Doubting Thomas

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus said this to the famous “Doubting Thomas” after the event that was to fame him for his skills at doubting. [I’ve been referring to him as “Doubting Didymus” lately. John seemed to think it important to note that he also went by Didymus. Doubting Didymus. It’s a great use of alliteration, don’t you think?]

Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed…. I still have a little trouble swallowing that one, mostly because it means me. It actually means me. Anybody I’ve ever met that is a believer falls under this category. Even the “holiest” or “most righteous” people I’ve ever met in my life fall under this category. Blessed because we believe but haven’t seen. I can take it a step further to think that the people in history that I look up to fall under this category- Mother Teresa. John Calvin. Augustine of Hippo. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Apostle Paul. They didn’t drink the wine Jesus made from water. They weren’t there for the Sermon on the Mount or the Last Supper. They never met Jesus. They never saw his miracles. They never saw his resurrected body or touched the holes in his hands and side. They aren’t blessed in spite of these. They’re blessed because of these.

Sometimes I get caught up in these crazy hypothetical-yet-completely-impossible questions. Questions like “If I were around in those days, would I have believed?” or “Who would I have been like?” The rational side of me says that there is no way to know and not to bother. But there is this other side of me that likes to get way too existential for my own good. Would I have been like Peter or Lazarus or John the Baptist or Mary Magdelene. Or would I have even been a believer? Maybe I would have been like Caiaphas or a Pharisee or just some pagan. Or maybe even like Judas. I think that’s the really hard question. Would I have even believed? Jesus says we’re blessed for believing without seeing. But isn’t it easier this way? We know the end of the story. We know he dies and rises again. We have thousand of books telling us so. We have 2000 years of theological debate to go with it. We can read the whole story in less than an hour. From birth to ascension in sixty minutes flat. I’m not left guessing at Jesus’ cryptic words or mourning that my Lord has just died. My life isn’t part of this epic cliffhanger called the Gospels. I simply must read on a chapter or two and find out what happens. I can find out the end of the story with less effort than finding out how Harry finally defeated Lord Voldemort. This part is easy.

I’m not sure why this is so hard for me. Shouldn’t I just accept Jesus’ blessing without question? I believe he is the Son of God and Savior of the World without having ever seen him or met him! That sounds like it should merit a blessing, doesn’t it? Something about it is just so hard to grasp. Maybe its because I have yet to be one of the “those” people that believed without seeing. Nothing about my life lives up to the standard set by all the big names in Christianity. Surely nobody would compare me, or my life, to Mother Teresa or the apostle Paul. Maybe I’m just disgusted with my own lack of action because really, when I really really look at the lady in the mirror and take a inventory, I’m offended by my own lack of faith. I’m upset that whenever I resolve to be more like “those people”, I fail miserably. I’m angry because I know all the of the horrible things I do and think and want even that nobody else would ever know. I’m revolted by all of these things because they show me that I only half-believe when I wish I whole-believed. I’m really just like Peter, overly zealous one minute but that same night, I’m calling out curses over my denial of Christ…

I’d love for this blogpost to have some sort of great thesis or moral teaching that I’d be blessing the world with. I'd love it if my blogpost brought me lavish complements. I’d love if it highlighted how excellent of a person I’ve become in Mission Year or how much I’ve grown. But it doesn’t and it, rightfully, shouldn’t. Its just my thoughts, overflowing into a keyboard and after asking myself hard questions, whose answers merit no praise. How can God continually love someone who faithfully shows how unfaithful she is? Why do I always get another chance?

