"What in the name of Me is going on here?"

Vintage21 Jesus Video #4

In the Spring of 2003, Vintage21 had a four week series on Jesus Christ, taking a deep look at what He said and did. It was difficult at times to get past our preconceived notions that had been developed by staunch, starched Sunday School classes of old. This is a satirical look at what some people think Jesus is like. Thank goodness He's not.

In the Spring of 2003, Vintage21 had a four week series on Jesus Christ, taking a deep look at what He said and did. It was difficult at times to get past our preconceived notions that had been developed by staunch, starched Sunday School classes of old. This is a satirical look at what some people think Jesus is like. Thank goodness He's not.

This morning....(well, really it was yesterday morning! :-) haha)

This morning....
Current mood: grateful

So...first thing this morning I began praying for my friend Adam's mother (they found her unconscious on her floor at her house yesterday night...and rushed her to the emergency room. They were pretty sure it was a brain aneurism. This morning I got word that his mother has 4 brain aneurisms - 2 on each side of the brain. When she called at quarter of 11 this morning, they were prepping her for surgery...which they estimated to take 8 or more hours. They will have to go in through the groin and up through the femoral artery...and to the brain for two of them. The other two will require them opening up her skull.) while I was getting ready for work. On my way in to work, I had my worship music on and was really getting to God on behalf of the Gardzina family...and God gave me this picture.

I saw a big box labeled Lifesong in the middle of a fenced in area. The fence was one of those wooden slatted fences...and each person on the launch team was an actual slat. Outside of the fence was a wolf...who kept pacing around the fence, gnarling his teeth, and swiping at the slats with his paws (claws). He tried to knock the slats off of the bracing on the actual fence so that he could create a hole in which to climb through...to attack the box.

I believe this has some meaning here...Obviously the box labeled "Lifesong' is our church...or our church to be....all of the people, programs, etc. that we have now or whatever we will have in the future. I'm not sure...

The fence obviously represents our team.

The wolf, I am taking to represent Satan.

OK...so what I got from this whole picture is that Satan is attacking us RIGHT now! We are in the middle of an attack. I believe lots of people are being personally attacked by the one who wants to kill, steal, and destroy us. He is pawing and swiping at us with his claws...trying to knock us off of the foundation that we are on. He wants to be able to knock one or two of us down, so that we are distracted with whatever is going on...so that we cannot focus on the task at hand (which in less than 50 days is starting a church!! HELLO! :-) hehe..)...also, so that he can try and creep in and try to destroy all that the Lord has done so far!

I just felt like that now is the time...if we haven't been vigilent about doing so...to be prayer warriors. We need to be on our knees like no other time....In Adam's words, we need to be getting "camel knees".

Do you think it is a coincidence that people are going through trials and tribulations right now?? Of course not?? We have two events planned for Saturday...both that can potentially be links/connecting points to Lifesong...both which have proven to be HUGE so far! We are coming up on the home stretch of preparing for launching our church. We should be all about getting to God on behalf of the people on our team.

SO yeah...this was really neat for me. God doesn't typically give me visions...in fact, I've never really had one that I can actually say was a vision. I'm just excited that God wants to use me...despite all of my junk and stuff that gets in the way! God is FAITHFUL, for sure!! :-)

~Jen

What a Mess!!!!

What a mess!!!
Current mood: tired

Oh, my goodness!!! SO, I have the day off today! You may be asking yourselves why...and oh, do I have a story for you! So, sit back...relax...and get ready to read a really dirty blog!

