Like, 300 envelopes. Yeah. It was work stuff. I enjoy it though!

-obsessing over this little guy. Seriously, I can't stand that much cuteness.

Anyway. That about wraps it up for now. Hope that y'all are having a lovely weekend.

Be back soon! 

tim tebow, one direction, the beatles and michael landon, part two

Hey friends! How is your week going? Hope everything is going well with y'all. Glad we're here today!!
Now, onto business.

Whew. Part Two. There was no way I could fit everything into one part unless you wanted to be reading all day long. Which of course, you didn't. So two parts it is, and this was another excuse to include more good pictures. =) I'm sure none of you will object.

First, let's talk about bands. Boy bands, of course. Because who cares about girl bands? =) We'll start with these fine fellows.

John, Paul, George and Ringo. They were "the thing" back in their day. They were cool. They made the girls scream, and all the boys had the hair cuts and the boots just like them. They were risque' and sang about holding hands. Holding hands, people!!! That's crazy. Today, holding hands is nothing. Heck, you're lucky if it's that innocent. Most lyrics are just downright dirty.

Those boys were crazy popular. What was the attraction? They were different. People had never seen anything like them. They were used to Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and the like, and here comes these impish British boys (very attractive, some of them...) who sang about holding hands and being in love. Yeah, they caught the eye of the world.

And guess what, folks? They were always fully dressed. When I was looking at their images, I didn't see many of them with their shirts off. And yet, girls were still attracted to them. Why? Well first of all, Paul and George weren't bad looking. John and Ringo...well, yeah. They had catchy music. They were different. They sang about things that no one had dared sing about before. They had a presence about them. And their music stuck around long after they were gone.

Truth right there.

But time passed and music styles changed and people changed. And not for the better, unfortunately. And...along came these boys:

And things have changed so much.

It is now okay to sing about way more than holding hands (but let's keep this blog PG, people!), it's okay to pose shirtless, it's okay to cause girls to lust after you. Not only is it "okay", it's normal! That is so sad. It's sad that it's come to this. It's sad that a shirtless guy is more attractive than The Beatles were in their suits and shaggy hair. What is this world coming to?

Let's stop with the boy bands for a minute and move to movie stars. Enter two fine fellers:

Now. I would have just posted several pictures of Little Joe, but Jessie (my younger sister) is as madly in love with Adam as I am with Little Joe and she requested that he make a guest appearance. So there he is. And he's not bad looking if I do say so myself. He's also wearing a shirt in case you hadn't noticed.

What makes those handsome men attractive to me and my sis? I'll tell you. It'll also explain what made them attractive back in the day.

They were real men.

They worked hard. They got sweaty and hot. They knew how to ride and shoot if necessary. They took care of themselves and each other. They protected the women in their lives. They weren't just out doing whatever they felt like. They had jobs and worked to provide for themselves. And it wasn't easy work either.

They didn't have to take their shirt off to be attractive.

Enter Tebow. And this is where things get touchy.

Tim Tebow bothers me. I researched him a little before writing this. Yeah, from what he has said, it looks like he's a Christian. But, like my friend Caroline said to me, you would have to hear that from his own mouth to know for sure.

But let's just say he is a strong Christian.

Why? Why would a strong Christian man do what he does? Does he think that it's okay? He is causing girls to lust. The Bible says that we should not cause our brother/sisters in Christ to stumble, and that is exactly what he is doing. I just don't understand how he could do that, or how the girls that look at him think that it's okay because he's a "Christian." It just doesn't work that way.

What does Tebow have to offer all these girls who are obsessing over him? What does One Direction have to offer? Some shirtless pictures? A few songs? A football game here and there?

Girls nowadays don't fall in love with real men. They fall in love with punks. And it's not even falling in love, its basically lusting. Let's just say it like it is. And it bothers me. Again, why is it okay for girls to look at pictures of shirtless guys, but we don't want guys looking at pictures of girls in bikinis?

I'm not talking about girls that aren't saved here. I'm talking about girls in the church.  Girls who love Jesus and say they want to honor Him. This doesn't honor God, friends. Lusting is a sin. And if you are looking at inappropriate pictures and thinking about guys in "that way" you. are. sinning.  Period. End of story. When I say inappropriate pictures, you know what I'm talking about.

