new blog.

I've started a new blog!

(I needed a fresh start.)

Check it out:  jennalupo.blogspot.com

See guys, I'm following through with that last post a little more now. (Finally.)

i wish....

I wish that I took the opportunity to read more.
Not just when I'm in the middle of an incredible series that I can't put down...
I wish I would initiate the reading more.
I bet I would find myself carrying books around all the time (and actually reading them) if I would just open them and take the time to take the plunge.

I wish that I took the time to write more.
Honestly, I believe I am supposed to.
My lack of follow-through here seems a lot like disobedience to me these days...
I wish that I would be brave enough to stop avoiding the blank page.
I wish that I would just jump in and let the words flow.
I need to.
I want to.
I should.
Will I?

I wish I didn't miss things.
You know, the things that you just let pass you by because you just aren't being present.
I want to be fully alive in every moment.
I want my eyes to be clear, my vision broad and sharp...
I want to breathe in deeply and feel the power and gentleness of the air that fuels my lungs...
I wish I didn't miss what's in front of me because I won't stop looking back.
I wish I didn't get so distracted.

So then, wake up!

Why bother with wishing... all of these things are as they are by my choosing.
Perhaps it is time I stop choosing so poorly.

I am feeling like it may be time to start writing here again...
And for some reason this makes me nervous.

If you see this, let me know, because I have no idea if anyone ever comes back to this little ole thing...

It's not going to be today.
But soon.
And maybe someone out there should hold me accountable to this....

i love a pretty book...

So if you are ever trying to find the perfect gift for me...

 I can tell you exactly what I want...

(My birthday is 42 days away, so it's not to soon to put this out there.. 

 Annie, you agree with me, right?)

(image found here)

I have decided that these beauties are my newest favorite thing to collect! 

The days of Mary Engelbreit calendars have come to an end...

(Mom, I know M.E. had become a Christmas tradition, but I think this is a good replacement!) 

It is now all about the Penguin Classics!

I have officially started this new collection with the purchase of this lovely little thing:

I'm not gonna lie..

I definitely judge a book by it's cover.

But I think that's acceptable... as long as you are judging only books like that, not people.

a new favorite...

Yes, it is true that I made a few "informal" New Years Resolutions. 

(They were probably considered informal in my mind because I figured I wouldn't actually do them.)

 Blogging more often, like I used to do, was definitely one of those resolutions. 

As you can tell, my follow-through on that is severely lacking.

Though I'm not writing much, I still keep up with my favorite blogs. 

I've even added a few more favs to the list!  

Today I would like to introduce you guys to Em & Tim of Today's Letters!

No, I can't really introduce you to them, but I can point you to their blog! 

Check out their story, their marriage advice, and their daily posts of precious letters to each other! 

You might also get a little giggle out of their Fist Pump Friday posts! 

(The most recent one just so happens to include yours truly. I know. I felt so famous!)

Hope you enjoy! 

And maybe, just maybe, I will get around to writing a more personal post. Sometime soon. Maybe. :)

be still and recognize...

Addison Road - What Do I Know Of Holy

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven

But I talked the whole time

I think I made You too small

I never feared You at all No

If You touched my face would I know You?

Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

(CHORUS)

What do I know of You

Who spoke me into motion?

Where have I even stood

But the shore along Your ocean?

Are You fire? Are You fury?

Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?

What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out

I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about

How You were mighty to save

Those were only empty words on a page

Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be

The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

(CHORUS)

What do I know of You

Who spoke me into motion?

Where have I even stood

But the shore along Your ocean?

Are You fire? Are You fury?

Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?

What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

(CHORUS 2)

What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?

And a God who gave life "its" name?

What do I know of Holy?

Of the One who the angels praise?

All creation knows Your name

On earth and heaven above

What do I know of this love?

(CHORUS)

What do I know of You

Who spoke me into motion?

Where have I even stood

But the shore along Your ocean?

Are You fire? Are You fury?

Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?

What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?

_______________________________________

This song has been the soundtrack playing in my mind for several days now.  

Such beautiful, powerful, honest, reflective words...

The melody points me again and again in the direction of the Holy.

I've also been reading this book:  An Altar in the World, by Barbara Brown Taylor.  I have only finished the first two chapters and have already been blessed tremendously by the message Taylor is sharing with me.  I highly recommend this book if you are looking for ways to dive more deeply into the divine... 

the blessing of encouragement...

