Second Annual Jenkins’ Thanksgiving… November 29, 2008

My family has lived in North Carolina for four and a half years now, and we’ve had four Thanksgivings here. Two have been at our wonderful neighbor’s house. They’re the Jenkins family, and basically they’re my family. Last year was an awesome Thanksgiving, and this year lived up to, if not surpassed the year before. A truly wonderful amazing holiday.

It got to spend the holiday with my Mom, Dad, Mark, Kathy, Mark’s brother Todd, Todd’s girlfriend Katie, and Todd’s friend Corey. Todd used to live down here, but he’d been living up in the mountains for a while, so it was awesome to see him again. I got to meet Katie and Corey, and they are both just amazing people.

We ate a ton of food. Played a lot of games. Punched each other  a lot. Laughed a lot. I got educated in some new music thanks to Corey. (Shout Out dude! I love my Cd’s) We even watched a movie on VHS. I didn’t even know people still had those. It was fun times.

This year’s Thanksgiving was one of the best ones ever, and not just for me. And I love that. I love that I got to be a part of this awesome family and just be around awesome people and just soak up all the awesomeness. (three awesomes in one sentence…bet you’re impressed)

And being around such amazing people with amazing life stories and transformations got me to thinking about what I’m really thankful for in my own life. And of course it’s a huge list…so here’s my top five:

1: The fact that I’ve got The Lord, my Savior, Jesus Christ in my heart guiding me through some of the most pivotal times and decisions of my life.
2: My amazing family/extended family/friends. I’ve got the most amazing group of people who are in my corner forever and always. People I know I can count on and will keep me accountable for my own actions. I’d do anything for these people, and they know it. 
3: The fact that I live in a wealthy nation. I know that sounds horrible, but seriously, I’m thankful that I have a nice house with heat and running water. That’s a luxury in a lot of places, and I’m very thankful I don’t live in any of them
4: My amazing church. I know it kind of goes hand in hand with number 1, but you can have Christ guiding you spiritually in a stagnant church. And I’m extremely thankful that Elevation is anything but stagnant. I love that it’s exciting and growing and pushing and bursting and loving. I don’t even know where my life would be with out it.
5: Last but not least and kind of cheesy…but my job. A lot of people hate their jobs every single day. And I won’t lie, some days I don’t feel like going, but for the most part…i love it. I have fun, i meet cool people, my co-workers are awesome, and I make enough money to pay for school and and have fun. I’ve had crappy jobs, but stool pigeons isn’t one of them, and to any of my co workers that reads this…i’m thankful for you =]

So yay for thanks giving. I’d list forever…and if you read my blog you know this. But I will stop at five, only because it’s almost midnight and I should really sleep before work tomorrow. And I’m super sleepy too…all that turkey is finally catching up with me. Darn tryptophan. (And if you weren’t impressed by my three awesomes before, be super impressed I spelled that right on the first try!!!)

 

 

…what are you thankful for?

A Care-package for a Friend. October 16, 2008

So my best friend is stuck in a rut. She’s been battling depression for a few years now, which came as very shocking news to me a few nights ago. At first, I had no idea what to say or do, if there was anything I could say or do, to help her out of this low place. And I thought about what brought me out of my two year long depression.

Jesus Christ. That’s it. Just like her, I had every body fooled that I was okay and happy. But the turning point in my life when I actually stopped acting and started being happy was when I got excited about what God was going to do in my life. My best friend is also a Christian, always has been, always will be. And what she needs right now is a little spiritual awakening. Something to get her fired up about the potential she has and the life plan God has in store for her. So that’s what I’m gonna send to her.

I am so excited about what I put in this Spiritual Care-package. I won’t go into detail now, because if she reads this before she gets it, it won’t be a surprise. But it’s good. It’s exactly what she needs. It has all sorts of little things, and big things, medium things too. Once she gets it I’ll put up all the stuff I put in there.

