whirlwind.

So it has been quite a while since I last updated you on my life. I don't even know where to begin really. Since I last wrote on here I have turned 22, added 62 new girls to my sorority, started my last semester of college, started working regular hours at the Dean's office, became team leader for my YoungLife team, started student staff with YoungLife, developed my topic for my senior capstone, started volunteering at a soup kitchen, went to the beach in North Carolina, pierced my second hole in my ears, went to a Ben Rector concert in Athens, and finally got to spend time visiting with my mom. You see now why there hasn't been much time for updates...BUT, never fear, i'll give you the highlights!

"..I have turned 22..."

This year my birthday fell on the first day of spirit week. If you have never lived in a college town the words "spirit week" and "rush" probably mean nothing to you, however if you have ever had the pleasure of  experiencing a college town at the beginning of fall semester, you may have an idea of what I am about to tell you. Spirit week is a week long preparation process for rush, which is the process of getting new girls in your sorority. Rather than bore you with details or even try to explain the happenings of spirit and rush week I will put it like this, it is the most fun you never want to have again. So I spent my birthday in a room with about 80 other girls. There were times it was boring and times it was frustrating but for the most part it was a lot of fun and I felt EXTREMELY loved and appreciated. And on the plus side I got this cake and more people sang Happy Birthday at once to me than ever before! So that was cool! Oh yeah, and here is a picture of the new pledge class we got!

"...became team leader for my YoungLife team..."

One of the many blessing of staying here another year in this wonderful town is that I get another year of doing YoungLife at Gatewood High School. This year looks a little different, however. I have the great honor and privilege of getting to lead my team, alongside Lucy, another leader at Gatewood. I was pretty apprehensive about being a team leader this year just because of knowing my own weaknesses and thinking that I needed to live up to some standard that only I, had set for myself. But, as always, the Lord is sovereign and has completely shattered any doubts that I had about leading other leaders.  There is no other explanation for the changes I have seen in myself other than Jesus. I have found myself thinking of others and the team as a whole before myself and I have been able to experience more grace and patience than I ever have before. And all the glory be to God because I can humbly say that those qualities are completely from Him. I'm not that good of a person on my own. So, its been an amazing ride so far. One of the coolest things is learning things from the people you are trying to lead yourself. When I say it is an honor and privilege to lead this team, I really mean it. They are some of the most amazing, passionate, talented, and loving people I know and I love them so very much. 

"...developed my topic for my senior capstone, started volunteering at a soup kitchen..."

These two kind of go hand in hand. As a rhetoric major we have a thing called senior capstone, which is  basically a long paper and presentation applying what we have learned over the past few years to something in real life. So, I am in this service learning class this semester and we started working in a local soup kitchen. I was excited to jump in and volunteer because I thought it was going to be a really cool experience. What I did not think about it being was something that would tug on my heartstrings so much. There are people of all ages, from babies to 80 year olds, some homeless, some needing a hot meal, and still some just hungry for a conversation with someone that will listen. This is a major operation that is all lead by a fearless leader named Ms. Ann. She is such a delight with more charisma than I have seen in someone in a long time. She started this soup kitchen a couple of years ago and was only feeding 17 people and now it has grown to feed around 400 people every Tuesday from 11a.m.-1p.m. So, now, enter my senior capstone. I have decided that this is something that I wanted to involve myself further by studying the communication in a place like a soup kitchen. I'm looking at how communication is an inherent need as humans so even in groups of people that are marginalized in society, they will still form communities in places like soup kitchens. Basically, I'm going to talk about how people can't not communicate. I think it will be cool. 

"...went to the beach in North Carolina..."

Over Labor Day we have our annual YoungLife leader retreat at the beach. It is loads of fun getting to hang out, play games, and bask in the sun all day together. It is always so good for my soul and good for relationships in our community. This year I was incredibly grateful to have been able to share with all the leaders in my area something that the Lord had really been teaching me about over the summer and at the beginning of the semester. I got to share 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 about believers being one body in Christ and how one part can never say to another "I don't need you". The Lord really imparted so many wonderful things to me during this talk but one of my favorite thing I think that I learned is that we can never begin to love one another the way we are called to until we realize that we are one body and we desperately need one another for the body to function properly. I think this goes not just for ministry either, it goes for communities of followers of Jesus, in general.

"...pierced my second hole in my ears, went to a Ben Rector concert in Athens..."

There's not a whole lot to say about either of these except for they were both extremely FUN! 

Here are the pictures to prove it. 

And by the way, if you dont know who Ben Rector is, you need to youtube him as soon as you get done reading this...not kidding. He is phenomenal. 

"...and finally got to spend time visiting with my mom..."

My mom lives in Louisiana. I live here. There's about an 11 hour difference meaning I don't get to see her too often, but when I do it is, without a doubt, so wonderful. I like her coming to Milledgeville because she gets to meet all of the awesome people that I spend day in and day out with and they get to see where I get so much of my personality from. And it is always a plus when I don't have to cook for myself...and it tastes a lot better. During this visit we got to take a trip to Macon, she cooked for a bunch of my friends after church, got to spend some quality time with my best friend, Amanda, did a little seamstress work, and got to see where Amanda was getting married the next weekend. All in all I would call her visit a SUCCESS!

Man, that was exhausting. I'm sure it was exhausting to read as well. How about you just relax a little preview of Ben Rector live from his concert at the Georgia Theatre? Sorry its a little shaky, I was having a hard time not dancing my pants off!

TTFN,

Jessica