Living Well

Do you ever stop caring?

I do.

All my life, ministry has focused on learning.
New perspectives and inspiring stories.
Step by steps and life tips.

I experienced ministry in this way: as a learner or a teacher.

It is through education that I was discipled.
The idea that understanding and believing truth,
will inspire me to live well.
The idea that knowing and following certain steps,
will make this walk easier.

& they do.

 But even so, I sometimes stop caring.
My steps are the same but I head another direction.


Peter Rollins argues that people are not the object of our desire
in the way money and beauty are.
Our relationship with people is fundamentally different.

He says that relationships are the source of our desire.

Broken relationships,
whether real or perceived,
remove all passion from me.

I know and believe what I did before,
but it no longer matters to me.
I stop caring.

Looking back on my seasons of loneliness,
it was through gentle conversations,
with friends who listen,
that I found motivation to continue.

It is love that gives me reason to live well.

Love, Jean

Thanksgiving Love

 "Insurrection" by Peter Rollins begins with a parable. I don't remember it entirely, but here's a short summary of it:

There was a Pastor that preached about service by telling his congregation that he served the needy every Saturday. However, each Saturday, instead of serving the needy, he played golf. St. Peter and God were watching the fella, and Peter said something along the lines of, "Yo God, you gotta punish him for that!" And God was like, "Chill dude, I got this." So the next Saturday, when the Pastor, he got a hole in one... every. Single. Hole. The Pastor was amazed! Peter was annoyed. He was like, "What? This is not a punishment. He enjoyed that!" God replied: 

"Yeah, but who is he going to tell?"

There are a lot of experiences, places, and materials that I enjoy. I am so lucky and thankful to have what I have. But more than that, I am thankful for the people I love.

These things I have aren't blessings by themselves. It's through sharing these things and experiences with my friends and family that I experience joy.

Much love and and many thanks to the people in my life. Without you, the things I have mean nothing. You bring significance to everything I experience.

With Love,
~Jean

 "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing"  

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

To Mom, Dad, Esther, Kasey, Kayla, Victoria, Catherine, my REACHers, Basically all of Lewis Hall, Devereux, Si-Hua, All of the people I know named Sara/h, my students, my campers, my co-workers, and everyone else that I love <3