I’m so glad to have her as my best friend. And I’m also very thankful that God has moved so much in my life, because I don’t think I have the power to lift her up with out His help. Man, I can’t wait to send it to her. Saturday I’m going to the post office to ship it 600 miles north. I have a feeling once she gets finished with everything in it, she’s gonna see the world through brand new eyes, hear it with brand new ears and feel it with brand new fingertips =]

 

What are you going to send your best friend? Because you should send your best friend a care-package. Even if they don’t seem like they need one. It could be just the little something they were wanting.

BFFAE. September 23, 2008

So I have this best friend. Her name is Olivia. I only ever call her that when she’s being stubborn (which is most of the time), but when she’s not I call her Live. I’ve known her since the 7th grade. She’s always been there for me, and I’ll always be there for her. Always. This girl has always been a Christian influence in my life…never really pushy about it, but made it known that if I even had any questions about religion that she was there to answer them as best as she could. Until recently that was just something we didn’t have in common. We didn’t talk about it. But now, whenever I have a spiritual breakthrough it’s her I call right away. When God does something amazing in my life, I call her. Or when I’m questioning the ugly puzzle piece of life I’m presented with, I look to her for an 18 year old Christian’s outlook on the situation. Her answers are always Christ Centered and inspirational, and comforting. And of course, I do the same for her. If ever she needs to talk about something, she’ll call or text me and we work through it together. She’s my support net, she keeps me accountable for my actions, she was always my conscience, and an inspiration.

Today Live text-edme and said this “Jack, I just wanted to let you know how blessed I am to have you and how glad I am that you’ve become a Christian because now I know you get to come with me and stay with me” I never really thought about that. But it’s absolutely true. And it made me even more thankful that I became a Christian, because I would have missed her terribly in Hell, and I would have felt horrible for abandoning her like that after this life is over. So Itext-ed her back and said this, “Awe Live, I love you and I am truly blessed to have you as my best friend. I’m so excited that we get to be best friends for ever. In this life and the next.” Think about it. How awesome is it that I get to be with my best friend for ever. Real for ever. Not until-we-both-get-old-and-die forever. But really truly for all eternity we’ll be best friends. She said “Me to Jack! I was just thinking about that and how I know you’ll always be with me and it made me so happy!” And I came up with our new slogan…there’s been at least a million over the past 6 or so years. “BFFAE. Best Friends for All Eternity!”

And I got to thinking more on it…God knew that Olivia was going to be my best friend. He knew I’d find my faith when I did, and that I would need a companion in all of it. So, when He gave her to me, He made sure she was a Christian. Something that seemed so irrelevant when we first became friends is now the stronghold of our friendship. She’s my BFFAE, thanks to the very careful planning of God. It’s just cool. Because it never mattered before. She was my best friend before I found Christ. And now that I’m a Christian, she’s still my best friend, but we’re even closer. And we get to be best friends even after we accomplish everything God wants us to on Earth. JACKPOT!

So Shout Out to my BFFAE. Thanks for always being a breath of fresh air for me. Thanks for always staying up late when I needed to talk. Thanks for listening to me cry, and scream, and laugh. Thanks for letting me hog the bed during our extended sleepovers. Thanks for letting me live with you for weeks at a time. And most of all, Thanks for trusting me with being your BFFAE. It’s a responsibility I am honored to have. I love you girl. Best Friends. For all Eternity.

Today I Got to be a Big Sister. September 6, 2008

My small group leader, or kindof co-leader now, Erica’s daughter Maddie just turned 10 last Friday. I love this girl. She is like the COOLEST 10 year old I know. I knew I wanted to get her something for her birthday, but I didn’t really know what to get her. It’s been a while since I was ten, and i certainly don’t think iZone cameras are cool anymore. For those of you who didn’t know me when I turned 10, that is the ONLY thing I wanted for my birthday. (i got it for Christmas a few months later, by the way)

Anyways. Some stuff has been going on in her home life lately, so I knew I wanted to take her out for her birthday. I could go take her shopping for her gift. Ehh. Go cruise the mall for an hour. Ehh. Go out to lunch. Ehh. I got it! We’ll go get manicures. PERFECT! So that’s exactly what we did.

