I WAS FALLING OFF A CLIFF... both figuratively and literally!

A week ago I was blessed by a family vacation to the mountains of Tennessee. My parents absolutely love it there, and my mom particularly loves hiking to waterfalls. The beautiful scenery is a great reminder of God and His amazing creation. 


I love adventures... if you know me even a little bit you probably are already aware of this. If you know me... you probably are also aware that I am known for my life "going wrong." Seriously, the strangest things happen to me.... but it keeps everyone on their toes. Well... this trip was no exception. 


On day two, we were going on a walk up the mountain our cabin was on, when my eyes spotted a path of rocks going downward into the woods. I HAD to go down! About half way down I fell, and put a hole into my favorite running shorts. I probably should have learned my lesson then... but I didn't!

Day one miniature adventure

On day three, we all went hiking to find a waterfall! It was fun, but not exactly a challenging hike. Every time people walked by with hiking sticks, hiking boots and sweat pouring down their face, I laughed. Though I guess this counted as a adventure... its was not good enough for me.


Conveniently, about half way up to the waterfall I saw a cliff. At the bottom of this cliff was a stream, and across from me, a small part of the waterfall. The cliff looked climbable, and so I quickly decided to climb down it. The people with me said "that probably isn't a good idea." All except my friend Brittany who said "go for it," but quickly changed her mind after I had taken my first few steps down. 


It all was going good until my leap onto a slippy rock covered in moss. My chuckles over the people wearing those hiking boots came to bite me in my butt, because my nike's didn't have the ability to grip the rock. My feet slipped off, my body hit the rock in front of it, bounced back off, and flipped to the opposite direction. Brittany, who watched this happened, later said, "have you ever seen fish flop when they die?? ...that's what you looked like!" 


From there my body began free falling, wide open space beneath me..... 


Every muscle in my body tightened, and the thought "I am going to die" went through my head. My arms quickly flew into the air in hopes of something to grab.... THANK GOD there was a fallen tree above me, and I gripped it with dear life. After by body hung from the tree, swinging back-and-forth for a few seconds, I flung myself onto a near by rock and I trembled like I never have before. 

After I finally came to the realization I was alive, and was completely fine, I climbed half way back up, where my mom and our friend Eddie met me and pulled me up the rest of the way.


THE MOST SCARY MOMENT OF MY LIFE! Later that day this is what I thought of....


This was such a representation of my Christian Walk. 


God clearly provides us a path to follow in His Word (the hiking trail) and by having a personal relationship with Him, He clarifies the way we should go.  


Temptation is placed in our life that makes us want to get off the path (the cliff). 


He warns us that it is dangerous (my friends) and we ignore Him, with the crazy thought we know better than Him. 


While we think we can do it ourselves, and our way... We slowly start slipping away from Him (or quickly in my case). As we are falling He catches us in His mighty arms, providing us something to hold on to (the tree). 


With forgiveness, love and grace He reaches down for us in our time of trouble and pulls us out of our sin, and places us back on the right path (my mom and Eddie). 


Lately I have felt like this is a perfect representation of God in my life. I constantly learn lessons the hard way, and do not trust Him how I should. I am so thankful that He never leaves me or forsakes me... and always pulls me back to Him when I am running away.


"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." -Deuteronomy 31:6


"Trust in teh LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6


(This is a true and not dramatized story... i promise!) 


just because..... 

We made it to the waterfall! 

Me on one of my crazy expeditions!

Precious! 

Wanting to climb on anything insight runs in the fam... we get it from our Papa! 

My absolute favorite picture of the day! ... we took 20 snack breaks.... 

-If you read my blogs... please "join this site!" It is a encouragement to me to know who is reading! : ) 

"I DON'T DO THINGS HALF WAY!"

Though I would like to think my life has always exemplified this statement, in the last few years I have jokingly, yet honestly said "I don't do things half way" quite often. 


When I say I am going to do something; I do it. Not only do I do it, but I do it to the best of my ability. 


A friend of mine recently told me that I was a passionate person. I was surprised at first, but once I processed it, it made perfect since. The things I chose to be in my life, I am extremely passionate about, and invest a lot of time in. For instance, I fell in love with Africa... it now is a HUGE part of my life! Even in friendships. I absolutely LOVE investing in peoples lives. I don't have just one "best" friend, but a ton of them. Going above and beyond is just what I do. 


