New Season

So, it has been over a year since my last post, I'm disappointed in myself. Oh well, today is a new day. Speaking of a new day I plan on bringing more discipline to my life this summer.

I have set some fun goals of the summer: Road biking, Rowing, and Raw food.

I have decided to ride in the Hotter than Hell event in August. Which is a hundred mile bike ride in a hundred degree heat. Also, this summer, Anna and I are going to give rowing a try. We are signing up to take an intro course at the Boathouse in June.. whoo hoo!!! Along with all of the fun activities I have decided to live solely on raw fruits, veggies and water. I have been talking with Mike who is a rad dietitian at the Refuge, getting some pointers on my diet. He has been so much help in everything! I'm setting a goal for two weeks (but really i want to keep it going all through summer!). I'm so stoked!!! I have wanted to do all of these things for the last few years... and now I'm doing them! So exciting! Maybe i should have done them one at a time... but oh well! At least i'm trying them now! So.. i'm going to start blogging about my journey! Get excited folks! :)

now time for sleep!

with anticipation

When i rose this morning, i glanced out the window and i saw the clouds. I ran eagerly outside where my nose was met with the aroma of rain. The clouds looked as if they were on the verge of explosion. Though fearsome, this rain has been long awaited. When the downpour begins i will be outside dancing. I long to feel the refreshing water on my skin once again. I have begin to doubt that rain still existed, today i have been filled with hope. I know it will begin soon. Until then I am waiting, hoping, and breathing in the aroma. It’s coming soon i can feel it. Come rain come. Wash this all away, cleanse me. Please bring life in the areas that have seemed asleep or dying. I am waiting and watching the sky.

Thankfulness

So, today as i was looking around at Bridgeway... I was floored. I love everyone there. I really have some of the most amazing people as my close friends. When i say friends i mean it. People that i would and do lay down my life for. I love them. The world would be such a sad place without each one of them around. I am so blessed to know these people and to have such an amazing community... people that i can live life with. They have seen me crazy-happy and crazy-sad. They have seen me in my most generous of moments and they have seen me at my ugliest.. and they still love me.
Today we talked about worship.. The actual act of worshipping a God who created the mountains, tree tops, ocean and sunsets! The God who loved us enough to experience this world, broken due to our sinful actions. Then He died, a selfless death so that we may truly live. It amazes me... I fell in love with this God over 20 years ago.. and this story never gets old... it always brings tears to my eyes. As it did this morning. While Lance was talking, It was amazing to hear my friends cheer, clap, and yell “Amen,” while truth was being proclaimed. Then we sang with beautiful harmonies and danced unto the Lord.
I began to look around and just praise God. My whole life I have never felt as loved and love so many people. I dearly love them, with all of me. A bittersweet feeling swept over me as i realized that this is just a season... soon probably one by one people will begin to leave, due to the fact that we are for the most part being sent out. This kingdom and and this Church should be ever changing!! This building will not be the same... new people will join and God will be in it... it just won’t be the same. Yet I get excited for several reasons. We are being sent out to bring this love that we have for each other and for our God for others to taste and enjoy! We are being sent out to make more of this happen, to give hope and love to places that don’t have it! I’m also excited to think of the day when we will all be together again.. in a place with no more pain. Let me just say, the joy that will be present with us could not possibly be measured, as we together can see our God and Savior face to face... To see the face of Love we have been following throughout our lives,... then to experience it together!!! Yay!!! I’m sad to think about the ending of this amazing season... so i won’t think of it as an ending... but the continuation of a beautiful story!! Yay!! A story that leads to the reign of a glorious mighty King!

I love this body... I love this season... I love the you! thanks for reading!

Without

i’m currently sitting without electricity... in the middle of an ice storm... journaling by candle light ... just like many of the greats before me:
Charles Dickens, Homer, Augustine, Paul, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Emily Bronte, Shakespeare, Ulysses S. Grant, Anne Frank, Christopher Columbus, Lewis Clark, Harriet Tubman, Sacajawea, Martin Luther, Jane Austin, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Napoleon Bonaparte not dynamite, Edgar Allen Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ben Franklin, the one who brought us out of the dark ages, literally,... and now jenna frank. The main difference... I’m using my mac, not a piece of paper and feather with ink.


we have so much here.... i just keep thinking about the numerous people all over the earth who do not have electricity everyday... in the cold. God provides for them just fine.. here in the U.S. we get power outages and we literally freak out. when the power goes out. every one starts worrying, it really makes me sick.. we worry about so much here. I have so many friends that have lived in very extreme conditions, in cold and rain, all with out electricity every day. They have all made it just fine. Here we freak... what are we going to do with out our microwave?! What are we going to do entertain ourselves... we need to watch TV all night long so that we will know if something bad is about to happen to us.

