What do you think?

We talked about greed on Sunday. We talked about greed this morning ...at my incredible breakfast club. And I started thinking... Greed is about so much more than money... I started thinking... Greed probably has more to do with broken or misplaced trust than anything else...
I started thinking...

Can you be greedy with how much you want of a person's time? Have you ever been greedy with what you expect out of a friendship--or are willing to give it? Is it possible that we are more greedy with our feelings than we would like to admit? And what's the difference between protecting your heart, your love, your life... and hoarding it?

I don't really know the answers to these questions. But I was just thinking about them tonight.

I was thinking about a lot of things--none of them directly related to these questions--but my mind just wanders. So these are some questions it wandered to...

Questions about greed...

What do you think?

Breakfast club is incredible.

Ah Tuesday again... which means another breakfast club has come and gone. Breakfast club is incredible. I love it. It's part of the reason why I love Tuesdays (we've been through this). The girls, the coffee, the oatmeal, the Deja Vu... all incredible. (I'm not super picky about my coffee, so yes, I mean that). But there is one thing to note about this particular breakfast club... the one of "TODAY." If I was much of a journal...er..(ist?)..(whatever), I'd probably write about this one in there. I'd have the date up in the right-hand corner, and the time (I like to note time). And I'd probably start it out with a sentence like: "Today was different," or "Today was weird." And my journal would be flapping with anticipation--"WHY?! WHY?! Tell me! TELL ME..." And I'd continue writing. But then I'd realize--"my journal can't ask questions... or be anticipatory..." so I'd stop writing to my journal... and I'd start blogging...

People read blogs.
This is one about breakfast club today...






Today was different. Today was weird. There were no bright-eyes or bushy-bangs for me this morning, there was no quick wit or sly, AWESOME jokes (ok, ok, so maybe the bushy-bangs were still there, my bangs are always kinda bushy...)
No. Today I was tired.

I took my normal seat next to my usually-tired Sarah, but there was nothing normal or usual about what happened when I got there this particular morning... I was tired.

Head down--on the table--"Is Jenna sleeping??" I heard it and pulled myself back to the present.
"Ah! I don't know what's the matter with me this morning!!" I responded with desperation... (ya know...that kind of desperation that breeds half-cries, half-laughs...all whine...) Blank stares from the table--a few giggles--like anyone else knew what the matter was either. My outbursts are humorous sometimes.

Let me explain if you're not catching onto the drama here:
I'm a morning person. And I'm definitely a Tuesday morning person. I'm definitely NOT tired at breakfast club. I mean, someone has to keep those "sleepy-sleepersons" going... ;) (jk you guys). I'm usually watching the clock from the elliptical machine thinking "I bet Kristena is hating wake-up time right now... hehehehe..." I'm usually trying to not offend the quiet section of our breakfast table with all my crazy, pointless fun facts from the anthropology chapter I'm reading. In the beginning, it's usually pretty quiet at our table. I'm usually trying to get a chuckle or two out of my neighboring seats....
But not today... Today, there were laughs ringing out from all sections of the table!!! All sections... but my sad little sleepy middle section... What the heck???

"Have some coffee Jenna..." God bless Danielle Kettle. She always knows just what I need.

So I drank some of Sarah's coffee--no splenda. But I think it helped a little... and by the end of our time together, we were all talking about greed, and our pasts, and our mindsets now because of our pasts, and our mindsets now because of our church... I love our church! And finally I was awake! Pink Elephant time!

Two parables: The one about ten virgins and the one about the money loaned to the servants. Yeah, that's right, I read them both. One right after the other... (the coffee was working). Thanks Danielle. Thanks Sarah. Thanks Meghan... (Meghan had to sit by me the whole time... and I used her Bible... thanks Meghan)

But I can't attribute ALL of my waked-up-ed-ness (thanks dashes) to coffee alone. Talking about Jesus helps too. Reading His parables wakes me up pretty well. I love stories, and I love to learn, and I love to learn by hearing stories told by people that I love (and I love Jesus), so parables and I... we get along...

Anyway, I read those two parables and then we started talking about them, and honest-to-goodness, I CANNOT shut my mouth when I want to... I wished I hadn't had so much coffee... and now my knee is bouncing up and down (it's what I do) and I kinda want more coffee..... Greed.

Haha, but breakfast club is incredible. I don't mind rambling there. The other girls don't seem to mind much either. Or maybe they were tired too... yeah, me being tired at breakfast club...(?!?!)
...that was WEIRD.

First of Five

6:04 a.m.
It's a little chilly in my room, so the thought of pulling on some sweats and a hoodie actually sounds pretty good. The sun's not up yet, but it will be soon... ok, NOW THE RACE IS ON.

