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Today is Monday, and you know what that means: DANCING WITH THE STARS!!!!!! I just watched Melissa and Mark’s performance, and once again, I was giddy as a school girl. Who knew Sabrina the Teenage Witch could dance a mean Charleston?

Today is also my dad’s birthday. I could write a novel about my father. I’d start with his work ethic and end with his determination to provide a better life for his children than he had himself. Somewhere in the middle, I’d talk about how freely my dad shows his love to my mother, brother and I–something that is counter to our culture’s definition of “masculinity.” And yet, my dad is the most macho guy I know. (Sorry, Husband.)

Oddly enough (but not so oddly that I can’t turn it into a nice transition), I was just listening to a sermon in which the pastor was talking about the importance of a father in determining a woman’s view of herself. The pastor asserted that a woman who grew up without a stable, loving father-figure is more likely to constantly seek the approval of the opposite sex in her adult life. On the other hand, a woman who was raised by a father who affirmed her and demonstrated his love on a regular basis is more likely to grow up to be a confident, well-adjusted individual.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule; but I’ve seen enough examples of the aforementioned statements in my friend’s lives, as well as my own, to know that the pastor’s statements are more than just religious conjecture. Our fathers play a huge role in defining our self-concept and who we grow up to be. So isn’t it comforting to know that regardless of how our earthly fathers measure up, all of us have a flawless Heavenly Father who knit us together in our mother’s womb, making us fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalms 139: 13-14)

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and thought those things about yourself rather than breathing a collective sigh of disgust over your hips, butt and thighs? How would we conduct ourselves differently if we lived for God’s approval rather than the approval of our parents, spouses, significant others or friends?

To bring this entry full circle, I’ll end by saying this: Regardless of what your relationship with your dad was like growing up, all of us were created in the image of an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving Heavenly Father who asks nothing else from us but to love Him and accept His Son.

And now back to my dad:

Daddy, Thank you for being the perfect picture of a man, a husband and a father. You are still the standard by which I judge every man, and I will forever be your little girl. I love you!

-Your Little Princess

PS- For those of you who haven’t put two and two together, that’s daddy’s little girl above…=)

As I was driving home from work today–almost giddy with excitement about the fact that the weekend is finally here–I was listening to a song by Christian artists Shane & Shane entitled “Be Near.” I began to think about how truly blessed I am and what an absolutely amazing time in my life I am experiencing–as well as how desperately I need the Lord.

All too often, we turn to God when things are going wrong, but fail to draw close to Him when everything is going well. This song is a great reminder that nothing in this world–even the most awesome seasons of life–can compare to “being near” to our Savior.

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

Be Near
by Shane & Shane

Based on Psalms 73:28; 139

You are all
big and small
beautiful
and wonderful
to trust in grace through faith
but i’m asking to taste…

for dark is light to You
depths are height to You
far is near
but Lord, i need to hear from You

be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good

Your fullness is mine
revelation divine
but, o, to taste
to know much more than a page
to feel Your embrace…

for dark is light to You
the depths are height to You
far is near, but Lord
i need to hear from You

be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good

Nah…The Fix It and Forget It people have the corner on that market. I have, however, had great success with not one, but two, crock pot meals this week. I’ll post my favorite of the two recipes–Come-Back-For-More Barbecue Chicken–at the end of this entry.

Right now, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk more about my post In Search of My Thing. As a result of a random work experiment, I uploaded the post to Facebook, and I honestly had no idea that it would elicit the response that it did. I figured that, if anything, people would find my entry a bit of a downer and a good reason to stop–or never even start–reading my blog. Therefore, I was astonished to find that not only did people send words of encouragement my way (on here and on Facebook), but some of you indicated that you identified with how I felt.

I’ve been thinking about all of your comments over the past 24 hours and here’s what I’ve concluded: Every one of us, at one time or another, feels inadequate in some way. Whether that feeling comes from not having a “thing”– or not–it is always the result of a lie that is put in our head by Satan. My friend Mary (of Mary’s Monday Musicology fame) put it best when she said that Satan doesn’t want us to feel adequate because, “We aren’t as vulnerable to his lies when we find our purpose and discover the gifts God has given ALL of us.”

