Best.Day.Ever!

Today was one of the best days ever! For awhile now I have been wanting to go on a dental missions trip. Today I got a little taste of what that would be like. We went back to the first town we we were at, Santa Clara, and saw the people we helped. We got to see the houses we painted and eat some of the amazing fried bread one lady made for us. While we were visiting we went to the local school to see some of the kids we grew relationships with. When we got there, there were a ton of people at the school and other volunteers that looked American! (Later we found out they were German and Ukrainian) they were there hosting a free medics fair. Doctors, and dentists were there giving free medical care to the people of Santa Clara! I immediately asked if I could help assist the dentist if he needed help! They said yes, he definitely needed help! I was SO excited! I was taken to the classroom that was for dental and met 2 dentists working, and their male assistant who is a musician and had no idea what he was doing. He was so happy to see me. I was so excited to be helping and to be a total blessing to the dentists and the patients! I immediately jumped in and the language barrier was a bit difficult but we could understand a few things. Once we got the flow of things and I understood what procedure he was doing we got along very well. One of our amazing translators Paulina, is in school to be a dentist so she came in and joined me also! It was so fun because the whole trip we have been joking about us working together someday! Who knew we would kinda be "working" together on this trip! Haha it was so awesome! After she came in she got to translate and it was a lot easier haha! We helped the dentists for a few hours then had to leave for the day. I was so bummed I had to go! I had such a great day! I saw some interesting teeth for sure, but the smiles the people had after they left were priceless!! Such an awesome day! It really made me excited to go back home and work again. It reminded me how much I love my job! The smile and the thank you, you get from the patient, here in Chile, or America makes it worth every minute! It was such a good day. As weird as it sounds, it was like a dream come true! I have always wanted to help less fortunate people, overseas with their smiles. Today I got to:)
Tomorrow we leave Talchuano and head back to Santiago which is 6 hours north. Goodbyes are going to be difficult tomorrow for the amazing family we have been staying with, and saying bye to our 2 amazing translators Paulina, and Carolina. Were excited to be moving back to Santiago though for our last week in Chile! Can't believe we have one week left! We are going to be at the YWAM base and helping them with labor work. Were not sure if we have will have wifi but we have been so blessed to of have had it this far, I'm sure we will survive a week without it haha!
Less than a month till I will be back home in AZ! I can't wait to see what God has in store for me! It will be weird to come home to just Rachel and my mom though. My dad will be in DC working. He moves out there on Wednesday the 16th so be praying for him and his safe travels as he drives across the country. Also be praying for our team. Safe travels to Santiago and a last amazing week in Chile!
Love and miss you all!
Jeremiah 29:11
Jessica

So Blessed!

Today was yet another day of being reminded how blessed I am. We went to a home where Cancer patients stay while having treatment done. It's by the hospital and they come to the house while having treatment done. Today some of the ladies were outside sewing and making crafts. They were all different ages. We got to perform some dramas and sing a few songs for them. Then afterwards we got to talk to them and get to know them a bit and pray for them. We prayed for total healing and just restored health and for the cancer to be gone now and not carried into future generations. I couldn't help but step aside afterwards with my room mate and one of my best friends, Olivia, and we prayed over our current families now, and our future kids to be healthy and no sickness ever to come upon either of our families! (Hey nothing wrong with praying for our future kids, and families!) :)Then just thanking God for blessing us so incredibly much! it was definitely a memorable day. Then on the way walking back to the bus we passed a dental store!! One of our translators, Paulina is in school to be a dentist. So we always joke around that when she finishes school she is going to move to America and I'm going to be her assistant ;) haha So we went into the store, and it's crazy that they just have dental stores to buy instruments, impression trays and implant parts just on the side of the road! Apparently it's for students to go in and buy stuff who are in dental school. Crazy! It was cool though and yes pictures were taken! Haha! After that we came home and cooked an
"American" meal of hamburgers and planned our Superbowl party meal! We get to order pizza! I haven't had pizza in I don't know how long! One of our leaders, Owen, is a crazy Packer fan and is from Wisconsin. So we are all cheering for the packers! Were excited to gather around the computer and watch it online, were hoping they play the commercials on the computer because for half of us, that's the only reason we want to watch it. Lol While cleaning up dinner I was washing some dishes and apparently there was a little earthquake/aftershock and somehow I didn't even feel it but everyone else was freaking out. I guess I was too into making sure those dishes were clean and I totally missed it! :( I know I'm crazy, but I want to feel an earthquake! Haha not a big one, but just a little rumble! Yet at the same time i really dont...Hahaha! After dinner a few of us went and took a 3 mile run down the main street were staying on. It felt so good to get out and run!! I have missed working out SO much! When we returned to the house the other half of our team was having a worship time so we joined them and had a wonderful night of worship! Now it is time for bed. Tomorrow is Friday and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us! Finishing these last 2 weeks in Chile with a bang!