I picked her up about noon, we headed to the nail salon, we both got our nails done, and we got to hang out and just talk for like two hours. It was awesome. I’m an only child. I never got to be a big sister, or have one. And Maddie only has two older brothers, so she hasn’t either. It was so much fun. We talked about school, about her entrepreneurship in a bracelet table she sets up outside with her friend. We talked about boys. About girls. I showed her how to put new numbers in her cell phone. We talked about all kinds of stuff. And. I decided to make it a monthly adventure with just us girls. It was cheap, and it only takes a few hours. And less than that if they do our nails at the same time.

Her mom is so good to me, and has been such an amazing influence in my life. I really want to be there for Maddie. She’s such a sweet girl, and so much fun to just hang out with. I’m looking forward to our monthly outing. And I know she is too.

 

Oh and did I mention out nails looks super cute too? Not only did we bond, but we looked good doing it! Haha.

So… September 3, 2008

I haven’t written in a minute, and I really don’t have anything to say. About my self. However, I would like to take this time to write about the phone call I got from my best friend Olivia later last night. Fist off, I didn’t answer her call because my phone was on vibrate and I didn’t hear it. She left a voice mail and it kind of went something like this…”Hey Jac, It’s Live, I have some pretty big news to tell you. It’s kind of late so I don’t expect you to call me back tonight, so I’ll call you when I get out of class tomorrow. But you have hear this. It’s kind of like, bad news, but yeah, It’s really big, and you won’t be happy about it.” But oh Contraire my lovely best friend.

I call her back immediately, and only because her tone was more than slightly excited through that entire message. I had to know this horrible. This is our conversation:

Live: Hello?
Me: Hey!
Live: What’s up?
Me: Big news?
Live: Oh right, so you know Sam right?
Me: Yes.
Live: Well, Sam goes to Rowan and was in the same building as Justin.
Me: Okay…

Now at this point I’m expecting the worst. A little back story, Justin and I used to be a thing. Never dated, because I moved to North Carolina, but he swears it was love. And back then, it probably felt that way. But these days we’re distant acquaintances, but if something horrible happened I’d be up there in a heartbeat. I thought, oh no, car crash. Mugging. Murder. Death. I cannot handle a funeral right now. The conversation continues…

Live: Well, Sam was in her room just chillin out, and all of a sudden she heard an explosion.
Me: WHAT?! (this detail did not soothe my worries)
Live: Oh no, he’s fine. *chuckle chuckle* He, uhm *chuckle* put a bomb, *chuckle* IN A TRASHCAN. HAHAHA. And Sam said she saw him being hauled into a COPCAR. HAHAHA.
Me: You, know. I’m not at all surprised. A little relieved. But I’m not surprised. I kindof always knew he’d go down for arson.
Live: But a TRASHCAN?
Me: You know, when we were younger he used to have this fascination with lighting his cologne on fire. I bet that’s where it all started.
Live: It was probably a cologne bomb.
Me: That’s not even a cool story…

Not only was I happy about that news, it made my night. I could not stop laughing. As I’m writing this, I’m literally laughing out loud. It’s funny. Nobody got hurt. It shows how incredibly stupid he is. And I knew about it minutes after it happened, even though I live in North Carolina. And, assuming he’s gotten his personal effects back, there’s a text message waiting for him saying “Just a heads up, I’m gonna call you later to laugh at you. A trashcan? Really? There better be a good story to go along with that.”

Well, That’s all I have. It was good night so I thought i would share, since that’s what this little bloggy thing is all about.

 

Update: So after posting this, Justin got in touch with me about the whole situation. I don’t know how it all turned out because he hasn’t talked to me since, but it all actually became very serious. So here’s my public apology for laughing at it. Even though it was dumb and really funny. I’m sorry…expulsion is nothing to laugh at. Stupidity is.

I Miss Art. August 27, 2008

Last night a couple of guys who I went to high school with came in to play some pool. I wasn’t too close with any of them, but I had art with this one guy Logan. We were talking about where every one went, how much I missed Katie, Jenn, Steph, and Melissa, and what ever happened to Cam? And I got to thinking, wow, I really miss my old art class. It’s weird going from seeing the same people every day, for almost 6 hours to not seeing them hardly at all. They were like a second family, and now every one is so scattered at school, or so busy working we don’t even have time to call each other up or even email hardly. And then I got to thinking about something I miss even more than every one from that class, I miss actually creating art.