And He HAS given all of us a gift. It’s simply our job to pursue the Lord and trust that He will reveal what “thing” He has called us to do during our time on earth. Maybe you’ll find that you aren’t called to do just one “thing.” Maybe, as my friend Melanie said, your “thing” is to be “well-rounded” (a.k.a- a fabulously energetic multi-tasker). It doesn’t matter, as long as you are well-rounded and fabulously energetic for His glory.

I’m still not sure what the Lord has planned for my life–or even for this blog–and I’m not planning to give up the search for my “thing.” I do, however, plan to take the advice of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” I hope that those of you who identified with my post will shake off the discouragement (like I’m trying to do) and lock arms with me in serving our Savior– the only “thing” that really matters in the first place.

(Sidenote: The comments I received on the aforementioned post came from people in four different states, who I have known in three different stages of my life: high school, college and engagement/marriage. To me, that is the perfect example of the power of internet to intertwine our lives with the lives of others whose paths we normally would not cross. End sidenote.)

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

(Crock pot recipe below)

Come-Back-For-More Barbecued Chicken
(courtesy of Fix It and Forget It!)

6-8 chicken breast halves
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup water

1. Place chicken in slow cooker
2. Whisk remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour sauce mixture over chicken.
3. Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours, or until chicken is tender but not overcooked.
4. If chicken begins to dry out while cooking, stir in another 1/2 cup water

Makes 6-8 servings

Yay for more blog comments! Seriously, you guys have no idea how much they mean to me. It keeps me blogging! Well, actually, my slightly narcissistic personality and desire to share my thoughts with more than just the pages of my journal are what keep me blogging, but the comments are awesome.

Short post tonight, as it’s Bible Study Wednesday. We went over 1 Peter 4. I highly suggest that you guys check it out if you get a chance. Lots of stuff about using the trials and tribulations of life to glorify God. Good stuff.

Speaking of good stuff, my boss sent me and a few other co-workers (and fellow believers) his father’s blog today. In a normal work situation, I would humor my boss by reading a few of his dad’s blog entries and shooting him a quick email saying “how much I enjoyed the entries” and “what a talented writer his father is.” In this case, however, my boss is also a good friend of mine and I trust his judgment on what is or is not worth reading…not to mention the fact that the blog is well-written and thought-provoking. Larry, the author/my boss’s father, puts scripture in the first person and accompanies each verse with a short devotional, a question to ponder and a prayer. I, myself, am planning to check the blog every morning when I get to work as inspiration for my day. (Bonus: I don’t think I can get in trouble for reading my boss’s Dad’s blog on company time!) You guys should definitely check it out as well: http://god2me.wordpress.com/

The other thing you (ladies) should take a look at is Michael Buble’s video for his new song “Haven’t Met You Yet.” Love him! Love it!!

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

Earlier today, I stumbled upon an article on People.com that was far more interesting than the usual inane celebrity gossip. The article, entitled Kirk Cameron Stands Behind Controversial Darwin Statements, talked about how Cameron (of Growing Pains and Fireproof fame) created copies of Charles Darwin’s book Origin of the Species, with a 50 page introduction that picks apart Darwin’s evolutionary theory and tries to lead people to the truth of Creationism and, ultimately, to salvation. Cameron and others are passing out copies of the book on college campuses, and I’m hoping that copies will also be available for purchase somewhere.

In true liberal media fashion, the People.com author attempted to make it seem like Cameron’s beliefs are outlandish. The article even quoted a professor from the University of California, Berkeley, who said: “The two kinds of people who believe that religion and evolution can not coexist are extreme atheists and extreme religious fundamentalists. Everyone else doesn’t really have a problem. [A majority] of Americans believe that a belief in god is compatible with evolution.”

