|
| My room actually resembles a clean space! I mean, you can actually see the floor! I can walk without trip...I might even be able to dance a jig in front of my closet. Of course, I still have to unpack and reorganize everything (yay for leftover moving boxes to sort with!) but that'll prolly come after rearranging my room. It might be easier to move my heavier pieces of furniture (everything but my $30 Wal-Mart entertainment center, Wal-Mart styrofoam ball chair thing, foot rest thingy, and laundry baskets) without all their stuff on them. So far I have cleared out two and a half tall kitchen bags full of stuff and one box full of books for the church garage sale on October 6th at 917 S Main St (shameless plug, I know) and then five bags of garbage which won't be going to the church garage sale...just my garbage can. I think I might have to wait till next week to throw the rest of it out so that my parents can put stuff in our garbage can too. Yay for being ruthless with the stuff that I don't wear/use anymore or in a while. There's a pretty new bedroom set that I want to get too. It's Cherry, has a sleigh bed, a dresser, and a nightstand (that's all I wanted anyway) all for about $606  Oh well. That'll come after I save up for the iPod I want...and cool! The iPod I want is now $100 less! Yay! As for stuff you readers out there might actually care about? I've been praying that God shows me how He sees me. I keep being repulsed when I look in the mirror. I see nothing beautiful in this face or this five-foot-four mound of fat called my body. I know that's got to change. I keep talking about getting up and getting a pass to go swimming and work out, that still hasn't happened. To add to all this image crap, I found a gray hair at work on Monday. I was very unsettled about that. Anyone want to help me dye my hair? I still love my job. I had one of the one-year-olds sitting on my lap and I was wiggling my fingers at him, saying "I'm gonna tickle you. Tickle, tickle, tickle." He got this really cute little dimpled grin on his face and wiggled his fingers back at me going "tickle, tickle, tickle" back. It was very cute. One of the other kids, I joke about calling him my "Jealous" because he has a habit of pouting when other kids sitting in my lap. I looked at him and said, "Where's my Jealous?" He got a really big grin on his face and patted his tummy with both of his hands as if to say, "Right here!" Yeah. I love my job. Tomorrow I get paid to watch them take swim lessons for two hours. Stinking awesome. As for my birthday this year, it definitely had to be one of the best ones ever. I won tickets and meet-n-greet passes to the Projekt Revolution tour the Monday before it. The center was closed on Monday and it was Labor Day so I got paid to sit at a concert. Heck yes! A stinking good concert too. I was there with some friends (see albums) that are pretty cool ;) so it was a great day. On Wednesday (the 5th, my actual birthday), I walked into the center and got a couple Happy Birthday wishes from parents and staff. My boss brought in a double layer, double chocolate cake for me *yum-o*! I went to lunch with my mom and when I came back all of the kindergarteners came up to me and gave me hugs telling my happy birthday. When I went out to get snack later, they (without being prompted by their teacher) sang happy birthday to me. Later I went out to Old C's with a bunch of friends and got sung to their by both the whole restaurant and a group called, Longs Peak Chorus (?, who also sang a song called Side by Side to me.). After that I went up to Fort Collins with Jordan and Draton, and didn't get home till four in the morning. Talk about a birthday celebration. Oh. Man. So yeah. | | |
| 10 April 2007 Dear Friends, About this time last year, I was making plans to head out to Myrtle Beach, SC with Campus Crusade for Christ. What a summer that was! I felt like I really learned a lot, about me, about my faith. Primarily, I learned how to rely on God. It was a very hard summer for me because I quit smoking for the third time. I finally realized that it was smoking that was holding me back from my Jesus. I decided that it was time for that to be done. I am pretty sure that for about the next month I was not a very nice person to be around. I learned that I loved to be treated like royalty. I was really taught by the guys there how I, as a woman of God and a sister in Christ, deserved to be treated and it was quite different than what I had experienced in the club scene in Denver. It really was quite the life changing summer. It was through one of the leaders that I first heard about Campus Missions 2007 at the BEXCO Convention Center in Busan, South Korea. It is a week long (June 30th through July 6th) international conference that will train the attending students on how to come alongside existing ministries and provide support for them. Not only will it train us how to support existing ministries, we will also receive training in launching our own ministries at campuses that have not before been reached with the Good News. Thirdly, it will encourage us to grow more in our faith and to learn more about what Jesus means to us. It will be an opportunity to learn about other cultures around the globe. They are anticipating upwards of 15,000 students from across the world to be in attendance. (As of today, there are roughly 18,000 students