Choose Joy

As the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 draw near I've started to think of how 2012 can be a time when I move forward and grow as a person (hopefully not in size!).

Something that's been on my mind for a while is "Choose Joy." I had been thinking of this slogan and heard it was also an APU slogan for the year, so it just seemed fitting for me to mull it over. What does "Choose Joy" even mean in my life?

I've decided it does not mean "Choose Happiness." It does not mean I am unrealistic positive or that I ignore hurt, negativity, reality, etc. It does not mean everything is going right for me and I am happy as a result. (Although I never mind that scenario ;))

This year I have been the most emotional I've ever been. Yes, we've had a lot of transition and change in our first year of marriage. BUT I think I let those transitions become an excuse for not taking control of my emotions. I started to feel like a monster who's impulse reactions became my only reactions. I started to feel crazy.

In this, I realized I was not choosing joy. I was choosing to dwell in self-pity, frustration... whatever it was... and not moving beyond that into the hope and joy that Jesus gives us.

A life following our Lord is not one that is easy, but it's a good one. It's one full of joy despite all circumstances. It's one where we practice self-control, not to suppress our emotions, but to react respectfully, honorably, and courageously.

So in this new year I am beating it into my head to "Choose Joy." To choose to walk in the joy that Jesus brings us and not dwell in self-destructive thought patterns or practices that lead no where good.

Feel free to join me. :)

With love from Sacramento,

Paige

Do you have any resolutions?? Share them if you do!

Christmas Cheer

My friend Kalie reminded me I haven't blogged in a long time. It's not because nothing's happening around here, but nothing big has come to completion yet. And it's hard for me to get excited/share about things that aren't finished yet... BUT that also keeps people out of the loop. So here's an update, friends :)

House Hunting

Since arriving in Sacramento Jeremy and I have been on the house hunt to buy. We currently are in the process with a house in Roseville (a city about 10 minutes from my parents in Sacramento) we really love. If you know the process of buying a house, it's a complicated one full of legal jargon and back-and-forth conversations. So, I will let you know if we get the house. If not, the search continues! We are hopeful for it.

Job Hunting

I have been on the job hunt since we've moved here as well. I've had an interview with a local Christian university and will post if I get the job :) If not, the search continues! Also hopeful for this job.

Travels & Events

Our season of weekend trips has slowed down as we have had Thanksgiving in LA...

And we took some Christmas card pictures!

I went to Megan Goeman's (now Megan Jessup's) beautiful wedding in Colorado

Below: Elli, Becca, Megan JESSUP!, Erica, Me

Me and the bride getting ready for her big day!!!

Reception time. So happy for Megan and Taylor!

Jeremy and I went with Josh and Traci to Las Vegas. Jeremy and I celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary early (it's January 8th) as he treated me to a gorgeous suite in a newer hotel called the Aria! I was in HEAVEN!

While we were in Vegas we saw Cirque du Soleil "Mystere" and a HILARIOUS and clean comedy magician Mack King who we would recommend!

Our suite:

LOVED this bathtub!

Ridiculous entrance into a lingerie store in the Flamingo. lol!

Slots!

Traci and I looking at the Christmas decorations in the Bellagio or Venetian... I forget which one!

(I never got a picture of all 4 of us! Fail!)

Christmas shopping with Dad and Brooke for my mom's gifts. Great quality time together!!

Pre-Christmas Christmas in Sacramento

Evie opening the skirt, scarf and hair flower I made her.

Chet playing with his new Cars chair

Saying hi to Santa while looking at Christmas lights!

Christmas Lights Crew

Christmas lights. Evie in her new, adorable glasses!

Christmas in LA

Our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs.!

Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas dinner

Our first Christmas card!! (I LOVE Christmas cards. Will always send one out!)

We loved our trips and it's nice to put the luggage away for a while and just be :)

With love from Sacramento,

Paige

Fall Update

So I've been a pretty lame.... err... non-existent blogger since we moved to Sacramento!

I blame my sister... because she was always the one riding me about getting another post up and now that I live 10 minutes from her we get to see each other lots :)

Jeremy and I are doing great. Sacramento has treated us well and we are experiencing the blessing it is to live by family- especially those two little kiddos Evie (4) and Chet (2) that are growing up before our eyes! We couldn't love being near them more.

