Typology??

I just took this Humanmetrics personality typology test that I found the link to on another girl’s blog… I don’t know exactly how I feel about these things, but after answering 72 questions, it was pretty right on.. my “type” is an ISFJ.  Basically, here are some of the things is boiled down to about my personality:

I’m a servant – true. I am loyal and trustworthy – true. I have a hard time delegating work to others – true. I don’t like being the center of attention or brag about my work – also true. (Although in high school, I did enjoy being the center of attention because I was voted Funniest girl in my high school) I’m an accurate worker with strong work ethic and organizational skills – super true.. i’m quite OCD when it comes to organization. My family is the center of my life – of course God is the center, but my family is next after Him. I have a hard time expressing my feelings – somewhat true… I tend to listen to people more than talk to people about my feelings. 

So… what are other people’s thoughts on these tests? Alot of the stuff is right on about me… I wonder how they come up with these by answering a bunch of questions? Here is the link if you want to take it…. it’s pretty interesting.

Trust

So, because I won a contest on his blog, Ben made me a sweet new header with an amazing picture of the Scotland landscape. (I’m Scottish, so therefore I love Scotland and pictures of it as well) When he sent me the header, I couldn’t figure out how to get it on my blog so I gave him my password and he logged into my account and did it for me… so, Ben now has the password to my blog account. Knowing him and his mischecious ways, it’s a little scary.  I could change my password, but i’m going on trust here….. So, to end this, if all of a sudden there is a post on my blog titled “50 reasons why Ben is so great” – just know it wasn’t me. I trust you, Ben.

How do you say “random” in French?

I haven’t done a random blog in a while and since I love it when other people do random blogs, I thought I would do one again….. 

 - I am now full time in the House of Prayer… no more italian restaurant, praise the LORD!!

- I have been praying for months for a laptop, the Lord knew exactly when I needed one and that time is now.. My Mom and Dad just bought me one…. God is so good!

- The Lord has been giving me so much revelation of prayer lately and understanding of why people don’t understand it.. People think i’m crazy when I tell them I pray all the time, I say it’s wisdom and God is showing me why even more so as of late…

- Dave Sliker is doing an End Times conference here the end of this month and I am STOKED!

- I don’t understand the weather. Last week it was like 200 degrees outside and now it’s cold again… I feel like I am back in Kansas where the weather turns on a dime.

- Do you ever wonder where sayings come from? Like “sly as a fox” or “whatever floats your boat”.. who comes up with these and how do they catch on and spread?

- As you can see, I changed the layout of my blog… I was growing tired of the brown layout.  But, sweet picture on the header, eh? I took it myself… nope… not really.

 - Ben has done 2 different posts about me on his blog… I think he secretly wants to steal my identity and be me.

- They are now coming out with movies based on the cartoons from when I was a kid (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers) it’s making me feel old…

- I love Jesus.

Random thought….

I had a random thought today sitting in the back of the prayer room.. I was staring at the huge art table we have in the back that artisans paint on and there are quite a few handprints on it. Ya know, when you stick your hand in paint then press it down against the surface? Well, I was looking at the handprints and noticed that on all of them there is a hole in the palm where when you press your hand down there is that part that doesn’t touch all the way down. It instantly reminded me of the nail pierced holes in the hands of Jesus… I started thinking… do you think that is pure coincidence or did the Lord create our hands like that because He knew that someday people would stick their hands in paint and press it against a surface and that would serve as a reminder that we are crucified with Christ? It sounds strange, I know… but it was just a thought…

Pray for those….

Luke 6:27-28 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”

I think we have all had times in our lives where this verse has come to our mind in a situation and it just hurts… It is totally against our human nature to love someone who hates us or bless someone who is cursing us. The Lord taught me one of the sweetest lessons of my life over the Thanksgiving and Christmas season this past year regarding this verse so I thought I would share it….

My manager at the italian restaurant I worked at loved me from the moment she hired me… that was until I opened my mouth to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ. As I talked about Him more and more around her, I noticed her dislike of me grow (she is a Jehovah Witness and doesn’t care for my beliefs). I think the comment that sent her over the edge was when she asked me one day “Jen, why are you so happy all the time?” I looked at her and said with all honesty “It’s the joy of the Lord, Cindy… nothing else!” She began to bully me in any way she could. She was downright mean, rude, stood over my shoulder yelling at me for anything and everything. She called me out in front of people, tried to embarrass me and told me to shut up whenever I spoke of Jesus. I’m not prone to letting people make me cry, but she did often and she knew it. I almost quit so many times, driving home in tears telling the Lord of my dislike for her… then as I was driving home one night He said to me simply, “Pray for her”. I could not even believe it… I was like “how on earth am I supposed to pray for this woman that I can’t stand and who does everything she can to make me miserable?!” then the verse came into my head… ouch. So… as much as it hurt and as much as I really didn’t want to… I began to pray for Cindy. Over the weeks as I continued in prayer, I watched her heart soften towards me and her attitude change. I asked the Lord to use me and let His light shine through me to her. We ended up having quite a few conversations where she actually opened up to me and I pray that the seeds I planted will come to fruit someday! She ended up moving to Florida and at the time we parted, I was able to feel the love of Christ for her and she no longer tried to make my life miserable.

A simple realization I came to: when the Lord gives up a commandment like this, He means it for good! It can be painful, but it causes us to die to ourselves and step beyond our flesh in pursuit of becoming like our Savior. I could have gone off on Cindy, yelled at her, told her what I thought of her – but what does that accomplish? Where is Christ in that? It was humbling.. but He gave me the strength to rise above the situation and I give Him all the glory….

One wonders….