Expressing New Orleans

This week, my team and I have been reading something a little different than normal. Poetry. Local Poetry. This is a severe deviation from the usual prose and literature: mostly we read books like “Flat Broke: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform” or “Restoring At Risk Communities”. What we read this week had absolutely nothing to do with social justice, racial reconciliation, personal discipleship and it wasn’t topical at all. “Red Beans and Ricely Yours” by Mona Lisa Saloy, put simply, was one woman’s poetic expression of New Orleans. Some of them are pretty peculiar. She has several pages of New Orleans haikus. Here is a bit from my favorite poem: “Land of Creoles, Cajuns, Black Indians, cawains, mudbugs, catfish and bayou crooners…Meridian of courtbouillon and hushpuppies, gumbo and deathless days, everyday hallelujahs, crawfish bisque, praying in tongues, novenas and graveyard gifts of lilies, silver dimes and bamboula…. Confines of Thibodaux, Tchoupitoulas, Houma, and Louisiana Red in wingtips… Nativeland of jive and jambalaya, the Crescent City- the city care forgot and remembered, ‘for true’ “
After reading this book, Irvin gave us an assignment. He asked us to come up with an expression of New Orleans using whatever means we wanted to. Words, Song, Dance, Paint. Whatever. This, my friends, was a daunting task. How can I, someone who has only been here for seven months and hardly left Hollygrove, express one of the oldest and most culturally rich cities in the United States? I might not be able to sufficiently express my hometown of Tacoma and I’ve lived there my entire life. How am I supposed to do this??? I watched my teammates begin their expressions and got even more intimidated by the undertaking. Out of nowhere I remembered something from our training that Caz Todd said to us. I could by no means quote her, but it was about how our experience in the city and what we do with it is just as important as the city’s history or culture. History and culture are null without personal experience. So true! Its kind of the reason we love or hate different places. So I decided that, rather than express a city I know very little about, I would express my so-far-short experience in a city that I’m very glad to call myself a part of.
I ended up making a 3D representation of my experience in New Orleans. In true “starchild” fashion, it is completely chaotic. Its centered around a recreation of our team photo, the one that’s featured on the Mission Year website. Except, instead of us posing in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, I chose photos that really showed our personalities. Adam’s picture is of him pouting with an empty jar of dulce de leche. Katye is in a dress, posing in front of the biggest sunflower in Hollygrove. Marcos is smiling happily with a guitar. And of course, I’m wearing crazy sunglasses and “pullin out the guns” AKA doing the only dance move I know. Naturally, there is also a picture of Irvin, popping out of the side, the way he pops in and out of our daily lives.
Its got pictures of our neighbors, friends and coworkers too. Ms Evelyn, the Jarvains, the Aronins, Quanita, Keith, Shekiel, the Browns, Ebony, Jada, Chantel, Mr Earl, Inaya, Anthonika and Duane. I couldn’t even fit everybody I knew in the box. Not even close.
Just like Hollygrove, my expression has rows of shotgun houses. These historic houses were completely new to me when I came here. I’m fairly certain that they are exclusive to the south, as they were created to house slaves. they are Very hollygrove.
And then there is everything else. The part that makes it messy. The part that makes it personal. I felt that no expression of my experience would be complete without our Team Covenant. The creation of this awesome/horrible document is a memory that I’d much rather not think about every again. After three or four tries and nine or ten hours of arguing, we finally came up with something that we are all proud to have committed to. The scripture references we used to create our covenant are on the clouds, hanging in my box. Also…. I tore it up and glued in my favorite parts. Among other things I tore up and glued in? The silliest quotes that have been said all year. Each one carries with it a good memory and a good laugh. Inside this box of memories is also a bunch of inside jokes, like the Parable of the Anti-Light Box, Geoffrey the Spaceman whom we found in my hair, the Fantastic Four and a mysterious giraffe that somehow made it into our team photo.
I could never completely capture my Mission Year experience in a 8 x 12 x 18 inch box. I couldn’t even describe all of it in a blog! But I’m feel like this got pretty close. The only big thing that’s missing….. the next four months!

the heart of the issue

One thing that has become very clear to me so far this year is..... I do not have a heart for children. its another of my great downfalls. they're great, they're a blessing, but it is safe to say that i am SO GLAD i do not have them and do not plan to have any. ever. the weird thing is that i have spent most of my adult life working with children [save a brief stint in retail. fml.] i was a camp counselor. i was a nanny. i worked at an elementary school. i am currently working at a community center where i both tutor and run a daycamp for urban children. ["urban children" is code for Hellions with Excuses] whats so hard about constantly working with kids is that i'm good at it. i'm kooky and crazy and, lets be honest, my goals are the same as a kids goals: to have fun, get a snack and to be a rockstar. [three more downfalls in one sentence....] while my program requires me to keep working at After School Program, I've been giving a lot of thought to what i'll do after Camp ends and i'm no longer required to be with children everyday, all day.