Dianna (the most wonderful administrative assistant that any ministry could ever ask for) sent me this email early last week, and it has been oh so encouraging to me. Because I have had to reference it several times since receiving it, I figured I would share it with you all.  It's short, but oh so reassuring!

When you feel overwhelmed...

Demands knock on my door.

Burdens beckon me to answer.

The to-do list stretches for miles.

I whisper, "I feel overwhelmed."

And in the stillness it seems I hear...

"Child, open your heart to Me instead of the demands of the day.

Lay those burdens at My feet, not on your shoulders.

Let go of your list and dare to embrace My grace.

I do not require you to beoverwhelmed.

I enable you to overcome.

And with Me, you always will."

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Dianna found this here if you are looking for more little bits of encouragement for your day.

speaking in spirals...

I am experiencing one of those lovely moments. 
The kind of moment that can't quite be summarized in words. 
Not even eloquent words. 
It's not any one particular emotion, and not any one thing in particular has led me here. 
I will try to describe my thoughts, but you'll have to excuse me.
There is no order to these things I am about to write.
Just my random thoughts.
I know I will be speaking in spirals.


Colors seemed more vibrant today.
I give the rain credit.
Well, the rain and the One who made the rain.
Bursts of color all over the place.
Each with it's own magic, capturing my gaze.
The smallest, simplest things were the most enchanting.

There's something about Regina Spektor's music.
The sounds usher in a haunting nostalgia.
Haunting, but comforting as well.
It's bittersweet and beautiful.
Memories are special like that.
And so is the autumn time.
This particular song has the slideshow of my mind in sepia.

I haven't been writing on this blog very much lately.
And you'll notice the past few posts have been lacking in depth.
I apologize to those of you that rely on this thing to know what's happening in my life.
(Those of you that actually know me.)
I have not been very informative.
Sometimes there is just too much to say.
Too much to process.
And to try to put it all in a reader-friendly form just takes too much effort.
At least for me.
Right now.

A couple of months ago, I picked up the book, Captivating, by John & Stasi Eldridge.
A mentor of mine told me to read it.
Honestly, I used to roll my eyes at that book.
I thought it was going to be like all of those other cheesy books out there...
It wasn't.
It was a bit life changing, actually.
I wasn't expecting that.
It's amazing, some of the ways God speaks to us.

Speaking of the voice of God, I've been hearing Him a lot.
Over the past two weeks, He has been speaking through the music of Lisa Gungor.
Well, she and her husband.
"From the Ground"
"Beautiful Things"
"When You Come"
"Please Be My Strength"
Those four are my favorites.
I highly recommend.

Remember a couple of months ago when I posted a verse from Habbakuk?
I've been keeping my eyes open.
I've been watching.
And I've been amazed.
I have a feeling He isn't finished blowing my mind yet.
Good stuff.

I think I am ready to put my laptop down and just enjoy this peace for a little while.
It's a pleasant thing, to rest in Him.

and he sings...

Zachary Levi is by far my biggest tv crush. 

This is no secret. 

I, however, had no idea the boy could sing.

Do I love him even more?

Most definitely.

so my lil newlywed sister has a blog now...

And I think you should check it out here! 

While were are talking about my dear little sister,

why don't I share with you some of her beautiful pictures!

Enjoy!

Karissa & her husband, Kyle.

Aren't they just absolutely, perfectly adorable?!

(Check out the TOMS that are represented on this occasion.)

The complete family picture...

Kayla & I love having a new brother!

The ceremony couldn't have been more perfect.

It was held in the City Park of New Orleans.

I might have cried the most during this beautiful moment.

Dad led such a touching prayer of blessing over them.

To have both Kyle's dad and our dad up there was so special...

These two are perfect for each other.

No question about it.

I couldn't be more happy for them!

So I would like to introduce to you all,

for the first time on this blog,

Mr. & Mrs. Ferguson.

Rissy-sissy, I love you.

look and be amazed...

"Look around at the nations;

look and be amazed!

For I am doing something in your own day,

something you wouldn't believe

even if someone told you about it."

-Habakkuk 1:5

I don't really have much more to say today.

I've been a little burnt out when it comes to blogging,

but I am hoping to make a come back soon.

Until then, let the Spirit and this exciting Scripture stir up something within you. 

I know it has in me....

i am still alive...

I just haven't been able to blog in a LONG while. I haven't even really been in town to read everyone else's blogs, so I am completely out of touch with blog-world. Summer craziness. Things have been busy, but awesome! Things should slow down a little bit in July, and maybe I can fill you all in on the awesomeness..

