We Conquered Sea World

I can't remember the last time I actually did a weekend re-cap, but I feel like it's only appropriate. I had such a fun, busy, whirlwind of a weekend!

Sometime this summer my sweet friend Raven asked if I wanted to go to Sea World one weekend. I was totally up for it, but didn't commit because I have commitment issues when it comes to weekend plans because typically my weekends are very busy, especially in the summer. So when she mentioned that we might go in August, I was all about it. So, this past weekend it happened! When I realized I was actually able to sneak away for a few days, I was so excited. And to spend it with my first love, Shamu, made it all the better.

You see, for who knows how long, I've had an odd obsession with Shamu. Secretly, or not so secretly, I always wanted to be Shamu's trainer. Of course, I am actually to scared to to even step foot in that tank, let alone swim with that huge creature, so it's actually all just a dream. But a girl can dream, can't she?

I drove up to San Antonio after leaving work a little early on Thursday afternoon. I made awesome time getting up there. The rest of the crew was coming from Fort Worth. Upon arriving, I freshened up a bit and we all headed to eat on the Riverwalk, and more specifically, the Iron Cactus. Can you say yum? I literally eat there every time I'm in San Antonio. It was so much fun because our hotel was on the Riverwalk, so we got to take the boat taxi to dinner. Have I mentioned that I love the Riverwalk at night? It's just so neat.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel and crashed early for our big day on Friday.

The Fort Worth crew waiting for the boat taxi.

Raven and I on the Riverwalk.

Riding the boat taxi to dinner.

Fun times. Windy times.

These phones were in the lobby of our hotel. The colors were too fun to pass up!

Friday morning we were up and at 'em to get to Sea World when it opened. We didn't want to miss anything! I was just giddy that Shamu and I were about to reunite. It had been too long. Because we wanted to do everything Sea World offered and get our money's worth, we knew we'd be staying for a good portion of the day. But, IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Yes, it was so hot it was stupid, but I am thankful for water rides and refreshing lemonade. If it weren't for those two things, I think I would have cratered that morning.

Headed to Sea World. I'm not sure the guys were as enthused as we were, but we had enough excitement for the entire park!

We love Shamu.

Katie took this pic of all of us waiting for "One Ocean", the new Shamu show to start. I was like a little girl on Christmas morning.

Hi, Shamu! The show was spectacular and he did not disappoint. It made my day! I am a sucker for all things cheesy. And by golly, the Shamu show is pure cheese.

Then we headed to watch the feedings for the sharks and stingrays. Those dudes were cracking us up! Can you imagine if that was your job? So fun.

The Sea Lions were adorable.

Especially the babies. Oh my word, so cute. Apparently they are three months old and don't do much but sleep. Every now and then they go in the water for a little "swim lesson", but they spend most of their time sleeping on the rocks. The lady explained to us that the water is almost too cold for them because they don't have a lot of their flubber yet. Love it.

The penguins were up next but unfortunately, we couldn't see anything. They try and make it identical to their real habitat, and apparently we got there at night time. Seriously, I wasn't even sure there were even any penguins there.

Katie and I in the aquarium. Besides the sharks, I was loving the air conditioning.

Of course, we saw every show that was offered. The dolphin show is another favorite, but I didn't get any good pictures. It's just so tough when you're so enthralled with all that's going on.

Here the girls are leaving the park. Sea World was very good to us.

The group headed out. So much fun! We loved you, Sea World!

But of course, we were exhausted.

However, that didn't stop us from getting all showered and heading to the market. Mi Tierra's was calling our name and we were starving! Even though we got there at 9:00 that night, there was still an hour wait. I think it was well worth it.

It always looks like the Garden Ridge Christmas sale blew up in Mi Tierra's. So funny.

I love this girl. I've been able to see her THREE times in two weeks which is a record since she lives in Fort Worth.

Raven, Katie and I after stuffing our faces with fajitas.

Nick and Raven.

We all crashed that night and then the next morning headed out to do a few more fun things before we had to hit the road back home.

We started out by going through the Guinness World Record museum. So fascinating. I only got to spend about 30 minutes there, but what I did get to see blew me away. Some things just flat out freaked me out, but most of it was so intriguing.