This is not to be boastful and prideful about this quality. In fact, it is the complete opposite. 


The other day someone was referring to me being "hard-core" and while laughing I exclaimed, "I don't do things half way," knowing they already knew I had taken that on as my motto. The next day I was pretty much slapped in the face by God, as my eyes were opened to the sad fact my life DOES NOT accurately represent this statement. 


It is absolutely heart breaking to me that I can say that the one thing in my life that I do half-way is my walk of faith, and my relationship with my Savior. 


How is it I can spend so much time investing into the lives of my friends, yet there are so many days that have gone by where I didn't talk to my Lord... not even once?


How is it I can spend so much time planning sorority events, church events, birthday parties and so on (and on and on and on), but I don't spend time thinking about ways I can serve the poor and needy? ("He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need")


How is it that I can be so determined to read the Hunger Games in one day (and was successful at it) yet "don't have time" to send time in the Word on a daily basis? 


How is it I know every detail of hundreds of peoples lives (facebook stalking) yet I don't spend time learning and understanding the characteristics of my God?


As Easter approaches we will celebrate the truth of the Gospel. If we believe the Gospel... truly believe it... How are we not telling every single person we come in contact with? 


How am I going to Africa to share the Gospel, yet I sit in classes full of hundreds of nonbelievers and never say a word about this amazing truth that has transformed my life! 


I do, do things half way! "We are for God or against Him." I AM FOR HIM, and i need to be proving that through the daily actions of my life! ("Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me. - Matthew 12:30)


When people ask me about my faith and relationship with my Savior, I want to be able to say, "I don't do things half way!" 

CHRIST LOVE SHOWN TO ME! (Surprise party)

After a week of battling the unexpected decision making of going back to Africa or not, I was sitting listening to a sermon by Tony Merida, when I heard these words... "aren't you glad God didn't just tell us He loved us, but showed us He loved us by sending His perfect Son to die for us?" This was directly after reading 1 John 3:18 which states...

"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

At this very instant I made up my mind.... I was going to Uganda! I was going to SHOW Christ's love through my DEEDS!

Two nights ago my friends lived this verse out, as I walked into a room of over 30 people screaming SURPRISE! I had never felt so loved in my life. Christ's love was shown to me!

My friends gathered together to raise money to send me to Africa. Not because they love me. Not because Africa sounds like a fun trip. And not because they wanted a reason to have a party. They gathered together because they LOVE GOD and treasure the Gospel, believing in God's call to "Tell the Nations," and they were going to give me the opportunity to share the Gospel in Uganda.

It all started at 5:30 when my sweet friend Brittany Hall picked me up for dinner to go eat at an African Restaurant. Not only her, but both of my roommates suggested that I dress nice, which I couldn't exactly figure out why (Gina also made it very clear I should take a shower). So I headed out with Brittany dressed up and showered, and after a AMAZING African meal with a unique eating experience, (we ate on a floor under a small hut) we headed home.

Brittany was acting strange, but I didn't think too much of it. I then began getting agitated that no one had contacted to me to hang out... and it was a Friday night... soooo, me being me, I texted another friend saying, "so, i guess we are all taking a break from each other tonight?" We returned home and I pondered on whether I should invite Brittany in or not. She made up some dumb lie of why she needed to come in, and I exclaimed, "I think I am just going to go to bed now."

When I walked in I saw a sign saying, "SURPRISE! HELP US SEND JORDAN TO AFRICA!" Then I saw a few friends, and I began to look around and the faces continued to multiply.

Just when I thought things could not get crazy enough... My mom popped her head around the corner, and with her stood a bunch of our Elizabeth City friends. I do not believe I have ever smiled so big!

We enjoyed a WONDERFUL time eating, talking, and encouraging.

I honestly was predicting 100 or 200 dollars to be raised. Keep in mind, these were a bunch of college kids.

......drum roll...... they raised..... $1160!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is sooooo amazing! He provides for me even when my faith is weak, and I fail to put my trust in Him!

I have never felt so loved!

BLESSED to have friends who planned this event in my life, as well as everyone else who was there to support me! I am humbled by this experience and stand amazed by a God who provides!!!