This doesn't mean that we should all stay at home and never go anywhere and never talk to or look at a guy again. I mean, chances are good that you've heard a curse word before. Does that mean you were sinning? No. If you see something inappropriate, that doesn't mean you are sinning. But if you choose to look, that's sin. That's lust.

It all boils down to this: we have a choice to either guard our hearts and our minds or do what we want. Our flesh wants to look at those pictures. Our flesh loves that. It goes against everything in us to remain pure. But, how can we, who have died to sin, still live in it? Are we going to live like Jesus or not? Are we going to remain pure or not?

I am not trying to be all "holier than thou" here. Trust me, I'm a sinner just like you. So I'm not saying that it's okay for me to have a crush on Little Joe and its wrong for other girl's to have crushes on guys. The problem is that the guys that girls get crushes on nowadays aren't like those old movie stars. These guys parade their bodies. That's popular. Those old movie stars, (Ricky Nelson, Wally Cleaver, Little Joe, his big brother, Adam just to name a few) weren't parading their bodies. They had their good looks, their personalities, their sense of humor, and that was enough.

If you have an innocent crush on a guy because he has a cute face and is funny and has a great personality, that's fine. Little Joe is like that. I've made it quite clear why I like him. He was a gentleman. If you have a crush on a guy because he's hot and looks good without a shirt on, and you think some not-so-innocent thoughts while looking at those pictures, it ain't innocent anymore. That's wrong. That's sin.

Just remember, friends...
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

"...so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ..." Philippians 1:10 (ESV)

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV)

tim tebow, one direction, the beatles and michael landon, part one

Well! You are here for one of two reasons. Number one, you missed me. Or, number two, you couldn't resist seeing what this post was about. I mean, it has Tim Tebow in the title!!! =) I get this really bad feeling that you're about to be disappointed. Oh well! Moving on...

One of my favorite people in the whole world (you know who you are) thinks I'm weird. You want to know why? It's because, when she posted a picture of Tim Tebow online, I said, "not impressed."

I can almost hear the collective gasp. (for the record, that isn't the picture she posted).

And then, I posted this picture with the simple caption, in love. =)

I mean, come on, what's not to love about that face? And honey, if you watch him in Bonanza...Well, let's just say he gives a new meaning to the word swoon. =) (Okay, I'll move on....)

So then, my friend and I had this conversation:

You can learn several things from the above conversation. Number one, I obviously have a Michael Landon obsession. (Actually, technically, it's a Little Joe Cartwright obsession, not a Michael Landon obsession). Number two, my sweet adopted-by-me younger sister/friend obviously thinks Tim Tebow belongs to her. Number three, I'm obviously the opposite of basically every other girl in America.

This isn't the first time this fact has thrown itself in my face. A few weeks ago I was on a date with my 25 year old brother. He tortured me on the way home by making me listen to Justin Bieber. (Insert gag...) I cannot, repeat, CANNOT stand listening to him. (Michael, if you are reading this, please don't lecture me. I can't help it. I just can't. Let me go listen to my Fleet Band of Foxy Horses. ; )
As we were riding along, me pretending not to hate every minute of it, and him singing along, he was struck with a sudden realization that caused him to turn the music down. (Insert my hallelujahs).

He said, (and I quote), "Jennifer! This is like the only car in America with an 18 year old girl and a 25 year old guy in it, and the guy likes Bieber more than she does!!" We laughed hysterically at the funniness of the situation. It was really funny. Me and Michael in a car, him knowing every word and me gagging over Justin Bieber. =) I'm weird.

Take One Direction. Is it bad that I had to find out what all their names are? Seriously, I didn't know what Louis' or Liam's names were.

I just don't understand the attraction. Niall is the only one that is actually {semi} good-looking. I listened to several of their iTunes demos before writing this, and again, not impressed. (Sorry). And yet, they are supposed to be the thing. Kinda like these fellows were back in the day:

Come on now, drag your eyes away from Paul.

I'm just wondering what our world is coming to.

When I was 12-16, I wasn't looking at pictures of shirtless guys. (Well, heck, I still don't look at pictures of shirtless guys!!) But, there are so many girls out there who do.

When I was 12-16, my friends and I didn't obsess over celebrities like girls do nowadays. We got crushes on real guys.

When I was 12-16, my friends and I didn't listen to music because of the way the people looked...we listened to music that we liked.