Here we are with the world's tallest man. All of the sudden I felt very short. Whoa.

Here I am with the world's shortest girl. I kind of don't even believe it. Crazy.

And the fact that I can stand inside of the world's tallest man, blow my mind.

This is the world's heaviest man. If I ever look like this, it will be because I have eaten too much Nutella.

Then we remembered the Alamo. It's only appropriate. Love these girls.

Loved our super fun time together.

The rest of the weekend went as follows:

I drove home. Stopped at Bucee's. Drove the Jen's house. Said happy birthday to her. Went to Feed a Friend downtown with a bunch of my favorite people. Ate dinner at Rudy's with a bunch of my favorite people. Drove home. Went to get dessert with more of my favorite people at Cheddar's. Crashed. Went to church. Went to lunch at Firehouse Subs. Went to see The Help with Jen. Deemed it the best movie ever. Cried. Laughed. Loved it. Went to Anthropologie and bought the cutest mug ever. Came home. Watched Craiglist Killer. Blogged. Slept.

Thank you, Shamu and friends, for being so good to me this weekend. It was epic.

I hope you had a great weekend too, friends.

A New Journey: God's Faithfulness

You can read the beginning of this story here.

The morning of July 28th brought a lot of clarity to my seeking, praying, questioning and waiting.

I went into a meeting with zero expectations of how it would go, and left a little before noon with relief and joy in my heart that I still have a hard time containing.

Since my senior year of high school there has been no doubt in my mind that the Lord has called me to serve in ministry, in whatever form it came in. Even more specifically, I’ve felt called to girl’s ministry. I think I’ve written before multiple times that the Lord has clearly paved a path consistently that has had me serving in girl’s ministry. At first it started out as a freshman in college leading a small group Bible study with freshman girls, then in college I was a part of a Christian sorority where He allowed me to serve as the chaplain and many others way through Phi Lamb. After graduation from college He opened up a door for me to serve full –time on a church staff doing girls ministry. It is very clear that He has guided this journey and placed in me a desire to serve and love girls.

I have been asked time and time again from people all over how long I plan on staying and serving at Cypress Bible as the girl’s minister. I never had a concrete answer because who am I to put a timetable on where God has me? I always felt that if it was time to leave, I would know and He would make it very clear to me that this was the time. Not only has the time come for me to leave, but the Lord has done incredibly more than I can imagine and has most definitely opened up doors for me to serve elsewhere.

Last December my genuine prayer for 2011 was that the Lord would do immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine for His glory. I wrote a post about it here. I claimed Ephesians 3:20 and 1 Corinthians 2:9 like no one else’s business. I don’t love Jesus perfectly, actually very far from perfect, but I love Him and my desire is to serve Him and bring Him much glory.

That Thursday morning the Lord did a more than I can imagine type of work and I was offered and took a position with Living Proof Ministries. If you’re unfamiliar with this ministry, you can take a look at it here. Even writing that just now brought so much excitement and joy to my heart!

In an effort not to bore you, I will save what I will actually be doing for a later post. But what you must know now is that I am in no way ending my ministry to girls. In fact, this position will allow for a continuation of it in a different form. I will be doing other things alongside this that are also very exciting, but again, I’ll leave that for a later post.

I hesitated writing this post and sharing this news as I don’t start until early September. But there are a number of reasons I did want to share it.

God has been more than faithful and has woven such a neat story together that I can’t help but share of His goodness and faithfulness. He alone is to be praised and I could shout that from the rooftops.

I see now more than ever that the Lord has said no to a lot of things recently so that He could give me a very big YES!

Leaving Cypress is going to be very tough, and that process started this past Sunday as we shared the news with our students and later sent out a letter to the congregation. My hope and desire is to end well at Cypress. I want to soak up every minute I have with the people I love so dearly here. I blog because I enjoy writing, but also because I love looking back and seeing how the Lord has worked in my heart and life, this is most definitely worth documenting and remembering.

Isaiah 43:19 has been a sweet verse for me to reflect on lately. Behold, the Lord is doing a new thing!