Out of bed, grab the tooth brush, hair brush, face...cloth...
Sweats, shoes, hoodie, wallet, iPod, phone, keys... out the door...
"Yes! No sun!" I smile to myself (as strange as that might sound). See, I have this goal sometimes--to be on the treadmill at the gym while the sun is coming up. If you get the right machine (the one in front of the big tree just outside the window) it's the perfect picture of God shedding morning light onto something that had been starved for it all night. It's like watching new mercy come at dawn. I love new mercy at dawn...

So, this particular dawn... is the first of five.
The first of five days off from school--the first of five mornings that I would like to catch a glimpse of that mercy picture. Maybe not specifically the gym-tree one. Maybe not specifically the rising sun of every early morning. It's more along the lines of...intentionality ...intentionally recognizing that, truly, God's mercy is new every morning.

It's 8:05 now. About two hours since that first glimpse has taken place. And I'm already realizing, "I am SO GLAD His mercy is new every morning," because it helps me know the freedom that Christ gave us a little better. He sets me free every morning--He says, "Go in peace. Sin no more." And I have the chance to grow and change.

How awful it would be to have to stay chained to yesterday's self! I might not stay free every time He breaks those chains for me, but every morning, I know He smiles on that tree just outside the gym window, and every morning, I know He smiles on me.

Maybe today will be the first of five that I smile back...

...maybe it will be the first of five thousand.

Roadtripping

"I would not be the person I am today if..."




...Nathan completed that sentence last night by giving recognition to a man who had walked with him for a season. Just last Thursday, I completed that sentence at lifegroup... also by giving recognition to someone who had walked with me for a season. Emily Rowlett was her name (it's now Emily Blosser), and I would not be the person I am today if she had not called me out.

Once, I thought I could just stay in the shadows. I loved serving God enough... but I didn't care to be up front... especially up in front of others. Once, I thought that being "up front" would mean being prideful. Really though... my hiding was more prideful in the end. Emily encouraged me not to hide. She called out an anointing that she saw on me... she called out something that I could not see myself. She was God's voice in my life, calling out the spirit of worship that I had never really known what to do with. And we had been roadtripping.

Well, maybe not literally... but from the first day I met Emily, I knew I wanted to walk with her. I knew I secretly wanted her to join with me on my way.

She did.

She came into my life, and I began learning from hers. When she called me out of youth group and into the "big service" on Sunday mornings, I thought to myself, "Why?" Why would she want me to sing with her on Sundays? Why would she want me to play the guitar when my skills were, at best, mediocre?

"I know you live in the shadows of those who you think are 'better' than you, Jenna... I know you think there are others more talented, more qualified..." She could practically read my mind...
"But ya know... I think there's a difference between being 'good' and having an anointing... Jenna, you have an anointing." End of the mind-reading. I was definitely NOT thinking that.
But as much as I wanted to disagree, I could no longer deny what she had seen. And we had been "roadtripping" together long enough that I knew I could trust whatever she intentionally had to tell me. I didn't know she would intentionally tell me something like that.

I was 15 when I met Emily. I was 15 when she began walking with me. I was 18 when she called out that anointing in me... and I'm still struggling with embracing certain things about that... but the seed has been planted nonetheless, and God has not allowed the shadows to keep hindering its growth. Emily and I roadtripped for 3 years... roadtripping with Emily was like growing in a greenhouse. My passion for music came alive. Calling others to worship through music became what I felt alive for...

Of course, there's more to my life than "a worship service"... there was much more to Emily's life too. We just shared in that soundtrack... that roadtrip music... we just shared those songs that gave us space to pray and breathe and come face-to-face with God... we shared an awesome season... there's so much more that I could say about that time of my life. There's a lot more that I could say about how God used Emily in my life--in His calling out of me--in my stepping out into an anointing. And there are others who have called me out... for other seasons. But those are other roadtrip stories.

For now, I just wanted to finish that sentence... because it's true; and it's good.

Really. I would not be the person I am today if Emily hadn't called me out.

So call someone out. Start a roadtrip.

Cause you never know who they could be tomorrow...

It's almost here...

That's right. The quote blog is almost here! I'm thinking about what the appropriate setup would be...and the best colors...

Also, I have the first quote picked out (sorry Dan, it's not "burgers" just yet). I'm now wondering if I should put the quote blog under my profile... or start a new profile altogether...

But there's just one snag:
Blogger sent me a "hold" warning--something about potential "terms of service" violation that I could run into with this thing? Who knew starting a quote blog could be such a legal issue...