Well, I hate to break it to that guy, but the heartbreaking reality is that the majority of Americans are also going to spend eternity in Hell. I’m even more convinced of the veracity of that statement after I Googled “Kirk Cameron, Origin of the Species” and saw some of the horrible comments about Cameron, Christianity and God that were posted on other websites. Like I said: heartbreaking.

I’ve debated whether or not I should be so blatantly honest about my beliefs in this blog. I’m far from perfect (ask Husband, my closest friends and my co-workers) and would hardly consider myself educated about the merits of creation vs. evolution. But to be honest, I don’t really think that’s the crux of the matter. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that God created this world and everything in it (including us); but I don’t think that someone will or won’t go to heaven based on whether or not they believe in creation.

The real issue here is that more often than not, people who believe evolutionary theory do not believe in God, much less that Jesus was God’s son who died to save us from our sins and eternal separation from God. There’s a reason why John 3:16 is the first verse they have you memorize in Sunday School: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The message is that simple. All other beliefs pale in comparison to the greatness of knowing the Lord.

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

PS- I plan to purchase a copy of Cameron’s refutation of Darwin’s theory. I’ll let you guys know where you can find it too.

This whole blogging project has started to turn into something bigger than I intended it to. When I asked some of my co-workers for advice on how to improve my blog’s search engine ranking, I had no idea what it would involve. The industry I work in makes it seem like there’s no reason to blog if you’re not going to optimize it for the search engines; but after spending over a week searching GoDaddy.com for an available URL and using Google Adwords to try to figure out how to stuff my posts full of keywords, I decided that, quite honestly, I just don’t care.

Seriously, there’s an inordinate amount of information floating around out there about how to make your blog show up in the SERP (search engine results page) that someone sees when they Google a related keyword. This way, people you don’t know can find and follow your blog. (Sidenote: Some of you are social workers or nurses who help people everyday in your line of work. I learn cool terms like SERP so that I can impress all of you with my “stunning intellect.”)

I won’t lie. It would be great (a.k.a. A huge ego boost) to have a lot of random people I dont know read my writing, but that’s not the purpose of my entries. And maybe that’s why I was feeling so much pressure to optimize this thing: I had simply gotten away from my purpose. I started this blog to encourage others through sharing stories about my life and how the Lord is working in it. But like I often do, I lost sight of that goal and started to pursue what the world thought I should acheive. (Apparently, this blog is a metaphor for my life.)

So, let this entry and my past week of blog posts (or lack thereof) serve as a reminder that when we get too far away from what we were created to do–glorify and honor God in all things–everything, even blog entries, starts to fall apart. Maybe this blog won’t show up in the SERPs and maybe I’ll never have more than a handful of followers (who I am very thankful for, by the way) but hopefully I’ll look back on whatever this blogging project turns out to be and say that above all else, it served a purpose. And shouldn’t that be something we all strive for?

Until tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

I wasn’t going to make a post while I’m out of town, but there’s something inspiring about listening to crashing waves and watching the sunset. (One day I’ll stop talking about my proximity to the beach, but today is not that day.)

I’ve been feeling very one dimensional lately. I get up, go to work, come home, cook dinner, eat and go to bed. The focal point of my day is work and while I really enjoy my job, I feel like it currently defines me. Rather than work being the main dimension of my life, I want it to be one of the many dimensions of who I am. So, I decided that rather than continuing to complain to Husband about how uninteresting I am (which is, in and of itself, uninteresting), I would use this weekend away to develop a list of things that I’d like to know more about and spend more time doing. (In other words, I was going to get a life!)

I developed my list of “things” easily enough: writing, cooking, internet technology, behavioral psychology and fashion. Writing is my passion. Cooking is something I do every day and something that Husband would benefit from. Internet technology directly relates to my job. Behavioral psychology is something I have a vested interest in. (More about that later.) As for fashion, well, I think you all know that I “heart” it!