Well, yesterday around 2:45ish, the kids were all in the bathrooms with their teachers (the preschool classroom). Well, after the kids were done using the potty, one of the teachers stopped by my office and told me that the toilets were bubbling?! What?? SO, as any good director would do, I got up to see what the heck she was talking about....and as I was about to walk into the bathroom I hear, "AHHHHH..." and out of the floor came some brown liquid...right out of the drain. The brown stuff was sewage!!! UGHHH....It ran all over the two bathrooms and out into the hallway...there was probably a good two inches of water in there! It smelled NASTY!!! So, I quickly got on the phone and called Pastor Charlie. Pastor Charlie is the man to call whenever something with the facility goes awry. Well, he came over and said that apparently we had a backup in the sewage system. For any of you that don't know what this means (like myself before yesterday!)...it meant that we no longer had flushing toilets or running water. Now, with about 100 children in a day care...many of which are potty trained and do not wear diapers, this can create quite a problem! SO...after business hours, Rodenheiser (I believe they clean out sewage lines?? not really sure...I thought they were an excavating company??) Anywhoo...they arrived around six and were there until nine...and nothing was solved! There was still a blockage in the line. SO...I had two of my girls with me...and at 9:00, we began to call all of the parents in the day care to inform them that due to our sewage backup earlier that afternoon, we were going to be closed the next day b/c we still had no running water or flushing toilets. UGH! It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes between the three of us.

Well, when I started this blog earlier this morning, I thought I had the day off. I still had to go to a meeting that was scheduled at 11:30...and ended up staying out there until 6:15. I was afraid to leave b/c I didn't want to make the 30 minute trip home just to find out that we would be closed the next day and have to drive ALL the way back to Ashland to make these calls.

When I arrived at work at 11:30, the company still had not removed the block. Shortly after arriving, he finally removed the block...BUT...he ended up losing his camera head in the pipe!! The camera head costs about $800, so I can guarantee he was sweating!!! It took him until 6:15 (when I finally got to leave) to get the camera head out of the pipe! Oh, my gosh!! If they hadn't been able to get the head out of the pipe, we would have had to close again tomorrow b/c it would have caused another blockage.

SO...that is my exciting, dirty story. Dirty...b/c we were entrenched in poopy toilet water! ;-) haha....I'm so slick!!

Well, I hope you have a great night. I'm kind of beat already...not sure why...I didn't work a full day - just about 5 or 6 hours! And, I didn't go in until 11:30! Oh, well...

Love ya!
~Jen

My life now...
Current mood: aggravated

Hi Guys

As you can tell from my previous post, things in my life have been ramping up. Between trying to manage a full time job, an event planner position for Lifesong (church plant), occasional babysitting and survey taking (by the way, that is where the money is! I just did a one hour study about Monster.com and made $75. Seriously...if you are interested, I will give you this lady's number. It is awesome!!), and being a friend to many (haha...that sounds funny)...but seriously though, trying to manage all of my relationships and keep them healthy...I have a very full life. I honestly believe that this is why I am single. I have had many people ask the stupid question, "So, why dont you have a boyfriend?" You single people out there know exactly what I am talking about. For you married people who tend to forget how irritating this is (even when you've only been married for a short time)...and you know it irritated you when you were single...it is on the same level as, "SO...when are you guys having kids?". Actually, it is worse...because for the most part, you can decide when you are going to have kids. You can't decide to have a significant other. It just happens. Whoa...I see that I have gone off on a tangent. Haha...What I was going to say was...I believe that I have a lot to accomplish right now...and to have a significant other would significantly cut back the amount of time that I would have available for the kingdom of God. Now dont get me wrong...I do not believe for a second that I am one of those ones that God calls to be single forever. I want kids and believe that some day, I will be an amazing mother. I dont think that God would give me that desire to have children and the gift of being able to parent and not do anything with it. BUT...right now, I am SO busy as it is...I would feel bad for the boyfriend b/c I wouldnt have a lot of time to spend with him. That wouldnt be fair to him...HAHA...I didn't intend on going there, but for what it is worth, those were my thoughts on that.

