Dear People, I Really Don't Care

Hi! This was meant to be posted on Saturday, but I got lazy so I'm posting it now.
May this make you think,
Jen

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Dear Teenagers of the World (and to anyone else to whom this may concern),

I have tried so long to fit in. To love sports, to read less, to like rap, pop, hip hop, and rock n' roll, but I don't. I'm different than you all, and sometimes it hurts. I know that I prefer to wear modest clothes and to speak without cursing in every sentence (though as I struggle through high school it is becoming significantly harder), and I would rather spend hours playing the piano, reading, writing, or singing instead of running around the soccer field. I get it. I'm different, and you don't like it. But guess what? I really don't care. I'm not under your control. I'm not your subject; you don't rule me. You can want me to change as much as you like, but ultimately, I will not be changed because you force me to. 

Sincerely, 

Jen and all the other "different" people of the world. 

"Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?" Isaiah 2:22

A Piece of German Chocolate Cake

Hey!
Sorry I didn't post last week. I forgot to type up what I had planned. I hope you enjoy this!
May this make you think,
Jen

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Tuesday was my Nana's birthday, and we celebrated with a cake that had four different kinds of cake in it: chocolate, carrot, red velvet, and German Chocolate. Now, we were eating and my mom asked me why I chose red velvet, and I suddenly remembered part of my trip to SF. 

We were given a piece of chocolate coconut cream pie and told to give it to a man named Charlie because it was his birthday. 

So we went, handed him his cake, and sang Happy Birthday to him as well. And as he was eating he asked us how we knew his name. And we said, "It's your birthday, so we were sent to give you cake and they told us your name."

And he smiled and continued to eat his cake as he waited for either housing/job help or the medical center, I do not know which one. And a little while later he was still eating his cake and said, "My mom, she used to make me a German Chocolate cake on my birthday every year, and this tastes kinda like that." 

And he thanked us for the cake as we went back to eat our lunch. But that made an impression on me. So many people in the Tenderloin didn't have a good childhood, or their mother or father left, or they simply don't have good relationships with their parents. And it was so nice to see this man so happy that he had something similar to his mother's German Chocolate cake. 

I know that I have the parents that God always meant for me too have, and I am so doggone lucky to have parents who love me and are there for me. And as I look back, I know that God put Charlie right there to teach me that important lesson on just how much relationships with your family can impact you and your life, even years down the road. 

A Weak Moment Where God Comes Through

Hey guys!
So I just spent my spring break in the Tenderloin of San Francisco working with City Impact. If you have no clue what this is, I encourage you to look up SF City Impact and let them tell you of their fabulous program. As one of our jobs, at night we would do street ministry. Street Ministry consists of taking bags of chips or popcorn and not handing it out, but using it as a conversation starter. And we would just try to get to know these people and build relationships with them.
I hope this makes you think,
Love,
Jen
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On the streets of the Tenderloin of San Francisco lay a man named Bird. Bird cross dressed, but he called himself a Christian. Two girls from City Impact walked up to him and came down next to him. And they asked how he was, what he called himself, and how his day had been. He answered all the questions in a deep, tired voice. 

Then one of these two girls asked if the two of them could pray for him and he said no. So they kept on making small talk until the same girl asked him "Would you be offended if I prayed for you?"

And he answered "Yes I would."

Not shocked, but definitely disoriented, the other girl asked him why. And in turn he asked what denomination they were from. One answered reform and the other didn't know. 

Bird told them that he considered himself a "generic Christian" and the two girls chose not to call him out on it. He then quoted a passage of scripture where Jesus said to pray in your room, door shut, and eyes closed. Because of that he didn't believe in prayer being spoken aloud. 

Confused the first girl said goodbye to Bird and the two walked on with bags of chips and popcorn in their hands. But the first girl had a bit of turmoil from the question. So she gathered courage and asked her friend about it. 

Now her friend had heard his words too and knew them to be from the Bible, but it didn't seem right the way Bird used them to ward off prayer. And in that moment, God used her to reaffirm what the group had been sent out to do that night for her friend as well as herself. 

"Jesus did indeed say that, but Bird took it out of context. Jesus had been talking about the Pharisees who would stand on the street corners and pray to God to get attention and recognition from their fellow Jews. And Jesus was speaking against this."

And the girl nodded and they continued on to talk to more people. But it stayed in the friend's mind because of the amount of courage it took to ask about that instead of trying to figure it out and keep doubting God's work in the Tenderloin through City Impact. And she was incredibly joyful to be blessed so much to be the instrument God used to talk to this girl. And she is still glad to have been there for this girl at a weak moment in her faith. And she was blessed to know that God always comes through.