Jeremy is doing a fantastic job in his new position (see the blog below if you don't know what he does)!! This job suits his strengths and although he puts in a lot of hours and hard work, he finds it very rewarding. We are so thankful for him to find a career he enjoys so much! And can I brag again? He's dang good at it.

I am currently working as an Instructional Aide Sub for an elementary school in Natomas (15 minutes away). I'm a helper in the classroom for the teacher. In January I will start being a regular Sub for the teachers at two schools in Natomas in addition to this Aide sub job. It's great work and hours as I am avidly pursuing getting into Pharmaceutical Sales or Medical Device Sales. I've been meeting with some awesome people in the industry and it's really energized me to get my resume out there and continue to build a network.

We are staying with my wonderful parents and doing some house hunting on the side. We have an offer in on a house but 99% of the houses on the market (including the house we put an offer on) are Short Sales so the process with the bank is long and unpredictable- so I'll let you know if anything ever comes from our offer :) Plus, Jeremy was about the only person in the entire Jennings family who hasn't lived with my parents- it just seemed fitting for him to get a turn!

Side note: We have had the world's BEST experience with our relator Chuck Klein. My aunt Barb used him and love him so we gave him a shot and have not been disappointed in any way. Here's his email Chuck@2468Home.com and phone (916) 872-2717. He's very prompt in replying. So you should move to Sacramento. And buy a house here. And use Chuck. ;)

We have some fun holiday plans! Here are a few:

- Thanksgiving with the Aaron family in Pasadena

- Dec 1 watching Evie and Chet perform in their Community Bible Study Christmas show! (By far one of my FAVORITE perks for being in town!!)

- December 10 I'm in my good friend Megan Goeman's wedding outside of Colorado Springs. I'll be enjoying a great, snowy weekend with friends!

- December 16 weekend Jeremy and I are joining Josh and Traci and some other friends for a weekend in VEGAS!! Woooooo hooooooooooo!!!!!

Then Christmas, New Years, making New Years resolutions we will never keep... the list goes on!

Oh yeah- and our 1 year anniversary on January 8, 2012. Seriously?! How time flies!

I'll get better about updating you, blog. I promise.

With love from Sacramento,

Paige

Officially Moving to Sacramento

Well I can finally post this as an *official* update! Yey!

Jeremy and I are moving to Sacramento!

There was an open spot for a rep position here and we are so excited :) It's with his same company, Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon, Inc. in their Women's Health & Urology division.

If you are confused, thinking, "I thought they were moving to San Jose?" We were. His job was lined up to take the San Jose/South Bay territory. But when the company did restructuring that territory was absorbed by the surrounding ones. We are so thankful for the Sacramento territory coming open at the same time so we had somewhere to go!

Officially his territory goes to Redding, Tahoe, Reno and the surrounding cities of Sacramento.

One of the more popular questions we get is, "How long will you be in Sacramento?" The position Jeremy just got was a promotion so he is no longer an assistant and this is his territory, which means we will probably be here longer than shorter. The nature of sales though is quick paced, fast, and moving. We'd like to ascribe a length of time but really, we don't know and don't care to think hypotheticals. So we could be here a few years or longer or shorter. We will just have to see, won't we?

In our transitional time from Pleasanton to Sac, we will be staying with my parents. My sister and her family moved out on Friday to their new, FAB house, and Jeremy and I brought our first load over on Sunday! They are so gracious to always have open doors!

I am currently packing away our apartment in Pleasanton and on early Friday the U-Haul comes and we are gone!

I love to see where the Lord takes us in life and how we grow and learn from each experience:

- Sacramento, where I grew up, and Pasadena, where Jeremy grew up.

- Azusa, where we met some of our best friends and grew tremendously. We will always think of our time and experiences APU with a smile on our faces!

- El Centro, our first home, where we also met great friends and were shown how to life a life of hospitality. I often think about how I miss El Centro and the small town, welcoming feel.

- Pleasanton, where I learned once again how hard of a worker my husband is and how dedicated he is to providing for our family. Pleasanton became home, too.

- Now Sacramento... can't wait to see what will come here!

With love for the last time from Pleasanton,

Paige

Veggies Made Easy

In my quest for new ways to eat veggies I've found the easiest way (besides eating them raw)! Takes about 12 minutes from fridge to stomach.

