:: Tuesday's Tea With Me ::

I was talking with one of my best friends the other day. We were reminiscing about all the harrowing things we have been through in our 30 years of life and how they have all turned out to be catalysts. Between the two of us there have been some very painful and traumatic experiences. And also some choices we've made that really cost us. And I imagine that if I were to gather even a handful of friends I have grown up with, that there would be so many many trials of which to share. I know I have had friends that have passed away, some that have had cancer, car accidents, lost their homes, gotten pregnant sooner than they'd like, I mean... we ALL have something, if not many challenges in life. 

That's life right? Some of us got married young, some of us have been divorced, some of us have never been married and want to so badly, while others are married and would sure enjoy those days of singleness and freedom. Some of us are pulling our hair out because we have little muchkins running everywhere, and some of us are pulling our hair out because we haven't been able to conceive a little munchkin. And I have had several close girlfriends miscarry and it just tore my heart out for them. 

I personally have had a surgeon cut the wrong part of me during a routine operation and I nearly died. I spent years healing from that. That sheer physical pain was utterly unbearable. In my mid-20s I lost someone very dear to me to a drunk driver and saw his crushed body beneath a yellow sheet on TV. Life is really painful. And I think I have said this before but its worth saying again.... You know what you do with pain? You sit through it. I've grown to see pain as free college. Truly. If it's painful, it means you are the lucky winner of an opportunity to grow deeper and wider.

Who wants to reach our forties or fifties and be shallow? Still partying and aimlessly skipping from friendship to friendship, relationship to relationship? I don't. I want to be deep. Which means... I can count on more hardships. I find that each of these experiences has taught me to interact with and rely on God in a new way. 

Like my friend said, 

"When I get worried or overwhelmed I try to reflect back and see all the issues God has been with me through and the outcome of those.  I realize that He has delivered me out of every issue without fail. And His outcome is always sweet."

Light In The Trees

Light In The Trees

Jenna J. Gough

The light of love

filtering through,

warm and soft 

long overdue.

Radiant and alluring

my soul is drawn

to what is right 

not what is wrong.

For the sun in all its splendor

Will continue to shine,

My whole life long,

On this soul of mine.

Thoughts

::Tuesday's Tea With Me::

You know... I don't even miss Facebook. I had withdrawals for the first week or two. And then slowly... it just started to not matter so much. And the quality of my life and my social interactions has increased exponentially. Just thought I'd throw that in there to start.

"The path to enlightenment is not a group trip. It's between you and God. This means you've got to go inside. The fewer external distractions and the more concentration you have, the easier it is to get there."
-Bhagavan Das

I feel like a large portion of my writing is devoted to stress management. But oh well if that's what comes out... here's some more of it. 


If you think multitasking is saving you time, think again. According to the Journal of Experimental Psychology, in a study involving various kinds of tasks, subjects lost time when they had to switch from one task to another. AND... the time costs increased with the complexity of the chores. It took even longer for subjects to switch between more complicated tasks.

"Multitasking" is a term that belongs to computers. Machines. Listening to your favorite iTunes and googling directions to your next appointment, while printing out your W-2s. These are all things that a computer can handle all at once, but the human brain does not work like that. Because the human brain is in league with a spirit. Kind of cool I know. It is that unique spirit within you that is the spark plug for social interactions.


Have you ever been talking to someone who is clearly a thousand miles away in their mind? That drives me NUTS! Lol. Okay so it may be that I'm demanding, but I'm pretty sure most of you are spending time with people, because you want to interact with them. Sheesh. Otherwise I would just buy a blow up doll and talk to it all day. Tell it my whole life story. No. I want to have people in my life that witness my life. That can tell me stories that they remember about me and that I can retell about them.


Take my best friend Anna. She is always telling me some story about when we were little that I had completely forgotten, but is usually rather hysterical. Which then reminds me of a story about her. It's such a joy to share life with one another. To laugh and re-tell stories. Like I just told her this one the other day. I remember when we were in elementary school she got hit by a car while riding her bicycle. And I was afraid to go see her because I thought that she would be flat like a pancake. Lmbo. (Too many cartoons?)


For this morning, I'll leave you with a few questions to consider. Who do you want to witness your life? Your co-workers? Your children? Your hair stylist? What things can you un-multitask to enjoy them. Like eating while sitting down... Is that an option these days? 


I love you guys and I pray that in this world of instant gratification and productivity, we can remember that there is much more to life than increasing its speed.


Mua. Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!
Be blessed,


-Jenna Jill

Uncle Bill's

We went to "Uncle Bill's" yesterday and I have to say it was a much needed reprieve from all the transition and change swirling about my life right now. My Uncle Bill and Aunt Melissa have a really fun cabin up at the lake and we hung out for the afternoon riding motorcycles and had dinner together. If you think my dad has a lot of toys... you should see my Uncle Bill. 