With this new transition comes a lot of feelings, some of which are excitement, anxiousness, sadness, joy, but most of all peace. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when in the next month you might be reading a lot of “sappy” posts. I want to end well. I want to ponder. I want to remember.

Last year for my birthday my sweet friend gave me the sweetest wall sign that says, “God dreams a bigger dream than you dream for yourself.”

Indeed He does.

That sign hasn’t had a home since it’s been mine, but in one month I think I’ll have the perfect place to hang it in my new office.

The Lord is so much better than He has to be. He and I are about to embark on a new journey together and I am so excited.

Thank you for sharing in my joy!

A New Journey

Up until yesterday a lot of big things were happening in my little world that I didn't have the freedom to discuss on the world wide web. Now that I've had 24 hours to process the beginning of the end, I am excited to share a God-sized story with you and a new journey the Lord is taking me on.

About eight months ago, the Lord really started to stir in my heart. I wasn’t sure what this stirring was about, and although I was happy where I was, my heart was more so discontent. I know discontentment seems to be a more negative term, but I think it was a healthy discontentment. I started praying through this stirring and time and time again I kept hearing the Lord telling me to be faithful and serve where I was currently planted. In my desire to be obedient to the Lord, I did just that.

After a few months the Lord started stirring not just in my heart, but in different circumstances and situations around me.

It was in May when I finally realized that the stirring all along had been the Lord himself preparing my heart for a change in the very near future. Again, I didn’t know exactly what this change would look like, but I trusted the Lord's leadership and provision and I also trusted the leadership of those I was serving under. I trusted God in them.

Let me say right now that not for one minute was I ever looking for a way out of where I was serving, nor was I pursuing any other direction in ministry. I love my church dearly. I love the people I serve with. I love the girls I serve. In fact, the thought of leaving or serving elsewhere was slightly scary to me.

At the beginning of June the Lord opened up a door for me to potentially serve elsewhere and so I immediately began praying through that. I knew that at that moment I didn’t have a “go” or a “yes” from God, and although I was really excited, I still just prayed that if that was where the Lord was leading, that He would make it very clear on both ends. It was still very much my desire to be where He wanted me and I believed Him to work out the details if in fact I was to serve elsewhere.

Mind you, this was all going on while I was traveling all summer long and home typically one week at a time, if that. It was stressful.

This summer, although not much different from the past three summers, has been physically, mentally and spiritually exhausting. However, it has also been one of the sweetest summers in terms of relationships and trusting the Lord rather than leaning on my own understanding of all that was whirling about around me.

One week in particular this summer the Lord spoke a very specific word to me that nearly knocked me over. It was during my mission trip to NYC. One evening, after a full day of prayer, we had the privilege of attending the prayer service at Brooklyn Tabernacle. It was by far the most powerful prayer service, if not just service, I've ever attended. The Lord is undoubtedly moving among that church and to be a part just for one night was incredible.

That night the worship leader, unplanned, decided to share a simple song he grew up singing with us and then asked us to join in. I still remember it perfectly. There where three lines to the entire song and they said, "I don't mind waiting, I don't mind waiting, I don't mind waiting on the Lord."

My middle name could be waiting (for multiple things) so this simple song was especially meaningful to me.

After singing it over and over multiple times so our hearts could really grasp what our mouths were singing, Pastor Jim Cymballa got up to give an encouraging word to those of us that found ourselves in the middle of waiting for something. First situation out of his mouth? Job situations. I realize I'm not the only one currently dealing with a job situation, or lackthereof, but that was certainly what I had been wrestling with at the time. All I wanted was answers but the Lord was telling me to wait. Even if it just meant waiting two or three more weeks, He wanted me to wait. To wait patiently and to wait in faith.

I was floored and so thankful that the Lord had just spoken such a specific word to me. I knew the Lord was in control and hadn't left me high and dry. I needed to know His presence and assurance more than a confirmation at that moment. We all know waiting is much easier said than done. I had such peace after that.

My blog has been eerily quiet all summer for multiple reasons, one being that I just haven’t had time, but the other being that when I was home, I was spending a lot of quality time with my personal journal processing all that was going on. When you don’t have the freedom to talk about a big transition on the world wide web, things tend to get a little quiet.