Another amazing week in Chile!

What an amazing God we serve! Things have been so awesome here in Chile! God has been moving in incredible ways! This past week we worked with a local church going out around the churches neighborhood and evangelizing with the youth of the church. The youth group only consisted of about 10 kids because the church is so small. It was hard to connect with the kids at first because of the language barrier but by the 2nd and 3rd day we all were learning each others languages, laughing, and having tons of fun! They were such cool kids. Of course were all friends on facebook now! Haha! The first day we learned a bunch of dramas, short skits, and how to play the drums. The rest of the week, everyday we started it out praying with the whole team, worship, and intercession. Then after lunch we would get out the drums and go play around the neighborhood to get peoples attention to come watch us. Then what they called their "plaza" which was a playground/ park area we would do our dramas for the people and tell our testimonies and short sermons. Then afterwards pray with them and invite them to the church service we would put on at the church that night. Then we would go back to the church, eat dinner and have church! We had 4 services counting all week. That was our schedule pretty much everyday. We would be at the church from 9 in the morning till 10 at night most days. It was long and tiring yet so fun at the same time! A lot of the people we ministered to during the day showed up at night and it was always exciting to see them show up. One night one of the sweet ladies at the church had some beautiful jewelry on and I complimented her on it. In their culture apparently, if you comment on something, they take it off and give it to you! So she took off her ring and gave it to me!! I kept telling her no and shoving it away, I couldn't take it! She kept speaking in Spanish so I had no idea what she was saying but she wouldn't let me not accept it!! It is such a pretty ring and she said it was nothing to her and she wanted me to have it. I was so blessed! Ive never said gracias so much! Haha such a sweet lady! Sure enough the next night she showed up with more beautiful jewelry on and I made sure I didn't compliment her, but felt better that I hadn't taken her only piece of nice jewelry! Haha! One of the days during our worship time some people snuck into the back of the church very quietly and then we looked back and who did we see?! Fellow Americans! Some pastors from the US had come over to help plant a church in Chile and stopped by! It was nice to communicate with them, and in English! Haha I got to talk to one of the Pastors, Pastor Randy Hunt, and found out he lived in Arizona for 2 years! He also was the youth pastor at Grace Community!! I was like Ahhh! That was my grade school!! He recognized my moms name and we couldn't believe what a small world it is! It was a crazy cool moment when that happened! By the end of the week we were very tan, and worn out but it was an amazing week and God moved in the people we ministered to! 4 church services in 7 days! Whew! Our last service lasted 4 hours! It was intense! Yet awesome! We have 2 weeks left here in Chile then back to America! We did our laundry today and we had to hang them on a clothesline to dry! Def made us appreciate our dryers!! It's the little things in life we've got to appreciate! Hope all is well back at home! Shout out to the Valley Cheerleaders this weekend! Good luck at state! Go Trojans! Wish I could be there! Love and miss you all!

Jeremiah 29:11
Jessica

Its chilly in Chile!