For the record the white car is ours. Everything else is part of Uncle Bill's arsenal of toys. I really enjoyed riding the four wheelers and was thoroughly delighted when the neighbor's grandson game over and asked whyyyy there was a hot pink helmet, and hot pink gloves on one of the motorcycles. .

 Here Uncle Bill is taking us on a tour in Polaris 1 of 3.

This is Uncle Bill "borrowing" something from the neighbors.

Nope. Nope. My pride wasn't hurt at all when I got spanked at Wii bowling by Logan. Logan is my 12 year old cousin who continued to get strikes while bowling from the bottom of the stairs, doing 360s, and sitting on the toilet. (I didn't actually witness that but I can verify that he was in the bathroom.) But at least we make a really good doubles tennis team. 

All in all it was a beautiful day. The air smelled SO fresh. Someone was burning a fire and I could smell the wood scent, mixed with the underbrush, and BBQs going. [deep sigh]

A Great Line

I just had to post this. I love it. 

:: Tuesday's Tea With Me ::

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Maybe it was the arrival of Valentine's Day, but I have been thinking about love lately. I have come to note two wheels on the wagon of love. One is storing up, and the other is pouring out. I tend to be a giver. I am always pouring out. But when and under what circumstance should we be storing up. Guarding our limited resource to pour out. When are we casting pearls to swine as the saying goes?


Here are a couple of verses I was pondering yesterday:

"Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it."

- Psalm 39:6

"Whoever loves money never has money enough;whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 

As good increase, so do those who consume them.And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? 

The sleep of the laborer is sweet,whether he eats little or much,But the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:wealth hoarded to the harm if its owner. 

Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him. More over, wen God give any man wealth and possessions and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--- this is a gift go God. 

A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity... I say that a stillborn child is better off than he."

- Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

I know the bible speak often about those who withhold love. Who are stingy and never pour their love out. Those who seem heartless and cold, bestowing no forgiveness no mercy. Willing to sacrifice nothing that would truly cost them.

But what about those of us, who pour ourselves out like prostitutes giving precious emotional wealth. Tossing it to anyone who is a taker, anyone willing to be needy. Is this love? Or is this emotional prostitution? Perhaps we don't give our bodies, but are we not giving something that is also priceless and limited? If it is limited, which we are, is it not of a high value?

My goal this year is to love with concentration. For the love that flows from my heart to be concentrated. Pressed down, shaken together, and rich. I am realizing that this requires two wheels to roll out. Both pouring out, but also a storing up, a guarding what is precious and valuable in the eyes of God.

Pride

"Lose your pride over someone you love. But don't lose someone you love over your pride."

:: Tuesday's Tea With Me ::

Doesn't this look like the perfect home to be invited over for tea? I saw this gem in the middle of a very unassuming neighborhood and was just delighted by its charm. Let's pretend we're on a porch swing watching some crazy lady pull up with a camera a take a picture. 


The weather has been rather warm. Perhaps we should have some lemonade instead? Help yourself the picker is in the fridge. 


So this week I have been taking a little poll. I have been trying to define the word "honor." I realized on my way to church last week that I don't really have a very good understanding of this word. I'm trying to wrap my mind around what it looks like in verb form. The following is what I was able to come up with so far... and admittedly it's not much. I'm not sure I really understand honor at all. 


Honor is doing something for someone, even though you don't have to. Which is different from slavery. It is a willful choice to do what is asked, despite your knowledge that you are free not to.


Any additional thoughts?

As a man thinketh... so is he.

"The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.

Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. Who does not measure his beliefs and where he places his trust. When one makes his or her thoughts pure, they no longer desire impure food. 

Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thought by which it is impressed and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it." 

- As A Man Thinketh by: James Allen

I have recently been thinking. I am finding that I think A LOT.  But have have been giving particular attention to the effects of my thought life upon my body, upon my circumstances, upon my level of inner peace, and upon my relationships. Boy. What you think about really effects your whole world. How then can I gain discipline over my thoughts? How then can I train my mind?


I believe that trust is one major component. If our thoughts are a ship, than what we trust in is the anchor. Rather than sailing aimlessly about, I want to evaluate where my thoughts and visions are anchored before I set sail on the vast oceans of my mind.


In what do you trust? Where to you place your faith? In your family? In your self? In your job? How about your savings account or investments? And perhaps another question for some of you is, "How do I identify where I am placing my trust?"

Girl of the Limberlost

When I was young my mom used to order these G rated videos from I have no idea where. But they were good wholesome movies with lovely stories and lessons within.

There was one that I especially loved and I would watch it over and over. It was called "The Girl of the Limberlost." It is the story of a young girl who loves the forest. She finds a refuge in the shade of age old oaks and soft green mosses. A tangible safety and solitude within.

So today I was Jenna of the Limberlost.