Hope you all have a great week!!

busy, busy, busy...

I really haven't posted anything in a while,

but it's only because I've been SO busy

and had SO much on my mind!

Here's what I will leave you with today:

the cast of Glee is on tour

and if they end up anywhere near me, 

I SO want to go!

exciting things from cali; part iv...

And the fourth (& best) thing I loved about Cali was:

the conference itself... 

catalyst west

was such an incredible event, and personally,

I left feeling challenged, inspired, convicted, & filled.

(Matt, me, Ashley, & Cody between sessions on the sunny day!)

The speakers at this conference were incredible: Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Mark Drissold, John Ortbery, Dallas Willard, Reggie Joiner, Donald Miller & Erwin McManus to name a few.

Chris Tomlin even led worship on the first night. 

(Ashley & me when it "snowed" inside the conference center)

I think one of my favorite moments at the conference was when I stayed behind at lunch the 2nd day to spend time at the chapel (the beautiful building behind us in the first picture) where Prayer Stations were set up. It was in that space of quiet time that I was really able to process all that I had been hearing. 

It can be a little emotional, coming to certain realizations; I really needed that time. 

And God was good to me... we had a very nice conversation.

(on stage: Tripp and Tyler.  Two of the funniest people ever.)

I am sure you can tell that I really enjoyed my time in California. 

(I mean... I have posted about it 4 times now...)

I hope that I will take these things that I have learned and be changed by them.

Curious as to what I learned?

Don't let everyday realities & disappointments smother your dreams.

Hold onto your dreams.

Want God to do big things.

Believe He can.

Believe He will.

And take steps in faith towards those things.

Don't always let the urgent trump the important.

Do not fear.

Be confident in who He created you to be.

And live that abundant life of faith, hope, love & joy that He desires for you.

(The last night: fish tacos. Such excitement.)

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to this conference! 

And definitely looking forward to going again sometime!!

exciting things from cali; part iii...

And the third thing I loved about Cali was:

going to 

newport beach!

Sure, it was windy, cloudy & cold...

But hey, it's the OC.

And that, my friend, was very exciting!

(me & Ashley taking advantage of a good photo op)

(Cody, Matt, Ashley & me. Cody loves these kind of pictures, can't you tell?)

(Ashley & Cody. Aren't they precious?)

We had a really good time for the 15 minutes we were on that beach!

Dear Cali,

Next time I visit,

how about you show me that 

famous California sunshine?

Just sayin...

Sincerely,

jenna

exciting things from cali; part ii...

And the second thing I loved about Cali was:

umm.... 

meeting donald miller!

and getting my picture with him!

Yes, it is true that I have a crush on him.

Yes, it is true that I wish I had given him my number.

Yes, I do {not so} secretly hope he sees this.

And yes, I know that I sound like a middle school girl.

exciting things from cali; part i...

Let me tell you.

I love me some California.

Love it.

Because there were so many things that I loved about last week's trip, 

I've decided to break it down into multiple posts.

And the first thing I loved about Cali was:

pinkberry

 Naomi had blogged about pinkberry a long time ago, and I remember thinking that it looked so good in her pictures. As soon as I saw the place, I knew that we had to stop for some.  SO glad we did.  It is, by far, my favorite frozen yogurt place ever!

(I got the pomegranate flavor of yogurt with blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry toppings. 

Absolutely amazing.)

I'm pretty sure we had some fro-yo everyday after this. 

Somebody please find me the nearest Pinkberry...

I am currently going through withdraws.

it's true.. i ran a 5k...

Even with 3 hours of sleep, I ran that 3.1 miles like a champ.

And by champ, I mean a slow paced person that didn't stop to walk once!

That and the fact that my time was quite a bit better than I expected,

I consider this quite an accomplishment!

Yay for setting goals & living good stories!

it's probably not a good thing...

... that it is 3:oo in the morning & I can't seem to sleep.

Yep. 

Wide awake.

Have been all night long.

Oh yes, tomorrow morning is that 5K,

followed by the Girls Retreat.

I am praying that I am still getting rest,

though I lie awake in my bed.

And who knows, maybe I'll get a nap in before morning...

a quarter of a century...

(image found here)

yep, that's how old I am now...

Can you believe it?!

I can hardly.

A spiritual mentor of mine told me to "Expect big things from God this year..."

I must say, I am excited to see what all He has in store for my 25th year!!