Woo! It's been a minute since I've updated y'all! SO much has happened since school ended and summer started, but man, has the Lord been faithful!

I want to start off with some praise reports! I was able to finish out my second year of college strong (all A's!!), and I got to spend some sweet time with my friends and professors before we all parted ways. I also was able to get 2 jobs for the summer, so I am working at the CBU library and at McDonald's! The Lord has been faithful in providing me with work!

Between school ending and preparing to leave for the World Race, things have been rather crazy on my end - but the best kind of crazy, the kind of crazy that you know God is strengthening you in while loving you endlessly. It hurts, but it is so worth it because God's faithfulness shines through.

If you're like me, you're someone who can say something verbally, but not fully believe it or do it in your heart. A friend of mine worded it as "having the head knowledge but not the heart posture", and that has stuck with me closely these past few months. For the longest time, I spoke about how God was my number 1, my everything, and that my life and identity were rooted in Him; but truthfully, it was just head knowledge, knowing that was what I wanted and desired and how I should live, but not heart posture, because I was not actually living it out. So, in the midst of my outward expression of faith and relationship, but lack of inward intimacy, God determined it was time to prune - and boy, did it hurt!

John 15:1-2 NKJV “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." Thank You Jesus that He prunes us not to punish, but to increase our spiritual productivity and growth in love, joy, and peace!

Hebrews 12:11 NKJV "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." This pruning, this chastening and discipline, is purely the Father's love. It feels so uncomfortable but ultimately leads to immense spiritual maturity and righteousness, which is what we should always be desiring.

Everything my identity was in, everything that held my attention and desires, God has been stripping from me. And I hated it, because the process is not an easy one. I've cried more tears than I'd like to admit, was wrecked with overwhelming anxiety and nausea, all because I didn't want to let go. And yet through it all, God still comforted me, through scripture, through people, and through little God moments. Throughout the whole process, I've been taught how to make my daily personal relationship with Him intentional and a part of everything I do! One thing I'm blessed with is that I walk Riverside a lot (#cantdrive), and so I take that time to talk to Him like He's my best friend, worship and praise Him because He's my savior, and walk peacefully and joyfully with Him knowing He is always with me. A time of deep sorrow has turned into a lifestyle of immense joy, all because of the Lord's pruning. I can truly say the JOY of the Lord is my strength! And the peace He gives is like no other! How can I place my identity in anything but God, when He is the provider of everything good, of everything I could ever want or need!! Praise Jesus for the work He does in and through each of us believers!

This is not only helping to grow my personal relationship with God, but also preparing me for the mission field, where I will have to practice having true and authentic joy in every circumstance set before me, trusting God and praising Him through it all. I can't wait to teach others all God has taught me, and to keep practicing living out a life truly rooted in Christ alone. By the grace of God, He has strengthened and carried me thus far, and I look forward to every pruning He shall do, because the end result always makes me praise God for His lovingkindness!

I pray that God makes both me and you alike to be followers of Christ with both head knowledge and heart posture, growing in living a fully authentic life rooted in Jesus alone! And through it all, He shall be praised, His Name shall be lifted high, He shall receive all the glory and honor and worship!

Walk authentically in the way that is right, my friends, and let God lead, guide, and prune you,

Jenna :)

Prayer requests:

• Funding! Pray for faithful supporters to help me reach my fundraising goal and serve the Lord overseas!

• Healing through the hurt - as much as I am thankful for the pruning process, I still need the Lord to heal my heart.

• Patience!

• Keep in your prayers each country we will be staying in, and for the people we will encounter - Greece, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Malaysia, and Guatemala. I know the Lord has incredible things planned!