This has led to me wonder: what do i have a heart for? and thus, how can i do that for monies? i came to one conclusion, which led me to another conclusion. conclusion number one: i love homeless people. i'm not sure if homelessness is a big problem in tacoma or if i just hang out in places where they hang out, but it seems like i can hardly walk from my car to a coffee shop without finding a homeless person. you can't visit a park without a homeless veteran asking for money to go buy a cigarette. i'm not sure why i love them so much, but i do. there is something about them. maybe its the way that simple things like a cigarette or a sandwich mean the world to them. maybe its that they value your conversation and their words aren't vacant. i'm not sure. but i really feel like i want them to be a significant part of my life. but thinking about homeless people so much got me wondering. the conclusion i came to?

broken people. i am drawn towards people that are stereotypically "broken". i have to desire to fix them and make myself feel good about such a great accomplishment. nor do i want to compare myself to them just to feel awesome about myself. i simply love them. maybe its because i see myself in them. i love the "dirty rotten sinner" in them and am reminded of the dirty rotten sinner in myself that subsequently, christ cherishes. maybe its because i see value in their struggles, that their "vices are virtues", as M Scott Peck puts it. i'm not sure.

the older i get [i turn 21 on wednesday!] the more i feel like a "normal" life is just not for me. my dreams don't involve houses or cars, surely not a lot of money. i'm not too certain what that means yet or how that will play out. but its the present that prepares me for my future, whatever that may hold, so its important that i focus on the now. the now means that i deal with the stupid problems like upset roommates, being underfunded and having to work with children. everyday. all day. i will have to trust God and be certain that He'll send me somewhere awesome... hopefully there is a funny beard-man there too....

travels and journeys.

One thing that’s been on my mind lately has been TRAVEL. Maybe it’s because I’m going home for Fall Break at the end of August. Maybe it’s because a friend just sent me a letter that detailed her upcoming walking-trip around the US. Maybe it’s because my soul has never ceased to crave adventure. But it’s been on my mind nonetheless. Travels and excursions and journeys. Whoop whoop!

CS Lewis has something to say about journeys also. His book, “The Great Divorce” is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s the story of a bus that goes from hell to heaven and the passengers’ choices on whether to stay in heaven or go back to hell. It’s almost like a modern day Pilgrims Progress. What Lewis wrote at the beginning of the book took my desire for adventure and turned it inward. “You cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys; on one journey even your right hand and your right eye may be among the things you have to leave behind.”
Right hand and right eye.. While I write this, an image of walking through airport ecurity is in my head. My parents watching as I go through security, and some TSA agent is telling me that I, in fact, cannot bring an entire tube of toothpaste on the plane with me. He politely, yet sternly, asks me to abandon my toiletry and go on with my travels. I do, and by time my plane ride is over I’ve already forgotten about my toothpaste troubles. But what about my right hand and my right eye? Surely this is alluding to when Jesus says that if your right hand or right eye causes you to sin, to rid yourself of them. Without my right hand and eye, I would be an invalid. They are both so necessary! To cut them off, or as Lewis puts it, to be asked to leave them behind, seems absurd to me. To willingly turn myself into an invalid. But why? What could make someone want to do that?

The answer to that question came to me in the form of a new pocket-sized Amplified Bible that my dad sent me for my birthday. The great apostle Paul seemed to know exactly what I would be thinking while he wrote his letters. Most the time I have a question or struggle, it’s generally Paul that helps. He did it again. He writes to the Philippians about his great joy and in the fourth chapter begins to talk about all of his great qualifications and achievements: circumcised on the eighth day, an Israelite, a Benjamite, the son of Hebrews, a Pharisee, blameless in regard to the Law and an overly zealous persecutor of the church. “But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as one combined loss for Christ’s sake. Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared the possession of the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth and the surpreme advantage or knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly. For His sake I HAVE LOST EVERYTHING and consider it all to be MERE RUBBISH in order that I may gain Christ, the Anointed One.” [Phil. 4:7-8, Amplified Bible]

Paul seems pretty clear here. He gave up everything for the sake of Christ. I didn’t know Paul personally, but I’m pretty certain that if something was causing him to sin, even if it was his right hand or right eye, he would have found a way to abandon it. Anything that was in his life, he was prepared to give it up if it meant he would know Christ better.

