Tuesday, January 13, 2009

"Cruise 4 Chicks" - 2009

Hello All!

This weekend, Shelley and I had the privilege of ministering together at our 1st annual "Cruise 4 Chicks" to the Bahamas. Boy - ministry can sure be tough sometimes! :)

"Cruise 4 Chicks" was an idea that God placed on the heart of Michele Harkins, a travel agent who attended our "Church 4 Chicks" in Atlanta. She did such an amazing job organizing this event! She truly is gifted in what she does. I really believe that God is going to use this annual cruise to reach more and more women as word gets out about how awesome it was.Shelley was the speaker for the event, and I led the praise and worship.
We had a 2-hour session together each night, and God really used Shelley to speak not only to the ladies' hearts, but to mine as well. If you are just tuning into this blog, Shelley is my cousin and she is a speaker/Bible teacher and author. She truly has a gift for communicating the truth of God's Word, and I believe that God is going to use her in some big ways in the future! If you are interested in having her speak for your conference or event, you can check her out at www.shelleyhendrix.com.

We had a sweet time with the ladies and it was so cool to be out in the middle of the ocean praising God together. We had some good times outside of the sessions which included playing games, dancing and my favorite - a video scavenger hunt that was hilarious to watch on our last evening! I got to know a precious group of ladies that sat at my dinner table each night.From left to right...Sarah, Liz, Me, Melissa, Sabrina, Barbara

We had a good time laughing together and were not shy about ordering multiple dinner items and desserts from the menu. I mean, come on - how often can you order as much as you want when you go to dinner? We wanted to try everything!
During each day, we were given free time to do whatever we wanted. Shell and I had a blast hanging out together. Our first full day, we went to the island of Nassau in the Bahamas. We got to ride a horse-driven buggy through the streets of Nassau and were dropped off at the beach where we laid out in the sun for awhile. We later took a boat ride over to Paradise Island and back.
Our second day, we went to Royal Carribean's private island, Coco Cay. The weather was absolutely perfect! I wish I was still there! We laid out on the beach for a few hours, then went on waverunners out in the crystal clear waters. We could see the bottom of the ocean and even spotted a ginormous starfish! That was one of the most fun days I've ever had!
I can't wait until our 2nd "Cruise 4 Chicks". We already have it scheduled for September, 2010, so if you are a female, start saving your money now so that you can join us! This event is going to get bigger and better each year! In fact, if you want to be on the mailing list for info on this future event, please leave a comment on the blog and I'll be happy to keep you informed!

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Happy New Year!

Wow! What a year 2008 has been! As I think back to this time last year, I had no idea that God was going to be calling me to move to Atlanta! So many things have changed in 2008, and God has blessed me with so much! I can't wait to see what He does in 2009!

God has already begun doing heart surgery in me the past few days of this new year. I know that it probably seems that I've got it all together, and most of the time I would prefer that people thought that about me. However, the truth is that I SO DO NOT have it all together. As much as God has blessed me in the past year, and as much as I love Christmastime, this holiday season had it's painful moments for me.

There are some deep longings of my heart that have yet to be fulfilled, and I began focusing on those things a lot towards the end of the year. I found myself thinking, "If I could just have this or that, then my life would be complete." That kind of desperation is a dangerous place to be in, because Satan knows that is where I am most vulnerable. He used some circumstances to bring out more thoughts of rejection, lonliness and inadequacy in me.

Yes - desperation can cause us to do and think stupid things. However, desperation can also be a gift. If geared properly, it can be turned into a desperation for God. I began to think, "What if those things I so deeply long for never happen for me?". Do I want to go through life miserable because of it? NO WAY!!! I want to live the ABUNDANT life that God sent His Son in order for me to have. I want to learn to be content right where God has placed me.

God has said to my spirit the last few days, "Jenifer, allow ME to fill the deepest longings of your heart. Take your focus off of those things and put that focus on Me." Instead of worrying about what I don't have, I want to spend this new year enjoying the many blessings that God has already given me. I want to focus on becoming more like Christ. I want to become the kind of woman that the Godly man I am looking for would want to marry. I want to become the kind of friend to others that I would want them to be to me. More than anything, I want to be so desperately in LOVE with JESUS!!! I want 2009 to be a year full of getting to know my sweet Savior more and more!

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008 - My trip to Florida

Hey Everybody!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with your families! I am just now getting to update you on the past few weeks about my trip to FL. We had a very special Christmas gift this year. My sister, Joy had her baby boy, Joel Jackson Huynh on Dec. 12th. I was unable to be there because I was singing at my church's Christmas festival that weekend. However, I drove down to FL as soon as I could to see him! He was so tiny!

Not only was I looking forward to seeing this precious baby boy, but I was also so happy to see my sis, Jane. I was of course also happy to see Joy, but I had seen her a few times since I had moved. I had not seen Jane since her wedding in July! I was going through some serious sister withdrawals! It was great to have the 3 J's FINALLY all together again!


Our family had a great Christmas, and we all had fun playing with Riley and Joel. I even did a little photo shoot of them in stockings! :)



Towards the end of my 2 weeks in Florida, my "BCF", Shelley, her son Jackson and my Aunt Beth came down to visit. I had so much fun hanging out with Shell in my hometown going to the beach, the St Pete Pier and Busch Gardens.


The weather was just perfect those last few days and was so nice to enjoy before getting back to the frigid weather in Atlanta! I definitely miss the sunny warm weather, but I'm looking forward to being back in it next week when we leave for our 1st annual "Cruise 4 Chicks"! (more details about that later...)