However, I can also say that this journey of trusting has increased my faith dramatically and I’ve truly never had to trust or cling to the Lord more. He was my one constant. He knew the outcome and I was banking on that.

So I kept seeking and praying.

(Part two coming soon.)

Lies Young Women Believe

If you've ever done the Bible study Lies Young Women Believe, which was written for young ladies after the book Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh came out, you have probably heard about the Lies Young Women Believe website that is a resource to go along with the book. If you don't know about the website and you have a daughter that is in either high school or college, I would check it out. It is a really interactive website that I was thankful for when we did this study with our senior girls over a year ago.

My favorite part about this website is that even though we went through and finished the Bible study, it didn't end there. The website has a blog they update every day that tackles all sorts of issues discussed in the book and it provides an ongoing conversation.

Sometime last year they asked for readers to submit an article that had to do with an issue that was discussed in the book. I went ahead and submitted an old blog post about dating, or lack thereof.

So, imagine my complete surprise yesterday when I received the email that my blog post had been posted on the Lies Young Women Believe blog. It was a complete honor to me! To be honest, I forgot about submitting it months ago.

That article originated from this blog post here.

However, you can go to the LYWB website and read the article here. Such a complete blessing to me.

My prayer is that each and every girl that reads that would be encouraged and built up in faith. Our God knows what He's doing. I'm praying that a generation of girls chooses to believe Truth over the lies their fed every single day.

Funny Friday

I'm sure by now you all know about Pinterest. It's a really fun website that is basically a really big cork board on the internet. Who didn't love a good cork board in middle school? Anyway, I saw this Truths for Mature Humans when I first started using Pinterest (which I totally used to pronounce wrong until my sweet roomies corrected me) and I thought it was hilarious. I laugh at very practical things, and these are all, well, very practical.

Here are some of my favorites...and although I did not come up with any of them, I wish I would have. Because I think these things all the time!

I hope you laugh, too.

Truths For Mature Humans

1. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

2. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

3. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

4. Was learning cursive really necessary?

5. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

6. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

7. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

8. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

9. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.

10. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

11. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.

12. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? **** it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

13. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

15. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

16. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

17. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

21. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

22. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I beteveryone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Happy Weekend!

iPhone Dump: NYC Edition

One week ago today I arrived home from NYC. I was there for a week with a group from my church to do missions. Missions in NYC, you ask? Oh yes, my friends. There is an entire post dedicated to just that in the making, but I've had problems forming one sentence this week, so writing an entire blog post has been quite the chore. It's hard to put a trip like that into words.

However, I've had the urge to blog and the easiest way to do so is give you one of my favorites, the iPhone dump, NYC styles.

Honestly, we were moving so fast that I don't have too many pictures on my phone, most of my pictures came from my real camera, but these will do. It gives you a small glimpse into the fun aspects of our trip.

We had 48 people on our trip. 26 girls and 22 guys. We all stayed in one church and used air mattresses all week. This is what our main room looked like. It was one big slumber party every night! What I have failed to mention is the two showers between all of us. Fun times.

Michael Jackson lives, friends! In case you missed it, see the video below. He made a grand entrance on our Subway. It was nice.

We happened to be in NY on the fourth of July. Did you think we'd miss the fireworks at the Brooklyn Bridge? I think not. The crowds were insane, but the fireworks were incredible. At least the section we could see. I can't imagine what the crowds are like during New Years Eve. Makes me shudder.

Lady Liberty. She's a beauty. This was from our ferry ride. We did not actually stop and see her.

One night our awesome leader gave a few of us young adults permission to leave after Bible study. Where did we go? Serendipity! I have wanted to go there for a long time and we were all so happy when it worked out. I don't mean to brag, but if you've never tasted their frozen hot chocolate, you're really missing out. It was heavenly. And yes, for you girls, this is where the movie, Serendipity, was filmed. Or at least part of it. I would like to be back in this moment.