Hello! First off I just want to give a big thank you to all my wonderful supporters who sent me money so I could come to Chile! It has been such an amazing experience and I couldn't of done it without all you guys! Thank you so much!
Chile has been so wonderful! (It's not really chilly either.. Only at night and while I'm typing this I'm a bit cold haha!) This weekend we had our first free day and we went shopping at the local mall ( yessssssss ) it was so nice and refreshing to go shopping! The mall was very nice and looked liked a regular mall! It was weird because the nice mall was in the middle of a poor town. We got off the old bus and walked into a beautiful mall! Weird. I got a cute summer Chilean dress! If it's not too cold in Atlanta when we get back I will prob wear it for my ywam graduation :) lol
On Saturday we went and played with the kids of the town we had been working with all week and gave them silly bands and stuffed animals. They were so grateful for all the new toys. We imagined they lost a lot of their toys in the tsunami when their homes were destroyed so they were happy to get new ones. It was a very precious moment for us all. Seeing their faces light up over a simple stuffed animal, Makes me appreciate all my stuff back at home, and yet again makes me realize how incredibly blessed I am. After we played with the kids we said our goodbyes to all the people we worked with all week. It was so sad. Goodbyes are never fun:( once we finished our sad goodbyes we got on a bus and headed straight to the next church we are going to be working with this week. We sat through a long 3 hour church service all in Spanish. Whew I wish I knew more Spanish! I'm sure the service was wonderful, if we only knew what they were saying! Haha it was a long day but a good one!
Today (Monday) was our first day at the church, and we worked with the youth all day learning new skits and dramas to perform this week when we go evangelizing. It was fun and brought me back to the days of learning human videos at Desert Springs :) all of us on my team know the "everything" skit by lifehouse and have performed it at our own home churches. We thought it was cool we all knew it and had performed it before:) we also went around and prayer walked through the town we will be evangelizing in. It was a powerful time. I know God is going to do some powerful things this week in our lives and the people we evangelize to! I'm excited to see! We even learned how to play some drums! Our team sounds pretty good! We all feel like were on a drumline haha! We all got matching rayban sunglasses at the mall as well, so with us all wearing our raybans and playing drums we feel.. Well.. Pretty legit ;) haha!
Today I got a bit sick as well. Something didn't sit right in my tummy and it was no fun!!! But with some prayers from back home and from team members I am feeling a little bit better! I'm hoping it stays away and I feel 100% tomorrow! Please be praying for me that it stays away and doesn't come back! It's no fun being sick away from home without my amazing mother to take care of me!
Today one of our translators, one of the girls we are staying with(Paulina) planted a seed in my head. She is in school to be a dentist so we chat about teeth all the time. She told me about a Christian program called Mercy Ships. It's a ship that sails around Africa and does medical mission trips! I have always wanted to do a dental assisting mission trip so researched it when I got home and a dental assistant position was available for this upcoming September! I am def going to be looking more into it but I just thought it was so cool and had to share my exciting news! Lol
I hope all is well back at home! Love and miss you all so incredibly much! I know it says I am online facebook chat, but it's just an app I have on my phone that I always leave open so people can chat me, but half the time I am never by my phone so I get all your messages after you chat me and get offline! Haha I should prob change my online status...(it's usually on so I can chat with Haley, who is in Thailand) but I'm sorry If i missed your chat! The best way to communicate with me is through facebook messages. :) ok off to have some dinner! It's almost 10... All meals are usually 2 or 3 hours late, And the sun doesn't set till about 9:45 pm so it's very weird! Everyday we say the same thing.. When it's 6 pm it looks like it is 2 pm and were all like "IT'S 6!!!??" haha! It's funny:) ok love you all!

Jeremiah 29:11
Jessica

Our first week in Chile!!

