Mishka

That is the name of the Artist I am currently listening to. His song Above the Bones may be my new favorite.

I just cleaned out my closet. What a great feeling.

I am unfaithful. He is faithful.

My eyes have not seen it all yet.

Passion City Church starts back Sunday. I. Cannot. Wait.

I love Candy Corn.

And Hot Tamales.

It just started pouring rain. I love going to sleep to this sound.

I am a terrible blogger.

We've got to let go

We've got to let go of our impoverished, circumcised, traditionalist, legalistic, human perceptions of God and open ourselves to the God in Jesus Christ. If we will, the promise is that we will be filled up with the fullness of God. That is truly good news!
-Brennan Manning
The Furious Longing of God

An ocean doxology

I'm sitting here. The beach. Nt my favorite place in the world,but still a place that never ceases to leave me in awe if I take the time to stop and let Him speak to me. As I sit here I cansee storm clouds all around, threatening the minute humans that run to and fro along the white sandy carpet. The sun is pearing through a cloud creating a glamorous showcase of silver and yellow light on the ocean top. The constant roar of the ocean drowns out the voices of the people around me. Noisy silence. In the distance a rain wall is dancing across the horizon with a promise to fully invade anything it will come across. A lot like God. I think often that I have no grasp whatsoever of this God that calls the rain down from heaven, and commands the lightning to hit it's mark. Who tells the ocean thats far enough, or the moon to wait until the sun has done it's job. Who with the touch of His finger draws a hurricane into being from the vast calm ocean. Who announces His prescrnce with the voice of thunder and received praise from every living creature.

Who is this God?
Who am I?

It never grows old to remember that this God is the God who knows my name. Who decided it was a good thing for me to exist on earth for a breif moment in time. And who made that time right now. This God who knows how many grains of sand there are in the world has eve more thoughts about me. This God has grace that drowns us whether we are aware and receptive or not. We bend beneath the weight of His mercy until we are where we need to be more often, our knees. This is the God who is jealous for me, passionately and deeply in love with me, who has wonderful plans for me. Plans to prosper. Plans to suffer. Plans for me to carry my cross and the gift of bearing the name of my sweet Savior.

This is my God. My best friend. My Keeper, Deliverer, Saving Grace and Solid Rock.

There's something about realizing just how small you are and how big He is. One of the best feelings in the world. That my friends is true satisfaction.

Hello Change

Fall. It is almost here. I can feel it. I know most of you, at least those of you who live in the south, are thinking I've lost it considering today it was about 95 degrees with about equal humidity.

Change. It is one of Fall's most stunning characteristics... at least in my opinion. Leaves. Temperatures. Pastimes. It is all around us. And we are powerless to stop it.

I love change. Maybe that is why I love Fall. The vibrant colors that entertain my senses. The smells of baking spices and mulled cider that do the same. Football. Fellowship. Frolicking. Just a few of my favorite Fall things.

Now we here in the good ole South have about 6 weeks left until we get to embrace those things...well at least most of them. We will sweat our little hearts out at football games for a few weeks before those cool temps roll in.

My life is very full of change right now. With a college degree under my belt the natural question is what next. Most people do something in their field with their new and hard earned degree. Yeah I can't really do much with a bachelors degree in Anthropology and History. Go to grad school you are thinking? Yeah. Right.

So that still leaves me with what to do! By the time Summer is technically over I will have spent time in 8 different countries this year. That is a lot lot lot of traveling. But I loved every minute of it. It shaped so much of me and I can't imagine a better summer. But now real like must begin. And I have gotten the question a lot lately so I thought I would fill everyone in on just where life is going, Lord willing, for me in the very near future.

Atlanta. That will be my new place of residence. Why? Because I have a weird love of traffic. and smog.
Okay for real ... I have been involved with a church plant (Passion City Church)... think Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels... since they started meeting corporately back in February. We just met once a month for four months and then took the summer off. We start back 4 weeks from tomorrow on Sept. 20th. My heart beats right along with the heart beat of that ministry and that church so I am beyond excited to be a part of what God is doing there. And since that is just a volunteer thing I do... and money is slightly necessary... I will be working some sort of retail job as well once I get to Atlanta to help pay for life. I will move the first weekend of October.

I have lived in Birmingham all of my life so this is a big step, but I am so very ready for change and a fresh start in a new place. God really shapes us when we have nothing and noone to rely on but Him.

So until then I will make a trip up to Boston and Canada to visit my good friend Amanda :) and finish up a few photo jobs I had in the month of August. Go to the beach with my fam and begin to pack. I have actually enjoyed the down time since being back from Europe. I have a feeling the rest of my life is going to happen at a crazy pace so I must savor the down moments when I get a chance.

