Prayer is like taking a breath of fresh air

It has been three weeks since I went to Carrfour, Haiti and life has been moving at record speed.
I have four weeks left of school, test, projects and everything you can imagine is needing to be turned in. Can you beat the Heat 5k that Run4Change is hosting is on May 1st, so I am in the process of getting all those details together. On top of that, I have got 91 days to finalize the details for the mission team in July and I am in the process of beginning a non-profit! Everything that is happening is such a blessing in my life and coming together flawlessly, but sometimes I feel as if I do not breathe!
So, this week I have been reflecting on my trip and trying not to get caught up in this fast moving American life. I was remember flying into Port-au-Prince Haiti and seeing the sea of tarps and tents. We were surrounded by destruction, but at the same time surrounded by individuals filled with joy. The Haitians have so much love and happiness even with the worst circumstances. Me and you can leave a place of destruction and come back to this life of comfort, but they are stuck in it everyday and they still have a smile on their face. I was amazed by their great faith.

One of the days, we went for a walk to get to know our neighbors, hear their stories and learn exactly how we could pray for them. One of the houses we came to was a home of this elderly woman. Her name was Ms. Lavell and she spoke so many words of wisdom. One thing that she said that I will never forget is she spoke so highly of the importance of prayer. She said, "Prayer is like the air we breath. You can not live without Prayer."
I was in awe of these words because as Christians I believe we all struggle in this area and this is the easiest thing to overlook. I left her house and was in such peace.

I encourage you all to spend more time in prayer and to be bold in your faith. Go to your friends, family, co-workers, strangers and just ask the simple question: "How can I pray for you today?"
They might look at you and just ignore you, or they might share with you concerns on their heart. Take the chance and be strong for the Lord. Jesus died for us, so why can't we kill our pride and live everyday for Him.

God Bless
In Him,

Jenny

"My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ"
- Colossians 2:2

Where does the time go?

Today, I woke up. Struggled getting out of bed. Went to school. Then threw on the sunglasses and went off to work.

When driving, I was amazed of how beautiful the day was and then realized I had not even said hi to my father today. This life is so fast paced and lately I have been running without taking one breath.

Today the Lord has taught me once again to take a breath and enjoy His creation.

The other day, one of my coworkers asked me if I kept an ongoing prayer list. I explained how I have an ongoing mental prayer list, but he challenged me to begin to write down prayer request and to begin to become intentional with prayer.

So I challenge all of you to do that! Become more disciplined with prayer and start strengthening your prayer life with the Lord and watch how it will strengthen not only your relationship with the Lord, but with everyone around you as well.

I ask that you pray for my coworkers friend, his name is Taylor Pratt. He has never smoked in his life, and is a very healthy man, but just recently got diagnosed with lung cancer. He is married and has three kids. Where the cancer is located is inoperable. It is with the strength of prayers and God's power that Taylor will be healed. I believe in miracles and I believe the Lord can do anything, so please pray for Him.

So, I ask you, where does the time go?

"Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
- Psalm 90:12

So, today as I rushed through my morning, I stepped back to realize that I am alive today, so I can glorify His name. The Lord is our creator, our rock, our savior, our father, so why don't we start giving Him more time.

"...let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
- Hebrews 10: 24-25

It is time to build one another up in prayer and fellowship and to most importantly start truly giving everything to the Lord.

God Bless,

In Him,

Jenny

I am so blessed!

I am so blessed. I just wanted to express that today.
Haiti Trip is getting paid for slowly but surely. The Lord provides and He provides in the coolest ways!

If yall do not know yet, I will be leading a team this summer to Mombasa, Kenya. We will be going over there from July 7- July 22. Our team has a blog, if you visit missionmombasa2011.blogspot.com it will take you to the site.

Through that blog, you will be able to hear from all the team members and their experiences. There is also a donate button on that blog, and you can donate to the team!

It has been such a blessing to lead this team so far and I can not wait for what the Lord has in store later down the road.