Hello! Sorry it's been so long since I have wrote on my blog! We have finally arrived in Chile! It has been absolutely beautiful!! The weather is wonderful (it's summer here) and the people are incredible! We arrived in Santiago on the 13th of January. We stayed at one of the YWAM bases for a night then took a very nice charter bus to the current city were in now, talcuhano! We are staying at a lovely families house who used to be involved with YWAM years ago. The mother has 2 daughters and they are 19 year old twins! They are the sweetest girls ever! We have only been here a few days and were all great friends! It's going to be hard to say goodbye in a week when we pack up to go to another city. They speak English so they are somewhat our translators. It's been such a blessing. Their mother is so sweet also. It's a bit harder to connect with her because of the language barrier but we communicate as best as we can. She is an amazing cook though! We all had the mindset of "on outreach we are all going to lose so much weight!" but at this point we feel like were gaining some! Ahhh! Here in Chile they treats their guests VERY good! Our plates are full of delicious food and sometimes it's too much food! We finish it as best as we can! So far during the day we go to a town nearby (we walk so we can burn off of all the food we eat) and we have been going to a coastal neighborhood that was affected by the earthquake and tsunami from about a year ago. We've been going into the houses and praying for the families and people there that either are in pain or lost a family member in the earthquake/tsunami. It's been interesting and sad to hear all the scary stories from how far the water was in the town and how high it was and how it completely destroyed everything people had. The group before us who helped out in the town helped rebuild houses and build new ones. They did the construction part on the outside were coming in and doing "construction" on the inside of the people hearts. It's been really amazing getting to know the people. The language barrier is no fun but we do the best we can with our translators. It makes me wish I would've paid more attention in spanish class freshman year!! Haha! We went to the school in the town and did a short drama for them and played with them during recess. They were SO CUTE!! such sweet kids! One kid had a shirt that said Arizona on it! I was like I live there!! I don't think he understood me very well, he kept looking at me like I was a crazy American! Haha Yesterday we went with the kids of the neighborhood we have been working with, to their local pool. It was so nice! Nicer than a lot of our local pools! It has trampolines on green grass next to the pool and ping pong tables and a soccer field! It was cool. We hung out with the kids and exchanged facebook names also. We watched The Social Network on the plane ride over so we have all had a new appreciation for facebook and think it's just so cool it's world wide!! At least I know I do! Lol it was a very fun day to say the least! We all got sun burned really bad tho! I didn't think the sun was that strong out here! I'm glad I brought sun block! I'm going to VERY tan when I get back and I'm very excited about it!! :))) today we helped the most precious lady paint her house. A very bright orange color! It was fun! I've been wanting to build or paint something and today we finally got to paint! She was so grateful for us! Being out here has made me appreciate my home in America and simply America itself! It's so hard to believe people live like this out here. We are so extremely blessed in America!!! I got the same reality check when I was in South Africa 2 years ago. I think everyone needs to get out of America at least once in their life to see how incredibly blessed we are. 2 of our team members, Yvan and Owen got really sick at the beginning of this week with a stomach bug. Something they ate must've not set well. Yvan went to the hospital but Owen was ok. They both are back to 100% now but we were all were praying we wouldn't get sick as well and so far we have been doing great! We can't drink the water here unless is bottled so brushing our teeth in the morning is fun using a water bottle.... Haha! It's quite a challenge to literally think about if what you're putting your mouth is safe! I pray over everything I eat!! I don't want to get sick! I have been getting so extremely close to God as well. My quiet times with Him have been amazing. I can't wait to get back home and see all that he has in store for me! It's hard to not to get anxious about the future because I know God has me here right now for a purpose and I need to enjoy every moment I have because before I know it, it will be over and I'll be back home in reality! I can't wait to see what else God has in store for our team the rest of this week, and month! Keep us in your prayers that no one else gets sick and we can keep showing the people of Chile Gods amazing love!! I love and miss you all tons!!! Xoxo.

Jeremiah 29:11
Jessica

THANK YOU!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all my amazing friends and family out there who sent me money for my trip to Chile! My outreach total of 3,500 has officially been payed for! GOD IS SO GOOD!!! I got the last check in today to cover my trip and got some extra money to use while actually in Chile as well! I feel so extremely blessed to have you all sending me money and praying over me! God has been doing AWESOME things and I cant wait to see what else He has in store for me! I cant express my thanks to y'all!!! :) Keep continuing to lift me in your prayers as well for my trip to Chile and for my future plans after YWAM! Also along with all my fellow YWAMers who still need the funds for their trips. I am trusting in God to take care of me and I know he will! :) Hope all well! Love and Miss you ALL! 4 more weeks till Im home for 10 days for Christmas!!!!

Why Hello!