The Lord has taught me so much about love as well. True love. His love for me. My love for others. I am so very thankful for that. He truly and passionately loves us. He is jealous for us and will chase us down no matter how hard or far we try to run. WHen you take the time to chew on that it changes you from the inside out. For it is His kindness that leads us to repentance. I challenge you to read the book of Hosea and let the words of the Lord teach you a thing or two about His jealous love. It changed my life.

So that is just a brief update on life for me. Expect more blogging when I get to Atlanta... due to more free time.

Oh and incase you didn't know... my new site is up... with a lot of new photos on it. so check it out!

RachelJonesPhotography.com


Hosea 6:3

So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.

Ciao from Montenegro

Ciao!
Just wanted to give a quick update from Montenegro!
Things are going well. It feels like we have been here for months, but it has only been 6 days. We are half way through our trip so when I think of it that way it seems like we just got here!

Our travel to Europe was pretty smooth. Now don't get me wrong 9 hour flights across the atlantic are never really exciting, but Advil pm was my friend... I slept about 3 hours. We were able to spend the day in Frankfurt Germany on Friday because we had about a 12 hour layover. We just walked around for a bit then found some lunch and coffee. Then I took a wonderful much needed nap on a bench by the Main River.

We then made two more connections in Zagreb Croatia then on to Dubrovnik Croatia before taking a very windy and rather fast bus ride to Niksic ( think NeekSeetch). Praise the Lord we made it since our oh so talented bus drivers facebooked and text the entire way through the mountains (think dirt/rock roads- thousand foot clifts and all sorts of interesting wildlife).

We spent the weekend handing out flyers advertising the camp. There is a walking street close by that is lined with cafe's and interesting shops :)

There is a little cafe right across from our hotel that has become a morning tradition coffee spot!

Camp has been going well. The Lord has been gracious seeing that English is a bit more complicated than we thought it would be. We have so many kids that are at various levels in their English learning that it makes it difficult to keep everyone involved. Art has been fun for them however. They have really enjoyed making different things that they can keep. SO far we have made duct tape wallets and prayer journals. Please pray that the Lord will make His glory know through the little things we do. We are able to have bigger worship meetings at night so pray for those as well.

This has been a very different from any other missions trip I've been on before. This country has so much history yet it is so new ( It just became its on independent country in 2006). You can see such a communist influence everywhere. The people are very suspicious of us and are not quick to trust at all. Lauren said hello to a lady passing by her on the street and the lady replied "it is a nice night, but I don't know you". Very different from Latin America.

So all that said... we need prayer. The Lord has been so good to us and we have been able to build a lot of relationships with some of the kids and families, but we need more. WE need to go deeper. It is not as easy to tell them about Jesus here. You must have relationship first or they will never trust you.

That is about it for now. Just a quick update!

I will update more before we leave. We head to Dubrovnik on Saturday and then Frankfurt on Monday before arriving back in Birmingham at 4pm on Monday night. We loose 7 hours on the flight though so it will feel like about 3 am!

Thank you all for your prayers. They have been felt! Our God is so so able!!!!

Colossians 3:23-24
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for man, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

He Provides!

I'm not sure I could imagine a more crazy, busy, awesome Summer if I tried! God has been so gracious to me over these past few months as I have been able to travel to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic to spread the gospel and serve in His name. I have one more trip coming up. We leave for Montenegro in 2 days ( I can't believe it is already here)! Our team will travel to Eastern Europe spending time in Germany, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. We will be teaching English and Art to youth in the city of Nicsik, Montenegro.
This will be my first time doing missions work somewhere besides Central America so I am really excited to be able to experience working with a totally different people group!

Thank you to all of those who have supported me through prayer and/or financially. Through His grace both of my trips to Costa Rica and The DR have been fully paid for. Praise the Lord!!

That being said I still have about $2,000 to raise for the Montenegro trip.

I realize that I probably missed a lot of people when I sent out support letters ( considering the year we live in finding someone's mailing address is way more challenging than finding their email address!).

If you feel lead you may send a check to :

3733 Carisbrooke Dr.
Hoover, AL 35226

Make checks payable to SMIC (Shades Mountain Independent Church)
and designate it for Rachel Jones


More than anything I want to ask you for your prayers. Money is a small part of this trip and our entire team is in need of much prayer. The Bible says that the prayers of the righteous really make a difference. I am counting on that!!

Thanks again for all of your support and prayers!

What a privilege that He allows us to be His hands and feet!

For His fame and renown,
Rachel

OH and here is a link to some photos that I took in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Photos

I'm not dead

I will blog again one day... I swear.