I haven’t painted since graduation, I haven’t even sketched. The most artistic stuff I’ve done lately is make Ekidz t-shirts and color in the occasional kids coloring sheet at work. And as much as I love making those shirts, it’s just not the same. I really do miss having a great idea, and just running with it. I didn’t do a whole lot of work in class, but over the past year I did some pretty cool pieces that just didn’t fit into school work. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have the time to paint, I have a good bit of free time. I just haven’t gone out and stocked up on supplies. I need more paint. A few more brushes. I’d like to buy some watercolor and experiment with that. I need to start another book too.

So I think I’ll do that today. I have to go out and buy a Panthers shirt for work, so I’ll be out and about anyways. So I’ll make a quit stop at AC Moore or Michael’s. It’s time I’m reunited with my long lost love. And now that there’s no pressure to get anything done, now that it can just b for fun and for passion, I have a feeling the creativity will just flow. I need it back. I miss it too much.

Awakening! August 3, 2008

Today was SO amazing. Just another reason why Sunday is my favorite day of the week.

Today was the first week of the series Awakening at church today, and Pastor Furtick decided it was time again for a spontaneous baptism. His preaching was on FIRE today. At the service I went to at least 60 people got up to be baptised right on the spot. That’s a lot for the 8:30 crowd. We’re one of the smallest, if not the smallest, service. It was so amazing to experiece. The energy in the room was so awesome.

After service I stopped home for a little bit then headed over to Butler to help out with the trnasition there, because I knew there’d be a lot of kids staying late and they’d need as much help as they could get. I stepped out of the room to get me and Teri some water and the baptism prospects were leaving the auditorium. Every one was cheering. Then I saw Dannie!!

She decided to get baptised! Her parents were strongly against it before the sermon, but, oh my gosh, THEY DECIDED TO GET BAPTISED TOO. She had been baptised as a baby, and her parents were all about her rededicating her life to Christ of her own choice. That’s one of the big things Pastor Furtick preached on today. I was so excited for her.

I waited outside for her to get dunked, and ran up to her afterward and got a big sopping wet post-baptism hug. I love that girl so much and I am so happy I got to be there when she made this huge decision in her life. Her mom was crying and her dad was holding her hand the entire way until it was her turn. It was so amazing.

Second service I helped out with getting people registered for the next round of baptisms. The energy is amazing. People crying. People screaming. People laughing. Pictures everywhere. Every one was so excited for every one.

All around amazng day. Next week they’re doing another set of spontaneous baptisms, I dare you to miss it. It was so amazing this week. The preaching. The yelling. The dunking! Haha. I can’t wait to see how pastor motivates people next week ot make one the most important decisions in their lives. It was so amazing.

Opportunity Knocking: July 23, 2008

So, tonight was small group night. Kayla was outof town, and Erica’s son Dallas’ small group got cancelled tonight. So we didn’t actually do small group. Instead, Me, Ian, Dallas, Lindsay, Austin, Maddie, Erica, and her husband Chris watched Drop Dead Gorgeous. Earlier tonight though, Erica called and told me we weren’t having a formal group night, so if i had other plans, I didn’t have to come. I almost blew it off tonight to go see a movie with some friends. Unfortuneatly, though, they picked Mama Mia. Not really a fan…so I decided to go to group.

I am SO glad I did. After the movie, Dallas walked Lindsay home, I decided to harass Cameron, and when I went back to Erica’s she told me she had this crazy idea. What did I think of both of us leading small group together? I LOVED IT. I’ve been wanting to lead a small group for such a long time, but I don’t have the time commitment or the experience (at least that’s what I think). Now, I can stay in my current group, and learn from another leader so I’ll be fully prepared when I’m finally ready to start my own group!

I am so excited about the opportunity that God has given me. I really feel that this is going to be a great way to get used to leading a group, but still having the back up some one still more experienced than I am. Erica is an amazing role model for a small group leader and anything that I can learn from her in this team will be a real asset for when I have my own problems in life and when I’m helping others with theirs.

