10,000 Reasons (it’s the little things).

For all Your goodness,I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find 🙂

First off, where I got the title of this post from… this song has been stuck.in.my.head all week. But it’s a good song, can’t really complain:)

Secondly, I’ve been reading Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist this week…the only thing I can say is: Can I be her when I grow up? Please?  Cold Tangerines is just stories…stories celebrating everyday life and living. Seriously, as simple as that. Just stories she’s recorded and written down along the way. There’s nothing wildly crazy or spectacular about them, yet I’m hooked. She just enjoys life, and writes in a way that makes me wanna enjoy life too. Her words just hit me like a ton of bricks.  Again I say, can I be her when I grow up?

 Speaking of enjoying life, somehow among finals week I’ve actually found life worth celebrating. Who’d have thought? This week I have been flooded with little moments. Happy moments. Thankful moments. Albeit being one of the busiest and most exhausting weeks of my life, (can you say two all-nighters? That’s two more than I’ve ever had in my life!), it honestly was one of the best I’ve had in awhile. While I won’t list 10,000 reasons, I can definitely list a few of the ‘little moments’ I had that made my week!

1. NO.MORE.PAPERS. I sit here at my friend’s house babysitting eternally grateful that the only thing I have to write right now is this blog. I worked on/wrote 2 history papers (one 12 pg, one 5pg final), a portfolio for Comp (with 3 papers), and my Ministry final (4 papers wrapped into one!) I have had a constant migraine since MONDAY due to amount of typing and research I’ve done. I only have two finals left (both tests-not papers) then I’m home free! Did I mention those tests don’t start til Wednesday? So happy.

2. Visits and funtimes. Thursday I got two visits from peoples. one was from my Mommy;  she was supposed to come last week but had to work. So since she was off and I was off, it made sense for her to visit! She brought me snacks (including my easter basket!) and whatnot to help me make it through finals, and boxes to help me pack my room. I could’ve easily left everything as is in my dorm and left right then! I seriously cannot wait to be home for good! (6 days!)
The other visit was from some of my favorite people on the planet! My choir friends! I miss being a choir kid. And then again, I don’t (in some ways) but I miss the people. Especially the lovely people like Mary Lue, Erin, and my precious Tina  (and the wonderful chaperone Nathaniel!) I was simply giddy with them here. Oh how I’ve missed my friends! I had a wonderful day laughing and reminiscing with them and watching all the choirs perform (ALL earning superiors. Once the best, always the best!) I really enjoyed sitting and listening, choir vowels and breathing and choir posture floating back into my head like I was back in Mrs. Ell’s classroom once again. It was so different just sitting and listening. I really really liked it. And of course they were all phenomenal, no surprise there. =) Friday I had lunch with April, one of my favorite people on the entire planet. I am so thankful for her sweet presence in my life! It was nice getting a break in the day just to talk and laugh, I really needed it! 😛

Despite being beyond stressed and sleep deprived, I decided to enjoy this week. If you couldn’t tell,  that idea worked out wonderfully. 🙂

3. Babysitting. One of the things I’ve missed most about being away at school. Chloe and Brady are two of my favorite kids on the planet-I always have so much fun when I’m with them! Today was no exception. While their awesome parents ran the half marathon, Chloe and I had a baking adventure! Times two. Chlo entered into a cupcake decorating competition in her neighborhood. While writing my final essay, she started making adorable “s’mores cupcakes”-chocolate cupcakes, marshmallow fluff frosting (yuummmmm), and a mini s’more on top. After I finished my essay (and happy danced around the room), we went upstairs to play video games. Well about 30 mins later Brady comes up and running, screaming that Billy, their dog, had knocked the cupcakes into the floor and was eating them! Chlo rushed downstairs to assess the damage, and they were practically unsalvageable. So she then decided she’d have to just start over. While she called her Mom and asked if she could go to the store, I was ogling cupcakes on Pinterest. I found the most adorable cupcake-a Squirt the sea turtle (finding Nemo, anyone?) cupcake that I fell in love with. I showed it to Chloe and the rest was baking history!

Jen, if you read this, Chloe’s not allowed to grow anymore. The kid’s almost as tall as I am! She’s grown up so much!

Our finished masterpiece. Pretty darn cute if you ask me!