For asparagus, zucchini or squash:

Preheat oven to 350ish

Slice zucchini or squash in long, 1/4 inch slices or spears, as shown below:

(P.S. if you don't really like veggies I'd do strips)

Brush on olive oil

Add pepper, salt/garlic salt, and parmesan cheese

Put in oven for about 10 minutes

(If you have a giant squash like I do, I'd do about 12 minutes)

Eat while hot. Cold-supposed-to-be-hot veggies are ick!

Ta da!

I just ate a plate of them. Yummmm :)

With love from Pleasanton,

Paige

What's your favorite easy veggie recipe?? If it's something involving green beans you could be my favorite person... ever.

Missionary Position

Definitely not what you're thinking. Thank God.

So I follow this hilarious, real and encouraging woman who lives as a missionary in Costa Rica and is self-titled "Jamie The Very Worst Missionary". See her blog here.

She gave this challenge to write how you/someone you admire lives a Christian life in a non-egotistical way. How you share Jesus without shoving the Bible in their face. To give your "Missionary Position." Pun intended.

This is what I wrote:

Obviously, I was doing it right. I grew up as a Christian, went to a Christian university, found a Christian guy and dreamed about having Christian babies…

But I had an ego about it. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I was often referred to as an example of what a Christian should look like. Some people wouldn’t appreciate the spotlight – they’d want to rebel and run away, but I loved it. I enjoyed the attention and affirmation I got from my place of importance in my church.

I went into college with my head held high. I figured I’d learn a little from my Bible classes. I’d enjoy sharing the word to “the least of these” as I studied abroad. I made a mental note to fit in a mission trip or two.

Wow, was I humbled. (Aka, I was embarrassed, ashamed, awkward… all of the above.)

First of all, what I learned from my Bible classes is how little I actually know. See, the Sunday School answer put you on the walk of shame here. I quickly learned to shut up.

I went to South Africa and learned that I was going to save no one with my “Romans Road/Come to Jesus” speech. In fact, I envied these people I thought I’d save. They had a deep and rich love for people and for their community. Many of them loved Jesus. They shared everything with me. And I stood there dumfounded and snapped some pictures of them and their houses.

And on my mission trip to Egypt, I saw people marked with the symbol of Christianity in their clothes, hairstyles, ID cards and wrists. They stand boldly in the presence of persecution from their neighbors. My mission to save and teach became a mission to encourage, love and mainly learn.

Coming out of college, I learned is that I was doing this whole thing wrong. Oh, plus lots of other stuff that gets you a degree.

I also came out of college with a guy.

And not just a guy. A good one. One of those guys that you don’t think you’ll actually get in life when you’re dating those other guys that are obviously not The One.

I learned so much from him in this time of being broken. And now that I’m married to him, the lessons are never ending.

See, he approaches life with humility. He doesn’t flaunt his achievements or brag about his talents. He doesn’t update his statuses to sound funny or change his profile picture to make him look cool. What? I don’t do that either…

He just lives life. He works really, really hard. He finds good people, whether or not they’re his age or tax bracket or race or religion… he finds them. He hangs out with them and buys them a beer and is an actual friend with an actual friend’s agenda: nothing.

And over time when they get to know him, they’ll probably find out he’s a Christian. Because when they’re stuffed in our little apartment eating dinner in our dining room/office/laundry room, they’ll see his bookshelf and ask him what’s up with all the Jesus books. Or when they’re going through a hard time they’ll call him, because Christian or not, when people are going through painful times, they appreciate a listening ear and someone who actually cares.

What I’ve learned the most from him is how to love people without an agenda. How to work hard when no one is looking. To love anyone and everyone, throwing aside the perception it gives to onlookers.

A passage of scripture that I love but that freaks the crap out of me is where the Lord sorts out who truly loved him and those who didn’t. My prayer is that I can stand in the sheep’s line right behind my husband, dumbfounded, asking the Lord this question:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

With love from Pleasanton,

Paige

Forgetting God... oops!

[edited September 11, 2011]

This is written in thought of my fellow APUers who may be feeling some of these same things.

Since the end of my freshman year of college something has been noticeably different with my Christianity. In sooo many ways I have grown and am so grateful for my experience. But in many ways I became a skeptic, but not the good kind. Not the kind you want to be.