Anyway, what I was going to share was that I have been doing a lot of stuff for the church plant. For those of you who dont know, I am involved in a church plant that will be starting a church in Millbury. We will actually be located in the Blackstone Valley Cinema deluxe - specifically theater number 5!! We launch on September 10th...but we are doing a lot in the community beforehand because as that old saying goes, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Cheesy, yes.but very true!! We want to show the community of Millbury and the surrounding towns how much we care for them and their needs. We are a mission based church...we want to meet people where they are... and that typically starts with their immediate needs. As the hierarchy of needs says, until the basic needs are met, people aren't interested in the other things. Our basic statement is this: We are a community seeking to know God in the way of Jesus. We believe that Jesus' life was lived for the good of others far more than for Himself. We are a community committed to live that way to live daily by faith, to serve others selflessly in love, and to be a voice globally for hope. www.lifesongonline.org Check it out...it is pretty sweet. It is done by a guy on our launch team. He works for Staples (office supply store) and does their web stuff...so he knows what he is doing! He is definitely a very talented guy! There will be pictures of all the stuff that we do eventually...we are just trying to figure out the best way to do it.

The most recent thing that I have been planning (besides BBQs) is our gas giveaway. The basic premise of this was that we were going to purchase $1500 in gas and give it away in $15 increments to 100 cars. Pretty simple idea...but meets people where their needs areand with $3.00/gallon gas prices, it seems to be on everyones mind right now! When I initially was given this idea to go and make happen, I thought that it would be a piece of cake to plan. NOT SO! I seriously had a lot of resistance planning this entire event! Finding a gas station to accommodate us was a nightmare. Who wouldn't want to be guaranteed a $1500 gas sale in a two hour window, you ask? I asked myself the same thing until I called several gas stations and they turned me down. We had to go through companys lawyers and legal departments to being told flat out NO without so much as an explanation. It definitely got frustrating at times...but I know that when faced with a lot of resistance, it usually is because Satan knows how powerful it is going to be...and will try to do anything that he can to prevent it from happening. Knowing that helped me persevere. I did not have a place nailed down until Thursday morning...and the outreach was that Saturday. Oh, man...talk about some stress!! Thank the Lord that our team is flexible!! We just have to roll with the punches!

We did our gas giveaway on Saturday, July 8th at the XtraMart in Sutton...the one on 146 South...just south of Mt. Millbury. It was a great location because it was basically next door to where we are going to be having church in like 50 or so days. Wow! Holy Smokes!! I can't believe how quickly it is coming!

SO...I arrived at 8:15 or so to make arrangements with the Dunkin Donuts to get 100 muffins to give away...as well as making some banners that we were going to attach on a 6 foot PVC pipe frame that we placed at the entrance of the gas station.

We started giving the gas away at 10AM...and in 50 minutes we gave away $15 of gas to the first 100 cars that pulled into the lot. People were totally shocked. They could not believe that someone was actually giving stuff awayfor FREE! AND...to top it off, it was a church! I believe for lots of people, we broke the paradigm of church for them. People of all walks of life...who have different views on the institution of church...but mainly that you are doing this because you either want them to come to your church or you want something back from them. We did something nice and helpful and didn't require or expect anything from them. We gave away $15 of gas and muffins with absolutely NO STRINGS attached. What a revolutionary new idea! ;-) hehe...And I believe that we connected to people on a deeper level than just free gas...many people asked why we were doing this...and we got the opportunity to share with them that we are starting a church up in the movie theater and want to give back to the community that we will be a part of. We handed out business cards and CDs with the vision of the church on it - all at their request - not our pushing or promotion.

We had lots of stories of people who were incredibly blessed. One told a story of a single mom with two kids in her back seat. She had just gone to pay her bills and got in the car and realized that she needed gas. She wondered to herself how in the world she was going to pay for the gas...and drove down 146 and passed the people holding signs along the highway reading "Free Gas" and "$15 Free Gas" and thought it was a scam...but pulled in anyway to check it out. When she pulled into the station, greeted by our team members, and escorted to a pump where they told her that she REALLY was getting $15 of gas...and all she had to do was...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Just sit back while we pump your gas, wash your windows, and offer you some Dunkin Donuts muffins (for FREE!)...she burst into tears because whether or not she actually said it, I think she realized that God had her in His hand. And that isn't the only story of that nature...lots of people came through...and we met them at their needs.