(yes, I'm being slightly facetious...)

I bought Jesus coffee today

Have you had a moment in your life when you realize God is changing you? Today I had one of those moments. I just shared with my lifegroup tonight that I used to be really afraid of homeless people.... like, really. But this last Sunday, Dan shared a message about the least...and today, I acted upon it. Normally I don't just tell stories like this. It seems too...self-magnifying to me. But this last Sunday, Dan shared a message about how what you do for the least, you do for Jesus...and today, God changed something in me. So this is not a self-magnifying story. This is a story about how God magnified Himself in my life. This is a story about what He is doing...and how I got to be a part of it.

So here it is.

Meghan and were sitting in Starbucks this morning. I texted her last night telling her that I wished today would be Tuesday (because...well, I love Tuesdays). She texted back... and we decided to meet at Starbucks at eight (because...well, we love Starbucks). So anyway, we're sitting in Starbucks this morning... talking about awesome things... like broken hearts, disappointing relationships, and the current US economy...

...and just when it's getting MORE awesome--cause we're starting to talk about how greedy we all are--Meghan's suddenly looking out the window with confusion written all over her face. "Meghan, we're talking about awesome things here...would you pay attention?" (I didn't say this out loud of course). But then I look too... and there he is... digging through the outside Starbucks trash can... filling up his empty water bottle with left-over, thrown out coffee... Jesus. Well, ok. Maybe it wasn't the Jesus. Like, not Christ Himself. However, if we take that passage in Matthew a little more seriously, then I needed to see this man that we were looking at with some eyes that saw him as Jesus. So I prayed. And then I did. And then... of course... God asked me to act. ugh.... God's an encourager like that.

Well, this man is about to walk away--but I knew I wouldn't be able to let Jesus walk away with coffee from a trash--so I go out and ask him if maybe I could buy him a real cup. "And maybe a new water bottle too?" He accepts. His name is Eddie.

Eddie and I go inside, and while we're waiting in line for coffee, he just begins telling me all about how he doesn't ask for things from people... "because I don't want to be a bother... but you came and offered... so now I can have fresh coffee..." (And as we work our way over to the creamer and sugar table) ..."Ya know, I'm a Christian, and I'm going down to visit my friend in L.A. tomorrow... he's a pastor... I'll have him ask the congregation to pray for you..." (And as he puts the last of approximately 25 sugar packets into his vente, triple shot, black coffee)... "Don't stray from God. He'll take care of you... He's always taken care of me..."

What a lesson I have just learned from Eddie.
What a lesson I have just learned from Jesus.

Eddie wishes me well, and I watch him walk out the door. I go back to my seat next to Meghan...and we just start talking again. About twenty minutes later, Eddie's back.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have 6 C batteries would you?" He holds out his stereo and begins to explain that his pastor friend gave him a tape to listen to a long time ago... and Eddie wants to listen to it on the Greyhound bus tomorrow morning. Well I don't have C batteries... "but maybe Longs does," I say. Meghan and I both assist him this time. Meghan buys him batteries... and of course, he's just as talkative as ever. It's awesome though... hearing about his daughter, his pastor friend, his hopes... his dreams...

Once we're done in Longs, we sit outside with Eddie for a couple more minutes... he's telling us deep things now... things about his past, things about his brother... things about his brother's suicide...

Eddie starts weeping. I start praying in silence. I wonder if God is comforting Eddie in this moment... maybe simply by having Meghan and I there...

A couple more minutes pass, and Eddie's ready to go. He smiles. He blesses us again. He tells us He will have his pastor tell the congregation to pray for our whole church. And he asks us to have our pastor tell the congregation to pray for him. I think, "If Jesus asked me to do that...I'm pretty sure I'd be on board with it..." So, I'm on board with it.

We say goodbye to Eddie, and Eddie says, "He's gonna bless you a hundred times over for this."

Maybe Eddie's right. But I just hope he was blessed...


I was thinking about this whole ordeal later on this afternoon, and what kept coming to mind was, "God, you're so good." Why would I keep saying that though... wasn't it I who bought that coffee for homeless Eddie today? "No, no, no," God whispers back, "It was Jesus who you bought coffee for... and it was I who let you see Him."

So, maybe I bought Jesus coffee today.

But today... His name was Eddie.

Soon

Soon I will start a quote blog. I've been dreaming up this quote blog for months now. It's true. Ask Meg and Emily. It began with Tuesday staff meetings... then I realized how many other awesome things are said in this world... and most of them make me want to pee my pants. I will refrain from saying any right now... it's all about anticipation. Feel it? You should. This quote blog's gonna be money! Soon.

...very soon.