Halloween with roomie Haley :)

SHOPPING @ the Mall of Georgia <3

Playing football in front of the house :)

Why helloooooo everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog! Life has been crazy busy, yet crazy awesome out here in Atlanta Georgia!! I have never been so happy and so close to God in my entire life! He really is doing amazing things in my life! Since I got here in GA I have been able to get to know sooo many people! All of my amazing roommates are amazing. We all get along so awesome! Who knew that 11 girls living in one room and sharing one bathroom would be so intense yet awesome! we are VERY close! haha! I love my YWAM Family, we all have bonded so close, and are making memories we will never forget. YWAM has been so awesome. Every week we have different speakers come to our base and teach on different topics. Topics from Hearing the voice of God, to the character of God. I get so much out of every week and love it. I feel so blessed to be able to get away from "real life"for a bit and just completely spend my entire time with God. Its going to be quite a change to go back into the "real life" once I am done with YWAM. Yet, I am SO looking forward to my future after YWAM and all that God has in store for me! :) This past week our team went down to Orlando Florida to celebrate YWAMs 50th Anniversary! Tons of other bases from the Southeast came down and we camped in tents for a week. All I have to say is I LOVE MY BED! Hahaha! I do not like camping. I was challenged by some friends to see if I could go all week without a shower and... I DID! hahaha When I got back to the base and showered I felt like a new person! If you know me well enough, that was pretty impressive I went all week! Im never doing that again! Hahaha! It was such a great week though! Around 600 ywamers all together under one roof worshipping God and just letting God take over. It was AWESOME! I love when tons of people come together and worship, its so powerful and amazing. It made me feel like I was attending a mini version of our "Forward" conference my family & the Lau's attend during the summers with my church Free Chapel here in Georgia. This past week was a little taste of what our outreach to Chile will be like. I am very excited! Except for the fact that I MIGHT have to go without a shower for that long again... Oh well :) As Mrs. Lau always says were "making memories" :D We finally know what team everyone is going on for outreach and all of us are very excited! We are sad were being split up although we cant wait. We only have 5 weeks left here in GA then we all go home for Christmas then were out to Chile! it seems so far away yet, RIGHT around the corner! I know God is going to do amazing things on outreach for me. Thank you all SO much who have already sent me money! You are such a blessing! Thank you, thank you, thank you thank you!!! :) I cant say it enough! :) Continue praying for me that God will continue to keep bringing in the rest of the funds. I know he will provide! He always does! I hope you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving season in Arizona! Its FREZZING here in Georgia and is in the 30's and 40's and its WONDERFUL! It really feels like "fall" for once in my life! Leaves are falling and changing colors! Something I've never seen before haha! I hope it is getting cold out there for y'all and the heat is finally going away! 

Finally A Georgia Peach!

Hey Ya'll ;) After a 3 day road trip with my wonderful mom across the country I finally made it to Georgia! Im officially a Georgia Peach! The road trip over here was quite exciting! The first 2 days of driving were a bit scary. Me and my mom took turns driving through POURING rain! Rain we never get in Arizona! It was scary, and at some points passing by the huge semi trucks we couldn't even see the road! We definitely were praying hardcore God would bring the sun out and no more rain! (Even though I secretly didn't want the rain to go away because I love it so much)  On Friday though the sun came out in the afternoon just in time for us to tour Graceland in Memphis Tennessee and that was very cool! On Saturday morning we drove to the YWAM base and I met a few of my roommates, met the leaders, and set up my room.  The house I am staying in is SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! Its pretty much a typical huge Georgia house and the neighborhood it is in is surrounded by even more huge, beautiful Georgia houses! I will be sharing a room with 11 other girls. The room is HUGE and we all have plenty of space, but I will have to get used to "community" living. I am so excited! Its like a my mini college experience but better! After me and my mom set up my "room" we headed out and had lunch with one of my roommates Haley Boyer and her mother at none other than my favorite..Chik Fil A :) They seriously have one on every corner. Its AWESOME to say the least ;) They also have 2 huge wonderful malls near the base which is also awesome, but for my dads sake- only for window shopping of course, no spending real money ;) tehee! Also I am in Bulldog heaven! EVERYONE has SO much school spirit here! Walmart had SO much Georgia Bulldog gear it was crazy! Arizona walmarts have NO ASU stuff compared to GA! The South really is DIFFERENT than the west coast! Its CRAZY! I love it! Me and my car with my Georgia "G" on the back will fit in perfectly here. I even bought some Georgia Bulldog silly bandz! Gotta represent the college I always wanted to go to! Hahaha :D This morning, Sunday morning, (Its pouring, yet again, and I love it) we went to our favorite church, Free Chapel! Pastor Jentezen wasn't there this morning but another guest speaker, Philip Cameron spoke and he was simply amazing. I am starting to feel so at home. Everything has been going perfect so far and I can really feel that God has me here for a reason and its going to be alright and it is part of his will for me. My classes start Monday (tomorrow) and its all an orientation week. So I will be finding out more information as the week goes on. I don't have much of an internet connection at the base, so I will try and blog as much as I can during free time when I can drive up to a Wi-fi place and watch Glee & Greys Anatomy too ;) Thank you Jesus I have an iphone and can still txt and facebook you all though :) I love and miss you all so much already! 