As I was walking to take some pictures of people holding signs, a guy with a couple other people pulled into the station and asked what was going on. I told him that we were giving away gas...and naturally, he asked why. I told him about the church plant and about how we wanted to give back to the community that we would be a part of in a short time.and he was like,"Oh, cool. I'm gay!"...As if he were trying to shock me or get a negative response out of me. I was like, "Ok..." and he looked at me and asked if he would be able to come to our church. I told him most definitely...and he was like, " Great! Thats cool!!". He introduced himself to me...as well as introducing his boyfriend and other mutual friend. They all said that they wanted to check out the church. Wow...now I'm not sure what will come of that...but the fact that he wasn't nasty or overly critical of church as a whole...or turn down the gas because a church was giving it away is huge! Many homosexuals have an issue with church...and honestly, who would blame them? Many Christians put homosexuality on some sort of sin pedestal, as if their sins (you name it...stealing, lying, cheating, sex before marriage, adultery...and the list goes on and on) are somehow less than that. God doesn't see it that way...and as hard as it is...we as a body, need to do a better job with that. How do we ever expect people to change their lifestyles when all they get is condemnation, fire, and brimstone from a place that should be loving them where they are at, despite all of their junk. Jesus hung out with sinners...lying, stealing tax collectors and prostitutes. Are you telling me that you think people of that nature would be drawn to Jesus if all he were telling them is that they are going to hell...turn or burn??? Nope, I dont think so.

Anyway, it was an awesome experience. We are going to be doing another one at the end of July. I am pumped! I know that it is going to be awesome!!!

I am tired...and really annoyed...because the first time I tried posting this blog, it didn't work, so I had to retype it into word and then paste it onto a refreshed screen. Hey...I guess it is better than having to come up with a whole new blog. I would have been REALLY mad!!! Haha Alrighty..have a great night!!

~Jen

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

SOOO...I am just going to be copying the blogs that I write on myspace and putting them on here....so those who enjoy reading blogs using blogger.com don't have to join myspace to read my blogs...Gosh, I'm so smart! ;-) hahaha

Anywhoo...enjoy...

Whoa...No blog in the month of June! Amazing!
Current mood: content

Hi friends....

I have been extremely busy up until this point...and the lack of blog material should be a good indicator! :-) I was really rocking the blog for a while there....and then June came and I just LOST it! hehee...

Well, quick synopsis (only the major events that took place...the other days were filled prepping for the wedding and church plant stuff) of my June:

June 1: Church plant meeting.

June 3: My friend Jared's 30th Birthday party at his house in Upton. I met him through my friend Michelle Brook's a while ago...and we've remained casual friends since. I believe I blogged about him last time...he was in February's edition of the Improper Bostonian as one of the 20 most eligible bachelors in Boston...pretty neat! I know a star! To celebrate such, one of his friends who was throwing the party gave it a movie star theme....she did a good job with the favors. She sent home popcorn bags filled with "swag"...there was his famous headshot that was in the Improper Bostonian and other fun stuff. Good times...

June 4: Went to church and then went into Boston with my friend Leah who was home visiting her parents, as well as her friend Naomi that she brought from North Carolina. They both are studying to get the Ph.D in public health from UNC. Smarty pants! ;-) heheh...We had a wonderful time showing off our fun city...and we met up with Naomi's friend from when she went to university in Japan. His name was......I don't know how to say it or spell it....so that is why we came up with a new American name (at his request). His new name is Shawn O'Brian! hahah....YES! A truly Irish name...fitting for a small Japanese man! It is great! We walked through Governement Center and there are tons of Irish pubs and such around there...and we were like, "Oh, Shawn! There is your cousin's name...Patty O'Shea!" hahah....Good times! I have pics from this night...except they are stuck on my camera forever! I lost the wire to upload them to my computer...and I don't have a memory card for my camera b/c it's ghetto...You'll just have to trust that it was a great night! Lots of walking! We basically toured the entire city by foot! You name it, we were there! :-)