I dunno maybe i am a little crazy... but I can’t help picturing the God of the universe... the one who formed the world into existence, who put the stars in their place... who created the heavens and earth... and the same God that numbers the hairs on our very head... i cannot help but picture Him looking down and us and just asking us ever so lovingly.... children... why do you fear? Do you not see the birds and how i care for them in this mess... and i love you soo much and care for you! I see the power lines, and i know the cold... I see the trees and the ice... and i have not forgotten you. I am the same God who provides manna from heaven. I am the same God who provides a fiery pillar at night, to guide your path. I am the same God who parts seas, calm waters, turns water into wine. I am the one who makes burning bushes speak andI turn servants into kings, i will take care of you.So tonight, right now, rest.... be thankful for what i have given you... i have provided you so many comforts and you just fill your day with them. You also fill your day worrying about how you can get more or keep what you have... don’t you know that you can live with so much less... with so much more simplicity and you can live a full and happy life. Happiness isn’t found in electricity or or in warmth... It isn’t found in microwave dinners and movies and television or on a snuggly couch. It isn’t found in a cup of hot chocolate or in a fire place. It is found in me... please know me... I’m vying for your attention. I will make your life full of joy and adventure...

I’m sorry God for for filling my days with other things... I wish a part of me could always live with out electricity ... maybe i would focus on You more... maybe You would be the center of day every day ... i long for You to be there. but then i have a feeling that it will take a lot more than the lack of electricity to cure the idoltry of things in our hearts. I want You in the center of my heart. I have a feeling that i would just find something else to fill my time and my heart, if we just took away electricity. My heart needs to be changed. i’m afraid that i would just fill my days with other things besides You. i just long for You to be the center of everything... i loveYou more than anything. i want You desperately to be my everything. I want to changed. I want to really live. I am just trying to live this life in a way that will bring You the most glory. Please teach me. I’m trying to listen and obey.

Just a Little of This and a Little of That.

**** Disclaimer... this whole post is just a bunch of writing about me... It kinda makes me uncomfortable to post something that is really only about me.... but I am. thank you for your time. :) *******


Hi my name is Jenna.

I tend to be kinda silly

I like to laugh, whenever possible

I love color.

My students say that i am “earthy” or “granola”

I love being outside.

I love people.

they make me, laugh!... and sometimes cry.

I love my family ( both blood and adopted)

My boss says that i “dance to beat of my own drum.”

People have called me crazy.

I don’t mind.

I don’t think that little girl that i once was... has ever really gone away... I play with her daily.

I love to ride my bike.

I like to feel the wind the blow my hair around.

I still love playing dress up.

I love to run about in skirts.

I still dream.

and hold on to hope.

i believe in change.

I am currently watching one of the worlds best singer-song-writers.

I am fortunate that she happens to be my best friend.

I think that my mom is the most beautiful person in the world.

I’m sad of some of my descisions in life.

yet glad that I serve a God who takes care of me.

I like seeing people laugh and smile.

I love to surround myself with people that are passionate about things.

I think maybe a part of me wants them to rub off on me.

I think that i now prefer tea to coffee.

but hot chocolate to both

i like fires

and soup.

I like to consider myself a good dancer.. despite what others say.

I am in love.

I tell Him several times a day.

i am certain that i am friends with the most beautiful people in the world.

I am still consistantly astonished when i do something well... like doing hair.

I want to be more well rounded.

I love life.

i love adventure.

I think that i have teared up 3.5 times while writing this.

I’m tired of people trying to set me up.

I am happy. :)

More than anything else i wish to have Jesus change my heart daily.

He makes life worth living. :)

I want to give more.

I like to swing on swing sets.

I’m tired of owning things,

and writing about myself... there are better things to write i’m sure. :)

Ha ha... people have asked me if i am going to close out this blog... I'm not... I have just been taking a break. God has been doing a lot of changes in my heart and mind. Every time i have began to blog... i have just felt overwhelmed.. there is so much i want to post about... so i promise to post in the next few days.. much love to you!

Yes... interpretive dancing was involved.

Life has been crazy... I have just spent the last few weeks in Santa Monica. I have had some really funny experiences. I always tend to find myself in the most random and hilarious situations.. I'm not sure how these experiences find me... but they do, and rather consistently i might add. I love them they make life interesting. Maybe i'll share some stories later. I don't know if writing them down can do them justice... you may need the whole communicating experience... hand motions, impersonations, vocal inflection, and facial expressions to do the stories justice. I can however some up this trip as a growing process... God used it to stretch me (ha ha.. no pun intended). I feel as if this trip changed me in many ways... just a few days away from home and all things familiar... relying on God, these things change a person. Whenever one is completely relying on Him, He tends to change us, for we are closer with Him. When He comes around things change. I'm thankful for that. I desire to be changed. So now I'm faced with the reality that at home God wants me to be that reliant on Him. It is so easy to put life on autopilot and just go about living, waiting for the next event. I desire to combat this. I want to live passionately in the present, relying on Him to guide my steps, and conversations...
this is all i have for now... the coffee shop is kicking me out. until next time... I promise to write more frequently.
Jenna