It bothers me that it has become okay for girls to have over-the-top celebrity crushes, looking at innapropriate pictures and things like that. It bothers me. It bothers me that when I said something about not being impressed by Tim Tebow because of his posing shirtless, I was told "Tim Tebow is a Christian, Jennifer Mole!!!"

I'm not saying that if you have a celebrity crush, that you aren't pure. I think I've made it quite clear that Michael Landon is where it's at. That's not wrong. That's normal. It's totally normal to have crushes. But most of these girls aren't stopping with a crush. They are moving on to looking at inappropriate pictures, or making Styles their last name on all of their accounts, or saying that they own Tim Tebow.  That's when it stops being an innocent crush.

I started this blog to encourage and help young women. I promised that I would be honest. I fully intend to do just that. If I can't speak up about what's on my heart, then this blog will just have to go. (Y'all don't want that, right?) To be totally honest, this post has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while, but I didn't want to write it. It's always easiest to sit back and not say the hard stuff. But this friend of mine is always writing posts that are so honest. She totally isn't afraid of what God has her writing down. It pushed me to write this.

I'm not judging amyone, and I wasn't angry with my friend. Heaven forbid. I've sinned. I've messed up big time. I've given my heart away. But, girls, we've gotta be careful. We've gotta protect ourselves. How would you feel if you knew that the guy you are going to marry was looking at girls in bikinis? That makes me feel kinda sick.

If I had to try and tie this all together into one point, it would be this: the gospel. The gospel really is just the good news that Jesus died for us and He loves us. Because He loves us, we can't live in sin anymore. We have to be holy because He is holy. He is now our high calling. It doesn't matter what else we have or do, because now we have Him. We don't need anything else. We don't need a boyfriend or a good job or the perfect wedding or 8 adorable kiddos or Tim Tebow. We need Jesus.

Looking at pictures of guys won't fulfill you. It may feel good in the moment. It might make you get butterflies and dream crazy dreams. It'll feel good. But it won't last. Jesus lasts. He never goes away. His love never fails.


If you struggle with this or if you have questions/comments, I'm here. You can leave your thoughts in the comment box down below, or if you feel more comfortable, just email me at: betterthatway@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you. I love you, friends! Stay strong!


(this was part one. yep, there is more of this to come).

SLOVAKIA

Slovakia.

I'm going there. In 79 days.

Guys. God is so crazy! I don't even begin to understand Him. Somehow in 4 days He convinced me to get on a plane and fly across the ocean to go work in a VBS camp with kids I have never even seen, and be without my family, my bed and sweet tea for 11 days. Talk about scary!!

It all started back in January. I wanted to go on a mission trip to South Africa this summer. Mom and Dad just weren't digging it. =) Meaning, they said no. They just didn't feel like it was what God wanted. They both felt extremely uncomfortable about it. So we decided to pray about missions' work and if the opportunity arose next year, we'd see what God had told us.

Then came February 24th. We were having our Sunday night Bible time. We all gathered in the living room to talk about what we had learned at church that morning. I was talking about how I felt like God wanted me to stop worrying so much about doing "good things" and do the best things, the best things being the things He has for me. Blogging and writing books and reading and mentoring girls are all good things, but I said that I didn't want them to keep me from the best things.

Less than 30 minutes later, a friend of Mom's texted her about a mission trip going to Slovakia and wanted to know if I might be interested.

I freaked.

In typical Jennifer fashion, I whined, "Mom..."

In typical Mom fashion, she said, "Funny this came up when you just said that you wanted to do what God wanted."

Over the next four days, I prayed harder than I've ever prayed before. And God kept making it abudantly clear that it was what He wanted through my brothers' reactions when I told them about it, and through verses like these:
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,  and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

God made it clear. I heard about the trip on Sunday night. Wednesday night I met with the man who was leading the trip and later that night, I started filling out paperwork. The next day, I wrote a support letter and got addresses. Friday I mailed out letters. And it all went uphill from there!

I have received so much support through friends and family. Even my Internet friends have become involved and I've sent support letters to some of them! It has been so good to see God work through this adventure.

Yeah, I'm still pretty freaked about the flying part. And I'm freaked about being away from home for 12 days. But I'm so excited and I can't wait to see what God's going to do. And trust me, I'll keep you guys updated on this trip, cause it's gonna be awesome!!