What are those things in our lives that we are being asked to leave behind? It seems that in Mission Year, there is a new thing every week that I’m being asked to leave behind. Pack lighter, pack lighter! Its so easy to [figurately] spend way too much time arguing with a TSA agent about the necessity of toothpaste on the airplane rather than just getting on with our travels and being on our way; certain of the fact that where we are going there is certainly toothpaste there. I spend a lot of my time holding onto toxic things instead of realizing that my needs are met in Christ. Anything I’m being asked to give up will be waiting for me in heaven, ten times better than anything I could have held onto here on earth.

While my desire to be on an adventure hasn’t been sated, it has put a deeper meaning on road trips and plane rides home...

june Newsies

Hello friends and family! It seems so long since I wrote a newsletter! My team and I went home for spring break. It was great to see some of my friends and spend a lot of time with my family. If I didn’t get to see you, I’m sorry! I will be home again for a week in August!

A lot of you have been concerned about the rising waters in the Mississippi River. I have one thing to say about that: Don’t Worry! To avoid flooding New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Morganza Spillway has been opened. The old ladies call it the “m’Ganza”. The downside to the m’Ganza being opened is that it is flooding the rural parts of the state. Keep these parts of the state in your prayers this month!

This month we had to say goodbye to part of our Mission Year Family. Our friend and teammate JoJo went home to continue schooling. We are working hard to stay unified as a team and keep on engaging the community. We will miss her!

Second to the Mardi Gras, one the most popular events in the city is JAZZ FEST! We were lucky enough to be given tickets to Jazz Fest. We took three of our favorite neighbors: Keith, as well as Trenita and her daughter Quanita. It was so fun! We saw Kid Rock and a cool group called Zamboula 2000. The food at Jazz Fest is SO good! I had some delicious beignets and jambalaya. I need to try some gator.

After having been apart from the community for two weeks, we decided a great way to get back in the swing of things would be to have a huge cookout. We invited everyone we knew! It was a such a fun day! Lots of people that attended played instruments so we ended up jamming and playing lots of Bob Marley and worships songs. It was so much fun! We are trying to figure out how to afford having more cookouts! They are expensive but SO fun!

As the school year comes to a close, so are a lot of other things. Younglife Club will be on hiatus for the summer. Instead we will be having a smaller Bible study. My team and I are really excited to have a smaller, more intimate group of kids to be working with.

After School Program at TCC is also ending. Everything has been packed up and put away for the summer. What will I now do during the day? TCC runs an AWESOME daycamp for the local kids. I will be running the morning devotionals for the kids. I will also be working in the kitchen, helping serve the kids breakfast and lunch, everyday. My teammate and friend Katye will be running the Arts and Crafts class. Her ideas are ambitious and I’m certain the kids will LOVE them. Adam is going to be running a Reading Class. He is trying to teach the kids that reading can be FUN. I remember when I was a kid and I loved to read. I’m excited to see how is program goes. Marquitos will be helping with outdoor games. There will also be a gardening and nutrition class for the kids so they can learn more about it. I’m so excited! The theme for the summer is PANDAmania. There will be pandas and bamboo everywhere. I’m VERY excited about summer camp!

I wanted to remind you that your spiritual financial support is a really important component for my Mission Year. I’m really thankful to be here in Hollygrove and it’s only because of the support that I’ve received that I’m able to be here. I really believe in what my team and I have been doing in this community. The great John Perkins sums up our year perfectly with this awesome modern-day proverb:

Go to the people.

Live among them.

Learn from them.

Love them.

Start with what they know.

Build on what they have.

But of the best leaders,

when their task is done,

the people will remark,

“we have done it ourselves!”

I think he really immortalized my year when he said that. I wonder if he knew! This little proverb has inspired me quite a bit so far this year. I think this says exactly what Mission Year is about. I think it’s important for my supporters to really understand why I’m here and why they should believe in me and continue to support me. I’m spending this year learning about simplicity, community and, most importantly, serving and loving this community. I must continue to ask that you keep on supporting me in whatever why you can! I am about halfway towards my yearlong goal of $12,000. Have you considered pledging monthly?

As promised, I am going to share what has inspired me this month. My team and I have been reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. This is an amazing book about God’s grace. You should read it! I was also inspired this month by the Christian musician Jon Foreman. I especially love the songs “Your Love Is Strong”, which is a modern take on the Lord’s Prayer, and “Instead of a Show”, an awesome song about bringing your authentic self to the Lord in a lifestyle of worship. Jon Foreman’s albums have been a regular in our Mission Year Kitchen. I encourage you to check him out.

