Love God, Love People, Nothing Else Matters

Several years ago after reading Purpose Driven Life, I decided that my mission in life would be to love God and to love people. I thought to myself, success at the end of my life would be for people to say at my funeral, "she loved God and she loved people." Well, apparently I am not alone in my pursuit in life. This past Friday, I attended the funeral of one who achieved this lofty goal and did it well. Dan Reiter was the victim of an unfortunate car accident. He was a young 22 who had just graduated from college. My relationship with Dan stems from my involvement in my church's student ministry. Dan and I were part of a team that went to the Dominican Republic about 6 years ago. I was a leader on the trip and Dan was one of the students. That trip was a magical time and I have experienced nothing like it ever again. We all had such a blast and saw God work in tremendous ways. The whole time I knew Dan, I was always impressed with his upbeat attitude and unending kindness towards people. He always went the extra mile to help others. His impact is far reaching as evidenced by the over 1000 comments left on his Facebook page since his death. I am so blessed to have known such a wonderful person. And now I am inspired anew to a live a life that matters; to live a life driven by the pursuit to love God and to love others. Below is a quote from Jim Elliot that was part of Dan's funeral service.

"God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you Lord Jesus." -Jim Elliot, 1948

Water for Life

So, apparently I am still slacking with the frequency of my jblogs. I just can't seem to find the time or energy to sit down and write, but anyway, I'll catch you up on a few things. First, on my list is to tell you about my well. Yes, that's right, a water well, in fact. I bought one recently. I don't know what it looks like or where it exactly it is located, but I know it exists. Let me tell you how this happened. About a year and a half ago, I learned about an ministry led by James and Betty Robison. Beth Moore was starting to appear on their Wednesday tv show teaching Bible study. Of course, I started to watch (via video stream on my computer and later on my ipod). My draw was Beth, but I was soon impressed by all the different outreaches this ministry was doing. In particular, I felt drawn to their "Water for Life" project (http://www.lifetoday.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_home). The mission here is to build water wells in remote areas of Africa that do not have clean, running water. These wells are designed to provide water up to a 1000 people in a village for at least 25 years. In their first year of the project, they intended on building ~100 wells. This year, their goal is 200. Well, I decided I wanted to be a part of that. I have had a soft spot for the hungry, the thirsty, and the sick people of Africa for a while. But I always felt like there was nothing I could really do to make an impact there. So, I looked to see how much these wells cost. I soon learned they are expensive! $4800, to be exact. Of course, you can donate nominal amounts that will be put towards building a well. But, immediately in my heart, I wanted to buy a WHOLE well, not just part of one. However, I didn't happen to have $4800 just laying around in the bank. Who does? So, I just kind of put that desire on hold and prayed to God that if He wanted me to do this, He would have to show me where the money would come from. Like I said that was the beginning of last year. If you read my last post, you also know that I bought a new car this year. My lovely 328i (I am still enjoying it!). When I was figuring out how to pay for the car, I did all sorts of calculations, which included selling stock and things like that. One day, it occurred to me that I could just sell a little more stock and use the money I would get from selling my car, to purchase this water well. Brilliant! God answered the prayer! I was ecstatic at how this came about. In fact, when I sold my car, I got even more than just covering the cost of the well. Praise God. So, a few weeks after selling my car, I made the call to Life Outreach International (www.lifetoday.org) and purchased my first-ever water well. How cool! What a privilege to participate in something that will make a difference, something that really matters. I so wish I could see the faces of those who will drink from this water well. I can only pray that it will be a HUGE blessing for them, lasting for many years to come.

jBlogs

I am hoping to bombard you with a slew of jblogs here in the next couple of weeks. Jblogs, of course, are blogs written by Jennifer. Nothing scientific or fancy here, just a way to distinguish my blogs from the millions of others out there. Anyway, I have so many things that I've wanted to write here in the past month and just haven't had the time. I don't know that the near future will be any better, but I'll sure try.

First on my list is my beautiful new car. After having it for a month or so now, I am still thoroughly enjoying it! The new car smell has not worn off and I love smelling it every time I get in. The BMW 328i is everything I expected it and more. One of my co-workers was right when he said that you just get in a better mood when you get in the car and start driving around. Most fun has been watching my blue xenon lights turn on in the dark. They are self-leveling lights so they do this fancy dance up and down each time they turn on. I call it the " light show." I'll include a picture here so you can picture me in my new car easily. It's a dream! God-willing it will serve me well for many a year.

Spring in Houston

It's been a while since I have last written here. Much has transpired and life has picked up quite a bit. But I wanted to stop and smell the roses for a moment. Most of you know that my beloved Houston is quite the hot, sticky, humid place for most of the year. But for a few short weeks we get the most incredible weather. It seems to have extended beyond its normal duration this year and I am thrilled! The air is dry and cool with a steady breeze that gently kisses your face. The flowers are blooming with every color imaginable bursting forth. The dogs are waddling their tales about as their owners delight in taking them for a walk. The picnic tables are popping up everywhere and I have yet to see a car drive by with their windows up. It's a joyful time in Houston and I am enjoying it immensely.

Pray a lot

Has anyone ever noticed that we tend to pray a lot more when we find ourselves in a crisis situation? I know for me I tend to pray a lot when I need God a lot. That is when I think I need God's help a lot. Truth of the matter is, I always need God's help a lot. What happens, I think is that things start to go okay, life clicks along, and I think I am the one making that happen. So, then I don't think I need God and I stop asking for His help. Bad thinking! I always need God's help and I always need to be praying a lot. Isn't that what 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us? I like the way The Message puts its, "pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. " No matter what happens - good or bad, pray. I do thank God for those times when I am moved to pray more. I may not like going through the situation at the time, but I never regret the closeness to Him that comes when I do.

Ashley Stockingdale

For those of you who have read Kristin Billerbeck's books, you recognize the name in the title to my blog today. I am most of the way through the second of this series of books on Ashley Stockingdale. I feel like I have become quite familiar with this girl. It is almost to the point of feeling like I actually know this girl. Billerbeck does an excellent job of portraying Ashley as a real person with experiences and thoughts that are all too true. So my puzzlement at this hour is not whether or not all of her crazy experiences could actually happen. But rather why she seems to think Dr. Kevin Novak is not the right guy for her. I mean he is handsome, charming, chivalrous, and totally into her. And did I mention he is a doctor? There also seems to be quite a bit of chemistry between them, so what's the problem? If any of you have any possible explanations, please enlighten me. (-:

I know this is random, but I really want to know. Maybe I'll find out by the end of the book...

Made to Love

I am totally loving Toby Mac's new song called "Made to Love." It's already made it to my "most played" list on my ipod. Everytime I hear it, I want to get up and dance! The music is peppy and lively and the words resonate with my core. So, go ahead and listen and dance and sing at the top of your lungs. (-; Enjoy!

http://www.myspace.com/tobymac