xoxo
<3 Jessica

Less Than A Week

I havent blogged in awhile so I figured I would tonight :) I have less than a week till I start my journey out to GA! I am so ready to go! I have pretty much have everything I need all ready to go! All I need left is a suitcase, which might be important;) lol and of course do last minute laundry, then pack it all up in my car and head out! I feel like I have been waiting for this trip forever, although its only been 2 months! It has FLOWN by! I have been able to hang out with all my friends so much these past few weeks and have got so much support from all my friends and family. Thank you guys so much. I will miss you all so incredibly much! As of right now the internet is down at the base so I will have my phone to contact you all through txting, calls and facebook but skype will have to be put on hold until the internet is up working again. Or if I go to a starbucks with free wi-fi :) I have already had to say a few goodbyes which were hard, but I know that the hardest goodbyes are yet to come. :( I am having a little goodbye party tomorrow (thursday sept 16th) at Jumpstreet! So if you want feel free to come! Ok well I am off to go spend some time with my wonderful mother <3 I will try and keep everyone updated as soon as possible. <3 you all!


Jeremiah 29:11
<3 Jessica

ACCEPTED!

I have officially been accepted to the YWAM Atlanta Fall DTS!!!!! ahhhhh!!! yessssss!! I am so excited!!! Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement! It really helped! You are all so awesome! Its funny how I found out actually. It was Yesterday (sunday) night. I decided to go back to my old church DSC and hear my mom sing at the ladies "chick night" since I hadnt heard her sing in awhile. I begged Rachel to drive me so I wouldn't waste my gas (hehe) and she got in the not greatest mood since she realized I was using her and she had homework to get back to. We got to church put our smiles on and surprised our mom. She was very happy :) Then we get to our seats and started arguing and fighting over something so stupid. The fight ended with "I cant WAIT to leave and get out here" typical sister fight. The theme that night for chick night just happened to be "Sisters" too. How ironic huh? So worship started and I was so not in the mood to be there anymore. I just wanted to go home. I was there supporting my mom though, and was going to stay. My mind was so not in a worship mode at the moment so I sat down and felt the urge to check my emails on my phone. Sure enough YWAM Atlanta sent me a message! I opened and read Congrats! You've been accepted to YWAM Atlanta Fall DTS! Oh man. I started crying hysterically right in the middle worship. I turned to my sister showed her my phone and she instantly started crying as well. We ran out into the lobby hugging and crying our eyes out! We immediately started apologizing to each other for earlier and now instead of "I cant wait to leave" it was "I don't wanna leave!" Haha oh life! So yes it was quite the emotional night if I do say so! I was so extremely happy though and so was my entire family! I am so excited! I have already met one of my roomates Haley Boyer, over Facebook. We have been talking all day and I already feel like were going to be great friends! She mentioned my blog in her blog so I got to give her a shout-out in my blog too of course :) http://haleybrynnboyer.blogspot.com/ :) Im so excited for what God has in store for me! I just want these next 4 weeks to fly by! Yet I want to spend time with all my friends and family as much as possible before I leave! If you're reading this, call me! I wanna hang out with you before I leave ;) Again thank you everyone for your prayers and support, its just the beginning! Love you all!


