Mission Trip

Hello,

I hope you are all doing well. I am exhausted, but in a good way. This weekend was my first mission trip, and let me tell you, it was eye opening.

I come from a small town in south-central Illinois. I live an hour away from St. Louis and whenever my family would go to the city the farthest in we would go is to the Hill with all the Italian food. My mission trip was from The Crossing Church in Macomb, IL to Gateway Christian Church St. Louis, MO. Going into it, I had no clue what I was going to be doing, all I knew was that it would be a lot of manual labor.

We left on Friday, and arrived at the Gateway 10 p.m. (give or take). We were all exhausted from the drive that was a little over three hours. However, we all stayed up past midnight bonding and playing games with one another.

The next morning we went to north St. Louis, which is considered the 'ghetto' of St. Louis. This is where the experience become real. As we pulled onto the street, all the houses seemed nice, but there were two or three right next to each other that were falling apart. One of them was missing its entire back side, and a nineteen-year-old lived in it every now and then. The building, however, was falling in upon itself. It was a nightmare to think that someone lived there.

The house next to it was known as a drug house, but the organization we were working with, Love the Lou, rented the lot behind it, and was turning it into a community garden. This is where most of us worked. We were pulling the weeds, moving, building a fence and cleaning up broken glass.

The grass was so overgrown that we had to mow it more than three times, and the mower would constantly clog up. I ended up raking up the excess grass, and that took most of the morning. Later, I push mowed a yard that was on an incline. Then, I learned how to weed eat. That was something that would be happy to only do once.

We were not only there to do all this hard work, but to also socialize with the neighbors in the community. Retrospectively, I did not really socialize. I was soaking in my surroundings. For instance, there was a tree dedicated to a young boy who had been shot and killed. There were teddy bears and kids t-shirts tied to the tree. Also, during the event there were children walking around without their parents, in a dangerous part of town. Then, one of the neighbors received a phone call that one of their friends had been shot. He, then, listed all the people he knew who had been shot. It is just so common place in St. Louis.

It was not until I got back to Gateway that night that everything began to sink in. Upon hearing everyone's stories of the day, my heart broke for all the children dealing drugs to help their families, seeing their parents under the influence or simply having to live in a house of neglect. I started crying for the injustice. This was the first time I had ever been angry with God, like why would He do this to innocent children? Why make them suffer like this?

Today (Sunday), I talked with one of the leaders of Love the Lou about setting up a house where these children may go for a refuge on nights where their parents are gone, or when they need refuge or even food and a bed. This is something I will be praying over because I cannot sit back and bury my head in the sand. These kids are suffering in a city so close to us. It should be a priority to provide safety and God's love to these kids. I hope, as time goes on, that there will be something that I can do to help the situation.

At the time, this mission trip offered a lot to reflect upon. Last night, after a full day of work, I found that I NEEDED to write about it. Please if you see a need, try and help to fill it. This world is filled with bad and evil. God's light and love needs to shine, and He is calling us to help Him.

Thank you all for reading. Please repost this on any form of social media. Get word out that hunger and neglect are part of the United States, and not just third world countries. There are things WE can do HERE, and it is time that we start.

If you are interested in Love the Lou, they are on Facebook (LOVEtheLOU), Twitter (LOVEtheLOU and Instagram (Love_the_Lou).

Decisions, decisions

Hello, and welcome back.

Last Thursday I made my decision regarding my major. Let me tell you the decision was not easy. I was torn between special education and journalism. Many people urged me to stay in education, and others were highly supportive of journalism. However, at the end of the day I had to choose what was best for me living the life Christ died for.

Wednesday night I was talking to my dad, and he gave me great advice (as always). He said, "Remember what I taught you years ago, and remember how that turned out. Do the same thing now."

What he meant by that was put it in God's hand, and let him lead the way. This is exactly how I found my fiancé, through praying that prayer. At the time I thought I had done that already, but nonetheless I prayed, and told God that it was in His hands and that I would follow.

The next day (Decision Day) I went to Simpkins Hall where the English and Journalism office is. Of course I arrived early for my meeting, so, naturally, I explored the building. I fell in love with the old architecture of the building, the old light fixtures and the secret rooms. It was all super cool. Around 2 p.m. I made my way back to the adviser's office.

The adviser that I was meeting with, Ellen, called me into her office and told me to have a seat. Upon sitting, I looked around the room. This is where I saw God working his magic. The walls were decorated in Harry Potter paraphernalia, and I love Harry Potter. There was a 9 3/4 sign for Hogwarts, and a cup that said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I was literally in hog heaven, but this was not the best part.

As the meeting progressed, I peered at her desk. There was a little tattered book laying peacefully in front of her computer. I had to ask, "Is that a Bible?" She looked at it, and said, "yes it is." At that moment, I knew that I was where God wanted me to be. She did everything that needed to be done for me to be a journalism major. If I do not add another minor, I could actually graduate early, but if I add a non-profit minor then I will graduate at my original graduation date. 

God moves in wonderful ways, and I am extremely grateful to be His daughter. Sometimes it is easy to get lost and confused in this world, but with God I know I will be okay.

In regards to my change of major, here is my favorite Bible quote:

1 Corinthians 13 The Message (MSG)

The Way of Love

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

² If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

^3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

(credit to: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=MSG)

Controversy

Hey readers,

So, it was my every intention to post God's awesomeness in chronological order. However, there is a a change in the wind, and my life goal has appeared to shift. Hold your horses! I believe that it is for the best.