June 5: Leah and I spent the day together. We had lots of fun! It was great getting to spend time with her b/c we only get to see each other a few times a year. We chat via IM and email and such quite frequently, so I get to keep in touch, which is nice! We dropped Naomi off at the Riverside T-station and we went to see Jovanna and the boys. Holy smokes are they a bundle of energy! We spent the day with them...we took a walk to the library, we ate lunch, and then played a bit before we went back to pick up Naomi from the t-station. After that, we went back to Leah's house and hung out. I browsed the 2006 yearbook and the girls watched Motorcycle Diaries. I watched some of it...but b/c I'm not fluent in Spanish and I wasn't watching the subtitulos (sp?), I missed a lot of the dialogue...but basically got the gyst of the movie from the times that I put my head up. After that we watched the BBC version of the office. Funny thing, I was picking up chinese food the other night and I saw the episode where one of the guys puts everything in jello as a prank...his stapler and such...and then at the end of the movie puts his boss' mug in a jello mold. That was the one that we watched on the original Brit-com series. I like it better with the english accents and British humor. Although I really enjoy Steve Carrell. This week was full of LATE nights...I believe I was pretty exhausted during the week...

June 6: I think I went to the Masselink's house?? I can't remember...it was over a month ago! Yeah, I did b/c she was leaving the next morning to go back to NC.

June 8: Church plant meeting.

June 10: I had early morning prayer up at the cinema from 7:30 to 8:30; Amanda Ayer's graduation party at 2 and then Britty Kolodziej's graduation party following...I'm sure I did something that night...but I can't remember. It was a LONG time ago! haha...

June 12: I worked on this Monday...first time in a LONG time and it was horrible! Eww...I hope I don't ever have to work Monday's again! :-( I switched b/c I needed Friday off to set up for the bridal shower and I didn't want to take a vacation day.

June 13: Dinner at Noelle's house.

June 14: I did a taste taste of mashed potatoes in Natick. I think I made like $30 or $40?? I can't remember...all I know is you can make bank doing this silly survey things. I love it!! Afterwards, I had dinner with Melissa Haringa at Friday's in Millbury.

June 15: Church plant meeting.

June 16: Ran various shower errands in the AM and then at 3, the bridal party who were able to attend met at the youth center to set up for the shower. I made really cute decorations from the stamp set that I made the invitations with...so CUTE! :-) I was really impressed with my amount of creativeness on this event... hahah.... That night I went to the Payne's to help start removing wallpaper from the kid's upstairs bathroom. I removed it all using my fingernails...I bet you are impressed! ;-) hahah....

June 17: I woke up early (after going to bed really early) to run to Target to get a shirt...I just wanted some cheap shirt and they open really early...but I ended up finding a really cute dress. It was strapless and brown...it looked like something from the 70's...it had that elastic chest with some orange and green stitching...I really thought it was cute. It was more of a beach dress...but you know what? I didn't care! ;-) hahah....OH...I also had to get Victoria's shower gift. All that planning for the shower and such, and I wait until the last minute to get her gift...I'm such a dork! After that I had to run to Worcester to pick up the dessert tray from Wholly Cannoli. If anyone needs a dessert tray for anything, I highly recommend getting it from there. It was easy...and it was really yummy. Lots of people commented on the desserts. It was a little pricey...but hey! You only have one shower (ideally! hahah)...I met Tami at the church to blow up some balloons. I had a grandiose thought that I would make a balloon arch...NOPE! Not gonna happen! haha...I suck! I would try to follow the directions as they had written, and one of the balloons would pop out from the formation. YIKES! We ended up just blowing lots of balloons up and putting them in various locations throughout the youth center. The youth center looked really cute. Jenny (m-o-b) and Holly (step m-in-l) both made the food and did a spectacular job. That was such a blessing! I can't imagine having had to foot the bill for the food too! We (bridesmaids) just took care of the invites, decorations, desserts (tray & cake), and drinks. Believe me, that was expensive enough! :-) I dropped over $400 myself on that...and am still waiting to be reimbursed. Functions are expensive...so I consider myself blessed that they were willing to do that. THAT...and besides monetarily, it takes a lot of time to prep that much food! And with everything else going on, that wouldn't have happened! After cleanup of the shower, I think I went back to the Payne's to DIF the wall in the kid's bathroom. The day before I actually just peeled off the top plastic-y coat of the paper...now I had to get the glue and such off the wall.

