What do you want to be?

I think this blog post might shed some light on who I really am. It's taken me several years to really articulate what drives me, where my passion is, and how God has designed me.

I think I often come across as "too open". I can make people uncomfortable very quickly with things that I like to talk about. Marriage, intimacy, fertility, loss, and family issues are topics that I could sit and discuss for hours. I have to consciously make efforts to not ask people very personal questions...

Those topics make people feel awkward, uncomfortable, embarrassed, or just silent. Many people don't want to talk about any of those things and are bewildered at why on earth I take extreme interest in them.

Honestly, I think for a few reasons. One, it's just who I am. I feel like I am wired emotionally to hash through issues most people want to bury. Two, I think it's because I have been through a lot myself and feel relevent and emphathetic to people who are going through these things. And three, I've prayed for a while God would help me discover my passion to pursue later when my babies start school so I can work!

A licensed Christian counselor with a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling. That is what I would like my title to be one day. It will take me 2 years and 1 year of practice to achieve my goal.
When and how I don't know, but I feel like it is who I am. If you know me, a light bulb may turn on for you and think..... that's why Jennifer is so wierd! Ha! But, in all seriousness, I hope it clicks for you how it did for me. I love to open the can, take it all out, talk about it, bring truth to it, and call it what it is.

It began for me in college. I loved being an RA and hearing and talking to every woman that lived on my hall about issues. I also loved doing Bible studies with them. I got my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice because I thought law school might be a good avenue and at the time was focused on juvenile justice. Thus, my internship at the Department of Juvenile Justice. I was fascinated by all of the family issues and marriage problems I encountered then. That's where this desire started and grew.

When Tim and I went on staff full time with a college ministry for 2 years, that's why I really put it all together. Being on the Christian side of these issues was a whole different ball game. I found not only was I in the middle of people's life issues, I got to see Christ change hearts, minds, and lives.

Anyway, I'm not venturing out tomorrow for my degree, but feel a peace that God has a plan for my life now and later.... my ministry will always be #1 for my kids, but I was not put on this Earth to be just a mom, but a follower of God. I'm praying as I sort through all of this, God would continue to give me wisdom and opportunities to help others.

I hope even now my blog makes more sense. I constantly crave open-ness, confrontation, truth, and share the messy issues of life. We've had another messy part of life come up dealing with loss that I hope to share in the coming weeks. I just hope now people will understand the way I'm wired a little more...... I just like to talk about the messy issues of life and bring light into them.
That's me, take it or leave it :/