Something about higher Biblical education that is great is you get to know Christianity in a way that was hidden from you in church. Lies you are told week after week in the mainstream are unveiled. After dissecting them all you are left with a few rich nuggets of truths surrounded by piles and piles of confusion. You are told it will always be this way, and you learn to live Christianity knowing only for certain a few things, and you treasure and love those nuggets of truth close to your heart.

You also read the Bible totally differently. Intellectually, without the fear of finding something you don't like. Rosy glasses off and see it for what it is. Inspired. Amazing. Rich. Deep. Beautiful. Made by man to reflect our awesome God. I have a profound respect for the Bible, for the interwoven stories of Christians just like you and me who chose to live a God honoring life, or don’t and reap the consequences.

The part that is negative, I viewed the Bible also as too complicated. Too interwoven with imagery I wouldn’t understand without countless commentaries, dictionaries, professors and theologians by my side. I refused to read the Bible on my own, seeing it as pointless unless I purchased required material to go alongside my study. I no longer wanted to make stupid assumptions as I had before. Make “Christaneese” generalizations and see God for who I saw him to be before. I didn’t want to make stupid mistakes. Be childish. Be naïve again. I wanted to be educated. Smart. Tactful. Intellectual. Reasonable.

Instead of reading the Bible, I read people who read the Bible. I poured into Christian authors who would share Biblical truths about life and the Bible they’ve learned. It was the shortcut I needed to fuel my spiritual fire. I needed truths, but I couldn’t trust the Bible to just tell me them. I needed a decoder, and Christian authors were that for me.

I prayed a ton. Prayer seems safe, uncomplicated and not very theologically problematic. It’s my link to God, my life source. It was the one thing I could depend on being consistent in my spirituality and man on man did I enjoy this. But in prayer I felt that pit-of-your-stomach feeling when you know something is a little off. Something was missing but I was too afraid the answer was, “Read the Bible” and I didn’t want to find that out.

The problems with my approach came to notice in my spiritual conversations with Jeremy. We’ve been getting up earlier in the morning to read the Bible and relax before he heads off to work. We decided it would be a good way to start off our days, focused and energized. Although in my mind I knew this would be a good idea, I dreaded it. Not the waking up early, but reading the Bible. I dreaded having to make stupid assumptions off of a book I barely know the context to and make those lessons I just made up apply to my life. It seemed so… basic and flawed. So what I did before I went to college. We needed to do it differently now.

But we would read, he would talk and I wouldn’t contribute at all. I’d pretend it was because I didn’t understand, but really I didn’t even allow myself to get to a point of understanding. I was shut off to listening to the Bible, too tired of being unequipped of understanding it. It’s just easier to not read it.

Last week Jeremy and I were at my home church in Sacramento and my dad was preaching. He was so passionate. We were praying over students going off to high school the next day, and he started crying for the students who had unsaved parents. Begging the Lord to reveal himself through these students, to make them missionaries in their homes for the purpose of showing the Lord to their families.

It was on the car ride home to Pleasanton when I started realizing what was missing. Somewhere in on West Campus, in Crestview or in my room, I had lost an essential nugget to living a lasting Christian relationship... was it that I didn't believe? Did I not believe "enough"? Why did I lack the passion my dad had, and I once had, to save souls?

I got an email from a good friend today describing her current experiences coming out of APU (knowing none of my own) and it all clicked. This is what happened. This is what I couldn't put into words.

" We have gotten lost in our heads I think... it has been such a gift to learn how to read scripture, and study it, and what not. But along the way, we forgot that God is God. He is ruler of all. That we do not understand his ways, and that intimacy with him, is what he longs for, and what is ultimately fulfilling and good. He has drawn us back to himself. We are having to reshape our perspectives in a new development of humility and submission."

And that is a perfect, perfect description of what happened and is happening with me.

I forgot God is God. And that he is the ruler of all. I forgot how BIG God is when I tried to dissect and understand him. That I won't understand his ways- ever. And the only true fulfillment and good can come from intimacy with him.

He is drawing me back to him. I am having to reshape my perspective in a new development of humility and submission. I need to open my Bible and hack my way through scriptures. Because I am equipped. You are equipped. And the Lord will reveal himself to ALL who seek him!

With love from Pleasanton,

Paige