Well, I’m totally pumped about this! I can’t wait until next week when the girls are back and we tell them the plan. And for when we get even more girls in our group that I can help and that can help me. What a wonderful experience this is all going to be for me. And to think I wasn’t even going to go to small group tonight!

Fun Night July 18, 2008

Tonight was Movies in the Park. Every month Elevation Assimilation and Ekidz is putting on a movie in Lake Park for any one and every one who wants to watch. There’s devotional cards with questions and Bible verses that sync up with the overall message of the movie. Tonight was Charlotte’s Web.

Not only do i LOVE LOVE LOVE that movie, I loved the book and the original animated movie and I got to sit with Bridgette and her family. I used to go to this corn maze every fall and one year the theme was Charlotte’s Web. They had a little Wilbur pig and some one crocheted a web that said Some Pig. And the maze had questions from the book and the right answers pointed you in the right direction. I loved it.

I’m rambling. Tonight was a lot of fun. I learned a new game called “sticks” where they throw a stick around and you have to catch it by the handle that is painted white. If you don’t you lose that arm and can’t catch with it any more. If you miss again you have to stand on one leg. After that you’re out. It was fun. I won against Ian the first time. Haha. We eventually migrated to some form of volleyball. Jeremy was making up the rules as we played, so it was nothing like volleyball. We played off of bounces, double hit, served when we felt like it. You know, all the fun stuff you wish you could do in volleyball. I met these two girls, Sarah and Bethany. They were fun to play with. Not afraid of getting dirty or sweaty for the love of the game. We eventually got a bunch of actual kids to play with us. I ended up on the boys team somehow. Something about uneven numbers. Haha. I had so much fun. And i didn’t care if i missed, or aimed bad or anything. Just gooffed off all night. I love my life sometimes. =]

Well, it’s late. I don’t have to get up tomorrow, So i’m going to make the most of the sleeping in I get to do. Good Night!!

Uptown is Alive July 7, 2008

So last night Elevation had a sneak peak look at what service at Uptown at McGlohon Theatre is going to be like. Here’s basically what went down:
-All three worship leaders were there
-Pastor Furtick gave a little motivational sermon
-We worshipped our little hearts out
-McGlohon was packed 40 people over capacity
-At least 20 new people went to church at Elevation
-And the CMPD got called for us greeting “too hard”

It’s going to be AMAZING. Charlotte has no idea what’s coming for them, but I have a strong feeling that this campus is going to bring Uptown Alive in Christ. I think that it’s location is great for drawing people off the streets who have never experienced church before. Really truly filling peoples lives with Christ who are so far from God.

I went with my small group leader Erica, her hubby Chris and her three kids Dallas, Austin and Maddie. Maddie is the yougest, 5th grade. And she’s going through her first break up. But it’s not your typical break up. She doesn’t really want to be in a relationship anymore, but doesn’t want to hurt her boyfriend. But he already knows she’s going to dump him, so he’s really upset, and seeing him upset really hurt her. She’s such a sweetheart, she doesn’t like to see any one hurting. Well, we had a little girl talk last night. Her mom is amazing, but she’s still her mom. So I went in to talk to her girl to girl. I left her my cell phone number and told her to call me if she ever needed to talk about anything or needed me for anything. Her mom thought it was amazing. Really, it’s the least I could do. She’s the go to non-mom person for me, so how could i pass up the chance to be that for her daughter? 

Oh and at service yesterday Wade Joye got a chance to share his situation with our congregation. Pastor lead us in prayer for his babygirls and then gave an alter call for any one else who needed a “Sun Stand Still” prayer in their life. It was amazing. You should so check out the sermon here. Also continue to pray for them and read their progress in both Wade and Ferris Joye’s blogs. Oh, also, every single cent that was raised in CD sales yesterday went to Wade and Ferris. It was the release date and they sold like hotcakes. (did i really just say that?) $17,000 went to the Joye family to help cover the medical expenses not fully covered by their insurence. What an amazing generous church i belong to.

I don’t think i left anything out. it was a big day. If you’re a regualr reader, plese pray for my room facilitator Teri, her grandmother is very sick and she could use our prayers to help her get through this emotionally.  Love!