I would like to ask you to consider how you can support me in my Mission Year. Can you pray? Can you pledge? Can you perhaps donate a plane ticket to get home? The needs are great! I want to encourage you again to visit my blog [missionyear.org/blog/jennifer music] to see what I’m up to. Check out flickr.com/imalwaysprettyhappy to see photos. I’m so glad to be back! Thank you for making it happen!

This month, something AWESOME is happening. Mission Year is having ANOTHER donation drive! if you donate 50 dollars or more using this link [https://www.missionyear.org/kickitin/jennifermusic] then you will receive a free t-shirt. whats better is that if 12 people donate to the Kick It In drive, then I will get a t-shirt! i think thats awesome! haha! consider donating Right Now.

Red Beans and Ricely Yours

Jennifer Music

ragamuffin.

One of the many things about Mission Year that is a continual
blessing and struggle is Curriculum. As a team, we are asked
to read specific books and then sit down and discuss the books.
I both love and hate curriculum. The book we are currently
reading is The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. It is
surely one of the best books I've ever read. I'm fairly
certain that I mostly like it at first because my parents
used to call me a Ragamuffin. I had the silliest messy hair
and the most crooked cartoon-looking teeth. The term ragamuffin
was fitting. and I'm still a ragamuffin. I'm not sure if its
the dreadlocks, the holes in my shoes, or the fact that most
everything I own came from the Goodwill or the Dollar Tree,
but I didn't not grow out of this title...
Just yesterday, I was telling one of my best friends about
this book. Her first question was, "what's a ragamuffin".
Not knowing how to verbalize how silly I looked as a
child, I consulted someone that I knew would be able to
tell her what a ragamuffinis: Merriam Webster.
a ragged disreputable person, poorly clothed, often dirty.

It wasn't until I looked up the word that I really got what
this book was about. the ragamuffin gospel. The life-giving
good news for the ragged, dirty, poorly clothed, disreputable
people. In a world full of feel-good books about
christianity and shallow, unapplied theology, Brennan
Manning starts his book trying to convey ragamuffins to readers.
"The Ragamuffin Gospel was written with a specific
reading audience in mind.
This book is not for the super spiritual.
It is not for the muscular Christians who have made
John Wayne, and not Jesus, their hero.
It is not for the academics who would imprison Jesus
in the ivory tower or exegesis.
It is not for the noisy, feel-good folks who manipulate
Christianity into a naked appeal to emotion.
It is not for the hooded mystics who want magic in their
religion.
It is not the Alleluia Christians who live only on the
mountaintop and have never visited the valley of desolation.
It is not for the fearless and tearless.
It is not for the red-hot zealots who boast with the rich
young ruler of the Gospels, 'All these Commandments I have
kept from my youth.'
It is not for the complacent who hoist over their shoulders
a tote bag of honors, diplomas and good works, actually
believing they have made it.
It is not for the legalists who would rather surrender
control of their souls to rules than run the risk of living
in union with Jesus.
If anyone is still reading along, The Ragamuffin Gospel was
written for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out.
It is for the sorely burdened who are still shifting the heavy
suitcase from one hand to the other.
It is for the wobbly and weak-kneed who know they don't have
it all together and are too proud to accept the free handout
of amazing grace.
It is for the inconsistent, unsteady disciples who's cheese
is falling off their cracker.
It is for the poor, weak, sinful men and women with
hereditary faults and limited talents.
It is for the earthen vessels who shuffle along on feet of clay.
It is for the bent and the bruised who feel that their lives
are a grave disappointment to God.
It is for the smart people who know they are stupid and honest
disciples who admit they are scalawags.
The Ragamuffin Gospel is a book I wrote for myself and anyone
who has grown weary and discouraged along the Way."

I don't know about you guys, but this is me. He really hit
the nail on the head with "burnt out" and "inconsistent,
unsteady disciples whose cheese is always falling off their
cracker". I think I epitomize an inconsistent and unsteady
disciple and truly, my cheese is always falling off my cracker.
Its always good to be reminded that Jesus came to heal the sick,
not the well. Jesus came to love the ragamuffins, the
failures, the "prostitutes and tax collectors". I feel like
we hear that too often and we forget the social stigma
associated with prostitutes and tax collectors. These people
that Jesus spent histime with and whose lives He changed.
They've lost their meaning. Maybe if we called them hookers.
strippers. dirty cops. drug dealers. We might understand that,
rather than elevating religious officials, Jesus took the
"worst of the worst" and gave them value. I think we, as a
body of believers, slip into becoming the academics. the
Alleluia Christians. the red-hot zealots. the complacent and
the legalists. We forget that God's amazing grace is a free
gift for everyone because we are ALL the earthen vessels
with feet of clay, the sorely burdened,  the bent and the
bruised whose lives sometimes feel like a disappointment to God.