Before we headed to the airport Friday morning, we had about an hour of free time. Our group decided to head to Fifth Avenue where there is a bunch of shopping to be done. While most of our group toured The Plaza and FAO Schwarz, a few of us girls visited Tiffany's. My heart was so happy. Recognize this shot? Then you've probably seen Sweet Home Alabama. This is where he proposed at the beginning of the movie. Out of all four floors in Tiffany's, this was my favorite. : )

Upon returning home from NY, to support our sweet roomie who was put on a yeast free diet for a few weeks, we decided to do it with her. Although we were exhausted, we made our trek to the grocery store to fill our basked with all things vegetables and protein. Healthiest basket ever. And hardest diet ever. We love her that much. Let's just say when this diet is over, we'll be a happy apartment again. Can you say, hello irritability? We all could use a little chocolate.


That's all for now, folks. Off to a NY reunion! I know it's only been a week but I've missed those peeps.

Have a great weekend.

Some NYC Subway Entertainment

You never know what one might encounter on a Subway ride in NY. For instance, Michael Jackson made a grand appearance one afternoon on our way out to do ministry. It was epic. Michael lives!



You're so welcome. ; )

Colorado 2011 Highlights

We spent our first few days in Colorado celebrating my Gramps, however, we still had much celebrating left to do. The day after the big party, we headed to Fort Collins. My cousin Austin graduated from high school that same weekend. It was perfect timing. Although we couldn't make it to the actual graduation ceremony, we were able to be at his graduation party. Even better! We got to my aunt's house in time to help with a little prep, and then the people came, and kept coming, until it was packed. Thankfully, my aunt and uncle live on a nice piece of land and it literally became a parking lot. I don't want to give a false picture like my aunt and uncle own this mansion or something, but what you don't see is that my uncle's business is actually on the property. He is a carpenter and walks to work each morning. : )

We always very much enjoy spending time with the folks we only get to see a few times a year, so we ate up every minute. Especially when all five us get to be there at the same time. That is very rare these days. Sadly, Kevyn had to leave very early that morning because he was heading to Greece for five weeks with Campus Crusade and had to be back in Texas with his team. But we enjoyed the time we had. He actually comes back today and we're very excited. Kevyn and I are very much alike and thoroughly entertain each other. It's fun having brothers.

Cousins enjoying the party. They look all sophisticated here like they were having a nice chat or something.

Playing washer board. It's addicting. That's Austin on the far left. Unfortunately, that's the only picture I got of the graduate. I was too busy chatting it up and enjoying the weather.


We had a few days after that to just chill and relax. One night we all ate dinner at Serious Texas Bar-B-Q. Coming from Texas, we were very skeptical. But it was very serious and delicious.


How could we not?

Another fun part of our trip was that both my little cousins, Jill and Emma graduated from 5th grade. It's much more of a bigger deal in Colorado than it is in Texas, but we enjoyed every minute.

Here is Emma singing "Free to be Me" by Francesca Batistelli at her schools talent show. I was so proud. I don't think I could of done that in 5th grade in front of the entire school. She did great!


Jill and Emma graduated on the same day, so unfortunately, we could only attend one. Since we had been to Emma's talent show, we went to Jill's graduation.

Here's the graduate with Grandma and Grandpa.

The proud parents. Big week for them!

The Jesser clan.

Mom and I were very proud as well.

Jill won the character award out of her entire class. She is so wonderful. And we were so proud.

Grandma and I waiting outside the school to be picked up. Love her.

That night, just for fun, we went bowling. Poor Austin, he was the only guy. He really needed some male companionship.

We were about to take a picture when we realized Jill was upset. Bless her heart. But this picture was too funny not to post. We talked it out and all was well.

She bounces back quickly. We got our picture. : )

Apparently this is how high I hold the ball when bowling. Necessary? Who knows. I stink at bowling.

Sister.

I decided during one turn to use this contraption. It was so funny.


All the girls!


We had a wonderful time in Colorado. It's always so bittersweet to come home. But, there was a lot in Houston waiting for us. Things like Beach Week, VBS, NY mission trip and Mississippi mission trip. Colorado was just the beginning.

We love our family to pieces and enjoy every minute we can get with them.

Thanks for such a wonderful time, Colorado. Until next time...