One wonders if she does two posts in a row and they get no comments, is that a sign to stop blogging?

In humble pursuit….

You know those times you go through where you feel like the Lord is nowhere to be found? Like you can’t feel Him or find Him anywhere… in all actuality, He is right there but we just don’t always feel Him. I am in that stage right now… Times like these are so easy to become self consumed and think that you have been rejected or abandoned… but as I was sitting before the Lord the other night, in tears for what seemed like hours, He let me know that He is there, He just wants me to search after Him… Like the Shulamite in Song of Solomon chapter 5, who searches after her Beloved even though she is beaten, like Jacob as He wrestled with the Lord all night… He is longing for me to put forth that effort to seek earnestly after Him. I have a desire in my heart and I will not let it go… I am going to spend a season in Hosea 2 – particularly verses 19 and 20 ” I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” I want to know and understand the depths of what it means to be betrothed to the Lord… and no matter if I feel Him near or far, I will not give up searching for this. The line from the Julie Meyers song goes through my head often “Lovers always find what others give up searching for”… I refuse to give up.

This, that and whatnot…

Well… blogging hasn’t been top on my list of priorities lately as you can tell… so I thought I would throw a random blog out there just to encompass all of the random things that I have thought about blogging about….

- I am in a wedding in 3 days… my good friends, Luke and Bri, are getting married and I have the honor of standing with them as a bridesmaid… I have watched their relationship from the start and it’s been a blessing.  They are so integrous and their love for each other is beautiful… I am very much looking forward to this wedding (not to mention the reception where I put in a few requests for some classic 80’s dance songs)

- I’ve had Israel on my heart alot as of late… ever since the Lord revealed the signifigance of Israel to me last year when I was at IHOP, my heart has been awakened with love for His chosen ones… a love that I still don’t understand at times but it continues to grow. I have had many words and prophecies spoken over me regarding Israel and I think the Lord is really cultivating my heart for whatever He is going to use me for in the future regarding this… I am excited to see what He has in store… for the moment, I can’t seem to get out of Isaiah 62 and I love it..

- I have been asking the Lord to give me a heart without offense… I have specifically prayed that I would have an unoffendable heart no matter what the cost… Little did I realize when I prayed that prayer how much it would hurt when He actually started to do it.  It seems that keeping offense out of my heart goes against every human instinct that I have.  After a long conversation with my bro today, I have come to realize that my pride is a big stumbling block in this area and I think that is one of the areas that the Lord is refining in me… I don’t fight against flesh and blood – so when I automatically want to get angry and defend myself against lies I have to realize that the Lord knows my heart, He sees my intentions and He knows the truth.  Nothing else besides that matters… Matthew 5:11-12 - “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Why does it seem so easy but hurt so much?

- I love knowing that my only hope and my only purpose lies in Jesus Christ.  I love the fact that when I don’t pray and when I don’t sit before Him and minister to His heart that I feel as though I have no purpose and my life feels empty.  It has become so apparent to me lately that He is ruining my heart for Him and His purpose… I am not satisfied with anything less and I love it….

Jesus – even through the valley of the shadow, You are good!!!!

The Beavers

My good friends, Nick and Sarah, got married today…. to say it was a wonderful ceremony would be an understatement.  Let me begin by saying that Nick and Sarah are two warriors who are truly lovesick for their Beloved and I am blessed and have a heart more encouraged for being able to run with them… They are two of the most joyful, goofy, talented and just all around wonderful people I have ever met and I love them dearly. Someone told me that the one thing they prayed to come out of their wedding is that people would be touched by the Lord and let me tell you, the Spirit of the Lord was so heavy during their entire ceremony… I was in tears the entire time and it wasn’t only because I always cry at weddings, it is because the Lord was touching me and I was hearing Him speak louder than I have in a long time…. He revealed a piece of His heart towards me that I needed to feel at that exact moment and it changed me…. His love is beyond anything I can comprehend and Nick and Sarah’s union was a true testimony of that today…. I respect and admire their relationship, I am blessed and encouraged to run with them, I am thankful and joyful to call them friends and I am grateful for the countless hours I have spent laughing with and sometimes at them…. I bless them on their wedding day and pray for the fruitfulness of their marriage.

The Whirlwind

So, I feel like I pretty much have forgotten about the blog world… sad indeed, but I am increasing my efforts to keep my blog alive so here we go…. some of the reasons why I have abandoned my blog and the blog world lately…..

- I got a new job.  Such a huge answer to prayer… I wanted to get out of the restaurant I am currently working at just because the atmosphere isn’t good at all.. I have been attacked quite a bit as of late and I was asking the Lord for a way out and he provided it in perfect timing… I am working at a different restaurant – alot nicer, classier and infiltrated with my fellow believers… the Lord is good.

- I had some dearly loved guests in town… My niece and one of my best friends, Kyle, came to surprise visit us and we had a great time while they were here.  We did alot of reminiscing, made some new memories and just spent some much needed quality time together… again, I’m glad for the Lord’s love of relationships and the fact that they are important to Him as well….

- In the midst of changing jobs, I have been working at both restaurants in order to keep finances in order during training/transition… so, I have pretty much been working everyday… throw in a bout of insomnia that has hit me and it boils down to me being pretty dang tired all the time… But, God is merciful… He is my strength and He causes me to sing right now… His love over my life overwhelms me… and He has provided me with coffee.

Another subject that is swirling within me right now is the longsuffering heart of the Father… that will probably be what my next post is about… It’s something He is showing me and speaking to me about and I really want to go deeper in my understanding of… So… stay tuned for that one….

And on a side note – I have decided that if Hillary Clinton is elected president, I am moving to Scotland.