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the day! I just needed to do something fun, and I had a blast! Chloe’s sarcasm and sense of humor has expanded greatly over the years, and it showed-I haven’t laughed so much all week! I love that kid, I swear. 🙂 

So, to conclude-it’s the little things, today, that matter. No “big moments” in the process for now, and I’m learning that’s okay. That’s more than okay, actually. That’s what I need right now. I need gab fests with girlfriends, days where I eat a continuous stream of sugary icing and marshmallow fluff, days where I laugh more than I think about tomorrow and what it’s going to bring. The little things are what I need to focus on, and God is showing me that more and more. Because it’s those “little things” that become the big, best memories etched in my brain on a bad day, the thoughts that pick me up when I need it. The little things are the big things strung together to make a life. I’m starting to not only believe that…but to live like that. 😀

And now I’m gonna go cry at my beautiful best friend’s spectacularly beautiful Prom pictures for awhile, and deny the fact that she is dancing the night away at her senior prom and is graduating in a month. Ahhhh! 

Summer’s on the Horizon…and on the brain.

Well, yesterday concluded the last FULL week of my Freshmen year at Lipscomb. That’s a bit surreal. It’s finally hitting me that this year is almost over, and all the friends I’ve met will be heading home for the summer…some to graduate (I don’t even want to think about that yet!) 😦  some to transfer, most to come back thankfully. But it’s still weird,being with these people for nearly a year and then we up and leave. All I can say is thank God for cell phones and facebook! ; ) 

I spent all afternoon yesterday making a Pinterest board for stuff to do this summer. This beats a 12pg paper any day!

That hasn’t been on my mind as much of the fact that...IT’S ALMOST SUMMER, Y’ALL! I mean, let’s be honest-it’s felt like summer since March around here. But the fact is, in less than 2 weeks, I’ll be home, with my Mommy, dogs, home cooked food and best friends. No work to do, papers to write, tests to study for. For 3 months. Can I get an amen?! I’m ready for adventures with my friends before they embark on their college careers (though I’m not quite ready yet to see my best friend graduate high school…I can’t stomach that just yet!).


 This is all that’s been on my mind for over a week! Papers and research and portfolios can wait. (Except not really, but again, I digress).  I have thought of nothing else than being at home. I am so beyond homesick. I know after a week of being home I’ll probably rethink this, but honestly right now I don’t care! I wanna be home soo bad. I can’t wait for a /little/ taste of home happening in the next few days. Starting with tomorrow, when (fingers crossed) my Mommy’s coming to see me!! I will be such a happy girl if she can get down here. It’s easier for her to come see me than me go home for just two days. It’s just too much of an ordeal. I honestly feel like if she comes tomorrow I may cry and beg her to take me home! (okay I’m not that bad off here, but seriously, I’m ready to be home!) 
Secondly, on dead day (study day) the Mt. Juliet Choirs will be on campus for State Festival! Can you guess who’s excited to see her choir friends and choir director? This kid! Studying can wait, without a doubt. ; ) 
Thirdly, I’m going next Friday after my 3 finals (yes, 3 out of the FIVE I have are the same day. Thankfully all 3 are turning papers in.) to babysit two of my favorite kiddos in MJ! I can’t wait to see all my babies this summer to babysit! It’s one of my favorite things to do. : P
Summer’s almost here, but in my mind, it’s already here and ready to go! Just gotta keep going for a few more days, then I’m home free! Yippeeeee!

You are loved…but me? Really?!

So yesterday, me and a group of friends from one of my Bible classes got together to work on a project. Our “missional project” assignment was as simple as this: go out to the community, and bless it. Be Jesus to people. That was it. Seems simple, right?


Wrong. Oh so wrong. I’ll admit, I was a bit of a Moses when it came to this assignment. I didn’t think I could do it. I dislike the idea of getting out of my comfort zone. It’s comfortable, it’s safe, and it’s mine-I think that makes it a very good place to stay, right? Again, wrong. But I digress. 

The girls in my group were outwardly a lot more enthusiastic about the project, particularly what we decided to do for ours-we went to Walmart and coveted the toy aisle (reminiscing on childhood as we did so) and bought bubbles, a ball, and sidewalk chalk. We then went to Centennial Park, started writing verses and kind words upon the sidewalk/running area, and talked to people, asking if they needed any kind of prayer request. Again, my comfort zone flew out the window. But overall it was a great adventure that I am so glad I got to be apart of. 🙂

Here are some pics from yesterday: I didn’t take many, but the ones I took came out nicely.