Let me start from this past May. It was the end of the semester at Western Illinois University, and four major things happened.These four things led to my life changing, in a positive way.

First, I found a church community with which I belonged. I made friends quickly with four amazing women that have not left my side since then. They have even helped my get out of a recent rut that I found myself stranded in.

Secondly, during that month I decided to get re-baptized. I felt that I needed to be fully immersed, and that I had sinned far too much. I needed God back in my life, and I needed Him front and center. Over this past summer, I struggled to put him first because I did not really know how. Sure, I could call on him for help, but I did not know what it meant to do things for the glory of God. Right now, though, I believe that I am where I can honor Him everyday.

Third, during my baptism my boyfriend proposed to me. He, and those four lovely ladies I mentioned previously, planned out the entire thing. It was a complete surprise, and of course I said yes. (This is something I will dedicate a blog post to at a later date.)

Lastly, is my major. For the past five years I have been certain that I would be a teacher. Now what kind of teacher, well, that was always in flux. I am a sophomore in college now, and all of my classes have been preparing me to become a teacher.

Let me tell you, I love children. I love working with and teaching them. However, as my education grew, so did my realization that schools are turning kids into robots. Fellow teachers, you do not have to agree. But, one thing that is for certain is that schools teach to the test, not for academic growth anymore. There are many technicalities that I feel have hindered the education system. As a teacher I would want to be able to inspire my students to think independently. I do not want to make students think the same way as everyone else. If I did that, then nothing would ever change or grow in the world because everyone would have the same thoughts and opinions.

Also, with education, I do not see myself being fulfilled five years down the line. I feel that I would be the teacher that lost her passion.

 So, I decided to re-evaluate my life, and today it hit me. When I had decided to go into education, I was not doing things to honor God. I was just finding something that I thought would be a good fit. Honestly, I would be a good teacher. I have the ability to teach, but I do not have the right passion.

I began analyzing things that I did have a passion for, and I discovered something that has been right here all along. Journalism. I know what you are thinking, 'wait, you just said you wanted to honor God, but you are now talking about YOUR passion, not his.' Very good, I am glad you called me out on that. I was not quite finished though. With a degree in journalism, I would also get an emphasis (similar to a minor) in public relations. My goal would be to write for a decent sized company first, you know to create a name for myself. Once I had finished my time there, I would move to working for religious organizations and/or non-profit organizations. This way I can promote the good that they are doing for the kingdom of God.

I am struggling to make a decision because I would have to give up a scholarship, and then pay it back. Tomorrow, 9/18, I will make my decision. I have a meeting with the academic adviser for journalism at 2:30. I am praying for guidance to make the best decision. In the end, I hope that whatever it is I choose, that I will be bringing honor to God.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed what you read.

Love, 

Jessica 

"Life sucks and then you die".... but it does not have to suck. Miracles Part I.

Hey all,

I am new to blogging, so bare with me. The first time I thought hard about starting a blog was one day at Fuel (a campus ministry in Macomb). Many times people would talk about evangelizing others around campus through public speaking or singing. While I can do both, they are not my strong suit. I write, and I love doing it. The plan of attack is not to throw the Bible in your face. That often scares more people than encourages them. So, what I am going to do is start of by explaining my journey, and the things that led me to God and finding MY religion.

First off, I was baptized as a baby. My mother is Methodist and that is one thing that her religion does. Then, when I was about five (this is what I can remember) my neighbor, and my parent's landlord, took me to Sunday School at her Lutheran church. I continued there while my family lived in the house that they rented from her.

Once I started daycare, I had a religious babysitter. She would take daycare kids, as well as her own kids, to her Baptist church. There, we would go to to Awana, youth group for elementary school and middle school students.

When my time came to an end at daycare, so did my time with the Baptist church. I, then started going to my grandmother's Methodist church, and continued going there for many years to come. However, one fateful year, I was introduced to a Christian church camp, Camp Macgomery (Camp Mac). At camp, I learned about the Christian religion. I found that those people were the ones who I fit in with. I understood where I was, and where I needed to go when I was with them.

It is because of Camp Mac that I found my significant other, and now fiance, Ethan Sheley.

I became best friends with a girl named Autumn at Camp Mac. We would get together as often as possible, but it was difficult because we lived over an hour away from one another.

During this time, I had just broken up with my boyfriend because he had cheated on me. In that moment I prayed to God, "Lord, I am done dating. Please, when the time is right put the right man in my life. You know what I want and what I need. I am putting this in your hands now."

Little did I know that God would answer my prayer very quickly. Autumn came over to spend the night at my house, and told me that she went to school with a guy who just got out of a relationship, and that we would be perfect together. I told her that I did not want to be a rebound, but I would be his friend.

So, she introduced me to a guy named Ethan. We talked everyday for a month, and then he asked me out (this was the first time a guy asked me out, and I did not ask him out). I said yes, and we began dating.

Our first date was a trip with his school to Six Flags. We talked the entire bus ride to Six Flags, mostly about music. It was a good thing that I was a Boston fan.

When we went to ride the log flume, he bent down to tie his shoe. Once he finished, he stood up, put his hand one my face and kissed me. Since then, we have been together. It has been over five years now, and we are officially engaged to get married next September.

This is where I will end today's blog. Next time I will explain how God has moved me to the Christian religion, and how with Him I was able to go to college. God is amazing, and I am nothing without Him. I certainly would not have the relationships I have today, if I did not have God.