"When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes.
I believe and I doubt, I hope and I get discouraged, I love
and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty
about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious.
I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a
rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible
capacity for beer." -Brennan Manning

Love and Affection.
Jennifer

PS. Don't forget to go to missionyear.org/donate/jennifermusic
Please feel obligated to pledge....

brain explosions and easter tradition

any of my roommates could tell you this about me. anybody that i worked with last summer could tell you. probably most my friends could tell you: Few things excite me as much as hearing/thinking/talking about Christ's resurrection. i used to say "it makes my BRAIN explode!" and its pretty true, but only in a figurative sense. jesus was dead. and then he Stopped Being Dead. he was raised from the dead. he Raised Himself. how insane is that? doctors or magicians didn't bring him back to life. he just decided that his time to be dead was over and he started being alive again. how cool is that?

that being said, all you Really need to know is that Easter is one of my favorite days of the year. every easter morning, my mom turns on the same song and wakes us all up to eat a tasty homemade breakfast. sometimes there is scripture reading or talks about the resurrection. but normally, its just breakfast. we don't really even go to church for easter. this is pretty much our only non-christmas tradition. and the older i get, the more i appreciate it and realize that its a pretty awesome tradition and a pretty awesome song. here, i will share it with you!

Was it a morning like this
When the Son still hid from Jerusalem?
And Mary rose from her bed
To tend the Lord She thought was dead

What is a morning like this,
When Mary walked down from Jerusalem?
And two angels stood at the tomb,
Bearers of news she would hear soon.

Was it an morning like this,
When Peter and John from Jerusalem?
And as they raced for the tomb,
Beneath their feet was there a tune?


Did the grass sing? 
Did the earth rejoice 
To feel you again? 
Over and over like a  
Trumpet underground, 
Did the earth seem to pound:
“He is risen” 
Over and over 
In a never ending round
“He is risen,  Alleluia, Alleluia!”


this song was sung by Sandi Patty probably almost 30 years ago.
its ultra-cheesy and it sounds like it came from the eighties,
but i enjoy it more and more every year and every time i hear it.
does your family have any easter traditions? what are they?


Love and Affection.
Jennifer



PS. go to missionyear.org/donate/jennifermusic
please feel obligated to pledge.

priorities.

I've been thinking a lot about the "bigger picture" lately. Not a ton haha but more than normal. Like, what are my priorities in life. What do I Wish my priorities were and what are they actually. What are my goals. And which of those goals am I working towards? I found this quote this morning and found it really interesting to think about, especially regarding the "what are my priorities and goals" idea.

"The critical question for our generation- and for every generation- is this: if you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"
This is a quote by John Piper. Its found in his book "God is the Gospel".

How crazy is this?? But surely its true for more individuals than we'd like to think. I think that too often we want after "utopia" in heaven because we don't like earth. But shouldn't the goal of our afterlife not be to escape the sorrows of earth but to spend eternity with Jesus?

I'm not sure what to do with this quote, other than share it and hope that whoever reads it takes a good long look at their lives and hopes for the future. Let this not be one of our downfalls!

Love and Affection.
Jennifer


PS. head on over to missionyear.org/donate/jennifermusic
go ahead and feel obligated to pledge.

April Newsletter

Hello everybody! I can’t believe March is already over! It seems that just last week I was saying the same thing about March. The months here seem to just fly by! I am still so thankful to be here and am so appreciative of everyone who has made that happen!

For everyone who was curious: yes this month was Mardi Gras. And Yes, Mardi Gras is my new favorite thing in the world. I attended seven Mardi Gras parades this year, with neighbors and friends, and was thrown SO many beads, medallions, doubloons, stuffed animals and other great prizes: enough to bring home an entire suitcase full of goodies for my friends and family! The things that are tossed to you from parade floats are called “throws”. Just days after Fat Tuesday, we went to the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade where I got just as many throws. It is tradition at the Saint Patrick’s parade to throw the ingredients for Beef and Cabbage Stew, so I went home with a cabbage, onion, potato, peppers and carrots! My team and I are quickly noticing that this city is ALL ABOUT PARADES I am so excited to experience more parades and to see another Carnival season, hopefully next year.