<3
Jessica

Patience

My application has been filled out, References have been sent in, and medical forms, done. Now, it's a waiting game. YWAM says the application process takes about 2 weeks before I will know if I am officially "in" and I CANNOT wait!!! God is really teaching me to be patient right now and trust in him, and boy is it hard! Im dying to know! I am praying I get in! I am SO looking forward to this new adventure coming up! Its SO wonderful to have my entire family supporting me, and helping me to stay positive by saying, "how could you NOT get in?" I must say I have the best family in the entire world. I love them all very much! :) It would be awful if I didn't get in, but no negative thinking here, only positive :) Keep praying along with me that I find out if I have gotten in ASAP :) There's so much to do once I find out, and I only have one month left in AZ if I do! :)

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

<3 Jessica

The Driving Game

Last night was quite the eventful night. Its nights like these I will miss a lot when I'm gone. Me and Meghan went to go hang out with Steve and Sean. We had no idea what to do. Ideas came up like going to Jump Street, Laser tag, TPing people, watching a movie, board games, and the list goes on. We didn't know what to do. The boys kept wanting to do "the driving game"...  and it didn't quite get our interest at first but when we figured we had nothing else to do and nothing was open at 10:30 on a Tuesday night, we said whatever lets do it! Little did we know where we would end up. The driving game is really pointless. You get in the car and you drive to wherever the car pretty much takes you. Sean explains it like this "you turn right, then left, then right, and see where you end up!" Haha So we get onto the freeway going north on the 101 we come up to the 60 and decide to go east since we never really go out east on the 60 for anything. We thought maybe we should wonder the halls of a hospital, or of a hotel. We didn't know where we were going still or what to do. We Passed Signal Butte road and a few exits later saw a sign for Canyon Lake. Ding, ding, ding we had a destination! The boys told us it was a surprise where they decided to take us but we kinda guessed... what else is out that way? By now it was 11:15 pm and were driving to Canyon Lake. Probably one of the scariest drives of my life! Sean was an excellent diver though! Even with my high pitched gasps around every sharp turn! Props to Sean! It was pitch black! We couldn't see anything that wasn't in front of us. Finally after a million sharp scary turns, Meghan feeling car sick, and listening to 2 of Seans rap CDs over and over we made it! It was just around midnight. None of us had service on our phones so we were praying nothing happened to us! We didn't go all the way down to the dock but just right above it to a look out spot, but clearly we couldn't look out or see anything lol! We got out, took pictures and enjoyed looking up at the millions of stars everywhere. Its amazing how much different it is when you get away from the city lights, and noise. We all couldn't help but think that this is such an amazing spot to just get away and spend some time talking to the Lord. So peaceful and quiet. (at night at least) We sat on Seans hood and chatted about life. Talking about our amazing outfits for Leah's party on Saturday (a circus theme) and what this next year held for us. 1 or 2 cars had come by that night and we didnt pay much attention to them, but when a certain car came by blasting Taylor Swift and driving really slow we got curious. He (yes, HE was totally listening to Taylor Swift) quickly turned around parked on the side of the road, turned on his brights, got out and picked up a rattle snake! Its rattle started rattling like crazy! SCARY! we were walking around the ground earlier,  what if we ran into one!?!?  How did this guy even spot that snake on he side of the road!? What was he doing at 12:30 at night at this lake anyway? (I guess we have no room to talk.. lol) We all went over to check it out and see if this guy was crazy or something. He had a professional camera and snake carrying stick grabber thing. (sorry I don't know the correct word haha) we found out he is a park ranger at night and collects these snakes, draws blood, tags them, and then releases them and does studies on them. Crazy. While we were talking to him some people from the lake drove by and wanted to see if everything was ok. (Again, why were these people at the lake at 12:30 at night!?) They then realized we were checking out the snake. They get out of the car and one of the guys asks to touch it......... really? Its still rattling and freaking out, about to attack someone and he wants to touch it?! He must of been drunk. Or plain stupid. So he grabs the guys professional snake grabber stick and starts poking at it! the snake freaks out and starts like running away or...slithering away further onto the road and it was going fast! The crazy guy kept going after it with stick and poking at it too. Now at this point me, Steve, Sean, and Meghan are like WELL ITS TIME TO GO! We run back to Seans car, Me and Meghan freaking out thinking another snake was nearby about to attack us. So we get in and drive back home! Whew! I don't know why that ranger guy even let that crazy guy use his stick to touch the snake! Or if that guy ever got to really "touch" the snake. CRAZY! It ended up being a really fun night! One I will always remember :) Little did we know where we would end up earlier that night all because of a simple "Driving Game."