God Bless!

Jenny

I heard Him with clarity.

This morning I woke up as if someone was standing over me tapping my shoulder. Surprisingly I was not tired (considering I did not get to bed until 3am because of school work).

So, exactly at 7am, one hour before my alarm clock should have gone off, I felt a tap and literally a voice say, "Jenny, go dig into the word and come visit me this morning."

I did not hesistate, I got up and went straight to His word. I opened my TNIV and ESV bible and my journal and began to read.

I first read my devotion for the day which was about a woman of the Lord and the verse that called out to me in the passage that I read was Proverbs 31:30;

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." ESV

I should not find my worth in my beauty or clothing or appearance, but should find my value in my Lord Jesus Christ. He is my focus and my path and not anything of this world.

I was excited where the Lord was going with this mornings readings. So then I turned to Jeremiah and continued reading there. Today I read Jeremiah 2 and 3. Can you say blunt? The Lord is just throwing in our face what we have done wrong in this world and we still turn away and think we have done nothing of disgrace to the Lord. These scriptures in Jeremiah are full of such truth of how we find idols and worship this world and then come back to God and deny to Him that we have sinned.

"you say, 'I am innocent, surely his anger has turned from me.' Behold, I will bring to you judgement for saying, 'I have not sinned.'

-Jeremiah 2:35

"Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed." ESV

"I have planted you a choice vine of sound and reliable stock." TNIV

- Jeremiah 2:21

"Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the Lord, our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God." ESV

- Jeremiah 3:25

I was in awe at all the Lord had to say and the fact that it was so in your face and blunt, but that is what society needs is hard TRUTH. Now the question is, how can we, as disciples of Christ, spread the truth to everyone around us?

Take the time to think of how you can start living your life around this one objective and purpose. To spread the Lord's truth. Try not to think of this as another thing to "implement" into your life because that is not what this is at all. This should BE your life. Our one purpose is to live for the Lord. We would not be here if it was not for our Lord Jesus Christ, so stop being oblivious to the Truth in your own life. Take your worth out of this world and put it all into God, our Savior.

I ended this morning, by looking back into my journal of devotions I had when in Africa or pre or post the trip and I got to this one page that brought tears to my eyes.

I have been praying lately to hear the Lord and not to be distracted of this world...

My journal read:

"Jenny, Listen. Do not fall back to the world, but lay your life for the Lord, lay your life down and be a disciple. A STRONG and humble disciple of Christ."

Then my journal said:

- "If you are reading this journal entry, take the time and read every word carefully in this verse." and it left me with the verse John 12:23-26

"And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoevee hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will be my servant also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."

- John 12: 23-26

This morning, I heard the Lord my God with clarity and God is so good, all the time.

I hope you are encouraged this morning to go out and be a light for the Lord, even if you, yourself, cannot see. Do not walk by sight but by faith alone.

With Love,

Jenny

A Dream of Clarity.

Today, here in College Station, it is very cold. I did not want to get up this morning and I did not have the energy to put on all the layers and walk to my classes, but of course, I got up and did what I needed to do.
I bundled up and headed off to class. As I was walking across campus (starting to not feel my toes) I thought of how blessed I was just to even have socks and shoes on my feet. I get so caught up in going to school, then going to work and then doing it all over again that I lose sight in the blessings.

I challenge each one of you to count your blessings and not to take the little things for granted. The Lord is good, all the time and all the time the Lord is good :)

So let me share with you a dream I had the other day.

So this is how the dream goes:

I was laying in bed and did not want to get up. I was warm and cozy in my bed and it was freezing cold outside, but I kept hearing the Lord speak to me. He kept telling me. "Jenny, get up and go outside, I have a surprise for you." I would respond to God, "God but why? It is so cold and I am warm, Can't I just stay in bed for five more minutes." And then God would respond with a quiet collected voice, "Jenny, go outside right now, I have a surprise for you."
So, I finally agreed with God and went outside. As soon as I stepped outside, I was freezing but I saw something in a distance. There were these two little kids running my way. When they got to me they smiled and opened their hands. Each kid had $200 in their hands. They handed me the money and ran away.
The Lord then whispered, "I told you Jenny, I will provide."
I leaped for JOY! The Lord is so so good.