Trinity Christian Community is so busy all the time! I have quickly figured out that they have their hands in about 50 different pies around New Orleans. Between volunteer groups and mission teams, Americorps, after-school program, summer camp, a farmer’s market and the senior center, they have something going on just about everyday. It sometimes is a little chaotic. But I honestly love working at the Center. It’s hard for me to stay away sometimes. Haha! Yoga club is so fun every time we do it, and so are Art Club, Fitness Club and Sports Club. I love every second of working at the Center, as well as growing closer to my coworkers and the neighborhood kids. I have been working with my Americorps friends on Thursdays, getting lots of hard work done! I am SO tired by bedtime but it is pretty rewarding!.

Tuesdays we run Young Life Club, which is pretty much just a youth group. It can be frustrating trying to get 30 restless kids to pay attention and listen to what we have to say, but I trust that the Word will be heard by those who want to listen.

We had a training this month by a man named Jimmy McGee. He had some really cool things to say about the problems faced in urban settings. He pointed out that we tend to look at these problems in a linear fashion: a simple problem with a simple solution. But the problems are not simple, they are extremely complex! It really broke our hearts to hear the statistics that he told us and then put faces on the statistics. Faces of kids we know, we see everyday and we love. Kids that eat our food and laugh at the silly things we say. Having faces and names and relationships to put on a statistic makes things so much more real and I have been praying for them even more fervently.

Most of my team are on what they call a “Daniel Fast”. In Daniel 1, Daniel quits drinking wine and eating meat and all “delicacies”. What does that mean? No meat, no processed grains, no sugar, nothing that isn’t the way the good Lord made it. Pray for them as they are abstaining from food while FEASTING on the Word of God! Its crazy!

I had a really cool moment the other day. We invited a handful of highschoolers to walk with us to get Po’Boys after church. We ended up having a picnic in the backyard with candy and pizza and about eleven extra people cramming into our house. I just really thought to myself, “This is why I’m here!” It was such awesome to have so many people over at our house, eating and laughing and playing games! I hope that it is something that we can start doing every week! It was so fun!

I am loving it SO MUCH here, but I cannot tell a lie and say that I don’t miss home! I am so excited to see my family and friends because I miss them soo much! But I love it here too! It is weird to have such conflicting feelings like that. Please keep my team and I in your prayers. It is very important that we have a strong foundation and support system while we are here. It might be hard to believe because I tell stories about the fun I am having, but Mission Year is a very difficult.

I would like to encourage you guys too! This is not a one-way street, you know! From now on, I will be writing things that inspire me so you can enjoy them too! This month, I was especially inspired by Sufjan Steven’s version of Come Thou Fount. I seriously listened to it on repeat for hours one day while I was working! It was a great song in the first place, but a Banjo just makes it better! I also have been really inspired this month by Rich Mullins. He was a Christian singer-songwriter from the nineties that died a while ago. He wrote “Awesome God”. Everyone knows that song! Besides being in the music industry, he really lived out what I think Mission Year is all about and what I want to have in my life. I encourage you to check out his story and be as inspired by him as I am! The last thing I would like to share with you is the “Adopt-a-Jesus” movie! I just found out about it and I am REALLY excited to see it when I have a spare moment! I just recently got to know the guy who made this movie

I am reeeealllyyy excited because I have already raised over 4,000 dollars! But I still have more than 7,000 dollars that I still need to raise. The money I raise pays for things like my rent, food and utilities and it is enabling me to keep on working at the Center, at Bethune Elementary be here! I urge you to consider pledging money to my Mission Year. Just 20 or 30 dollars a month goes a long way and its automatically doubled this month if [when] you donate! If you would like to donate, you can use a Mission Year envelope that should have come with this newsletter OR go to my blog at www.missionyear.org/blog/jennifermusic. I hope you read my blog, and leave a comment of encouragement! I update it so you can hear stories and read the thoughts that I share. Also, check out www.flickr.com/imalwaysprettyhappy to see pictures of what I’ve been doing and who I’ve been hanging out with lately!