and staff signed up to attend this conference.) If you would like to look at the website and dig around a little more, you can access their website at http://www.cm2007.net and I cannot wait to report back to you with how it impacted me! The Korean Campus Crusade for Christ has graciously offered to cover all costs (food, housing, and most travel expenses) except for $100 which would be all I would have to pay for the conference itself. Now, the traveling expense that the Korean Campus Crusade for Christ is not going to be covering is the cost of airline tickets from Denver to South Korea. I will be traveling with a group from Denver and our anticipated cost for travel would be $1,800. Altogether, I would need to raise a total of $1,900 for traveling costs and conference fees. This is where you come in. I am hoping to be able to raise the money by June 25th at the latest. As with my previous support letter, if you are not able to contribute financially at this time, I would greatly appreciate your prayer support as I will be traveling and learning. I would ask that you pray for the following things: 1) that God would continue to reveal Himself to me as I continue to learn about Him; 2) that God would bless the words of the speakers and leaders of the conference; 3) that I would be protected as I travel from Denver to Busan and back; and 4) that God would be softening the hearts of the people that I will be affecting for Him as a result of this conference. I am so very excited to see what God has in mind for me both during this trip, and for the rest of my life. In Him, Jessica D. Houwen
| | |
| Life is ho hum, but Jesus rocks so that evens things out. I hate being single and I hate the fact that I have never been on a date. It has become especially hard recently with the amount of friends that are engaged, married, and/or parents. I feel like I am behind. Waaaay behind. And out of the loop. I find myself sitting in groupings going, I wish Person X was here and then I wouldn’t be the only single person in here. I have been trying to look on the bright side of being single, trying to be optimistic about it but…man, it seems like it has been getting harder and harder with each passing day lately. What is this frustration, pain, and anger (sometimes) supposed to teach me, God? I’m SO done now. I love my job. I don’t know how it could get any better than this job that I have right now. Running around after children ten hours a day doesn’t count as work. The thing that makes it hard is when you get called mommy by a two year old because he’s there 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. Or when all breaks loose in a four year old’s mind because daddy left and the poor kid isn’t sure that dad is going to come back. It’s even more fun when the parents arrive later than the kid is used to because now you have a crying child who is almost one hundred percent convinced that mommy/daddy is not going to come back for them. As much as I love working in a daycare, my children will not be put in one. I see too many parents who stick their children in daycare for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week for x reason. Half the time, I just want to say, “Give me your child, I’ll love them more than you do. Go live your life as if they don’t exist, you do already.” At the same time, I know that would just be an easy way out for them and they would stand to learn nothing from their actions but their child might be in such a better place. It’s hard to love the children, think you could be a better parent than their own, and still show respect to those parents. (Understand: Not all parents fit under this category. Unfortunately, more and more are.) This summer…I’ll be taking 16 credits; ten on campus, and six online. Spanish, English, Math, Humanities, and Psychology. (If all works out well.) In the middle of 16 credits, I will be going to South Korea for a week for a Campus Missions Conference with Campus Crusade. I’m excited to see what God has in store there. Right now I’m listening to the CMT Crossroads with Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby. Wow. Talk about talented musicians. I don’t think my hands can move as fast. Amazing, wow. And Jessica’s musical likings just got a little more eclectic. (Okay, so I’ve liked them both but really sitting down and listening to it…yeah, like it.) School is really going well. Apparently, taking a semester off was a wise thing to do. I am currently at 3 As and a C but that C is a 76% and can come up easily to a B…maybe even to an A…all I need is an 89.5 to get an A. It’s Spring Break right now, and do I get a day off? Nope. Working 3 days this week, touring CSU on Thursday, and doing schoolwork in the spare time that I have. So that’s me for now. Night. 
Veni Domine Iesu
Salvador Dali | | |
| I have the opportunity to go to South Korea from June 30th to July 5th for a conference with Crusade. Pray with me about it. The deadline to apply is March 31st. I've sorta started the application but I have not completed it, nor submitted it. I really want to go but I'm looking at around $2500 or so to raise...maybe closer to $3500...hopefully I can go, but it's up to God and my finances. Ciao! | | |
| Hi Hi I'm Jessica I love Jesus I'm a Dr. Pepper-aholic I have a blog in progress I'm alive I quit Sears I love my daycare I miss project people All for now BYE! | | |
|