Soon after, I woke up. Now I know what you are thinking. MAN! What a bummer. You got $400 in your dream to go towards your missions and then you wake up with $0, but that's not it at all. I woke up with clarity and understanding that I need to cast all my worries on the Lord and trust the Lord.

I am going to Haiti March 13 for 6 days and then this summer I am leading a mission team starting July 7, 2011. In between there is a lot of funding that will need to come in order for these trips to be successful, but I am not worried.

The Lord is amazing and He has called me to the mission field and I am not afraid. In everything I do, He will provide. In all the words that I speak, He will provide. The Lord is my rock and foundation and nothing will move me because within me is the Holy Spirit and I speak His truth.

Stand Strong and Never lose sight of our Savior.

Haiti Relief Trip

Howdy my Friends!

I first want to express my love to all of you have supported me in my missions and all that I do. I have been so blessed with all the love and support I get every year.

It has been on my heart for about a year now to go on a Haiti Relief Trip. I finally decided that I needed to look into it, so I did. I found a 6 day trip that is March 13-18. As soon as I expressed an interest in this trip, the team leader emailed me and called me right away. They were looking at closing this trip on Friday, but are not finalizing until Monday due to the fact that they are waiting on my decision. This is a group of about 15 coming from all over the United States. I would pay for the trip which is $495 and then my airfare which is around $1000. I told my team leader I would give her a call on Monday if I would be joining them as a part of their team.

So, this is why I am tagging all of you in this note. It is by the support of my loved ones that I get the privilege of doing what the Lord has brought me to do and that is serve him among the nations.

If you could give $5, $10, $20, or anything that your heart desires to the Haiti Relief Trip, please let me know.

If I tell my team leader yes on Monday, that means I have to give her atleast $495.00 by the end of next week. I pray that you take the time to pray about this and contact me, so I can share more with you.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to support me, so I can give her an answer by Monday.

My number: 2104214416, my email: jenkins.jenny@yahoo.com

Also, so you know. I have gotten the opportunity to lead a team in July to Mombasa Kenya for two weeks, so I am very excited about that. Please be praying for my team to Kenya as well.

Thank you all so much for your love and support. Also, if you know of anyone that would love to support this trip, please let them know.

In Christ,

Jenny

hunger for the lord.

ok so the past couple weeks have been more than hectic but in all have been full of God's glory. I am so excited to share with you that the Run4Change website will be up and running by mid august and it is going to be truly amazing. The Lord has been blessing my path every step of the way and I just can't wait for yall to see the finishing touches and just see it fall together and grow.

But let me tell you all what has happened since I have gotten back from Kenya. It has been exactly a month and I just dont even know where to start. One America is busy. too busy and I feel like as Americans we overlook the meaning of living life. We get so busy looking for what we want out of life and what the next step is that we forget to breath and just live for today.

This past Sunday we went over the last parts of James chapter four and it was so inspirational.

James 4:8-10

"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up."

Humble yourselves and the Lord will lift you up. How great is that.

Just take a moment and realize what you have done today or this week to glorify God.

If it takes you awhile to reflect on a moment then you need to ask yourself how are you living your life. Are you living it for the Lord or for yourself?

Matthew 5:6

"Blessed are those who HUNGER and THIRST for righteousness, for they will be filled."

So I ask myself what I have done since I have gotten back since Kenya, Have I been living the life that reflects of the Lord?

I reflect over the past year and just how much I transformed. Each day is a new day for the Lord, not a new day for Jenny. Living for God with everythoing I do and every breath is such an amazing feeling.

Please take the time to remember your best friend, God, is waiting to here from you and stop being ignored.

Mungu Akubariki.

With Love,

Jenny