As much a reminder for others as for me! Don’t forget to smile! 🙂

Romans 5:8

Jennifer’s rainbow!

There was one picture I took that particularly caught my eye and made me stop and think about myself for a minute: 

That’s meeeee! (really my shadow, but you get the picture).

At first I was annoyed when I took this picture. I didn’t want my shadow in it…because honestly, I felt like it was one big blob in a cute picture. Seriously. But then I read what it said. 

“You are loved.”

It made me stop and think for a minute. I probably read into it a lot more than most people would, but I feel like my shadow in the picture, with these words in particular, is a reminder: 

“hey…while you’re out there loving others, remember that you are loved too.”

I forget a lot of the time that I am loved by God. I feel like it’s because I have a problem loving myself (always have). I feel unlovable, way too often. I see that God loves others-no doubt about it. But often I question, “how can he really love ME?” I just don’t get it. This isn’t a pity-on-Jordan/insecure kid moment. (don’t take it like that, please!) This is mainly just the way my brain works. I just don’t understand why. Or how, for that matter. How can a mighty, powerful God love little me, that screws up on a daily basis? 

But He does.  And I am so thankful for that. God doesn’t just love when I’m being good, when I go to church, when I do anything of the like. He loves me for me, all the time. No matter what. He loves all of us like that. Just because we are His children. What a beautiful thought, huh? I just need to drive it through my brain on a daily basis. Sometimes it takes a visual reminder to help me remember something as simple as this. That’s why I love that above picture so much. It may not be anything to you, but to me, it’s a reminder from God, and that’s how I’m gonna take it. 🙂

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 (NIV) 

In conclusion,  I feel like this song goes so well with this. We are loved immensely by a beautiful God who created us in His image. We are his beloved, no matter what. I’m working on believing this everyday. 🙂 

Memories…

Well, hello there. I tried to have a blog a while back… and if you can’t tell, it didn’t work out quite nicely. I’m kindof a forgetful person. Oh well. I started using a tumblr for shorter/more picture based blogging. It’s fun, but not really what I’ve been needing lately.


Lately I’ve felt it on my heart to write. I’ve always like writing, moreso for creative purposes as to vent/write about myself. However, recently I’ve been starting to be more open about myself and my life…so maybe this is part of that. I really don’t know,but I guess I can give it a shot. So, I created this second blog on a whim last night. I really just needed to log into my old blogger account so I could comment on a friends blog. But somehow I came around to deciding that this is something I want to try to venture into, so here goes. 😛




As to what this post is actually about. When I created this blog I had to log into an old email account (like early high school account I used for like a year then hopelessly forgot about), as it was the account the blog was on. When I did that I decided to decipher through some old emails I miraculously had saved on my account (I did this a while before I left for college last year on my primary email. ‘Twas fun). Most of the emails were between me and my best friend Natalie (cause we didn’t have cell phones and thought it was cool to email each other. we were awesome). 


I seriously spent a good twenty minutes laughing uncontrollably at these emails. At almost 2 in the morning. I was already delirious at this hour, so I’d probably had laughed at the ceiling by this point. But they were still funny. Not so much at their content (though I must say, if you know me and Natalie, that was definitely entertaining). But moreso funny at how we talked. What we talked about. What we said to each other. They made me laugh because of who we were then compared to who we are now. It makes me miss those days in one sense, and happy as heck they’re gone in another. I love the memories these emails (and others) make me think of, from middle and high school. I  honestly was one of the lucky kids that loved high school most of the time, and have many fun-filled memories of my crazy adventures while there.


I’m ready to make new memories now. I want something to look back onto and say that it was worth doing. I want a life that I can look back on and say it was worth living. I’m not saying those memories from the past aren’t worth anything. They have made me who I am. But I am so ready to break out of this shell and do something worthwhile. I for once in my life want to step out of my comfort zone. Imagine that! Haha.  I don’t know where God’s gonna take me, but I’m praying he breaks me out of my shell to do something worthwhile. I think it’ll be worth the wait to see what he has in store. 🙂