Words…friend or foe?

Why is it that words can have such an affect on people? Words can have so many feelings associated with them. God, for some reason, made us able to remember them all…good or bad. 

Words evoke Joy. I remember the first time Jon asked me to date him. I remember exactly what he said, how he said, where we were at, etc. (same for my amazingly planned proposal…great job Jon). I even remember the first time I thought he had even the slightest bit of interest in me (We were preparing to leave for a mock trial trip, and a group of us were talking about the artist series program our team had attended the night before. Jon told me that I looked nice…which was confusing because I didn’t see him that night. I had gone with another friend of mine. He told me what color my dress was, what color my flowers were, and that my hair was down). As a college girl only wishing at this point that Jon liked me, you can imagine the feelings and emotions of possibility and excitement.

Words evoke thankfulness. Like when Jon and I both got calls about our current places of employment. We were so grateful to God for answering our prayers. You feel excited and nervous at the prospect that someone values you and your knowledge enough to let you work for them and represent their company. Thankfulness is often felt when people compliment you for your hard work, your graciousness, your willingness to put yourself last, or many other reasons.

While words evoke wonderful feelings and emotions, they also evoke pain. People sometimes say things without thinking that can be hurtful, but then there are some people in life who say things to intentionally inflict pain. It’s frustrating that someone can say something to you that you know is absolutely FALSE, but it still hurts. The words so deeply cut you that you wonder how you will ever “forgive and forget.” People mock your faith, use the Bible against you rather than to encourage you or help you learn something, and assume that you aren’t giving grace when dealing with them when in fact you have given and continue to give more grace than one person gives in an entire lifetime. They assume that their words will override their actions.

I asked myself this weekend, “why did God make me so I can remember such painful experiences?” The only answer I can figure is to learn from them. So easy to say…… I will take everyone’s words and learn to be a better wife, a godly parent (when the time comes, not now Emily 😉 ), and a better participant in society in general.

While I have many friends who love me, believe in me, trust me, and care for me, the thoughts and words of one can affect my life so greatly. It’s attributed to a wrong focus. I need to adjust my focus. I can’t fix the problems of those around me, and contrary to the very minority belief, I am not the source of everyone’s problems. God loves me. He knows my heart, He knows my thoughts, and He knows that I try my best to make my words and actions match. That’s what matters in life. As exciting as the joyous moments are when you get great news or the sucker punch blows to the gut you get from horrible words, the response should be (again easy to say) the same response, “Praise God.”

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Saving the Environment…..

On Jon’s trip to Florida, he has made it a point to protect other beach goers from the deadly stings of jellyfish. With Jon Fortney’s help, they plan to rid the seas of Jelly Fish forever. Saving jellyfish can be a tiring job, so Jon & Jon went home and cooked themselves a delectible meal (Notice: they are working to rid the sea of red snapper, shrimp, and scallops too!).

After their sea cleansing expedition, they decided to go raid some stores prior to planting themselves at the local starbucks (If I knew he wanted to spend so much time at Starbucks, I could have put beach pictures in the windows of our local Starbucks. Man, did I mis-read that one). As you can see from their shopping experience, Jon’s next vacation will be a hunting expedition. I told him the environmental activists will really hate him (first, killing jelly fish, second killing red snapper, shrimp, and scallops, and now, he’s headed to the woods).

You may ask him, “What is your poor, lonely wife doing?” Well, I like to tell myself I’m paying for the trip (although it’s not entirely true). I am working at my new job which working is a very loose term because they have no work for me to do, so I spend the day finding projects to accomplish (i.e. clean the copy room, clean the file room, hang up pictures on the walls, etc.). Yesterday, I had my first meeting with the BJU mock trial team that I will be coaching this fall. The team this year will be very competitive which is very exciting. I do have plans for this lonely weekend. Renovations will be underway at the Sutter Dormitory Tonight, I plan to sand my front door down, strip the remaining paint, and re-stain/paint it. Are you excited yet? It does get more exciting.  I begin to start prepping my kitchen for my next house project. Of course, I will take down my horrible popcorn ceiling, paint the cabinets and walls, and maybe down the road get some different light fixtures. Should be fun…messy, but still fun. I’m sure I will have many college guys to keep me company on Saturday evening as it has become routine to have between 3-5 guys at our house every Saturday. It’s been pretty fun to be able to give them a getaway.   Well, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures of my far away hubby.