I was going to make the content my blog entries stem from this list (e.g.- a series of entries about my culinary ventures or a series about the latest tech gadgets), but as I looked back over the list earlier today (while lying on the beach), I noticed that it was largely rooted in practicality– and a bit boring. Discouraged, I picked up the book I have been reading, The Problem With Pain by C.S. Lewis. (Not the ideal “beach read” for those of you who might be wondering.)

As I was reading, I began to realize that I have things all wrong. As humans, we are created to be one dimensional. Our sole purpose in life is to bring honor and glory to our Creator. Therefore, all other things should seem “uninteresting” in comparison to the greatness of knowing God. This is not to say that I can’t be fashionable, enjoy cooking, learn more about behavioral psychology or excel at my job; but it does mean recognizing that every “thing” comes from God and it’s my duty to do everything I can to honor and glorify Him with those things.

I’m not sure what a life with a singular purpose of glorifying and honoring God looks like…but you can guarantee that I’ll be updating you as I try to figure it out.

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

I can’t believe today is September 1st. Labor Day is this coming Monday, and now that I’m too old to go “Back-to-School” (a.k.a. the true harbinger of Fall), the Labor Day holiday signifies the end of summer to me. When I lived in North Carolina, Fall meant that the leaves changed colors and fell off the trees into rainbow piles and that the weather started to get progressively cooler until it was time to break out the coats, scarves, gloves and boots I’d put in the back of my closet earlier in the year. (Personally, I’m getting a warm, fuzzy feeling just thinking about it.)

Now that I live in a little beach town in California, it appears to me that all things Fall related are, well, non-existent. I don’t think leaves fall off palm trees, and since the temperature stays about the same all year here, there’s no real need for winter coats. Heck! I don’t even think Fall in California means you can’t wear white pants or shoes anymore. I’m pretty sure that everyone out here has been breaking that rule for years—if they ever even abided by it in the first place. (Exit warm fuzzy feeling.)

I’ll admit that as I write this entry, I am feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and I love California (minus the 8.75% sales tax and Emo trends). But as Labor Day ushers in a new season, I can’t help but think of all that’s changed for me over the past year and a half. Today is one of those days when I miss all the people, traditions, and miniscule details of the life I’ve left behind in the South, colored leaves and winter coats included.

I know I’m not alone in feeling like this. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve moved across the country or not. People, places and things come in and out of our lives for various reasons and sometimes even the simplest reminders make us miss what we’ve lost or left behind. However, I’m reminded of the infamous verses in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 where Solomon proclaims that there’s a “time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens…a time to plant and uproot…a time to weep and a time to laugh…a time to love and a time to hate.”

I don’t know who or what it is that you’re missing. Chances are, it’s due to a much greater loss than I’ve experienced. For that, I am sorry, and to the extent I can without knowing you, I grieve with you. What I do know is that no matter what geographical location or what emotional state our heart is in, the God of all seasons feels your pain. Whether it’s your time to plant, uproot, weep, laugh, love or hate, trust the One, who works all things for our good and His glory if we let him.

Until Tomorrow,

Jennifer Lynn

P.S.- The title of this entry comes from the song “Every Season” by Nicole Nordeman. Click aforementioned title to listen, and enjoy!

It’s late, and I’m tired. However, I feel compelled to make a brief post. I just heard that Adam Goldstein, otherwise known as Nicole Richie’s ex-fiance’ DJ AM, was found dead in his New York City apartment earlier today. While authorities aren’t calling it a suicide yet, prescription drugs were found in his body or close to his body or something like that.

I’m extremely disturbed by this news. Lump in my throat, heaviness in my chest, disturbed. I didn’t know Adam Goldstein. I didn’t know anyone who knew Adam Goldstein. Therefore, I cannot and will not judge his mental health, his character, or where he is residing now that he is no longer on this earth.

I will, however, present you with the Biblical perspective on death and let you draw your own conclusions about your own mortality.

Our problem is eternal death.
Romans 3:23- “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
Romans 6:23- “The wages of sin is death…”
Hebrews 9:27- “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.”

Our response to God results in eternal life.
John 1:12- “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Romans 10:9-10- “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
John 5:24- “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Until tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn