My Favorite Gift

My mom always asks us to make a Christmas list. This year, I really wanted an iphone, and I didn’t care much about anything else on my list. And yesterday morning, my Christmas dreams came true! On the way to church with my family, my mother dubbed me the “most excited about a gift,” which is an unofficial title I’ve never before been awarded! So needless to say, the iphone is a favorite. But even with the months of anticipation leading up to the unwrapping of my iphone, another gift has given it a run for its money.

My grandmother made each of us grandchildren a quilt this year. Each is different, customized to suit each recipient. My quilt is, as expected, fancy and feminine, so I immediately knew my grandmother had hit the nail on the head. But a closer look revealed just how amazingly appropriate for me is the quilt my grandmama so carefully crafted. For each quilt, my grandmother selected Bible verses especially intended for each of us, and on mine is monogrammed Colossians 1:9-12.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

To Grandmama’s joyful surprise, these are a few of the verses God laid on my heart to commit to memory this semester. Grandmama later told me that she’s been praying these verses for my cousins and me daily for years. Once again, I feel that the favor God has bestowed on my life is a direct result of the faithful prayers and faithful lives of my grandparents.

This very special present reminds me of what I have come to realize is the greatest gift (other than Jesus, of course) that I enjoy year after year. It’s the gift of a loving, godly family (on both my dad's and my mom's sides), who celebrates the birth of Christ together. Through silly Christmas games where we use an acrostic to describe the attributes of God, or through homemade costumes and acting out the nativity, or even singing and acting out “The 12 Days of Christmas”—my family loves God and loves each other. I am beyond blessed to be a Herrod.

How funny is it that I share a name with some of the most evil men in history (granted, someone apparently altered the spelling by adding an “r” at some point), yet my family heritage is so godly! What a picture of redemption! I am honored to bear the name “Herrod”—because in that name, I am reminded of Gen. 50:20. What is intended for evil, God intends for good. Surely he has shown love to our family to the thousandth generation!

Blessed,

Jaye

PS - By the way, I flew a plane today! (More to come...)

My grandparents (Dad's side)

(Don't have a picture from Mom's side)

My quilt

A "Brief" Recap

Wow. I stink at blogging. I think my perfectionist tendencies make blogging especially difficult (plus my tendency to ramble and write a very long blog.) Anyway, I’m going to attempt to give a brief description of my first semester of seminary. Judging from the fact that I have not written a single blog since the night before I started seminary, I believe the statement, “Seminary life is busy,” goes without saying.

September—a month of adjustment. I’ve read more pages than I’ve ever read and watched more football than I’ve ever watched! Rather than talking about all the reading, let’s talk about all the football. My roommate and I were so excited to find friends who had cable TV and who also loved SEC football! Saturdays were spent watching intramural football games in the morning and college football in the afternoons and evenings. (I had to make sure I didn’t invest too much of my life in reading!) Our friends pull for various teams, so I also had to expand my sugar cookie decorating skills to ensure that everyone’s teams were represented. Aimee (my roommate) and I have been very blessed by our friendships at The Rose (the house where we spend our Saturdays), and we are thankful for the Lord’s provision of a “typical” Southern schedule during football season.

Football cookies for Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Michigan State.

October—a trip home and the most beautiful fall I’ve ever witnessed. Early October consisted of another half marathon with my dad and a quick trip to Mobile to visit everyone I so desperately miss (especially Saraland Elementary and North Mobile.) Later in the month, I went to the North Carolina State Fair, which knocks the socks off of anything in Alabama! What a fun night we had eating fair food, riding rides, and playing with friends!

At the Fair

November—a month of celebrations and surprises. The month commenced with a surprise party for one of my good friends, where we played dodgeball in a completely dark house for a couple of hours. It was a much needed break from responsibility for a night. A few days later, we dressed up and celebrated my birthday at The Melting Pot.

Birthday folks

The next week my best friend and former roommate came for a visit, and the month ended with a Thanksgiving surprise for my family. (My roommate and I led our families to believe that we would not be home for Thanksgiving, and I’ll never forget the expression on my mother’s face when she saw me sitting on the couch that afternoon!) It was a wonderful trip home, and I’m so thankful for a loving family and peaceful home.

When Kristin Came to Visit

December—fast-paced, yet long and drawn out. Time is strange like that. At the beginning of the month, we had another party, which has become a monthly tradition. We had about 50 people and more tortillas and taco shells than I’ve ever seen outside of the grocery store! Then studying for finals took over my life. Hours upon hours were devoted to reading and memorizing, but I think it paid off. (We’ll see if I still feel that way once grades are posted.) One Sunday afternoon, five of us girls sang Christmas carols at a nursing home and had a blast! I’m thankful for an opportunity that reminded me to be grateful I’m able to be “home for the holidays.” Saturday I got a call from my friend who will soon be serving in South Asia, and she asked me to “babysit” her piano for 2 years. Woo hoo!!! And yesterday I arrived in Prattville to be with my family!

So that’s basically a list of “stuff” that has happened in my life over the last few months. For whatever reason, I feel older. Sometimes, it’s a bad feeling (like the time I got dizzy from walking too quickly through the periodicals in the SEBTS library or as I realize that more and more of my clothes just don’t fit), but most of the time, it’s a great feeling. The Lord has been patiently shaping me into the Proverbs 31 woman I so deeply desire to be, and I am hopeful that one day I’ll be able to say that my life resembles hers. I’m stubborn, and I resist the Potter’s hand entirely too often, but He is faithful. What a gracious gift that He never gives up on us! I pray that as time continues, I will submit. Because so far – the journey has been worth it.

Blessings,

Jaye

An Evening of Transition

Tonight I sit in a living room with no furniture on which to sit, except for a butterfly chair from my old dorm room stuff. This afternoon the old couches were moved out to clear the way for new ones coming tomorrow. I’m sure I make quite a picture. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I find this night of transition between furniture to be quite appropriate.

In just a little over a month in Raleigh, I’ve experienced quite a bit. Lilly’s Pizza (a hole-in-the-wall joint that has an amazing lunch special), North Carolina-style BBQ (which I don’t really recommend), indoctrinating 2 friends into making monthly sugar cookies (see pics below), a Durham Bulls game (WAY fun!), weekly trips to Harris Teeter (the highlight of my week), a weekend get-away to Myrtle Beach, and even hosting a party for 35 of my closest friends! (We seriously had about that many people over on Sunday night.) And I’ll tell you what – the end of my “summer” (even though I’ve been teaching, since my school is year-round), has been wonderful.

But as fun as it’s all been, these things aren’t why I moved. And tomorrow is the first day of living out my real purpose in moving to North Carolina. Tomorrow I “matriculate.”

ma·tric·u·late/məˈtrikyəˌlāt/
Verb: Be enrolled at a college or university.

Tomorrow I begin new student orientation at Southeastern. I admit to being more than a little nervous, but rather than list the reasons, I am choosing to remind myself of God’s faithfulness.

In Acts 18:24-28, Apollos, who “had been instructed in the way of the Lord” was taught “the way of God more accurately” by Priscilla and Aquila. Later “he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” I am encouraged in my own life because I have been taught the truths of scripture from the day I was born, and tomorrow begins a process of learning even more accurately. I look forward to the day that I am able to powerfully defend Jesus as the Christ in public as Apollos did. Feel free to pray for me on this journey.

So as I sit in my butterfly chair, I thank the Lord for continuing to bring about change in my life (even though I often resist it.) If there was never a change, there would never be a transition. And we’d miss out on all God desires to teach us in preparation for what’s to come.

Enjoying the Transition,
Jaye

Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

I Heart Raleigh

So today I joined The Summit Church, North Raleigh campus. It’s a multi-site church that is best explained by checking out the website.

I prayed even before moving to Raleigh that the Lord would lead me to the church where I will best love Him, love the church, and serve my city, and The Summit seems to be in direct answer to that prayer. I am excited to get involved in a church that is so missions-minded.

It was a big decision to join, and the hardest part was knowing that I’d no longer be a member of North Mobile. But one thing I learned in my small group at NoMo this last year is that, according to Jeremiah 29:7, we are to seek the welfare of the city in which we live. So upon moving to Raleigh, I prayed to love the city. Interestingly enough, all of The Summit’s bumper stickers (yes, bumper stickers) bear the slogan: I HEART RALEIGH. I asked the Lord to confirm through scripture where He would have me go, and He gave me that plus a whole bunch of bumper stickers!

Loving the city,

Jaye

Going

In Genesis 12, God tells Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” That’s it. Those are the instructions. “Go.” Not “Put this address in your GPS.” Not “Mapquest this intersection.” Not “Get out a road map you’ll never be able to fold correctly again.” Not even “Head north.” Just, “Go.”

Not that I believe I’m some kind of Abraham or anything, but that’s just the kind of message I felt God delivered to me last October. The only thing I felt sure about was that the purpose in all this “going” was to share the gospel. God was so faithful over the next few months to reveal more and more of the plan, piece by piece, as I needed it.

So now I find myself in Raleigh, North Carolina (where the summer weather is awesome!), teaching junior high chorus part-time at an amazing school, reuniting with friends from college, and preparing to begin seminary in August. And now I see another parallel between my life and Abraham’s. I am most certainly blessed. My hope and prayer is that during this part of my journey, I can resemble Abraham – whose faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4).

Going,
Jaye

Note: Many people have told me to keep in touch and let them know what’s going on, and this is the most convenient and efficient way I can think to do that. This blog thing may or may not pan out in the end, but for now, I’ll give it a shot. What a blessing technology can be when it is used for good rather than evil!