<3
Jessica

Sore.

Whew am I sore! I can barely move my legs today. I just have to think though..its so worth it! Keep working out, breaking down my muscles then building them back up, and in no time I will be back into my regular shape. Then when I work out it, it will get to a point where it wont hurt as bad anymore! Yay! haha  I think when I go to Georgia I am going to be in the same situation yet not with my muscles but with my Spiritual life. I think God is going to stretch me in ways I have never been stretched before. Like when we have outreach days, I will have to be going up to people I don't know and praying for them and talking to them about Jesus. Otherwise known as stepping out of my box. Im not saying I have never done anything like this before because I have been on previous missions trips and I have talked to people about my faith before, but I dont think I have really done anything before like what Im going to be doing with YWAM and Im excited about it! Im going to be stretching my spiritual walk with the Lord and its going to be uncomfortable or "sore" the first few times I stepped out of my box or "get back into the gym" and Ive got to keep on stretching my "muscles" or spiritual walk with the Lord in order for me to be comfortable with it and be in perfect shape for my spiritual walk  :)


<3
Jessica

8/9/10 11:12 pm

Ok so I lied its not 11:12 its 9:30...but I am way too tired to stay up that late and I just thought it would be sweet cuz of the cool date today :P Im a nerd, I know :) lol Anyways today was a good, busy, and tiring day. Woke up this morning at 5:30 with the same thought on my mind that has been there for awhile. I love my bed. How am I going to live without it in Georgia!? Will my roommates snore? Do I still snore even tho my tonsils are out!? How early am I going to have to get up every morning? I will be living away from home for the first time ever! Will I be ok without my mom? lol My mind never stops thinking about Georgia and all the new exciting, yet kinda scary changes coming my way. Its funny how God works sometimes though, example: this morning driving to work. As some of you know I dislike K-love and Air One very much. Recently though Air One has been growing on me. Finally some good NEW up beat fun christian songs are out. Its about time! YAY! So since the radio and commercials get old and I only have a 3 minute commute to work I play Air One now. No commercials and good uplifting songs to start my day out right, why not!?  So while I was driving to work they were talking about fear and overcoming it. Funny because Pastor Maiden talked about that yesterday at church too! So I looked up some verses on Fear and this one stands out and I have decided its my theme verse for the week:

Duetermony 31:8 "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

Ahhhh so refreshing! God WILL be with me through everything! HE wont leave me OR forsake me! I already feel better haha! Im going to not worry about anything these next few weeks and just enjoy being in this awful heat and cast all my fears to God about being away from home for 6 months and know everything is going to be ok :)

Ive enjoyed talking, txting, and FB messaging a bunch of you guys today about my upcoming adventure! Everyone is so excited for me and it helps a ton! Thank you everyone for your wonderful support! Its greatly appreciated! :) Feel free to comment below too! I will reply! I love you all! <3 Ok well Im off to bed. Went back to the gym today for the first time in about a month, no thanks to my tonsils being removed and vacations keeping me away. Im DEAD tired, and I wont be able to move tomorrow haha! Nightttt

<3
Jessica

My First Blog!

Hey! Soooo this is my first blog..I have never "blogged" before but I figured now would be a good time to start since in a month and a half I most likely will be leaving to go to Atlanta Georgia! So all of my friends/family can stay connected with me through this and keep me in your prayers through this exciting new season of my life! I have applied to go to Atlanta GA to be a part of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) its an organization where I go live in GA with several other young adults and we go to a Discipleship Training School! It is a 5-6 month innovative training course that challenges us young people to step up and go to new lengths in the world that we are living in and realize that God has so much in store for each one of us! Once we have completed the School we will be going on a 8-12 week missions trip! So now its a waiting game to see if I have been accepted into the program! I am praying if its God will I will be accepted because if you know me well enough, you know my heart belongs in Georgia! I am a southern belle at heart! I would be able to attend my favorite church on Sunday mornings Free Chapel with Pastor Jentezn Franklin, which is a HUGE bonus. I am so excited about what God has in store for me! So I will be blogging my life for the next few months and keeping you all updated on what has been happening with my journey from Phoenix to Georgia :)