Honey, I hit it over the fence THREE times!!!

The Dangers of the Sea

“Look honey, I caught one”

Saving the world, one jellyfish at a time”

Jon’s Daring Self

Jumping over some “TALL” buildings

“Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to work I go” OR Shhhhhhhh be vewy vewy quiet I’m hunting wabbits

Ridding the sea of more “dangerous” animals

Just another day at the beach…..wait, what?

I thought you might like to see some pictures from our most recent vacation. As you will quickly notice, someone is enjoying the “scenery” much more than his/her counterpart. Be sure to look at the captions, as they will explain a lot.

A Man’s Version of packing “It will save you time when you do my laundry”

Thinking: What piece of jewelry should I buy my wife?

J. Fortney showing some skimboarding skills

Showing his….I’m not really sure what skills he’s showing. 😉

“Oh, did you want to come?”

Jon showing his flippers to all the ladies on the beach.

“My wife may do this to me when I come home”

Is that shark going to eat me?

Studying some LSAT – It’s a “working” trip of course.

Parched from the long day’s work.

The closest view I will get of the beach.

He may get to go to the beach, but I got a new haircut!!!!

Attempting to get a tan from that bright sun….oh wait fluorescent lights…

Journey / Fellowship Kids

Mr. Jon entertaining the kids as usual

The girls and me

Jon & his guys

Jon and I are officially waiting for kids…ha ha 😉 We have been assigned to teach and lead five-year-olds in Sunday school. We usually have between 10-15 kids, and now that the school year has started, we will serve every other month. The kids are walking through the Old Testament, and we are specifically learning about Noah right now. Today’s lesson discussed how God ALWAYS keeps His promises. I’m very thankful that our church is instilling that into the kids now, because sadly, as the kids grow up they are going to be disappointed by people who don’t keep their promises. Thankfully, we serve a God who NEVER lets us down.

After spending some time together in our room, we go to Journey where one teacher teaches all of the four and five year old rooms. It’s where she teaches about Noah as well as singing some songs. The program also teaches the kids the importance of giving an offering as well as scripture memory. The verse we are memorizing is Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” It’s pretty amazing hearing 30-35 kids reciting scripture.

Biggest Loser!

Boot Camp is OVER!!!! For the last four weeks, I have participated in Greenville’s Adventure Boot Camp. I had to be at the gym at 5:30 each morning every day of the week. Workouts consisted of extensive running, weight lifting, and bike riding. I decided to do the camp so I could get in better shape and hopefully develop a routine. Little did I know what I was getting into.

The first week of the camp, I could barely stand up or sit down. I looked like a very elderly woman when attempting the feat. As time passed the only side affects I had was extreme drowsiness. Throughout the camp, my husband was very supportive. Each evening he would set the alarm for 4:50am and then proceed to go to bed with me between 8:30 and 9:00. Yes, the boys made fun of us for going to bed while the sun was still up. When I would get up in the morning, the snores would be impossible to ignore from the other side of the room. Jon’s idea of support was getting the extra rest to make up for the rest I was lacking. 😉

 

After four weeks, I was named the biggest loser. That means that I lost the most body fat of anyone else in the camp. While it was miserable participating, at least I accomplished something. I am making Jon go with me tomorrow to Spin Class (bike riding) just to see what I went through. He has been whining about it since he found out. Boys can’t handle pain.

Jensen Dimension has Competition

The Sutter Bloggers

Well, we Sutters in SC were starting to feel left out by all of the bloggage going on around us. So, we decided to start a blog that will update you on the Swiss family in the South. We hope to keep you updated on what is going on in our lives as well as Joe and Dan. Well, maybe not so much about Joe and Dan because I don’t see them very much. Although it may take me a bit longer to make our blog as cool as Josh & Amy’s, we’ll at least try. 😉

While, I don’t have any news about beating Jon at Monopoly (Way to go Amy! www.jensendimension.org), I can say that our Rook competitions are pretty intense. Although, we have taken a respite from Rook to learn Phase 10, and it’s rare that a card game won’t ensue after dinner.