June 18: Had church and that evening went back to the Payne's to finish priming Ashton's bedroom.

June 19: Stamped cards with Susan Birchler. We made SO many cards - and they turned out adorable. Good times! :-) Then I went to the Payne's to help some more with the house.

June 20: Met with a potential babysitting family. After that I know I did something, but I didn't have it written down or put in on my phone, so I don't remember. I probably went to Noelle's house?? I can do impromptu visits to her house now b/c we only live 15 minutes away instead of 45!

June 21: It was J's birthday! Happy Birthday to you, J! ;-) hahah...That day I worked until 3, went to Gayla's house to shower and was almost held captive in her bathroom by her evil cat who hisses every time I am in her presence...I had to throw towels on it b/c she was standing in front of the stairs...so I could get by her. She has made me frightened and/or suspicious of all cats! :-) haha...Evil Miss Kitty! Then I went and went tanning...and then I went to Victoria's bachelorette party. It was at Pinz...a new bowling alley in Milford. It is actually really nice...and we had lots of fun. We went back to her apartment for a little lingerie party afterwards...where we all gave her some of her night-wear for the wedding.

June 22: This began the crazy weekend! I took this day and the next day as vacation days b/c of the wedding festivities. In the morning, I wrote out 156 place cards that needed to be done for that afternoon. I also packed for the weekend. We left and met at noon at Fingers and Toes in Worcester. We all got a mani and pedi (WONDERFUL!)...I actually ended up getting tips. It has been the first time that anyone has ever complimented my nails...I just don't have nice nails...I find it very difficult to keep them nice. I must not eat enough jello! SO...after that, we all went to the hotel to check in. We stayed at the Beechwood Hotel on Plantation Street in Worcester. We got two rooms...Victoria and her sisters spent the night in one room, and the other bridemsaids (me, Liz, and Tami) had the other room. We dropped all of our stuff off and then went to Moe's where we all got burritos for lunch. I got to watch Brazil beat someone...I can't remember now...it was a while ago! Tu du bem!!!! :-) haha....After that, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the rehearsal. I wore that brown dress again...I'll have pictures to put up some time next week...maybe even Monday? We drove to Leicester and went through the ceremony...and then we went to Maxwell Silverman's Toolshed in Worcester for the Rehearsal dinner. It was nice and we all had a great time. We went back to the hotel to hang out and rest...and we all passed out pretty quickly!

June 23: the BIG day!! We woke up and had breakfast downstairs in the restaurant at 9. We came back upstairs and started to prepare for the day. We all needed to be ready by 2...and my friend Natalia was coming to do all of our hair...so she was there around 10:30 or so. She did Tami & Liz's hair as well...and did a great job! She is so sweet...After the hair was done, we all got in our dresses and got ready for picture time. We took a whole mess of pictures and then started to get ready for departure. We left and arrived at the country club at about 4:45...and then began the wedding festivites. Everything was beautiful...the ceremony, reception....I definitely had a great time! It was nice seeing people I haven't seen in forever!

June 24: Spent time running errands to BJ's & Wal-Mart for BBQ prep. Ended up at the Payne's house that night doing stuff for their house...

June 25: Lifesong BBQ. We had to rent a tent from Taylor Rental b/c the forecast called for rain all day. Good thing we got the tent...it definitely did rain/drizzle basically the whole time. We had a great time despite the weather! Not everyone came that we had planned on...but those that did, we had a great time connecting with! Definitely a valuable event!!!

June 29: Church plant meeting.

I don't have anything else written down anywhere for the last week of June...but I bet I can tell you what I was doing. More stuff for the gas outreach. Trying to find a place to do it at...more will come on that on the next blog. I don't want to make this one any longer! ;-) hahaha....Too late, I guess! ;-)

Alrighty....so that's what I've been up to! Amazingly busy...but I wouldn't want it any other way!

~Jen